Sat Apr 14, 2018 8:40 pm
Sat Apr 14, 2018 8:51 pm
Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:04 pm
Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:31 pm
Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:23 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:33 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:36 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:52 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:07 am
Alan_in_China wrote:The result was fantastic and we're all still feeling euphoric, rightly so. However, I watched the game on iFollow and for 85 minutes we were terrible!
Madine did nothing of note, for Warnock to say otherwise is just trying to justify his team selection. I'm sure Warnock played out the idea in his head before the game that Madine would soften up Norwich's defence to enable Zohore to reap the benefits later on ... nice theory but in cold reality that never happened - Madine simply didn't see enough of the ball or have any real involvement.
Midfield was anonymous, I don't think Bryson put his foot on the ball all game and Gunnarsson again looked way off the pace. NML looked threatening when one-on-one with plenty of space, but when in tight situations his close ball control was poor, as was his passing.
Losing Bamba was a blow because he had already imposed himself on the opposition ... as he nearly always does. I thought his replacement, Manga, was lackadaisical at times.
Etheridge was solid, although it has to be said Norwich lacked a real cutting edge up front and didn't really test him, nevertheless he was assured when called upon.
Hoilett still not 100% back to his best, however, he was the only player who looked likely to make something happen for us, I kept willing him to get more of the ball.
Paterson and Zohore have to start the next game but Grujic most definitely HAS to! There was a total lack of quality in our midfield play and Grujic brings that.
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:12 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:16 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:30 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:33 am
pontyclunblue wrote:For Christs sake, performances do not matter at this stage of the season points do, we played well at Villa and lost, I couldn't care less how we played yesterday the victory was HUGE and that is all that matters.
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:46 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:54 am
Sun Apr 15, 2018 10:08 am
bluebird58 wrote:Alan_in_China wrote:The result was fantastic and we're all still feeling euphoric, rightly so. However, I watched the game on iFollow and for 85 minutes we were terrible!
Madine did nothing of note, for Warnock to say otherwise is just trying to justify his team selection. I'm sure Warnock played out the idea in his head before the game that Madine would soften up Norwich's defence to enable Zohore to reap the benefits later on ... nice theory but in cold reality that never happened - Madine simply didn't see enough of the ball or have any real involvement.
Midfield was anonymous, I don't think Bryson put his foot on the ball all game and Gunnarsson again looked way off the pace. NML looked threatening when one-on-one with plenty of space, but when in tight situations his close ball control was poor, as was his passing.
Losing Bamba was a blow because he had already imposed himself on the opposition ... as he nearly always does. I thought his replacement, Manga, was lackadaisical at times.
Etheridge was solid, although it has to be said Norwich lacked a real cutting edge up front and didn't really test him, nevertheless he was assured when called upon.
Hoilett still not 100% back to his best, however, he was the only player who looked likely to make something happen for us, I kept willing him to get more of the ball.
Paterson and Zohore have to start the next game but Grujic most definitely HAS to! There was a total lack of quality in our midfield play and Grujic brings that.
You’re a glass half empty person, aren’t you?!
Sun Apr 15, 2018 10:30 am
ae15 wrote:Thing is it's easy to say performances don't matter, but it's clear to see they do, otherwise we wouldn't have only got 1 point in 9 just now, mainly down to being terrible.
Gunnarsson and Madine were shocking yesterday again, does Madine have a trampoline for a chest? Because he certainly can't stop the ball bouncing miles away from it every time.
The midfield were so slow to everything the whole game, just like against Villa.
Mendez and Hoilett were ineffectual through most of the game against two very good full backs. I was very impressed with their left back.
We didn't deserve to win yesterday. Granted we didn't deserve to lose, but had Maddison or Murphy popped up with another 25 yard screamer I wouldn't have complained it was unfair.
You can say we fight to the end to give us credit, but to be honest, it didn't look like we were trying to win the game again? Even when we scored there was a lack of urgency leading up to it. Every time Etheridge got the ball towards the end our players were slowly walking out of the penalty area, and there was no one getting up in support of the front 4 at all.
On this basis we could easily still not win any more games this season. Great win, but it only papers over the cracks for the time being in my opinion.
Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:01 am
ae15 wrote:Thing is it's easy to say performances don't matter, but it's clear to see they do, otherwise we wouldn't have only got 1 point in 9 just now, mainly down to being terrible.
Gunnarsson and Madine were shocking yesterday again, does Madine have a trampoline for a chest? Because he certainly can't stop the ball bouncing miles away from it every time.
The midfield were so slow to everything the whole game, just like against Villa.
Mendez and Hoilett were ineffectual through most of the game against two very good full backs. I was very impressed with their left back.
We didn't deserve to win yesterday. Granted we didn't deserve to lose, but had Maddison or Murphy popped up with another 25 yard screamer I wouldn't have complained it was unfair.
You can say we fight to the end to give us credit, but to be honest, it didn't look like we were trying to win the game again? Even when we scored there was a lack of urgency leading up to it. Every time Etheridge got the ball towards the end our players were slowly walking out of the penalty area, and there was no one getting up in support of the front 4 at all.
On this basis we could easily still not win any more games this season. Great win, but it only papers over the cracks for the time being in my opinion.
Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:03 pm
ealing_ayatollah wrote:ae15 wrote:Thing is it's easy to say performances don't matter, but it's clear to see they do, otherwise we wouldn't have only got 1 point in 9 just now, mainly down to being terrible.
Gunnarsson and Madine were shocking yesterday again, does Madine have a trampoline for a chest? Because he certainly can't stop the ball bouncing miles away from it every time.
The midfield were so slow to everything the whole game, just like against Villa.
Mendez and Hoilett were ineffectual through most of the game against two very good full backs. I was very impressed with their left back.
We didn't deserve to win yesterday. Granted we didn't deserve to lose, but had Maddison or Murphy popped up with another 25 yard screamer I wouldn't have complained it was unfair.
You can say we fight to the end to give us credit, but to be honest, it didn't look like we were trying to win the game again? Even when we scored there was a lack of urgency leading up to it. Every time Etheridge got the ball towards the end our players were slowly walking out of the penalty area, and there was no one getting up in support of the front 4 at all.
On this basis we could easily still not win any more games this season. Great win, but it only papers over the cracks for the time being in my opinion.
We played well against Wolves and Villa but didn't get the rub of the green, we got lucky against Norwich playing poorly.
This result was not so much papering over the cracks but the football gods just balancing things out again.
Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:27 pm
City Slicker wrote:bluebird58 wrote:Alan_in_China wrote:The result was fantastic and we're all still feeling euphoric, rightly so. However, I watched the game on iFollow and for 85 minutes we were terrible!
Madine did nothing of note, for Warnock to say otherwise is just trying to justify his team selection. I'm sure Warnock played out the idea in his head before the game that Madine would soften up Norwich's defence to enable Zohore to reap the benefits later on ... nice theory but in cold reality that never happened - Madine simply didn't see enough of the ball or have any real involvement.
Midfield was anonymous, I don't think Bryson put his foot on the ball all game and Gunnarsson again looked way off the pace. NML looked threatening when one-on-one with plenty of space, but when in tight situations his close ball control was poor, as was his passing.
Losing Bamba was a blow because he had already imposed himself on the opposition ... as he nearly always does. I thought his replacement, Manga, was lackadaisical at times.
Etheridge was solid, although it has to be said Norwich lacked a real cutting edge up front and didn't really test him, nevertheless he was assured when called upon.
Hoilett still not 100% back to his best, however, he was the only player who looked likely to make something happen for us, I kept willing him to get more of the ball.
Paterson and Zohore have to start the next game but Grujic most definitely HAS to! There was a total lack of quality in our midfield play and Grujic brings that.
You’re a glass half empty person, aren’t you?!
I agree with most of your comments Alan except for Gunnarsson. I thought he was great today but had little help in midfield. Bryson runs around a lot and is always in opponents' faces but is dire with the ball. I don't know why Damour was taken off but unless it was for injury I would have kept him on and taken Bryson off. However, there were some brilliant performances especially at the back with Morisson and Bennett. I thought they were exceptional.
I totally agree with your opinion of Madine but at this stage of the season it will be our formidable spirit what gets us through and all that matters is points. With Grujic and Ralls maybe back for the next match at home I expect our performance to get significantly better too. I just hope Warnock starts Ken this time!
Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:30 pm
bluebird58 wrote:Alan_in_China wrote:The result was fantastic and we're all still feeling euphoric, rightly so. However, I watched the game on iFollow and for 85 minutes we were terrible!
Madine did nothing of note, for Warnock to say otherwise is just trying to justify his team selection. I'm sure Warnock played out the idea in his head before the game that Madine would soften up Norwich's defence to enable Zohore to reap the benefits later on ... nice theory but in cold reality that never happened - Madine simply didn't see enough of the ball or have any real involvement.
Midfield was anonymous, I don't think Bryson put his foot on the ball all game and Gunnarsson again looked way off the pace. NML looked threatening when one-on-one with plenty of space, but when in tight situations his close ball control was poor, as was his passing.
Losing Bamba was a blow because he had already imposed himself on the opposition ... as he nearly always does. I thought his replacement, Manga, was lackadaisical at times.
Etheridge was solid, although it has to be said Norwich lacked a real cutting edge up front and didn't really test him, nevertheless he was assured when called upon.
Hoilett still not 100% back to his best, however, he was the only player who looked likely to make something happen for us, I kept willing him to get more of the ball.
Paterson and Zohore have to start the next game but Grujic most definitely HAS to! There was a total lack of quality in our midfield play and Grujic brings that.
You’re a glass half empty person, aren’t you?!
Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:32 pm
ae15 wrote:Thing is it's easy to say performances don't matter, but it's clear to see they do, otherwise we wouldn't have only got 1 point in 9 just now, mainly down to being terrible.
Gunnarsson and Madine were shocking yesterday again, does Madine have a trampoline for a chest? Because he certainly can't stop the ball bouncing miles away from it every time.
The midfield were so slow to everything the whole game, just like against Villa.
Mendez and Hoilett were ineffectual through most of the game against two very good full backs. I was very impressed with their left back.
We didn't deserve to win yesterday. Granted we didn't deserve to lose, but had Maddison or Murphy popped up with another 25 yard screamer I wouldn't have complained it was unfair.
You can say we fight to the end to give us credit, but to be honest, it didn't look like we were trying to win the game again? Even when we scored there was a lack of urgency leading up to it. Every time Etheridge got the ball towards the end our players were slowly walking out of the penalty area, and there was no one getting up in support of the front 4 at all.
On this basis we could easily still not win any more games this season. Great win, but it only papers over the cracks for the time being in my opinion.