It was 78 days ago when City strode imperiously to the “top of the league at Portman Road”. It was emphatic. As 1-0 wins go, it was about as comfortable as you would ever wish to see.
Ipswich looked poor. A ragtag bunch of journeymen more notable for their trendy hairstyles and hipster beards than their prowess on the green stuff. Despite the pain of relegation we smugly took comfort from the fact that, despite playing in the same division, as clubs we were poles apart.
We smirked when their managing director suggested that Town can compete with City despite a smaller playing budget. Interestingly, in that same interview he said: “Maybe Mick is the difference. Good managers can make all the difference – he inspires confidence”.
But perhaps he had a point.
As things stand Mick McCarthy’s team is on a steady upward curve, which last night culminated in the Blues leapfrogging the Canaries in the pyramid for the first time since 2010/11. In fairness, it’s been coming for a while but was no less painful as a result.
City’s curve in the meantime has a rather different slant. The decline has been equally steady, but in the opposite direction. Top of the league turned into some dallying around in the play-off places before, courtesy of last night’s walloping in the north-east, slipping to seventh.
The journey of travel is southerly; destination mid-table. Cause for concern. And what makes it doubly disappointing is that we have all seen it coming.
Friday night’s win over Bolton was welcome but, minus the green and yellow tinted spectacles, unconvincing. Good performances from Messrs Howson, O’Neil and Jerome served to detract from other deficiencies in the side that have become gradually more apparent over the last few weeks.
The back-four of Martin Olsson, Michael Turner, Russell Martin and Steven Whittaker has creaked of late, yet Neil Adams has persisted. Sloppy goals have been conceded, passes have gone astray, tackles have been missed, but as a unit they have been afforded time to gel.
Last night they imploded, along with the rest of the team. Time for a shake-up.
The Whittaker / Martin conundrum continues to fester and should be the first to be addressed. Both are under-performing, one is being played out of position. Adams needs to act.
With the inexperienced Reece Hall-Johnson the only alternative at right-back (another possible option having departed on loan to Brighton), one suspects the answer will be to revert the captain to full-back. It is hard to see Adams’ on-pitch deputy being dropped completely, even if the form warrants as much.
Equally the whispers that Martin is being deployed at centre-back, ahead of three shiny, new, bona fide centre-backs, because he wants to play there are hopefully wide of the mark.
Either way, changes have to be made ahead of Saturday’s trip to Nottingham. More of the same in the defensive third will lead to another defeat.
Olsson, at left-back, is also struggling for form. Hindered by an unavoidably interrupted pre-season and an opening day horror show at Molineux the Swede has looked a shadow of the player who performed so well in the Premier League. The swashbuckler isn’t swashbuckling and is also making defensive errors.
Another one for Adams to ponder.
If anything positive has emerged from last night’s debacle it is that the Adams ‘if we keep playing like this the goals will come and we’ll be fine’ mantra is no more. More of the same will most definitely not be good enough.
The early season promise has well and truly evaporated, the honeymoon period long gone. Now it gets tough.
Since those heady days of August and September City have largely steered clear of the division’s ‘big boys’. Last night’s defeat – played out in front of a 554 strong travelling Yellow Army – was a shot across the bows.
For weeks folk have been warning us that when the big boys come out to play this current crop will be found wanting. I was less convinced. I hoped, when faced with quality, they would show their mettle.
On last night’s evidence I was wrong.
While we remain just four points from the top of the division – such is the crazy world of the Championship – there is yet plenty of time for the ship to be steadied. But it won’t happen by sitting tight and waiting for the ‘best squad in the division’ to finally click.
Adams and co need to learn from mistakes and learn quickly. To elude to a gung ho approach may have been a good sound bite in the aftermath of Hughton’s conservatism but in the real world needs to be measured. ‘We’re gonna score one more than you’ is great if you’re actually scoring goals. Three blanks on the bounce away from home renders that particular theory void.
The approach on the road needs to be borne of a solid base. One that doesn’t concede soft goals inside the opening five minutes. And, based on some defensive solidity, the passing then needs to be precise and crisp and the ball retained.
Until that circle can be squared the travelling faithful had better be braced for more pain.
So… over to you Neil. Time to show us and Mr McNally what you are made of.
Hi Gary, the time is almost upon us where Neil has to make some tough decisions or David McNally will have to make one of his own. This season is our best chance to return to the promised land, if we miss this opportunity, we could be here for a long time!
OTBC
I think one of the problems is that NA was aware of the criticism of CH and has been wedded to the exact opposite in tactics and because of this the defensive structure is weak. Our current fullbacks like to “bomb forward” with a greater or lesser success but neither appear to have any spatial awareness when defending. In the absence of Premiership quality at full back the back line really should be Martin, Turner, Bennet (when fit) and Garrido especially with the current mid-field.
Still what do I know?
No mention of refunds yet for the brave 554? Travel expenses/overnight accomodation at least should be re-imbursed after that surrender.
The which line-up/formation? debate has now exhausted nearly all permutations and we (fans & Neil) are no nearer knowing the best option.
Dare I say that Bradley’s grit and guts (if not passing) were sorely missed last night?
Adams should never have got within a million miles of managing Norwich , unless he is removed very quickly we will be in this league for years to come . To think Neil Lennon would have jumped at the chance to manage us is enough to make you cry your eyes out .
A Delia Smith, Wynn Jones appointment if ever i saw one .
A wet and windy night up North at the Riverside,
A big test of the Canaries’ promotion ambition,
A limp and soggy display in a Championship slide,
Summer’s long gone, now for a wintry attrition.
Don’t worry lads you cant be as bad as us at the moment !!!
I agree with Phil. I’m sure Neil is a really nice chap etc. etc. but he’s looking more and more out of his depth. Some may think he’s just waving, but I think he’s drowning…..
Like quite a few others, I was uber-keen to see Lennon brought in last January while we still had a chance of staying in the Premier League. The Board squandered 2 opportunities to bring him in – either then, or over the summer.
A persistent rumour abounds that Lennon and McNally met offsite just after the end of last season to discuss whether Lennon would have Adams as his No 2, if Lennon was appointed. The rumour goes that Lennon said yes – but then wasn’t invited for interview anyway. Adams then got the job after the Board had ‘scoured Europe’ for the right person…. (enough said about that little porky).
Now Lennon’s showing what he’s capable of with a very modest squad of players playing in a team at the bottom of our League – 3 wins in his first 5 games, although not against the Canaries.
What might he have done with the ‘best squad in the League’ (as some call it)?
Sadly, we will almost certainly never know now. Why would Lennon want to join Norwich after the way he was treated (if the rumour is true)?
One win and one loss over the past week hasn’t changed my opinion that we’re an okay team, but we’re far from a good one. Of course the question is how do we go from okay to great.
From years on Canary Call and being U21 coach everyone knows Adams fully understands the game. The question is why is he making some very strange decisions around player’s positions and why can’t we motivate ourselves from the outset and break teams down.
I keep coming back to a lack of experience in the management team. We need a proper Assistant Manager who is going to bring in a depth of knowledge about the league, who can play bad cop to Neil’s good cop. Someone who understands how to handle players and can instill a bit of fear into them.
Unfortunately, NA was always going to get into this position at some stage, because most people felt underwhelmed at his appointment.
I suspect it is fairly easy to be a Football Manager when things are going well, now it is time for him to show that he has already learnt a lot and is not afraid to make big decisions.
He has to start with Russell Martin. It is so obvious to all that he should be at Right Back, with one of the 3 Centre Backs that he bought taking his place, that to not make the change would be tantamount to gross incompetence.
Personally, I am still with happy with NA, but some things clearly addressing. So long as he does address them and can turn things around by Christmas, then I still believe he can get us out of this Division.
I am concerned for Adam’s, he’s looking more and more out of his depth which is such a shame. But sound bytes such as “I would be prepared to even change a winning team” don’t help when he won’t even change a truly tripe one.
The Hughton debacle has eroded any patience on offer to a manager for the next decade or so. I fear Adam’s is going to suffer from that, and on evidence so far he will deserve it…this has to be a turning point. Losing 4-0 to an ok championship side is simply not acceptable (not that he won’t be aware of that when he looks at the names on the back of the yellow shirts). They are no Man City, yet we made them look that way.
I have been told, by an insider, the club didn’t even speak to any other managers before appointing Neil…that’s worrying when you look at the CVs that would have been on offer when ‘scouring Europe’. It started so positively, and a touch of the slap dash is starting to show through unfortunately.
It’s like buying a new watch on eBay and it works, fits and looks the part…until something goes wrong, and the watch repair chap tells you it’s a fake although they wouldn’t have been able to tell from the outside. It’s only when you take the casing off can you really tell it has little value.
If the pre season stint in Italy was anything to go by, the scouring of Europe for a manager must have been interesting.
With so many players still picked out of their best position or on an indifferent run of form while new signings sit and watch you have to question just who is in charge of team selection – management or players?