Gunn was injured after 31 minutes in the Leeds game on 21 0ctober when we were leading 1-0. Long took over and we conceded 3 goals to blow our 2-0 lead at halftime. We then lost the next 3 games, won 2, then lost at Watford before Gunn returned against Bristol City on the third of December. So when Long was in goal, we won 2 and lost 5, including the Leeds game. That looks like a pretty big dip to me.
Gunn went out in the minute 31 vs Leeds. (I hope this cut and paste works) EC 21-10-23 Norwich 2 : 3 Leeds EC 24-10-23 Norwich 1 : 2 Middlesbrough EC 28-10-23 Sunderland 3 : 1 Norwich EC 05-11-23 Norwich 1 : 3 Blackburn EC 11-11-23 Cardiff 2 : 3 Norwich EC 25-11-23 Norwich 1 : 0 Queens Park Rangers EC 28-11-23 Watford 3 : 2 Norwich
With Long on the pitch, we have 6 points from 7 games, so a miserable 0.86 points per game and conceding 16 goals at well over 2 per game. Results in Cup matches are naturally more flattering, with two wins, a draw and a loss and just the one conceded per game. Gunn is on 1.59 points per game and 1.2 goals conceded per game - which is not stellar but above our average this season.
A matter of seconds, CS, but I didn't list all of the teams and scores like you. I make it 10 goals for and 16 against in 7 games. Nice stats Rob! Good team effort guys.
Thanks lads for confirming my position as Chief Idiot. I can't imagine what I was looking at but anyway - apologies Dunc.
You're anything but an idiot, 1950, but it shows the difficulty in trusting to our recollections of things (especially us oldies ). It's also a bit unfair to pin that bad run of games on Long. We were already missing Hanley, Sainz, Sargent and Barnes and teams took advantage of that. Gibson was injured 3 games after Long took over and Warner came in. Six normal starters out from a small squad really did have an impact. The lineup was changing week by week and we struggled to manage any kind of consistency or threat up front. With Gunn and Barnes back, we scraped a win at Bristol City. Sainz came in and scored against Sheffield Wednesday as we were unbeaten for 5 games (3 wins and 2 draws) until Sainz stupidly got himself sent off at West Brom. The return of Hanley against Southampton helped us get an unexpected draw. A week later Sargent returned in the Cup and others also came back and our play improved. The test now is what we can now do in the final 16 games with a nearly full squad (minus Hwang and Forshaw of course).
Wagner's view: "At the end of the day, what really came together, however you look at it, is that we have a competitive squad now together. We have a lot of players healthy and pushing for the squad or for the starting shirt. This has come together, and this means that you have more competitiveness then to perform consistently on the highest level, with all the focus and concentration you need. For this you have to work very, very hard, and it’s still a long season to go. We have to make sure that we take it game by game like in the past."
I think what you are saying Rick makes a lot of sense, one injury or two, is manageable, but when it is so many that was what was killing us - plus our memories are fallible. I suppose I would say I am not anti Wagner, but I am still not for him, I'm a give him more time and make a decision in the summer as I can't think of a better candidate currently
Ben Lee's analysis of the West Brom game: https://ncfc-analysis.medium.com/norwich-vs-west-brom-transitional-but-effective-3c3563d8539e NB Ben is now posting his analyses on another platform, Medium, different from Wix. No paywall, no ads.
I only focused on the games when Long played because that's what 1950 asked for. This was the main problem, as I said above: "We were already missing Hanley, Sainz, Sargent and Barnes and teams took advantage of that. Gibson was injured 3 games after Long took over and Warner came in. Six normal starters out from a small squad really did have an impact."
