BFTG Norwich (a)

[blythspartan]

A fairly rare away game for me but I am currently staying with family in Cromer.

I loved the game and had some not so friendly banter with a couple of Norwich fans afterwards but it was mainly sour grapes on their part. I thought we had at least 1,000 supporters at the match and fair play to anyone who made the 3 hour journey.

I’m starting to see why Forest wanted to sign Holmes as he is improving at a rate of knots but why isn’t PInce starting with NGW? For me he’s the best LB we have and he has genuine pace. Andy Carroll is a fantastic professional and I’d love him to finish his career with us. I was proud of the whole team last night and I thought we deserved to take all 3 points.

[Zip]

Lumley: 7: some good saves, particularly from the Sargent shot. Like the way he gives it the hoof when even slightly under pressure.

Yiadom: MOTM, 8.5. Great stuff.

Holmes: 8. Passing excellent, took one for the team when Pukki nearly had a run on goal. Touch and go whether he should have been sent off but this boy is improving every week.

Sarr: 6.5. One excellent tackle in the second half but should not have been beaten in the air for Norwich’s goal.

McIntyre: 6. Too slow to play wing back as it means we lose the overlap option on the left. Turned out to be a tactical masterstroke bringing NGW on for him. Wins a penalty a few mins later.

Hoilett: 6.5. Good in first half but tired and rightly hooked.

Loum: 6.5. Mixed bag. Some good stuff but gave the ball away several times.

Ince: 7. Quiet game by his standards but still looked good. We should have got him on the ball more.

Hendrick. 7. Did the ugly stuff well in most part.

Joao: 6. Off the pace. Doesn’t work with Carroll. Long or Meite would have been a better option to start. Ince lost patience with him eventually and hooked him for Meite.

Carroll: 8. Excellent. He seems to love it at Reading and becoming a crowd favourite. Relieved to see him taking the penalty instead of Yak.

Subs: NGW. Should be starting. Yaks. Should have started. Mbengue. Not enough time to judge.

PInce: made substitutions at exactly the right times and right players. 8.

Good stuff Norrers. I look forward to your return to AE in 2023.

[Norfolk Royal]

Lumley: 7: some good saves, particularly from the Sargent shot. Like the way he gives it the hoof when even slightly under pressure.

Yiadom: MOTM, 8.5. Great stuff.

Holmes: 8. Passing excellent, took one for the team when Pukki nearly had a run on goal. Touch and go whether he should have been sent off but this boy is improving every week.

Sarr: 6.5. One excellent tackle in the second half but should not have been beaten in the air for Norwich’s goal.

McIntyre: 6. Too slow to play wing back as it means we lose the overlap option on the left. Turned out to be a tactical masterstroke bringing NGW on for him. Wins a penalty a few mins later.

Hoilett: 6.5. Good in first half but tired and rightly hooked.

Loum: 6.5. Mixed bag. Some good stuff but gave the ball away several times.

Ince: 7. Quiet game by his standards but still looked good. We should have got him on the ball more.

Hendrick. 7. Did the ugly stuff well in most part.

Joao: 6. Off the pace. Doesn’t work with Carroll. Long or Meite would have been a better option to start. Ince lost patience with him eventually and hooked him for Meite.

Carroll: 8. Excellent. He seems to love it at Reading and becoming a crowd favourite. Relieved to see him taking the penalty instead of Yak.

Subs: NGW. Should be starting. Yaks. Should have started. Mbengue. Not enough time to judge.

PInce: made substitutions at exactly the right times and right players. 8.

Good stuff Norrers. I look forward to your return to AE in 2023.

Thanks, but you might be waiting a long time.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

A fairly rare away game for me but I am currently staying with family in Cromer.

I loved the game and had some not so friendly banter with a couple of Norwich fans afterwards but it was mainly sour grapes on their part. I thought we had at least 1,000 supporters at the match and fair play to anyone who made the 3 hour journey.

I’m starting to see why Forest wanted to sign Holmes as he is improving at a rate of knots but why isn’t PInce starting with NGW? For me he’s the best LB we have and he has genuine pace. Andy Carroll is a fantastic professional and I’d love him to finish his career with us. I was proud of the whole team last night and I thought we deserved to take all 3 points.

Seems to be a lot of frustration around Norwich at the moment, not just their fans but caretaker manager Allan Russell said after the game that "without doubt" they deserved to win the game, which I think is harsh on us really. We probably had as much as what they did in terms of good chances, efforts on goal and spells in the game. He seemed to think the penalty wasn't one either, although I'm not sure they can have too many complaints with it.

I think Ince is on the money with Holmes though, another season or two here to continue to get games and improve and think he will end up moving somewhere higher for a pretty decent fee. Whether he will make it to the Premier League or not, I don't know, but he will probably outgrow us in the next couple of years.

I liked Ince's comments on NGW, biding his time, doing the right things in training etc. Hopefully we will see him more involved over the second half of the season because he has talent, although I think TMac has done well at LWB and opens up more freedom for Hoilett and co on the right side.