Norwich City vs Aston Villa (Home) Tuesday 14th December 7:45pm.

[Gunvald Larsson]

I can't understand why we have gone back to almost Farke-like playing out from the back ... with the players we have it gets us nowhere ... 2nd half against Southampton and the whole match against Wolves we cleared our lines quickly by long clearances or long passes to midfield, none of this sideways and backwards rubbish ... last night the transition was (if it happened at all) slow and predictable ... I watched Villa warming up and their players were doing quick passing and moving exercises and this was how they played ... for us Pukki and Placheta were the only two who did any serious quick running and moving, the rest just seemed to amble about, it was really weird to watch that ... this will be a 'controversial' comment but it shows how much the often abused Josh Sargent brings to the team ... he may be unable to hit a barn door with a banjo and his touch is clunky, but boy does that lad run and make himself available ... he is a real outlet for the defence and often provides the link to the attack ... Placheta was similar last night but, especially in the first half, his team mates ignored his runs ... in a relegation fight you need the Sargents, the Plachetas and the McLeans to do the dirty work ... the likes of Cantwell, Gilmour et al are a luxury we can't afford ... we need grafters like Sargent, Placheta, Normann, McLean, Sorenson and Pukki to get stuck in and disrupt the opposition ... add another decent striker and a really creative midfielder and things may look a bit better ... in 1973 when we looked doomed Ron Saunders brought in the late, great Trevor Hockey and that man virtually kept us up single handed ... he was not a 'flair' player, he was a grafter ... on last night's showing we showed how much we missed those players who really put a shift in.

As The Pink Un now charge for player ratings here are mine ...

KRUL 6/10 - did what he had to do effectively
AARONS 4/10 - too many sideways/backwards passes
WILLIAMS 5/10 - some good tackles but poor going forward
GIBSON 5/10 - some good blocks but poor distribution
KABAK 4/10 - looked lost at times
SORENSON 6/10 - worked hard and tried to keep things moving
GIMOUR 4/10 - too many sideways passes and poor corners
MCLEAN 5/10 - worked hard but lacked quality when it mattered
PLACHETA 6/10 - tried to get forward but had little support
CANTWELL 3/10 - look bored and played that way
PUKKI 5/10 - worked hard but no support or service
SUBS
IDAH 4/10 - no idea in attack but decent when defending
DOWELL 4/10 - made no impression on the game
BYRAM 5/10 - decent comeback appearance

 

[morty]

Seeing Cantwell play really makes you appreciate Josh Sargent

 

[Din]

Massively disappointing. Mitigating circumstances with all the covid/injury issues I know, but looking at that starting XI I was pretty happy with it. Complete chalk and cheese from the United game. Villa were very good in the first half but we were so slack. 2nd to every loose ball, every pass was going astray, complete disconnect between the midfield and attack. It was shocking. I literally don't think we had a shot? Obviously Kenny had a decent opportunity when handed it on a plate by Young but even then he managed to fall over and mess it up. Summed up our night.

Obviously Cantwell is getting a lot of flack, but I can't say I have much sympathy with him at the moment, this is all completely self-inflicted. Yes I get he's not up to speed yet match-wise, but whether he means it or not the impression he's giving when he's on the pitch is that he's too good for this and he can't be bothered to put the effort in. Chris Sutton's comments after he stropped off down the tunnel after being subbed off were spot on. In all honesty if we can somehow convince someone like Everton or Leicester or someone to give us £10/15m for him I'd be taking it, and spending it elsewhere on the team. Gilmour as well had an absolute disaster of a game. I feel a bit for him because it's not like the Cantwell situation, all the hype around him has come from deluded Chelsea fans, but I feel like he could use a spell out of the team. Normann and Rashica can't come back soon enough.

Placheta had a good game I thought, and Sorenson was decent again. The rest were crap.

Have to say as well, as great as it was to see Byram back out there, what on Earth was that substitution from Smith? Not that we were good before he came on but it completely killed the game bringing a right back, who has been out injured for 2 years, on as a centre midfielder. I feel like there were several changes he could've done instead of bringing him on in centre midfield. Bring Dowell on and move Gilmour back, play Byram at centre back and keep Lungi in midfield, even if you bring Giannoulis on in midfield he's got to be a better fit than Byram, seeing as he's actually match fit and a better player? I know the sub was enforced but I cannot understand the logic at all in making the change that Deano did at all. He didn't do badly he was just way out of his depth.

Talking of Giannoulis as well, I thought it was harsh he was dropped and I'd definitely like to see him back in. I like Williams a lot but having a left footed left back just brings us such a better balance. Particularly with Cantwell out there too we had 2 right footers on the left hand side and it just slowed us down so much. You could see Villa funnelling us over to the left hand side from every goal kick because they knew Williams wasn't going to do anything except come inside and pass it back to the centre back.

So frustrating, all the good work we did against Man United completely undone. Circumstances are obviously difficult at the moment with all the covid cases and tbh I can't see a way football isn't called off in the next couple of weeks, but we need to see a response after this dreadful performance. West Ham away and Arsenal at home next 2 games though it doesn't get any easier.

 

[Number 9]

What did Bailey say about Todd?

Highlighted that he's one of the very few we have who created & scored in the Premier League.
Wondering how he could get back to that level.

 

[morty]

Highlighted that he's one of the very few we have who created & scored in the Premier League.
Wondering how he could get back to that level.

Well the lad obviously can't be arsed...

 

[Number 9]

Well the lad obviously can't be arsed...

He looked a bit frustrated at times.

 

[Number 9]

Well the lad obviously can't be arsed...

We've all seen his talent, question is, can Deano get him firing?
Whatever you think of Todd, at his normal level he's better on the pitch than on the bench.

 

[morty]

We've all seen his talent, question is, can Deano get him firing?
Whatever you think of Todd, at his normal level he's better on the pitch than on the bench.

I thought that he looked like a man who has forgotten how to play football, last night.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

He looked a bit frustrated at times.

He looked a bit crap and bored most of the time. Whatever his problems are, if indeed he has any, he really needs to gain control of them 'cos if he doesn't his future career prospects look bleak.

 

[Din]

A few interesting titbits from Michael Bailey's latest article:

Tzolis obviously tested positive at the end of last week, since then one other first team player has tested positive.
Quite a few players have been unwell with covid symptoms over the past few days, though apart from Tzolis and one other have all tested negative.
Giannoulis was one of those that felt unwell but tested negative, hence why he was left on the bench, because he wasn't feeling good.
Rupp missed the game through injury rather than illness.
The club discussed having the game postponed with the Premier League, and there's some doubt inside the club that Saturday's game against West Ham will go ahead.

 

[morty]

A few interesting titbits from Michael Bailey's latest article:

Tzolis obviously tested positive at the end of last week, since then one other first team player has tested positive.
Quite a few players have been unwell with covid symptoms over the past few days, though apart from Tzolis and one other have all tested negative.
Giannoulis was one of those that felt unwell but tested negative, hence why he was left on the bench, because he wasn't feeling good.
Rupp missed the game through injury rather than illness.
The club discussed having the game postponed with the Premier League, and there's some doubt inside the club that Saturday's game against West Ham will go ahead.

When Deano mentioned asking for guidance from the Premier league, I am assuming he sought clarification on players who were ill, but were yet to test positive, and was told there had to be a positive test result.

I'm expecting West Ham to be called off, as more positive tests are revealed tomorrow.

 

[Number 9]

I watched the game on tv, heard fair bit of booing at end of each half.
Was it loud in the ground?

 

[morty]

I watched the game on tv, heard fair bit of booing at end of each half.
Was it loud in the ground?

Aye, was loud in the Barclay at full time.