The New boys at Norwich

[From the pig end]

Did Leonard get more of a free role at his other clubs?
I love Coutts and I really like the look of Evan but playing in that deeper role gives you far more time on the ball. You are usually pressed by strikers who can't tackle rather than ball winning midfielders.
Don't get me wrong when you are on the ball in the coutts hole there's more pressure not to lose possession the way Lundstram was guilty of at times.
I'm Duffys biggest fan, I think he's a magician at times but he can slow the game down, he can take too long or take an extra touch. We could get away with that with players that could suddenly up the tempo like Coutts, Brooks and sometimes Fleck but I felt Lundstram had one speed. This new midfield 3 might not be as creative (we will have to see) but they seem sharper and play at a better tempo.
Duffy might thrive again with Evans behind him, Holmes could get close to double figures still with the protection of Leonard, Brooks could rip the playoffs to bits with the new options we have around him I just don't see how Lundstram gets his place back. Hes a very solid player to come in if need be but even when Fleck picks up his inevitable 10th yellow I think we can adapt, and thats coming from a fan that thought it was the end of the world if we ever lost Fleck.
Really exciting times!!
I wish we could play our December games again.

 

[Beans]

Excuse the plug but if you want to hear a few minutes talking about how I thought the new signings played against Norwich, including what this meant for Fleck's role, then flick to about 10:00 in this:



They all did well, in my very humble opinion

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Did Leonard get more of a free role at his other clubs?
I love Coutts and I really like the look of Evan but playing in that deeper role gives you far more time on the ball. You are usually pressed by strikers who can't tackle rather than ball winning midfielders.
Don't get me wrong when you are on the ball in the coutts hole there's more pressure not to lose possession the way Lundstram was guilty of at times.
I'm Duffys biggest fan, I think he's a magician at times but he can slow the game down, he can take too long or take an extra touch. We could get away with that with players that could suddenly up the tempo like Coutts, Brooks and sometimes Fleck but I felt Lundstram had one speed. This new midfield 3 might not be as creative (we will have to see) but they seem sharper and play at a better tempo.
Duffy might thrive again with Evans behind him, Holmes could get close to double figures still with the protection of Leonard, Brooks could rip the playoffs to bits with the new options we have around him I just don't see how Lundstram gets his place back. Hes a very solid player to come in if need be but even when Fleck picks up his inevitable 10th yellow I think we can adapt, and thats coming from a fan that thought it was the end of the world if we ever lost Fleck.
Really exciting times!!
I wish we could play our December games again.

We may well see our no 10 (ie Duffy) play just in home games and perhaps cameo appearances away only if needed.

CW is certainly one for changing formations and with the players we now have available, we may go solid away from home and a bit more adventurous at home.

As for our December games - a lot of wounds could be opened up by discussing the point - think we should just look forward.

UTB

 

[Rootshallbloke]

Did Leonard get more of a free role at his other clubs?
I love Coutts and I really like the look of Evan but playing in that deeper role gives you far more time on the ball. You are usually pressed by strikers who can't tackle rather than ball winning midfielders.
Don't get me wrong when you are on the ball in the coutts hole there's more pressure not to lose possession the way Lundstram was guilty of at times.
I'm Duffys biggest fan, I think he's a magician at times but he can slow the game down, he can take too long or take an extra touch. We could get away with that with players that could suddenly up the tempo like Coutts, Brooks and sometimes Fleck but I felt Lundstram had one speed. This new midfield 3 might not be as creative (we will have to see) but they seem sharper and play at a better tempo.
Duffy might thrive again with Evans behind him, Holmes could get close to double figures still with the protection of Leonard, Brooks could rip the playoffs to bits with the new options we have around him I just don't see how Lundstram gets his place back. Hes a very solid player to come in if need be but even when Fleck picks up his inevitable 10th yellow I think we can adapt, and thats coming from a fan that thought it was the end of the world if we ever lost Fleck.
Really exciting times!!
I wish we could play our December games again.

Lenny came to us from Plymouth as a teenager, and at that time he was a full back. At Southend his role was predominantly to play in front of the back four, more so under Phil Brown as PB had a bit of a defensive mindset and also because our centre backs had less pace than we would have liked.. That said, because he was a very fit lad he nearly always found time to get forward and have a shot from distance. It will be interesting to see if Wilder lets him play further up the pitch on a regular basis.

 

[cahill]

Given that we played 3 new players and Dead Bat is not available [greatly missed]

Could someone give a summary of how each one played
and if we changed our formation

UTB

Why unavailable ? Did he ask permission ?

 

[Bergen Blade]

I didn't see the game, but my boy watched it on ifollow and I asked the same question as to how they played in midfield.

He reckons they played a fluid game with all three moving around all over the place. Think in general we had 3 across the middle as against the usual 2.

What was significant for me, it's one of the few times this season, and perhaps only one other time when we have played without a no 10.

The other was at H'boro when Bash dropped into the middle.

Just wonder whether we now have the players to play a solid 5 in midfield away from home and adopt the more usual 3-4-1-2 at home.

Just as at H'boro, we had only 40% possession v Norwich, but still won the game.

UTB

Ricky and LoughboroBlade are right regarding their positions. A few minutes before Evans went off, he and Leonard switched. I reckon this was because Evans got a knock and we didn't want a struggling player in the deepest role. As has been said, Leonard kept playing the deepest role for the rest of the game.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Lenny came to us from Plymouth as a teenager, and at that time he was a full back. At Southend his role was predominantly to play in front of the back four, more so under Phil Brown as PB had a bit of a defensive mindset and also because our centre backs had less pace than we would have liked.. That said, because he was a very fit lad he nearly always found time to get forward and have a shot from distance. It will be interesting to see if Wilder lets him play further up the pitch on a regular basis.

With the players we now have available, I’ll be surprised if he’s played any further forward than we saw Saturday – I can’t see him taking the Duffy role for example unless all other options are unavailable. That’s going to be some fight between Duffy and Holmes for it.

 

[cahill]

All this talk of how great the new lads are, is making me a bit hot under the collar, I think we’re gonna hammer Villa

 

[ucandomagic]

With my old eyes and iFollow’s resolution I couldn’t tell the difference between Lenny and Evans most of the time, and our almost invisible numbers on stripes didn’t help!

From what I did see, Evans was very comfortable on the ball and completely capable of Couttsism. We seemed to be playing 3-1-4-2, although nobody stays like that for very long. Lenny didn’t quite have the driving runs I expected, but after all this time I was fully expecting Steve Gerard mark 2!

 

[Hartley Hare]

I agree magic. I found it hard to tell who was who. The lads all looked the same.

Next time I am taking my binos.

HH

 

[Bergen Blade]

I agree magic. I found it hard to tell who was who. The lads all looked the same.

Next time I am taking my binos.

HH

It's getting ridiculous.

The photos from their Dublin trip showed they are capable of sorting out different styles for each other. Those may have been a bit ott, but at least agree on one to grow a big beard, one to have very long hair, one skinhead and maybe one with a funny running style.

 

[Sheff de party]

It looks promising regards whether Evans can play the Coutts role.
I still say Coutts is nothing special as an individual player, he just keeps it simple, always available for the ball and seems to bring the best out of the other midfielders. It’s his style and influence that makes him so important to the team.

Coutts’ first touch, vision and understanding of the game are the best we have by a mile. He does keep it simple a lot, but he’s just very, very difficult to tackle. His first touch takes him away from anyone who’s nearby. I genuinely think he’s the best midfielder we’ve had for years.

He also very often send to play the pass before the assist. It’s no wonder we’ve been on an awful run since he got injured.

 

[blade too long]

I still say Coutts is nothing special as an individual player, he just keeps it simple.

thats the mark of a great footballer making the game look simple
whatever he does is done right

outstanding player, errors cut to a minimum or non existant
11 Coutts simplicity we'd win the champions league

 

[cjx blade]

Well the Football League Paper thought Ched was the worst player for us.



Not surprised that they get the name wrong but thought that Evans had a decent game.

 

[Pinchy]

Either that, or that one game's a bit too soon to make any judgement.

Ten minutes was plenty for James Wilson...

 

[Beans]

View attachment 36187

Well the Football League Paper thought Ched was the worst player for us.



Not surprised that they get the name wrong but thought that Evans had a decent game.

Did they use a random number generator for those scores? Moore made 3 saves in the match, the most difficult of which was that comfortable save from the deflected free kick

 

[Weasel]

Looks to me that the FLO reporter probably sat in the alehouse all afternoon and didn't bother going to the game before reading some Norwich forum report.

Having decided that rhebBlades keeper simply had to be the man of the match for Sheffield to possibly beat the mighty Norwich (there can be no other explanation after all), they must have seen the name 'Evans remembered the saga of Chedwyn a d instantly put a 5 and the lowest score against his name whilst uttering the words 'bstard, woman, hating, twat. He probably had to upgrade it to a 5 from a 1 so it wasn't so blatantly obvious.

The fkin idiot hasn't even got the professional pride to get the fkin names of the players playing in the game right. They only had all 90 mins to check it out.

If nothing else and I appreciate football is all about opinions, it shows that there is still a place for rampant useless twats reporting on football for the media.

Still I bet Cheds pleased. He managed to get a 5 rating in an unfamilar position on the pitch, get another 70 mins on his rehabilitation under his belt, all whilst probably walking around Meadowhall with his missus last Saturday afternoon.