Yellow Fever
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Apparently the third goal was later awarded to another player. Still a good start though!
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The Great Mass Debater
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Was he playing centre-mid? Know if the goals were from open play or set pieces etc? Great start
Surgeryman
New Member
An entertaining game even though we made it hard work for ourselves. Defensively poor goals to concede but created by poor decision making in midfield. I thought , as the manager said, we were decent for 60 minutes and created some excellent chances but for me it really identified some good and bad things that need remedying for the run in.
Russell Martin was offensively very good and playing him there backs up Redmond big time far more than Whittaker.
Redmond is getting better and better. Hooper likewise excellent ( would have kept him on myself).
O Neill very good
Josh Murphy is further away from a first team place that thought. Poor today, but obviously still very much with L plates on.
Ruddy, great save for the penalty but kicking and dominance in the air was indifferent today.
Defensively we were a mixed bag. Goals conceded seem to always come from Olssens side. Although he did OK, that is a worry.
Turner was decent but playing two right footed CBs is always going to cause problems.
Lafferty got a goal but dropped away big time second half.
Transfer window requests, review CB position and get another on in with a bit of pace. Send Hooiveld back if he is not good enough
I would let Olssen go and cover with Garrido, possibly Miquel or get someone in like Bryam from Leeds.
Get a left sided wide man. If we can get Sinclair then all week and good but not sure that will happen, but needs sorting one way or another.
Russell Martin was offensively very good and playing him there backs up Redmond big time far more than Whittaker.
Redmond is getting better and better. Hooper likewise excellent ( would have kept him on myself).
O Neill very good
Josh Murphy is further away from a first team place that thought. Poor today, but obviously still very much with L plates on.
Ruddy, great save for the penalty but kicking and dominance in the air was indifferent today.
Defensively we were a mixed bag. Goals conceded seem to always come from Olssens side. Although he did OK, that is a worry.
Turner was decent but playing two right footed CBs is always going to cause problems.
Lafferty got a goal but dropped away big time second half.
Transfer window requests, review CB position and get another on in with a bit of pace. Send Hooiveld back if he is not good enough
I would let Olssen go and cover with Garrido, possibly Miquel or get someone in like Bryam from Leeds.
Get a left sided wide man. If we can get Sinclair then all week and good but not sure that will happen, but needs sorting one way or another.
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Chris Brown
New Member
HOOPER 1-0 #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/tv31QewQc9
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
LAFFERTY 2-0 #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/RCPMXeM0cn
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
RUDDY PENALTY SAVE #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/wTHWiHckQJ
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
JEROME 3-0 #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/PTsJq6dv2N
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
LAFFERTY 2-0 #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/RCPMXeM0cn
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
RUDDY PENALTY SAVE #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/wTHWiHckQJ
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
JEROME 3-0 #NCFC #ccfc https://t.co/PTsJq6dv2N
— Chris Brown (@browno_)
January 17, 2015
Yellow Fever
New Member
Many thanks again, Browno, for providing the goals. Great to see (having only heard them earlier!).
G
GJP
Well-Known Member
I thought Martin played well.
But I don't think people would tolerate Whittaker being caught up the pitch as often as Martin was and leaving us exposed. Which happened quite a bit.
Din
Well-Known Member
Well we got there in the end. We made bloody hard work of it though. I said though a few weeks ago that if we can get 4 points from the Bournemouth and Cardiff games then we are back in with a shot of automatic promotion. We've got 6. It's a shame really that practically every other result went against us today though.
Player Ratings:
Ruddy - 7. Obviously he made a brilliant save from their penalty at 2-0. As Neil said after the game, if that goes in it's a completely different match. It didn't though because of a quite frankly wonderful save. However, he is partly responsible for Cardiff's second. If he doesn't come off his line then it doesn't go in, but Cuellar is as much to blame as him. Apart from that he was solid, although he was rarely tested.
Martin - 8. Had an excellent game. So much better at right back than he is at centre back. Got forward really well, and pretty much single-handedly made Jerome's goal with his superb run. Defensively solid as well, and very good in the air.
Cuellar - 5. Might be being slightly harsh here, but he certainly had the worst game I've seen him play for us. Really slow to turn and wasn't great in the air either. He also was partly at fault for their second goal, and he gave away the penalty. I'd give him another chance because usually he's much better than that, but he was disappointing today.
Turner - 7. Struggled a little bit to deal with the pace of Harris when he came on, but his positioning was very good, and he was often in the right place at the right time. In the air as well he was fantastic, won every single header.
Olsson - 7. He got a bit of stick on Canary Call after the game, but I thought on the whole he did well. Did have the odd dodgy moment where he would nearly give the ball away in dangerous positions. But he got forward really well and delivered in some good crosses as usual. Defensively as well he did fine, and dealt with some dangerous situations very well.
Redmond - 8. Absolutely tore their left back Malone apart in the first half, to the extent where they saw it fit to take him off during the second. Obviously put in the cross that eventually led to our first goal, and he has a really nice understanding with Russell Martin down the right hand side. Quieter in the second half, but was really unfortunate when his shot hit the bar, and wouldn't quite drop over the line. Very happy that he's back in the starting line-up.
O'Neil - 6. A few people on Canary Call were saying what a good game they thought he had, but I didn't think he was great at all to be honest. Defensively he was shocking. Almost every time he was in a 1 on 1 situation with their midfielder he would come out second best. And even though on the whole his passing was fine, there were times in the first half where he played some dreadful passes. His delivery from set-pieces though was very good, but I have to say that I do prefer Howson to him.
Johnson - 8. Always been a big fan of this guy, and right now he is in great form. Played some superb passes over the top of their defence, was very composed in possession, and as always he battled hard in the middle, often winning the ball back. Not quite as good in the second half, but that can be said for the whole team. Overall he was excellent.
Lafferty - 7. Well he didn't get booked, which immediately makes this his best performance in a yellow shirt. A really good performance though from Lafferty. His decision making is sometimes questionable, and I think he should try and deliver crosses into the box more regularly than he does, but all in all he did really well. Very direct in his approach, which I like about him, and obviously a great curling finish for his goal. He also worked very hard as he always does, and as I said, he didn't get booked, which is a hell of an achievement for him. Brilliant decision on Alex Neil's behalf to bring him back in.
Hooper - 7. Great with the ball at his feet, and obviously managed to get on the score-sheet again today. He was also unlucky in the first half, when Moore saved well from his effort from just outside the box. Shows a great understanding with Jerome, and is brilliant at bringing the midfield into play. That said though he was pretty anonymous in the second half.
Jerome - 7. Worked endlessly hard, and his pace is so hard to deal with for opposition defenders. Another great performance from him, and obviously a really well-taken goal. Could've had another as well when he flashed a header wide in the second half. Wasn't as dominant in the air as he normally is, but he did link-up well with the midfield. Like the rest of the team though, he fizzled out a lot in the second.
Subs:
Hoolahan - 5. Set up one or two good attacks, but also gave the ball away stupidly on a couple of occasions. Not much of an impact really.
Murphy - 4. A couple of nice runs with the ball, but ultimately he gave it away too often, and his decision making was quite poor.
Grabban - N/A. Only on for a few minutes, so no impact at all.
Well we were by no means at our best today, however at from this stage of the season onwards it is simply all about the points, which fortunately we ended up getting. I have to say though, even though we were cruising in that first half, I didn't think we were anywhere near our best at any stage. Even though in the first half we were very comfortable, it felt like we had so much more in the tank. That said though, I thought at half-time that we could see something similar to our previous two home games, where we've ended up thrashing the opposition. Second half though we were so lackadaisical on the ball, and were careless defensively at times, as was shown with both of their goals. Had we been up against better opposition we wouldn't of come away with all 3 points today. It's a shame really that we did let 2 sloppy goals in, because a 3-0 win off the back of beating the league leaders would keep confidence increasingly massively, however at least we did get the win in the end.
I know Cardiff didn't have a full-strength team, but even so they were really quite poor. Even in the stoppage time at the end of the game when they were 3-2 down, they just let us have the ball in their half, didn't put any pressure on us whatsoever, and didn't threaten us going forward at all. Their 2 goals only really came from awful defending on our behalf, particularly the second goal. Cardiff's only real tactic was to pump the ball up to Revell, and hope that he can head it to his own man. They did have a couple of players that looked quite good. Craig Noone in particular, their attacking midfielder, really impressed me. Superb with the ball at his feet, and was the only player causing some real problems. Alex Revell was very good in the air, and obviously scored their first goal and set up their second. Kadeem Harris as well looked a threat after he came off the bench. Very quick and his pace did trouble the likes of Cuellar and Turner at times, and he finished well for their second. Apart from those three players Cardiff were very poor. You certainly wouldn't think that this was a team that took 4 points off us in the Premier League last season.
Massive game next week now. We've been lurking on the edge of the top 6 for ages now, without actually managing to break in. A win next week would guarantee that we'd be in a play-off place, and would possibly close the gap even further on the automatic promotion places. If we play like we did today though against Brentford, particularly in the second half, then there is no doubt that we will lose. Alex Neil has had a dream start so far, if he can continue that then I think everyone will really start to believe that we can finish in the top 2.
Player Ratings:
Ruddy - 7. Obviously he made a brilliant save from their penalty at 2-0. As Neil said after the game, if that goes in it's a completely different match. It didn't though because of a quite frankly wonderful save. However, he is partly responsible for Cardiff's second. If he doesn't come off his line then it doesn't go in, but Cuellar is as much to blame as him. Apart from that he was solid, although he was rarely tested.
Martin - 8. Had an excellent game. So much better at right back than he is at centre back. Got forward really well, and pretty much single-handedly made Jerome's goal with his superb run. Defensively solid as well, and very good in the air.
Cuellar - 5. Might be being slightly harsh here, but he certainly had the worst game I've seen him play for us. Really slow to turn and wasn't great in the air either. He also was partly at fault for their second goal, and he gave away the penalty. I'd give him another chance because usually he's much better than that, but he was disappointing today.
Turner - 7. Struggled a little bit to deal with the pace of Harris when he came on, but his positioning was very good, and he was often in the right place at the right time. In the air as well he was fantastic, won every single header.
Olsson - 7. He got a bit of stick on Canary Call after the game, but I thought on the whole he did well. Did have the odd dodgy moment where he would nearly give the ball away in dangerous positions. But he got forward really well and delivered in some good crosses as usual. Defensively as well he did fine, and dealt with some dangerous situations very well.
Redmond - 8. Absolutely tore their left back Malone apart in the first half, to the extent where they saw it fit to take him off during the second. Obviously put in the cross that eventually led to our first goal, and he has a really nice understanding with Russell Martin down the right hand side. Quieter in the second half, but was really unfortunate when his shot hit the bar, and wouldn't quite drop over the line. Very happy that he's back in the starting line-up.
O'Neil - 6. A few people on Canary Call were saying what a good game they thought he had, but I didn't think he was great at all to be honest. Defensively he was shocking. Almost every time he was in a 1 on 1 situation with their midfielder he would come out second best. And even though on the whole his passing was fine, there were times in the first half where he played some dreadful passes. His delivery from set-pieces though was very good, but I have to say that I do prefer Howson to him.
Johnson - 8. Always been a big fan of this guy, and right now he is in great form. Played some superb passes over the top of their defence, was very composed in possession, and as always he battled hard in the middle, often winning the ball back. Not quite as good in the second half, but that can be said for the whole team. Overall he was excellent.
Lafferty - 7. Well he didn't get booked, which immediately makes this his best performance in a yellow shirt. A really good performance though from Lafferty. His decision making is sometimes questionable, and I think he should try and deliver crosses into the box more regularly than he does, but all in all he did really well. Very direct in his approach, which I like about him, and obviously a great curling finish for his goal. He also worked very hard as he always does, and as I said, he didn't get booked, which is a hell of an achievement for him. Brilliant decision on Alex Neil's behalf to bring him back in.
Hooper - 7. Great with the ball at his feet, and obviously managed to get on the score-sheet again today. He was also unlucky in the first half, when Moore saved well from his effort from just outside the box. Shows a great understanding with Jerome, and is brilliant at bringing the midfield into play. That said though he was pretty anonymous in the second half.
Jerome - 7. Worked endlessly hard, and his pace is so hard to deal with for opposition defenders. Another great performance from him, and obviously a really well-taken goal. Could've had another as well when he flashed a header wide in the second half. Wasn't as dominant in the air as he normally is, but he did link-up well with the midfield. Like the rest of the team though, he fizzled out a lot in the second.
Subs:
Hoolahan - 5. Set up one or two good attacks, but also gave the ball away stupidly on a couple of occasions. Not much of an impact really.
Murphy - 4. A couple of nice runs with the ball, but ultimately he gave it away too often, and his decision making was quite poor.
Grabban - N/A. Only on for a few minutes, so no impact at all.
Well we were by no means at our best today, however at from this stage of the season onwards it is simply all about the points, which fortunately we ended up getting. I have to say though, even though we were cruising in that first half, I didn't think we were anywhere near our best at any stage. Even though in the first half we were very comfortable, it felt like we had so much more in the tank. That said though, I thought at half-time that we could see something similar to our previous two home games, where we've ended up thrashing the opposition. Second half though we were so lackadaisical on the ball, and were careless defensively at times, as was shown with both of their goals. Had we been up against better opposition we wouldn't of come away with all 3 points today. It's a shame really that we did let 2 sloppy goals in, because a 3-0 win off the back of beating the league leaders would keep confidence increasingly massively, however at least we did get the win in the end.
I know Cardiff didn't have a full-strength team, but even so they were really quite poor. Even in the stoppage time at the end of the game when they were 3-2 down, they just let us have the ball in their half, didn't put any pressure on us whatsoever, and didn't threaten us going forward at all. Their 2 goals only really came from awful defending on our behalf, particularly the second goal. Cardiff's only real tactic was to pump the ball up to Revell, and hope that he can head it to his own man. They did have a couple of players that looked quite good. Craig Noone in particular, their attacking midfielder, really impressed me. Superb with the ball at his feet, and was the only player causing some real problems. Alex Revell was very good in the air, and obviously scored their first goal and set up their second. Kadeem Harris as well looked a threat after he came off the bench. Very quick and his pace did trouble the likes of Cuellar and Turner at times, and he finished well for their second. Apart from those three players Cardiff were very poor. You certainly wouldn't think that this was a team that took 4 points off us in the Premier League last season.
Massive game next week now. We've been lurking on the edge of the top 6 for ages now, without actually managing to break in. A win next week would guarantee that we'd be in a play-off place, and would possibly close the gap even further on the automatic promotion places. If we play like we did today though against Brentford, particularly in the second half, then there is no doubt that we will lose. Alex Neil has had a dream start so far, if he can continue that then I think everyone will really start to believe that we can finish in the top 2.
dj161
Well-Known Member
Highlights for those wanting them
Yellow Fever
New Member
I agree with most of your ratings Din, though I'd give Cuellar a 6, O'Neil a 7 and Jerome an 8. I thought the formation up front was bold and effective but we really missed Tettey's ability to read and break up attacks. The defence seemed to be exposed at times and Turner and Cuellar are not at their best when dealing with through balls and players running at them with pace.
Murphy is not the finished article by any means (a bit like Redmond when he first arrived). He'll only improve through playing though. We also missed Lafferty's ability to track back and support Olsson after he went off. Josh needs to work on that, but it'll come.
Murphy is not the finished article by any means (a bit like Redmond when he first arrived). He'll only improve through playing though. We also missed Lafferty's ability to track back and support Olsson after he went off. Josh needs to work on that, but it'll come.
Yellow Fever
New Member
Thanks for the highlights DJ!
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