A night has passed, a few pints have been necked to kill the pain, but Stan still feels as though he's been mugged.
There we were; cruising; 1-0 up; playing well if unspectacularly, looking for all the world like a decent Championship team – well-balanced, competent and solid.
And then it happened: a floated ball across the box. Three Canaries watch it drift by; Whittingham strolls in at the back post and touches it home.
Panic sets in, though we still create opportunities to regain the initiative, before the defence again goes AWOL and a free header – A FREE HEADER – steals the points that really should have been all ours…
Gutting does not begin to describe it; Stan feels beaten, battered and bruised – and slightly sick.
How to explain it? Well, lack of confidence is an obvious reason. As soon as Cardiff equalised, you could sense our boys thinking: 'Here we go…'. More importantly, you could feel 25,000 people thinking the same thing.
Luck, too, played a part. Cardiff got lucky; we did not have enough of an edge about us to ensure that the Lady smiled on us.
But the main reason is one we all know – and one that has now dragged on into its fourth season.
We do not have a solid defence; we do not have two, no-nonsense, hard-as-nails centre-backs who lead from the back and provide the solid foundations on which any decent team has to be built.
Yesterday, Dion looked calm and had Jimmy Floyd in his pocket. The Doc did nothing wrong for most of the game – bar ridiculous attempts to spray passes across 40-50 yards. Johnny O and Drury looked their usual selves.
But they got caught out, as they and Captain Shacks do every week; they lost their men, they failed to clear their lines, and they failed to radiate that sense of unassailability that all half-decent teams need when they are 1-0 up at home.
Of course, the rest of the team must share in this responsibility; but the crux of the matter lies at the heart of the defence.
Over the past year, Peter Grant has made a series of sensible and, for the most part it seems, decent acquisitions. Looking at our squad now compared to when he took over, it is better balanced, suggests greater depth and, man for man, boasts a more coherent and committed band of players.
The money spent has come mainly from sales; many of those coming in have done so via freebies and because the remnants of our Premiership debacle have now moved on and taken their wages with them.
To that end, Grant has wheeled and dealed pretty well. But how and why have we managed to remain lacking in that most essential of capacities? Not getting Shawcross was a blow, but why was there no 'Plan B'? And was a young loanee really the answer to a more fundamental and deep-rooted problem?
Whether this was managerial oversight (and one Worthy was equally guilty of); whether it's the old bean counters double-knotting the purse strings; or whether it's the club's failure to raise and direct its finances, Stan cannot say.
You cannot imagine that both NW and PG failed to see there was a problem at the back; a quick look at the goals against column for the past three seasons is all you need.
Nor can you imagine that centre-backs have not been on their 'wish lists'. But , whatever the reason, and for us to challenge once again, the cash needs to be raised and the targets need to be set and hit.
Otherwise, Grant will begin to sink into the same mire that drowned Worthy. A house built on sand is useless – and a football club built on a weak defensive unit will struggle at whatever level it plays.
Leave a Reply