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For 20 minutes I had a straw to cling to. And then it was same old, same old…

21st October 2007 By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment

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It's probably safe to say that the short list for the 'hot seat' at Carrow Road got shortened by one after this defeat.

The same failings of the Grant era were visible, questionable tactics and a real sense of a team without a heart.

A lot of hope for our chances of climbing out of the mess we find ourselves in was pinned upon the belief that we do actually have a half decent team, it was just that they were being stifled from playing to their full potential by the tactical and managerial incompetence of Grant.

Remove Grant and remove the burden from the players shoulders and hey presto, this ugly duckling does actually fly. This of course was always a bit of a short straw yes, but a straw none the less.

To be fair for the first 20 minutes that was how it seemed. With Hartson acting as a pivot to all our attacking intent, we actually carved out a number of decent chances and looked a half decent team. The problem was you just know it wouldn't last.

Even if we had taken one of our early chances you still suspected the outcome wouldn't have been that different.

After 20 minutes through until the start of the second-half a number problems slowly developed which undermined our hopes.

Firstly Hartson began to tire. He looked what he is, a genuinely good player who has gone to seed. The kind of player most pub teams have.

The 50-year-old who used to be a class act but has had one too many nights
out on the town to be able to keep up with those tricky 20-somethings.

I kept on expecting him to wander off behind one of the goals for a 'crafty' fag. It was a bit like watching Jan Molby play for us at the fag end of his career, a class act who you wished could have been here five years earlier.

These two examples just go to show how rare a commodity Dion is, not simply a footballer but an athlete.

Secondly, the 'playing Hucks on the right' tactic eventually ran into a literal 'cul de sac'. It never worked under Grant, so why Duffy thought it would work under him is frankly baffling. At least he changed it at half-time.

However, what went beyond baffling into the territory of the 'perhaps the real problem was Duffy all along not simply Grant…' school of thought was the third and biggest problem.

When Drury got injured Duffy moved Murray to left back. Needless to say, this where we subsequently were at our most vulnerable. You have to ask what Duffy was doing when Murray has played at left back before?

Had he noticed that the poor boy can't play there? Why not simply switch Lappin to left back, thereby allowing Hucks to go to the left side of midfield and then Spillane can play at centre half, his favoured position?

All things which eventually happened but all after our early momentum had been lost.

The final nail in our afternoon's coffin was the loss of belief in the team once Bristol City took the lead at the start of the second-half.

To be fair to be Bristol City they played well and looked a bright and effective outfit. In Murray and Trundle they also had two very effective 'impact players' to bring off the bench.

Something we most certainly didn't have. When Bristol City have a better bench then you then it really is time to worry.

Of course, and quite rightly, Duffy will say that we did come back to equalise, but only because Bristol City's positive attacking approach to the second-half gifted us a goal.

Their right back rather than simply shepherd the ball out of play kept it in play in order to launch another attack, only to be mugged by Hucks. However parity was short lived with the Robins going straight back up our end to bury us with two more goals.

Frankly with Burnley and the Baggies away next up we will be bottom by the time 'Bin day' comes around. Oh joy.

As for who gets the job of Grant's replacement, Stanley is reminded of the Groucho Marx gag: “I wouldn't want to be a member of a club who would have me as a member…”

Anyone who can't get a better job than this frankly can't be any good and that's why Messrs Jewell, Coleman and Bruce won't be at Carrow Road on November 4.


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Filed Under: Column, Stanley

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