Saturday 19th September
Carrow Road: Norwich City 2 – Charlton 2
There’s no doubt about it; a last minute equaliser to rescue a point against the top team in the division is a great feeling – although why am still slightly disappointed at not grabbing all three?
I know, I know – I should be thankful we got anything at all. After all, it looked as though we were going to suffer an undeserved defeat, until the Horse popped up and nicked a goal at the death – although even then I fully expected it to be ruled out for a foul; you know what referees are like when a striker challenges a ‘keeper in the air.
So yes, whilst I fully participated in the delirious celebrations that greeted the equaliser, in the aftermath I reflected on what might have been. After all, it was a further two points dropped at home…..Or maybe I’m just being to damn harsh – women hey, never satisfied!
Going into this one, I had mixed feelings. As you know, I don’t tend to predict scores – inevitably I’m rarely correct – although I considered the fact that generally Norwich play better against ‘bigger’ teams, and actually believed we might just nick a win against the Addicks. (Hence why I probably felt disappointed at the end then….) It was a big ask of course; Charlton were and are unbeaten in the league. I asked a couple of non-City-supporting footballing friends of mine what they thought. (Yes believe it or not, I have a few friends whose allegiance lies outside the four walls – stands – of Carrow Road.) I’m not sure why I asked them, as they clearly do not appreciate City as I do, and showed little interest in providing me with an opinion. That is until one of them decided to hedge his bets;
“I think City will win…2-2.”
“Haha, I said…it has to be one or the other.” He went for a City win….ooo so close.
So onto the match itself. The obvious talking point on the team selection was that Wes Hoolahan was back in the starting line-up. I know we’ve had debates on Let’s Be ‘Avin You about Wes – should he be in the team? Where is his best position? Is it on the wing, in the hole, second striker….Lambert decided to stat him in the hole. An interesting tactic, especially as it meant Holt was more exposed up top with no second striker playing off him, although the fact both Holt and Wes got on the scoresheet does little to validate my opinion there!
Hoolahan’s presence in the starting line-up meant Chris Martin had to be content with a place on the bench, and with Hughes ruled out through injury, Darel Russell was brought back into the midfield, despite himself picking up a knock in the midweek reserve defeat to Peterborough. It was a pleasant surprise to see Adam Drury had recovered from an injury sustained at stadium:mk; he took his place in defence alongside Micky Spillane, who deputised at centre-half due to injury to Michael Nelson.
FIRST HALF
City started brightly, intent on making an impression on Charlton from the first minute. Korey Smith is certainly taking his chance since making the first team, and with an air of confidence, if not lack of fear, he was the first to test Charlton; an encouraging and determined run through the middle wasn’t quite matched by the finish, but it was a nevertheless, a positive start.
A moment of panic early on when Drury went down clutching his face – he attracts injuries like Ipswich do draws – although thankfully he was soon back on his feet. I have to say I’m quite liking the Drury-Lappin combination down the left hand side. They play with an understanding and appreciation of each others qualities, and the solidity Lappin gives on the left-wing also allows Drury the freedom to get forward at times too which is good to see. Lappin is definitely a major beneficiary in Lambert’s arrival, but I think Drury is also benefiting by playing with the Scotsman.
Back to the action, and frustratingly, despite being on top, it was Charlton who struck first in the 18th minute. As the corner was whipped in, Deon Burton rose ahead of Jon Otsemobor, who appeared to be the wrong side of the Charlton striker, and planted his header into the net, giving the Addicks an undeserved lead. That’s the luck of the top teams for you….we wouldn’t know of course.
That goal knocked City a bit, although they continued to press, and Grant Holt really should have equalised for City in the 25th minute. Great work by Korey Smith, who caught Charlton defender Jose Semedo in possession and slipped a delightful ball through to the big fella; all he needed to do was compose himself and slide it past the ‘keeper. Instead he seemed to panic, not quite believing his luck, and instead of calmly stroking the ball into the back of the net, he went for power and lashed it horribly wide. I couldn’t quite believe he hadn’t hit the target, let alone scored, and the despair of 24,000 fans was loud to hear. I was hoping it wasn’t a sign of things to come…
Not to get sidetracked, but speaking of the Holt – ok he scored an equaliser which we undoubtedly deserved, but overall I was a little disappointed in his performance. I don’t know if it’s lack of fitness, or just the fact he looks rather rugged (or as Alan Pardew used to say of Dean Ashton – heavy set – if you catch my drift….) but he didn’t quite look on the money…or ball, as would be more appropriate. There’s no doubt he puts himself about and acquaints himself well with the opposing defenders, but on Saturday he looked a little perplexed at the constant supply of balls booted in his direction. In the second half, he didn’t even jump for a couple of headers, seemingly exhausted by the constant effort to launch himself off the ground. That would seem to be a tendency of ours – long balls up in his direction, hoping he’ll get the flick-ons. What I’d like to see us do more is keep the ball on deck – Holt is not bad with his feet either – and use a bit or imagination. Not fall into the League One trap of up ‘em and at ‘em. Holt needs to discipline himself too – there were a few occasions where he drifted out to the channels, which is all very well, but when he did that there was no one in the box ready to attack the cross coming in. Holt needs to be in there waiting for the chance, not out on the wing delivering it. I like Holt, don’t get me wrong, and I’d pick him every time so long as fit, but I wonder what our Plan B would be? If he was injured, or going through a lean spell, who would take his place? We have no like-for-like replacement, (what has happened to Goran Maric by the way?) so would Lambert go with Cureton and Martin? McDonald? I’m not sure…he made need to think of an alternative, just in case.
Once again I digress….Back to the action, and Askou was once again looking Walsall-like – a bit clumsy and rash in his decision making. It’s almost as if he’s on the Askou-whiff, if you will.(Get it?…hehe, at least I make myself laugh.) It was indeed Askou’s recklessness which earned him a yellow card, after an ill-timed challenge on the impressive Jonjo Shelvey.
Not to be outdone on the calamity front though, Charlton defender Christain Dailly (the guy who broke Phil Mulryne’s leg with a similarly clumsy challenge, back in the day) hauled down Holt as the striker was looking to break clear. Admittedly that is the only obvious way of stopping the big fella, but it was reckless, blatant, and deserved to be punished. Yet strangely Dailly received nothing other than a chat by the referee. Inconsistency in refereeing seemingly consistent in League One.
The game was beginning to hot up, although it was Charlton who threatened next, twice going close to extending their lead. That is, until they actually did – with 40 minutes on the clock. Breaking away down the right, a cross went into the City box, and with Otsemobor again failing to challenge - due to yet another lapse in concentration no doubt - the incoming Shelvey was able to plant a header into the net with ease. 2-0 to the league’s in-form team. Underserved as it was, the fact was Charlton were being clinical in their approach, unlike City, who looked like they were heading for half-time two-goals down and with a mountain to climb.
That was until some super-quick thinking by Grant Holt. After the ball had gone out of play for a City throw, a ricochet off the advertising board allowed Holt to retrieve the ball quickly. With the Charlton defenders out of position, Hoolahan exposed the gap. A yell to Holt, and the big man released the Irishman from the throw (the quickest I think I’ve seen the Horse move in a City shirt actually) who took one touch, and neatly placed the ball into the back of the net. Get in! Hoolahan’s inclusion was looking like a master stroke.
The final and perhaps most controversial moment of the first half came just before half-time. Grant Holt again involved in the action, this time he fairly held off a challenge by Charlton’s Nick Bailey, who did not look happy at being made to look slightly on the weak side, and ultimately decided to let Holt know what he thought; by lashing out at the big man off the ball. My first instinct was he would be sent off. Surely he had to go for that? (Even if it was on first glance and I was partially obstructed….) However, when I saw the ref call him over, talk to him, but make no gesture whatso ever that he was going to retrieve a card from his pocket, I knew he was going to be let off. City fans went mad….it seemed a poor decision, but in all honesty I haven’t seen the footage so don’t know if the ref was indeed right or wrong. Still, it’s all really rather irrelevant now!
Half-time, and City went in buoyed despite being behind. They were more than holding their own - they just had to believe they had what he took to challenge the league leaders.
SECOND HALF
Again, City came out brightly. Lappin and Hoolahan combined well to give Korey Smith an opening on goal. A cracking effort from a good 20-yards out deserved better; unfortunately it sailed just over the bar.
It felt like deja vu at times – City were keeping possession well, but without really finding an opening. We just seem to lack that little bit of creativity at times, although with Hoolahan in the side, we at least looked more likely. The Irishman might over do it now and then, but his running off the ball is just as important as on it. He was constantly looking for the pass, making space and pulling defenders out of position. It was good to see – at times in the past few weeks we have been far to static. My only criticism is he doesn’t have faith in his right foot! In the 60th minute he had a great opportunity to go for goal, but it fell on his right side, and rather than take a shot, he tried to turn on his left foot, which inevitably gave the Charlton defender time to get a block in. Shoot man, just shoot!
As City continued to probe for an equaliser, so the game opened up. Charlton posed a threat on the break, and perhaps should’ve taken advantage of an often-exposed City defence. Fans were getting anxious at City’s inability to get that all important goal. There’s no doubt we deserved it, but as we all know in footie – you don’t always get what you deserve.
Lambert threw on Cody McDonald for the final few minutes, which I found rather bemusing since he was the only substitute out of seven that had not done a single minute of warm-up throughout the match – hardly the best preparation for going onto the pitch, but it didn’t seem to matter. There was roar from the crowd – Cody is a firm favourite – and there was still hope, despite people already leaving their seats so as to beat the traffic on the journey home. (I’ll never understand that….do you go to the cinema only to leave a few minutes before the cliff-hanger of the film? I don’t think so. Ok, so often you’re left disappointed but just occasionally, one of those moments of magic occurs which fill you with delight, and make that traffic pile-up all the more bearable.)
And so it did…..Chris Martin looking to atone for his penalty-that-wasn’t on Monday night, crossed the ball in from the left. A hefty deflection saw it loop up, and up climbed Holt with the Charlton ‘keeper. He got there first – the ball seemingly hitting the back of his head, and deflecting past the oncoming ’keeper. It seemed to take an age to reach the net, and whilst there were three defenders trying to stop it, Holt had done enough. 2-2 in the 90th minute, and yes it felt good! Woo-hoo! The fans went mad! Lambert’s passionate celebration on the pitch and towards all four sides of the ground was pleasing to see too - so far he seems to have shown nothing much other than mundane coolness, with his emotions firmly intact. (Oh, and occasional slants against officials too.) So to see him readily show his emotions and signal his delight was a good thing for fans to witness. We love a bit of passion we do.
From what I could see, the goal also sparked a bit of trouble in the Charlton area. Addicks fans seemed to be looking to get at the Norwich supporters, who were undoubtedly enjoying their moment (and rightly so) and stewards were having to hoard them back. Not the sort of scenes you’d expect between these two sets of fans, but nonetheless, football’s a passionate old affair, and it does create such as that.
After the mayhem had subsided and play restarted, it was City who dared come close to another in injury time; McDonald attempting an audacious overhead kick, which flew yards wide of the net. It wouldn’t have been undeserved in my book….but then I’m what they call incredibly biased, but at least honest!
As the final whistle sounded, big cheers went up from the City crowd. Phil Parkinson commented on the fact he had never seen a set of home fans act so delighted at only getting a draw at home. Yes well mate, don’t forget your boys were 2-0 up. The game should’ve been out of sight, but we fought back and ultimately got our just rewards. So that was why we were so happy…that we hadn’t capitulated, instead stayed strong and showed a tough mentality that is going to bode well for us over the coming months. We may not be setting League One alight right now, but we’re heading in the right direction.
MAN OF THE MATCH
The sponsors gave it to Wes Hoolahan, and who am I to argue with that. He made a difference and gave us that something extra. For me personally though, there were no stand-out performers; it was just a really good team performance with everyone chipping in. Despite two poorly conceded goals, I thought Spillane did ok at centre-half, and Korey Smith proved why he deserves to be retaining his place in the starting eleven. To be fair to Rusty – and you all know he’s not my favourite – he put in a decent performance too, considering he’s not fully fit. Professional is probably a better word.
ANYTHING TO RANT ABOUT?
Not especially – well, other than the ref of course, although I’m tired of moaning about officials, so won’t waste any more column inches. I suppose like I said, it’s disappointing not to get the three points, but as always we must continue to take out the positives and not dwell on the negatives, what ifs, what might have been……
So to round up this epic match report (apologies, I am a woman of many words….like most you know I’m sure) we should be pleased with the display of commitment and positive attitude shown by the players, and a point gained when zero looked likely, is always a good feeling. We must now kick on from here though and start getting those three points on the board. If we can, then I’m confident we’ll be heading up that top half of the table in no time.
On the Ball City….Let’s Be ‘Avin You!
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Ohh…..how frustrating was that?!! It’s the afternoon after the night before (sorry for delay, but sleep and work rudely got in the way) and I’m still wound up by the events at Stadium:MK. How did we lose that one??
Especially after it all started so well! 17 seconds in we were a goal to the good! Woo-hoo, we’re certainly not used to that! What a platform it was to go on and take the game to the MK Dons, who quite clearly went into shock mode after such a poor start. The trouble is, as tends to be the case with City, we were not clinical enough when it mattered, albeit there were one or five key incidences which helped plot our fate. Those I shall discuss with you further.
INJURIES
We can legitimately point to the three enforced substitutions required due to injuries – two coming in the first half – as leading to our ultimate downfall. Getting one injury in a game is bad enough; three is plainly unlucky. It meant no room for tactical changes or adaptations in formation.
Whilst I hate using the excuse – and listening to Paul Ince before the game, he was definitely trying to make his in advance what with all the ‘injuries’ they had - not that it mattered of course in the end – it did effect the fluidity of the team. Losing Hughes in the middle was probably the biggest blow. Once he had left on a stretcher, courtesy of Luke Chadwick’s clumsy challenge, we lost our shape and control over the game. No disrespect to the academy boys – it was a proud moment so many of them all on the pitch – but once Drury had disappeared with an injury, and Lappin dropped to left-back, we ended up with three teenagers across the midfield with McVeigh making up the four, and the lack of experience and know-how really showed. We didn’t keep hold of the ball enough and clock up possession, and in the second half in particular gave Holt nothing to feed on. I honestly think if Drury and Hughes in particular had stayed on the park, we would’ve won that game hands down.
Hughes a key part of the City midfield
PENALTY OR NO PENALTY
Ahh – now we all love a dubious spot-kick don’t we? Well, if it’s for another team we do; when you are denied a clear penalty yourself but one is given against you later, it is just not funny.
First things first, the one that got away. Picture the scene – first half, cross comes in, Holt gets ahead of his defender, is in on goal, only to be pushed from behind. A blatant penalty if ever I’ve seen one, although how unfortunate that not all referees seem ready to give them. Once again, some consistency amongst the officials would be nice, though unlikely. Still, as aggrieved as you are, you dust yourself down and figure that some you win, some you lose, it’s all part and parcel of football….
Not that it then sits well, when having been refused a clear penalty in the first half, you then concede one in the second half. Especially when it’s not even a nailed-on penalty either.
Now, I don’t believe I’m being blinkered here, I’ve no doubt Chris Martin got the ball. Yes, it was the slightest of touches, but the ball changes direction, that is clear. What he couldn’t prevent was the inevitable fact that the Dons player he’d nicked the ball from, was heading straight over his outstretched leg, making it look like a convincing penalty from the wrong angle. However, the referee’s assistant, who had the right view, still gave it as a foul. It wasn’t. Yes, I see the point that the tackle wasn’t necessary, that Chris Martin needn’t have been so rash since the Don’s player was heading away from goal, but he DID get a touch, and the frustrating fact of the matter was that the referee thought so too! It wasn’t until he saw his assistant all-to-enthusiastically waving his flag about, that he changed his mind and awarded the spot-kick! Arghhh!!! Surely the referee should call it as he sees it? He’s the main man – the assistant is there to assist?? I know I’m wasting my breath, it’s just frustrating when big decisions go against you due to poor officiating.
Lambert was clearly incensed too. At the final whistle, he along with Culverhouse and Crook were seen remonstrating with the referee as they left the pitch. Having already received a mis-conduct charge this season already, Lambert said he wasn’t going to talk about the official – before making it clear he thought he was not very good, in fact woeful. Mmm…not sure Lambert is taking his warning too seriously, although in fairness, you couldn’t blame him for being so angry at the men in black. Or green….whatever it is these days.
ENOUGH OF THE NEGATIVES – WHAT ABOUT THE POSITIVES?
Ok, let me stop harping about the negatives and highlight the positives. As much as it was frustrating to lose a fixture we should be more than capable of winning, we can’t get too down about it; just accept it and move onto the biggy that is Charlton at home on Saturday.
Let’s start with player positives; I thought Jens Berthel Askou had a much better game than against Walsall. Yes I realise against the Saddlers he conceded nil; last night it was two – however since both the Dons goals were set-pieces it’s not a fair comparison. I thought that Askou looked more solid, more confident and set about his task well. (Was it the bandage wrapped around his head??) Bar one rash decision to come for the ball and completely miss it, he looked better and more composed which is a good sign. Nelson didn’t do too badly either, though injury may prevent him from taking his place against Charlton. (Which begs the question, will Doherty be recalled from the outcast union??)
Next – Korey Smith; Tom Adeyemi; Luke Daley; Chris Martin; Micky Spillane. All products of the academy and all on the pitch last night. Ok, Chris Martin had a mixed night, but he did score and overall it was an encouraging show from all the lads and definitely positive as far as the future goes. We’ve been crying out for some home-grown talent to come through, so it’s good to finally see it happen. Let’s just hope they continue to work hard, are nurtured right and have the appetiteto succeed.
Here come the boys………….
Attack, attack, attack; In the first half I was impressed with our quickness in getting balls into the box – something we’ve not always been known for. Unfortunately it didn’t continue in the second half, but it was good to see us trying to feed the strikers, and in particular Holt, as much as possible. Positive, attacking play, which I hope we see more of, especially at home.
TO SUM IT UP…
Bitterly disappointed that we lost the game, more so due to such controversial decisions, however I believe Lady Luck will return the favour one day. Frustrated we didn’t make the most of such an explosive start and capitalise on our early domination, and know we will need to become more lethal in killing teams off early. We are dropping too many points at the moment, whilst the likes of Leeds and Charlton are streaking ahead. We cannot afford to keep doing so. We must start winning our homes games and nicking those points away from Carrow Road…like it’s that easy eh? Still, it’s not impossible, we just have to believe we are capable of stringing a run together.
Also, one noticeable and some what disappointing feature of the night was the lack of home fans in the stadium! Blimey – their owner, Pete Winkelman was visibly excited about one of the ‘big boys’ coming to town. He even went so far as saying a healthy rivalry was building up between the two clubs, (though I’m not sure about that one myself ) so if that’s the attendance they get when we roll in to town, what an earth happens when Yeovil or Exeter turn up? I was some what shocked to hear that 10,000+ were inside the half-built arena - it seemed incredibly lower than that. That can only mean one thing, and something we all knew anyway - that Stadium:MK is just much too big than is necessary!
The lack of atmosphere was also evident when you could quite clearly hear the players shouting to each other. Not exactly a game of rivalry hey. I shouldn’t mock really, we are lucky enough to be used to watching Norwich in front of decent crowds, it’s just a shame when there’s so many empty seats on show!
Is that Exeter at home??………….
Anyway, we must forget and it’s onwards and upwards as they say…whoever they are of course (Ipswich fans possible? hehe) The Addicks come to Carrow Road next. Not only will we want to reduce the ever-growing gap between ourselves and the early pace setters, but perhaps begin to erase the memory of the last encounter between the two sides….oooo, it still makes me shudder now.
On the Ball City!!…………
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CARLISLE UNITED 0 – NORWICH CITY 1 
