City favourite Jamie Cureton admitted that Saturday's utterly wretched effort at Molineux on Saturday was “very hard to explain” – and that the players were fully aware of where the buck stopped.
Reduced to nine men by the second-half dismissals of first returning skipper Jason Shackell and then Julien Brellier, the Canaries had been more third best than second best from the very start.
The fact that the 2-0 scoreline looked almost presentable from a distance couldn't hide the fact that in terms of attitude and application it had an alarming whiff about it.
Norwich now find themselves sat in 20th place ahead of next Saturday's huge live game at home to Sheffield Wednesday. With just seven points for their many troubles, there is another slightly disturbing statistic lurking in the midst of City's miserable start to the season.
For while it may still be very early days, Norwich have still only played one team in the current top ten of the Championship – Charlton Athletic. They have yet to bump into any of the other autumn 'form' teams. Little wonder that one or two people were dusting off their tin hats and flak jackets as fingers started to point.
“It is very hard to explain,” said Cureton, with team-mate Darren Huckerby earlier offering one or two explanations in his own inimitable style.
“From start to finish, we didn't perform,” said Cureton. “We couldn't string any passes together; didn't look confident in what we were doing; always on the back foot it seemed.
“We just looked a team that's lacking a lot of confidence and everyone was out there in their own little worlds – or it seemed that way. I can't put my finger on it and the manager probably can't either.”
Trouble is, of course, that someone is going to have to put their finger on it very soon if a full-blown crisis is to be averted. The ten-game mark arrives in a fortnight's time away at QPR – ironically, back where it all started for Peter Grant albeit only on a watching brief that day one year ago at Loftus Road.
“It is really, really frustrating,” said Cureton. “We've really got to regroup and have a good look at ourselves.”
Where do they go from here? “Well, it probably can't get any worse – which is probably one of the plus points,” he said, with a rueful grin.
“We really have to regroup. We have a cup game which obviously is important because we want to win, but the league is the utmost.
“The manager is going to put a team out to perform at Man City and, hopefully, try and gain some confidence and then, basically, it's two home games which I think are massive (Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe United).
“They're against teams that, at the start of the season, that we'd be looking to win and, at the moment with the way that things are going, we are putting a hell of a lot of pressure on ourselves to get our season back on track.
“So, I think, those two games will be very, very important – that we took full points from.”
Like Huckerby and Grant, he had few complaints about the two red cards – Shackell is now expected to miss three games for his straight red, Brellier just the one for his two yellows.
“You think it can't get any worse – and we lose Shacks,” said Cureton. “We were stemming the game a little bit – it was still terrible – but we weren't getting as cut apart as much as we were in the first-half and Shacks gets sent off and that obviously makes it a lot harder.
“And then Julien… It does just sum the whole day up. One of those games that you want to put to the back of your mind and really forget about. But, as you know, you're not allowed to do that.
“We have to stand up and take all the flak that we get – because what every comes our way, we're going to deserve it today because there's not one thing in that game that we can draw on to say: 'We did well at…'”
It wasn't exactly the easiest of games for Cureton to strut his stuff. For having got his own return to Norfolk off to such a flier with those four goals against Barnet and then Southampton, the goals have dried up completely.
But then, in fairness, so have the chances. He had about two injury time minutes to prove himself at Charlton in mid-week; come his return to Grant's starting plans and the 32-year-old was given nothing to work with.
“I probably didn't touch the ball all game,” said Cureton, as Wolves camped themselves in Norwich's half from virtually the first minute to the last. City's first corner arrived in the 87th minute by when the Championship's Golden Boot holder was back in the stands.
“You run around, try and get into positions but basically because we didn't keep the ball I'm not effective.
“I need people to obviously keep the ball, to get it to me and it was just one of those days when it just didn't happen.
“I probably had, maybe, ten touches in the whole game – or the first 60, 70 minutes – which is, for me, embarrassing. I'm not happy with that at all.
“And like I say, things have to improve. We can't perform like this – this club is too big and deserves a lot more,” said Cureton, well aware of the trials and tribulations they put the supporters through on their endless travels up and down the land.
“The fans deserve a lot more – every away game is miles and they come singing their hearts out. And we give them that… That is not good enough from a Norwich team.”
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