Unfortunately neither Rodgers or Lambert will get the recognition they deserve, altho you never know Hodgson did a couple of seasons ago, Look what happened to him tho afterwards maybe it's better neither of them get recognised!!!
true lots predicted we'd both struggle at the beginning, but most have corrected their opinions based on how we've played this season. Lawrensons predictions continue to rate us as unproven new comers. numerous times hes retrospectively praised us for a good previous performance (which he tipped us to lose) before going on to say we will get beaten. I don't watch MOTD to hear 'Norwich were good'. Any halfbaked fan knows if their team were good/bad/average. Hell the title of any match summary normally tells you that much. What i want from MOTD is some profession insight into our teams progress, our strengths, our flaws, breaking down how we play our game, and what our manager is doing to get the results he does, maybe some reflection on Norwich's dramatic progress from league one to 9th in the premier league. All things they are more than capable of. After all they do this sort of thing for other clubs every week. The old 'something something blackpool' comments seem to be drying up at last, so thats a starting point.
A recent article - posted on here but I can't (be arsed to try and) locate it, suggested next weeks match was a little like Spain v Germany. Swansea with their pass, move style and typical quick movement and fluidity. Norwich with blistering counter attacking and also the ability to change/evolve the shape of the team as the match unfolds. How does 3 - 3 sound
I think we have to accept for some reason the bbc will never give us the credit we deserve due to our location and for some some reason they just don't seem to like us. I have to admit I get frustrated with the amount of coverage we get but doesn't bother me massively as i don't need a lineker, hansen, shearer or lawrenson to tell me how well we are doing. The only pundit i do respect is Dixon as he always talks highly of us and wish he would be on there more!!
I'm never normally a pessimist but think we may struggle at swansea again like last season. I believe if we are to get something we may have to revert to the 4-2-3-1 we did earlier in the season to stop swansea playing and and also play bennett on right as think he'll be brimming with confidence after the bolton game and I'd also be tempetd to Pilkington in the Hoolhan role as I think he'd flourish there and Hoolahan has been poor of late.
Battersea, MOTD on most Saturday nights is basically an ex-geordie and two ex-scousers, who really only care about how their previous clubs are faring. We, Swansea, WBA, etc, get a mandatory "slot" just before midnight and our performances and strengths are not fairly assessed by so the called "pundits" who have run out of superlatives by the time it gets past the top six. Come back Gerry Harrison
Not expecting an easy game, if we can keep on Britton's case we'll cut off the supply to Dyer and Sinclair, we need to press them deep I'd 4-5-1 and put someone to man mark Britton out of the game.
Who would you use to man mark britton as i think johnson has been poor recently?? Can't think of anyone else who could fulfill that role?
This is the game where it would be superb to have a fit Jonny Howson But as we haven't, it surely has to be Johnson? The best "engine" to harry and close people down?
Am eagerly awaiting a fit howson but as i assume he won't be if we want someone to harry and close people down i'd be inclined to go with crofts but with fox next to him. Crofts could then do what he does best and chase people down then lay the ball to fox to pass the ball out. We need to compete with their midfield hence why and play 5 there with pilkington in the hoolahan role and surman on the left as i feel he's been playing well recently and can keep hold of the ball.
Johnson or Crofts. Johnson is better defensively but I agree with you that he has been poor recently especially with passing and making decisions, Crofts doesn't time his challenges too well he can be late and I see him as more of a box to box player but he has the work rate. If we didn't have a defensive dilemma I'd take a gamble on Russell Martin it sounds crazy but I'd be comfortable with a player like that in the role.
The one thing we know, Lambert has assessed this and virtually knows his matchday squad already, barring any 'tweaks' in training. The Sunderland match last Wednesday was the first time since PL joined that I can recall him looking lost for ideas - not a bad record in 2.5 years We're all allowed an occasional blip!
good shout think russ would be more than capable and has good communication skills and would support the defense well but as you said defensive problems will make that a go. Isn't it good to be able to have such selection dilemmas now as opposed too a couple of years ago!!!
I've come to the conclusion that the reason Swans get 'they pass well, haven't they done well', and City get 'They've done well, and they knock it about too' (if we're lucky) as our analysis is that the pundits don't understand what they're watching. Lambert and Rodgers are in a different stratosphere to those retired pros. They were very good players, but how have any of the MOTD group got on in management? They simply don't understand what it is that our managers do, how they set the sides up, the selections they make, or how on earth they've both managed to make silk purses from sows ears. We know they've done outstanding jobs, and we know how good our teams have been. The pundits can keep their half-baked opinions for other clubs as far as I care As for the game, it's one I think we'll be well up for, and as dissapointing as it was for us, that Sunderland performance may have come at just the right time in the season. That said, I'd bite your hand off for a draw!
Your first point was fair enough we did fear relegation.But by seven or eight games in we were no longer feeling like we were going to get hammered week in week out.However Lawrenson continued to predict defeats long after the quality of the team was obvious.
I really think that this match is the hardest to predict of any.I posted on "Next Ten Games" four games back and predicted WBA (Win) Chelsea (Draw) Sunderland (lose) and Bolton (Win). My next two predictions were defeats to Swansea and ManU. Now clearly that's what I think will happen but on Saturday I wouldn't rule out anything.The pressure is off us now as we only need five or six points from 14 games and I hope that will mean a carefree playing style that will bring goals.
