Well that was an utterly useless performance and we are lucky to have another point on the board. My 2 main complaints both lie with the manager! 1) Why the fck does Hughton leave it so late to make a tactical sub?! He might as well not be at games because anyone can see who the obvious replacements are re: injuries (e.g. Bennett for pilks) but what about when we are playing hoofball up to no-one? If he isnt going to make a sub, he may as well be watching on tv! We could all see we needed to get Becchio on earlier (he won more headers in 5mins than Holt did all game- not that I would have replaced Holt, he just needed help.) 2) Why is it that Hughton cant see that the only central midfielder we have who can pass to another Norwich player is Fox?! We were crying out for someone to keep the ball today!
Fox didn't find to many passes against Luton!? I thought Johnson was superb today, imo, the midfield worked ok today
Yes. Sorry Bedford but sounds to me like you have lost the plot. Johnson was supreme today, it's a pity he didn't score because the QPR fans absolutely hate him!
Clean sheet. Point away from home against a team desperate to win and who have just spent another umpty-million on stengthening their squad. We're guaranteed to stay in 14th place today no matter what from other results.
Bedford what on earth you on about great show we had to hold them and we did great point Bunn brilliant again and thought turner and Seb looked pretty solid Saw little need to change it a point is a good result away
Should say Bedford of course nobody wants to watch their team defend for thirty minutes to a draw against the team bottom of the league, but you certainly cannot fault the performance of the players and also not sure what difference any subs would of made. As Beefy says, we were defending well, but bringing on Messi would not have shifted the momentum in our favour so nothing Hughton could really do to tinker.
WE are a team desperate to win! Johnson was good today and I would keep him in, but Tettey cant pass at all! We couldnt keep the ball today! We need someone who can pass. Fox may not have been gteat against Luton but can you blame him? He has hardly touched a ball all season! It wasnt long ago EVERYONE was screaming for him and my opinion hasnt changed. If we had someone who could pass we would be a much greater force. Yeah it was a clean sheet but only because QPR couldnt finish. A better team would have stuffed us. Im not too disappointed with the result, but the performance was terrible. How often did we just hof it today when we needed a calm head to keep the ball and counter? If we are not going to play fox, at least play Becchio up top with Holt and have a diamond with Johnson at the base so that we can put the opposition defence undet a bit of pressure and have options in the box for our wingers (whos crosses were abysmal again today)!
WE are a team desperate to win! Johnson was good today and I would keep him in, but Tettey cant pass at all! We couldnt keep the ball today! We need someone who can pass. Fox may not have been gteat against Luton but can you blame him? He has hardly touched a ball all season! It wasnt long ago EVERYONE was screaming for him and my opinion hasnt changed. If we had someone who could pass we would be a much greater force. Yeah it was a clean sheet but only because QPR couldnt finish. A better team would have stuffed us. Im not too disappointed with the result, but the performance was terrible. How often did we just hof it today when we needed a calm head to keep the ball and counter? If we are not going to play fox, at least play Becchio up top with Holt and have a diamond with Johnson at the base so that we can put the opposition defence undet a bit of pressure and have options in the box for our wingers (whos crosses were abysmal again today)!
youre on a different planet to me bedford. QPR have just beaten Chelsea and drawn with Man City. It was a really good even game and I thought Johnson and Tetty both played well. Johnson especially. Agree with you about the subs in general but today maybe wasnt the right time to bring on a striker who has never played in the premiership or with most of our team. We battled and were unlucky not to get something, Julio Cesar made a couple of great saves. I love the way we win the second ball and bar 20 minutes in the second half we battered QPR in the middle. Fox is a good passer but again I think he would of been too lightweight for a game like todays and it was not a day for risking someone who hasn't played in a while. Hughton has got us to 13 points of safety with 14 games left so for me hes done "brilliant, colossal fantastic" this season. Anyone moaning right now needs to realize bar Luton and Liverpool our performances haven't been far short of when we went on our 10 game gun. Marginal differences make a massive difference at this level. Hughton most definitely IN
Bedford, where would you play Fox? Hughton likes his DM's to be rough and tough and break up play and that isn't the sort of player Fox is. He's not a winger and he's not a Hoolahan type player, so to fit him in Hughton would have to change the formation and that is something he quite clearly isn't going to do. As for the subs, yes it can be frustrating when they're left so late, but then why change for the sake of it? If Hughton had gone for it, taken off Johnson or Tettey, put on Becchio and gone 4-4-2 and we'd lost 1-0 you'd probably be asking why did Hughton change it when we were comfortable and looking like getting a point away from home.
It's not a bad argument but what if the changes were made earlier and we won? Just to play devils advocate
If he makes changes and we win, why doesn't he do it more often? We don't win, why didn't he make any changes? If he keeps the team the same as it is and we lose, why didn't he change it? We draw, why didn't he go for it and make a change? The only way Hughton can really come out on top in this one is if he doesn't make any changes and we win. To be honest I'd be doing the same as Hughton, especially away from home. I've always taken the view that you should try to win the home games but make sure you don't lose the away games so I've got no problem with him taking a slightly cautious approach away. I do think he should be a bit more attacking at home though.
I agree that this was a game where the priority was to not lose against a side unbeaten in their last 6 games, and against sides like Spurs, Chelsea and ManCity. It was an even match and a draw was the right result. I also disagree about the attacking performance. City had 14 shots, 9 of which were on target and 51% of the possession. That's a good performance away from home, IMO, and if it wasn't for some amazing saves by Cesar, City could have won it. It would have been good for Becchio to get more time, but this was a crucial match and one defensive mistake might have let QPR win it at the end. Holt didn't have his best game in attack, but he had an excellent game in defence, including clearing one off the line. Too many of us don't see that side of his game. At the end of it, City are still 7 points clear of relegation with seven home matches to come. Can't see QPR catching us now, and they, like Reading and Wigan have only 6 home matches left (7 away). It's also nice to be on a two match unbeaten run again! OTBC!
Come on you lot with the yellow tinted glasses. While I don't agree with Bedford that Fox is the answer, I don't think I want to watch Norwich continually play like that game after game just to stay in the Prem. Some of you make out that we did well. We got a point because our reserve keeper, who has been getting grief recently, saved a penalty. And while we had more shots on target than QPR, it was down to two players in my estimation. Johnson who was once again superb, probably irritating those who want Fox to play. Snodgrass was once again our only creative player and we will be lucky to hold on to him next season. Garrido does not warrant a place in the side at the moment. Turner is steady now and why he was booked is beyond me. But Bassong makes error after error when he has done the hard work of tackling. Bennet/Pilkington must be under orders to look for the ball but pass it back to their full back. Tettey is nowhere near the player who arrived in August. Hoolahan is so remote from Holt or the midfield that he has nowhere to go ends up looking a mug. And Holt needs help. He is struggling to cope having to run for throws, frees and still play the central role. CH is an accomplished manager and a real nice guy but I don't understand him at times. Becchio gets 3 minutes plus stoppage time? He won every ball he went for and if we have paid somewhere near £3M for him he should be a starter. I fear that while we continue to pick up points, ride our luck and stay safe, that CH won't change his tactics and we will continue to watch this dire, unimaginative football. We have the players with ability. They have enough about them to be able to play the way we are used to. Four more wins will do it and four of the next five home games are winnable. I would like to see a more expansive side put out with the attitude that we can and should win at home. Let the players play to their strengths, get the crowd cheering them on and make next season assured.
First goal is to stay up and, if we do, we can then start to address those concerns you have next season with the next lot of players bought in over the summer. I think we all suspected that this season would be more difficult than last and that is proving to be the case. As such, ensuring we get the points by whatever means is much more important than playing pretty, passing football.
WE had a chance to address those problems in the transfer window. We bought a striker with 19 to his credit this season and still played one up front. I'm sure CH is a good manager but I don't enjoy watching our current style of play. Scoring more than one goal a game sometime in 2013 would be one way of "ensuring we get the points".
