There comes a time every now and then in life, when you can’t carry on how you are and need to make a decision; otherwise known as a crossroads moment.
Norwich City have reached that crossroad and they need to decide what they want to be known for in the 2014/15 season.
As a squad, do they want to be getting back to where this club ‘belongs’, in the Premier League, or is this squad happy to start a slip into the abyss a la 2005/06?
As a set of fans, do we want to be just a cacophony of silly and overreacting views, and contribute to an unnecessary building of pressure for Neil Adams when we are only 4 points off the summit of the Championship?
As a management team, does Adams stick with the players he has got, or mix it about with a bit more rotation? Maybe he will even think about dipping into the loan market.
These are all questions that need to be answered by the components and people that make up Norwich City.
That may come across as slightly dramatic, but getting thumped 4-0 in the manner Norwich did at the Riverside last night was worrying. It was a promotion rival, granted, but Middlesbrough are not the most talented of sides and that is what made it even more concerning off the back of a sketchy run of form that has seen 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats.
Time and time again ‘Boro meandered forward, and as soon as the ball got out to the right side of defence we looked doomed.
People will moan that the penalty was harsh for the second goal, but when you have already been burned for pace for one goal (by Adomah), it was unforgiveable that Russell Martin let George Friend get the wrong side of him.
He was always going to go down and if it was the other way round we would have been screaming for a spot kick.
I dread to think what Assombalonga will do to Martin if he carries on with this charade that he is a centre-back. I would like the pace of Usain Bolt, the feet of Jason Robinson and the prowess of Sonny Bill-Williams but that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to get these attributes!
I’m not meaning to rip into one particular player here, but Martin has largely got away with filling in at centre-back so far and it is a problem that is festering.
Wanting to be the captain and leader for your club and country at the heart of defence is all fine and dandy, but you kind of have to back those ambitions up with actions. I don’t see it happening unfortunately.
Adams has some tough decisions to make looking ahead to the Forest game, and indeed the next few weeks, but I would seriously think of giving Carlos Cuellar or Ignasi Miquel a chance at centre-back on Saturday.
Steven Whittaker’s performance also left a lot to be desired again, so the captain could be spared his blushes by getting the opportunity to impress in what I believe to be his more natural position of right-back.
Trying to salvage some positives out of this latest performance is about as difficult as trying to get a supermarket trolley out of the deep-water Tees port. But I’ll give it a go.
Gary O’Neil was quite impressive again, showing the grit and determination needed for the hard slog of the Championship. An O’Neil shot which was well saved in the first half was in the event, the highlight of a drab Norwich match. And Gary Hooper did slightly better than Cameron Jerome, who had a bad day at the office.
I must say, the 500 or so travelling fans were fantastic too. We were still singing at 3-0 down and the only reaction from the ‘Boro fans in the less than half-full stadium was to bang a drum. It is that level of encouraging support and dedication that will see us through tight matches and give the players a timely boost.
I hope whoever is going to the City Ground raises the roof and gets behind Neil and the team.
So in conclusion, yes it was a pathetic, abject performance. It was a 4-0 defeat and simply not good enough.
But we are at a crossroads, not in the midst of a disaster, and it is the decisions made now that will define the rest of our season. Once we get through the Forest match, hopefully with a result, it will then be four matches against Brighton, Reading, Wigan and Huddersfield and I would hope we can put together a winning streak and get back on track.
My team for Saturday: – Ruddy, Martin, Cuellar, Turner, Olsson, Tettey, Johnson, Redmond, O’Neil, Lafferty, Hooper.
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I try to resist the temptation to be all doom and gloom when we lose, all ecstatic and chicken-counting when we win. No team, no player, and no manager can be judged on one game. Lurching from one emotional extreme to the other is pointless and unrealistic. However, I do kind of agree that we are at a crossroads. Are we serious contenders for the top two, or will we end up as also-rans? The next glut of games may tell us.
Pretty sure most of us would take a point at Forest, after last nights no-show, but to me the next four games before we head to Derby look distinctly winnable.
Then again, maybe it’s that misleading fans disease called hope responsible for this view. It was certainly hope that told me “we should be more effective against good attacking teams, coz they leave gaps.”
Now hope is telling me “if we could put a run together…”
I certainly agree that Adams should bite the bullet and switch Martin back to RB. There’s a lot to be said for stability and partnership building in defence, but stability doesn’t override ability.
The stats from the Middlesbrough game tell us a lot else too
1. 55% possession
2. Just one shot on target (from 9 attempts)
3. Two corners.
Plenty of possession but doing so little with it – and so slow in the build-up, by all accounts, giving [enter name of team here] Middlesbrough time to get men behind the ball.
I agree that Adams needs to sort out the back four. RB is an obvious weakness and, for reasons best known to others, he’s just let E Bennett go out on loan; he could have done a good job in that position. For the other positions he’s certainly not short of options.
But he also needs to instill some drive and forward momentum into the team from the first minute. Even 75% possession will get us nowhere otherwise.
My sympathies for a wasted trip – it’s not like you can go sightseeing in Middlesbrough for some compensation – Middlesbrough has no sights worth seeing.
Bournemouth seem to be following us round the country – their fans have even longer trips to make but of course it helps when your team is playing as well as theirs. They’ve just been to Sheffield and now are off to Middlesbrough on Saturday – an extra 200 miles on the round trip thst the ‘554’ had to make. I expect fewer of their fans to make the trip but also expect their team to put up a much better performance than ours.
If we are at a ‘crossroads’, does Bradley Johnson need to sell his soul to the devil like his blues namesake to get us back on track?
I agree, Adams is at a “crossroads”, but, whilst I do not believe the time is right for a U-turn on the managerial front, Neil needs to prove that he’s capable of turning around a testing situation. That’s not an open ended time frame either.
OTBC
A good article. However, I certainly do not agree that Johnson should be considered part of the remedy.
Over the season to date, our top two weakest players have been Whitaker and Johnson.
I certainly do agree that Martin must be returned to right back and one of the other two centre backs installed alongside Turner.
Via initial loans and the January window, we must seek out two or three players with ability AND pace, otherwise I fear we will be in Championship for some considerable time to come.
Thanks for the comments folks.
Seems I’m not the only one who would like to see Martin returned back to RB…
In regards to me putting Bradley Johnson in my proposed line-up for Saturday, I did that as I think we’ll need him to do the dirty work in front of the back four and break up the play whilst Tettey can hopefully get his foot on the ball a bit more. Forest will tear us apart if we play anything like we at ‘Boro, it was like red knives through butter at times it really was. We may need to re-consider the formation and have two holding midfielders, to provide more solidity going into a tough match off the back of some shocking defending.
Then onto those four ‘winnable’ games where we can hopefully get back on track. I am still confident Adams can win us promotion.
P.s Last thing, I would send Josh Murphy out on loan for a month or three….still has a lot of learning to do.