Back in the day there was an arcade game called Breakout. It emerged a couple of years after Space Invaders and the objective was simple: put your, 20p or whatever it was then, in the slot and try to batter down a brick wall with a paddle.
If you got through the wall, you could wreak havoc from the other side.
Now unlike some, I’m not going into a tizzy about that rarest of occurrences – a 0-0 for City at home to nailed-on relegation fodder.
Burton were poor, extremely unambitiously poor, but they stuck to their task and as much as I hate to admit it they were reasonably good value for the point they came for. And don’t get me wrong: if that’s their approach to a fixture, fair play to them.
Angus Gunn might as well have been relaxing in a yellow and green deckchair (weather permitting) for all he had to do.
But we couldn’t break them down.
Eons ago my Sunday side used to employ what was then known as “attack and defence” as a training exercise. It didn’t matter what your position was, it was 15 minutes of one and then 15 minutes of the other. Nobody (not even us defenders) relished being “defence”.
Last night’s game reminded me of that in a way, except that with “attack and defence” there is obviously no midfield. And that’s where we came unstuck. We were as flat as a witch’s breast to be honest.
It was one of those strange games where we never, ever looked like conceding – how could we when we’re not being attacked – but equally never displayed the cutting edge that many of us expected.
Quite why Daniel Farke decided not to keep Nelson on along with Jerome to give it the old heave-ho towards the end is beyond my ken. We were comfortable at the back so surely it was a gamble worth taking?
Oh, I’ve just mentioned that we were comfortable at the back. Two clean sheets in a row is worthy of note, I suppose.
I have no idea what a head coach can do to break down a light blue wall ten men strong, but whatever the answer is it did not happen on Tuesday night. When Yanic Wildschut emerged there was some greater urgency, but it was always going to be “one of those nights”.
Maybe if some of Marco Stiepermann’s crosses had gone to the near post rather than being hung up to the far when nobody was there… not that he had a bad game.
Of course we’ve all seen City contrive to lose a game like this via an almighty defensive c*ck-up, usually from a set piece, but I had no fear of that happening yesterday. A point is a point, just as a pint is a pint.
To try and put a positive spin on things, that is a game that Farke will surely have learned from. Burton Albion will not be the only side to employ these tactics at the Carra.
As for the referee’s inaction about the timewasting, that’s a matter best shared between himself and his conscience.
On the way home my mate Paul made what I thought was a reasonable point: even if we had retained Jonny Howson and Jacob Murphy, we still wouldn’t have broken them down.
There was a kids’ game called Frustration around in my youth. I think we’ll all have to take a crash course in it.
Is the headline referring to the board?
Jeff: not to my knowledge, but as Gary writes all our headlines maybe he’ll have a definitive answer.
Inadvertent but Jeff, not for the first time, may have a point! My sub-conscious prevailing perhaps? ?
This was a game thats was a no win for the Farke/Webber team if city had scored 5 like Leeds on Saturday everyone would have said it was expected against one of the favourites for the drop.
Now Burton decided on stopping the rot via playing a solid defence if city had done this after the Villa mauling no one would have complained and it would have been accepted as a learning curve for team Farke.
City defense have we hope found out how to defend in numbers and to stop conceding goals now they need to find away to help breakdown a solid opposition defence, as they say you defend from the front and attack from the back.
Team Farke have learnt a valuable lesson about this league and how to defend step 2 is to score a couple at the other end.
Patient is a virture and supporters don’t have bucket full of it lets find a happy medium.
Good points Alex. I reckon if we’d got one before half time and thus drawn them out it would have turned into a turkey shoot, but… fine margins.
And at least we didn’t fall to a sucker punch.
I’m not sure I agree that it was a no win game for Farke and the team. Beat Burton full stop and after recent travails it would have been a good result in the majorities eyes. Given the nature of what had gone before if that win had been to nil, all the better. That Burton came to defend for 90 minutes and hope to pinch a goal came as no surprise to any of us, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to DF. That he went same again (Near enough, with only WH in for JM) given the likely game plan from Burton i believe was a little negative, naive too, but it was the less than proactive attempts to change things that was the worst for me.
I know that losing because we had maybe taken Tettey off would have got him a degree of criticism from some, but the way the game was playing out surely being a little more bould would have increased our likelyhood of dividends? I think most were surprised that he started Tettey at all given his knees and the on paper tough fixture in Sheffield. But mostly I thought with Burton likely to try to frustrate maybe a more dynamic attacking approach was called for? Tettey can’t play every game, surely it was a good time for Reed/Trybull? Maybe even more positive with Trybull/Maddison? The later I understand why he wouldn’t given how soft we have looked previously, but we don’t want a one size fits all Alex Neil Clone! If Tettey now is rested against Sheff Utd where I truely believe we need his combative style, then it will just compound this mistake.
Two clean sheets does represent some learning and even some improvement. Increasing the number of defensive players including putting in your most combative if limited player, do not constitue revalatory coaching efforts, it was a relatively obvious quick fix. But you have to weigh up the cost. If the cost is that we create and take considerably less chances then we are not likely any further forward.
Hopefully its another lesson learnt and Herr Farke will be better prepared for the next parked bus. But I’m nervous for the rest of the month. We have only played one side in the top half and we are already struggling, 3 away games out of four in the league for the remainder of Sept and against some tough teams doesn’t fill me with optimism. If I were to look into a crystal ball at the moment and say how many points we will get from those 4 games it doesn’t make for pretty reading.
Sheff Utd Vs City – Home win (I can’t see it any other way)
City Vs Bristol City – Draw, maybe a home win but not feeling overly optimistic at the moment
Middlesborough vs City – Home win, a long trip on a Tuesday night, again can’t see it any other way
Reading vs City – The optimist in me looks at this one as our best away chance of a point and hopes rather than in anyway expects one. Draw
Only 2 maybe 4 points.
Does anyone look at those fixtures with a great deal more optimism? Its the championship i suppose anything could happen, 12 points sounds good!
Bah!
Middlesbrough aren’t doing so well look at the villa game and all games are winnable on any day
For most teams I’d agree, but us…away!
Bah!
I assume Nelson was taken off as a precaution as he looked injured and we need him for Saturday.
I think Daniel Farke said somewhere that he wanted to leave Nelson on as long as possible in case he managed to conjure something.
To me he looked more knackered than injured – let’s hope I’m right as we do indeed need him against those gentle folk at Bramall Lane. That said, it could be a situation for CamJam for an hour or so first – from what I’ve seen of them, their CBs couldn’t easily be described as subtle.
I am happy that we have kept successive clean sheets and fully understand why this has been made a priority after 2 heavy defeats (Nigel Clough will, have similarly, addressed his defence as a priority). However, from what I saw on Saturday and heard and read about on Tuesday, neither Birmingham or Burton provided much of a test.
I like the look of the back 4 and think it may provide some stability. Much bigger tests are round the corner and if we blunt the Blades’ cutting edge on Saturday (do I get the tabloid journo job?) I’ll be more impressed.
I have now reached the situation where I honestly don’t know whether I am optimistic or pessimistic about the season. OTBC
Sorry Don you don’t get the tabloid journo job – you don’t have the steel for it!
Steel? Supporting Norwich whilst living in Wolverhampton provides my credentials.
To re-iterate a point I made a few weeks ago there are a lot of wily old hands running clubs in the Championship, including Nigel Clough. Burton were certainly unambitious, but “poor” is harsh – they did what they came to do very effectively. They won’t be the last and we won’t be the only “bigger” club to struggle to break them down. Come May the top half dozen clubs will surely be those who have solved this particular conundrum most often.
I don’t buy into the idea, seen from time to time, that Farke cannot succeed because he “doesn’t know” English football, or the Championship. However what is clearly entirely new to him is the strength in depth in managers operating in our division. It’s a guess, but I doubt if there would have been many guys capable of rivalling him in the league he was involved in last year.
On the previous thread I saw a late comment asking what Vranic brings to the party. I wondered the same. But then, for the first couple of years that we had Wes, a hell of a lot of people asked that question of him (and actually could have reasonably asked it again on Tuesday). Vranic on Tuesday reminded very much of the early Wes – too easily dispossessed, a few nice touches that didn’t come off etc.
My heart sank when I saw Burton losing 5-0 at the weekend – it was obvious they’d be extra resolute and focussed at Carrow Road.
Having said that, of course we could have done better. Jonny Howson and Jacob Murphy may not have made any difference, but perhaps – just perhaps – Alex Pritchard would have. And of course, the outcome and our subsequent debates would be different if Josh had converted his one-on-one with the keeper.
Oliveira was injured. He signalled several times to the bench that he wanted to continue, but was clearly struggling.
When refs get together, I do wonder if they discuss time wasting.
Fair do’s on Nelson being injured Stewart – from where you sit you must have been in a much better position to evaluate the situation than I was.
Purely a matter of distance – from the Upper Barclay it was impossible to pick up the nuances.
We certainly can’t afford to lose him for any length of time, so after your intelligence I’ll gladly retract my comment that he should have stayed on.
I still feel that Sheff Utd might be one for CamJam to start.
Whoa, Martin – I’m not used to people bowing to my judgement so easily.
(Also penning an article that explains why they shouldn’t…)
He appeared to have a slight groin strain from where I was sit in the City stand.
“When refs get together, I do wonder if they discuss time wasting.”
My understanding is that there are so many bricks waiting to be thrown at them by the assessors that they all shuffle in slowly, spill the coffee, find a cloth, send out for more coffee to replace it, send out for even more coffee to replace the rest as it’s now gone cold, drink a couple of cups whilst waiting for the biscuits to arrive, suddenly remember they’ve left their notes in the car, but forget which floor the car’s parked on, return and sit down only to realise they need a comfort break (due to the coffee), get lost on the way back from the loo, and as soon as things finally look like getting going feel faint due to the stuffy room and ask if someone else can take their place for the rest of the day.
I think you also forgot to say that they manage to do all that while only seeing out of one eye.
Stewart; my thoughts too. Seeing Burton lose 5 – 0 was the worst possible scenario for me. OK, he doesn’t carry the “charisma” of his Dad, but Nigel Clough is no mug. Their game plan worked (unfortunately) far too well. Whilst we have to give the new regime time, I have to admit to being baffled as to why Vrancic seems to be a shoe-in every week. I was expecting a little more from him, but on Tuesday both he and Wes were (for me) very ineffective. And yes, I too thought that Tettey’s inclusion was strange given this weekend’s opponents.
O T B C
Alex. B.
Your core of impatience, shines through like a light through a net curtain – a thinly veiled post?
Regarding Herr Farke’s learning curve? That is precisely what I have been ‘banging my gong’ so much of late. His learning curve, and that of new additions (non-Brits especially) and the squad as a whole. His need for time. For many players this is their first time abroad for an extended period – think? Coping with much that is alien? For many who post on this column – and others – I would suggest that they are perhaps a tad provincial, parochial. (no insult intended) sure they may have travelled a bit – but how many have actually lived abroad – beyond the borders of East Anglia even – to earn their corn? A Thomas Cook insulated fortnight, to the land of Johnny Foreigner, doesn’t cut it. No. My point is, there are less obvious reasons why the class of 2017-18 might just need extra time to find their collective feet.
To those who find ‘patience’ unappealing, I would say this, “How would you feel, one week into a new job to be faced with analytical analysis, of your performance – your suitability – by someone of a captious disposition?”
Wow Nick, that was a comment and a half.
I normally endeavour to make my replies succinct and sweet or sour, depending on my view of what’s been said, but I’ll elaborate a little on this one..
First and foremost I get where you’re coming from – totally.
I know what it’s like to be a stranger in a strange land. I’ve worked in Germany, France, Italy (where I had no linguistic ability at all) and lived in Mallorca (the middle of the island; Llucmajor, not the tourist traps such as Shagalluf) on and off for several years.
I wasn’t a professional footballer, merely an ordinary Joe. Which made my partner “Joanna” – bereft of my basic knowledge of other languages – even more concerned on occasions.
But everybody wanted to speak English to us – I really should have charged for our services.
Working in Germany, everybody from shop floor to management spoke perfect American.
In France a Belgian guy let me fill my car with petrol on his card as it was a Sunday and the Repsol station was shut. He waved me off to the cashpoint to reimburse him while he enjoyed his coffee until I returned. No trust issue, merely kindness.
At Lille train station, two elderly passengers told me to peg it under a subway to get the last train back to Paris. Without their help I’d have slept in a field in my suit.
My surname irrevocably lends itself to Erin – no need to itemise how collectively wonderful the Irish folks are.
What I’m clumsily saying is that it’s by no means impossible for our “foreign legion” to settle in here. Most of us in Norwich are just as helpful – especially if we’ve ever been the confused man on the train station.
And I think you’d be surprised just how many of us have spent a LOT of time away from Norfolk:-)
Spot on. Couldn’t agree more.
Hear, hear, Nick. We should be giving the new DoF, Head Coach, players and system ten games, at least, and judge the performance levels at that point and no sooner.
Nick. The opposing team’s striker doesn’t care if you’re missing home or adjusting to a new life. They’re here to beat you.
While I don’t blame our new contingent from abroad for being foreign, If we are bringing in a large contingent of foreign players in a short period and it is negatively impacting our results, then surely this is a flawed strategy. Our defense can be made up of all non-English players. As a plan that simply should be questioned.
Nick all I can say is you have completely miss read or misunderstood since the Team Farke has take over all I have preached is Patient and having worked overseas for 30 years mainly middle east and west africa I understand tolerance in others.
Both City and Burton were set up to avoid defeat. Burton did that in a way that was unexpected, in that they didn’t park the bus but pressed very intensely and kept a high defensive line. We needed pace and a chance to stretch them on both sides of the pitch.
By half-time Wes and Vrancic had shown neat touches but had not moved the ball quickly enough or coped with filling the gaping hole at right midfield.
It was so obviously crying out for Maddison and Wildschutt at that point especially as the manager knew that the start had been too sluggish. I love Wes but subbing him and Vrancic at ht would not have been insulting to either of them. Horses for courses.
As the 2nd half progressed Tettey was so underemployed in deep midfield that he started to fill that hole in attacking right midfield. Again, it would have been no insult to him to swap him for a player more at ease in the other teams half. Reed could have done this without the side losing any ball winning qualities.
After feeling happy and confident on Saturday that we have a versatile squad, and a manager who will use them bravely, I was worried about the distinct lack of boldness on Tuesday night. Those defeats seem to have introduced some self-doubts to Mr.Farke.
Whether this result was a good or bad one really depends on what we’re aiming to achieve this season.
In my post looking at which stats are likely to indicate improved form and promotion chances, home wins were generally expected. You can’t achieve promotions off home wins alone, that’s done on the road, but you can certainly miss out on the playoffs with poor home performances.
If we don’t care about reaching the playoffs, and I’ve not heard “playoffs” or “promotion” come out of any board member’s mouth, then 1 point is okay.
Personally I’m not okay with giving up on promotion in Sept and for me Burton at home is a must win. We heard season upon season from writers here that “a club of Norwich stature is a yo-yo team and shouldn’t expect to always be in the PL”. Fine. But we shouldn’t be a yo-yo hanging limply by the floor.
No game in September is a “must-win”.
Not a must win but hopefully we get some points at least.
Which we did.
A game in Sept. is worth the same amount of points as a a game in May.
If you’re in a pickle with five games to go it’s because of games like Burton at home.
In your initial post, you said it was a “must win”. Failing to win one of these games in September does at least give you time to make up for it, although I take the point that it is not ideal.
Failing to win a similar game in May leaves you no time to make amends, hence the term “must win”
Dave – presumably you said the same of our home game with Walsall in September 2009, in Paul Lambert’s Championship season. You’d have written off our promotion chances with that 0-0 draw – and looked a bit silly eight months later.
I don’t believe I’ve written off promotion chances, based on one result. But for every home draw it’s going to be harder. Especially when you look at who we’ve played.
It’s worth noting, at that point Lambert had managed 3 games and garnered 7 points out of 9. Promotion pace accumulation. Farke has 8 points out of 21.
No where near playoff rate of accumulation.
Yes, early doors, but your comparison is off base.
The comparison was perfect until you just shifted the goalposts
Actually Stewart, you shifted the goals.
I said:
“but you can certainly miss out on the playoffs with poor home performances.”
Note the plural of performances.
You moved the goalpost to one game…
“You’d have written off our promotion chances with that 0-0 draw”
You created a position I never took, then made fun of it. Good job.
I feel its important to point out that the Norwich squad of the 2009/10 season also took 8 points from the first available 21 points of the season.
Matt – It’s worth pointing out that in those 7 games Norwich had just been relegated, fired a manager with no experience, played a couple of games under a caretaker manager, and brought in a new manager. They were also near bankruptcy. If that’s what we’re comparing ourselves too now, that’s a little worrying.
Not surprised by the result on Tuesday night given what went before and completely agree with Nick. N’s final paragraph,
After getting walloped 4-0 by Millwall I’m delighted that DF has adopted a more cautious formation because it’s needed, for now. As I trudged away from the New Den thinking bl**dly h*ll this feels like ground hog day for us away supporters and if someone had offered 4 points and 2 clean sheets from the next 2 games …..well, ‘I would be very ‘content’ with that’!!
So I say there has been progress hopefully we have a more solid base to build off, to which we can now add the offensive elements, baby steps for now. I think Pritchard is a huge miss for us offensively.
But now we’re off to Sheffield and we’ll now see exactly how much progress has been made, this test is now on another level given their good start to the season.
The conundrum is; does DF now have to change formation to a 3-5-2 for match up with Sheffield? Might be time to introduce Grant Hanley to come in to a back three with Zimmerman and Klose?
OTBC
Martin. P.
Time for me to correct you a little, perhaps? In my post I said that for some of these players, their first extended time abroad, maybe?
You then reply, naming numerous countries in which you have worked for a considerable time. Then, surely you can’t claim that same inexperience?
In France, Italy & Germany you ‘were at sea’ – knowing nothing of the language, but you then claim, when in a Spanish territory, your partner was (and I quote?) “bereft of my basic knowledge of other languages.”
I might owe you an apology here, but it seems your written English is leaving you a little confused?
Certainly I’m confused.
I don’t think I would be surprised how many of the ‘posters’ here, have spent a considerable time abroad – not by my barometer. I’m talking years, and I don’t mean two to earn the plural!!!
Hey Martin, I push the send button with a smile, we may joust, but we’re not at war.
Nick: fair play to you – I did indicate that my previous post was a little clumsy,
What I was trying to intimate is that people habitually living within their own environment can be exceptionally friendly towards “outsiders” and I hope that our footballers feel that same warmth while they are here with us,
The written joust is always great – no wars on MFW!
Please keep posting – your contributions are always excellent value.from my point of view.
David Bowers?
Were the employing of non Brits, having perhaps a ‘bedding-in’ problem, a long term dilemma, I would of course agree with you, totally . . . . . . BUT it ain’t a long term problem!!!! That’s my whole point!!! Show a little ‘patience’? It’s not Christmas Eve! Plants need time to take root – even the mighty oak!
Costessey wasn’t built in a day? . . . . . . . Er????
You appear not to have grasped the thread of my post?
“There are none so blind, as those who will not see?”