Norwich City vs Southampton (Home) Saturday 20th November.

[Number 9]

Deano doing the presser early, as I think he prefers to start training at 12.


DS: 'We have a fully fit squad. Apart from Zimbo and Byram is playing 45 mins for the 23s tonight.'

DS asked about Normann. 'Very interesting player. I watched his first 45 in midweek, and then watched Teemu's game. But Mathias can be a very important player for us this season. He wants to get better. He wants to learn.'

DS: We have really good backing from our supporters. I know they'll be behind us Saturday. But we're very respectful of Ralph and Southampton, they're a hard team to play against.

Memories of Carrow Road… DS: “Good results and bad results here. My abiding memory is that the supporters are very welcoming. Although, I want them to be welcoming to Norwich City but not so much Southampton.”

Cantwell for the starting XI? “He appears to be fit but we’ll assess him today.”

Fans need to buy into the process… DS: “We need them to get behind us. The only way we’ll win football games is if we all pull together.”

On not being relegated. Putting reputation on the line? DS: “I looked at the squad, I spoke to Neil and Stuart and I liked what I saw. Some people will say it’s a risk but I see it as an opportunity.”

DS: “First season after promotion is the hardest, survival has to be the aim. If you survive then you can build.”

Opportunities for young players… DS: “Mathias and Teemu didn’t train yesterday (due to international fixtures). So, we had young Abu Kamara train with us.”

Nice pay off line from #ncfc DS: 'I've got a minibus load coming up from Birmingham with their green and yellow scarves.'

Getting excited....

 

[morty]

I don't think Deano will change very much for tomorrow, but it will be interesting to see if the new manager bounce works. Quite funny to see absolutely everyone fit, and hopefully keen to impress!

 

[Number 9]

I don't think Deano will change very much for tomorrow, but it will be interesting to see if the new manager bounce works. Quite funny to see absolutely everyone fit, and hopefully keen to impress!

Give us your score prediction then....


NCFC 2-1 Southampton

 

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

4 nil to the canaries.

 

[morty]

I'll stick my neck out at 2-0 to us, but honestly no clue what might happen, with the manager's limited time with the players to work on certain aspects of our game. Which is why I'm not so sure you'll see that many changes from the Brentford game.

 

[Fenway Frank]

A draw for me

 

[morty]

Obviously we can only control our own destiny, but equally as important are results of other teams around us, we can't afford to end up cut adrift too far, even at this early stage. Once you need 3 or 4 wins to catch up it becomes very, very difficult.

 

[morty]

Smith sets out his red lines to City squad

Dean Smith has already spelt out his ‘non negotiables’ to the Norwich City players.

www.edp24.co.uk

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

2-1 to NCFC

 

[Number 9]

Here we go then, let's get warmed up ready to overreact this afternoon.

It'll be interesting to see what changes are apparent.
Will the players be giving it extra?
Will the tactics be subtly different, Dean has only had a few days with the players.
Will the crowd be giving it extra?

I somehow doubt we'll see wholesale changes from the Brentford game, would love for Todd to get on though. Hopefully we'll be able to see some slight adjustments giving us a clue as to the future.

 

[Fenway Frank]

I’m getting nervous now

 

[morty]

There's no pressure. Win, and we're clearly going to qualify for Europe, lose, and it's Smith out!

For me, if we lose, you can point to him only having two days training with the team, so won't be the end of the world. But obviously I'd like to see the fight and desire shown to win the Brentford game, that is the standard now. Scoring first is vital.

 

[Number 9]

There's no pressure. Win, and we're clearly going to qualify for Europe, lose, and it's Smith out!

For me, if we lose, you can point to him only having two days training with the team, so won't be the end of the world. But obviously I'd like to see the fight and desire shown to win the Brentford game, that is the standard now. Scoring first is vital.

What do we know anyway....

 

[gerryinromania]

Well done the chaps. second half was a different game. Sergent played as though he wanted to keep his place, Racica also., heard the Dereham Deco described as the Dereham Doorstop . Mr Hanley, I apologise for shouting at you on the tellybox so much, but you really are a liability, despite your winning goal

 

[Din]

Absolutely brilliant, what a win! I have to admit while obviously I was optimistic we could get a win today I wasn't necessarily expecting one, with Deano only having 2 training sessions to work with the squad, but that 2nd half was as well as I've seen us play for a long, long time in the Premier League. Great atmosphere in the second half as well.

Can't say I was quite as optimistic after 3 minutes though I haven't seen it back but it was a shocking goal to concede, so early into such a big game. Our equaliser kind of came a bit out of nowhere, and was practically our only attacking move of the first half, but it was crucial we got that instant reply, and it's something I don't think we would've done under Farke. I was fearing the worst at half-time though. Southampton were all over us and we were literally pinned in our own box. I was thinking I hope Smith's plan to make us more secure defensively isn't just to literally park the bus and try and hit teams on the counter attack, but it was clear from the second half it wasn't.

But yeah, what a huge 2nd half performance. Brilliant change by Smith at half-time to bring Sargent on for Cantwell. You could tell Todd was really rusty, and replacing him with Sargent really helped us get our foot on the ball a bit more and gave us an additional outlet, whereas first half we were just launching the ball up to Pukki and watching him get out-jumped by Salisu every time. His defensive work-rate really helped stifle Livramento as well, who was having a field day in the first half down our left hand side. In general though we just moved ourselves 10 yards further up the pitch and looked so much more threatening. I loved the celebrations from the players both after we scored the 2nd goal and at the end, you could really see how much it meant.

Man of the match for me in all honesty was probably Pukki. Never stopped running and scored a crucial goal. Aarons a close 2nd, with Rashica and Normann also playing very well too. Gilmour definitely had his best game for us so far too. He didn't have a great first half, and I'm still not fully convinced he's not a bit of a luxury player and that in the grittier games he may become a bit of a passenger. He does frustrate me a bit as well sometimes because he'll just play a first time sideways/backwards pass when he has time to turn and move the ball forwards, but there's no doubting he's got real quality when in possession, and could become a big player for us if his performances keep getting better. Certainly an encouraging performance from him.

Fantastic 3 points, and we're now only 3 points from safety with 26 games still to go. Tough game up next against Wolves, but it'll be good for Deano to have a full week to get his ideas across to the squad, and hopefully we can carry a bit of momentum into that game. Even if we can get a point in that one we'll be in great shape going into a big game away at Newcastle.

 

[Fenway Frank]

Terrific result, how we got to half time level I really don’t know
Todd- what a shocker ! I know he hasn’t played much but he have put in a lot more effort than he did, as far as I’m concerned he’s now lost his place to Sargent.
Gilmour is a funny one for me, you can see he’s a good player but I’m still not sure what he is if you know what I mean.
Next two games are massive

 

[morty]

I had almost forgotten what to do when we win, I can't actually remember the last time I saw us do it!

Firstly, Todd Cantwell. I am absolutely disgusted with the lad, shite doesn't even begin to cover it. It was his chance to throw all the nonsense and accusations back in our face, and Farke's, and to say he failed to do so is an understatement. I can take lack of fitness, lack of match sharpness, or just plain having a bad day, but he just looked like he couldn't be bothered. I had an open mind about him, I was willing to forget all the nonsense and let him prove me wrong, but he blew it big time. I even had a bet builder on, Norwich to win 2-1 and him to score any time, as I thought he would run himself into the ground to prove his doubters wrong. Arsehole.

We were terrible first half, much better the second, Sargent made a massive difference, that said, I could have come on for Cantwell and improved the team. Their keeper should have done better with both our goals, Hanley's especially, but will definitely take it!

Not really sure what Deano did terribly different, and would love to know what he said to them at half time, but it definitely worked! Other results fell well for us, and the table looking very good indeed, a Leeds loss today would be handy!

 

[Number 9]

Terrific result, how we got to half time level I really don’t know
Todd- what a shocker ! I know he hasn’t played much but he have put in a lot more effort than he did, as far as I’m concerned he’s now lost his place to Sargent.
Gilmour is a funny one for me, you can see he’s a good player but I’m still not sure what he is if you know what I mean.
Next two games are massive

Todd got kicked on his achilles, why he was limping, also he needs to get match fit, hasn't played for a good while.

 

[morty]

Todd got kicked on his achilles, why he was limping, also he needs to get match fit, hasn't played for a good while.

Yeah, saw he got a kick. But like i say, I can take match fitness, but he just looked like he really could not be bothered. Sargent was a million percent better than him when he came on.

 

[morty]