“THREE consecutive clean sheets? Pinch me, I’m dreaming…. #ncfc.”
The words of one of our own – Mr Edward Couzens-Lake. And Ed, I’m happy to confirm it wasn’t a dream. It actually happened and in circumstances as trying, as hostile and as tricky as they come.
By the same score I had to check this morning that I hadn’t dreamt that the Sheffield Utd manager – Chris ‘getting increasingly’ Wilder is his name I believe – had one of the biggest primary school-like blubs I’ve ever seen when he was supposed to be explaining to the press why his side had lost a game of football.
If you haven’t heard it, it’s here. It’s ten minutes long but well worth a listen.
In case you haven’t got time, here’s a quick précis as to why Norwich won and Sheffield Utd lost:
- They had five strikers missing and Ched Evans was only 50 per cent fit.
- Our coach driver hadn’t done his prep.
- They didn’t get the ‘run of the ball’.
- Nasty old Norwich ran the clock down.
In a nutshell, we didn’t sing to his tune and he didn’t like it. That he was sent to the stands for sending some water bottles flying in the City technical area was somehow fitting but also added fuel to a fire in the stadium that was already ablaze.
With tensions at boiling point, Wilder’s actions did little but stoke them further and while the bloody aftermath – in which City fans leaving the away end were randomly assaulted – didn’t correlate directly to his actions, they clearly did little to help.
Also worthy of note is that City’s directors and their guests too were given horrible abuse by United fans sitting in their vicinity; all driven by the same venom that drove Wilder to kick those bottles and rant at the press, and which gave those hooligans – maybe only a few – the trigger to go and beat up supporters who had gone to see a game of football.
Sheffield Utd we salute you.
But enough of what transpired off the pitch. On it we picked up a rare away win and three priceless points – and that’s far more worthy of a few words than the behaviour of a few morons.
That we saw it through courtesy of some professionalism is fine by me but perhaps we need to be a little less sniffy when it happens to us. We did to the Blades what Burton and Master Bywater did to us.
C’est la vie.
What’s more interesting and telling is that all of a sudden we look tough to beat. The three clean sheets Ed referred to at the top of this piece have come off the back of two away-day horror shows in which we shipped eight goals.
To have achieved this tactically has not been rocket science – a fit again Timm Klose has been bolted into a back-four that is now supported by a Trybull/Tettey combo – but crucially what also appears to have changed is the mindset. Hesitancy has been replaced by determination; obstinance and dogged resistance now appear the order of the day, from one to eleven.
Those two weeks that straddled the international break were extremely well used.
Burton was a joyless grind, no question, but it now feels like another small step on the road to defensive solidity; something we’ve craved for many seasons. There will of course be days when it goes awry – that’s football – but those three clean sheets at least prove that the Class of 2018 do have the wherewithal and know-how to grind it out when needed.
And make no mistake, yesterday was a stern test. Despite Wilder’s wide-eyed claims of being hard done by in the striking department, the Blades are a good side who’s star is in the ascendancy. Four wins on the spin and with a win taking them to the top of the table made yesterday arguably City’s biggest test of the season to date.
To have emerged with a 1-0 shows that Team Farke is indeed learning. The curve may be steep, along with that of several of the players, but it’s being met head on. And, irony of ironies, for the third time this season a win has been achieved with City having the minority of possession – all against the backdrop of a desire to dominate it.
It suggests the laudable ideals with which Daniel Farke and his team arrived have had to be re-assessed and tweaked to deal with the vagaries of the Championship. And if the last three outings are anything to go by they are on the way to being addressed positively. Sure, we’d like to sweep all and sundry aside by virtue of 70 per cent possession but in this league that’s simply not going to happen.
To be able to pass the ball is of course important, but in the second tier the ability to scrap sits alongside it, and on days like yesterday trumps it. And that technical players like Tom Trybull and Marco Stiepermann emerged from yesterday with their colours flying is huge in the context of the 38 games that are to come. So too the belated emergence of the power and goal-scoring ability of Yanic Wildschut.
So, after a frustrating week in which too many too toys flew out of too many prams we now have to keep a lid on it and not get carried away by the oddity of an away win.
Oh sod it … let’s enjoy the moment.
In the same way my opening gambit was from a MFW colleague, so too will be the final word. From Steve Cook on Twitter…
“NCFC fans frustrated by Burton time-wasting moan about it
SUFC fans frustrated by Norwich time-wasting beat up away fans”
Never mind the danger…
A good thoughtful article Gary. Let’s hope indeed the last break was a turning point and we are building a more resilient side now.
As for Chris Prams Wilder I hope he and his club receive punitive reminders as to why such behavior is unacceptable in football grounds today.
Well, that was a throwback to the 1970’s. And, while it would be wrong to generalise all Blades fans with the same mentality, there was, nevertheless, a significant minority looking for a fight after the game.
Quite what possesses someone to break through a line of stewards and enter an exit gate area of visiting fans, fists flying, is anyone’s guess.
According to a City fan who witnessed it (I didn’t) most City fans exercised restraint, but those on the receiving end felt obliged to offer the perpetrator “a tickle or two” in return.
The verbals outside the ground, upon our return to the City centre, were also far from pleasant. A shout of “yellas” resulted in on gentlemen (I use the word very loosely), who claimed to be 54, offering to go “one on one”, and giving it, “do you want some” – accompanied, of course, by numerous expletives – with the City supporter.
The Wealdstone Raider is alive and kicking in Sheffield – truly unreal
Well said, Mr G. And thanks for the plug! I’ve had a little say about it all on my Facebook page this morning, that summed up my feelings, we seem to concur somewhat.
On footballing matters, I have, all too often, seen the soft centre of my team, its tendancy to be too nice at times on and off the pitch see us get rolled over by more streetwise, even cynical opponents who stretch professionalism to its limits. If we are occasionally going see a little bit of the bastard come out in our play and approach then so be it. It doesn’t make it right and I won’t say I like it, but the Championship is dog eat dog and sometimes you’ve got to bite, scratch and kick to show you’re the alpha. One Russell Martin is worth a thousand Chris Wilders in my eyes but if the team you’re playing wants to play with and talk fire, then you give it right back. The bullies are the ones who can’t take it.
Always a well balanced read after the game.
We may have underestimated the manager’s tactical acumen as a whole – it’s a good measure of the man that his adoption of more resolute tactics is as thorough as his passing style. I love that he refused to shoehorn the internationals in because they need time to catch up with the system. If his plan is to develop that defensive nouse and add it to that passing/attacking style we know he has, whatch out the rest of the league because that will be a hard mix to compete against. OTBC
This was a very solid team performance. More like this please.
We shouldn’t get carried away, of course – but this was a sweet victory. The kind that lifts the players as much as the fans.
The return at Carrow Road should have the same kind of atmosphere as when Colin, I mean Neil Warnock, was in charge of the Blades.
I look forward to Dave Bowers explaining why Saturday wasn’t good enough. Meanwhile, foreign ownership continues to show its virtues at Birmingham….
Stuart. When we have a bad performance I’ll say it. When we have a good one, I’ll say it.
With 5 years of near continuous decline anyone with perspective would expect more negative than positive comments.
Dave – happy to see you’re still interested after declaring Burton a must-win. No doubt the more short-sighted and/or determinedly negative Fulham fans said the same about yesterday. Cheers
Hi Gary a great Sunday morning read.
According to the Yorkshire Post the trouble was started at the end of the game by city supporters chanting Sheff Wed this showed disrespect to United and that 2 city supporters were arrested, these 2 supporters were either very brave, stupid being outnumbered by the united home support or just picked on for being in the wrong place, A minority of united supporters have tarnished their club again.
A few united supporters have come out and said on various sites that the wish the 2 city supporters injured on Saturday a fast recovery and that there is no place for this type of reaction in football, it was possibly the same moronic supporters that threw bottles on to the pitch, no mention of how the club will act on this and nothing in the after match comments from the manager, He was more interested in blaming city for his woes, how will he react when he gets thumped 4-0 by some team.
City and Team Farke are learning quicker than I expected in this league and as stated above it will not always be tippy tappy and pretty to watch but you always support your team through their trials and tribulations, lets look forward to the Middlesbrough game and hope for another solid team display.
It’s not the first time the Blades fans have taken defeat badly this season:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-40922024
I very much hope that Steve Stone makes a formal complaint about the treatment of the club’s Directors and guests. The home team’s own Directors should be taking steps to prevent that happening anyway. It seems to me that Sheff U have always been a very unwelcoming club, and it comes from the top.
Sheffield have 2 teams and the Yorkshire Post and Sheffield Star are very partisan and never report the wrong doing of these teams it is always the opposition that starts the problems as in yesterdays comments no reporting the throwing of missiles or verbal abuse until they start blaming both sets of Sheffield clubs supporters for starting trouble nothing will be sorted.
Aslo Wilder should come out and apologise for the missiles thrown at Gunn or was that his fault for being in the wrong place.
Could be very interesting next weekend when the Blades play the Owls. How will the local press report any incidents like those yesterday? I believe that South Yorkshire police have now corrected their initial statement, and it is now two Sheffield fans who have been arrested. (You can understand their confusion – the club colours are so similar, and the accents sound so much alike!)
was just going to mention that KeithB, funny how they are involved again in trouble. I went there many times over the years. Not the nicest of places to visit, remember one season, My late friend in a wheelchair was on the end of a string of vile abuse from a 10/11yo who was being encouraged by what we took as his father, I complained to a Policeman, who replied he could not hear anything.
That was my last visit to that hell hole, was mighty glad when they got relegated, sadly back up. I have been to Millwall, Wolves and loads of other grounds many times, but we never had that level of abuse.
I was absolutely over the moon with yesterdays result . and the team showing how to run down the clock, a lesson Middlesbro taught many sides. Of course Mr Wilder would not dream of instructing his team to do something like that -now would he ? He should have heard Mark Rivers comments on the wireless yesterday.
Sounds a lot like a very poor sore loser to me ..
Another excellent piece as usual
Great performance and who would have thought it after the last two away games.Seems to me that Farke is learning very quickly and is not afraid to leave experienced players out of the squad.Players like Trybull,Zimmermann and Steipermann have the hunger to succeed in this country and that can only benefit Ncfc.Our squad looks strong now but I would like to see Fonkeu given a chance v Brentford,who knows he might put some pressure on Jerome for a starting place while Nelson is injured.On the fans and manager the F A need to throw the book at them and when they come to carrow road only allocate them 200 tickets and make their directors sit in the snake pit!
Just also like to add since russel martin been dropped we can keep clean sheet not just klose coming in 😉
Cheap jibe, and unnecessary.
Husband has been replaced by Stiepermann, Reed by Tettey, and Trybull has also come in to the mix. I think all of those are at least as significant, if not more so.
More so
Thank you Gary for ax excellent summation of yesterday’s game.
I wonder how many of those who were severely critical after the Burton game would have gratefully taken 7 points (and 3 clean sheets!!) from the last 3 games? And of course, “unfancied” Burton beat Fulham yesterday.
It sounds like we managed the almost perfect away performance, even though no one has mentioned that we could have had a penalty….mind you, Wildschut’s challenge in the first half could so easily have given one away.
So, the Webberlution gathers pace. Good opportunity on Tuesday to give the fringe players a run out I feel, so that we’re ready for Bristol City on Saturday.
O T B C
P. S. I’m pretty sure the last time I went to Bramall Lane, Angus’s dad got sent off at half-time and we played the second half with Rob Newman in goal. Even then we always seemed to find more and more ways of making things difficult for ourselves away from home!
Re. timewasting:
1 I was at Bramhall Lane some years ago when we conceded in the first half and they (managed I think by Colin) resorted to every trick in the book. This included using the multi-ball system in such a way that at least 2 balls came on every time there was a throw-in, thus preventing the game restarting. Fortunately the referee was wise to it and stopped them using that system.
2 It’s obviously easy to berate the referees, as we did on Tuesday night. But the real culprits are the lawmakers. All you have to do is say that the clock stops when the ball is out of play or in the possession of the ‘keeper. Set the time at 30 minutes per half, and have a separate timekeeper. Apart from being so much fairer it takes unnecessary pressure off the referee. OK, you might not be able to carry that through into all levels of the game but certainly any professional or semi-professional league ought to be able to handle it.
Watched the game on iFollow. A class act in time wasting by Norwich.
Quote of the day was from the commentator after the bottle flew onto the pitch behind Gunn. As the ref proceeded to run the bottle to the halfway line ” and even the ref’s time wasting now”
I watched on iFollow but had no commentary again. Did you use a Pc or tablet?
Used an iPad. You have to click the call out balloon on bottom right and play about with that to get commentary. The 8 year olds running it even managed to combine crowd noise and commentary this week -such is progress !!
Totally necessary keith b totally ……..that man sums up everything wrong about the club sooner he is gone the better in my eyes ,had enough listening to his drivel every time we got relegated and the fact he thinks centre back is his position is laughable ….terrible captain and centre back and now right back totally past his sell by date imo .
You could argue that choosing to criticise a player who’s not been in the team for 3 games rather than praising a fantastic team performance sums up everything that’s wrong with the club. I’ve had enough of drivel too.
that was wrong with the club
Great read as always Gary.
I can’t remember the time I was so surprised and delighted by a city win and performance, never saw it coming to be honest and achieved without our two best players,
Never before have I heard such effusive praise from commentators in relation to city performers, particularly stiepermann and trybull who apparently played out of their skins. Kudos too to Tettey and Klose, who have helped stem the floods.
Hopefully Wildschut will be a more regular fixture on the team sheet as his unorthodox style seems to unnerve opponents,
Unlike button in midweek, this was a proper clean sheet, featuring fullbacks cutting out crossing opportunities, centre halves winning aerial duals, midfielders getting their bodies in the way and blocking shots, forwards holding the ball up and tracking runners and wonder of wonders a goalkeeper coming off his line and claiming crosses.
As Chris goreham heralded the final whistle and I bellowed in delight and relief I was totally nonplussed, almost in shock at what I’d heard,
Issues with the clubs leadership are always ongoing, but the world seems a better place after a city win. The trick now of course is to repeat it.
A massive win & performance which I think was needed to give more credibility to the previous two results. I heard a lot of complaints about Burton’s tactics but I had no issue with that, nor do I with Norwich doing what they need to win. The international break has seemingly given Farke the opportunity to work with the squad & make changes, strengthening the argument to give him time.
My comments about russel martin are to do with the title of the article …..dear oh dear makes me laugh though )))