Norwich City vs Cardiff (home) Saturday 14th April.

[hogesar]

Any more excuses?

Haha yeah I realised I was walking into that one!

I think Wes can still have an impact from the bench but hes not good enough currently to just throw him on anywhere and hope. We could get away with that a couple years ago but not now!

 

[Canaryboy]

If he is being released at the end of the season, isn't it about time the club said as much so fans can say their goodbyes? Only one home game left.... plus last away day of the season is at Hillsborough which is always well attended. In fact I'd go to that game if I knew it was a Hoolahan send off, assuming there are tickets left.

Club was heavily criticised for not announcing the Hucks departure before the end of the season.

Makes you wonder whether the club is considering a cheeky offer to keep him around for one more season as a squad player. Would have to be very cheeky though wouldn't it, like one third of whatever he's likely to be on now.... and we didn't fancy insulting John Ruddy by offering him a cut price deal (fortunately for him, because looks like he's going to get a Championship winners medal).

He'd probably have looked better this season if we had a more intelligent striker leading the line. Must be an absolute nightmare trying to get Nelson Oliviera to play the one twos.... "One two Ollie!"..... "oh, you took another pot shot from 40 yards without looking where the goalkeeper was instead of noticing me moving to receive the ball in a better position. Again."

Maddison takes his preferred position even when he's out of form (now) solely because he can magic up goals from range, which has never been Hoolahan's game.... we really need those goals in a team which hasn't managed to get any strikers firing.

Wes offers a lot more than Marley Watkins out wide, although that's not really a compliment.

 

[morty]

 

[GJP]

Wes offers a lot more than Marley Watkins out wide,.

As do I.

And a bag of cement.

 

[hogesar]

As do I.

And a bag of cement.

For someone with Championship experience he has less control and a worse first touch than some of the lads down at the FDC. Has had a few ok performances but that's about it

 

[GJP]

He'd probably have looked better this season if we had a more intelligent striker leading the line. Must be an absolute nightmare trying to get Nelson Oliviera to play the one twos.... "One two Ollie!"..... "oh, you took another pot shot from 40 yards without looking where the goalkeeper was instead of noticing me moving to receive the ball in a better position. Again."

Hmmmm.

I don't think that's particularly fair. Oliveira actually favours one-twos and little link ups. That is what he's about. He wants to flick the ball around the corner and get it back. But we haven't played enough like that.

 

[Canaryboy]

I just hope that if he's being released the fans know about it before the last home game. Somebody needs to tell Webber how it went down when Huckerby was released.

Ironically he had to say goodbye at Sheffield Wednesday away on the last day of the season, instead of at Carrow Road, and our last game of the season is....

Got a sneaky feeling though that he'll do another year on the cheap. Farke seems to like him, even if he doesn't use him much.

 

[Canaryboy]

Hmmmm.

I don't think that's particularly fair. Oliveira actually favours one-twos and little link ups. That is what he's about. He wants to flick the ball around the corner and get it back. But we haven't played enough like that.

Don't stand between a man and his Nelson Oliviera bashing.... he's fair game.

 

[hogesar]

Hmmmm.

I don't think that's particularly fair. Oliveira actually favours one-twos and little link ups. That is what he's about. He wants to flick the ball around the corner and get it back. But we haven't played enough like that.

Yeah but it's hard to judge him fairly when you watch him hands-on-hips in the middle of the pitch against QPR away and then see him doing the same after one run as a sub against Cardiff...

 

[morty]

Haha yeah I realised I was walking into that one!

I think Wes can still have an impact from the bench but hes not good enough currently to just throw him on anywhere and hope. We could get away with that a couple years ago but not now!

So you're saying he hasn't been good enough for a few years now.

Finally!

 

[hogesar]

So you're saying he hasn't been good enough for a few years now.

Finally!

Not at all! He was brilliant last season, I was referring to using him as a late impact sub.

Last season he was 7 goals and 10 assists in 30 matches. Maddison's not even managed that many assists in 10 more games and people think he's worth £25m!

Season before in the prem he had a great season too, 4 goals and 8 assists at the top level is a very good return, especially in only 25 apps.

I just don't think he's at the level now where you can play him anywhere you like (for example, left wing) for 10 minutes, and hope he changes the game. We also need to see a lot of the ball for him to be effective, so bringing him on when we were struggling for possession made little sense.

 

[morty]

Not at all! He was brilliant last season, I was referring to using him as a late impact sub.

Last season he was 7 goals and 10 assists in 30 matches. Maddison's not even managed that many assists in 10 more games and people think he's worth £25m!

Season before in the prem he had a great season too, 4 goals and 8 assists at the top level is a very good return, especially in only 25 apps.

I just don't think he's at the level now where you can play him anywhere you like (for example, left wing) for 10 minutes, and hope he changes the game. We also need to see a lot of the ball for him to be effective, so bringing him on when we were struggling for possession made little sense.

So "He hint gettin a propper chance buh" is what you're saying?

Haha, I'll take Maddisons 14 goals and 8 assists any day, it isn't his fault our strikers don't know where the net is. Do you really want to get into a "who is better right now, Maddison or Hoolahan" debate? I think a lot of his stats, certainly from last season could be seen as misleading, as it has been the case for a while now that he is selectively used in what could be seen as easier fixtures that we were expected to win.

I have never had an issue with Hoolahan, there is no denying that he has been a fantastic player for us, but I do have issue with people who are blinded by a fancy flick in a non threatening area of the field, and refuse to accept his limitations, and when he has a bad game, blame everyone else, too many people set him on a pedestal and put him beyond criticism. My main irks, even when he was playing well, was that he, too often, slowed the game down, and was too easily marked out of a game against better teams, then when he had one of his anonymous games, it was barely mentioned by anyone. And I still haven't forgotten his tantrum and comments when he wanted to join Villa.

Oh and daft old bats who call him "Our Wessie", that makes me want to dry heave.

 

[hogesar]

Oh no, I don't think he should be in the team ahead of Maddison. It's just a case in point, though, that Hoolahan has still been a top player for us in the last 2 years. But if people are going to criticise him for not creating or scoring in a 5 minute sub appearance then they're being daft.

I'm not sure he's been used in easier fixtures. In the first half of the Prem season under Alex Neil I think only Ozil has more assists than he did. In a relegation threatened team. He has had obvious quality for so many years. I never really understood the 'slowing the game down' line either. It's not like we regularly had runners off the ball running in behind and Wes was preventing them from getting the ball - if anything the assists showed that he was the most likely one to make the killer pass. I also disagree he was easily marked out - it normally required two players and at that point you'd like to think others would utilise the space of having a player man marked by two. Same used to happen to Redmond at times.

No issue with people calling him 'our Wes' either, since he's now our longest serving player at the club!

 

[morty]

Oh no, I don't think he should be in the team ahead of Maddison. It's just a case in point, though, that Hoolahan has still been a top player for us in the last 2 years. But if people are going to criticise him for not creating or scoring in a 5 minute sub appearance then they're being daft.

I'm not sure he's been used in easier fixtures. In the first half of the Prem season under Alex Neil I think only Ozil has more assists than he did. In a relegation threatened team. He has had obvious quality for so many years. I never really understood the 'slowing the game down' line either. It's not like we regularly had runners off the ball running in behind and Wes was preventing them from getting the ball - if anything the assists showed that he was the most likely one to make the killer pass. I also disagree he was easily marked out - it normally required two players and at that point you'd like to think others would utilise the space of having a player man marked by two. Same used to happen to Redmond at times.

No issue with people calling him 'our Wes' either, since he's now our longest serving player at the club!

I don't think he has been anywhere near at his best for the last two years, the games where he was dominant have been getting fewer and fewer, its understandable, its just that some people refuse to see it.

I just find the word "Wessie" a bit cringey and cutesy.

 

[GJP]

I agree and had been saying for a while he's had his day.
But one thing he has shown is a bit of urgency. Often we have either played at a slow tempo or we have run out of ideas and he has tried to set an example by speeding things up.
Leitner is very good at that too. When there's a foul or a throw in for us he is on it. Whether it happened near him or not he is instantly thinking "can we get moving while they aren't settled?".

 

[Din]

Obviously I have a season ticket so I'm usually at every game, but have to admit I woke up on Saturday hungover and couldn't bring myself to travel down from Cambridge for the game. I did watch it though and like others was impressed with our performance, but as per we just couldn't seem to put the ball in the back of the net and were punished.

 

[morty]

Obviously I have a season ticket so I'm usually at every game, but have to admit I woke up on Saturday hungover and couldn't bring myself to travel down from Cambridge for the game. I did watch it though and like others was impressed with our performance, but as per we just couldn't seem to put the ball in the back of the net and were punished.

This reminds me of a game I missed for the exact same reasons, Darren Huckerby's last game on loan with us, before he signed permanently. He put on an absolute masterclass, as I lay there, listening to the radio, really wishing I had gone!

 

[Canaryboy]

This reminds me of a game I missed for the exact same reasons, Darren Huckerby's last game on loan with us, before he signed permanently. He put on an absolute masterclass, as I lay there, listening to the radio, really wishing I had gone!

Same thing,same game (when I lived in Norwich and had a season ticket).

 

[Fenway Frank]

Plastics

 

[morty]

Same thing,same game (when I lived in Norwich and had a season ticket).

Haha, wasn't it black Friday, the last one before Christmas?
I was absolutely hanging, and lived in North Walsham at the time, and was pretty sure I wouldn't have survived the train journey to the City!