I think there are 3 worse teams than us. I am almost sure. But football can bite you in the arse sometimes. Stoke now have to be without Walters which for them is a blow.
I don't really get why Hughton is getting bashed for bringing Howson on for Wes. Yes, Wes was our best player, but at the time Stoke were offering little, Howson needs game time and he is as good as Wes, if in a different style. The penalty is what changed the game, not his substitution. It was bringing on Elmander that got me. I would have stuck with the formation, brought on Pilks for Redders (Who again had been beating his man all day then doing nothing with the ball) as he can find those passes and beat his man. Hooper up top to give us more energy to get in behind. On another note, I was truly ashamed of the few fans that booed while Wes went off. Thankfully it was only a minority and the cheers drowned it out for the most part, but it was still bloody ridiculous!
What sort of reception did the crowd give for big Dunc before the game? I bet it was pretty emotional especially for those who remember watching the great man play.
What really irks me is the horrifically slow tempo and the complete lack of belief/fight. The amount of spirit we have is the lowest it's been since 2009. That's come from our lifeless manager and it'll be that that takes us down.
I wouldn't ship him out, but he shouldn't be starting regularly. As someone to bring on to kill games off he's good, but he's not a well-rounded enough player to be starting. Very quiet really, but not helped by the service he received. He made a great run for Redmond to pull the ball back to him, which went completely ignored. Completely agree with this. Sunderland seem to have a strong mentality about their camp, and a couple of match-winners, that should see them pick up just enough points. Palace have some tricky fixtures, but probably just enough about them to survive. If Mel's tactics ever click with WBA they may start to improve, but if they don't then they're going to really struggle. If this game has done anything, it's made the Sunderland and WBA home games even more vital. But that 6 points only gets us to 35, so we're going to need some more from somewhere!
That was truly an awful game of football between two dire teams. I would have kept Wes on, but not saying that really influenced things at the end of the day. We are awful in the final third. Bloody inverted wingers, cannot break teams down, I could go on. Atmosphere was woeful also. Wolf gets 1 shot on target every three games. Is it he is rubbish or is it tactics? If he is rubbish then who bought him? If he is quality why do we play the way we do that creates nothing for him?Either way the manger is implicated and is symptomatic of why we are where we are playing uninspiring football. I just want this awful season to finish so we can start again next season in whatever league we are in. Let's just hope there are 3 worse teams than us.
Just back from the game, sorry haven't read any of what's been written so far, but we were bloody rubbish today! From the first few mins we fell into the Stoke style of hoof ball. It was comical to watch Ariel balls up to Wes against those giants. And after we did finally settle, by then though we could easily have been a couple down if stoke knew where the goal is, everything good went through Wes on the deck, so what does chump do? Take off the ONLY creative outlet when we so needed a second goal.?? And I'm sorry but Elmander??? Wtf has Bechio got to do to get on? Or even put on Pilks and play him through the middle? Sorry lads but he's got to go he's just ****in useless when it comes to making changes mid game, we've gone from a manager who couldn't put a foot wrong to someone who's on another planet !! And Dave got programe will post Tomoz.
Well a 1-1 draw is what I went for, pity I can't have the same luck with my lottery numbers. I have just enjoyed reading all of the Norwich fans responses on this thread. Maybe a draw was a fair result in the end. We continue to search for a second away win of the season but we concede first again and are then battling to get on level terms. We then go and shoot ourselves in the foot by getting a red card. Walters will be out for the next 3 with Charlie Adam out for another 2. I was hoping Cardiff/Fulham would have been a draw as it would have kept both enough distance behind us and Norwich. However Palace and WBA both lost at home which builds up more pressure on them. I think most Stoke and Norwich fans would take a 16 and 17th place finishing position and hope to see improvements next season for both sides. We have the Hammers at the Britannia next week and hope we have enough players available to put out XI plus a full bench. Good luck to the Canaries for the remainder of the season. You fans know what you're about and are a credit to your club
to be honest we could have been 3 nil up after 30 mins and the red card?, wtf, in the end a draw was the right result
a massive plus for us, Walters is massively overrated and there are much better players waiting in the wings, in a way this would be a blessing, but Walters will get off with it as its no way that was a red card,
i was happy with the way stoke played, passed it around, created chances etc, good luck for the rest of the season
Is this relative to the Pulis-era Stoke, or, you know, a football team? I still felt you were very direct and lacked a creative spark. Not that we were much better. Beyond the penalty, was there actually a Stoke chance after the first twenty or so minutes?
Just been looking at the sack race site and second favourite to Mallkay is Claudio Ranieri That would be interesting!
Hughton won't be leaving until at least the summer so you just have to hope and pray that he can get you over the line!
You have to remember the team we have was built around big hoof, so yes three 1 on 1s in 30 mins is classed as a good half imo, as for the red card, there is no chance that will be upheld, ridiculous decision
I walked away from the game feeling for the first time I do not really care where we are playing next season. Of course we want to be in the Premier League but watching that tripe today makes you question the quality of the division. I just want this miserable season over with and a fresh start. If we still have Hughton at the helm though it will be more than likely it will see more of the same served up again I'm afraid. For me , the whole feel good factor from the previous 3 years has been sucked out of the club over the last two seasons.
