morty
Moderator
Staff member
Much better performance required! Not a "must win" by any stretch of the imagination, but folk could certainly get a bit agitated if we don't.
Press conference inbound!
Press conference inbound!
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morty
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DS: “I spent my Sunday watching Harlequins against Leicester after our visit there on the Tuesday.”
DS on Luton: "They're aggressive, on the front foot and play with a lot of energy."
On Big Andy - DS: “It’s an ankle injury. He will miss Tuesday, but we are awaiting on a report for how long he will be out.”
Jacob Sorensen is out of his protective boot.
DS: “Dimi is back with us. We will look at his fitness levels today. He might be available for tomorrow against Luton.”
"So far, so good" on Hayden, but Smith doesn't believe he could start tomorrow.
Wrong game plan against Watford? DS: “We come up with a game plan for the game. I ask the coaches for advice and then go make my decisions. I am self-critical.”
Nunez… DS: “Nacho has pretty much played every minute since he got here. He has also played for Chile. We must manage him. If he was producing 10 performances every week he’d be playing in the Premier League.”
Luton… DS: “They will be a confident team. The players will see how Luton play from the analysis we do. Every game we go into, 80% of it is about us.”
Dowell’s performance… DS: “He did really well for the goal. He switched play really well. He’s got a great football brain. I thought he done okay.”
DS on Dowell: "We need to get Kieran, Sarge and Teemu the ball. He slipped into pockets of space very well and he's got a great footballing brain."
DS on Bali Mumba: "I messaged him to say well done (on winning EFL award),and that we're all watching him and keeping an eye on him."
DS on Luton: "They're aggressive, on the front foot and play with a lot of energy."
On Big Andy - DS: “It’s an ankle injury. He will miss Tuesday, but we are awaiting on a report for how long he will be out.”
Jacob Sorensen is out of his protective boot.
DS: “Dimi is back with us. We will look at his fitness levels today. He might be available for tomorrow against Luton.”
"So far, so good" on Hayden, but Smith doesn't believe he could start tomorrow.
Wrong game plan against Watford? DS: “We come up with a game plan for the game. I ask the coaches for advice and then go make my decisions. I am self-critical.”
Nunez… DS: “Nacho has pretty much played every minute since he got here. He has also played for Chile. We must manage him. If he was producing 10 performances every week he’d be playing in the Premier League.”
Luton… DS: “They will be a confident team. The players will see how Luton play from the analysis we do. Every game we go into, 80% of it is about us.”
Dowell’s performance… DS: “He did really well for the goal. He switched play really well. He’s got a great football brain. I thought he done okay.”
DS on Dowell: "We need to get Kieran, Sarge and Teemu the ball. He slipped into pockets of space very well and he's got a great footballing brain."
DS on Bali Mumba: "I messaged him to say well done (on winning EFL award),and that we're all watching him and keeping an eye on him."
Gunvald Larsson
Well-Known Member
we need to be really 'on the ball' against the hatters .... they are on a decent run of form and will be a tough opponent ,... I know we are still in the top 3 but even I am starting to get frustrated with the performances, especially all the sideways and backwards passing .... i know it's the modern trend to play out from the back but we are not very good at it .... we are really slow in getting the ball forward and that simply helps the opposition .... when you watch some of the other decent championship teams thay all have pace and shift from defence to attack really quickly ... we do, on occasion, and i would like to see more of it ... dowell's run prior to sarge's goal was great to see ,,, nunez has done it now and again but he seems to have gone off the boil a bit ... it's a pity rowe isn't fit and that onel isn't consistent because they have pace ... if hayden gets in the team he may be the defence to attack link we really need and if giannoulis comes back too we may see better defending on the left and him being a left-footer opens up the options ... sarge and pukki seem to play well together (as did pukki and idah) so i can't see any reason why smith doesn't play 4-4-2 or some other weird formation that enables us to play 2 up front ... this would be my (uneducated) pick ...
GUNN
AARONS / HANLEY / BYRAM / GIANNOULIS
HERNANDEZ / HAYDEN / DOWELL / SARA
SARGENT / PUKKI
GUNN
AARONS / HANLEY / BYRAM / GIANNOULIS
HERNANDEZ / HAYDEN / DOWELL / SARA
SARGENT / PUKKI
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Gibson, Sara and Ramsey in. Dimi on the bench.
N
Number 9
Well-Known Member
Dowell out in the warm up, replaced by Sinani
morty
Moderator
Staff member
I would have thought Cantwell would have been the ideal one for one swap there. Maybe not fully fit. Or something.
N
Number 9
Well-Known Member
Todd was getting ready to replace Josh but he stayed on.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Well, looks like going for the option of getting a wisdom tooth removed, and spending the evening in agony, was actually a better option than going to Carrow road. 
G
gerryinromania
Well-Known Member
Well, that was class. That twonk smith says he's not Farke and doesn't want to be. That's for sure. He has the motivational skills of a cheap biscuit dipped in cold weak tea. Better Hughton, at least he knew what he was trying to do, I see nothing like that from the genial midlands fraud. I imagine that the Ukranians are rather pleased that he's not one of their battle commanders, or even a normal soldier,
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Smith out gathering pace...
G
GJP
Well-Known Member
I originally thought DS was a reasonable appointment. Never expected champagne football but thought he'd get us into some kind of order that would get a decent tune out of us.
But after almost a year he's not really giving us much to buy into.
Any decent manager should be able to get this squad nearer the top of this league. And that seems to be pretty much where DS is. He's just about doing enough but never really doing anything to suggest he can go up a gear.
It's hard to know what kind of team we are - other than one which generally has better individuals than a lot of teams in this league.
But after almost a year he's not really giving us much to buy into.
Any decent manager should be able to get this squad nearer the top of this league. And that seems to be pretty much where DS is. He's just about doing enough but never really doing anything to suggest he can go up a gear.
It's hard to know what kind of team we are - other than one which generally has better individuals than a lot of teams in this league.
N
Number 9
Well-Known Member
I can't help feeling that Smith is trying to play in a way that gets Pukki scoring. The play everything on the floor to the D of the penalty area wasn't working for Farke towards the end and it's not working now.
Imagine you're a mid to low table Championship team and you're up against these players who have been in the Premier League recently, what would you do?
It's obvious that they can't win by playing football against us but there are so many examples of us not being able to play through a low block and getting caught by a counterattack when we give the ball away.
It's so simple to play against us, make that area on the edge of the D congested so we struggle to play Pukki in, yet we keep using the same tactics.
When Pukki was out we were stretching defences by moving the ball quickly up the wings and getting crosses in for Josh and Hugill etc.
The system we play didn't work in the Premier League, it's not working in the Championship, yet we have players to be successful with a different approach.
Imagine you're a mid to low table Championship team and you're up against these players who have been in the Premier League recently, what would you do?
It's obvious that they can't win by playing football against us but there are so many examples of us not being able to play through a low block and getting caught by a counterattack when we give the ball away.
It's so simple to play against us, make that area on the edge of the D congested so we struggle to play Pukki in, yet we keep using the same tactics.
When Pukki was out we were stretching defences by moving the ball quickly up the wings and getting crosses in for Josh and Hugill etc.
The system we play didn't work in the Premier League, it's not working in the Championship, yet we have players to be successful with a different approach.
N
Number 9
Well-Known Member
Why take off an attacker to bring on Hayden at 88 mins?
Answers on a postcard to
I'm the City manager and I don't know what I'm doing...
Answers on a postcard to
I'm the City manager and I don't know what I'm doing...
G
GJP
Well-Known Member
Trying to keep the score down to 1 nil.
Gunvald Larsson
Well-Known Member
I am not usually a moaner but last night was awful .... the team simply did not seem to know what they had to do to win the game ... when Hanley is the only player to really run at the opposition defence (which he did several times) you know something is not right ... Sarge needs to play up front not on the wing ... he needs creative players to set up chances for him ... Pukki is a true great but he was wasteful last night (MOTM ... how did that happen?) ... I was a Farke-ite but am now past that ... I had high hopes for Smith but the squad is good and by now he should be getting them to dominate games ... fiddling about at the back and making endless sideways passes may look good for the stats, but it doesn't win games ... and what has happened to the swashbuckling Max Aarons? rarely takes on his opponents these days and he has gone backwards with is defending ... I don't know what the answer is to really sort it out but on current form we are heading down the table and that should not be happening with these players.
ratings - Gunn 5, Aarons 4, Hanley 5, Gibson 4, McLean 4, Gibbs 4, Sara 6, Ramsey 4, Sinani 4, Sargent 6, Pukki 4
subs - Cantwell 5, Hernandez 4, Nunez 4, Giannoulis 5, Hayden 5
ps - Pukki was named MOTM ... how did that happen?
ratings - Gunn 5, Aarons 4, Hanley 5, Gibson 4, McLean 4, Gibbs 4, Sara 6, Ramsey 4, Sinani 4, Sargent 6, Pukki 4
subs - Cantwell 5, Hernandez 4, Nunez 4, Giannoulis 5, Hayden 5
ps - Pukki was named MOTM ... how did that happen?
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morty
Moderator
Staff member
I wouldn't bother, mind...
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