I love it when a plan comes together. That’s what Warnario – aka Paul Warne – must have been thinking at half-time at the Carra on Saturday.
Rotherham pressed, frustrated and were the width of a post away from going into the break 2-0 up as Ryan Williams’ edge of the box effort spun away a fraction from the other post.
Wearing a version of the Inter Milan kit, they didn’t play like every City fan’s favourite Italian side but they certainly contained us and possessed some menace when they went forward.
The mid-match moaning in the Barclay bar was loud and long. Many were blaming Tim Krul for pushing the ball out directly into the danger area. I’ve since seen it many times, but I still can’t make my mind up.
More concerning to me was our collective inability to defend the original short corner routine.
And then what happened?
Only the Lord knows what Daniel Farke and his assistant coaches said to the group at half-time. We were being pushed wider than we would have liked and that didn’t really change too much in the second half – but oh boy, we turned it around in devastating style.
Step forward the “kids”.
If a recent previous manager was still in situ, Todd Cantwell (20) would probably be so frustrated that he would have been out of here and sporting the black and white stripes of his native Dereham Town.
Instead, there was a sublime finish (and oh boy did he celebrate it in front of us lot in the Barclay) and that wonderful semi-chip to provide the perfect opportunity for a glancing header for… one Maximillian Aarons (18) to convert.
He’s one of our own? They’re both ones of our own.
Marco Stiepermann’s intelligent and unselfish pass to Teemu Pukki led to our third – look at it again and see how Pukki hesitated for a millisecond before finishing to make sure the keeper had no chance. Class.
Of course, Stiepermann ended up at left-back as there was some sort of fourth official cock-up over the withdrawal of Jamal Lewis. Don’t ask me what happened because I don’t know and nor does anybody else who I’ve subsequently spoken with.
I’ve seen better refereeing teams admittedly, but also far worse.
Even at 1-1 we played with Rotherham like a cat with a ball of wool or a mouse. The big yellow juggernaut was back.
And at the end we had two more clear-cuts. It could and possibly should have been five. Swansea apart we are truly a second-half side – and how wonderful it is (sorry Gary and your fellow River Enders) to see us continue to attack the Barclay in the second half.
I know of two folks who put money on a 3-1 (John who sits behind me in the Barclay and my mate Cutty who *starred* on Canary Call on his 75th birthday on Saturday) so I guess three was enough!
Daniel F came over to us at the end (as did nearly all the players) and must have enjoyed the vocal interchange between the Barclay and the Snakepit. I know I did.
All hugs and high fives down the stairs – a great afternoon out that could have been so different without that half-time resurgence.
My only gripes? I didn’t see anyone offering a pair of rainbow laces and when I got home, I broke a tooth on a piece of Mrs P’s home-cooked tandoori chicken. And I despise going to the dentists, which you can’t anyway on a Sunday as I write this.
The agony and the ecstasy, as those of a literary mind might say.
Like you Mr Penny, only mine came from the wireless it sounded like Krull had pushed the right back to the danger area. a thing I have brought up before, but after, looking at a couple of replys, I would say it wasn’t a bad first save at all it more or less just cannoned off him right to the guy who was offside, well it looked like it to me.
As for knocking Krull , it is a tad out of order, we are top of the league so he cannot be doing to badly, I said in Gary’s post, yesterday, he has not had a lot of game time during the last couple of seasons,. he hasn’t become a bad keeper in that time out.
My only little grumble and Krull is not the only one I see who seems to push the ball back into danger zones, what is wrong with trying to catch the ruddy thing or a dam good fist. I can recall seeing Kevin keelan catch a ball while flying across in the air across the goal. too many times to count. This is down to coaching surely .
I noticed that little pause from Pukki, it looked to me, he sold the keeper one and was going to make sure this time, as he could easily have had a hat trick .
Buendia sounded to let his frustrations get the better of him a little, if what Darren Eadie said during the game. perhaps a little word in his shell like, he has had a stonking season so far, he has adpted to hurly burly of the championship better than hoped for. He has not come across our weather (Hull an eye opener) nor perhaps played as many games in a short space of time. He is still young and learning, he will be another who will command many zero’s on a cheque. He will get it, that if you get a smack in the kisser, you get up and get on with it, and don’t let it get at you.
While it is ruddy brilliant how we can come back and take the spoils, I get this feeling that better teams will make life so much harder, ie Stoke , the giving of opposition a leg up has to be stamped out.
I can remember sitting not worrying that when we were not so hot in the first half we would be fine by the end. A second half team, Lambert installed that and Farke is doing exactly the same. The knack has appeared to have left Lambo, by the look of things. (very hard job to stop smiling) or did he leave it behind in the dressing room here for others who could use.
Hope the tooth is sorted, i remember breaking 3 teeth at once on a bloody Matchmaker on Christmas Eve, then getting a gawd awful migraine on christmas morning, spending 7 hours in bed. I was eating my dinner while others where stuffing nuts chocs etc. One to forget but that is proving harder to do.
Hi Lad
How can you break teeth on a Matchmaker? Was it mint or orange:-)
I know they had bits of hard nougat in them but you must have been very unlucky. Even Albert Steptoe wouldn’t trade his teeth for mine. Mind you I contracted mumps on Christmas Day when I was about seven and had to watch everybody else tuck into their turkey while I was restricted to Nesquik!
Apart from the admirable Lewis and Aarons, Buendia was our only other pace merchant and did indeed come in for a bit of stick. A side like Rotherham are bound to load up on him, as indeed they did. He got a bit frustrated but certainly didn’t shy away from his duels.
The point you make about KK is a good one. He was as hard as nails in the days when keepers simply had to be in order to survive. And the ball indeed stuck to his hands like glue. We didn’t call him the Cat (or was it Kat?) for nothing.
To me Krul is worth his salt even if only for the way he organises the back four and he seems to have a really good rapport with Klose and Zimbo – and indeed the Barclay. Saturday’s pitch was of the slippery variety (not as bad as at Hull) which cannot have helped him.
If I tried to eat any nuts at Christmas I’d probably lose my whole bottom jaw!
Thanks for a great comment.
Broke your tooth on tandoori chicken? You’re meant to eat the meat, not the pot!
Ha bloody ha!
ASDA boneless chicken thighs are not always… boneless:-)
Maybe I should join the compo culture.
And talking of Compo, I reckon his teeth were better than mine too!
Good article Martin. If there is one fact I’ve read this morning which really struck me as summing up our season so far, it is just how much of a second half side we’ve been, as you reference. We’ve scored 35 goals, of which only 7 have come in the first half, and of those 7, three were against Swansea. So, in our remaining 19 games we have scored only 4 first half goals!!!!
It’s great that we are the comeback kings at the moment, but I would suggest that if we are to stay near the head of the table, we will need to stop giving sides the lead, especially the better sides when we start the second round of matches against them. I’d still like the second half goals – and all the character that has gone with them – but a few more in the first half too wouldn’t go amiss.
Hi Michael
We do tend to spring out of the traps for the first five minutes or so, at home at least, but when the opposition settles and comes at us on (say) around the 10-minute mark we are at our most vulnerable.
I guess when you have an orchestra conducted by Mo Leitner (or in this recent case Mario Vrancic) it must take a while for the team to go through the gears. We play really quite sophisticated football and at Championship level we sometimes pay the penalty for that.
But we’re a joy to watch just now
I agree with you that a few more first half goals wouldn’t come amiss – but we can’t have everything and to me there is a marked difference between this side and Lambert’s.
Same application, same desire but the skill levels have gone through the roof.
My favourite era was that Dave Stringer side of the late 1980s – early 1990s but our current crop, imo, have far surpassed them.
Thanks for your comment.
Great stuff, Martin.
The youngsters – what a player Max Aarons is already, let alone what he’s going to become – rightly grabbed the headlines this time. But others deserve their share of limelight too. Stiepermann has been excellent, while Alex Tettey has never played better.
Tim Krul, like Jordan Rhodes, is obviously a big positive influence behind the scenes. They’re both bloody good players too.
Meanwhile, Mrs P’s tandoori chicken sounds as lethal as our second-half attack.
Hi Stew
Yes I’m also a big Tim Krul fan and your point about Alex Tettey and indeed Jordan Rhodes is spot on.
I can’t really apportion blame to Mrs P over the tooth incident – it was supposed to have been boneless but as in my reply to Don above it certainly wasn’t. Maybe we should give up cheapskating at ASDA and go to my mate’s butchers shop in Coltishall more often instead.
Cheers and ATB
Hi Martin
A good read as usual.
As I said in Gary’s article yesterday the moaners were out in the Pinkun during match comments some really should have the typewriter taken off them, one calling for Farke to be sacked as lost the plot and another tgat Farke has no plan B.
I think Sky and the pundits have all been completely taken by surprise by cities continuous success so far this season and really are waiting for the bubble to burst so they can either give a told you so look or tell everyone that Leeds, Middlesbrough, Derby, Villa and possibly a couple of others as forecasted would finish in the top six.
Like most I was sorry to see Mathews leave hoping he would be the one of a promising bunch if keepers that city gave had finally make it as the number one at the ckub and it seems Rudd, Steer and Mathews alll have the misding ingredient to get to the top, but I will mention another in Lewis who seems to be doing well in Scotland.
Krul makes the odd mistake which will come to haunt us at some time but who ekse do we hace Mcgovern isn’t really pushing for his first team spot and with his contract up at tge end of the season will take the money and run possibly to Preston if A N is still there next season so I hope Webber is scouring the leagues for a replacement.
Oliveria is looking more like being a XMAS TURKEY than ever with the papers saying both clubs have reached an agreement on a permanent deal, much less than expected but at least he can’t come back and score against us.
We will now see the determination of the board in keeping Webber now that Southampton have sacked M H this morning so far every out of work manager is being mentioned but will they cone calling for Webber or someone ekse in that position before getting a new nan in??????
Some good comments Alex. Like you I was sorry to see Matthews leave – at the very least it would be one more Home Grown player, which would at least give a little more flexibility for folks like Pinto, Passlack and Srbeny who largely miss out.
The situation at Southampton is really interesting – ultimately they are a victim of their own success having gone down the long-term route of selling their best players (there is a warning there for Norwich!) once or twice too often. The Webber links were interesting when they surfaced but in reality, what Southampton need is a good manager who will have a short-term impact and keep them in the PL this season rather than a Webber-type who will inevitably be thinking more medium and long-term.
Hi Jon
Agree with you entirely. Soton paid a lot of money for Nathan Redmond of course, who we bought from Birmingham cheaply when the Bluenoses were desperate for a cash injection.
He became possibly an even better value sale for us than the Bros Murphy.
James Maddison of course is a case apart. That goal for Leicester at the weekend was a wonderful piece of football.
And yet, right now, we’re not missing him. Funny old world.
Thank you.
Jon
I can remember South and Chase havng the same thoughts may years ago selling
Fox, Sutton, Drinkle, watson, Bruce, Woods all with in a couple of seasons after the European run and us droppling out of the premiership.
Hi Alex – you raise some interesting points – or should I call them topics?
As far as the Pink’Un goes I find it a reasonably good source of news but I never read the comments. I particularly like Michael Bailey’s pieces – he knows his stuff.
And as for the released GKs we had high hopes for all of them – but none of them have truly made it. Steer, Rudd, Matthews? Don’t think I’d want any of them back tbh. Aston Oxborough is the latest and I’ve only seen him play once so I don’t feel I can comment on his capabilities.
We will discard Michael McGovern at the end of the season but how much of a loss will that actually be? A few bob off the wage bill for sure. If Farke & Co don’t fancy Oxborough they may well have to sign somebody. Not a Carlo Nash equivalent, though I fervently hope.
The Soton situation does not particularly concern me. tbh.
I don’t see Stuart Webber and team Farke departing in that direction, I really don’t.
Why not stick with a project on the up rather than joining one that appears to be falling apart?
I must admit I find the timing of the Hughes dismissal a little strange. I know they were 2-0 up and blew it but a 2-2 with Man Ure is no disgrace.
As for Nelson, my only response is: get rid.
Great comment once again.
Well Well Sham 69 Martin, had you down as a bit earlier than that musically. Well lets hope the next line of the song plays out as long as possible.
Attacking the Barclay in the 2nd half certainly seems to working – is that the reason we score so few in the 1st half? Perhaps if an opponent turns the teams around before kick and we attack towards the Barclay 1st half we will score a few more before half time – or is it really down to fitness levels? So Tell Us The Truth Martin, is this the best time to be a City fan?
Hi Stan
Editor Gary writes all the headlines – not me, not even on my own articles.. But I did send him a PM this morning congratulating him on the Sham 69 reference – Gary was responsible, not me.
You’re spot on about my heritage. Musically I grew up with LZ, Floyd, Sabbath, Purple and so many more obscure prog/heavy bands. Then there was 1976 (I was still only 19) and along came the Clash, the Pistols, the Buzzcocks and many more.
Guess I was born at the right time to enjoy the best of both worlds!
Sure this is a great time to be a City fan and I’m truly loving it. And the best thing is that apart from a very few saddos we ALL are.
I’ll leave you with a quote from the totally brilliant Manic Street Preachers: This Is My Truth (you’ve already told as yours)!
Fantastic comment and thank you – where would we be without music and football?
Marty ole partner, you should give the bones to your four legged friends rather than trying to crunch them yourself, hope geezer forgives you. But I suppose your were overexcited at another grandstand finish and hearing me on radio Partridge. Krul ain’t another K K The Cat but like you say he “fits in” and it’s unwise to change a winning team. Kevin didn’t mess about with his punches.
KK mess about with his punches?
He took Mr Robson of Northampton Town out well enough – one of the very few matches I attended in that decade so Uncle Wally picked a good’un to take me to..
I think we stood at the old River End that day but I can’t recall for sure.
You’ll be needing an agent after that performance (I’m still laughing even now).
Cheers bud.
I love to see the kids doing so well, they have really galvanized our club and supporters which is truly wonderful I’m a Tim Krul fan he’s a good replacement for Angus but wouldn’t be surprised to see AG back among us if we get promoted.
We are in a great position for sure but less than halfway through. so the hard work begins now. The top 6 are looking good with arguably historically the 6 biggest and well supported teams filling those positions and with every chance given the next round of fixtures that a bit of a gap could soon begin to open up below them.
No one team is going to run away with the Championship this term. in addition to City both Leeds & Villa are capable of going on long unbeaten runs, We finish at Villa in May I hope I enjoy reading your Monday offering as much as today’s after that one Martin………… we’ve both a few months in which to polish our porcelain veneers!
Hi Colin
Impossible for me to argue with any of that.
Except – I regretfully don’t think Angus will ever be coming back. I know he’s sat in the dark just now but his current wages must be so much more than we can afford.
He and Fraser Forster as season-long GK loans have been the best value for money I’ve ever seen. Apart from Hucks of course but he was simply a one-off.
I know Krul makes errors but he bosses us at the back. For me it’s no January panic over him, but I’ve got loads of form for being wrong!
I appreciate the last line – the tooth always hurts.
Cheers
Brilliant column Martin, and as always great comments.
Again, what a time to be a City fan; surely there cannot be a better “made in Colney” goal than Saturday’s second as I’m pretty sure that the ball moved from Lewis to Cantwell before that superb chip to Aarons. Also have to agree that Krul is so much more to this team/squad than just a shot-stopper. His organisation of the players in front of him is excellent, and I’m sure has been worth a few points to us so far. Given how much the ball moves in the air nowadays, he is definitely not the only keeper who parries it. Unfortunately for him against both Swansea and Rotherham the ball fell to an opponent although on Saturday it certainly looked as if the attacking player was in an offside position.
Finally, what a brilliant observation from Chris Sutton on Saturday evening that we currently have more wins this season than 1p5wich have points……definitely one for the record, and long may it continue!!
This is Farkeball, and we are lovin’ it!!
O T B C
Thanks John.
You’re absolutely right – the goal was indeed “made in Colney” as you describe it.
I’m right behind the Barclay goal so it’s not that easy to for me to decide on tight offsides. No flag, no whistle was the decision!
As for the Binners, you have to laugh. It would be rude not to:-)
Many good points Martin And some good comments to follow.
As most of us predicted, the lowlier the opposition, the harder we seem to make it. I expect no different from Bolton on Saturday,
The biggest bugbear has got to be the slow start syndrome, the statistic surrounding the first half goals scored is staggering. Away from home, it’s perhaps understandable that the home side comes out rattling the Sabres and in aggressive mood. Against Hull it appeared as though we didn’t actually cross the halfway line for the first 15 minutes.
It’s at carrow road that I find it more difficult to understand why we are so sloppy, so often. On Saturday the Rotherham keeper had probably the easiest 45 minutes of his season as we huffed and puffed. Contrast that to the second half, with cantwell suddenly effused with confidence and pulling all the strings imperiously and you have the ultimate in Jekyll and Hyde performances. I’d dearly love to see 70 or 80 minutes of dear old doctor Jekyll against Bolton without that ugly sod Mr Hyde showing his face!
Back to the game, I truly believe the full bck pairing of Lewis and Aarons is the best double act in the championship. For two such young players to be so instrumental in our success thus far is quite incredible. So much of our game is built on the athleticism, dynamism and maturity they display on a weekly basis that I believe we would be seriously diminished without them.
Vrancic is a Rolls Royce of a player, hard to believe that it was only his second start of the season. I would love to see a lot more of him, a pleasure to watch.
Pukki, despite a proper off day in front of goal and clearly jaded popped up with his goal as normal. Hopefully a weeks rest will invigorate him so as normal service can be resumed ASAP.
On the issue of Krul, one only has to look round the weekends football from premier league and championship to see some truly awful goalkeeping. Off the top of my head Messrs Bialkowski, Henderson, Rudd, Pickford and a few more besides dropped some comedy gold classic howlers. The occasional gaffe is made up for by the game management, nous and general demeanour of an experienced top level pro which adds some ballast to the youthful mix. Authority is the key and with Tettey and Klose as allies the inexperienced element of the side has something to call on in times of crisis.
With Elton John banging away on his Joanna in the name of John Lewis Christmas campaign and the shops full of santas it seems surreal to be talking about top of the table City. Had we peaked in October and slipped quietly away by now the world would once again make some sense and order would be restored. It defies all logic and conventional wisdom, let alone my own understanding of the game to see us up there where in my opinion we belong, breathing in the rarified air. A club simply cannot sell its guts out, bring in an untried coach from abroad, spend a tiny fraction of the incoming funds on replacements and expect to trouble the top half, let alone the top.
Trouble is, as unexpected a bonus as this is, I rather like being at the top of the league and the stress and fractious nerves jangling every time we look like relinquishing the spot are giving me familiar feelings of foreboding on match days. This can’t continue, can it? Whether it does or doesn’t, it sure beats the hell out of last season.
Ha!
I loved reading that and you really should take up our offer of a guest blog sometime soon.
In my mind anything would beat the living heck out of last season tbh.
However we’ve a long, long way to go. I’ve never ever been to a City match without a sense of foreboding, although I’m relatively confident about Bolton on Saturday.
I’m doing the Friday preview so I’ll explain why then.
Sure Pukki looks knackered but we do have a certain Mr J. Rhodes in (literally) reserve. A luxury anyone but Wednesday in this league would welcome.
As for Mario I basically agree but if a Rolls-Royce broke down in the 1960s/1970s it was always put on a low-loader with a white canvas shroud on it. Rollers couldn’t be seen to have broken down.
Great comment as always.