Norwood...

Shoreham Beach Seagull said:

Problem is, he will work perfectly against Burton and Ispwich at home when they sit every man behind the ball as he can spray passes for fun. He will then start against Reading and Newcastle where his lack of any defensive skill will be shown.

I'm all for not slating players blah blah. But he's keeping Kayal out of the team that's twice the player Norwood is. He may not be hitting form yet, but he will only get back to last seasons best if we get him playing regularly, the same with March.

I'd rather persist with Kayal and March than Norwood and Murphy/Skalak as I know for a fact the former are much better players at their peak.

I still believe Norwood can be useful in games like the next two at home, however much I think he was useless today and at Huddersfield.

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Well said...

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Finchley Seagull said:

It clearly wasn't saying I was the best fan. More saying you are not a fan if you come up with pathetic names like Poorwood.

As for criticism, I do criticise players but it is constructive and does not scapegoat them, unlike this thread

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samtheseagull said:

Chinman how ever poor you think an albion players is, is it really needed to make up a childish nickname like "Poorwood" . Its actually funny how pathetic that is.

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I actually thought the whole Poorwood thing was quite funny - it was meant tongue in cheek so no need to get your nickers in a twist chaps!

Before this thing changes direction, I started this thread as everytime I've seen him play in our side, he hasn't been up to scratch imo. Thats why I stand by my comment he isn't good enough. ENOUGH. He obviously has ability and championship ability at that, he just isn't a kingpin midfield dynamo in a championship winning side. Look at the other top 5 and their key midfield men.

A fully fit Stephens and Kayal and he doesn't play - simples.

Chinman3000 said:

I actually thought the whole Poorwood thing was quite funny - it was meant tongue in cheek so no need to get your nickers in a twist chaps!

Before this thing changes direction, I started this thread as everytime I've seen him play in our side, he hasn't been up to scratch imo. Thats why I stand by my comment he isn't good enough. ENOUGH. He obviously has ability and championship ability at that, he just isn't a kingpin midfield dynamo in a championship winning side. Look at the other top 5 and their key midfield men.

A fully fit Stephens and Kayal and he doesn't play - simples.

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If you think that is funny, then you're pretty easily amused. I've seen it before with people coming up with nicknames for players because they don't rate them and it's pathetic.

As others have said, Norwood is definitely more effective at home, when we have more of the ball. He's not been great the last two games but picking him out for special criticism after Huddersfield when the whole team were well under par was ridiculous in my view. As for you not seeing him play well, you obviously weren't at the Sheffield Wednesday away game for example where Norwood and Sidwell were superb as we won. In a number of other games he has been one of our better players but you ignore that and decide he's not good enough.

As I've said, criticise whoever you want but starting a thread slagging off an individual player is out of order in my view. As I said on the Stockdale thread, it is only a few months since threads were started slating him on here. Now he's been our best player currently.

As for your final sentence, I wasn't arguing re Stephens and Kayal. When both are fully fit, they will be first choice. But they are not fit/fully fit at the moment and I for one think we're a lot better off to cover this than we were last season with Norwood and Sidwell both providing good options. Clearly Chris Hughton does as well but what does he know compared to you?

Shoreham Beach Seagull said:

Problem is, he will work perfectly against Burton and Ispwich at home when they sit every man behind the ball as he can spray passes for fun. He will then start against Reading and Newcastle where his lack of any defensive skill will be shown.

I'm all for not slating players blah blah. But he's keeping Kayal out of the team that's twice the player Norwood is. He may not be hitting form yet, but he will only get back to last seasons best if we get him playing regularly, the same with March.

I'd rather persist with Kayal and March than Norwood and Murphy/Skalak as I know for a fact the former are much better players at their peak.

I still believe Norwood can be useful in games like the next two at home, however much I think he was useless today and at Huddersfield.

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Norwood would be a useful starter against both Burton and Ipswich, who we will have to break down. It'd be great if we can get a good lead against them with him, and then bring Kayal on to get some more match sharpness, so he's ready to tear into Reading and Newcastle.

Chinman3000 said:

I actually thought the whole Poorwood thing was quite funny - it was meant tongue in cheek so no need to get your nickers in a twist chaps!

Before this thing changes direction, I started this thread as everytime I've seen him play in our side, he hasn't been up to scratch imo. Thats why I stand by my comment he isn't good enough. ENOUGH. He obviously has ability and championship ability at that, he just isn't a kingpin midfield dynamo in a championship winning side. Look at the other top 5 and their key midfield men.

A fully fit Stephens and Kayal and he doesn't play - simples.

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Do you expect us to have equally good replacements as cover? That's an ideal scenario sure, but without parachutes it's just impossible.

This season we have done remarkably well without the key strength of last season: our midfield pairing in a 442. Kayal has been out since Barnsley and Stephens out at the end of August fiasco and recently through injury.

If your criticism is Norwood is not as good as Stephens/Kayal then I would agree, though that's not really criticism as they are both fantastic, complete midfielders. A good thing to do is get behind the players that are filling in for them, rather than constantly criticise.

Norwood and Sidwell have slotted in pretty well with Dale throughout the season which has exposed that our key midfielder is not our POTS and fan favourite Kayal, but the less glorified Stephens.