Many folks are preparing their Hallow’een cauldrons for the weekend. We’re not doing it this year cos of Covid and actually refer to it within the family as All Hallows Eve cos we’re not fans of premeditated American stuff designed for the supermarkets to make yet more money.
But if neighbourhood trick or treaters come a-knocking there’s traditionally always something for them.
There won’t be this year though.
But if you ever wanted a good recipe to put into your witches pot, our game against Wycombe had the lot. You might as well chuck your emotions in there as well. I know I did – and some concoction it had become by around 5pm on Saturday.
What I thought was the right team selection? Check.
Off to a flying start for the first time in living memory? Check.
A vintage combination of Emi Buendia and Teemu Pukki for the early goal? Check again.
A defensive balls-up between Tim Krul and Grant Hanley [with a contribution from Ben Gibson]? Check once more.
I can only assume that neither Grant nor Tim called for the ball. *Keeper’s* or *Clear it* was all that was required but neither happened from my position at the home office desk.
And for the next 50-odd minutes Wycombe were in some ways the better side. They did all they could to disrupt us and dropped it over the top whenever they had the chance, hoping to spook us even more.
However, as athletic as they were they began to tire and our shots began coming in with real intent. Ryan Allsopp made a couple of fine saves, not least from substitute Adam Idah – more on him later.
However, my praise for Gareth Ainsworth’s outfit should be tempered. They began the $.hit.housing well before half time, aided and abetted by a poor performance from referee Gavin Ward who made several mistakes of the big-scale variety.
We benefitted from one of these when Gibson was allowed to get away with a drag-back in the box on Fred Onyedinma that had *pen* written all over it to me. Had it have been awarded, Gibson would have surely seen red.
To balance that Ward didn’t once warn Allsopp for his time-wasting on goal kicks and every time a blue shirt fell to the deck the owner of it was allowed seemingly forever to return to his feet. Wycombe rarely sent the physio on to make it *look good* either.
To fast forward, enter stoppage time and enter the man. Super Mario of course for the second time in a few days. Vrancic was tripped on the edge of the box [debatedly to me, but Mr. Ward thought he was brought down and that’s what counts] and naturally stepped up to take the free kick. Emi stood alongside him but nobody was fooled by the decoy.
By getting the ball over that tall wall and making the perfect postage stamp finish is indeed a tribute to Vrancic’s consummate skill. Allsopp didn’t even move so I guess he expected his wall to do the job for him.
But how does Daniel Farke accommodate Vrancic from the start? For now, I don’t see it happening as he doesn’t really have the engine to play alongside either Lukas Rupp or Ollie Skipp and the No 10 spot has a host of claimants on it already. But what an option for the last half hour is our Mario!
Back to Adam Idah. He had his legs locked by Wycombe’s ace corner taker Joe Jacobson and as he struggled to get up he put his hands on the Wycombe defender which you should never do, of course.
I’ll call that naive and to my mind that was only a red card by the very letter of the law. Whether slightly wide or central, Idah is a good young player and will be a big miss for the next three games. Worth an appeal? Probably not.
Well, we triumphed over adversity [or got out of jail] again but we won’t have 75 per cent possession against Brentford and that’s for sure. The Bees will have the ar$e.hole after losing at Stoke so expect them to be well and truly buzzing against us. It’s more *our type of game* than recently so we must have every chance of a result.
As for All Hallows Eve itself, it will be Robins v Canaries under the light of the full moon – towards the end – of course.
While the ghosties and the ghoulies will be emerging from their graves on that evening, I just hope we get out of Ashton Gate with our souls intact and three points in the bag.
Footnote: Nice to see Paul Lambert continues to express his feelings when it suits him. Well done you Red Imps.
Good morning Martin – these late winners aren’t good for my ‘dicky ticker.’
An excellent article this morning and you’ve summed up the key points of the game quite succinctly – our early goal (fantastic to see the Emi/Teemu combo at work), the most calamitous mix-up for the Chairboys’ goal and they nearly had a 2nd shortly after. Thereafter, it seemed as though panic set in amongst the NCFC players and Wycombe came back into the game more and more. Then to round things off, up stepped ‘Super Mario’ to perform something reminiscent of his trick against the Owls when he drew a ‘foul’ and then proceeded to score in one of our 2nd last home game before winning the Championship.
I said last Monday that I’d love to take 4 points this week, so a VERY welcome bonus.
Interesting that the Radio Norfolk said that the penalty awarded to Preston was less innocuous than Gibson’s foul on Saturday.
As DF said in his interview with PD – Idah will learn from his rash reaction in getting himself sent off and that is part and parcel of his development. We’ve NEVER won a red card appeal, so I’d agree with you that it’s futile.
I’ll settle for 3 points from the next 2 games and I feel that both will be a very serious test for us.
Finally, as DDF (aka David Freezer) said in his ‘six things ’etc’ this morning, we MUST improve and cut out the sloppiness before our next few games.
PS – I read somewhere that the loudest sound at the weekend was Posh ”flying past 1p5wich!!’ 😀
Morning Ed
Yes these next two will be big tests indeed – the name Ivan Toney sends shivers down the spin!
We definitely got away with the Gibson foul – it looks more and more blatant every time you see it. I’m glad there was no VAR skulking about.
As for appeals hardly anyone seems to win them these days – although I didn’t know that we’ve never successfully appealed a Red, I must admit.
I laugh like the next Canary when 1p5wich stuff up but I’m starting to enjoy Lambert’s over-reactions even more than their results!
Cheers
We have had one successful appeal – Grant Holt. I vaguely recalled something involving him and Ian Harte. Just looked it up – it was 10 years ago….
https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/grant-holt-s-red-card-overturned-1-728290
I’d be very surprised if we bother with this one; to be honest overturning it would send out the wrong message to Idah anyway. Whether he was hard done by or not, he was stupid. It’s better for him to learn from it than be let off the hook.
Thanks for that Keith – I simply couldn’t recall it until I saw your comment and subsequent link. As I’ve said above I see no point in appealing this one.
I guess it’s all part of young Adam’s footballing education as you say.
Hi Martin,
Very good summary of Saturday’s incidents. All I would add regarding the refereeing decisions is that all we can ever hope for in this league is the ref gets the big decisions correct. Well, Gavin Ward certainly didn’t on Saturday! As you rightly said Gibson got away with one and the Adam Idah tangle was a yellow card at worst, after all, the flamin’ assistant ref was less than 10 yards away who should have been able to see what was going down there? And, by comparison, with the horror knee high challenge in (I think) the Stoke game that went unpunished puts young Adam’s misdemeanor into perspective. The officials in our game were duped by Joe Jacobson no more no less.
I have to mention Mario, what a free kick and could you imagine the eruption of noise that would have occurred with a full carrow road?!! Mario should from now on be known as ‘The Postie’….’cos he just keeps on delivering!! 😊
I have to say on the evidence of the last couple of games I think the Hugill/Pukki combo up front doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe Placheta’s pace out wide would help against Brentford? But who gets dropped?!!
Always good to have 9 points in the bag from 3 seemingly tricky games but I think we’ll learn at lot more about our potential for a top 6 finish from the next 6 of games: Brentford, Bristol, Millwall, Swansea, Boro’ and Stoke, if we can come out of these games with a points tally that’s somewhere around the 12 point mark then we’re probably in business.
Have a good day!
Cheers
John
Hi John
You make a very good point about the lino [whoops, assistant referee] being as close to the tangle as he was. I’d only add that showboating refs like Mr Ward are very unlikely to actively seek a second opinion if one isn’t freely offered. Shame, but that’s how it goes. Incidents such as that are probably why the term *orange card* was initiated!
12 points from the next six matches is a lovely thought – my guess would be 10 but I’m no Nostrafarmus so you’re far more likely to be right than me.
Cheers
Good stuff Martin, thank you.
Despite all the omens, for once, thanks in part to Mr Ward, we avoided another Along Come Norwich scenario.
Despite their lowly position I thought Wycombe offered rather more than Birmingham did….although, as you correctly say, they were $.hit.housing from very early on.
We need to eradicate those defensive blunders quickly, as at the moment we’re still struggling a bit in the final third.
I agree that Saturday’s line-up was very much what I would have picked, but for tomorrow, will Pukki be up front alone, with Vrancic playing as the 10?
Only Daniel knows…..and once again on Satuday he comfortably won the “managerial” fashion stakes.
Oh; and don’t forget that Saturday’s kick-off is at lunchtime, so I doubt either team will see the full moon whilst on the pitch!!
O T B C
Hi John
First up I should have realised that Saturday is a dinner time kick-off. My bad.
Wycombe did indeed have more to offer than the Bluenoses and although I dislike the way they play they might just have enough about them to stay up. Early days though!
You must buy from the House of Versace while I’m all for old gear and retro stuff cos I don’t think you can ever beat a decent leather jacket. Not even when pitched against a £700 parka. It’s all part of Ainsworth’s image of course but he’s so understated about it and that’s one of the reasons that I genuinely like the man.
Who’s up for no. 10 tomorrow? As you so rightly say, only Daniel knows.
Thanks a lot.
What has happened to sorenson hes not injured but hasent made the bench
Hi John
I’m in the dark on this one too.
I can only think that Tettey is the preferred bench option for DM/CB so there’s literally no room for Sorensen. The absence of Idah will mean the inclusion of somebody else but I would guess the Stieperdude.
Good point – thanks.
Morning Mr P, excellent write up, do not know if there is much for me to say. I can’t say I can see where Mario will fit in , 20-30 mins from the bench may be just about right, not 5-10. Almost a carbon copy of the Sheffield Wed goal, that had the roof’s lifted, shame once again the place was not packed .
It seems as if Hanley has to make a mistake than settles down, best he wanders out wide and mis0hit the ball mistake over. Whether there was a call or not we won’t know, but for 3 players to buggar it up must be stamped out. Wycombe doulbed their goals for, thanks to the Along Come Norwich moment, I sat listening funnily waiting for them to treble their column, it just seemed it was going to one of those games.
Vintage Pukki, that will help the old confidence rise more than a little, fair to pint out Rupp is silencing his critics me being one of them, he is in his level and showing.
I said in Gary’s piece yesterday, I must be the only one, who doesn’t rate Idah as high as some do. He is learning the trade so not going to put any downer out there. It will come I am sure.
I will be more than happy to come out of the next two with 2 points, a win or a draw would be remarkable, two wins cannot see that in my crystal fruit bowl, perhaps 2 months down the line if we really start to click. Ainsworth’s comments about us ripping teams apart seems like a little bit of covering up his latest setback. he maybe right further down the line.
Thanks Again Mr P
Hi Lad
I think each and every one of us misses being an active part of things. When you’re faced with people going to the Top of the Terrace or the Gunn Club to watch indoors when it’s surely so much safer to be socially distanced outside in the stands is beyond my ken.
A good point about the Ainsworth comment, although we have to consider that there are no demands upon him, as such, from the Wycombe hierarchy.
Idah has pace, strength and despite Saturday’s faux pas a very good attitude. He wouldn’t be a regular in the RoI national squad if things were otherwise.
I too think a hoof into row Z wouldn’t come amiss now and again. What I will say is though is that for three games in a row now Farkeball has tired out limited opposition – eventually. It’ll be a different kettle of cod against both Brentford & Bristol, obviously.
Thanks as ever.
I agree with you about Halloween and Americanisms Martin, never been a fan of either of them.
All things considered I think we should be happy with where we are right now, other than the injury situation and lack of defensive cover.
We had a long and traumatic summer, and a short pre-season topped off with half the squad on international duty. Our last 2 opponents by contrast had 5 months off (bar 3 play-off games). Is it any surprise that we aren’t in top gear yet?
The players are certainly putting the effort in and grinding out results, jockeying for a decent league position. But let’s be realistic. It may not be conscious but they all know that they need to conserve energy, physical and mental, for the second half of the season – that’s when you win things, not now.
It’s noticeable in the PL how results such as us beating Man C, or Villa’s amazing night against Liverpool, generally happen early in the season. In March or April when the finishing line is in sight the strongest teams power through, as we did in the Championship 2 years ago.
A slight concern is the lack of discipline among one or two younger players. If you watch the red card situation at Rotherham again what actually kicked off the melee was not the tackle itself. Those close by did not immediately jump on the guy. It was Max Aarons who took the trouble to run 20 or 30 yards and get in the guy’s face as he’s backing off the pitch that actually started it all off. It was stupid of Aarons, and I should imagine a word or two was said afterwards.
What puzzles me about the Idah situation is that as WW were losing why did their player impede him in the first place? Surely he needed to get on with the game asap. It makes me wonder if there had been some niggle between them off the ball. The fact is Idah was stupid, just as he was giving away a needless penalty last week. If any of the potential replacements do well – Steiperman, Placheta, Martin, or even Vrancic with a tactical tweak – he will struggle to regain his place.
It will probably do him good to miss a few games anyway. Following his first day winner and elevation to the Irish first XI he may just be suffering from a swollen head at the moment.
Hi Keith
No it’s not a surprise that we’re not in top gear yet, for the reasons you mention.
As for Max Aarons at Rotherham sometimes that red mist descends and I guess Max had as good a view of that MacDonald tackle as the closer others. For the shortest guy on the pitch after Emi to act in that manner illustrates how angry he must have been.
Max is no Billy Bremner but he was fuming and showed it. Whatever level our readers played at, surely we’ve all reacted in that fashion at some point.
As for off the ball niggles I’d suggest that we’d have to be on the pitch ourselves to truly understand the nature of them. But everything points to there having been previous between Jacobson and Idah as you say. As observers we can pick up on the obvious but the verbal exchanges go mostly unheard.
Interesting team selection tomorrow evening.
Great comment – thanks.
Hmmm not convinced by us atm more pleased we are not letting in so many goals.
I think sorenson was ill or is injured sure of that , see godfrey working his magic at everton already lol …
Hi Jim
Of course we’re not anything like completely convincing just now but I can’t find it in myself to be too depressed after nine points from three games in eight days.
Thanks
Hi Martin
Halloween and Thanksgiving, 4th July never been a fan of these or any other celebration days of the American genda but having worked for many American companies had to endure the falseness of them all over the years.
So far this season we have out played all the teams we have come up against till you look at Wycombe they might be 2nd on the list to Leeds for the Dark Arts and took advantage of their over whelming strength department but can’t fathom why they didn’t use their powerhouse striker the beast till the last few minutes when the game was lost.
City lost 2 games by bad luck and won this with a little bit of good luck but if Gibson had got sent off our defencive cover would have been blown away with Zimmbo not near being fit so either Tettey or Sorensen would have had to drop in and against Toney it would have possibly been a complete nightmare for either.
I would probably like to see Wycombe stay in this league come the end of the season but city going up so rather will still be 2 leagues between us and Ipshite, could be time for PL to blame the club for lack of ambition and walk soon.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay safe and stay healthy
Hi Alex
I can only guess Wycombe didn’t unleash the Beast earlier cos they were hanging on for their 1-1 and he is very much akin to Hucks when it comes to defending!
We have very little defensive cover but Webber & Farke knew that and despite their claims to the contrary did seventh tenths of bugger all to address it.
Still, so far so pretty good. I’ll take a point tomorrow at Brentford right now.
Cheers
One thing that’s very noticeable when we win 3 in a row is that apart from us climbing the table, the number of comments on Martin’s post-match articles diminish rapidly. 59 three weeks ago, 40 last week, barely 20 (so far) today. Where is everybody all of a sudden?
Given you kindly reply to us all Martin I imagine you’re even keener than the rest of us to see this run continue!
Ha!
I honestly don’t keep a comment count myself but I’m possibly/probably the only MFW writer who is [very] early retired and therefore has the time to respond to everybody personally which is something I thoroughly enjoy doing. I love a debate with all good NCFC folks.
Sure I can kick off against the joint majority shareholders and often do when it’s appropriate and timely. I think I got over 90 comments for such a piece a couple of years ago but I hate to over criticise the team and can assure you I’m much happier when we’re doing well on the field and I get reduced comment volume!
i am also puzzled as to how to fit Vrancic into the starting 11. Cant see the skipping rope being left out and that really leaves the option of being one of the forward 4 , unlikely to replace them in a start. Looks like a supersub in the making and hes got the physicality for half an hour or so but i just dont see him doing it for 90 mins. bad news about Zimmermann’s ongoing muscle pull as it rules out any chance of 3-5-2 and i would have liked to see that given a go against the more footballing sides such as Brentford.
Hi Bernie
Billy Dunthorne wrote a very good article on this very subject – it’s on the Homepage so check it out if you haven’t already.
As you say a 3-5-2 must at least be worth a shot but we never seems to have the *3* fit at the same time so I doubt we’ll see that formation any time soon!
Cheers
Is it possible to win three on the trot and not feel good about it? Perhaps it’s just the 2020 vibe.
The points are in the bag and for that I will say thank you to Mr Farke. But we played 3 very poor teams and only when the cards were heavily stacked in our favor (penalties given for, penalties saved, penalties not given against, red cards, own goal etc..) did we win. Hopefully we’ll raise our game along with the skill of our opponents.
Hi Dave
*Hopefully we’ll raise our game along with the skill of our opponents.*
Well these next two or three fixtures will certainly give us the answer to that one 🙂
Thanks