Welcome to the Real World..............

[lake district canary 0]

That''s what it feels like today.   Saturday is what it is all about.   A wake up call or whatever you want to call it.    A  kick up the backside.   Chicken''s home to roost.    However you think about Saturday''s result - it was just one game - but we had games like that last season and weren''t punished as we might have been.   

 

 

QPR will be a battle royal - one of our least favourite clubs - shame Joey won''t be there.   It is going to be a battle every week - just like it was last season.    We will see how Hughton approaches each game - Lambert didn''t get it right every week by any means either - and over the course of the season the quality of the manager and the squad will shine through.   

 

 

It was a horrible watch against Fulham as we all want to see our team compete, but I have the feeling that it won''t happen again this season.   The first match is always a  problem - how will QPR be feeling after Saturday??     The first match is gone and out of the way.  The players can go away knowing what they have to do to improve.       

 

 

Welcome to the new world - or the new season.    Its going to another heck of a ride.

 

 

 

 

[Phillip J Fry 0]

Thank f**k for you LDC, some may call you naive, but your posts always make me feel batter about a situation. 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I took the time yesterday on a boring train ride to look back at the Norwich performance having downloaded the full match. Obviously I am a bit of a glutten for punishment - but on second viewing the performance was no worse than Sunderland away or the first half at Fulham last season.

 

If you look at most of the negative posts on here they are coming from users who stay away when things are going well but suddenly appear after a defeat - predicting doom and gloom - if it doesn''t come to that they sulk away again, but if it does they claim to be more knowledgable than everyone else and wanting the ''I told you so'' medal.

 

Norwich got beat - it happened plenty of times last season, the first win didn''t come for 5 games (and there was a 4-0 home defeat to MK Dons in the middle of that). Dread to think what this place would be like if we went on that kind of run again...

 

It seems worse on here now than the fall out after relegation - some people need to grow up and stop revealing in the misery of it all. When Norwich lose it isn''t a personal insult to you - so stop acting as if Chris Hughton came up to you in the street and gave you a slap, although looking at what some people have posted I wouldn''t blame him if he did.

[ROBFLECK 134]

Well, LDC where do you get this nack of looking on the bright side??? I can''t help but feeling we''re really not up to it this season. I know it''s only one game, but I just could not find any positives in it...not a single one. I''m hoping for a PERFORMANCE on saturday...I don''t dare to think about a win.

The way we played, I just can''t see us competing with the quality that QPR have in their side. I''m not one for doom and gloom, but I felt just like the Colchester result on saturday...

[ROBFLECK 134]

@ Bethnal You''re referring to the MK Dons result and you''ve got a point, that was one hell of an off-day. But you would expect your team to be really raring to go at the beginning of the season wouldn''t you. I mean there wasn''t any of that...imo.

I agree that we don''t have to over react, i just want a reaction on saturday, otherwise, imo, we''re really in trouble. Teamspirit was a major factor in our success the last few years.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="ROBFLECK"]@ Bethnal You''re referring to the MK Dons result and you''ve got a point, that was one hell of an off-day. But you would expect your team to be really raring to go at the beginning of the season wouldn''t you. I mean there wasn''t any of that...imo.

I agree that we don''t have to over react, i just want a reaction on saturday, otherwise, imo, we''re really in trouble. Teamspirit was a major factor in our success the last few years.[/quote]

How do you know the Fulham wasn''t?

[ROBFLECK 134]

Gareth...don''t know yet ...but I hope it was... You have to admit after the last few games, there hasn''t been any improvement.

[Guest]

There''s no doubt that Fulham away was an absolute shocker of a result, and performance for at least 80% of the match.

Whether it was simply a one-off, or indicative of much more serious problems at the club, will become clear in the imminent future.

However, I''m not going to lose my grip on reality because of one match and a poor pre-season. The QPR match has doubtless increased in significance, because Hughton really needs to get the fans on-side after the horror-show.

What is clear is that we had some really poor performances last season that weren''t as dramtically punished as Saturday, and matches like MK Dons and Leicester in the cup, so let''s not pretend that Hughton has destroyed the perfect squad over night.

To me, this season was always going to be a bigger struggle than last. In my mind there is no question that some people have difficulty getting over Lambert and will never fully accept Hughton, which would probably explain the laughable knee-jerk calls for his head.

Yes, Saturday gives me massive cause for concern, but we won''t know if it was a one-off or a problem that cannot be fixed without throwing the club back into turmoil again for another few matches.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="ROBFLECK"]Gareth...don''t know yet ...but I hope it was... You have to admit after the last few games, there hasn''t been any improvement.[/quote]

I assume your including pre-season in that?

Look, Fulham was painful, but sometimes a painful result is needed to push the team. A 5-0 thrashing requires a lot of self-reflecting and analyzing from both coaches and players, we always tend to learn more in defeat then victory. If Hughton''s half the manager I believe he is, then I expect to see a far improved performance against QPR.

[Tumbleweed 106]

Here are some positives:

1. You often get fluke results on the opening day. Will WBA be contending in the top 8 and Liverpool fighting relegation? Unlikely. Will Arsenal and Sunderland see themselves as peers? Well one of them doesn''t. Are Man City just marginally better than Southampton? I think not. 

2. CH has more premier league experience than PL had. Saturday was awful, but CH should be better placed to turn it around.

3. Last season we had numerous matches where we were outplayed but didn''t concede as many. Poor finishing and Ruddy saved us bags of times. If Ruddy had had nothing to do he wouldn''t have been called up last week. We even conceded more possession to Stoke for the first time in their recent PL history, and that was at our place too. Away we had not a single clean sheet. Is this anything new with this set of players?

4. CH is still learning with these players. It''s only in proper competitive matches that you really see how things are.

5. When appointed, CH was universally hailed in the game as a shrewd appointment. McNally has a good record of decision making and we need to trust his judgement again.

6. We have the ideal opportunity to bounce back. Home game against the other team which got a drubbing.

7. Holt starts every season looking like he''s been at the pina coladas. Last season folks were saying he wasn''t up to it, by the end he nearly squeaked into the England team.

8. Fulham are our modern day bogey side. I was dismayed when that popped up as our first fixture.

9. Better that the cracks are identified now when something can be done. It''s a terrible start, but the sort of dreadful catalyst which just forces some long hard thinking by the management team. And the transfer window is still open if needed.

10. Where I live it was hot sunny and fabulous. Weather for cricket and lazing around with a beer. I can''t really get arsed with football until autumn turns and the dark nights close in. Then we''ll see where we are.

[Robert Parsons 0]

The perspective of time helps. Time from Saturday''s performance and the time across many seasons when early season results have no great significance in terms of how the season ends.

I was at the Millwall game when we took a real beating on opening day. It felt like doom and gloom then but actually as the season developed it quickly receded in the memory and seemed to have little importance in the grand scheme of things.

Most of us were at the Colchester game but perhaps that was different for a lot of different reasons most of which are clearer with the benefit of hindsight.

I would not be too harsh on those who were bitterly disappointed by Saturday''s performance. I travelled up from Devon for the game ( as I do for all matches) and felt heartbroken and let down at the time. Today I can already feel my spirits rising as I start to think about this coming Saturday.

For those who love to revel in a pit of despair and gloom this must seem like a magical time. For the rest of us it was a blow to the solar plexus but we will bounce back as fans and I think that we will bounce back as a team to be competitive in a very tough league this year.

RP

[Matt Juler 208]

This is the first time I''ve posted since the weekend, I kept my initial views on Twitter and almost 48 hours later I''m still feeling much the same.  I just fail to understand the formation and how someone with Hughton''s knowledge and experience would consider playing Grant Holt as a lone forward.  It''s clear to me that it doesn''t work, it''s clear to my girlfriend it doesn''t work, it''s clear to my father-law that it doesn''t work, it''s clear to the chap who stood behind me at Fulham that it doesn''t work... you get what I''m trying to say, so how come the man who is paid a lot of money to pick the team played Holt as a single forward?  If Hughton''s plan from the start was to play one up front, then surely he should have said sorry Grant, off to West Ham you go and we could have built the forward line around Morison (or someone new), but now the club has forked out on a new 3 year deal is it a case he has to start just to justify the decision?I know we''ve been spoilt with some very attacking football over the last few years, but yesterday we offered nothing going forward at all.  The talk is all about defensive mistakes, but if you offer nothing offensively then the defence is going to be under a lot more pressure.  The likes of Riise could bomb forward from leftback knowing there was no Norwich outlet should their move break down.  I also think it''s criminal to not have a single player forward when defending a corner.  Fair enough bring Holt back, but leave Surman on the halfway line and suddenly you''re defending against 7 or 8 instead of 10, plus there is a chance to retain possession should the ball be cleared.I''m not calling for anyone’s head, but I''m very worried.  A win against QPR isn''t essential, but we certainly need to have a performance much much better than Saturday.

[ROBFLECK 134]

I agree with Matt

[Chunky Norwich 0]

I think the only real benefit of getting a spanking on the opening day is that Hughton knows we have to change it and change it fast. Also hopefully he''ll give the players a bit of a rocket. Had we lost 1-0 or 2-0 yet still played the same formation and players acting sluggishly, we might have been able to brush it under the carpet and carry on for the next couple of games in exactly the same kind of vain, getting beaten again and again and again.

 

Fingers crossed that it was a wake-up call to the players and management as much as it was to the fans. Definitely more so with the transfer window looming - it may even convince the board to stump up a bit more cash.

[Yellow Rider 0]

[quote user="Chunky Norwich"]

I think the only real benefit of getting a spanking on the opening day is that Hughton knows we have to change it and change it fast. Also hopefully he''ll give the players a bit of a rocket. Had we lost 1-0 or 2-0 yet still played the same formation and players acting sluggishly, we might have been able to brush it under the carpet and carry on for the next couple of games in exactly the same kind of vain, getting beaten again and again and again.

 

Fingers crossed that it was a wake-up call to the players and management as much as it was to the fans. Definitely more so with the transfer window looming - it may even convince the board to stump up a bit more cash.

[/quote]

Was saying exactly same thing to myself earlier - spot on.

Saturday will have been just as much a wake up call to CH as to the players. IF (and I don''t support this theory) he is this ''negative, defensive, boring, rigid'' manager that the new critcics are saying then a 5-0 thrashing (+ the woeful (generally) performance) SHOULD be the slap in the face with a wet fish he needs.

We will only tell that not from QPR when CH was always going to be more positive anyway but from the next couple of very difficult away games. If we see more passionate and bold style at WHL and St.James Park then that''s all we realistically want and can expect.   

[kellybrook 0]

"but on second viewing the performance was no worse than Sunderland away or the first half at Fulham last season.""Norwich got beat - it happened plenty of times last season, the first

win didn''t come for 5 games (and there was a 4-0 home defeat to MK Dons

in the middle of that). Dread to think what this place would be like if

we went on that kind of run again...""It seems worse on here now than the fall out after relegation - some

people need to grow up and stop revealing in the misery of it all. "STOP IT!  Too much reasoning and facts for some on here.  What surprises me is to see some of the normally level-headed posters getting caught up in the panic and ignoring last season althogether.