1 Martin Atkinson and Mike Mullarkey had a shocker
I’m not a big fan of slagging off referees after games, it’s often a bit of a cheap shot, but what do you say about Martin Atkinson today and his two assistants today?
In the first half they seemed to miss just about everything. The most obvious incident was the handball from Davide Santon after Kyle Naughton’s cross midway through the first half, which the whole crowd and most of the players saw, but Atkinson and linesman Mike Mullarkey, of 2010 World Cup final fame, didn’t.
World Cups and 4-2 scorelines bring to mind Geoff Hurst’s debatable third goal which crashed off the crossbar in 1966 and came straight down. It’s the same with a handball off the body – if the ball hits the chest or shoulder it bounces out, like when it hits the post. If it hits the underside of the arm it bounces down.
It bounced down from Santon and should have been a penalty.
Later in the second half was the Gutierrez challenge on Naughton, which Atkinson had his back to and Mullarkey didn’t seem interested in.
Before the first goal the sub-standard refereeing threatened to overshadow the game – and it was with a huge slice of irony that Mullarkey decided that Tim Krul had taken the ball over the line to give City a corner, from which Wes Hoolahan scored.
2 We need to talk about Surman
Norwich’s fantastic all round performance against Newcastle was superb and each member of the team did a brilliant job. Err, except one.
Andrew Surman was simply not at the races today, making mistake after mistake in the first half, not tracking back, not getting forward, not knowing where the ball was and not really sure what role he was supposed to play. He reminded me of an awkward man in a lingerie shop looking for a present for his wife late on Christmas Eve.
What are you meant to do when a player has a stinker like Surman? Of course you have to support him, but he was the sole weak link in the City side – and the reaction when he went off from the Carrow Road faithful to be replaced by Bradley Johnson was telling.
Before he went off Surman almost turned the game into Newcastle’s hands on his own – while Zak Whitbread was ultimately dispossessed for Demba Ba’s second goal, it was Surman’s failure to play a simple pass to Marc Tierney that put the American in trouble.
3 Marc Tierney and Gabriel Obertan are two players going in the opposite direction
Tierney’s been superb this season – incredible to think he’s only been at Carrow Road for 11 months - and only Theo Walcott has really shown him up in the top flight this season.
Newcastle’s Obertan is a mysterious player – wafer thin, quick feet and the potential to be an outstanding footballer – but for a Premier League player he has a shocking output in terms of assists and goals.
Both Tierney and Obertan moved clubs this year and are now Premier League regulars, but while Obertan seems to have little influence on games, Tierney is the opposite.
Obertan did one good thing today when he burst through the Norwich defence in the chance that lead to Ba clipping the bar with his right foot volley early in the second half, but apart from that he didn’t get any change out of Tierney who just gets better and better.
Always keen to get forward, keen and competitive, Tierney’s audacious back flick by the Jarrold Stand touchline towards the end, was a cute little touch too.
4 Demba Ba’s first goal was sheer class.
Some things you see at a football ground are missed first time. I was sure that Ba was offside for that first goal, but watching the replay at half-time in the Jarrold Stand concourse I saw for the first time the quality of Yohan Cabaye’s through ball which was as beautiful a chipped pass as David Fox’s Premier League-clinching ball for Simeon Jackson's goal at Fratton Park last May.
Ba’s neat two touches put the ball in the net, but that Cabaye pass was a stunner.
5 The Magpies seem to be have been punching about their weight
A relatively kind run of Premier League fixtures through the autumn has finally ended for Alan Pardew’s men. Throw in some choice injuries and, voila, they start to struggle.
Newcastle’s back four today lacked any centre backs and boy did they find it hard to deal with anything that came into the box. Eleven goals conceded in four games and two red cards as well isn’t good – and while they’ve got a couple of home games against Swansea and West Brom coming up, I think Newcastle and Norwich are not only alphabetical bedfellows in the Premier League, but two teams of about the same standard.
6 Holt and Morison’s goals were Christmas gifts
Well, what do you get if you have players like the two City strikers in the box and give them three free chances to score? Before the game I thought Krul could be a tough keeper to crack – he’s looked so good in the top flight this season – but just like when Swansea’s Michel Vorm came to Carrow Road in October, we suddenly made him look half the man he is. Seven goals past form keepers Krul and Vorm this season is a superb output.
7 Who said Grant Holt couldn’t score in the Premier League?
Before the start of the season I was looking at odds on City players and was astonished to see a quote on the number of goals scored by Holt. The bookies were 10/11 on Holt scoring under or over 5.5 for the season. That was how they rated him – a player who was probably going to score around six goals this season. Given that Holt has started fewer games than many of us thought this campaign – the fact he’s hit half a dozen goals before mid-December is a cracking achievement.
The two goals against Newcastle were unusual in that they weren’t celebrated in the usual way – no tattoo kissing – I guess the Carlisle-born striker has a soft spot for the Magpies?
8 Morison has found his feet and looks every bit the Premier League striker.
I had my doubts in August whether Morison was the real deal – but boy has he improved. If everything Andrew Surman did turned to tripe, everything Morison did came off. His first touch belies his image as a lone, shaven-headed target man – he’s far more than that. He seems to win every header he goes up for, can bring the ball down quickly and knows what to do in every situation. Great to see both Morison and Holt playing together against a team like Newcastle. The Magpies were there for the taking and praise to Paul Lambert who went for the jugular today.
9 Four goals at home in the top flight – remember when that last happened?
Yes it was seven long years ago next month – January 22 2005 when City last hit four at home in the top flight and it was the classic game against Middlesbrough - a game so long ago that Gareth Southgate and Ray Parlour were in the Boro side and Stewart Downing was actually quite good.
The fact that three of City’s goals came in the last ten minutes as they spectacularly clawed back a 4-1 deficit tells you everything about the difference between that Premier League season and this one.
10 No idea what to expect from the next two games
Newcastle at home was the first of three games I thought we could either win or lose and the same goes for the next two games. Everton and Wolves away are big, big games. Six points is possible, as is none. With Spurs and Fulham at home to end December, I’ve no idea what to expect from the remaining four games this year.
Five points would be a fantastic return – but I’ve got a sneaky feeling we’ll beat Everton next Saturday, Fulham and Wolves are beatable and as for Tottenham under the Carrow Road floodlights… you never know!
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