You were expecting Martin, weren’t you… sorry you’ve got me instead. A poor substitute, I agree.
But to cut a quite long story short, our Martin is having IT problems; so much so he’s been unable to deliver us his usual, thought-provoking, and entertaining Monday piece.
I’ve missed it too.
I can’t pretend this is going to be anything like as entertaining or insightful, but what I can offer is one or two thoughts that didn’t make it into yesterday’s piece and ended up on the cutting room floor, starting with the atmosphere in Carrow Road on Saturday, which was infinitely better than I expected it to be.
Given what had gone before – I’m talking the massacre in Devon as opposed to the narrow defeat by the Thames – then Carrow Road had every right to be twitchy and nervy as it awaited the response, but I didn’t sense that very much at all.
Instead, against the backdrop of the thumping City Elite drum, the air was thick with expectation, as if the majority were confident that a positive response would be forthcoming.
As it transpired, of course, the responsive was positive and from the opening few exchanges it became clear there was a desire to put right what went so horribly wrong in Plymouth. And even though for most of the first half it didn’t flow as it had done in those opening few games, the Carrow Road crowd, for the most part, stayed with them.
I say most part because my River End colleagues – still no doubt buoyed by that gargantuan Shane Duffy “hoof” against Stoke that’s still orbiting the Earth – did start to get *very* tetchy with the toing and froing between Ben Gibson, Duffy, and Angus.
While it’s abundantly clear that said “tippy-tappy crap” is here to stay, as it has been since the day Daniel Farke first set foot in the building in the summer of 2017, the River End faithful still refuses to accept it.
“GET RID OF IT”
“CLEAR THE BLOODY THING”
“STOP GOING BLOODY BACKWARDS”
And, of course, the classic…
“FOR GOD’S SAKE JUST BOOT IT!!”
Alas, Messrs Duffy, Gibson and Gunn refuse to listen; preferring instead to carry out the instructions of their head coach.
But please never change folks.
As it happens, I do have a modicum of sympathy for those around me who fume at their reluctance to ‘get it forward’ but only because those we ask to undertake the “tippy-tappy shit” are not especially adept at doing so and so have a habit of getting themselves differing degrees of muddle.
If it’s done well it creates space and releases midfielders – either wide or central – into space in which to launch attacks. That’s why they do it – the risk and reward of drawing opponents onto you to then exploit the space behind once you’ve (*cliché alert*) broken the lines.
The risk element, of course, comes with trying to pass the ball through or past opponents who, if they win it, will be within one or two passes of a shooting opportunity.
Where it also falls down a bit is when, like on Saturday, opponents refuse to play ball.
Instead of pressing high and offering the Duffy-Gunn-Gibson axis – who are sometimes joined by Kenny McLean in his deep-lying quarterback role – the chance to draw them on and pick a pass, Birmingham sat off in a mid-block and allowed them to have comfortable possession.
So, while the chance of losing possession due to being closed down was reduced, the passing options were restricted, which presented problems, in particular for Duffy who was visibly asking himself the “where the hell do I go now?” question on more than one occasion.
The River End were right in that it did make uncomfortable viewing at times but I’m not sure their suggested solution is actually the answer. Ironically, on the few occasions when Angus had no option but to launch it long, the moans went up because possession was conceded too readily 😀
Like I said… never change.
The key is obviously having defenders who are comfortable in possession and also adept at making incisive, accurate passes but in the Championship those defenders don’t grow on trees (or in training ground vegetable patches).
If you’re not producing them – and in fairness, we *are* producing some good young ball-playing centre-backs at the moment – then they cost money that is well and truly out of the reach of little old not-a-pot-to-pee-in Norwich City.
And, to be fair to Stuart Webber, the summer purchase of Shane Duffy was more about acquiring a physical presence and some mental fortitude rather than his ability to make a ten-yard pass through the eye of a needle.
So, for now, we have to just suck it up.
- They’re not going to hoof it.
- They will take their time and await an opening, and…
- If an opening is not forthcoming they will pass it either sideways or backward, and…
- However much we hate it, that’s not about to change.
Patience, my friends, is very much the watchword 😀
But, aside from some minor irritability from my brethren regarding all of the above, the crowd were excellent on Saturday and were far more forgiving of the disaster in Devon than I had expected.
Make no mistake… some of the good work of the early part of this season was undone by that 6-2 humbling and no one has forgotten how dire most of 2022-23 was, but we desperately want to believe that all of that horror is now behind us.
No one wants to go to Carrow Road and moan. We want to go there and be entertained by a team and a club that we are proud of.
Talking of which…
I’ve deliberately steered clear of what will likely unfold tonight, but by this time tomorrow, it looks highly likely that the era of Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones as majority shareholders will be over.
But we’ll see. They appear unwilling to relinquish too much control too soon.
Anyway… as Martin’s Monday deputy, it only feels right to conclude with some music, so let me leave you with this lesser-known track from Guns N’ Roses, written specifically by Axl Rose with the Regency Security Stand faithful in mind:
Thanks for standing in, I’m glad Martin’s absence is only due to I.T. problems.
The atmosphere was decent although I was surprised how quiet the usually vociferous Blues fans were.
We now have a week with two winnable/loseable away games. I hope we’re feeling positive on the M6 at about 5.30 next Saturday.
A good cameo from the bench Mr Gowers. I’m guessing without much time to warm up either. Well done.
As regards ‘playing out’ from the back I actually like it, when utilised properly. However there is an element of Martyrdom about it at times. There were periods under Dean Smith in the prem when we wouldn’t get out of our half for 30 mins or more. It genuinely looked like both teams were attacking the same goal. Variety, and the autonomy for CB’s etc to pick when to play and when to hoof/not go sideways would be nice, but they do look at times like they’ve been told to tap it about whatever the risks. On this note, I think you make a great point about the number and cost of Bobby Moore ‘ball-playing defenders’ in the champ. I think we have 4 excellent old-school centre half’s on the books, but we ask them to play against their strengths, poor old Ben Gibson looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than in our box for a goal kick last prem season.
It’s like watching a teacher in their 60’s trying to be careful with pronouns!
Cheers for the comment, Trev.
You’re right… no time to warm up which probably explains the tweaked calf muscle and burning lungs 🙂
Good use of a Sub, and got the full 90+ in. Not being a hoof it merchant, there are times when the constant square, back square, square forward and then back to the keeper from the edge of the box, can get on the titz, more than a little.
But that’s the modern game as boring as it can sometimes get. I understand it, I was watching a premier game, Spurs vs Liverpool. In one move, Spurs had passed through from the keeper to about 3 yards from the opposing box, instead of centering the ball. it went back to the keeper who was then occupying a sweeper role in midfield, who in turn, went long and virtually straight out of play, thus giving the ball to Liverpool. That to me was boring . This happens in so many games. I do struggle with that a little. Instead of hoof it, I would say put the ruddy thing in the box where the goal is. lolol
Hi Gary
No controversial decisions in the game, so all’s well with the world.
Can we see an away win at Swansea? They did have a good win a QPR so confidence will be up, also Yeats and Lowe do score at this level.
Let’s hope that the away bubble strikes again.
Cantwell and Dowell said that one of the reasons for going to Rangers was Micheal Beale – now he’s departed will they be looking for the exit.
Delia and Micheal will still hold the upper hand after tonight’s farce or a rigged vote as he will vote as she tells him to.
Hi Gary. I’m a River Ender, and while I understand the reason for the passing across the back four and keeper, I don’t always agree with it, though not to the extent of wanting hoof-ball. I was very pleased to see the way Foreshaw played when he came on, always looking to take the ball from the centre halves, with a quick look over his shoulder as the ball was coming to him to assess his options, then turning and playing a pass forwards to the midfielders. It’s something we haven’t seen too much of recently, but it’s a very much more entertaining way of playing out from the back. I’d like to see more of it.
A very pleasing result and performance on Saturday. I’m afraid I went into my shell after the Devon Debacle, and didn’t read anything or watch any low lights till Tuesday or Wednesday. I’d much rather be my usual self than sulking because of a result like that one.
I understand, but don’t love, playing it out from the back.
What I’ll never understand is the keeper playing it two yards to a defender in spitting distance. If there’s logic there, it’s well over my head.
Had a horrible thought after the Plymouth game that Leeds and Ipswich will get promoted and we don’t- gulp! Feel a bit better after Saturday’s result but still look a bit dodgy at the back to me .
It’s ok playing it from the back as long as your midfield provide movement to create passing opportunities.
First half Saturday there was no movement ensuring that bringing it out became slow, ponderous and predictable. A better team than Birmingham would have taken us apart in the first half.
I think our coach has a lot of work to do with those in front of the back four.
Forshaw alongside the mayor with Sara higher up would be a good starting point.
Like you say Gary, the River Enders must never change.
Once during Dave Stringer’s reign the previous home game, a 2-0 win over Chelsea (unbelievably the norm in those days) the natives were extremely restless despite a impressive performance. “Boot the bloody thing” was their rallying cry.
So the next week after a minute or so I shouted ” C’mon City this is 💩” I got an equal number of funny looks and heartfelt agreement😱
Another Riverend regular in earlier days kept on moaning about Dave Watson our highly skilled centre half during a home game “never make a footballer while you have a hole in your ****” was the totally misguided assertion from our very loud fellow supporter.
After a while Dave was stuck by the corner flag and produced a wonderful Cruyff like turn to escape the opposition’s striker, pure class. I said VERY loudly, “That’s why one day he will play for England”
And he did.
He should have had more caps but injuries and a lot of decent defenders available at the time kept his appearances down.
As for Saturday, it was a decent performance and a very welcome 3 points.
The next two away games will tell us more. Defeats at Rotherham and Plymouth are not commensurate with a play-off run.
We need two points minimum, hopefully four or six – either would be wonderful.
Well it was a win. Second half better than the first. Sara’s goal was a good team goal and tbh deserved a better game to showcase it. Lovely touch by Hwang to set up YJR for the second. Also well taken.
Oh Martin , you have tried turning the tech on and off haven’t you. It’s an urban myth but worth a try.