Back down to earth for some but still a well-earned point at the Bet365
There were others who believed that the City team’s 4-0 victory over Hull marked the start of an inevitable climb into the top six and
promotion.
When Ante Crnac struck one into the back of the Stoke net in the last minute of the first half, those same wonderful people most likely
clung firmly to that notion. After all, City appeared ready for another victory after controlling the Potters for forty-five minutes, just as
they did the Tigers two weeks prior.
Subsequently, the beast known as the Championship emerged and forcefully reminded us that nobody tampers with it or takes it for
granted. Nothing should be assumed, much less that they have figured it out and that this is the only route
In actuality, it served as a helpful reminder that, even though we are in a good situation, this young club is still developing and that,
like nearly every other team in this league, it is not without its weaknesses starting at minute 46. There won’t be an easy way out if this
season ends as some of our brethren have been saying for the past two weeks. Not a quick fix.
In this league, every point is earned, and the one that was ultimately secured from the Potteries was just that. Since Norwich’s second
half was so tightly wound, we could have been satisfied if Narcis Pelach’s team had managed to sneak in a winner.
But a point it was after a second period of classic Championship football in which a team that prefers to get the ball down and zip it
around in neat triangles wasn’t allowed by a team that wanted it to be chaotic and succeeded in making it so.
Despite having some talented players and a clearly well-coached team, Stoke can also play. Everything suggests that they will struggle
to move up the ladder and will likely take some major losses along the road, particularly at Bet365.
Stated differently, We won’t be the only team in the top half of the table to lose ground there.
It was disappointing, no doubt about it, but if City had persevered through injury time in the first half, the outcome might have been
quite different. But the challenging few minutes that elapsed between Crnac’s score and the referee’s halftime call was too much for
them to bear.Although George Long seems to have borne the brunt of it—mostly due to his lack of height—it was a chaotic situation
overall. From the way the cross entered too easily to the way Jose Cordoba and Callum Doyle handled it to the way Million Manhoef
was given too much time to choose his position and the way Long seemed to be waiving to someone in the away end. It was all a bit
messy.
We’ve been there before
It made for an uncomfortable second half – one in which Pelac used all of his Norwich City nous to stop them from doing most of the
things they are good at, most pertinently in successfully quelling the threat of Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz.
Notable too was that even before the goal, from the moment Marcelino Munez was forced off with a recurrence of that troublesome
hamstring injury, we ceded our almost complete superiority of the centre of the pitch. That in itself made life difficult.
Kenny McLean went from conductor-in-chief to someone who was spending less time on the ball and more time chasing shadows. And
when Kenny doesn’t click then, invariably, neither does the team.
it became difficult. And with a young team, wrestling back control of a game that’s getting away from you also becomes difficult.
Yet, when they needed to, they dug in, defended stoutly, and did the dirty stuff well. And (*unpopular opinion alert*), Long played well
in the second half and did all required of him to help earn the point, particularly when being alert to dangerous through balls – his
good starting position enabling him to deal well with potential problems
Fair play, George.
That Johannes Hoff Thorup used his full quota of subs probably told the story of a coach who felt it necessary to ring the changes in
order to get at least a point out of the game but also one who was acutely aware of keeping this group as fresh as possible.
His substitutions this time didn’t really make a difference and, if anything, made the team lose its equilibrium. Still, they would have
received praise if one of the replacements had helped the team win late.
That’s life.
Having discussed the things that didn’t go as planned, it might be best to focus on the things that did go well—which was, for the most
part, everything—in the first half of the event.
Anis Ben Slimane was at his best for 45 minutes, displaying his muscular presence in the middle along with some wonderful touches
and sharp passes. Crnac also gets better every game and will gain a great deal from the goal.
It turns out that: 1) Andy H correctly called the goal in his preview; and 2) Glenn Ridersholm’s quiet remark to Crnac earlier in the
week appears to have been crucial in helping him score.
Bravo to you both.
Thus, a point. Excellent one. And a brief instruction to those whose heads had vanished into the sky.
There will be an abundance of these in the future. Perhaps even another on Tuesday evening.
However, things at the club are still good. That is unaffected by the oddly apathetic performance.
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