Are We Still Already In The Final? - Notes for the Norwich Second Leg Play-Off Friday, 15th May 2015 10:41 by HarryFromBath HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday’s game at Carrow Road by delving into their forums. “I keep having visions of the end of this Saturday’s game. Clearly if we are victorious it will be utterly amazing. I cannot quite contemplate what it will be like if we lose, seeing them celebrate in front of us, knowing they are off to Wembley and might get promoted.” “I thought last Saturday would be easy - oh…” Most Canaries have been far more measured in their comments this week having taken on board the reality of Saturday’s evenly contested game. “It’s a one-off now, exactly what we didn’t want. Anything can happen.” “I don’t think we’ll lose but it’s a very real possibility. All they need is a big decision or another big mistake from us and they are in the driving seat”, “It’s going to be nervy. I would not expect a great performance”, “Ipswich will be worried”, “I disagree. They’ll be very happy with that performance.” “I was barely fussed about the away game. As soon as it was over it hit me and now it’s ruining my life”, “We know what’s coming in the second leg. We just need to keep our heads better”, “I was happy with the draw on Saturday. An impending sense of doom is steadily rising now.” The Canaries’ Fear of the Early Goal“It took eight minutes for Middlesbrough to score and put that game to bed. We could have been behind at Portman Road on eight minutes but a wonder save from Ruddy stopped that happening. An early goal next week would be disastrous with Ipswich shutting up shop.” “Complacent? I’m up the ****ing wall about it. My rational side is doing its best to tell me to shut up, but failing. On paper and in theory, etc. but we all know what can happen in one game, especially if they score first”, “If they score first then it is a complete nightmare.” “I don’t know what to think about next week. We always struggle at home against teams who sit back and hit us on the counter”, “Our ropey home form could come back to haunt us”, “We struggle when the atmosphere is anxious”, “We looked vulnerable to their punt, didn’t we?” “The only nagging doubt is that we have been unusually fragile at home this season”, “If they get a goal first we will struggle to break them down”, “It’s now a one-off cup final and it shouldn’t be”, “The thought of losing makes me feel sick. Ipswich could do a Luton on us.” Saturday’s Game Revisited“Did anyone actually enjoy that?”, “Basically today didn’t happen, no away goals, no points awarded and a scoreline that has absolutely no bearing on next week’s game and result”, “We could have shown more on the ball, but it’s not easy when you are being bombarded.” RuddyWhittakerMartin (c)BassongOlssonJohnsonTetteyHowsonRedmondJeromeDorrans
Alex Neil started Nathan Redmond and moved Jonny Howson infield in last Saturday’s starting XI (above). Many Canaries thought that Redmond was started to counteract the marauding threat of Tyrone Mings, who has widely been seen as our most dangerous player after Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears. Neil’s decision not to start Wes Hoolahan or Gary Hooper was seen as a response to our perceived physical style of play. Cameron Jerome’s combative style was seen as more suitable, especially in given the intensity of an away derby. “Anyone who thought we would completely dominate today has not watched us much this season”, “No team dominates when they cannot pass the ball”, “We’re always capable of conceding poor goals and people thought we would steam-roller them for some reason.” “God, I’m not enjoying this. That goal has given Ipswich belief. Now they have scored, they know they can do it”, “If Ipswich apply a siege mentality at the start of the second half, I can see us collapsing.” Many Canaries were left fearing the worst at the half-time interval. “Ipswich’s goal was horrible on so many levels”, “A calamity goal”, “Yes. Ipswich are masters of their art though. They are difficult to play against and hoof it well”, “They are hard to play against”, “We got dragged into a scrap”, “We got drawn into their style of game rather than getting the ball down.” “I cannot recall the Ipswich keeper having to make any save of note”, “They were the better team in the first half and created more clear-cut chances than us despite their overall lack of quality”, “We outclassed them in the second half and controlled the game.” “Not very joined up, were we? Disjointed with a lack of conviction, our play was very lethargic and predictable. Our player movement was sluggish and largely ineffective”, “One mistake cost us and Ipswich showed they know how to contain us, so we must score first next game.” “Ipswich looked very strong at set-pieces. If only they could head the ball they could have scored two or three more. We looked shocking at the back. How many free headers did we give them?”, “We lost the aerial battle and seemed to be second to the breakdown ball too often.” “Maybe it had something to do with Ipswich. They were actually pretty good at counteracting us and making it hard for us to play. It’s presumably why they finished in the play-offs and got good results against the best teams, all of which would suggest we won’t find the home game easy either.” Norwich Players at Portman RoadAlong with their general assessment of the game, Canaries had specific thoughts on one or two of their players which were worth feeding back. They were happy with the performance of their back five, with one very obvious exception. “Thank God for Ruddy. I thought that was a goal for sure. We fell asleep at the back”, “John Ruddy did make a great double save and was probably taken by surprise when Martin screwed up”, “He had to do better for their goal but I will let him off for his fantastic save at the start.” Russell Martin“What was Martin doing for their goal? He needs to spend the rest of the week writing out ‘When the keeper hoofs it long, I must not nod it down to one of their strikers”, “It’s obvious Martin is not good enough”, “What was he doing giving the ball away for Ruddy’s double save too?”  “Murphy will probably win any battle with Russell Martin based on Saturday”, “I can’t see Alex Neil dropping the captain. It could cause more harm than good”, “Ipswich’s man of the ****ing match”, “I have just seen him make so many similar mistakes this season”, “Such awful defending.” “Martin has been a bundle of nerves. He needs to calm down and play the game and not the occasion for heaven’s sake”, “He will cost us promotion. His constant inaccurate clearances and poor defensive headers again and again are not good enough.” “Alexander Tettey is wasted playing against Ipswich. He is great breaking up play, something Ipswich don’t try”, “Ipswich are very physical so we need Tettey to battle”, “We are so much weaker without him and don’t look great defensively even with him”, “I thought Tettey played really well.” “It’s really important that Tettey tracks back when long balls are flying over, as Martin and Bassong make me nervous when the ball is in the air”, “He must go no further forward than the final third. If we lose possession, it would make it difficult for Ipswich to hit us on the counter.” “Did Ipswich do a job on Bradley Johnson? I thought he was quietly shackled”, “He had a good go but was well rubbed out”, “He was losing the ball a little too easily”, “His passing and shooting were poor and he probably should have come off.” Fans agreed that their danger man had a quiet game. “Graham Dorrans didn’t do much today”, “He has been able to cause much more damage for West Brom by playing further up the pitch but can’t make things happen from that deep”, “He’s hardly a weak link”, “I don’t understand why we keep playing him in the deep quarter-back role.” Nathan Redmond“I was surprised to see the criticism of Redmond. I thought he played well”, “I’m not sure you will see a player with such pace, and yet so reluctant to use it”, “It was not his best game but he nullified Mings’s threat”, “He doesn’t have the awareness that makes players truly great.”  “Redmond was frustrating again”, “If he doesn’t play, Mings will be able to get forward a hell of a lot more easily and hoof into our box for Murphy to battle it out with Martin”, “He had oceans of space to exploit going forward but often made the wrong decision”, “Most disappointing for me.” Wes Hoolahan“It doesn’t help if we leave Wes out as he invariably gets us playing”, “Without Wes there was nothing to link defence and attack. We ended up hoofing it back at Ipswich”, “If Wes is somewhere near his best, he will be the key man”, “He will give us more creativity. I’m pretty sure he’ll start.”  “That’s the real lesson from Saturday. Wes has to start.” There is a strong consensus that Hoolahan is essential for Norwich to win. “He must play off the front. I don’t want him on the ball in our half in front of the centre-backs. He needs to get the ball near the Ipswich goal where he can do damage.” “We had control after Wes came on because we kept the ball a lot better”, “Wes can hold on to the ball too long and lose it. It slows us down, leaving us vulnerable on the counter”, “He can struggle against physical opponents”, “Forget about walking on water. Wes could walk on Wark.” The consensus among Canaries was that the midfield was evenly contested until Hoolahan’s arrival, when he added an extra dimension to their play. The debate about strikers has been about whether to go with Jerome’s physicality and industry or Hooper’s clever running and movement. “Cameron Jerome was a good battering ram on Saturday”, “He put in a decent shift on Saturday despite poor service”, “He had a good go but clearly isn’t fit”, “That was his best game for a long time. He got involved a lot more than usual”, “Although often isolated, Jerome had a good game.” “I would seriously consider starting Gary Hooper”, “Hooper would definitely cause problems with his movement”, “In just five minutes it troubled them. He should have been brought on sooner”, “He can be bullied”, “If he is getting knocked off it too much, bring Cameron on in the second half.” Masters of the Hoof“Stifled by the Masters of the Hoof”, “We can’t complain about how they play football. Wimbledon did it for years with sub-standard footballers. Sometimes it is the only way and it got them sixth place after all”, “We were reduced to playing the Ipswich way - that said, they were bloody awful.” Canaries were universally scathing about our style of play in their post-match comments. “Ipswich press, hustle and bustle, but our football technique and skill will shine through and send them back to mid-table mediocrity next season. How they can watch that every week is beyond me.” “Ipswich appear to be just as poor as I thought they were when I walked out of Portman Road after the league game. I still have no idea how they made the play-offs, one-dimensional and no attempt to play football other than find Murphy in the air”, “I can’t believe how poor they are.” “Ipswich are truly the worst football team I have seen in years, absolute garbage”, “They would get absolutely destroyed in the Premier League”, “But they are very effective and in that respect are a good side”, “In a Wimbledon way”, “They have a good record against top six sides apart from us.” “It’s very difficult to play against. One mistake, stray clearance or knock-down is what they are after. Their players are looking for that all the time. Every City player has to be switched on and anticipate the play. Stoke played it for years with great effect but I don’t think I could watch that every week.” The Psychological Balance“I find the psychology post-Saturday interesting. Ipswich fans appear to be considerably buoyed by getting that draw against us. I don’t know whether they thought we would smash them or it was just the euphoria of scoring a goal against us, but they seem to think that their chances have improved. “Our fans, on the other hand, have been a little flat post-game. When you look at it logically they appear to have lost their best opportunity to put us under pressure. There is still a clear gulf in quality even if we did allow ourselves to be sucked into playing long balls for a while.” “Ipswich were at home where they are strong, and we still largely had that game under control. They scored one and nearly scored a second through defensive errors but that was it. I don’t get why they are so cock-a-hoop about missing an opportunity to put us under pressure.” Canaries’ Thoughts Ahead of Saturday’s Second Leg“Is it bigger than Bayern?”, “It’s understandable to counter Ipswich’s physical style away from home, but the best way to do them is to keep the ball and pass it around them. They couldn’t get near us when we did this”, “We need to back the quality of our players and let them play their own game.” “I think we are worrying too much about stopping Ipswich rather than starting Norwich. At some point you have to play to your strengths”, “We’re the favourites now. I hope we can turn that into the required result next week”, “To be fair, it’s never easy at Carrow Road, is it?” “We’re better on paper but we have to show it in the field”, “We can play an awful lot better but I don’t think Ipswich can. We will finish them off at Carrow Road. They should be the disappointed ones”, “Ipswich had their cup final and next week normal service will be resumed.” “City were not particularly happy with the long hoof Ipswich employed, but you can’t blame them for using it. I confidently expect victory by a two-goal margin. The delusional bunch on TWTD who think otherwise are going to be very disappointed indeed.” “We can do this if we do not stoop to their level. In the last two games we have allowed them to become a bit of a hoof-fest. We actually hoofed it as much as them on Saturday until the last quarter”, “We need to back ourselves to win playing our game and not worrying about theirs.” Canaries’ Thoughts on Specific Town Players“Not one player in Ipswich’s midfield has a creative bone in his body. Ipswich will try and win by smashing it long to Murphy and hoping it is poorly defended”, “If we are worried about whether Cole Skuse plays against us then we may as well give up.” “Murphy hasn’t got a bucket-load of goals this season because he’s easy to play against.” Both our strikers were seen as a handful, but most praise was reserved for our left-back. “Ipswich’s stand-out player was Mings. On the whole he was able to deal with Redmond and he got forward quite well.” “Mings is a fast powerful full-back who will certainly play Premier League next season. I thought Redmond did well stopping him bombing forward”, “Mings is their main crossing threat”, “I think Mings will show more than he was allowed to on Saturday if we don’t start Redmond.” The Canaries’ Fear of the Penalty“I have absolutely no doubt Ipswich will play for penalties. They have shown no quality against us in over three games and have never looked like beating us. They will play for a draw in the hope they sneak one on the counter with a long ball to Sears.” “Ipswich don’t have to win. Another draw and it would come down to penalties and I wouldn’t back us in that scenario”, “I would back Hooper and Howson in a penalty shoot-out. The rest don’t fill me with confidence”, “I hope Alex Neil gets them practising.” “I would be equally if not more concerned at Ruddy’s inability to save them. His unerring ability to guess the wrong way and seemingly make a half-hearted attempt to save them would, I am afraid, put us at a distinct disadvantage.” “Ruddy will be fine. I’d rather have him in goal for a shoot-out than the random bloke Ipswich have got”, “It’s a long shot that it would go to penalties but I think we’d be in trouble if it did”, “The thought of penalties isn’t worth bearing. Let’s hope we do them in 90 minutes.” Further Wembley Plans“We will need to shift 35,000 tickets in one week after Saturday. That’s pressure”, “Unless we don’t have to. Let’s hope the players aren’t anywhere near as complacent about next week’s game as most of the fans seem to be”, “I really dislike all this arrogance about how much better we are.” Canaries have been quicker this week to shout down any conceited comments after Saturday’s first leg. “Wembley, Wembley - we’re the famous Norwich City and we’re going to Wembley!” “Don’t”, “There’s a lot of arrogance about this. We’re not half as good as some of us seem to think.” “What’s the deal with Wembley tickets? How does it work? As a season ticket holder can I buy more than one ticket?”, “Let’s beat Ipswich first, eh?”, “Let’s not tempt fate, folks”, “What does it have to do with tempting fate because I’m just asking a simple question?” “Perhaps not being so cocky??” WebsitesThe Canaries forum with most in-depth discussion is The Pink ‘Un The lively and memorably coloured Wrath of the Barclay is set out in thread mode and creates a new page every day. Norwich Talk is a quieter message board, but it is well moderated and has some informed contributors.
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