Whitey Grandad

I think I've eaten there (Bloody iPad auto-correct. If only I could read what I actually typed)

According to The Times we have had an offer for Sakho turned down.

I spoke to one Norwich fan before the game. They had left Norwich at one o'clock.

Absolutely this. A settled team is more effective than a Team of fitter individuals. Franny Bengali injured his elbow clearing up leaves in his garden.

I am one of those old people. I support the team but I don't support the manager because I don't like his style of football.

Terrible atmosphere. I was smack in the middle staring at what looked like an empty stadium. At least we didn't have to put up with too much of the animated advertising hoardings. Dangerously crowded concourse too.

It was a teamful of strangers who looked like they had never played together before. Lots of short passes going astray.

Me too, just got home, bloody freezing. I think the players suddenly realised that they'd have to be out there another 30 minutes if they didn't do something.

Well, that is the main point that I was trying to make. For someone like Alan Shearer perhaps we should be considering the ratio of goals scored to shots taken, although then we would have to weight the data by the performance coefficient of the goalkeeper that he was facing. In Terms of goals scored it's a pretty straightforward record to keep but even then comparisons with other players should be used very sparingly. Football performance is a very complicated and interactive matter and the rating of any individual will depend to a great extent on the performance of the team. If you're interested in statistical theory (and who isn't?) then there is a chapter in a book called 'Facts From Figures' by M.J. Moroney called 'Goals, Floods and Horse Kicks' where he explains that these events follow the Poisson Distribution (the limiting case of the Binomial Distribution), that is to say a large number of events each with a small probability of success. It's a long time since I've read it but I can recommend it. http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/bitstream/1/2034023/1/503.pdf Page 103

I think you'd need several hundred for a start and even then it would be impossible to separate the effect of the goalkeeper in isolation from the defence in front of him. How much the opposition is closed down, how far out the shots are, that sort of thing. What is the system at corners? Does the keeper always come for any cross, is he protected by surrounding defenders or is he left with a space that is his personal zone to defend. Then you'd need to separate out deflections, walk-in goals, and you'd certainly need to put some weighting in the type of shot, its position and strength amongst other things. You also have to include those shots that are blocked by defenders before they get near the goal. Some teams will get close and charge up to every attacker, others will stand off and let the keeper deal with any shots. For any statistical analysis to have any validity then all other variables and parameters need to be discounted, in other words you would need to play the same keepers behind a number of different defences before you could even begin to make a comparison. Even then they'd all have to be trained and practiced in the same defensive methods. In Forster's case I cannot say that I have seen any instances this season where I have thought that he ought to have done better with any goals that we have let in. I seem to remember that last season a lot of people were making similar criticisms of Stekelenburg.

Me too please! I'm looking for a semi-integrated model to replace a 20 year old Hotpoint. The trouble with the internet is that you can't see any details of the innards.

In terms of statistical theory, there aren't enough samples to give a meaningful figure and these statistics most definitely do lie. For a true comparison you would have to have different keepers behind the same defence. There are simply too many variables involved.

And Saturday afternoons

No, I wouldn't agree. There is not enough data for a statistical analysis and comparison. Besides, a 'shot on target' can be anything from a rocket into the top corner to something equivalent to a soft back pass.

What on earth does 'percentage of shoots saved' actually mean. Are they weighted in any way for ease of being saved. Factors such as placement of shot, distance from goal, speed of ball, swerve, deflection, bounce, blocked view must all have an effect. Total soccerball nonsense, Some people have too much time on their hands.

That would be not looking at the ball when he touched it. It ought to be easy to fix.

Agreed. Interestingly I read this morning that Liverpool will be risking sanctions from FIFA if they play Matip owing to a dispute with Cameroon. They are keen to play him because he 'needs to rebuild match fitness'.

Thanks

Thanks HamSa, that is the basis of my statement, in my opinion

Out of interest... When was the last time that we won four in a row?

Nice How thick is it? I like chronometers but they must be thin with a clean dial.

It's a joint effort but a wall is no good if it jumps out of the way of the ball.

Because to the individual concerned each opinion is their own. An opinion is merely a particular way of looking at things.

I think it will take a few more games before that happens because all the teams below us would need to pick up several points, but lose the next four and they'll be snapping at our heels. At one stage I would have said that was extremely unlikely but now I'm not so sure. We're only one injury or departing player away from a serious slump.

I have no problem with anything that people say, but there's no need for any personal attacks or extreme language. An opinion can never be wrong no matter how much you might disagree with it. It's a good thing we're all different.