Norwich City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[olaftab]

Sorry, I know he scored (but so did Terry Donavan a long time ago) but our 7mil aquisition didnt appear to have anything that will particularly worry top class number 5s through the season.

You've decided that after he's had barely 90 minutes for us?

Also, how many truly top class defenders are there in the Premier League? Probably three - Kompany, Vidic and maybe the c**t Terry.

And Donacien to come!

[Legion]

Untried, unproven, inexperienced but has potential.

[Damo70]

I thought our ball retention 2nd half was worryingly shit. We need to work on holding possession. We also sat deeper and deeper , an age old problem.

I would love to disagree but unfortunately yes, yes and yes.

[London Villan]

Our passing is terrible at times... unforced errors will get punished by the better teams. This is a basic thing though, which surely can be sorted.

[kippaxvilla2]

Vital win - quality secondary.  LWB (Life Without Benteke) was tested for the first time and I believe we passed the test well.  For everything I thought was bad about Bacuna in the game against Liverpool I thought the opposite today.  I thought he was outstanding and added some real steel but control to the right side of defence - Lowton should beware!  Well done for grinding it out.  Tonev wtf?  Luna is an atrocious defender.  Kozak just getting warmed up - think he will be good.

[The Left Side]

Phew we needed that, still work to be done but great to have a clean sheet.

[SoccerHQ]

Good good win that. Norwich have only lost twice in their last 12 home games, both to us.

Bow down to Brad aswell, the clean sheet was down to him.

Just hoping Benteke injury isn't too bad, we are half the team going forward without him linking it all up.

And for all the money they've spent Norwich remain a poor poor team who will be scrapping to stay out of the bottom 3, we are better than those sorts of teams this year.

[eamonn]

Must admit Kozak's first shot - aiming it at the keeper's near-side when the other end was gaping makes me think he's far from a natural striker. Gabby really baled him out. Speaking of Gabby, I love the lad. He knows the league so well and always looks our most dangerous player when he has the ball. I feared the worst when he went off.

[silhillvilla]

Thought Norwich were quite dirty today tbh, bit stoke'ish lots of elbows pushes and late high tackles. I'd like us to step up the physicality in games like this and kick the fuckers back a bit. Would like to mention Clark today, probably his best ever game for us IMHO.

[Ads]

I fail to see how grinding a one nil win out away from home at a tough place to pick up three points means we're likely to struggle to stay up.

Presumably these same people were saying we will struggle in the week as we're incapable of grounding out such victories.

This all pails mind compared to those writing of Kozak after less than 90 minutes (despite scoring the winner and turning the Norwich defence when he should have bagged a second) and Tonev because he undercooked two paces and had the cheek to shoot.

Needless to say, I thought we played well. I was impressed by our central two. KEA really got stuck in, while Delph was his exceptional self. Bacuna and his pace stopped anything down the left. Clark has been much maligned, often justly, but today he stood up and really provided some physical presence.

The second half was a poor game compared to the chances we had carved in the first, but we limited them to one effort, beautifully saved, and we should have nabbed one on the break.

We recycled possession too easily, while Tonev needs to get his head up. That said, he had more shots than our entire midfield normally has in a season, which I will applaud him for and not moronically write him off.

Bacuna puts a mean corner in and we looked capable of scoring from them too. Strange times indeed.

All in all I am very pleased with the result and the manner of the performance, it wasn't backs to the wall, but there was some areial pressure.

Good to see that Bluenosed runt continue a theme of English wingers with an inability to cross the road, nevermind the ball.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I wish to change my previous reply to Ads. The more I think about it, the happier I am with todays performance.

[PaulWinch again]

The performance was fine, winning at a tough place to go is a good result. We showed defensive grit and coped with losing two of our best players, I'm very happy with that result.

[villa kicks]

any news on big Ben the beast injury hoping to hear something on here . Well done kozak excellent to score on debut looks like in safe goal scoring hands with him up there . Such a handful far more effective than bent. Proven scorer showed he can do business . I thought albrighton was unlucky not to get on for tonev . I mainly enjoyed the excellent guzan . Kozak and baccuna play today. But Clark was outstanding today as was delph who continues to perform . Clark was great at reading and intercepting and apart from penalty faultless . Showed how he's been a captain and was determined to finish a winner today

[exigo]

Not even a Benteke injury and the away end not having any Delia pies left at 12:15 could spoil the day. Thank you Norwich, you're rapidly becoming my favourite away trip.

[eamonn]

I don't think people having a go at Tonev for his shoot-on-sight policy are moronic. It's a valid observation. He's going to have to learn not to shoot his load so quickly. It's John Ruddy and his ruddy cheeks he's aiming at, not some Bulgarian beauty.