Just out of curiosity, how did Snodgrass do when played away from the right wing? It's of my understanding that he is nothing but a right winger, and has been gash when played out of position both at Norwich and Leeds. When he's popped up in discussions over the past season we've had posters claiming he's just as good on the left wing, in central midfield or in the hole. Did he ever play in any of those positions for you, and did he perform suitably in them?
He tends to go a little missing when he isn't on the right wing. His most effective move is cutting in on his left and unleashing a shot (Like a really slow Arjen Robben). I personally wanted to see him get a run of games in the centre of the pitch as his lack of pace tends to slow attacks down the wing and wouldn't be such an issue centrally. However, under Hughton there wasn't really much room for variations in tactics so we tended to only ever see him on the right. He played on the left a few times but was pretty anonymous.
Saw him play behind the striker for Scotland and looked good. Played a couple of games under Adams when we were doomed there and didn't inspire us to stay up like he wanted... He always seemed far more comfortable on the right as he hasn't got the pace to beat a right back but can drift in on his left foot from the right. With a bit more freedom and a manager who doesn't demand him to be a second full back for 75% of the game he might fit in away from the right but under hughton it wasn't going to work.
Very much this. Given a free role may suit him well, but he still might end up wandering over to the right as he does get a lot of joy when out wide.
Cheers for the replies. Guess you didn't really see enough to know judging by these replies so I've started the topic on the Leeds board too. I would say Bruce is quite a conservative manager too though, so he would probably be utilised similarly to how he was under Houghton. I think him, along with Tom Ince, were fairly puzzling signings. We've predominantly played 5-3-2 for two season prior to this one, and are still playing it now. It's hard to see where they'd fit when we very rarely played with wingers. In his only meaningful appearance for us he started on the left side of central midfield in a 5-3-2 before coming off injured after 40 minutes. We've even had some suggest he could play at wing back, which I just couldn't see.
He could play up and down the wing all day as he has a great engine but all the opposition would need to do is put a pacey winger against him and he's be stumped. He really does lack pace. He's still an effective player and he seems to really enjoy his football and care about the team he plays for. I think he'd be best used either Wide in a front 3 or behind the striker.
I always found him a distinctly frustrating player, not least because on his day he can be awesome, Swansea away when we won 4-3 he ran himself into the ground and had single handedly out played Swansea. The issue I had with him was his lack of consistent delivery from his right foot, meaning that he always would cut inside and in his second season with us every fullback seemed to know he was going to do this. Generally his game is all around his delivery of the ball he's not fast so he needed that move to make space for a delivery. His lack of pace meant that he didnt get the step back a player like Redmond gets from a fullback fearful of being passed and left on his heels. As a result playing on the left is hard as he needs to get round his full back to put in a delivery, as a result he seem significantly less effective on the left. If he could develop a passable right footed delivery fullback couldn't guarantee he was going to cut in on them and it would keep them more honest providing him space again. I would say though that I thought he could play in the hole well if he was given the much coveted "licence to roam" which Hughton was unwilling to allow him or anyone else. He played deeper in the middle once or twice, can't remember when and that probably says a lot about his performance. Personally I've felt we're far more balanced as a side without Snoddy and playing conventional wingers but wonder if that's more because our fullbacks weren't supporting the inserted wingers properly as is required to make that system work. The real advantage of having him though is dead balls, we had a run when getting a free kick infront of the box to the right was like getting a penalty, we've no one close to his dead all delivery now.
I always liked snod. Yes he is not going to trouble bolt in a sprint finish but we certainly miss his quality with a dead ball, his ability to score and his work rate. A fit snod in our current team and I reckon we would be almost home and hosed this season. For all their pace and skill Redmond and the murphys do not give the end product snod did and I think a lot of Neil Adams problems were because he kept faith with the younger wide men who were perhaps easier on the eye and well backed by the fans than to play a more solid midfield with players capable of putting in a defensive shift and retaining possession. It is easy to criticise players when they are competing against some of the best players in the world in a team that has been set up not to lose and so pretty much unsupported by the fullback. I reckon he was our best player last season and he would have destroyed this league. That said I was also convinced that Redmond would be way too good for this level but currently he has impact sub written all over him.
I still believe Redmond is over-hyped. How many seasons does he need to begin to flourish? He has been playing at Championship level or higher for at least 4 seasons now, and yet he is not much different to the day we bought him. People keep on saying he is young and is learning, but how old was Michael Own when he played in his first World Cup? Owen was miles ahead and so much younger. For me, NR will not become anything more than a decent player at the current level.
Agree we have missed his dead ball contributions this season, but as others have said his first season was good but he was found out towards the end that he can't go passed a full back and has to check back before crossing, so a more central roll would probably suit better. Good character to have around the squad would have killed this season in the champ, assuming he'd not had the injury. Do wonder if he'll ever get back fully after that injury though.
He was at the game last night. Even spoke to Chris Goreham on Radio Norfolk. Said he just wanted to come down and see the boys. Shows his character. Seems to be a really nice bloke.
He is a nice bloke, was near enough my neighbour and was always happy to chat. Very ambitious though.
