1-7

[The Great Mass Debater]

7-1. A result that will live in infamy. Arguably the lowest point in Norwich City's recent history. The remnants of Roeder's loan policy had been flushed out. 5 seasons of continual decline had resulted in the inevitible, but here beckoned a fresh start. New players, weaker opposition, new grounds to visit and hopefully a victorious campaign and a return to winning ways and restoration of pride.

All smashed to smithereens in 90 minutes.

So what went wrong? A day of high emotion as we feared what this one result predicted about our long-term future, which in the end we now know was unimportant (other than being the catalyst to bringing in Lambert and providing the leverage to remove Gunn rather harshly after one league game) and can now critique objectively.

Its oversimplistic to just lay the blame at Gunns feet. Gunn had a number of games in the championship where we didnt pick up many points, but didnt embarrass ourselves. What led to such a disasterous result? I didnt see the game, just kept getting reports of the goals going in, which I found unbelievable.

So was it poor pre-season preparation? Were the players simply under-prepared? Were Colchester simply very well prepared under Lambert? Was Lambert being in charge coincidence or an important factor? Did we start well and fall apart? Was it poor tactics? Poor organization. Was it because we had 11 new players who couldnt play together. Was it just a freak result? Were Gunn's players just not good enough?

Why, in your opinion did that result happen?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8186227.stm

Norwich

• 01 Theoklitos
  
• 02 Otsemobor
• 03 Drury
• 05 Nelson
• 12 Doherty
• 04 Gill (Adeyemi 59)
• 07 Tudur-Jones
• 11 Whaley
• 14 Hoolahan
• 09 Holt
• 16 Martin (McDonald 58)

Substitutes

• 31 Alnwick, 
• 15 Spillane, 
  
• 17 Adeyemi,
• 19 Lappin, 
• 10 Cureton, 
• 27 McDonald,
• 32 Maric

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Looking at that team, its only really Theoklitos, Gill, Tudur Jones and Whaley that didnt feature much after that. The rest of the team is pretty much the core of the title-winning side  

 

[splutcho]

It was a freak result. We were dire though. I seem to remember Theoklitos getting all the blame, when in reality Otsemobor was even bloody worse.

 

[Canaryboy]

I don't think we saw too much more of Otsemobor either, only played 13 games that season and Spillane was used a bit, then Russell Martin was signed on loan in the first half of the season (then on a permanent in January).

Unbelievable that we had 3 strikers on the bench in that game, Gunn had clearly gone in to it with a positive mentality, we didn't see much of any of those three either.

Maric had his contract terminated a few months later, can still remember that anecdote by Lambert about Maric's ball control being so bad that he'd chest the ball further than he could kick it. 

 

[GJP]

Theoklitos was the main reason.

I mean I'm guessing the preparation by Gunn wasn't good enough but on the pitch...Theoklitos. Just didn't look like saving anything at all. Regardless of if people infront of him like Otsemobor and Gill were a bit crap the main problem was that Theo was just woeful. Not near to saving anything.

 

[Canaryboy]

Ironic that an esteemed former goalkeeper could get that particular signing so wrong. It was rumoured that he blamed Ian Crook for that signing, and they fell out because of it. If a former Premier League and international goalkeeper can't get that one signing right, then we were never going to have a chance under him, surely he could see that he was crap in training? He must have trained alongside dozens of professional keepers in his time, bizarre.

 

[Canaryboy]

It weren't just Theo though, some woeful defending for some of the goals. Particularly the first two goals, and the fourth, and it weren't just Otsemober. Kevin Lisbie made Gary Doherty look like a sunday league player for the second goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvxi4FDZYRs

 

[GJP]

Total joke that Gunn ever got the job. And to be honest, in my opinion, if he was really that much of a genuine club man acting in the best interests of NCFC then he wouldn't have taken it on - because quite clearly he wasn't even close to being up to it.

 

[GJP]

It wasn't just Theo but he was the worst. Shouldn't be any doubt over that.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I've never actually seen those goals. Theo looked terrible for all of them but what is striking is how static our defenders were, Doherty for that second goal was awful. Theo was new to the English game, but the others were seasoned players. Gill didnt feature much but was an established player at this level.

Theokiltos must have been a good player (in some sense) to have been signed after being Gunns 'number one target'. You would expect him to know keepers. But he didnt look like a keeper at all in that montage. Over-awed by the occasion perhaps?

This must have been a pre-season thing. I thought the same when we got stuffed 5-0 by Fulham on opening day under Hughton.

Are there any comments by Lambert alluding to the status of the squad when he came in?

 

[Din]

I remember this game very clearly. I've never left a game early in my life, but that day I very nearly left at half time. 

To be fair the first goal is an awful back pass from Otsemobor, who should take most of the blame. What Theoklitos is doing though I have no idea.

The second goal is just dreadful defending from Doherty, who firstly gets outpaced and then lets Lisbie step inside far too easily. Theoklitos though should have dealt with the shot better, rather than just palm it straight into the path of Platt.

The third goal is just dealing with a cross extremely poorly, Theoklitos doesn't cover himself in glory either.

The fourth is an excellent free-kick from David Fox of all people, Theoklitos seems to be very far over one side of his goal as well.

The fifth is once again being incapable of dealing with a ball into the box (a long throw from Marc Tierney), what Theoklitos is doing out of his goal I don't know.

The sixth is an excellent strike from Perkins which the keeper couldn't of done anything about.

The seventh is also abysmal defending, but what Theoklitos is rushing out of his goal there is beyond me.

I make that 5 out of the 7 goals that Theoklitos is at least partly responsible for.

Looking at that team it's a wonder that we ever won that league as convincingly as we did, on paper that's a terrible team. I suppose it was mainly the front 3 of Holt, Martin and Hoolahan the effectively won us the title. Didn't they get something like 80 goals between them that season?

 

[CJRV2014]

How Leeds didnt win that league with a team made up of Snodgrass, Johnson, Howson, Gradel, Beckford, Becchio.

 

[Warren Hill]

But we had the Holy Trinity - in L1 terms - of Holt, Hoolahan and Martin.

And Lambert.

That's why we won the league. We caught everyone in front of us and none of them could get back past us. It was a memorable season and given how much better we were than most of the opposition, it's the closest I'll ever get to knowing what it's like to support Man United*

*last season and a half excluded...

 

[Yellow Fever]

Ironically, we have exactly the same number of points as Lambert's Championship team after 14 games, so the incentive is to push on now and climb the table with a much better squad.

 

[Canaryboy]

How Leeds didnt win that league with a team made up of Snodgrass, Johnson, Howson, Gradel, Beckford, Becchio.

We had the better defence, particularly in the 2nd half of the season when we had Russell Martin and Zak Whitbread.

                                   Forster

Martin      Nelson/Doherty    Whitbread    Drury/Rose

In fact, to whoever said that the team in the 7-1 formed most of our promoted squad.... Lambert actually pretty much replaced the defence. He signed Forster, Martin, Whitbread, and Rose (although Rose because Drury was injured?).

And Darel Russell was excellent as the ball winning midfielder that season, can remember Korey Smith having an excellent season too.

Jens Berthal Askou had a good season too I think?

Despite having our fair share of awful players, most a Gunn legacy, our team was solid in that 2nd half of the season. Leeds were top of the league until the last couple of months weren't they? Could probably say that Leeds crumbled under the pressure that year, because of our great form. Although they did beat us at Elland Road when Forster kicked the ball straight to their player (Beckford?), I was at that game.

 

[Surgeryman]

But we had the Holy Trinity - in L1 terms - of Holt, Hoolahan and Martin.

And Lambert.

That's why we won the league. We caught everyone in front of us and none of them could get back past us. It was a memorable season and given how much better we were than most of the opposition, it's the closest I'll ever get to knowing what it's like to support Man United*

*last season and a half excluded...

Ahh! Lambert days, good times!

 

[GJP]

We had the better defence, particularly in the 2nd half of the season when we had Russell Martin and Zak Whitbread.

                                   Forster

Martin      Nelson/Doherty    Whitbread    Drury/Rose

In fact, to whoever said that the team in the 7-1 formed most of our promoted squad.... Lambert actually pretty much replaced the defence. He signed Forster, Martin, Whitbread, and Rose (although Rose because Drury was injured?).

And Darel Russell was excellent as the ball winning midfielder that season, can remember Korey Smith having an excellent season too.

Jens Berthal Askou had a good season too I think?

Despite having our fair share of awful players, most a Gunn legacy, our team was solid in that 2nd half of the season. Leeds were top of the league until the last couple of months weren't they? Could probably say that Leeds crumbled under the pressure that year, because of our great form. Although they did beat us at Elland Road when Forster kicked the ball straight to their player (Beckford?), I was at that game.

Actually, although signed that January, Whitbread hardly featured for us. The defence that got us promoted was built around Doherty and Nelson (Doherty was probably the best CB in the league that season).

The spine of Forster, Doherty, Russell, Hoolahan and Holt was very strong. With the likes of Nelson, Smith and Martin all adding to it as well.

 

[Din]

Anyone remember Simon Whaley? He was supposed to be great when we signed him, and then he played something like 2 games and went out on loan and never played again.

Edit: Just looked him up and he retired in 2011 at the age of 26 whilst playing for Chorley. Recurring knee injury apparently.

 

[Moosheep]

Ironically, we have exactly the same number of points as Lambert's Championship team after 14 games, so the incentive is to push on now and climb the table with a much better squad.

This is an interesting stat that should be used to steady the nerves of some of those currently getting the jitters.

McNally said, sometime after the event, that he had major concerns about Gunn's pre-season preparations, so I guess there may have been issues there.

Moo

 

[Boyerboy]

I heard from a reliable inside source that the summer tour to Scotland was a debacle with all sorts of shenanigans including allegedly shopping trips during training sessions..   Plus of course John Deehan leaving his scouting notes behind at Colchester.  McNally investigated and produced a dossier which was presented to the Board and led to Gunn's sacking.

As an aside, I have lost total respect for Gunn and switch off whenever Rob Butler has him on Thursday nights and eulogises him as a legend not because of Colchester but because of his repeated insistence since then that he would not have done anything differently.  This was not bad management.  Being bad is no one's fault.  This was careless and inept and should not have happened.