Thoughts on yesterday...

Went to the match yesterday, making the relatively short trip for me from Bolton. Despite heavy rain on the way there, thankfully it stayed dry in the main during the match. Blackpool's ground is terrible and, although their fans were quite noisy, it was artificial chants fuelled by two drummers! It was hard for the Canary faithful to build up any kind of atmosphere given the uncovered temporary seating arrangement and general openness of the ground given that there are only two stands!

Overall we looked totally devoid of ideas throughout the match with the few chances we had coming from set pieces. Blackpool were good value for the win, although their first goal that killed any spirit our boys showed was a total fluke. Ormerod was definitely trying to cross it and the wind blew the ball in to the top corner. After that it was all downhill and they should have run out bigger winners than they did. Thankfully I haven't been to many games this season as every time I do go the players serve up absolute dross! Player ratings as follows:

Marshall - 5 - Made a decent save from a free-kick in the first half but apart from that was not commanding in the slightest. If I was a defender playing in front of him I would have no confidence.

Otsemobor - 4 - Very ineffective. Doesn't seem to be able to defend, which, as a full-back, should really be a pre-requisite. Ultimately he is very frustrating because with his pace he should be bombing up and down the line all match. He seems very unwilling to get forward at all though.

Doherty - 6 - Mostly commanding and won everything in the air (although he was up against the significantly shorter DJ Campbell). One of the few players (along with Shackell and Grounds - 2 loanees) who looks like he gives a s**t!

Shackell - 7 - Gave his all and put in some great tackles and blocks, most notably when he sprinted the length of the field after being up for a corner to put a last ditch tackle in when one of their guys was racing through one-on-one. Am not sure whether he was at fault for the first goal (although it was a fluke) because he was slow to get to Ormerod and should've prevented the cross-cum-shot.

Grounds - 7 - First time I've seen Grounds play and thought he was probably our best player. Didn't really do much wrong all match, won all of his headers and looked composed on the ball.

Croft - 5 - Had an okay game before getting taken off although he didn't attack his fullback anywhere near enough. Disagreed with Bryan's decision to haul him off when he did, especially as he'd had a better game than a lot of the other midfielders and forwards.

Clingan - 4 - Played very much a holding role but not very effectively. Only seemed to get stuck in when we were 2 down and it was too late, probably taking his frustrations out.

Russell - 4 - Again, very ineffective. Didn't really do very much all match, either in the middle or out on the right once Croft got taken off. If Clingan is going to sit then his central midfield partner needs to be getting forward, which Russell just didn't.

Bertrand - 5 - Thought he had quite a good game although doesn't offer enough going forward. We were very solid down the left hand side with Bertrand and Grounds but when we need to win games being ultra-defensive surely isn't the way forward.

Hoolahan - 4 - Always seemed to want one more touch than he needed which invariably led to him getting tackled and losing the ball. Needs to use the ball a lot quicker. I think he had a point to prove to the Blackpool fans which led to him trying to impress every time he got the ball. The ironic cheers for him as he got substituted showed that no such point was proved however!

Cort - 4 - His touch looked poor all game, especially bringing down balls pumped up to him, which usually then ran away from him and were picked up by Blackpool players. Looked laboured throughout the match and was no threat to their centre backs.

Looks very much like we are going down now which is a major negative. Right now I need two positives but unfortunately can't see any on the horizon. We seem to be bringing loan players in for fun, none of whom are attacking midfield players capable of changing a game, which is what we need. There is absolutely no flair, creativity or imagination in midfield or up front. I just hope that Huckerby is coming back to lead us out of League One next season, otherwise we'll be there for a very long time. I've not been to Stockport for a while though so that'll be a treat! Thankfully my better half had paid for a hotel overnight as well as the match tickets for my birthday and the hotel restaurant served up a mean steak so I finished the day less disappointed than I was at 16:50!

I hope that some of these much-talked of kids can cut the mustard in the senior team. Adeyemi, Smith, Daley and Rudd what say ye?!

OTBC!

Posted By: JD3, Mar 8, 19:38:30