| A few thoughts 17:50 - Apr 7 with 1336 views | Steve_M |
Well, there wasn't much yesterday that could have been worse. Thanks to Coventry for not making it a total disaster but with a lack of trains from London and a disappointing performance on and off the pitch it was a long, tedious day.
McKenna has done great things with this team but when we come unstuck there are a few recurrent features: a well organised side, with a clear plan to deal with our movement and a few too many of our players being a bit below their best.
In many ways, yesterday was quite reminiscent of Wycombe away in December 2022 - a goal conceded that was 50% good skill and 50% basic error on our part and a solid defence that we never really looked like scoring against. We really shouldn't have lost either match but didn't do enough on either occasion to feel aggrieved at the result.
We struggle against sides who make the game a battle and don't seem to have a good answer. I don't think it's a coincidence that Cameron Burgess was one of the few starting players to have a good game but watching Chaplin competing for aerial balls with players much bigger than him isn't much fun. In this division though, the better sides have players who can do the physical stuff and use the ball well and Norwich showed that on the break in the second half yesterday.
Our passing was off throughout, partly the result of the above but we made a lot of unforced errors (in fact both sides did in the first half). Morsy's use of the ball was a long way below his usual standards, Tuanzabe had a particularly poor game with the ball and Broadhead ran down blind alleys all game, losing the ball too easily.
The goal was poor as well, too many free kicks given away in quick succession, a non-existent wall and a flap from Hladky. Yes, the bounce was unlucky but he concedes a few too many which really shouldn't go in - in big games that matters.
And then there was the crowd. Enough has already been said about the ticketing but for the club to bring in an expensive membership scheme, (rightly) make a big thing about people not abusing the system and then to undermine by giving 20% of the away allocation up to club employees is incredibly poor.
It wasn't the only reason the atmosphere was sh1t, but it was part of it. What's the point of singing and chucking beer everywhere underneath a stand only not to bother making any noise once you get to your seats? Just added to the frustration yesterday, at least when we lost there in the play-offs, the supporters there did themselves proud.
For all the frustration of not beating them (again) it is not the end of the season, we're not even out of the top two at the moment and can get promoted still with five wins, maybe less. We'll have to be better than yesterday of course but we know we can be and we know we've generally recovered well from bad results. A big week though, we need six points from these two games.
And the 15 years thing, it's annoying but we'll beat them at some point and they won't have anything to sing about (or make crap cardboard signs about). December was when we should have seen that little record off not yesterday. |  |
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| A few thoughts on 18:38 - Apr 7 with 1164 views | GlasgowBlue |
It reminded me of a Paul Cook performance. Seeing that the system wasn't working and instead of changing the system, he changed the personal and carried on with the failing system.
I appreciate that trusting the process has worked for us more times than not but sometimes you need to do something different to get back into the game. |  |
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| A few thoughts on 18:45 - Apr 7 with 1140 views | redrickstuhaart |
Have you seen the shot from behind of the goal? The swerve on that ball was extraordinary. Not sure I blame Hladky as much as some are. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on 18:50 - Apr 7 with 1087 views | nrb1985 |
Agree with this and also what GB says, the occasional tweak of the system to respond to in game changes wouldn’t go a miss. Will be vital if it is to be play offs you feel.
I’d add that the performance was flat just as it was against Cardiff. And just as against Cardiff today was preceded my an emotionally draining 3-2 dramatic win at PR. Two schools of thought would be that a) it took a lot out of us physically and emotionally or b) everyone’s got carried away and not re focussed their minds quick enough.
Finally, I’ve been critical of Hladky and he wasn’t great yesterday. That said, I do think some credit needs to go to Nunez. Hell of a strike with power, bend and a vicious bounce right in front of him. Less said about our wall the better.
We still have an unbelievable chance here to do something special and what will be key now is not letting this derail us like the game in December. Somehow get through the next two, then re group with a break and then you’d fancy us with Hurst and Burns back for the final three. [Post edited 7 Apr 18:52]
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| A few thoughts on 08:05 - Apr 8 with 697 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on 18:38 - Apr 7 by GlasgowBlue |
It reminded me of a Paul Cook performance. Seeing that the system wasn't working and instead of changing the system, he changed the personal and carried on with the failing system.
I appreciate that trusting the process has worked for us more times than not but sometimes you need to do something different to get back into the game. |
I thought we missed Burns on Saturday in particualr, the direct running would have been another thing for Norwich to think about. Maybe McK thought about Jackson as a sub but our most effective spell of the match was when Sarmiento was outside Omari with AAH ahead of them - it was 15 minutes too late but it started causing them a few problems.
We've just lost a bit of depth at the wrong time with Moore clearly not quite right too. | |
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| A few thoughts on 08:51 - Apr 8 with 565 views | tractorboy1978 |
| A few thoughts on 18:45 - Apr 7 by redrickstuhaart |
Have you seen the shot from behind of the goal? The swerve on that ball was extraordinary. Not sure I blame Hladky as much as some are. |
I'd love to hear from a goalkeeper's perspective the logic behind the wall that he set up. He was goading Nunez to have a go from there. And then looked a complete tit when he got beaten. He's conceded a few shots he should save from distance in his time here. | | | |
| A few thoughts on 09:02 - Apr 8 with 540 views | portmanking |
| A few thoughts on 08:51 - Apr 8 by tractorboy1978 |
I'd love to hear from a goalkeeper's perspective the logic behind the wall that he set up. He was goading Nunez to have a go from there. And then looked a complete tit when he got beaten. He's conceded a few shots he should save from distance in his time here. |
It was 100% a Hladky error, make no bones about it. He did his usual stepping to the wrong side first, leaving him too much to do. Nevertheless, he got there still... weak wrists. | | | |
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