At least we can agree on one thing Tina Turner is doing the business . What an absolutely lovely sunny day in Suffolk today 20 deg in October , just back from the Bull in Woolpit after a few pints of Aspalls ,happy days .
I think it's still early in the season to rank players, but my top 3 would be: Jerome 8 (for 6 goals in 9 games, one as sub) Tettey 7 (For excellent passing success rate and effective breaking up of play, as well as 2 goals) Turner 7 (for consistently sound defending and excellent positioning to make up for his lack of pace)
I'm not sure how useful it is to rate players this early in the season. Anyway here are my thoughts Ruddy - 7 - Doing his job. Made some errors that I would not nomally expect from him as well as some important saves. Martin - 6 - Should spend less time trying to be a CB and fight Whittaker to be first choice right back. He is not our 2nd or 3rd most able CB and should only be used for that role as 3rd choice CB in a squad. Turner - 8.5 - Our best player so far by some distance. We would be mid table without him. Whittaker - 6 - Don't think he's being used effectively. Not our best RB, thats Martin. Martin should start games as RB and Whittaker on the bench only to be brought on if Martin is having a bad game, injured or needed as CB. Olsson - 6 - Don't think he's being used effectively. Is probably our best LB, but I think Garrido should be given a start if for nothing else to remind Olsson that we have options. Silly red card in the Wolves game that lost us at least a point. Redmond - 6 - Shows promise and needs encouraging, like Olsson needs to start a couple of games on the bench to spur him on and give someone else a go (Murphy). Would be a great impact sub when opponents are getting tired. His performances don't justify the number of starts he's had. Tettey - 7.5 - Probably our second best player. Has played well in 90% of the games he's started and very well in some games. Johnson - 6.5 - Started the season well. He works very hard and covers a lot of ground during the game. Could have done with being rested on a couple of occasion this season. His passing seems to have deteriated recently. Hoolahan - 5.5 - Seems like a one system player and never seems to have a good game when asked to play a different role to his favoured one. Can be brilliant, but far to often he goes missing in games. Has a role as an impct sub, but thats about it. Should start on the bench if at all. Grabban - 6.5 - Shows promise, has scored some important goals. Gets in some great positions, but finishing often falls short. Like Olsson & Redmond could do with starting a few games on the bench. Lafferty - 6 - Shows promise, but easily wound up. Should be given a chance to start as a centre forward, when Grabban is on the bench. Jerome - 7 - Very similar to Grabban but offers the team slightly more in presence and at set pieces. Murphy - 6 - Very promising player whos development shouldn't be rushed. Great impact sub. Deserves to start a couple of games, in place of Redmond. Hooiveld & Howson - Not played enough to rate, but are very good players and I think both will play a key role over the season if we are to get promoted. Team - 6.5 - Sarted well, however now going through a difficult patch where the number of points we have gained does not fairly reflect our performances. Despite recent poor run we are still in the top 6 and if we can get a good run together we have potential to break away at the top.
Cheers Carrowcanario very good post. You mention that it's too early to rate the team but i think after 14 games you get a good idea of who is pulling their weight . Whenever i read a match report i like to check to see how the writer rates each player, when opposition keepers are scoring a 10 then you know that the unlucky tag is not just moaning from us.
Not sure where to put this, but I see it has been confirmed that Vadis is out for some time. A real shame for him, and terrible timing with Hoolahan also out
Yes - medial legiment damage sounds like a long lay-off. Pity as he was finally ready to go. Even worse with Wes off as well.
It really depends on the extent - grade 1 I think is about 3-4 weeks (which is still long, especially with how many games we have). If it needs an operation, I believe it could be around 3 months or worse
Damn that's a shame, leaves us a little light for attacking midfielders really, I guess Benno can come back into the picture though.
I hadn't thought of Benno in that role DH, but you could be right. Howson is the other possibility, but I think Adams sees him as a box to box CM really.
I don't know what happened when Howson came to Norwich but for me his best role is CAM. That's where he played and impressed for Leeds, yet for some reason both Hughton and Adams have mostly used him as a box to box CM. As for options in the CAM position, wasn't McGrandles supposed to be pretty handy there?
I think Howson gets used deeper because he can pass and recycle play much more effectively than Johnson or Tettey can. If we had another ball-playing midfielder who could do that job then Howson would be freed up to get forwards more.
Oneil is that man for me. He had such control when he came on against the Owls. Last player we had like that was Fox.
