Chambers: We Must Cut Out the Soft Goals
Monday, 25th Aug 2014 06:00

Skipper Luke Chambers says Town need to cut out the soft goals having conceded four in their last three games. Norwich’s winner in Saturday’s East Anglian derby at Portman Road followed very preventable goals in the defeat at Reading last weekend and two in the draw at Birmingham on Tuesday.

Although replays showed that goalscorer Grabban was offside when Alex Tettey headed back into the area following a corner, the opportunity came about due to a mix-up between keeper Dean Gerken and midfielder Cole Skuse.

The pair left the ball for one another with Skuse having apparently reacted to a call of ‘keeper’s’ which manager Mick McCarthy revealed didn’t come from Gerken .

“It was disappointing to lose to a goal from a set piece,” Chambers said. “We need to learn from this. We can’t afford to give chances away.

“It was a soft goal to concede and one we work on defending day in day out, so it is particularly disappointing.

“It is not the first time of late and we need to cut these out. It is a little phase we are going through and we need to get through it.”

Overall, the 28-year-old felt the derby was a close match with the Blues having opportunities of their own: “There was not too much between the teams, it was an even game.

“There were chances for each side and we could have scored. We had a massive chance with Daryl going wide but we didn’t get the rub of the green.

“The goal knocked us out of our stride. We took the game to them and they were getting breakaways. We always put effort in for every game, not just derby matches.

“We were just lacking a bit of quality and that’s something we need to work on.”

He added: “I’m disappointed for ourselves and fans who turned out in their thousands.”

Despite the derby defeat, the former Forest man says the players will be ready for next Saturday’s match away against his old club’s local rivals, Derby County: “We will pick ourselves up from this and we will be up for our next game.

“The manager told us that we can’t afford to give goals away and then if we do we need to keep our heads.

“We showed last season how we can come back from a goal down and if it happens again that’s what we need to do.”

Photo: Action Images

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Surco72 added 16:43 - Aug 25

dozzells - bobblehat ... the best our defence has looked under MM was with Henderson in goal and Stearman at right back that is when we kept the most clean sheets during MM s reign , sloppy goals cost us last year and will do again until he gets a decent keeper , a right back and chooses his best centre back pairing rather than at present play 4 centre backs like Keane did .
Dids is ok for a top six side this level I seriously doubt any teams their currently would consider Murphy good enough .
Williams would be great to see back but would MM play him aswell as Dids , I doubt it ,he was only brought in last season to replace due to injury .
As for Henshall , I would rather be losing with him playing than Tabb now why the slow introduction ? Stewart I am unsure of ,for me not proved in this league and certainly no better than Taylor or JET IMO but time will tell

TimmyH added 16:52 - Aug 25

Interesting stat re@ Jonny Williams - yes we all agreed he did change to a degree how our midfield played but did it change our results? -

With Jonny Williams: W6 D2 L6 - Win% 42.8%
Without Jonny Williams W11 D12 L9 - Win% 34.4%

With him we won more but lost the same amount, a lot of stalemate draws before he turned up, but then we didn't have Didsy upfront so I feel we would of had more points throughout the season if we had McG and Williams playing together.

As for Cameron Stewart, will he make a difference? saw him on the box a few times last season for Leeds and wasn't that impressed.

NoelTheDub added 17:18 - Aug 25

Gerks should have took ball and Skuse out but at the same time Skuse ducked his head away in the 6 yard box plus it was clearly onside.I think our back 4 take so much of a battering every game win or lose because we cant string 3 passed together also our strikers are so isolated went its pumped up to them.My god a blind person can see its the middle of the park.Hewett at right mid and Mings at left mid with Anderson and Hymn centre worth a punt..

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 17:27 - Aug 25 Serco - my theory on why Henshall isn't starting Is cos MM doesn't want two inexperienced players on the left. I know everyone seems to love Mings but for me he is out of his depth and I personally would totally change it to Parr and Henshall.
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Surco72 added 18:30 - Aug 25

Agree totally Mings is struggling but I feel that is mainly due to the fact that Tabb is rarely in front of him and wanders to the centre far too much or up front as this is his natural position leaving Mings very isolated and caught between two options . The same situation as Baines in World Cup with Rooney/ Welbeck playing out of position in front of him ?
Our defenders will continue to win player of the year awards as they are under pressure for so much of the game due to our style of play , we cannot keep the ball or possession for long periods or even try too

blueboy1981 added 18:44 - Aug 25 Bobblehat .......... can't say I disagree with your idealogical last post totally - but we all know it won't happen - because we have a STUBBORN (self admitted) and BORING Manager who will NEVER change his traits.
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blueboy1981 added 19:09 - Aug 25 Bobblehat ........ in fact your last couple of posts actually - just goes to prove the point that I will always give an honest opinion, without the need to be abusive - please take note !!
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tractorkent added 21:14 - Aug 25 play maker,creativity, skill are all alien words to the most boring manager in Football. It speaks volumes about how much our owner knows about Town and indeed football.I have never felt so desperate for my beloved club.Bring back John Duncan even. {help!!!}
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karls_dad added 21:33 - Aug 25

What a statement! what a t_t! for a senior player to come out with this is just pathetic! every man and his dog knows this!
I am fast losing patience with evrything that is going on at Portman rd, the tactics, the players, the owner, i understand fully why he is reluctant to write anymore cheques, but this is the once famous and proud ITFC! something needs to be done and quickly!
I never ever thought that we would need to do something drastic but i now believe that we need a change of management, new ideas, new thinking, new players!
I was on the fence regarding our keeper situation and gave him the benefit, but now i know he just is not good enough, the same could be said for half or our squad, just not good enough!
Before i finish, did any of them realise when standing in the tunnel what exactly this derby means to the fans, its means everything, i doubt they even gave it a second thought, just another game to them!

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 07:49 - Aug 26 Blueboy1981 - I have never been abusive toward u, so I don't know what u r referring to.
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bluesman added 10:16 - Aug 27 Our defence isn't great but its a hell of a lot better than our attacking play. Reading this is like taking Immodium for a headache
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