1. In many ways, Norwich was a lot of fun. A shot to nothing that ended up with City gamely contributing two of the night’s five goals (while never seriously looking like taking anything from the game), in a vibrant stadium that always looks grand under lights. Norwich is a good trip, and a narrow defeat didn’t harm our enjoyment of it. 2. The gulf between City and the very top of the league was pretty stark, however. Norwich looked a cut above City in every way, with their movement out wide mesmerising a City defence that never looked in control, while we were routinely overwhelmed in midfield. They were good, very good in fact – but there’s a lingering regret that in a game we only lost by a single goal that things weren’t made just a bit harder for Norwich. 3. Most galling was the feel of Carrow Road though. The stadium was fully and noisy, the home support was engaged and enthused and everything felt together. Of course, much of this is the consequence of being in the thick of a promotion battle. But lots of it isn’t. It was impossible not to contrast the upbeat, unified approach of the Norwich fans with ourselves on Saturday – those who aren’t boycotting sullenly trudging to a one-third full stadium that’s had the life and colour drained from it. Norwich are what we were, what we want to be once more, and what we will never be again without a change of ownership. 4. Even if we accept that the season’s probably over and we’re only playing a succession of dead rubbers until we can finally focus fully on an Ashes summer, it’s about time this dip in away form was sorted, because people are still going to spend lots of money following the team in the final few weeks. We’ve lost five in a row on the road, and while some of them were pretty stiff tasks, the fact we’ve only got close-ish in one is a worry. If those five games had yielded even one win, we’d have entered the QPR game knowing that a positive result could’ve seen City breach the top six. It’s all ifs and buts, however it’s definitely been a costly and frustrating sequence of results outside of East Yorkshire. 5. Messing up 2-0 leads is even more costly however. To do it once or twice over a whole season is exasperating, but to do it three times in three months is pretty remarkable. The 2-2 draw at Aston Villa is the most excusable, as City were away and Villa are a handy side. Doing it against Rotherham and QPR is rather less understandable. 6. Villa, incidentally, have quietly crept into the top six. We were ahead of them very recently; one team was always going to make a little run into serious play-off contention as the last six weeks of the season approached, and it’s frustrating that it isn’t us. 7. Jarrod Bowen is now on 21 goals, a truly exceptional return for a player who isn’t even an orthodox centre-forward. He’s up to 35 in two seasons, which has emphatically demonstrated that he isn’t a one-season wonder. His Hull City career surely only has a maximum of eight games left. We’d better enjoy him while we can, and hope that his summer move is a wise one that keeps him at the top-flight level he deserves for years to come. 8. An international break now beckons, followed up by three very winnable matches. It’d have been fun to have spent this interlude discussing what Nigel Adkins needs to tweak in order to make the play-offs, but that wasn’t to be. However, the plausible range of finishing positions for City this season is still quite wide, perhaps as many as eight. A top half finish would still represent an outstanding season. 9. The manager cut a thoroughly exasperated figure after the QPR match, and as the match report speculates, it may not all be down to tossing away another two goal lead. That a manager who’s considerably overperformed this season is entering the second half of March not knowing whether he’s even wanted for next season is totally unacceptable. If he walked away from City in protest at the shabby treatment he’s received, and will continue to receive, he’d probably find that his reputation has been restored enough to get a decent job offer in the summer. And who could blame him? 10. Our hearts hurt at the plight of North Ferriby United, forced out of existence on Friday after 85 proud years. Many City fans down the years will have spent enjoyable afternoons and evenings at Church Road, home of our nearest neighbours of note, and the annual playing of the Billy Bly Trophy was an enduring part of the late-summer ritual for so long. To see them fold is devastating, and however modest their support is and always was, a lot of people will be distraught. We wish their fans well in trying to create a footballing resurrection in North Ferriby, and note with foreboding the appalling consequences that terrible owners can have on a club.
1,2,3. I hope someone explained that this is only because there is nothing else to do in Norwich and compared to Hull it is a dump.
Re 8. In Ehab’s tiny pea that masquerades as a mind, he feels let down by Adkins’ inability to propel City into the top six. The dozy get.
I just agreed with1,2 and 3. Then pointed out the idiotic remarks some people make about Norwich. Sorry if that was a bit complex.
In fairness you do more than point out the idiotic comments about Norwich, you see to it that your username appears immediately above each of them. Don’t be harsh on yourself.
You are really really boring on this subject, sad that you seem to still get a kick out of the Norwich versus Hull debate that has been done to death. Brid obviously has nothing worthwhile to otherwise distract you.
I read your posts because blocking is stupid and a last resort and I hope that one day you will come up with something current, relevant and worthwhile. I'm the eternal optimist and you occasionally do, but the Norwich thing is boring, done to death, move on.
Remember that when my posts, as they often are, are replying to someone who has come up with the N word first.
Actually, looking at Norwich it makes you think. I was on holiday in Norfolk last September. The local radio phone in was full of doom and gloom They had sold their main man for £20 million and spent little of it and had a large number of loan players. Thev week before they had only managed a draw with Ipswich. Talk was about if they could stop up. On the Saturday I was there they beat Middlesbrough. We beat Ipswich, which made me popular with some people in the local pub. That left us on 7 points and Norwich on 8 points on the 14th Sept. People were questioning whether their manager was the man for the job. Makes you think what we could have done if Adkins had received support and backing from the Allams. One thing that impressed me was the enthusiasm of the local radio station presenters. Every hand over on the Monday they were discussing the game. Funny enough, though the report at the the start of this thread mentions how vibrant the support was, they were complaining how quiet it had been until they scored and fans needed to be more vociferous.
