City's goal-scoring hero Gary Doherty was not shying away from the big question mark over last night's helter-skelter 3-3 draw with league leaders Wolves – the state of Norwich's defending.
For as dangerous a beast as Sylvain Ebanks-Blake is, there was still the odd self-inflicted wound to be seen in the City penalty area.
Which, if nothing else, will give new City No2 Ian Butterworth something to work on as he joins his old team-mate Ian Crook on the training ground back at Colney this week.
“I enjoyed it,” said the 29-year-old, fresh from keeping Bryan Gunn's four-game unbeaten run intact with his 65th minute final leveller.
“But we've conceded three goals which is desperate – ridiculous goals again; deflections and stuff. I think they scored two deflected goals and hit the bar.
“But in fairness to us we scored three and created the two terrific chances that Jamie [Cureton] had – and we're disappointed,” added Doherty.
Put together with events at Carrow Road earlier in the season and there was a familiar point to be made…. That on their day, City can be a match for anyone.
“We've scored eight goals against them now and they're top of the league,” said Doherty, as he looked ahead to Satuday's home clash with Bristol City.
For there lies the biggest game of the week – last night was just this huge, unexpected bonus both in terms of result and performance. Now you cash both in with a victory against the Robins; three points that would just start to ease City away from that relegation mire.
“We know that we've got goals in us and it's now just a case of taking that into the game on Saturday,” Doherty told BBC Radio Norfolk afterwards.
“And keeping the unbeaten run going is a massive boost for everyone in the changing room. We've got a few new faces in; the squad's got a lot bigger over the past few days which is obviously good.
“And we've got a massive home game against Bristol now and there'll be a great atmosphere – and I'm looking forward to it.”
The big chance for all three points came at 2-1 when Cureton just failed to capitalise on David Carney's instant impact on his first 45 minutes in a City shirt. Now all of a sudden Gunn and his now-complete backroom staff have big decisions to make – Chris Killen versus Carl Cort, Darel Russell versus Mark Fotheringham, Alan Gow versus Cureton, Carney versus Wes Hoolahan, Adam Drury versus Ryan Bertrand.
Decent decisions to make – with no easy answers as the level of competition within the squad lifts another notch on the back of Gunn's whirlwind 48 hours on the transfer merry-go-round.
“That's when we've got to kill teams off – at 2-1,” said Doherty. “We need to keep our lead for a lot longer; we're 2-1 up and then it seems like a minute later we're 3-2 down. We need to get our shape a lot quicker.
“But, in fairness, we've got Ian Butterworth in who is defensively very, very good. And we need to work as a team on what we're doing defensively – we've let too many crosses come in and it's killed us in the end.”
On the subject of Butterworth, back in the North-East there appeared to be some confusion as to whether the 45-year-old's 'resignation' had actually been accepted.
Certianly Pools boss Chris Turner was waiting on instructions from the boardroom as to where next. To the lawyers could be one fear; the Victoria Park side proved less than accommodating when City came a-calling for their last first team coach, Paul Stephenson.
The likelihood is that they will be putting up a fight again over Butterworth's exit.
“The official word that I've been told is that he is still employed by Hartlepool United,” Turner told reporters in the North-East overnight.
“We haven't really thought about replacing him to be truthful. I'll have to speak to the chairman to see where we lie with the situation.”
One person who was immediately linked to the role was Stephenson himself. He, however, now appears to be lined up to be Lee Clark's new head of youth development at Huddersfield Town as the Geordie mafia regroup in Yorkshire.
In the meantime, the final word on last night's dramas belonged to Wolves boss Mick McCarthy as his hopes of a six-point haul against two of the division's strugglers ran straight into the BG Bandwagon.
“It's two points dropped,” said the Irishman, with his own work to do defensively.
“Even giving them a goal as awful as we gave them [Croft's opener] we still had chances before half-time. Great goal from Corty [ex-Wlves striker Carl Cort] but we're in possession and we lose it, but then they should have scored a third before we got in front.
“And then to get in front and concede from a corner the way we did was dreadful.”
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