I thought a counter thread to the LJ one might be interesting. People with strong opinions on LJ and maybe on our squad too. I have read a few people saying our squad is good ennough for top 2. I have to admit to some doubts about it. Goalies - we are fine with Hoffman. Burge is an ok backup IMO. Good enough to challenge for top 2. Full backs - Cirkin looks good, but out for a while. Huggins too early to say, also out for a while. Hume injured. Most managers I think would struggle a bit with that. I would like to think Cirkin and Huggins would be good enough but if they arent on the pitch they arent obviously. Injuries leave me to think we are too thin for top 2 challenge. Centre backs. Flannagan has improved a lot. Doyle has a massive future. Bailey Wright I am not a big fan of, but credit where it is due last 2 games. Alves not sure. Younger should get a shot but we cant be certain he is a defender to achieve top 2. Willis big miss, would still be first choice. Xhemajli who knows. Not a top 2 crop of players for me as it stands. Midfielders - Neil as good as anyone - class act. Evans must have something about him to get 60 odd international caps, but not shown it. Winchester good. O'Nien become a bit of a scapegoat but doesnt shirk. If Evans had maintained early season form I would have been happy, but as it stands with Winchester at rb and O'Nien at lb we are short. Forwards - embleton quality. Stewart good but needs competition. Broadhead not sure. O'Brien not for me. McGeady maybe impact sub now. Gooch i am 50/50 on. Dajaku doesnt look ready to me. Pritchard should be a key one but hasnt done it yet. We are maybe an alternative or partner for stewart away from getting this part of the squad right. Overall my view is we are short of a top 2 squad. It could be Cirkin, Huggins back, and maybe Xhemajli and it changes the whole dynamic. I would like to see the recruitment guys give the squad and coaches a hand though in jan with 2 or 3 additions to really help.
Embleton has moments of quality but is too inconsistent at the moment and can be completely anonymous in games I am a massive fan of his by the way
from my point of view the biggest let down for me has been Gooch Pritchard and Evans i really was expecting more from them
Agreed. Not sure Gooch has been the same player since his lass had their bairn! Not saying it's necessarily linked but he had a great start to that season and has tailed off massively. Pritchard probably has more to come - Tuesday's goal showed what he is capable off Evans is playing like he couldn't give a ****. Maybe there is a clash of personalities with the manager but his recent performances have been a joke
some managers like playing their favourites week in week out regardless, and stick with the same tactics even when other teams have worked out how to nullify them to their Avantage
We'll probably scrap an unconvincing win (think Gillingham away) and it will keep the manager safe for a couple of weeks
Aye mate, good points there.....Gooch's form is a strange one, isn't it?...I had high hopes form him this season. Evans form and attitude is also an odd one. Pritchard IMHO....is gonna be an 'inspiration player' soon. When he plays, watch him when he's off the ball....he's constantly looking all over the pitch for link-up play, like Scholes and Keane demanded...you can see his urgency as a proper team player pro should be... Just wait until he gets a run of games !
finally a balanced view on the squad without 'he's shyte' thrown in. evans, have seen quality there but feel he needs the right set up around him, we were told he is better in a 3 than a 2. while both doing a good job at right/left back winchester an onien both see themselves as midfielders although currently there are good arguments through their performances to counter that, how long before they get sick of being 'square pegs'. gooch/geads/dajaku/pritchard...gooch has to work on that final ball, while he has done some very good work he wastes as many chances to get the ball in the box, good points are that the defence never know which way he will turn or which foot he is going to use, geads, not sure if injured but came on, went mad for maybe 10 minutes trying mainly to get a shot at goal then dropped back and never touched the ball, impact sub currently, dajaku, throw him into the 'trying too hard to impress at new club' group of players, he has skills and he has pace and eye for a goal but needs to calm himself down, pritchard, finally we saw the type of player he is and what he can bring to the side, maybe the goal will boost his confidence and he might even get a bit of a run in the side...the main thing with all the above is consistency as they tend to show flashes of what they can do then sit back on that for a game or two, these players need to show the same week in week out. cannot really say much about the forwards except they need better service, especially talking about stewart here as we know he can put the ball away with ease, that should, of course, fall into place when the whole team is firing on all cylinders.
Me too kidda....I just see something in him that kinda feels positive... I hope he gets his chance and keeps his place, due to what he brings to the table....
One of the things that I have noticed recently is when we are in the attacking 3rd we dont stay there long enough. Johnson said it after Shrewsbury that we dont get that second or third phase in there. Basically we make a bad choice (crossing instead if going back), or our execution is poor. I agree with this. This means the ball comes back at us quickly and probably explains in part why we look open (midfielders or full backs have committed and we get turned over). It is something to focus on in my opinion, perhaps by adding a couple of players of different type of attacking players. We definitely need to score more goals.
All of my inlaws are Norwich supporters. They say he was unbelievable for them in the championship. I keep waiting for him to dominate and hope it is round the corner mate. It coule make a major difference.
spot on mate when we cant string 4 passes together in the box, there wont be too many rushing to support when they have to rush back some of the passing now is woeful
im with you there but all i see lately is poor passing no support, for attacking he could bring Diamond back as he is proving himself and why wont he try Younger in defence he has looked good each match he finally gave him a shot
that is definitely something that needs sorting, we do make some good moves then blow it by making a bad choice (see gooch, although he is not alone)...when there is a clear pull back we go for the near post or a shot with a defender stood in the way, same when we cross, or attempt to there is almost always a defender in the way, we tend to take shots when there is a pass into the box etc etc...but as you say, we need to score more then we can worry a little less about defensive problems/injuries.
Must say I thought Diamond should have stayed. I like him even he is a bit raw. I assume they thought Dujaku a bit further forward than he is. Hopefully Dujaku pushes on quickly but I would be tempted to bring Diamond back if we could.
mind you the goal i saw Tuesday by us was a corker at an acute angle and a few in the box miracles do happen just not enough when we pray
i would go so far as to say i bet his job depends on a few wins now i know he was looking at out of contract players, Diamond is ideal to bring back one of us and commited
