Bottom of Prem vs Champs of L1.

[jeffs right]

Thought Kerr did well and should retain the shirt, regardless of whether Whatmough is fit or not. LR might get round it by playing with 3 CB's.

Let's hope so especially at home. That will set Magennis up to succeed rather than setting him up to fail as we seem to do when he plays up top on his own.

 

[ZAKKY]

For me that was a brave battling performance against a team that had quality all over the pitch. I really feared the worst in the first 25 mins and it reminded me of Prem games at Chelsea and Spurs where we got hammered but these lads dug in and took the lead, to be fair it should have been 2-0 but Keane chose the wrong pass.
We wont play many teams as good as Norwich this season so I'm happy enough tonight.
But tomorrow I want us to sign more class

 

[ManchesterLatic89]

Another very good battling performance by the players today. That could prove a very good and very important point for us before season's end against a very good side who i think eventually will get going and will be playoffs minimum at end of season.

Felt a lot of the team had good games today, deserved MOTM from McClean, though i felt Kerr ran him very close, been excellent since he came in for Whatmough after his injury vs Preston. Darikwa also very good and i felt after a slow start both Bennett and Tilt both came into their own and improved as the match went on.

Only player i was disappointed with today performance wise was Lang, felt everyone else all contributed and did their bit well either all game or later on in the match after a slow start. However, this match also really highlights the need for signings now. Our bench today highlighted how with player departures and injuries that our squad is paper thin in terms of depth.

Id be disappointed if there isnt another new signing announced before Bristol City. I accept we will probably be doing some business on deadline day this season. However, im not comfortable with the idea of doing all our remaining business on deadline day and would rather try and avoid it if possible.

Bristol City have had a poor start and next week's home game has to be looked at as a must win game in my eyes. That and Birmingham away strike me as key games where we need a win or two on the board early to get a little bit of a cushion from the drop zone. Not to mention help us convince new signings more on the merits of a move to us. There will soon be a midweek to weekend schedule for us to November with the World Cup pause, so a paper thin squad will be a problem for us unless we move and get some reinforcements in soon.

Fleetwood in the League Cup midweek next. Id rotate the pack for this game. Id be giving Shinnie a start in midfield, Pearce a start at left full back, Aasgaard should get a start and 90 minutes too and 100% Nyambe should get a start and ideally 90 mins action to build up his fitness. Im not too fussed about the cup competitions this season, league is the priority so use this Fleetwood game as an extention of pre season and give as much of the squad minutes as possible not to mention giving the likes of Naylor a rest (who again was very good today). Maybe even a start for Scott Smith too.

All in all though another good performance by Leam and the team where my expectations were surpassed and the overall performance and result were good. Some new signings ideally soon and we go again Tuesday vs Fleetwood and Saturday vs Bristol City. Up The Tics!

 

[You are my sunshine]

Excellent point that against a side expected to be up there come May!

Norwich came out the traps fast like a wounded animal from last week and absolutely dominated that 1st 20 minutes.But we defended well,rode our luck at times and hung in there.

Then Lang had his chance and from that point we grew into the game as it seemed to give us that bit more belief in an attacking sense.We then got the goal after good work by Keane and finish from McClean and we had a real foothold in the game until their equaliser.

We seemed to lose concentration after the long injury stoppage and were punished.Then with their players and crowd lifted it was all about showing good organisation as well as resilience and sheer grit and determination to get a brilliant point.

It was nice to have a strong ref too that didn't bow to the pressure of giving them a pen late on.They kept going to ground easy in the box and claiming handballs throughout that 2nd half.

Then Naylor was on the stretch,desperately trying to honestly defend a really dangerous situation which resulted in him clearly winning the ball.WTF is he then supposed to do?Make his foot disappear after winning the ball?Or even just let them get the shot off in the 1st place?It was actually Aarons that kicked Naylors shin after Naylor won the ball.

So the whinging,under pressure Dean Smith can f*** off claiming he went over the ball and that it was a nasty challenge that deserved a pen and red card.

Kerr and Tilt were both outstanding today.Naylor and McClean were both excellent and the rest of the team put in a good,spirited shift to earn a decent,battling point.

Just to add Amos will be disappointed with their goal.But he redeemed himself with that magnificent save onto the bar from Pukki.Thought he also commanded his box well again.

UTFT

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

It was a very pleasing hard fought point, we certainly had to ride our luck again with the number of chances they missed but we ground out a point on sheer graft against a superior side. It was not a great technical performance but it was one of those games that make you proud as they gave you everything they had and put their bodies on the line. It was only a point but it kind of felt a bit like a win in some ways.

We looked like lambs to the slaughter up until their sloppy passing was caught out and we took the lead. I feared after we took the lead Norwich would throw everything at us and turn it around but their confidence went and last season's losing mentality seemed to creep in. While we grew a little into it and handled the game much better. We stopped going long as often and giving posession back every time and tried to be smarter on the ball and set up counters.

After so much heroic defending earlier in the game their equalising goal was really disappointing as we seemed relatively comfortable with their threat until we didn't track Aaron's run and his shot went through Amos. It was a soft one after dealing with so many dangerous situations so well previously.

After that I feared a late Norwich winner was coming as they pushed harder but we generally managed to deal with it quite well and cling on. I thought the ref did very well as they were diving for everything and he never buckled under pressure to give them any undeserved penalties. In particular Naylor's tackle, for me it wasn't a red or a penalty but I can see a lot of refs giving it.

Overall it was like last week in a lot of ways showing our strengths and weaknesses. Work rate, spirit, fitness, organisation, battle all there in abundance, but there is also a lack of quality going forward and we struggled to keep the ball or create anything.

For a team that primarily looks long we've never been very good at it. Magennis was completely isolated and even if he won a header there was no one there to run onto it. If we want to be a Barnsley Ishmail style long ball team we need to work on having more method to it - getting players around the striker. It's a thankless task playing a lone striker in our system but I thought Magennis did quite well. Probably his best game as a lone striker for us.

This formation / style is good defensively but has always been very static and doesn't allow us to play out, keep posession and create much. I think we're going to have to look at wing backs again in the near future as it is more fluid as it generates those little passing triangles and movement. Last season we could keep it tight and rely on a moment of magic from one of our superior players to get us a break through, but this year with the opposition having the superior players we're going to have to work on creating more through our method of play rather than looking to individual quality.

I was quite optimistic Tilt was going to step up to this level and he's been excellent so far. I wasn't sure what to expect from Kerr but he's also really impressed. I think the pair of them were superb in both games.

Keane was a player I wasn't sure if he'd carry his form into this year but I thought did quite well in both games.

I think some of the other players are really feeling the step up in speed, physicality and quality though. Hopefully they'll adapt over the upcoming games as it is very obviously a big step up.

You can't fault this group for their effort, heart and organisation and as pleasing as it was to come away with a point, it's already very obvious we need to add quality and will need to evolve our style of play in posession. We've got a solid foundation to build on but we certainly need to do so.

 

[GlasgowLatic]

Kal Naismith looked dodgy today for Bristol City. He seemed to be central defence. Magennis will be far to strong and we know what an anxious out of firm Kal can be like at the DW.

Need to get service next week

 

[moonay]

Superb point. Didn't see any of the game, (though reading the comments on here during the first 20 minutes was quite entertaining !) but from all most accounts we were good value for the point.

As for that "penalty", Naylor wins the ball superbly, and their bloke then puts Tom Daley to shame with his reaction.

Oh, and Dean Smith should be embarrassed by his post match comments.

 

[moonay]

Just watch the first 6 seconds of this ... Naylor wins the ball cleanly, and his foot is then kicked by their player's shin. It's not Naylor's follow through at all. Also, why on earth does their player's right leg come off the floor like that?

If anyone stumbles across a spat out dummy anywhere, it probably belongs to a Mr Dean Smith, c/o Carrow Rd, Norwich.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1555907756766466052

 

[removed at members request]

Just watch the first 6 seconds of this ... Naylor wins the ball cleanly, and his foot is then kicked by their player's shin. It's not Naylor's follow through at all. Also, why on earth does their player's right leg come off the floor like that?

If anyone stumbles across a spat out dummy anywhere, it probably belongs to a Mr Dean Smith, c/o Carrow Rd, Norwich.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1555907756766466052

Whether you agree with it or not, had that been in the Prem it would have been overturned on VAR review and Naylor sent off.

I'm not saying I agree with that, but it's what would have happened.

 

[C_McNamara]

Sort of performance I think we will see a fair bit of this year especially away from home.

Been a pattern of Richardson’s time we us I think, first 15/20 mins, surrender possession and work out the shape and pattern of the opposition. After that we usually start to get to grips with it. My only slight worry is in this league you can be 2 goals down by the time that comes around. Felt we did ride a bit of luck in the opening part of the game however we was always going to do I think to get something from the game.

Frustrating really that the one time the midfield and defence lines weren’t quite as compact led to the equaliser, shows you the quality your up against really.

Just another game ticked off, take the point and onward to Bristol City.

 

[daleks.at.the.monaco]

Superb point. Didn't see any of the game, (though reading the comments on here during the first 20 minutes was quite entertaining !) but from all most accounts we were good value for the point.

As for that "penalty", Naylor wins the ball superbly, and their bloke then puts Tom Daley to shame with his reaction.

Oh, and Dean Smith should be embarrassed by his post match comments.

Smith just the Norwich coach driver, well that is what he looks like

 

[moonay]

Whether you agree with it or not, had that been in the Prem it would have been overturned on VAR review and Naylor sent off.

I'm not saying I agree with that, but it's what would have happened.

Nah. That still picture (being flashed round Twitter by whinging Norwich players) is completely misleading. The tackle's been made, the ball was won, and any force was from the lad's own shin.

His reaction thereafter is completely abnormal. Just watch his right leg as he jumps in the air.

Excellent decision by the ref ... though he could maybe have booked the Norwich player for the play acting.

 

[removed at members request]

Nah. That still picture (being flashed round Twitter by whinging Norwich players) is completely misleading. The tackle's been made, the ball was won, and any force was from the lad's own shin.

His reaction thereafter is completely abnormal. Just watch his right leg as he jumps in the air.

Excellent decision by the ref ... though he could maybe have booked the Norwich player for the play acting.

Your deluded if you don’t think that any referee watches that on a VAR monitor, sees Naylor studs go into the lad’s shin on the follow through and doesn’t give a pen plus a red.

Play acting? Have you seen the picture of his shin post match?

 

[Lazysid]

Nah. That still picture (being flashed round Twitter by whinging Norwich players) is completely misleading. The tackle's been made, the ball was won, and any force was from the lad's own shin.

His reaction thereafter is completely abnormal. Just watch his right leg as he jumps in the air.

Excellent decision by the ref ... though he could maybe have booked the Norwich player for the play acting.

We got away with one there in my opinion.

I presume the booking for the Norwich player was said in jest.

 

[TRUE BELIEVER]

Nah. That still picture (being flashed round Twitter by whinging Norwich players) is completely misleading. The tackle's been made, the ball was won, and any force was from the lad's own shin.

His reaction thereafter is completely abnormal. Just watch his right leg as he jumps in the air.

Excellent decision by the ref ... though he could maybe have booked the Norwich player for the play acting.

Saw the tackle in real time on Sky and thought it was hard but fair and that Naylor definitely got the ball then watched the slowed down replays and it shows why VAR should be scrapped.

When you slow it down it does look like a rash challenge and Naylors natural carry through looks dangerous and gives a totally false view of the tackle.

It was one of those incidents in a game were if you are a home fan it's a definite penalty, but any away fan would argue it's just a natural carry through of his momentum that caused the clash.

50/50 for me both players committed to getting the ball and as the ref had a good view no argument.

 

[moonay]

Your deluded if you don’t think that any referee watches that on a VAR monitor, sees Naylor studs go into the lad’s shin on the follow through and doesn’t give a pen plus a red.

Play acting? Have you seen the picture of his shin post match?

Again, Naylor won the ball cleanly, and then the the Norwich lads shin hits Naylor's boot ... not the other way around.

He clearly jumps in the air. If his left leg was hurt, he'd have simply collapsed. Instead, he popped up like a kid's toy.

 

[moonay]

We got away with one there in my opinion.

I presume the booking for the Norwich player was said in jest.

Not really. I get there was contact on his left leg, but watch the reaction of his right ... he was looking for summat.

 

[C_McNamara]

Big decision which went in our favour this time, however could well not next week.

These sorts of things usually evens up throughout the year. As mentioned above everyone has their own take.

Course Norwich will claim penalty, if comes a day when they don’t then football has truly gone wrong.

 

[TRUE BELIEVER]

Not really. I get there was contact on his left leg, but watch the reaction of his right ... he was looking for summat.

He may have been looking for summat mate, but he did get clobbered. As I said, in my view, it was a 50/50 and Aarons came of worst.

If you look at the replays they do highlight Naylor's studs being up, but as he connects with the ball they are not. It is due to him stretching that his foot rises to show his studs on contact, it's a natural action and not a deliberate act and therefore no foul.

The point in all this is that the referee saw the tackle in real time and saw what we saw. Slowing it down clearly makes it look more cynical and that for me is why VAR should be scrapped as the more you analyse these things and look at them in slow motion the worse they look.

 

[moonay]

He may have been looking for summat mate, but he did get clobbered. As I said, in my view, it was a 50/50 and Aarons came of worst.

If you look at the replays they do highlight Naylor's studs being up, but as he connects with the ball they are not. It is due to him stretching that his foot rises to show his studs on contact, it's a natural action and not a deliberate act and therefore no foul.

The point in all this is that the referee saw the tackle in real time and saw what we saw. Slowing it down clearly makes it look more cynical and that for me is why VAR should be scrapped as the more you analyse these things and look at them in slow motion the worse they look.

I completely agree with this TB ... and I repeat, the only reason I say he was looking for summat is because of his right leg. There's no contact on it, yet he pulls it back as if it's been taken out by Naylor.