Norwich vs Bournemouth (Away) 10th January 2015

[Canaryboy]

Wow. Bournemouth and the referee did their best, but it sound like Alex Neil was right in the thick of it with the game management after the red card. Outstanding stuff.

So did he come down from the stands or was he hooked up by wire / phone to the dugout, does anybody know? Or was he just an observer for today?

 

[RhythmicTheory]

It said on radio norfolk he was in directors box first half, but was down by the pitch most of the second, from when the sending off occurred.

 

[Canaryboy]

Suddenly it looks pretty tight at the top, if we can be the team that hits some momentum who knows what will happen.

You're right, it does.

The next 7 or 8 games are going to be massive, if we can go on a good run then we have it all to play for and could get ourselves back into contention for automatic. Don't want to get ahead of myself, but I don't think we have anything to be afraid of from our next 7 or 8 games. 

Wolves at home and Brentford at home are big games. Would be nice if we could make up some ground with Ipswich before we do the double over them on 1st March.

 

[splutcho]

There is only one negative today, and that is that there will be an influx of tools, thinking they're hilarious and photoshopping Alex Neil's face on that scene from the Wolf of Wall Street. Not seen that one before. Hur Hur.

In all seriousness. That's the sort of thing that usually happens against us. I can't believe it. OTBC.

 

[Killiecanary]

Am I dreaming?

Did we just see the mythical Plan B?

Just listened to s interview on Radio Snorefolk....like this very much.

Now 3 home games put of 4... We could be right back in this in a month!

 

[Yellow Fever]

Most of the people above us we have yet to play at home, baring Middlesborough our record is good this season.

Yes, Bournemouth and Watford are the only ones and the worst of those is now gone in the best of ways!  

 

[Din]

This is the absolutely perfect opportunity to go on a run now. We will not have any better chance all season than from this game onwards. Ipswich and Bournemouth both losing could signal the fact that their momentum from the start of the season is beginning to run out. Watford are on a bit of a poor run, Brentford have been inconsistant recently. We have a new man in charge, and after that win confidence must be higher than it has been at any stage this season. We have home games against the majority of the teams above us, the only exception being Watford (and Bournemouth who we've already played twice, and taken 4 points from),add to that the fact that we now have a run of fixtures where we could take a significant amount of points. Cardiff, Brentford, Blackpool and Wolves at home, with Birmingham and Charlton away. If we can now get at least 14 points out of a possible 18, which I don't think is particularly unreasonable or unrealistic, then we could find ourselves in very good shape, with a lot of momentum going into some difficult games against Watford, Blackburn and Ipswich. There is also the January transfer window. Where we have the perfect chance to strengthen in certain parts of the pitch even further, especially if we can keep hold of key players. As I said, we won't get a better chance all season to propel ourselves as far up the table as we can. No pressure Alex.

But of course, let's not get carried away 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

There is only one negative today, and that is that there will be an influx of tools, thinking they're hilarious and photoshopping Alex Neil's face on that scene from the Wolf of Wall Street. Not seen that one before. Hur Hur.

In all seriousness. That's the sort of thing that usually happens against us. I can't believe it. OTBC.

Forgive my ignorance. I have seen said film but have no idea what you're talking about  :blush:    google hasnt helped either...  Put me out of my misery

 

[splutcho]

Forgive my ignorance. I have seen said film but have no idea what you're talking about  :blush:    google hasnt helped either...  Put me out of my misery

Basically they put the managers face on this picture:

With the caption "Alex Neil going into work tomorrow" or "Norwich fans at work tomorrow".

I laughed the first time, but someone does it every time we win a game. Usually the same guy too!

 

[Din]

As much of Alex Neil will get a fair bit of credit today, for coming down from the stands after Howson was sent off, and making what turned out to be a crucial change by putting Jerome out on the left, rather than take him off and bring on someone more familiar with that position (such as Lafferty or Murphy). However I think a huge amount of credit has to go to Phelan and Holt today. I imagine it was them that picked the team today, and the team they picked was perfect. Turner came in and was absolutely solid, and the decision to change the formation from the diamond that we'd seen in recent away games, to a 4-4-2, with Redmond also coming back in, was brilliant, and worked really well. We started the game much better than Bournemouth did, and their goal was really against the run of play. I'm very pleased that both of them will stay on despite the change in manager.

I think we also have to give the players credit as well. After Adams departure you'd expect morale to be low. However they went out there and outplayed the league leaders up until their goal. Also going 1-0 down against top of the league, they could've easily folded, but they went out and got the equaliser. We then went down to 10 men, and the players could be thinking that it's not gonna be their day. However, they dug in, didn't allow heads to drop, and ended up winning the game because of it.

 

[Canaryboy]

I'd like to give Eddie Howe some credit for this quote: "My team did not show enough balls", made me chuckle, and this is the type of straight talking and honesty that I hope we will see from Alex Neil, instead of what we had to put up with from Hughton and Adams where "luck" and "fine margins" or a refereeing decision are the reasons for failure.

 

[Baggie192]

What a great result, congratulations

 

[TA Canary]

After the disappointments of Reading and Preston it's easy to miss that we're actually on a very good run of form in the league right now - 4W1D1L.

We don't even need to improve, keeping this form to the end of the season could be enough for automatic promotion.

Trying hard not to get carried away, but the future is looking bright!

 

[Yellow Fever]

Alex Neil is fortunate to be coming into a healthy situation, certainly, but he's also done well to acknowledge that and the role of Mike Phelan and Gary Holt in yesterday's result. These next 4 games, only one of which is away could be crucial for our chances this season. You get the feeling that Neil is champing at the bit to get going next week. Exciting times!

 

[It's Character Forming]

Fantastic performance and result

Great to see the new manager effect going our way for a change!

 

[Andy]

These were the scenes at the final whistle ... brilliant day out.

 

[crabbycanary]

It's always good to see things like that Andy, but who is the older guy (about 47 secs in) who doesn't look overly impressed, and is not clapping? Was he the first caller on Radio Norfolk?

 

[eatonparkboy]

Only just managed to see the goals and read the BBC report.

What was the game and more importantly our performance like? Obviously it was Phelan/Holt who picked the side but obviously AN had input particularly after the Howson sending off.

The line up looked similar to recent weeks so was the performance much as everyone expected?

 

[eatonparkboy]

I've just viewed the highlights on YouTube and noticed, at about 2min 6secs that as Bournemouth attack on our left before the cross comes in, Bradley appears to be doing the Hornpipe. I assume this is to keep his arms out of the way in case of a possible hand ball.

It is strange how certain things have invaded the game and players are having to adapt. Its difficult to believe that a player would alter his stance or attitude for fear of something happening.