Against the Swans ball retention is king. If you let them have it they will keep it all day if they feel like it. That’s how they play – their schtick. To go four v five from the word go was, even without the benefit of hindsight, suicidal. Wes found himself having to play as a traditional left-sided midfielder and Olsson’s forays forward were limited in the extreme.
Archives for March 2014
One step forward, another two back as the toothless Canaries slip to yet another abject away defeat and pile the pressure on Hughton
City were a shadow of their Sunderland selves; hesitant at the back, they looked distant and disconnected up front. Should they survive, there will be a huge summer inquest into just what it is going to take to deliver a Premier League level strike force…
For 'the beautiful game' read 'the angry game'. Why is today's football ridden with angst and conflict?
Football’s modern trend for in-fighting, disagreements and cyber punch ups seem to filter right down to the very lowest levels of the game. They start in those gold plated corridors of FIFA and work their way down to the bottom feeders
One of the good Carrow Road days as Tettey, the clappers and Wes combine to make it memorable
The supporting roles played by Messrs Snodgrass, Howson and Tettey meant the midfield functioned probably better than it has done at any time this season. First to every loose ball, victorious in every 50/50 and in complete control
Tettey’s wonder strike caps a fine afternoon for the Canaries as their relegation rivals sink ever further into the mire
It left the Canaries seven points clear of the drop zone with a 38-point finishing line now just two, tantalising wins away. As importantly, it kicked the Black Cats in the teeth belief-wise as they slumped ever further into the mire…
With the Black Cats in town, it's not too late for a hero to emerge and provide that YouTube classic
In terms of a starting XI is virtually impossible to second-guess Hughton’s thoughts. If a 1-1 draw with Stoke was sufficient to prompt five changes one can only imagine his thinking following the debacle at St Mary’s
If City go down, what’s the charge to be laid at the board’s door? Last sane people left in the asylum?
To succeed in the English Premier League, you have to take your business brain out of gear; forget everything that 40 years of commercial life has taught you and throw enough silly money at someone and someone’s agent to make this thing work…
Why should we just be thankful to be here? What's so wrong with the City fans aiming for the stars?
During the 1988/89 season, in a campaign that, for Norwich, lasted for 38 league games plus an extra nine in the two cup competitions, Dave Stringer called on a total of just 18 different players, eight of which started more than 30 league games.
Yet another dismal away day for the faithful as Saints dominate and make hay from some woeful City defending
A midfield that includes Bradley Johnson and Alex Tettey is designed to be be strong, to not take a backward step and to win the 50/50s. It was was therefore worrying that it failed on every count. Ditto the quality of passing from central midfield which has long been questioned. Today did nothing to allay those fears.
‘Six foot two, eyes of blue’. Big Dunc will forever be a Canary colossus. Saturday proved it
Two memories of Duncan stand out: the roar of the crowd on those odd occasions when he would start to dribble forwards tentatively from the halfway line, encouraging him to keep going and have a shot; and seeing him close up at the Royal Norfolk Show when I was about ten years old.
No war please, we're footballers. Ed turns the City clock back 100 years to the start of the Great War
A century ago, rather more prosaic fields of play were occupying the hearts and minds of Englishmen, vast in terms of their scale and significance. And if those mud infested fields had only been green for fleeting seconds, then those who were led to their slaughter in France and Belgium certainly were, raw of mind and fresh as a tender green shoot.
Boils down to expectations. And for those who think change guarantees improvement…
Norwich were winning. Bringing Howson on would enable a switch to the 4-2-3-1 system which was so effective in a run of games before it was abandoned with disastrous results to accommodate Wes at Villa Park.
More frustration for the home faithful as City again pay a heavy price for a mis-firing strikeforce
The Premier League fixtures computer has long since deemed March to be the month when City’s short-term future is decided but with one point from a possible six on the board so far, even the optimists among us – and I’ve really tried – must be wavering slightly.
Norwich left to pay a heavy penalty for shutting up shop all too early as the ten-man Potters rip two points out of Hughton’s hands
As the final, five minutes of added-on time played out without too much threat of note, so the boos ran out at the final whistle. City remain four points clear of the relegation zone, but after that home win against Spurs their momentum is slowing. Potentially fatally…
Let's brace ourselves for an emotional one. With Stoke in town it's also a day to remember our Big Dunc
A once great warrior clad in yellow and green reduced by this terrible illness to a shadow of hid former self. A proud, dignified man who literally spilled blood for the Canary cause and who was the epitome of a leader
Father's Day: That evening in 1993 when a Polston goal led Norwich City to dream the impossible dream
But so it is with us Norwich fans. Knock us down as much as you like. Whoever you are, wherever you come from and whatever your motive. Bring it on. Because we’ll just keep on getting up again and coming back for more
Hoodoo shows no sign of abating as City again suffer the curse of Lambert to gut-wrenching effect
We even looked capable of adding to the lead. Just imagine it… 2-0 up away from home, at Villa Park of all places, with brickbats raining down on the technical area occupied by him. Dreamland. Alas that’s all it was. A dream.
Villa revel in rubbing yet more salt in Norwich’s open wounds as a four-goal, first-half blast floors Hughton and Co
Defeats for both Crystal Palace and Cardiff City will keep one or two wolves from the door. But it was the manner and extent of the Canaries’ defeat that will again have the alarm bells ringing as they seek to make full and desperate use of their remaining home games – kicking off with the vital clash against Stoke City…