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

[Penwortham Blue]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Our passing is dreadful at times. It all comes down to decision making. We take the wrong option too often. I’d be sitting them down to watch the full game tomorrow. “ Here’s what you did, now what should you have done? “ it’s been the same story for ages.

I agree, we just don’t take care of the ball. Yesterday was bad but the week before at Swansea, was even worse, we just consistently turned the ball over by indecision and poor passing.

[Forever Blue]

2 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

Kargbo don’t do defending…he leaves his full back exposed far too often…needs attention on the training pitch…

Agreed, it was obvious in one of the first games he played, he was at fault for one of the goals thru not tracking his man. 
 

You can see why Eustace wouldn’t have been keen to risk him. 
 

He’s going to be a lot of fun to watch though. He’s had their full back on toast a few times in that first half. He’s just needs a bit of coaching and a proper pre-season. 

[M_B]

2 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

This is Tronstad’s 29 minutes for comparison…much more involved, much more effective..

It could be argued either way, but for me, Tronstad came on when Norwich had more or less settled for the draw.

There's obviously no comparison between the two players overall, but I don't think we're comparing eggs with eggs on this one.

I know we were down to 10, but when Norwich went for the win, they scored.

[rigger]

16 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Modern full backs play much too close to the centre halves. They’re not caught out of position because that’s where they’re coached to play. There’s acres of room out wide to be exploited if you can get the ball out there. Maybe it’s because they know nobody has any wingers worthy of the name. 

Oh I see, so if someone stays wide, we should give them the freedom of Ewood, to do as they like ? I would like our players to react to the situation in the game, rather than play to a robotic, this is what we have been told formation. 

[jim mk2]

Norwich will have gone home wondering how they didn't win that by 3 or 4 goals.

The Rovers left flank was a gaping hole in the first half and I'm not sure it was all down to Karigbo's lack of defensive nous - Carter, it seemed to me, to be too close to Hyam and Ribero consequently went even more narrow. Baath was sorely missed - when is he back?

I was very disappointed with yesterday's performance which was even harder to watch than games under Eustace. We look like a collection of misfits who haven't been coached properly and that's a thing that sets us apart from teams such as Norwich who look well drilled with every man knowing his job and what he's doing.

I know Ismael's only had a couple of days to work with this lot and he doesn't know them properly yet but I would home to see a big improvement in the Derby game. 

 

 

[Forever Blue]

14 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

That is pretty much how I saw the match unfold, the clear difference was that Norwich players generally found a yellow shirt with their passing and appeared much quicker breaking and both in and out of possession.

Norwich were really good to be fair, we were chasing shadows at times in the first 15 mins of the 2nd half. I think we made them look good tho to a point, we were all over the place. The team had no structure at all at times, and just looked like they’d been thrown on the pitch without much planning.

I hope it’s just early teething problems, because it really did remind me of schoolyard football at times - lots of running about and enthusiasm but no real purpose. 

[Atko's Engine]

Re Hyam - silly boy really, looking at replays. Needs a talking to, whether or not it gets retrospective assessment (can it be? Not sure if ref blew up or not).

Dennis - first challenge directly in front of me; was late & painful, but low & clearly an attempt to get the ball. Yellow fair enough imo. His 2nd yellow was too far for ne to see clearly, but both players went in high in an honest attempt at the ball. Arguably unlucky, but can see why it was given. Not covering himself in glory so far isn't Dennis, tbf, but could still be an asset.

Yuki - looked v close to being a pen, but I guess those go either way.

Goal - again looked close, angle not good for me to know for sure & replays I've seen inconclusive. Felt like a winner though!

Nunez - could easily have had 2 yellows himself for 2 hefty challenges in succession; didn't even get 1!!

Overall - take the point & move on. Keeps Norwich at arms length. We've got 3 massive games to vome before the break 6 points or more is imperative imo.

[Forever Blue]

5 minutes ago, M_B said:

It could be argued either way, but for me, Tronstad came on when Norwich had more or less settled for the draw. 

Couldn’t disagree more. We couldn’t get hold of the ball and they were passing through us at will, it was only a matter of time of time before they created a good chance. Our subs changed the game, Forshaw, Dolan and Cantwell were passengers at that point. 

[chaddyrovers]

5 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The Rovers left flank was a gaping hole in the first half and I'm not sure it was all down to Karigbo's lack of defensive nous - Carter, it seemed to me, to be too close to Hyam and Ribero consequently went even more narrow. 

We went more narrow cos Norwich wide players Dobbin and Sainz weren't playing wide but more narrowly results In Ribeiro playing narrow 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

9 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

I agree, we just don’t take care of the ball. Yesterday was bad but the week before at Swansea, was even worse, we just consistently turned the ball over by indecision and poor passing.

We seem to go for the more complicated “ thread the ball through the eye of a needle “ type pass when there is a simpler ball on much too often. We don’t seem to understand how to build pressure by retaining possession. 

It’s like in rugby league, some teams think they have to score with every six tackle play. The smart teams know how to build pressure. They don’t try to score with every six. They’ll  be content to force a goal line drop out, get the ball back, and go again.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

What is this tactic of having all 20 outfield players stood  in an area of the pitch as big as a tennis court for goal kicks all about ? It looks ridiculous. Gueye got his head to most of the balls but there was nobody there to take advantage of it. They just went out of play.

Edited yesterday at 10:05 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[BankEnd Rover]

10 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Norwich were really good to be fair, we were chasing shadows at times in the first 15 mins of the 2nd half. I think we made them look good tho to a point, we were all over the place. The team had no structure at all at times, and just looked like they’d been thrown on the pitch without much planning.

I hope it’s just early teething problems, because it really did remind me of schoolyard football at times - lots of running about and enthusiasm but no real purpose. 

Spot on.

[M_B]

Just now, Forever Blue said:

Couldn’t disagree more. We couldn’t get hold of the ball and they were passing through us at will, it was only a matter of time of time before they created a good chance. Our subs changed the game, Forshaw, Dolan and Cantwell were passengers at that point. 

I said it could be argued either way, but I thought they had more or less settled for what looked like an inevitable draw.

It's often said it's difficult to break down 10 men, but they soon did it, and would have had another but for a good save from Pears.

The way they opened us up so easily (all be it against 10 men) would suggest to me that it was them who stepped off the gas, rather than the other way round.

[Forever Blue]

2 minutes ago, M_B said:

I said it could be argued either way, but I thought they had more or less settled for what looked like an inevitable draw.

It's often said it's difficult to break down 10 men, but they soon did it, and would have had another but for a good save from Pears.

The way they opened us up so easily (all be it against 10 men) would suggest to me that it was them who stepped off the gas, rather than the other way round.

Watch the first 15 mins of the 2nd half again. We were getting battered. We repelled them by defending our box well. It’s completely wrong to suggest they’d settled for a draw. VI then made the subs on 60 mins and the game changed. 

[Hullrover]

2 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

Kargbo don’t do defending…he leaves his full back exposed far too often…needs attention on the training pitch…

This was very evident in the first 20 mins but to be fair he was chasing back much better in the second half, although when he got to their player he didn't seem to know what to do. Still, really exciting to have someone prepared to take on a defence and have a shot.

[Hasta]

13 minutes ago, M_B said:

I said it could be argued either way, but I thought they had more or less settled for what looked like an inevitable draw.

It's often said it's difficult to break down 10 men, but they soon did it, and would have had another but for a good save from Pears.

The way they opened us up so easily (all be it against 10 men) would suggest to me that it was them who stepped off the gas, rather than the other way round.

They were dominating literally to the point the substitutions were made. Then it switched.

If they had ultimately settled for the draw before the red card, it was because the momentum of the game had changed following the substitutions.

I'm fairly sure they werent dominating up until the hour point and then thought "yeah that's enough lads, we're getting at their back 4 at will but lets start sitting back and defending a bit deeper now. Let Blackburn have the ball a bit more"

Edited yesterday at 10:22 by Hasta

[Lancaster Rover]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Modern full backs play much too close to the centre halves. They’re not caught out of position because that’s where they’re coached to play. There’s acres of room out wide to be exploited if you can get the ball out there. Maybe it’s because they know nobody has any wingers worthy of the name. 

Absolutely, it’s certainly the way we’ve played the last 12 months. Brittain and Beck almost always orient their body to show the player down the line rather than back inside. I think this is in part because JE was confident in our ability to win aerial duels.
 

It’s definitely a modern coaching nuance where keeping players out of the central zone around the D is the main objective when defending 

[Mercer]

To me, the match just confirmed what a very god job Eustace did with what was available.

We will do well to get back into the top 6 let alone win promotion.  Our lack of quality is obvious.

Negatives - Hyam's madness which will probably get him a 3 match ban, Dolan yet again - get him out of the building asap, Cantwell who is not going to be the mercurial talent we all hoped for, Forshaw who I don't think should be playing professional football and Dennis who I think is proving to be one almighty expensive mistake (to me, he could have got a straight red for his first offence).

Positives - good news we have Carter and Tronstad back and Kargbo who might develop into a decent player over the next 12 months.

As many of us thought, Ismael has a right job on his hands and I think it will get even worse next Saturday with Eustace getting his first win as Derby boss with Nyambe possibly being their surprise matchwinner - you couldn't script it!

[bluebruce]

10 hours ago, Neal said:

 

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. 

Every time I see him, I become increasingly baffled that we only signed him to a 6 month deal. Have to wonder what the club are thinking at times...or if they're thinking at all.

[onlyonejackwalker]

1 minute ago, bluebruce said:

Every time I see him, I become increasingly baffled that we only signed him to a 6 month deal. Have to wonder what the club are thinking at times...or if they're thinking at all.

Maybe that is all he would agree to.

I wonder why no one else was interested in him.

[bluebruce]

Just now, onlyonejackwalker said:

Maybe that is all he would agree to.

I wonder why no one else was interested in him.

I doubt it. He was on an 18 month deal in Portugal and swapped it for 6 months here. Even though we are a basket case club, I think anybody would swap struggling to get into an average Portuguese side for an opportunity to make a name in England in a side in the top 6 of the Championship.

I feel confident this decision came from our cost cutting crew who are refusing to sign off on any decent contracts right now.

[norwichblue]

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

As many of us thought, Ismael has a right job on his hands and I think it will get even worse next Saturday with Eustace getting his first win as Derby boss with Nyambe possibly being their surprise matchwinner - you couldn't script it!

Keep reading this. Yes Eustace knows us well - our strengths and weaknesses, and he will be firing his players up to go for it. But Derby are total garbage. Rock bottom in the league. 2 shots on target in Eustace’s first 3 games tells you all you need to know. If we don’t beat these then we don’t deserve play offs.

Edited yesterday at 13:19 by norwichblue

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

20 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Every time I see him, I become increasingly baffled that we only signed him to a 6 month deal. Have to wonder what the club are thinking at times...or if they're thinking at all.

He’s definitely an improvement on Pickering in my book. Beck will become a better player but he’s not going to be playing for us beyond May.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Absolutely, it’s certainly the way we’ve played the last 12 months. Brittain and Beck almost always orient their body to show the player down the line rather than back inside. I think this is in part because JE was confident in our ability to win aerial duels.
 

It’s definitely a modern coaching nuance where keeping players out of the central zone around the D is the main objective when defending 

When I was playing if I’d have given a winger that much room I’d have been in for a long afternoon. But then there were wingers who were only too glad to run at you from distance. They’re running, you aren’t. Only one winner there most of the time. Current wingers seem happy to just pass the ball back inside.

[...]

42 minutes ago, Mercer said:

To me, the match just confirmed what a very god job Eustace did with what was available.

We will do well to get back into the top 6 let alone win promotion.  Our lack of quality is obvious.

Negatives - Hyam's madness which will probably get him a 3 match ban, Dolan yet again - get him out of the building asap, Cantwell who is not going to be the mercurial talent we all hoped for, Forshaw who I don't think should be playing professional football and Dennis who I think is proving to be one almighty expensive mistake (to me, he could have got a straight red for his first offence).

Positives - good news we have Carter and Tronstad back and Kargbo who might develop into a decent player over the next 12 months.

As many of us thought, Ismael has a right job on his hands and I think it will get even worse next Saturday with Eustace getting his first win as Derby boss with Nyambe possibly being their surprise matchwinner - you couldn't script it!

There's no way derby are winning this. They've scored like 3 goals in 11 games or thereabouts