I thought after a little bit of a disjointed first half we really pulled together and were really, really unlucky to lose today. Let's not forget Demba Ba handballed in the Chelsea opener and somehow a stonewall penalty was not given for a clear foul (the referee also made some other ridiculous decisions in Chelsea's favour today) on Pilkington by Ramires. And with the score at 1 - 1 we kept on going to try to win and Chelsea caught us on the break. Tettey made a mistake (of an otherwise excellent game) but it should have been saved. John Ruddy looked really shaky today which isn't like him at all. The other two goals were just special finishes. It is really hard defeat to take. At 1 - 1 I thought we would go onto win it and probably we deserved to. OTBC Proud of you boys!
If anyone complains about the Norwich performance today (over 90 minutes), they are talking out of their arse, that was a good game, with both teams going for it. A little luck for the blues, and a little bit of class made the difference. A real shame as we were probably well on top at that stage of the game.
We are up against team which on paper is challenging for the league, including in my honest opinion the best player in the league last season by a mile who by all accounts had a quiet game. The second goal was a sucker punch we were tired and there were some mistakes, **** happens. As for our performance we were a million times better some of the final balls lacked precision especially set pieces but you cannot fault us effort wise, we played some quality football, one positive players are noticing RVW's runs and are attempting that through ball, unfortunately Chelsea spotted it on two occassions. From that game I feel a lot more confident, there are a few issues we went defensive after our goal and decided to counter them I'd of rather kept it how it was, we're still a tad indecisive at times e.g. Snodgrass, Pilkington combo, but it's all work in progress I'm sure it will improve.
Very unlucky today and got hit when we were pressing. Poor corner from Pilks led to the second but overall we gave it a go. I am not Hughton's biggest fan but today he deserves credit for going for it late on. Could not fault anyone today. Olsen and Fer stood out but the midfield generally were solid. Time for Hooper to start just to give the Wolf a break and get his head clear. He did OK today but does look a bit lightweight at the moment and obviously is not scoring. Maybe a break will help.
i thought rvw was very good today. his header back across goal for the equaliser was superb, the way he hung in the air. he's definitely carrying an ankle injury though - limped off today. he's got two weeks off now so maybe that's what he needs.
Agree with this, Chelski's 2nd goal was the real sickner, a poor corner from Pilkington, crazy attempted clearance from Tettey and after all that, a shot that Ruddy should really have saved IMO. Don't really want to bring this up again but Ruddy was flapping again today and certainly did not look England class. One word sums up my feelings ATM - GUTTED ! , and I should imagine the majority of City fans feel the same as me.
The commentators on the stream I was watching were going on about the sun in his eyes in the first half. Now I know what it is like at the Barclay in the first half at this time of year, when the sun is out. It is hard to see the ball - if it was the sun, why did he not use a baseball cap? I am wondering if there is something more going on with JR following his injury. Is he lacking confidence, or is he not 100% fit perhaps?
kio - agree with all you say and JR does seem to be lacking in confidence or something, he was not at his best today. Anyone who says 'Hughton is clueless' (or words to that effect) after today's performance is going on my 'ignore' list!!! No, I would keep JR in goal, He's going to be away with the England squad and I'm sure he'll be back to his old self soon.
agree with JR - i think he's taken a knock to his confidence somewhere along the line, combined with his injury last season - there's obviously a slight worry there but he's still our best keeper (possibly our best player). he'd have to be considerably poor for three or four games to drop him
So proud of that, we were robbed of a better result by some exceptionally odd decisions but what a display against the team funded by dubious sources Well done to the whole team but special mention for Fer he was magnificent as was Howson OTBC we fear no one
Well played today boys but your comments are way off mark. We should have been in a different county by half-time having controlled the first half completely and utterly. You had a marvellous 15 minutes where you equalised and controlled the game for a short time but where slack at the back and against a team that oozes class is a very big mistake. Good luck for the season
Don't think people are saying we deserved to win necessarily but it was closer than 3-1 and a draw would not of been an unfair result. You started brightly, we certainly did not and in the end your class told. Bringing on 2 players who cost £70 million is not a luxury we have. The game evened up considerably with 10 mins before half time and from 50-75 minutes we were the better team. We paid the price in the end for some sloppy mistakes. Think it is also fair to say a couple of big decisions went your way. 1st goal handball, Pilks should of had a pen which may also of led to a red card. Anyway well done you just edged it but I would not say the above comments are "way off the mark". Im sure you will be in the mix come the end of the season.
Watched the game with a load of Chelsea fans. I was thinking that we can win this. They thought a draw was the a fair result and we won't go down.
I missed the game live today, but just watched it on my sky planner. 1 - 3 really do flatter Chelsea and feel a bit gutted we didn't get anything from it. But proud of the lads, there's more positives than negatives.
