Charlton, Rotherham and Leeds Then Brighton and Reading too, Five games at home where we missed Many points some thought we were due Three drawn and two lost from those All lowlier placed than ourselves, Should have proved something´s missing If we´re to reach the upper shelves Even last week we tried hard To throw a three goal lead away, So defeat here should not leave us In surprise or that much dismay I´ll admit that even with A. Neil Today I had us down to draw, Brentford deserve their high spot But I didn´t think we´d be that poor He knows now the size of the task And I still back him to succeed, Whether it will still be this year Is a hard one to predict, indeed Consistency, work ethic, fight Three big words in his working day, Which the players, not he, must address If we are to still have hopes, come May. OTBC
Hear for yourself what he has to say http://www.canaries.co.uk/news/article/norwich-city-brentford-alex-neil-reaction-2223862.aspx
Wise words indeed RBF. I was unable to reply yesterday, as I was so disgusted with our pathetic performance, but now realise it can only help AN to identify the magnitude of the task that he has taken on. I have confidence that he will, but we need to get our midfield players back playing again and not out injured/suspended. Mind you, we mustn't get them back too soon either before they are ready!!!!
JR - just managed to watch the high(?)lights this afternoon, have to say I was not impressed, looked to me as if Brentford could and perhaps should have beaten us by two or three more. I know Button made a couple of good saves for them right at the end, but they could have been 3 or 4 -1 up at that stage. I´m hoping it will help when McAvoy appears on the scene, and I feel confident that together they will turn things around.
RBF - I did not even get to see the latest scores coming through on Saturday evening, and was somewhat shell-shocked to see the result, to the extent that a tiny droplet of water formed in my eyes as the real possibility of being stuck in the Championship for at least one more season dawned on me. I think it is therefore safe to say that YES, I was surprised. That might be simply down to the fact that a minnow team such as Brentford have 'done' us at Carrow Road, but that may be a bit too disrespectful to them, and we, as a team, are even worse that I thought. Thankfully I live where I live, and when you are out about the town, enjoying a swift bottle of beer or 6, there are always lots of little young, lovely ladies to comfort you in your hour of need
Hi skald bor, as you say in your poem, Fortress Carrow crumbled and not for the first time. The battlements took a pounding against Cardiff but yesterday our defence was totally absent. Brentford could have been a goal up at the start when their player had a golden opportunity to score, a chance our strikers never looked like emulating. Criticism has been levelled against certain players, totally without cause. The reason we lost was because we employed round pegs in square holes and only one person can take credit for that. He states 9 points from 12, first he has to win this coming game to get those extra points and that will call for a better team performance than we showed against the Bees. Not the end of our season, just makes it bloody harder to achieve. Regards to Muttley.
Yes RBF - Brentford could have been 2 up within 5 minutes I think it was. Brentford played as though they really wanted to win and deserved their victory - OK, I think the penalty was again 'soft', but that seems to be happening because we're not defending well/winning the ball further up the pitch. I'm still hopeful of making the play-offs, but only hopeful - last week, I was almost certain we would!!!
Talking of soft penalties, I watched Bristol City v Wet Sham yesterday, I well remember Lee Mason dishing out plenty of cards in the Prem, yet yesterday he allowed Mandy Carrol to get away with attempted murder near the end of first half, that tackle - from behind - could have broken a leg, yet Mason simply spoke to him about it!
That doesn't surprise me in the least Dave. I think Carroll is one of the most overrated players there is and I know I've seen him get away with very serious fouls before.
Nothing really surprises me in this league. If you had said that by this stage in the season we would be nine points clear of our fellow relegatees most people would have thought that good.We are,and we are not in the play off spots.At least unlike both Cardiff and Fulham we have a realistic hope of a top six finish.
It's fair to compare earlier results against Charlton, Rotherham and Reading say, but in all of those games we were the better team, but against Brentford we were a complete shambles - disorganised and disjointed with no clear tactics to follow. The warning signs were ther against Cardiff, but I really can't see where this is going now.
This whole season has been a complete mess. We might do enough to scrape into the play offs but after Saturday even that is going to be tough and I don't know if if fancy these players in what would essentially be 'cup football'. Mismanagement from board level to playing level. Honestly, the most disappointing campaign I can remember. Not necessarily because of the standard of football, but in terms of being let down time and time again it is.
Pretty much sums up my feelings exactly Supers. How can the players just seem to not be bothered from one week to the next. From one of our corners, the ball dropped near the penalty spot and none of our team even moved to try and turn it into the net!!!! NOT good enough!!!! I am going to renew my season ticket, but hope I can leave CR feeling that at least the team played well from now on.
Talking of corners...... why is it that Lafferty (or what the blokes around me call Liability) as one of the tallest members of the team doesn't go into the penalty area when we have a corner - twice on Saturday he parked his ass just in front of the halfway line when we had a corner - wierd or what ?
And again, talking of corners, how refreshing was it to see Brentford consistently leave three men on the half way line whilst we had a corner! We didn't cope well with it - lots of bickering amongst the players first half as to who should drop off.
At least Mr.Neil has identified the problem, or certainly part of it, if the following is an accurate description of his latest interview. Very true in my opinion, and it needed to be said http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...he_line_to_his_norwich_city_players_1_3929939
It has been a strange season to be sure. Like almost everyone, I was surprised when Adams was appointed, but thought there was a chance to rebuild the team in the Championship. Gary Holt coming in after a successful year of getting Falkirk to the play-offs, the gain then loss of Royle, the sacking of Robson and then the eventual appointment of Phelan didn't make it a smooth transition by any means. IMO, progress was being made with 10 points from 5 games, then for the sudden resignation of Adams. If he was pushed to it, then it has to be asked if that was the right decision, especially as it meant losing Phelan, who had such an influence in the December results. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but players do and this was Turner's take on it: "When he first came in, I think everyone was enjoying the sessions he was putting on,” said Michael Turner. “He has got huge experience in coaching and everyone learned a lot from him. He put on very good sessions and everyone enjoyed them....When he came in he brought in some good ideas and the lads really bought into him." Neil's appointment was as big a surprise as Adams' was, but there were some hopeful signs, especially as Phelan and Holt were staying on and could set the team up for the Bournemouth game - a great result that had us all enthused again. Cardiff started well with 3 excellent goals, but the penalty and then the disappointing second half raised jitters again, although we got the result. Then Phelan left and Neil and Holt set the team up for Brentford. Yes the injuries were unfortunate, but that wasn't the only problem. The players were all over the place throughout the game and we could have lost by 4-5 goals. There seemed to be no clear tactics or game plan to deal with Brentford's counter-attacks. Neil has chosen to attack the players. Is it a case of them not buying into his approach, though, the way they bought into Phelan's? Time will tell, I suppose. I do very much hope that Neil can turn this around, and the arrival of McAvoy may help with that, but I'm no longer feeling at all confident of that happening now.
Absolutely right RBF. I'm staggered that some people are slating him for that interview. He's already pinpointed a major issue with this group of players. Saturday went very badly but at least he now knows he has big problems to sort out. Very noticeable though who the people are slating the interview - the Adams fans. Sorry but had to be said!
