Gary’s comment yesterday about bloopers from the early eighties being collected and released as video nasties by the likes of the admirable Denis Norden struck a chord with many of us I suspect.
It put me in mind of that triumvirate of great early evening TV quiz shows –Blankety Blank, Bullseye and Catchphrase.
The Blarney stone charm of Terry Wogan, much beloved of the Misses Grint of Spooner Row, did little for me and I’m afraid that Jim Bowen never really convinced me that my successive driveways in Blofield and then Coltishall would be truly enhanced by my winning a speedboat.
Students loved the programme and delighted in borrowing ex-schoolteacher host Bowen’s catchphrases such as “you can’t beat a bit of Bully” at every given opportunity.
Another former teacher, Belfast comedian Roy Walker, was aided and abetted on Catchphrase by a strange little primitive graphic animation called Mr Chips. Both constantly encouraged contestants to “say what you see, say what you see“.
Okay Roy, I may be nearly 40 years too late but I sure as heck am going to say what I saw at Carrow Road on Saturday and not all of it will make for pleasant reading.
A lovely goal from Josh Sargent shortly after kick-off when he cut in from the left and beat Preston keeper Freddie Woodman at his near post demonstrating great confidence and not a little degree of skill. The salute was in creation the second the ball left his boot.
A nice 10-15 minutes followed when we could easily have scored again but didn’t.
Robbie Brady was given the freedom of Carrow Road to cross with his right [wrong] foot for PNE striker Emil Riis to rise unchallenged between the diminutive Liam Gibbs and Max Aarons to equalise.
This will sound controversial but if you look at the moment the ball crossed the line, Tim Krul seemed to put off Grant Hanley as the latter tried a goal-line clearance. Camera angles? Probably. And cue bunfight – the open game nobody expected was suddenly very much up and running.
One of the daftest errors I have seen from Krul. 2-1 Preston and another for Riis.
Gabriel Sara equalises to 2-2 with some fine twists and turns from Teemu Pukki providing the assist.
Sorry Tim, I make you guilty of error on Troy Parrot’s matchwinner as well. No keeper should be beaten at his near post from that angle.
Kenny McLean’s late “equaliser” being ruled out for argy-bargy by Hanley in the build-up.
Well, I’ve said what I saw, and it gives both sides of the supporting spectrum grist to their respective mills once more before our trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford next Saturday.
I have one personnel-related recommendation for Dean Smith if Ed Wootton agrees with me:
Angus. Gunn. Plays. On. Tuesday.
As many readers will know by now I haven’t been able to get to a match this season and I certainly won’t make it this calendar year so once more here is the MFW Man in the Stand, Don Harold:
“For 15 minutes we looked like Brazil – then just stopped. The rest of the game was pretty horrible.
“Preston went for the strange tactic of wasting time when they were 1-0 down and became expert at it after scoring. The crowd, including the few hundred who had made the trip from the North West, were quiet and the referee was what we have come to expect in the Championship.
“I predicted at halftime that we’d win 4-1. I didn’t predict that we’d play the worst half of football I have seen this season. The midfield were anonymous and Preston were able to break unhindered. Of course, we gave them the ball on regular occasions, as has become our signature, and there was a Krul mistake.
“We really need to learn to stop giving the ball away. We’re about to play much better teams than Preston, which may make the probability of us finishing in the top two remote”.
When the dust had settled I hunkered down to watch the second half of Spurs v Brighton.
I have been suffering from a few genuine mild hallucinations recently [medically induced, not recreationally unfortunately] and thought I was having another one in injury time of that game when I saw Olly Skipp lining up with Billy Gilmour before they both came on for the last couple of minutes.
Spooky.
Spot on Martin and Don, twenty minutes of joined up football and then fell apart. Krull looks more and more like a headless chicken in every match and needs a spell on the bench. To many senior players are making such basic errors week in week out you have to wonder what the hell is going on in training. The most intelligent player we have is a 19 year old with only a handful of senior games under his belt. How we remain near the top of the league I really don’t know.
Hi Andy
Don’s vignettes are invaluable to me right now because as we all know you actually have to be at the game to appreciate the, erm, ambience!
You’re right about Liam Gibbs of course – I think he would be even better alongside a fit Isaac Hayden but it seems increasingly likely that we are not going to see this.
Cheers
Good morning Martin and hope that we never have to suffer such an abject display by our team.
Surely the time has come for DS to tweak the starting 11 and get us back to at least challenging for loose balls and maybe marking opponents on or near the penalty spot!! 😕
Yes, Tim hasn’t been at the top of his game for the last few goals that we’ve conceded and Angus definitely deserves a start.
If Byram is injured, why not bring in one of our Under 21s to help out until Giannoulis is back??
PS – McLean actually looked quite good in the 2nd half!! 👍
Hi Ed
I’m not too sure about the under 21s tbh but it might be possible to recall young Saxon Earley from loan at Stevenage where he has helped them to the top of League 2.
Dimi’s back quite soon anyway, or so we are led to believe.
Our lack of fight for anything loose has been appalling all season.
Cheers
Lewis Shipley might be worth a try, started one of the friendlies and can play centre back
Maybe. Sean Stewart is another one.
Based on highlights Teemu looks to be fully fit. He was involved basically in all your attacking play and that is good news for Norwich. His assist to the second goal was brilliant and the goal was more like the goal that Finland scores. Norwich first goal was goalkeeper goal, Prestons third goal was goalkeeper goal and 3-3 goal which was disallowed goalkeeper goal. Riis was an effective and likely man of the match.
Yesterday there was a euro 2024 draw and the truth is that Finland had a good draw. Press here commented on the draw as no excuses if Finland does not qualify for the euro 2o24 tournament. Denmark should be in the top 2 places, so its between Finland and Slovenia. Slovenia has a young squad which cant surely predict that they are in the top 3 places in this group because Kazakstan has improved.
Hi 1×2
There’s no doubt whatsoever that Preston’s second was a “goalkeeper’s goal”!
As for the Euro 24 draw, good luck to Finland in the tournament.
It will surely be Teemu Pukki’s final major tournament – and equally certainly he will not be registered with Norwich at the time!
Kiitos
2026 world cup is of course a target and 2028 he would be 38. I would say its possible for him to be part of the squad. We dont really produce so much talent and Kanerva has not given youngsters much chances. Its weakness of course to keep in a squad some players who cant improve and who can really play international level games.
If Norwich played a Preston game with 2 strikers, at least in highlights your attacking was way better. Sargent played only 2 bundesliga 2 games and scored 2 goals, his bundesliga stats were 79 games and 13 goals. Norwich didnt exactly play Sargent as a typical winger in 4-3-3, but this is a better system to him and it can be better to Pukki too. Level difference to the premier league is massive, but there is no reason why sargent would not keep on scoring in the championship and especially now that he has a chance to benefit Teemus assists, game understanding and overall play. I do hope that you finally get a chance to see what all kinds of things Teemu can do and why Finland uses him like that and not just as a striker who waits alone for that 1 chance to run 1 vs 1 situation. The more he gets a ball the better your chances to win are.
It’s clear that Pukki is more than solely a striker but the World Cup at 38 is a very big ask for any player!
Marty, there’s a good team in there somewhere, the first 15 mins on Saturday shew it. Then the gremlins took hold and a big one settled on Krul’s shoulders. Does Smudger have the steel to give him a rest? Is it Gunn’s time? Gotta happen sooner or later. Sarge belongs in the middle, hopefully that’s now been settled, and Sara definitely in the first eleven. Gibbs is ready and fit, that just leaves the two usual deficits left back and a midfield tough nut. Neither of which will be sorted anytime soon. The Mayor seems to be Smudger’s go too man and did a half decent job at left back on Saturday plus scored a nice disallowed equaliser. Still no team is perfect so gotta keep a troshin. OTBC.
Hi Martin hope ur OK giving the ball away has been a feature of our play over last four seasons simply because half off them not good enough to keep it nearly always leading to goals trybull lietner McLean hanley have cost many goals .hot potato football in and around the penalty area by players not gifted enough to play that style have led to many heart attack moments.. I feel unless we start playing at a faster pace we are likely to struggle abit we raise the pace and start to look much better than most teams in league but don’t do it for long enough I see us on recent evidence finishing about 8th in table unless they give it a go for 90mins agame not ten mins here and there as this season has been so far .couple of players of the pace at mo nunez and don’t know what’s happened to sinnani lately nothing like his first few games.
Hi Kev
Your point about *hot potato football* is a good one – and you didn’t even mention Tim Krul 🙂
Nunez is still only a kid really and I’m not sure what has happened to Sinani either but one minute he and Dowell were running the show and now?
Cheers
Yes and TK do many to remember !
The trouble with dropping goalies is that it ruins their confidence and if you need to recall them you can be in trouble. To some extent that is what happened with Ruddy/Rudd.
Pukki made some bad mistakes but who is talking about dropping him? I’m sure, with the right support, both players can get back on track.
Perhaps Max is a bit too eager to get forward, perhaps the midfield should make themselves more available but the mistake for the second goal happens far too often and we do nothing about it.
Hi Gil
Yes maybe but I still think Krul needs a short, sharp shock. He was dreadful.
You’re right of course – some of our mistakes are very repetitive!
Cheers
Hi Cutty
Some folks are saying we’ve got to take on the big boys at “just the wrong time”.
i’m not sure about that as I’m not convinced that this bad patch is any worse in terms of performances than many of our displays when we were picking up points at will.
Looks like a certain midfield tough nut will be on his way back up the A1 quite soon if he can’t feature on an NCFC teamsheet very quickly indeed.
Cheers
Hi Martin
Hope you are feeling better.
Streaming most of the game on Saturday I just think city had no plan B or any plan at all.
Did Smith and Shakespeare under estimate PNE being so confident that this run would continue I wonder.
Blackpool did city a favor in beating Watford but we couldn’t take advantage of the other results so no loss or gains to any one.
Krul poor form started when he refused to go to a training camp for penalties with his national team and was duly told no camp no world cup, he must be regretting that decision big time.
Ex City play got sacked today by WBA not sure but is that a record for any manager or will his friend Colin W be ahead of him for sackings it will be close.
Away to Watford looks a daunting task as DS&SS luck ran out and as for your game shows 2 are back full time and Bully gets I think a new showing will Alan Carr along with Bernie the Bolt
Hi Alex
I can’t remember Steve Bruce walking so perhaps he holds some kind of record for compensation at least. I think it was you who said elsewhere that Ashley bumped the amount up at Newcastle just to annoy the Middle Eastern types?
The Baggies will surely start to rise now that particular cloud has [been] lifted.
It would be nice to see a game plan on Saturday, but will we?
Cheers
Hi Martin,
So the unbeaten run comes to an end in a very ACN way. PNE apparently couldn’t score but were good defensively??
What worries me is how much some of our players seem to have regressed since S&S have been in charge.
Krul looks like a scared cat, while Max is a shadow of his former self. It seems that the Mayor’s best position is now full back..so why not play him there from the start?
I fear Watford may be too physical on Saturday evening..what a criminal time to be playing; I wonder who is responsible for that LOL…
O T B C
The actually got the game started earlier so that supporters travelling by train could catch the train from Watford Junction to Loserpool St for the last one back to Norwich barring any more strikes
Don’t see the supporters’ sense of timing making that one work!
Hi John
I’d go as far as to say a classic ACN moment – I don’t think Preston had even managed to score away from home previously this season!
Regression certainly in the cases you mention which continues to highlight how Max misses the presence of Emi.
Watford will be next up in the long line of clubs who have been physically stronger than us – of course they will.
Cheers
You know Mr P I still see the same mistakes being made as I did under our German coaching. However They made some too yesterday in the fine win.
I can only come to the conclusion that you can be the best coach we have had but some players will continue to make basic errors. Instead of trying elaborate tactics, they revert to the basics. pass to a yellow shirt or maroon if wearing that kit.
How we are still in touch beggars my belief I cannot see it lasting too much longer, unless a few kicks up the rear isn’t undertaken. Also the need to tell players a game is 90+ long not 20 mins.
I have watch Kenny’s goal again and to hell if I can see anything wrong anywhere, lino didn’t have his flag, no Preston player hit the deck, ball never touched a hand or arm. So had better check where the ref was from and who is his team
Hi Lad
I’ve seen quite a few clips of the McLean goal that wasn’t but couldn’t find one with Hanley and the Preston CB in shot so still can’t be certain.
We do have too many error-prone players of course and if ever a football-related disease is contagious it’s this one I’m afraid.
Cheers
Hanley and the Preston CB can be clearly seen in the middle of the penalty area at 6:30 here:
https://www.canaries.co.uk/content/highlights-norwich-city-2-3-preston-north-end
A bit of argy-bargy, but worthy of a foul? And if so, who committed the worst foul?
Stunning strike from Hernandez just before that.
Thanks ScotCan
That was well worth a watch.
Cheers
My pleasure, Martin.
And what a goal from Sara! There are I think promising seeds.
Good afternoon, Martin.
Well, it certainly wasn’t on Saturday.
I think we could have all predicted an ACN moment considering Preston had only scored 4 all season, the only surprise being they didn’t double their seasons tally against us.
Firstly, to be fair you just cannot just keep winning in this league. And when Teemu has a day like that you know the Fates are not with you. Two chances on another day would hit the back of the net.
But it wasn’t just Teemu who missed chances, Josh and Kenny missed guilt edged chances as well and Dean Smith is right in his assertion that the game should have been won by the half hour mark. But how many times have we said that this season?
And then as you say a kind of Jim Bowenesque “Unemployed? Lovely, Lovely” curse descended upon Carrow Road in the second half.
Our midfield in the second half reminded me of our trusty workman on the A11 roadworks at the moment, plenty of hiding and crouching but lacking any Dragons or Tigers. You know they are there but not exactly where.
I was pleased to see Kenny do a wonderful “point” after the second Preston goal, but it would have been preferable that he and others on our left-hand side of the pitch had busted a gut to get back, Riis was in acres of space.
But as you say Martin this was not Tim Krul’s finest hour and like you I do feel it is time to give young Angus a go.
Some really weird results helped us on Saturday so not too much damage was done. So on to Watford OTBC.
Hi Tim
I like the bit about the A11 roadworks crews. Cadent had two-way lights for a new gas infrastructure installation job at Hevingham on the A140 for nearly a year until this October but you always knew where to find them come rain or shine.
In their bloody cabs with their tea and baccy of course.
I don’t think you and I are alone in wanting to *give Angus a go* but I wonder what Dean Smith will choose to do?
And will we have a discernible game plan, cos we sure didn’t against Preston!
Cheers
We are going to need a game plan Martin; I am like Alex I think they will out muscle us.
Especially with the Watford game approaching “Must Win” for Slavin Bilic, Martin 😂😂😂
Defensive mistakes again. These mistakes have been the bane of Norwich for the last 4 seasons. During this time the constants have been Krull in goal, Hanley at centre back, Aarons at right back and McLean in a defensive midfield berth. As much as it pains me to suggest this drop them en bloc. It couldnt get worse really could it.
Hi Bernie
There’s something in that I’m sure but I wouldn’t really want to see this Saturday’s back four reading: Byram [if fit], Omobamidele, Gibson, McClean!
I’m not sure that Angus would like that very much either 🙂
Cheers