Chelsea 3 Norwich 1: Ten things we now know

1 That was the most expensive game of football involving Norwich I’ve ever been to

I sat, well stood, in the Shed Lower and paid £47. Only the 11 minutes of added time at the end of the game for Didier Drogba’s injury took the average cost of the game under 50p a minute. I haven’t been that concerned at paying that kind of fee per minute since ringing those 0898 numbers in my teens!

2 Chelsea’s team won’t win the title with their tired old squad.
While Florent Malouda started well and Jose Bosingwa scored a cracking early opener, the rest of the Chelsea players were really poor. In particular Drogba, Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard and John Terry were shockingly average. Romelu Lukaku, a player I’ve seen in the flesh for Anderlecht a couple of times and Juan Mata did more to impress in their brief time on the pitch than Torres and Drogba. The Ivory Coast striker hit a couple of early free-kicks well over the bar, but as for Torres? He was simply not even a threat.

3 Chelsea’s fans really are a letdown
All the atmosphere today came from the 3,000 odd Canaries. Chelsea, despite their lovely stadium, awesome footballers and mega bucks really have some funny old supporters. They contributed nothing in terms of songs or banter during the game and I never realised Stamford Bridge was so quiet. Their fans certainly thought they had to just turn up to beat City today and from the ones I spoke to one the way out, they seemed really impressed by us and, in particular, Grant Holt. A trip to Chelsea is a bit of a culture shock, I did smile to myself when I saw a stretch limo parked next to one of the Cabbage coaches on the Fulham Road on the way out!

4 Grant Holt is gaining quite a reputation
Pat Nevin singled him out in the match programme, some of the Chelsea fans on the way home were asking who that ‘big striker was’ and Match of the Day viewers will see Grant Holt score a Premier League goal on the telly tonight.
He put in a fantastic shift today, he looks trimmer, fitter and faster than ever before and the desire he shows in a City shirt is both totally awesome and totally appreciated. Brilliant goal, great celebration and I’m really thrilled for him that he scored today.

5 Steve Morison is strong and physical, but I just can’t see him scoring
I want to give big Steve the benefit of the doubt but I just don’t have the same faith when he’s on the ball as I do with Holty. He put himself about a bit when he came on and had a couple of good chances to break. He probably should have done better when he and John Terry ran through on goal together but the England skipper nicked the ball off him with relative ease. I can see why he came on but given Chelsea’s speed at the back, I think I’d far rather have seen Simeon Jackson given a run out.

6 Bradley Johnson and Andrew Crofts were immense once again.
Paul Lambert opted to start with these two in midfield with Wes Hoolahan pushed further and Kyle Naughton out on the right. Johnson , in particular, was everywhere again and he’s doing well to keep David Fox out of the team. When you look at Chelsea’s midfield with the hatchet man that is Ramires, I think City have got their own version in Johnson. Lambert is quickly learning the importance of players like this in the Premier League and both Crofts and Johnson were solid.

7 Our defence can keep teams in their pocket – but only for so long
OK, forget the early Bosingwa goal. Apart from that and until John Ruddy was sent off, out back four were really strong, with Ritchie De Laet really standing out as a composed and measured defender. Drogba and Torres didn’t get a sniff in the whole game and De Laet really does seem to be a solid defender. He communicates well with Ruddy and the rest of the back four and has a good burst of pace. I’m starting to become a big fan.

8 Two red cards in two games – how many are we going to rack up this season?
Same old story as Stoke really. We were genuinely in with a shout of taking something big from a game and then a red card turned it against us. Against Stoke we played most of the second half with ten men and same again today. As soon as Ruddy went, it was always going to be a struggle. So what’s the answer? Well I don’t think there is one. Things are supposed to even themselves out in football, but we’ve had precious little luck from the referees so far.

9 We’re still giving silly fouls away around the edge and in the box
Three games and three penalties conceded and it doesn’t take a genius to see a trend developing, but there were other free kicks, particularly early on that Chelsea seemed to win that could have cost us. Thankfully for us Drogba was on the other end of them and most of them sailed well over the bar. Premier League players go down with just the slightest of touches and Chelsea’s players know just how to win them. The Blues could have benefited from them, as could Stoke last Sunday. Better teams than Stoke, and indeed Chelsea, will really punish us if we keep giving away cheap free-kicks

10 But we’re also starting to win them too
Holt , in particular, seems to be picking up the knack of winning decisions that in reality are simply 50/50 calls. Mark Hughes was a master at this 20 years ago and Holt, with his back to goal, is managing to get the rub of the green. Against Stoke and Chelsea it seemed that early on referees didn’t want to award anything to Holt, but as the games both got to the later stages, he seemed to win more. Perhaps referees are giving defenders a couple of fouls before clamping down. It’ll be interesting to see how Holt gets on at West Brom. I’ll be watching with interest to see just how many times he can get us into a decent position around the box by winning a cheap decision.

Perfect time for Norwich to play Chelsea

Norwich City fans could be forgiven for a certain amount of floor gazing and head scratching this week after the last minute disaster against Stoke and the Carling Cup whipping from MK Dons.
And, if expected, Norwich succumb to defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, I for one, think it could be a defining week in the club's season.

The Stoke game was a harsh lesson in Premier League life. Referees are far stricter in the top flight with the pressure to get things right immense and City have far from had the rub of the green so far.

Two penalties conceded in two games and a red card too show City may need to be more cautious when they face Chelsea. But even an expected big defeat could be a good thing for the club right now.

This is the last game before the transfer window closes and if the first two Premier League games have taught Paul Lambert anything it's that City lack a cutting edge in midfield.

Lambert's about to spend 90 minutes watching frank Lampard and he's exactly the sort of player Norwich need, someone to really take a hold of things around the edge of the box.

While Bradley Johnson and Andrew Crofts did a sound if unspectacular job across the midfield against Stoke, I think City need someone to drive them forward and attack the opposition - someone a bit like Lampard, or indeed, like Wes Hoolahan.

Whether Lambert feels that Hoolahan doesn't have the strength to patrol a Premier League midfield against a physical side like Stoke certainly throws open the question as to whether we need to sign someone else.

Like I said on Sunday, if PL doesn't fancy Wes at home to Stoke because they're a tough physical side then we can kiss goodbye to seeing him figure in more than half the games this season.

I fully expect Chelsea to comprehensively beat Norwich on Saturday. We've lost our last three games there 4-0 and haven't scored at Stamford Bridge since 1993.

What I hope, though, is that playing Chelsea now underlines just what we need in our starting elevens for the rest of the season.

In an ideal world we will get taught a football lesson on Saturday and the board would dip their hands in their pockets for Lambert to go out and sign an adventurous midfielder before the deadline next week.

I know football doesn't quite work like that, but hopefully playing Chelsea on Saturday will give us an idea of what our weaknesses are and, with a 15-day break before the next game against West Brom, it'll give him time to get things right.

Norwich 1 Stoke 1: Ten things we now know

I've dispensed with regular boring match reports after the Norwich City games I go to this season and will be writing a list instead, like one of my favourite sportswriters, Peter King.

American Football journalist King writes for Sports Illustrated and files his Monday Morning Quarterback column after the weekend NFL games. One of the best bits, is his ‘Things We Now Know’ section which is his observation of what happened in that week’s action.

In an ode to the legendary king, here are my ten things we now know from this afternoon’s Premier League clash with Stoke.

1 – Premier League, we are back!
Perfect bound programme for £3.50, flashy electronic advertising and new seats in just about every spare bit of space, Carrow Road was really rocking today. Is it fit for Premier League football? Well, when you consider we had more fans at today’s game than Bolton did against Manchester City, then yes it is.

2 – John Ruddy had almost a perfect 90 minutes.
Man of the match? Quite right. Not that much to do early on but came into the game big time on 28 minutes with a great save from Matthew Etherington. Didn’t have much else to do in the first half but came into his own in the second half. An excellent penalty save, and a superb tip over from a dangerous free-kick, Ruddy is good enough for the Premier League. Deserved a clean sheet and unlucky not to have got one.

3 – Grant Holt will be able to trick Premier League referees.
The game was only a minute or so old when Jonathan Woodgate conceded the first of many free-kicks to Grant Holt. He may have made a habit of it in League One and the Championship and today we saw that he really is worth at least half a dozen free kicks from pretty dangerous positions. Seven years ago this week Woodgate was signing for Real Madrid while Grant Holt was playing for Rochdale.
Now they’re equal and I felt Holt had the measure of him today. Ryan Shawcross did better against Holt and the two came close to blows at a corner late on.

4 – Wes Hoolahan may only play 15 league games this season.
If Paul Lambert feels that he can’t field a skillful play-maker like Hoolahan in a game like this against a physical Stoke side then we may not see that much of Wes this season. Stoke had six behind the ball for most of the game and players like Dean Whithead and Glen Whelan are unspectacular but solid midfielders. Plenty of Premier League sides have players like them and as much as we love Wes at Carrow Road, it could be time to face up to the fact that he fast becoming a luxury player for Norwich.

5 – Bradley Johnson has been Lambert’s best summer signing.
I was as surprised as the next man when Norwich signed Johnson on a free transfer from Leeds, but after watching him against Gorleston I was pleasantly surprised. Sure that was just a friendly, but today I thought he was just what we needed – an enforcer ahead of the centre halfs. He didn’t put a foot wrong and pulled off a couple of nice moves too. David Fox certainly has a better range of passing, but Johnson offers far more security.

6 – Ritchie De Laet could become a cult hero at Carrow Road.
Not since Gary Doherty has Norwich had a player like De Laet at the club. He runs with his arms on the ground, has a face that would be perfect for radio and has an eye for goal. His opener today was brilliant – watch it again on Match of the Day Two tonight and you’ll see the perfect dummy run for the opener that gave him the space for that header. He was good at the other end too, and looking at the table tonight, he’s done more than most to earn those two valuable points so far.

7 – Pilkington and Bennett are going to be key players this season.
Home debuts for both and while Bennett was key in earning the free-kick from which De Laet scored, it was Pilkington down the left who caught my eye, certainly in the opening 25 minutes when the game was rather chess-like. He’s got some pace and pops in a sweet cross. He is one player I could certainly get used to watching more of in a yellow shirt.

8 – Chris Martin played today like it was January 2007.
There’s not much to recall about the second half of the 2006/07 season apart from the emergence of Chris Martin around the time of the Blackpool cup replay under Peter Grant. Martin was a fresh face that season and today it was a surprise that he started the game. He put in an excellent show, had a couple of cracks at goal and to all intents was like having a fresh face in the City squad. Only a few weeks ago he was linked with a move to Barnsley,

but today he showed that he’s certainly worth a place on the bench in any Premier League game.

9 Stoke didn’t honestly deserve to nick a late winner.
Any Stoke fans reading this, I am sure you will agree that you were lucky to get a point. Norwich fans know we were lucky last season to score so many late goals and, although the goal was coming for the last ten minutes, I thought Stoke’s attitude after Leon Barnett’s red card was a bit strange. Sure Tony Pulis knows what he’s going and Stoke really are a model for Norwich in terms of top flight resilience, but I was surprised he didn’t opt for a more attacking shape. Nobody stood out in a Stoke shirt today, the likes of Jermaine Pennant and Matthew Etherington were kept quiet, the front two had off games and I think they’ll struggle to match the heights of last season. I’m sure they’d have taken a point at Carrow Road before the game, but they really should have come and taken all three – just what were they scared of?

10 – Barnett and Ayala passed their tests against Stoke’s battering rams.
Elliot Ward and Zak Whitbread were the preferred pairing in central defence towards the end of last season after Barnett’s injury against Stoke, but today it was Barnett who was first charged with marking the handful that is Kenwyne Jones. I thought Barnett did well, but to be fair, I’ve seen Jones have better games. Ayala came on following Barnett’s dismissal and didn’t let anyone down. I’ve already praised De Laet, and feel that our defence isn’t actually as bad as certain sections of the media think.

How Norwich have fared on the opening day in the top flight

Here we go then.
103 days since Simeon Jackson’s goal at Fratton Park put Norwich in the top flight, it’s finally time to sit back and watch Norwich City’s fifth Premier League campaign unfold before our eyes over the next nine months.
This afternoon’s game against Wigan kicks off Norwich’s 22nd top flight season and in the previous 21 games, Norwich can boast that they’ve won more than they’ve lost with eight victories, six draws and seven defeats. Norwich have won eight times on the opening day in the top flight, which have come in two bursts. After drawing with Everton on their First Division debut in 1972, Norwich lost the next three opening day games, before beating West Ham 3-1 at Upton Park in August 1977. That started a run of fine opening day performances. City beat Southampton at Carrow Road the following year, pulled off a fine 4-2 win at Everton in August 1979 and beat Stoke 5-1 in August 1980. Twenty five years ago this August Norwich had their only opening day goalless draw against Chelsea and two years later started another run of four wins in five opening day gamesThe last of these came on the opening day of the Premier League season in 1992/93 when Norwich came from 2-0 down at half-time to win 4-2. Since then, Norwich’s three other Premier League opening day games have seen just one point out of nine won and that was seven years ago when Darren Huckerby’s goal helped City to a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.
This season should be a cracker. Many pundits and pros initially said Norwich would go straight back down before recently changing their mind. My prediction? We’ll make loads of friends, play some great football and beat Manchester United at home and Arsenal away. We’ll finish 14th and start building for a second season in the top flight. But my big prediction this season is that it will be Paul Lambert’s last at the club.

Norwich’s opening day fixtures in the top flight:

72-73 Everton, home, 1-1

73-74 Wolves, away, 1-3

75-76 Man City, away, 0-3

76-77 Liverpool, away, 0-1

77-78 West Ham, away, 3-1

78-79 Southampton, home, 3-1

79-80 Everton, away, 4-2

80-81 Stoke City, home, 5-1

82-83 Man City, home, 1-2

83-84 Sunderland, away, 1-1

84-85 Liverpool, home, 3-3

86-87 Chelsea, away, 0-0

87-88 Everton, away, 0-1

88-89 Nottingham Forest, home, 2-1

89-90 Sheff Wed, away, 2-0

90-91, Sunderland, home, 3-2

91-92, Sheffield United, home, 2-2

92-93, Arsenal, away, 4-2

93-94, Man United, home, 0-2

94-95, Chelsea, away, 0-2

04-05, Crystal Palace, home, 1-1

P W D L F A

21 8 6 7 36 32

Irish eyes could be smiling on ‘Go-To’ Hoolahan in Norwich’s Premier League season

Grant Holt, Paul Lambert and Delia Smith have hogged plenty of Norwich City’s headlines since The Canaries remarkable upward ascent began in August 2009, but it’s diminutive midfield maestro Wes Hoolahan who is set to be the star of Norwich’s first Premier League season in six years.
The all-action Norwich number 14 has made the attacking midfield slot his own in three seasons at Carrow Road and last season was the best exponent at playing in that key position at the front tip of the midfield diamond in the Championship.
The last decade in the Premier League has seen team use central midfielders in a variety of roles. Didier Deschamps was the archetypal Water Carrier (as named by Eric Cantona), that no frills midfielder who broke up play and got the ball moving forward. Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieria followed in a similar role, Newcastle’s Chiek Tiote excelled in the same role last season.
Norwich boss Lambert was quick to recruit Bradley Johnson from Leeds to fill that role, and another Lambert signing, David Fox, is the man who fills the Quarterback role for Norwich.
We’ve recently seen the emergence of the that role named after the key man in American football – with Tom Huddlestone and Paul Scholes a good example of a QB (a term first coined in football by Harry Redknapp) – the midfielder who sprays passes around from deep and rarely gets forward.
But the role Hoolahan plays is, to borrow another phrase from the American sporting vernacular, the ‘Go To’ guy.
This is the role that Lionel Messi and Luka Modric execute week in week out. They’re the players that the ball is off-loaded to around the edge of the box when things need to happen.
In American football the quarterback will look for this Go To man when there’s nothing else on or if he’s pressurised and just as Messi is for Barcelona and Modric is for Spurs, Hoolahan will be for Norwich.
Under Paul Lambert, for whom he originally played at Livingston in 2006/07, Hoolahan has become the most inspirational player for Norwich during the last three seasons. It is expected he will see plenty of time on the ball in the forthcoming season and, while Norwich fans may dub him ‘Lionel Wessi’ in honour of his importance to the side, there is genuine optimism that he could also rekindle his international career with Ireland with a season in football’s elite league.
It’s all a far cry from the summer of 2008 when Hoolahan signed for Norwich from Blackpool in a £250,000 switch that saw promising Canaries’ keeper Matt Gilks go the other way. Hoolahan made his debut for Glenn Roeder’s City at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena in August 2008 and of the 13 other Canaries on duty that day, only Hoolahan is still at the club.
He’d recently made his Ireland debut too, coming on as a late substitute in a friendly against Colombia at Craven Cottage, which was Giovanni Trapattoni’s first match in charge.
While Hoolahan’s international future looked bright back then, he has been overlooked by Trap ever since and failed to make it back into the Irish squad since.
On paper, former Juve boss Trap’s decision looks sound. Hoolahan has played in three different divisions for Norwich since that international debut.
The 2008/09 season ended for Hoolahan in March 2009. He was far from influential in the first half of the season as Roeder’s team, made up of too many short-term loan signings to have any consistency about them, floundered with relegation.
When Bryan Gunn took over in January 2009, Hoolahan burst into life, scoring twice at Carrow Road in Gunn’s first two games in charge. Those goals were his first two in a Norwich shirt, the second against Southampton was an absolute cracker. Sadly for Norwich and for Hoolahan, his season ended in mid-March with injury. He watched on helplessly as Norwich were relegated to League One.
His next Carrow Road appearance was in the infamous 7-1 defeat to Colchester which spelt the end for Gunn at the club. Reunited with Lambert, Hoolahan has appeared as the most advanced player in a midfield diamond for the club for the last two seasons with spectacular results.
He’s bagged 21 league goals in two seasons and proved to be a crucial influence on City. Any Canaries fan who saw Hoolahan in action last season will tell you he’s the perfect complement to the more pedestrian Fox. Displays towards the end of the season were most noteworthy for the sight of Hoolahan’s thick mop of hair (he vowed not to cut it while City were on such a good run of form) flowing as he twisted and turned in midfield in order to find space.
Last season there were the occasional stunning moments – the goal against Leicester and the festive treble against Sheffield United – mixed in with the frustrating – the agonising missed penalty at home to Preston, but it was his overall work ethic that really stood out.
He made the Championship team of the season and finished third in the club’s player of the season voting, but there is little doubt that Norwich will look to Hoolahan to inspire them in this coming season.
At Carrow Road he’ll drive the team forward but it’s on the road where he could come into his own. If Lambert opts to play five across the middle, as so many teams of Norwich’s stature do, that could mean Fox and Johnson both utilised as the Water Carrier and the Quarterback.
Go To Wes would be the man to pick the lock of those Premier League defences and, who knows, perhaps at the end of the season he’ll be a part of Ireland’s Euro 2012 plans, should they qualify.
As if to remind Trapattoni of Hoolahan’s quality, Norwich will play some of those away games in their newly designed away kit of green shirts and white shorts that looks just like the Republic of Ireland’s strip.