v Norwich City (h) - 1/3/2025

[47er]

2 hours ago, Rochdale_rover said:

I'm done with dolan.

He's leaving . I don't want to see him start again this season.

Kills every attack by holding on to the ball until he messes it up.

On a separate note . 1 thing I really liked today was how quick we got the subs on when we wanted ro make changes.

 

So many times this season we've had players on touchline stripped to come on and for some reason dragged it out.

Whatever people think of Dolan he shouldn't be going for next to nothing as he inevitably will. Its often highlighted how much

money Venkys have put in but rarely how much they have thrown away.

[Torgeir]

Looked to me that Dennis had a pretty bad attitude when he came one. Complaining and gesticulating to his teammates. Anyone that was there that can confirm? Only saw the bits that was caught on camera.

[Torgeir]

35 minutes ago, 47er said:

Whatever people think of Dolan he shouldn't be going for next to nothing as he inevitably will. Its often highlighted how much

money Venkys have put in but rarely how much they have thrown away.

Would've been offers for him in January if he's that highly regarded. Maybe he's asking for more than he's worth and that makes him more difficult to offload? I don't think he should start in a team aspiring to be in the top half of the table, he's way too inconsistent and is a bit of an odd one. Defensively he's a big team player with his workrate, offensively he holds onto the ball, dribbles and loses possession and chooses to finish himself instead of finding teammates more often than not. When he's on his game we're often also having a good game so in that sense he's instrumental. 

[Fraserkirky]

1 minute ago, Torgeir said:

Looked to me that Dennis had a pretty bad attitude when he came one. Complaining and gesticulating to his teammates. Anyone that was there that can confirm? Only saw the bits that was caught on camera.

Yeah I saw that, it was like a minute after he came on too. Concerning. 
 

When Baath is back could we see him switch the formation to his favored 3-4-3. That didn’t work today for long spells.

[Exiled_Rover]

2 hours ago, Ossydave said:

Bit disappointed really, didn't feel like a classic new manager bounce performance teams often put in. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh given the 2 training sessions VI has had to stamp his mark on the team?

Hopefully a full week with the players ahead of Saturday will help. Eustace will have had 3 weeks or so at his new home.

Quite a startling stat, for Derby fans anyway, is that in his 3 games in charge his team have managed 2 shots on target 😳 That includes registering 0 at home to Millwall. There's simply no excuses, i personally think our play-off chances are very slim, but I'd probably write them off completely if we can't beat Derby.....

We need 6 points from Cardiff and Derby without question. 

[Exiled_Rover]

2 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

I thought our set pieces have been much better recently but today back to being absolutely shite.

Our set pieces have been creative this season, but the delivery has always been shite. 

[Lecogsportif]

2 hours ago, Lancaster Rover said:

They played through the non existent mid block anyway 

With Tornstad out, Travis was playing deeper as the ball-winning mid, and Forshaw taking the role to link up with the attackers. Forshaw can't keep up with the pace for the entire game hence midfield was run ragged, as in today and at Swansea last week. Good to have Tornstad back, he needs to be starting. His introduction allowed Travis to unlock the mid and we were better in transitioning. Also, we need to capitalize on our corners and free kicks, was frustrating today. 

 

[J*B]

44 minutes ago, Torgeir said:

Looked to me that Dennis had a pretty bad attitude when he came one. Complaining and gesticulating to his teammates. Anyone that was there that can confirm? Only saw the bits that was caught on camera.

I really liked it, to be fair. He was making runs across their back line and gesturing to put him through. We haven’t had a player making forward runs like that in a long time. Carter played him a really nice ball through which it looked like Gueye got in the way of.

I want my forwards to demand the ball…

[...]

4 minutes ago, Lecogsportif said:

With Tornstad out, Travis was playing deeper as the ball-winning mid, and Forshaw taking the role to link up with the attackers. Forshaw can't keep up with the pace for the entire game hence midfield was run ragged, as in today and at Swansea last week. Good to have Tornstad back, he needs to be starting. His introduction allowed Travis to unlock the mid and we were better in transitioning. Also, we need to capitalize on our corners and free kicks, was frustrating today. 

 

I thought Forshaw had a really good game to be fair. He seemed to be all about the park at one point. 

[...]

19 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

We need 6 points from Cardiff and Derby without question. 

Yep if we cant win both of these, can kiss bye bye to the playoffs and don't deserve to be in it

[RoversTilliDie]

0-1 to the referee 0-1 to the referee, the Blackburn End got it spot on, what a wanker of a referee. The free kick given outside the box was 6 inch inside the box when he was brought down.

[RoversTilliDie]

Poor performance my verdict, once again wrong starting 11, we gave the ball away every 1-2 passes, and stood like statues as they got crosses in the box. We were lucky not to lose it 1-3  if they hadn't missed two sitters. After saying that it's ismaels 1st game in charge weighing up what he's got, and are threadbare squad are bound to pick up injuries. Let's just play the season out, and finish as high as possible.

[Ghost7]

Norwich signed today’s goalscorer Crnac for £10 million in the summer.

He was a sub.

They also spent £5m on right winger, £3m on a centre midfielder, £3m on a centre back, £1.5m on a left back and £1m on a spare centre midfielder.

This is what we are up against. They're 11th.

I pointed out a similar thing out when Millwall striker Ivanovic scored a winner against us in December they signed him for £3 million in the summer.

Everyone above us have outspent us and nearly everyone below us has.

Including Plymouth and Derby...

Let that sink in. If you don't think we're being let down or neglected by the owners then you're a moron.

It’s a miracle we are where we are and we absolutely must continue to highlight the lack of investment from the owners....

If you think we lack quality look no further than them. They owe some more reasonable spending in the summer, or they need to leave.

Edited yesterday at 01:35 by Ghost7

[Ghost7]

40 minutes ago, RoversTilliDie said:

0-1 to the referee 0-1 to the referee, the Blackburn End got it spot on, what a wanker of a referee. The free kick given outside the box was 6 inch inside the box when he was brought down.

 

It would be nice if SKY or ITV bothered to show it as a highlight....

They're quick to show Norwich missing a couple of chances but not a major talking point against them.

[XLM]

1 hour ago, Torgeir said:

Looked to me that Dennis had a pretty bad attitude when he came one. Complaining and gesticulating to his teammates. Anyone that was there that can confirm? Only saw the bits that was caught on camera.

First thing Dennis did after he came on was scream at Weimann to press, and it was basically the first time all game we'd put pressure on their CBs and they ended up going back to the keeper. I get the sense that Ismael doesn't like to press from today's game, but I thought it was a good sign for Dennis regardless. I thought he was going to be very passive and just be here in body with little interest, but his complaining was because he wanted to win. It definitely wasn't bad attitude.

[islander200]

Everytime Dolan has a poor game the good things he has done in the past weeks are quickly forgotten about.

He is what he Is a young and inconsistent player. Last few weeks he has had some good performances,today he was poor and has been at other times but....

It gets a bit ridiculous when people start saying things like "never want to see him wear the shirt again".."useless" ..."should be playing in league one " etc etc etc 

[Ghost7]

2 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Everytime Dolan has a poor game the good things he has done in the past weeks are quickly forgotten about.

He is what he Is a young and inconsistent player. Last few weeks he has had some good performances,today he was poor and has been at other times but....

It gets a bit ridiculous when people start saying things like "never want to see him wear the shirt again".."useless" ..."should be playing in league one " etc etc etc 

I think that not investing in a quality right winger to rotate or replace (and somewhat protect) Dolan is costing us far too regularly in key phases... Whether that be losing possession when facing the wrong way or a lack of goals as a team. If you are only providing 3 or 4 outfield goals a season, and 4 or 5 assists then you HAVE to be performing better for the many... many minutes in between if you're playing regularly and he is. That means passing sharper, protecting the ball well and carrying it better. Then you can go about asking for a big wage. He needs to focus on improving.... and sack his agent but it's too late. I worry where his career will go after his next move. His minutes played are that of someone you would expect to be a higher earner but his ability isn't there. That's because we've hardly spent a penny in recent years and we've created a problem where a player thinks he's better than he is. Useful squad player that needs to improve but starts nearly every game.

[jim mk2]

9 hours ago, RoversTilliDie said:

Poor performance my verdict, once again wrong starting 11, we gave the ball away every 1-2 passes, and stood like statues as they got crosses in the box. We were lucky not to lose it 1-3  if they hadn't missed two sitters. After saying that it's ismaels 1st game in charge weighing up what he's got, and are threadbare squad are bound to pick up injuries. Let's just play the season out, and finish as high as possible.

Hang on, he’s taken on a team in the top 6 and it’s not unreasonable to hope and expect he’ll keep us there. “Finishing as high as possible” - really? 

Edited yesterday at 09:19 by jim mk2

[Neal]

Felt sorry for Gueye... Won every nothing ball today with absolutely no support or service from 2 crap performances from Dolan and Cantwell. Was unlucky not to score from the only decent cross from Ribeiro. 

 

Dolan has probably done enough over the season to keep his place but Cantwell needs dropping for Ohashi who actually puts in the yards and can score goals. 

 

Yuri Ribeiro is becoming a really favourite of mine. Really solid player but can get forwards really well. Put in the only 2 decent crosses of the game. One for Gueye that was deflected over the bar and one for the goal. Wish we would get his contract sorted out. 

[Neal]

2 hours ago, Ghost7 said:

Norwich signed today’s goalscorer Crnac for £10 million in the summer.

He was a sub.

They also spent £5m on right winger, £3m on a centre midfielder, £3m on a centre back, £1.5m on a left back and £1m on a spare centre midfielder.

This is what we are up against. They're 11th.

I pointed out a similar thing out when Millwall striker Ivanovic scored a winner against us in December they signed him for £3 million in the summer.

Everyone above us have outspent us and nearly everyone below us has.

Including Plymouth and Derby...

Let that sink in. If you don't think we're being let down or neglected by the owners then you're a moron.

It’s a miracle we are where we are and we absolutely must continue to highlight the lack of investment from the owners....

If you think we lack quality look no further than them. They owe some more reasonable spending in the summer, or they need to leave.

Fair observation, there are a lot of clubs outspending us... HOWEVER... I think some of the recruitment given the pocket change we have has been really good given the circumstances. Kargbo, Gueye and Ohashi for 2.5 million? Ribeiro, Weimann and Bath on free's with Beck on loan has clearly improved us vastly from last season. With the budget we have, in theory, we should be nowhere near the playoffs and I suspect come the end of the season we won't be. I've always said, unless you're a yo-yo club with parachute payments, spending loads of money doesn't guarantee you much in the championship. 

 

That said, I'd kill to have some new ambitious owners with deep pockets. 

Edited yesterday at 02:27 by Neal

[...]

9 minutes ago, Neal said:

Fair observation, there are a lot of clubs outspending us... HOWEVER... I think some of the recruitment given the pocket change we have has been really good given the circumstances. Kargbo, Gueye and Ohashi for 2.5 million? Ribeiro, Weimann and Bath on free's with Beck on loan has clearly improved us vastly from last season. With the budget we have, in theory, we should be nowhere near the playoffs and I suspect come the end of the season we won't be. I've always said, unless you're a yo-yo club with parachute payments, spending loads of money doesn't guarantee you much in the championship. 

 

That said, I'd kill to have some new ambitious owners with deep pockets. 

Just had a thought. Do you think the Venkys Don't want us to win anything because of all the shit they'd get when they turned up to watch/lift the trophy?? 

[Exiled_Rover]

2 hours ago, Neal said:

Fair observation, there are a lot of clubs outspending us... HOWEVER... I think some of the recruitment given the pocket change we have has been really good given the circumstances. Kargbo, Gueye and Ohashi for 2.5 million? Ribeiro, Weimann and Bath on free's with Beck on loan has clearly improved us vastly from last season. With the budget we have, in theory, we should be nowhere near the playoffs and I suspect come the end of the season we won't be. I've always said, unless you're a yo-yo club with parachute payments, spending loads of money doesn't guarantee you much in the championship. 

 

That said, I'd kill to have some new ambitious owners with deep pockets. 

I'd kill to have owners that cared and ran us like a football club. 

[Exiled_Rover]

5 hours ago, Ghost7 said:

 

It would be nice if SKY or ITV bothered to show it as a highlight....

They're quick to show Norwich missing a couple of chances but not a major talking point against them.

 

[Paul Mani]

Time to reflect…

First half we were slow. We set up in a 4231, but there were notable differences tactically. Out of possession, we didn’t press as high and the left side were much deeper than the right. In possession we were more direct, and we tried to use Kargbo’s pace. I thought the defence and Forshaw did ok, Trav looked a little laboured, Cantwell and Dolan, horrific and Kargbo our brightest spark. Big Mak, the new standard. A very good target man at this level now. Norwich had the two best chances and probably should have been winning.

The second half started much the same with Norwich controlling the game without threatening, until tye 60 min mark when the subs came on…from that point, we grew into the game and it felt like there was going to be only one winner. Tactically we looked better with Sonny back and there was an obvious ploy to get the wide players running ‘out to in’ and behind their defence.

The red card was harsh as Dennis had to go for the ball and Chrisene clearly tricked the ref, who officiated like he’d never played the game. Poor.

Then at 85 mins we get hit by the sucker punch goal and you could have forgiven the players for thinking it wasn’t their day. 100’s fans began streaming out of the ground…but this team is made of stronger stuff! Credit to Hedges and Weimann who made a difference in an attacking sense, then the ref gives a free kick for a foul which looked blatantly like it was in the box before we draw level with 20 secs to spare…it felt like a win and a huge moment!

If we can keep that defence, plus Sonny snd Trav fit, then VI’s job is to find a combination solution between Dolan, Cantwell, Kargbo, Weimann, Hedges, Dennis and Woodrow.

I would personally like to see us play someone like Yuki or Dennis up next to Gueye. Especially if we’re going to be more direct..Cantwell doesn’t carry any goal threat and so needs to be played deeper or off the left.

interesting few weeks…

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

8 hours ago, RoversTilliDie said:

0-1 to the referee 0-1 to the referee, the Blackburn End got it spot on, what a wanker of a referee. The free kick given outside the box was 6 inch inside the box when he was brought down.

When it comes to the referee, of the two sides, we have less to complain about than Norwich. Hyam should have gone in the first half and Dennis could easily have gone for his first yellow. The second yellow was soft but one way or another, I don’t think we could complain about being down to 10 by the end.