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A very dull, damp and dark day here in Norwich and the lights were full on when I biked up to ground this afternoon. The team sheet with Cantwell and Gilmour was not much of a surprise as I had long thought that Farkes demise was as much do to personalities as to results. I expect we we all looking for some sort of new manager bounce today and at least some sign that we were good enough to compete in this league. Unfortunately we got a real slap in the face early on as the visitors cruised into a 3rd minute lead. A ball into the wide open spaces on the City right flank should have been cleared as it was worked into space for Adams to nudge the ball past Krul into the far corner. To their credit, City did liven up for a time and surprisingly got straight back in the picture in the seventh minute when Rashica combined nicely with Max Aarons and from the cut back Pukki was able to nip in at the corner of the six yard box and glance a perfect header in off McCarthy's near post. It got the crowd back on their feet with the expectation of more to come but we were to be cruelly disappointed as the visitors started to dictate proceedings to an almost embarrassing level. Both City flanks were wide open as wave after wave of red and white cut through the City rearguard forcing last gasp blocks and a succession of corners. City looked all at sea with little cohesion in midfield and nothing for the front runners to feed off. Thankfully Armstrong and Adams had forgotten their shooting boots as decent opportunities went begging and most of the on target stuff went straight at Tim Krul. It looked like just a matter of time before Southampton wrapped things up in such a one sided affair. I really needed binoculars because almost everything was happening a hundred yards away at the River End. By the half hour our penalty area was like a coconut shy andI was looking for a sofa to hide behind as yet another Southampton chance was skewed a yard wide. I have always liked Tod Cantwell but he was just not at the races at all today and bringing him back without match sharpness seemed to be a big mistake. The crowd got on his back after an error and that didn't help either. I was just praying that we could get to halftime without further damage and thanks to a magnificent save from Tim Krul we did. A sharp pass put Hanley in trouble and he lost possession to Diallo who had a free man either side of him. The ball was tee'd up for Adams and looked goal bound until Krul flew to his right to turn it away. Somehow we went in all square in what had been the most one sided affair I have seen at Carrow Rd for many a year. It looked like men against boys or two teams three leagues apart. City's goal was their only effort of the entire 45 minutes. Swapping Cantwell for Sargent was an easy choice and immediately you could see a difference. I don't know what Smith said to them at the break but it must have been along the lines of "show me if you are good enough" because the effect was instantaneous. City were quicker to the ball and the visitors seemed to wilt as the home side grew stronger. City began to dominate and at last corners were being won and shots were coming in. Rashica and Norman both tested McCarthy and it was Southampton who were having trouble to get any forward play going. The game was there to be won and Pukki almost did it when he scampered away on the right before bringing a flying save out of McCarthy at the near post, then a Normann twentfive yarder flew just over. On 79 minutes it was Rashica, who had been having a fine second half, won a corner on the City left, Gilmour trotted up to take it and the whole ground errupted as Hanley got on the end of his fighted ball at the far post. Ten or so minutes left and finally we were in front and had one hand on the three points. Saints pushed forward as City had to withstand some stiff pressure as the sand ran out of the hour glass and for the first time in a long while I was wishing the seconds to tick away. There was only one moment of real danger and that was right at the end when Walcott got on the end of a great cross but could only glance the ball a yard wide. I have seen a lot of strange games at CR over the years but I din't remeber anything like this afternoons tale of two halves. Chalk and cheese doesn't do it justice, it was like two entirely different games with the boys on in the first game and the men on in the second. We may still be not good enough in the end but it does give us something to cling to and that is more than enough at the moment. Hanley a bit rusty first half, a giant in the second, Pukki, fine goal and non stop running, Gilmour, got well into it today and Rashica, best game yet but my MOM today is Tim Krul, that save on the stroke of halftime made all the difference.

Villa Fan in Peace... Good luck today. I hope Deano gets u off to a winning start and u leapfrog managerless Newcastle in the table. Deano has a lot of support from Villa fans and the vast majority of us want him to keep Norwich up this season.

Absolute ****, he was sat on the bench applauding the lads off at the end. Why have people got to spread such utter ****e??

Well played son. Made a big difference second half 👍

Obviously what will happen now is that Smith gives his press conference and is then sacked, and we carry on like that with a new manager for each of the remaining 26 games...🤓

The current NCFC badge is timeless. Looks great, no text required, you could show it to anyone and they'd know which team it was. There is no need to mess with it.

Very poor and disrespectful post. Just came back from injury, and even the commeters said he would only be playing the first 45. Yes, he did not play well but he's still not at full fitness. No doubt will improve in time.

Yes, he dug deep.

Kenny! 😂😂😂😂😂 Go on mate. Score a goal this afternoon. Shut us all up.🙂

I hope so. I can't be Lapps, I don't have his personality or persona. What I can do is try and put something together which is a little bit fun and informative that people can glance at on the way to the game etc. I might start trying to do it the night before so that for away fixtures, people have something to look at on the journey. The main aim is people use it and see Lapps name so it's kept going. I have created a tag for it as well, so if you search for that tag, you'll get every match thread. Some of us will only ever know each other via our online persona's. In some cases that may well be a good thing, in others, we have few ways to thank and remember people by. Only seems fair to do something for a long time member who contributed to our nice online community. 🙂

Frank Lampard has already withdrawn himself from consideration.

Deserves a thread imo. A rock at the back, a leader behind the defence, and an absolutely crucial save at 1-1 to keep us in it at that point.

It was a brave decision to make, and also a smart decision to start him to demonstrate why Farke was clearly in the right to keep him away from the first team and put to bed any further nonsense that both Farke and his replacement are 'clueless' for not playing him.

Central midfield killing us again. Gilmour is a small boy completely lost in the men's game and McLean offers nothing, Normann is not a holding midfielder Also the standard of this league is ridiculous now, if Southampton are a what a lower midtable side looks like then god help us we have no chance

Was it this guy?

Norwich City Vs Southampton KO - 3PM, at Carrow Road. 13/38. And the graphic for our international fans once more - please ignore that it is for our last game Vs Brentford, they haven't done one for today for some reason: Pre match articles: As is part of our weekly routine, the PinkUn have their presser report as well as other articles reflecting on things brought up during it. The BBC always have an article as well which covers some other aspects from a Southampton point of view. This week we also have a treat from the canaries.co.uk club site taking a look at the Southampton side we will be facing today. Round up of injuries/suspensions etc: Norwich - Zimmermann is now the only player out injured. Byram played 45mins in the U23's game Vs Charlton last night and at this point reports are he came through fine. Kabak and Hanley are fit and in contention. As Smith said, clean slate for all of the squad now. Southampton - Redmond back after being out with Covid - which no matter which side you are on, is only a good thing. Livramento and Ward-Prowse also return from having had injuries. Their only player out injured now is Jack Stephens. Video: The official NCFC youtube channel has their usual pre match build up vid highlighting all of the goals we have scored against Southampton over the years - Something interesting: Southampton FC was founded on 21st November 1885, 136 years ago tomorrow. Their nickname has been the "Saints" since their inception due to them starting out as a church football team. The team name back then was called the St. Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association. Their home stadium is therefore named St. Mary's, having moved there from the Dell in 2001. St. Mary's is said (not sure on the accuracy of this due to the source) to be the biggest stadium in the South East outside of London.

Cantwell firing on all cylinders is the most creative player left in our squad. If we have any chance of salvaging some pride from this season we will need him back to his best and that is now Deans challenge. Hopefully today was the first step.

Probably two.

What a pathetic post. Any fan of another club will think the tales of Norfolk inbreeding are right on the button. 😡😡😡

Bundesliga 2 ? Would have thought he could do better than that.

Incredibly it NEVER went away. And still it is about today! https://www.history.com/news/1918-flu-pandemic-never-ended Quite incredible really. Masks forever? Just wonder whether we might see masks worn more in the future in the UK (like significant numbers of the population do in Japanese cities)? Maybe Covid becomes something else like Spanish Flu has.

Hats off to Dean Smith, because that's exactly what he did. That first half was a shambles aside from scoring with our only effort. We were completely outplayed in midfield with the three advanced midfielders all guilty of failing to track their men repeatedly. How it was 1-1 at half time I still don't understand. There were some fleeting moments when we had the ball but, while we were clearly trying to be more compact and harder to break down out of possession, we gave them so much space and so much time on the ball. Cantwell was perhaps unlucky to be singled out but he obviously lacks match fitness so it was an understandable substitute. It was an inspired move but, it wasn't just the change in personnel, the whole midfield was transformed at half time. Sargent gave Southampton a real problem. He pressed, harried, fought for the ball and held it up well. When we lost the ball he tracked back with pace and determination. Where Rashica had been frequently caught out in the first half (before swapping flanks at half time), Sargent was solid. Gilmour was excellent in the second half really working off the ball and linking up play. But it was the defensive work that stood out to me. He put in blocks, made intelligent fouls and tracked his man consistently in a way I've not seen him do before. We were somehow both more defensively solid and a far greater attacking threat. The midfield went from shambolic in the first half to organised, disciplined and dynamic in the second half. Who knows what Dean Smith said at half time, but it was a real transformation.

Organised (after a half-time talk). Better balance of defence and attack. Spirit and giving supporters something to back. Set piece goal. Full back assist. Timely subs. In game tactical changes.

Here is a tweet from TC on Twitter and to be honest I feel kind of gutted for him especially by some of the replies he has had, he doesn’t deserve it. He knows he didn’t play great but some fans continued to slate him on Twitter. I hope he isn’t the kind of person to take things to heart, but the majority of comments were encouraging . I hope he listens to them more than the negative ones.

It looks better like this: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/formtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1?saison_id=2021&min=11&max=12

Cantwell was not unlucky to be singled out, he was terrible and completely off the pace.

Yes was good second half. First half he was abysmal and when we arent on the front foot he needs to learn to track runners and have the awareness to know whats going on around him.

I think you’ll find their team is made up of a variation of nationalities and not just one… 😊

Game of 2 halves John. First half: Max looking low on confidence. Grant fiddling about & nearly getting caught on the ball too often. Ben just s-l-o-w. Williams not perfect, but much stronger than Dimi & looks our best option. Didn't recognise Matthias with his new 'do. Was he involved much? Kenny sort of rushed about, but too late & to little effect. Was Gilmour there? Rashica giving it a go & looking a threat. Teemu good as I've seen him this season. Todd ... words fail me. Looked every inch a show pony. How we didn't concede goals with his daftness I'll never know. Second half: USA! USA! USA! What a difference! Energised the whole team. Even Gilmour woke up half way through. Onwards & Upwards!

A question here...but when was the last time we've scored 2 goals and both headers?!!! Also Pukki scoring with his head.... a rarity in itself ...and as for Hanley, doesn't he normally aim his headers towards row L? Fantastic. Some team talk at HT.👏👏 By all accounts Rashica, Gilmour (2nd half), and Sargent his best 45. Thanks Dean Smith.

Full credit to Smith. Sargent worked his socks off. Great second half performance - that's more like it!

Good work and good work Sargent. Changed the game (along with some differing tactics for second half).

Sunderland one nil up !

So comments made in commentary appears to vindicate Farkes view that Cantwell needed more time training and in the U23 to get up to game fitness?

Cannot wait for the match to start! Really excited and anxious to see first steps and adjustments made by new head coach. Anyone else feeling the same?

Discussion on BBC breakfast about rising cases in much of Europe citing a range of factors, low vaccine uptake in some areas, vaccine efficacy starting to wane (now about 6 months since they were giving 2nd jabs widely) and that they didn’t have the delta wave of cases earlier so don’t have as much natural immunity as the Uk. Also maybe effect of winter weather meaning more indoor socialising. Personally I think the UK generally is on the right course at the moment, it’s been 4 months with no restrictions and modelling is predicting case numbers to go down. The mental health impacts of lockdowns and restrictions generally should not be ignored, we should avoid reimposing them unless absolutely necessary which so far they’ve not been. Opening up during the good (well, mostly) weather in July is now looking a very good decision. yes we should have pushed the booster vaccines much more high profile way and we should be funding vaccines for the areas that haven’t had so many much more than we are. I wish people would be asking about this not debating why Iceland has done better than other countries etc.

I'm kind of haunted by the memory of the Southampton game straight after project restart. We had some optimism going into the game that Farke had some time to adjust some things tactically, we went into the game with a different formation and for the first 5 minutes we looked pretty good. Then they came into the game a bit, pressed us to death and we just fell apart completely and all that optimism melted away and the harsh reality of the situation took over. I'm excited for the game and I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing some positive signs. But our game completely breaks down when teams press us relentlessly which is what Southampton do and they're in great form right now. I'd be very happy with a draw to be honest. If we can show that we can deal with being pressed high and are able to create some chances and don't look so open at the back then that would be a positive step regardless of the result because under Farke we usually looked pretty hopeless against good, high pressing teams.

"I've given him the benefit of the doubt SO often, I've lost count and it gets a bit difficult to make allowances after SO many times" This isn't exaggerating? Cantwell only started 3 games, against Liverpool, Man City and Leicester. In those games he hade more tackles than anyone in the Prem, his work rate was the best in the team and I believe he was our Man of the Match in one game. Then he was dropped. Its ridiculous to blame him for being marginally offside in the Leicester game. Our good performances have been thanks to Norman who didn't play the first 3 games, when we had a mostly unfit team. You did moan about Cantwell last season(social media, hair, attitude) up to a point when it would be idiotic to carry on. Face the fact that Farke was sacked because he couldn't get the best out of the players. This thread isn't about Cantwell, I would probably leave out Dowell from a winning team Let's hope that Smith can get a performance from Gilmour that the Scotland and Chelsea managers got out of him.

After DS’s 100% win ratio start for City the table now has a more hopeful look to it . Southampton 6 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 7 - 6 - 11 (14) Leeds United 5 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 5 - 5 - 8 (11) Burnley 5 - 1 - 4 - 0 - 8 - 6 - 7 ( 9) Norwich City 5 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 6 - 7 - 7 ( 😎 Aston Villa 4 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 7 - 5 - 4 (13) Watford 4 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 6 - 6 - 4 (13) Newcastle United 5 - 0 - 4 - 1 - 7 - 9 - 4 (. 6) Brentford. 4 - 0 - 2 - 2 - 6 - 8 - 2. (13)

He was certainly not great today, however we have seen him in brilliant form in the past. So I’m not sure how you can say today’s performance or his true colours. Surely his true colours are when he performs as we know he can?

I've seen them all since 1960. None, not one, has been fit to lace the boots of Kevin Keelan.

Kevin keelan played in a league where they were all drunk most of the time

Embarrassed about what? Farke won the last game and Smith this one. A long way to go yet. You should be embarrassed about some of the diatribe you post. Today is a good day and long may it continue but please stop posting your silliness.

Especially for for the puppies on here who didn’t live through it.

Christ on a bike @Greavsy he has even posted the same photo he put on the other thread !

Would be so good to get an independent view of these proceeding without all the usual and dangerous politicised criticisms of the judiciary.

Phil Boyer was one of the few Norwich players to win a full England cap while with the Canaries. The best partnership ever with Ted McDougal in my opinion. Exciting times under John Bond.

A young man is chased and attacked by a violent mob whose rioting had caused an estimated $50million worth of damage over the previous 3 night in the town in which he has family and friends. After volunteering to protect a local business, the mob attack him. He shoots and kills two people, one of which is assaulting him on the floor with a skateboard, and shoots and injures a third who is armed with a handgun. Murdering scum seems a little harsh when the facts are presented don’t you think?