Must Do Better

Having secured the win over Oxford, there was perhaps less pressure to win again today but a need to build on the result. Don’t lose, preferably keep a clean sheet, or nick all three points and suddenly its all turning into a good festive spell. Nobody at the start of the season expected Norwich to be where they are, but with a change of manager their results have improved and no doubt they’d be determined to give their fans something to cheer about. On paper it looked like one of those which could go any which way, with perhaps the odds on a draw.

In the event we lost, as badly as you can 1-0. Norwich had all the chances there were and we made them look decent with a lacklustre, sluggish and confused performance, one not helped by the substitutions made. There were spells when we had more of the play but we didn’t fashion a chance, had no efforts on target, and gave their defence as easy a time as they must have had all season, especially with a succession of awful balls in from set pieces. The only positives were a fine display by Kaminski to keep the score down and a decent showing from Gough on his full debut. Perhaps Jones the Boss will give some reasons for why we played so poorly, because I’m at a loss to explain.

The team news was a mix of good and bad. Predictably but no less disappointing was the fact that Ramsay was out and added to the injury list, with Gough getting a first start in his place, with Burke back available it seemed but starting on the bench. The good news was that Bell was back and able to start, with Apter’s brief spell as a left-sided wing-back brought to a close. So same formation, just a couple of player changes in defence, with Jones sticking with a midfield trio of Coventry, Anderson and Carey, Docherty kept in reserve, and Leaburn and Olaofe starting up front. Kelman was kept on the bench too, but no doubt would feature at some point, while Campbell and Apter would both be available to run at tiring defenders.

Norwich dominated pretty much from the start. Nothing really unusual in that, we’ve seen games where we began slowly and worked our way into it. But Norwich were finding space going forward quite easily and we often had trouble clearing our lines. Kaminski was first called into action on five minutes with a good save from a low shot, then on 13 could only watch as their first guy mishit from a good position only for it to run kindly for their main forward, whose shot cannoned back off the post.

We did have a spell when we managed to pass the ball to each other, and just before the half-hour Carey drove down the right and played it to Olaofe, who powered past his marker but was just unable to square the ball into the box. But it was Norwich again with the next actual chance, a messy affair from a corner resulting in their guy hooking the ball over on the turn from a good position. Kaminski came to the rescue again on 38 minutes, getting a touch to another shot to turn it behind.

At the break it was 62/38 possession in their favour, with Norwich having seven attempts on goal, three on target, against our three and zero. You felt we might actually be the more pleased of the sides as we were not losing when we could easily have been and surely we would improve in the second half.

Indeed, in the first minute of the second we thought things might take a turn for the better. From Kaminski’s long ball forward from the start Carey was taken out and we had a free kick central just outside the box. A bit too close to be confident of getting over and down, and Norwich had a guy lying down behind the wall. Bree and Gillesphey discussed it and eventually Bree hit a lame effort about chest height into the wall.

That proved to be our best moment. A couple of minutes later their strong centre-forward powered past Gough on the left side and his ball into the box somehow wasn’t converted. On 59 minutes Jones the Boss made the first two changes, with Campbell and Dochety replacing Bell and Anderson. Made sense to not expect Bell to play out a full game, Campbell slotting in as left-side wing-back, and you felt we’d be less open through midfield with Docherty on.

We didn’t get the chance to find out as within a minute we were losing. Poor, scrappy goal, bit unlucky, as a low ball into the box was contested by Jones and their centre-forward. It dropped for the latter on his right side and from there he was able to plant it beyond Kaminski.

We didn’t recover and for the final 30 minutes or so Norwich were more likely to add to their lead than we were to level it up. Bree’s corners had been very poor and it was no surprise when Carey stepped up to take one, but he just played it short to Bree who sent in another poor delivery. On 70 minutes Apter and Kelman were brought on for Leaburn and Olaofe. Apter went to the left side and Campbell sent further forward, and suddenly from relying on long balls forward to two big forwards we seemed confused as to what to do now.

Kaminski made another good save before we made our final change, Berry coming on for Coventry. We were desperate now and it showed, Norwich having ample space on the break. There was a moment going into just three minutes of stoppage time as Campbell crossed from the left and Berry contested it with their defender, who seemed to almost divert it past his own keeper, only for a foul to be given against Berry in any event. Shortly after that it was all over, still without us having registered an effort on target.

The temptation is to forget this one as soon as possible and just prepare for the Portsmouth game. But surely there needs to be some explanation for just why we were so poor and why the attempts to change things on the pitch failed so badly. Norwich may be an improving side but they were you’d say still below par for the Championship – which says enough about us on this showing at least. Just write at the bottom of the report ‘must do better’. We really must.