Neil Adams’ managerial fortunes would come under renewed pressure tonight as the Canaries slipped further back into the Championship pack courtesy of a 2-1 home defeat by Reading.
Ipswich’s injury-time win at Charlton had already cranked up the pressure on the former Youth team boss as the Norfolk side looked to end a miserable run of just one win in their last seven home games.
That would become one in eight by the end of the afternoon as two, carbon-copy goals from teenage centre-half Jake Cooper wiped out Gary Hooper’s tenth minute opener and left Adams and his new chief lieutenant Mike Phelan with a host of increasingly desperate issues to resolve ahead of that frantic festive period.
Not least in front of John Ruddy’s goal where City’s soft heart was exposed yet again – this time by a kid from Berkshire with barely half a dozen first team outings to his name.
“We’ve got to seriously dig deep as a group,” said Adams afterwards, as Carrow Road made its feelings all-too plain at the final whistle.
“Is it a game we should win? Of course it is – but this is happening too often,” he admitted. Home is where the heart is; or isn’t right now.
The manner in which the two goals were conceded was, Adams said, ‘criminal’.
“We’re making it too easy for teams at times,” he told BBC Radio Norfolk. “It’s hugely frustrating and disappointing – and that’s the understatement of the year.
“We’ve got a group of players in there that are committed; are good enough to be winning games. But talk is cheap. You have to go out there and do it.”
As Adams fought to regain some much-needed momentum this season – both for the club and him as an individual learning what a rough trade management can be – so he made some significant changes for this afternoon’s contest; decisions that can either make or continue to break your managerial repute.
None more so than the sight of skipper Russell Martin returning to centre-half as first Carlos Cueller and then Jos Hooiveld paid the price for Norwich’s recent soft centre. Nothing is quite working alongside Michael Turner.
It prompted the return of Steven Whittaker at right-back as the City chief looked to bottle up the back end of his side after recent sieve-like efforts in front of Ruddy’s goal. Alas, nothing was about to change on that front.
It was all change again in midfield where the suspension of Bradley Johnson forced Adams into making a change. Kyle Lafferty was the beneficiary – not Gary O’Neil.
The latter had looked a safe pair of hands in the middle of the park, but his rise to prominence has proved surprisingly short-lived. Up front, Hooper was the man to partner Cameron Jerome as Lewis Grabban found himself surplus to requirements. Long gone are his glory, glory days of summer.
Hooper, by contrast, is in something of a purple patch. Relatively.
For in the tenth minute he was on hand to bundle home City’s opener after Nathan Redmond and Jerome had done their best to open the Royals up.
A goal to the good. For all of four minutes before Master Cooper headed Reading level from little more than six yards out off a routine corner. Soft, in a word.
Once again, Norwich’s defensive frailties would come back under the microscope; once again, questions will be raised in the house as to why they cannot sit tight for ten and hold onto a lead.
Twice in the space of five minutes Lafferty would look to restore Norwich’s advantage as the Canaries pushed forward with positive intent. Wherein lies one of the dangers of the Adams regime; that it is all-too open and gung-ho. Winning ugly by playing ugly is not in the manager’s DNA.
Before the break and even worse was to follow as the Royals took the lead – with a carbon copy of their opener. Albeit with the helping hand of Ruddy.
Or rather the lack of a helping hand as the City keeper failed to judge the flight of the ball and a gleeful Cooper, all on his lonesome, headed home his second goal of the afternoon.
One would have presumed that after the first goal, someone, somewhere would have got the message to pick up the big lad in the 35 shirt as he strolled up for the next set-piece. At six-foot four, the 19-year-old centre-half ought to have stood out in the crowd.
He clearly didn’t and as his marker went AWOL again, it came as little surprise to find the boos echoing around Carrow Road at the interval as the managerial miseries continued for Adams and Co.
Josh Murphy would arrive on the hour-mark in a bid to spark life into Norwich’s bid to at least level proceedings; Lafferty was the man to give way as City’s performance levels flat-lined alarmingly.
Murphy one side, Redmond to the other; Jonny Howson looking to find space and opportunity between Jerome and Hooper. There was no shortage of attacking ambition in Adams’ plans. In theory.
Indeed, before the end the embattled Canary chief had added Grabban to his forward mix as Martin Olsson made way. O’Neil would appear for a flattened Alexander Tettey amid the game’s dying embers as he, too, tried to prise a point out of Reading’s hands.
Nothing budged – Murphy would blaze over deep into injury time and sum up the contest. All concerned would feel the full force of the fans’ frustrations on the message boards and phone-ins tonight.
Right now, something ain’t right.
For the point would be that, at home, Norwich should have no need to be chasing a contest of this ilk; they should be grinding down teams and with it, grinding out the results that keep them firmly in the play-off mix.
Right now they lack grind. At the back, they lack true grit. Put together, that could cost Adams very dear.
Same old same old – no steel or leadership on the pitch (what price a Grant Holt right now?).
The chosen few still invariably assured of a place while anybody who speaks his mind and points out a lack of effort/desire is condemned to the bench at best.
We can but hope that MP manages to arrest the slide.
Incidentally, exactly what was the criteria by which a third of a million pounds bonus was paid out to DMcN for last seasons failure?
While I hope the Board will acknowledge their mistake in appointing an inexperienced manager I think the appointment of Phelan is a misplaced vote of confidence in Adams It has bought the Board a few more games before they have to admit that they have got it wrong. I do feel slightly sorry for Adams in that a turnround in form will be credited to Phelan rather than the manager.Norwich are one of the few clubs to address a bad run of form by replacing the coach.if the Board do decide to sack Adams then the assumption is that Phelan will get the job – otherwise why would he have agreed to come to Norwich? He must have realised that a new experienced manager would want to bring his own team of assistants and coaches and in all likelihood he would follow Adams out of the door. It therefore suggests that in Phelan the Board are prepared to try another manager with no experience.Hopefully they will eventually get another managerial appointment right even if it means scouring Europe again!!!
There is no back bone, it is as soft a jelly, no leadership. one player with an older head gets left out again. Been too many changes to often
I’m beginning to feel a bit embarrassed by my defense of Neil Adams on this site. 1 win in 10 cannot be explained by a bit of bad luck, or the vagaries of form. Something clearly isn’t right. If we’d started off bad and turned things around you could say that the manager’s methods were starting to work. I fear they ar working against us. Despite relegation, the squad seemed up for the challenge, confident, optimist for the future. We started well, and the Adams regime seems to be destroying all of that feelgood factor week by week.
His methods have to be questioned. He should know his first-choice back four by now, injuries aside. Chopping and changing CBs every week rarely works. Good starts to games are a rarity, so you have to wonder about motivational techniques. We can’t stay solid after taking a lead, so game management is an issue. We STILL can’t find a player who can take a decent corner consistently.
The most worrying thing for me from today is that players are on a different wavelength to eachother, as with Hughton’s last few months. Redmond laying it back to Olsson, spinning off his marker and burning down the wing for the ball over the top which never came. Hooper dropping back to the edge of the box for the cutback which never came. Three attackers waiting for a cross to come in, but all in a line making them too easy to mark.
“What’s gorn on on the traynun ground Neyul?” But seriously, we could have Sir Fergie himself as first team coach and it’d still take months to turn this ship around.
Don’t get too despondent guys. We’ve (RFC) have had a pretty bad time of it at central defence ourselves, (letting in more soft goals this season than in living memory), and it will sort itself out with hard work. Our CB pairing of Hector and Cooper is quite possibly the youngest in the club’s history, and it’s taken 2/3 of the season for us to hit upon a pairing that seems to work. There will doubtless be more horror shows to come, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.
You guys will be the same. 63% possession for NCFC tells its own story. Give your manager a chance and you might well be surprised.
Good luck for the rest of the seaosn.
Teams are coming to Carrow Rd and doing a job on us, and we have no answer for it. I don’t know what the answer is but I hope that someone at the club does – we seem to be in free fall.
Poster on the Pink in site spent most of the match watching our bench in the hope of seeing more action than on the pitch – no such luck !
Shinyshoes (4): we do have someone who can deliver corners (and free-kicks) into the right area. Gary O’Neil.
Yeah I think you’re right about O’Neil. I’ve been impressed every time I’ve seen him. Really seems like the type of character you want in the dressing room as well. Surprised he didn’t start, but I think he’s recovering from a niggle.
Hooper impressed me on Saturday. Dropped into the space, linked up well, and is by far the most natural goalscorer we’ve had since Holt. I hope he can find an understanding with the likes of Howson and Jerome, and quickly.
Still a long way to go, but we can’t afford for things to get much worse before they get better.