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Ulf Ottosson

It's all About Expectations

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The thing that is wrong this season in my opinion is expectations, let''s face it this season is the first year in ages when the players have been EXPECTED to perform. Last year we were expected to get relegated - we were anything else was a bonus - when we won the championship we weren''t expected to there was no pressure to perform it just happened.This year though everyone EXPECTS us to roll teams over it''s just not that simple.

It''s my belief that both the players and management are having trouble playing under this pressure when we go behind we can''t handle. Just a observation

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Can''t fault your observation but surely every football supporter in the land has the right to expect.

We expect and accept that there will be some injuries.

We expect and accept that on the day, some teams will be better than us.

We expect and accept that over the course of the season we will have the odd off day.

We expect and accept that every now and again we''ll be unlucky.

What we don''t expect, and cannot accept, is week after week of -

players not performing to the best of their ability, playing the wrong system,, desperate defending, puzzling team selections, inadequte tactics, bad management, no motivation, no organisation, no passing, few attempts on goal, schoolboy errors, poor goal keeping, bad substitutions, no commitment etc etc

Above all, when things go wrong we expect something to be done - surely that is not too much to ask for ?

 

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Sorry bad explaination - I was trying to suggest a reason for are awful performances is I think not all are players are used to playing under extreme pressure and instead of rising to the occasion they are crumbling the minute we concede a goal. The pressure coming from the fact everyone seems to expect us to win every game 5-0.

Though I can''t really defend the last two performances.................................... 

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[quote]The thing that is wrong this season in my opinion is expectations, let''s face it this season is the first year in ages when the players have been EXPECTED to perform. Last year we were expected to get...[/quote]

Ulf, how can you say the expectations were wrong. The team had just come off a run of games against Premiership opposition that almost saved their Premiership status. Look at who they got points against:
English Premier  	Norwich 	2-0 	Man Utd 	09-04-2005 English Premier 	C Palace 	3-3 	Norwich 	16-04-2005 English Premier 	Norwich 	2-1 	Newcastle 	20-04-2005 English Premier 	Norwich 	1-0 	Charlton 	23-04-2005 English Premier 	Southampton 	4-3 	Norwich 	30-04-2005 English Premier 	Norwich 	1-0 	Birmingham 	07-05-2005 English Premier 	Fulham 		6-0 	Norwich 	15-05-2005 
Come on we took points off of Man U and Newcastle as well as crucial wins against teams that are more firmly rooted in the Premiership. Apart from the capitulation on the last day there was something to be hopeful about.Even with the off-season personnel changes there was a belief that promotion wasn''t beyond the team. But the truth of the matter is something clearly more chilling....

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Its a fine line between success and failure at this level.

The real difference may be in the attitude of opposition. Manu and Newcastle expected 3 easy points and were complacent.

This season everyone is coming to play Norwich all guns blazing..

I still think it could turn but clearly something needs to change and soon. What worries me more than the form is the decisions

WHY is Brennan playing left back and Charlton playing midfield???? Bizarre!

WHY Worthy??? It makes NO sense- swap them and both would be in their favourite spot. What is the thinking behind that one?

 

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That''s not Ulf''s point though, and I think he makes a good one.

His point is that we played out of our skins at the end of last season (except for Fulham), because there was no expectation on us to do so.

Everyone expected us to fade away, and those low expectations are what enabled us to play with confidence and creativity and get those results.

Now the situation is reversed, and the level of expectation is massive. And obviously this level of expectation has taken its toll on management and players and we are doing badly, playing without confidence and creativity.

Look at Everton for another perfect example of the impact of high expectations. They are in exactly the same boat as us at the moment.

Of course this is the true test of a team and their manager, the ability to withstand this kind of pressure, and hopefully they will come through it.

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[quote]That''s not Ulf''s point though, and I think he makes a good one. His point is that we played out of our skins at the end of last season (except for Fulham), because there was no expectation on us to ...[/quote]

So we only have a team who can perform when the pressure is off?  In which case the manager has got his team fundamentally wrong as far as the personalties are concerned.

If Ulf is right then relegation beckons again because at the moment every league game is a high pressure one, but conversely we might get a good carling cup run this season...

 

OTBC 

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