Deja Vu

To give a topical example, the match at Carrow Road on Sunday was very much a case of d�j� vu.

Once again City had only two fit centre halves, and three injured centre halves sitting booted and suited in the stands, two of them still hobbling on crutches.

Once again City played well, passed the ball around, created openings, but lacked the final cutting edge in front of goal and failed to cause real problems for the opposition goalkeeper.

Once again the City defence made a simple error and were punished for it. In only the third minute De Laet and Rudd hesitated, seemingly unable to decide which of them should take the responsibility of clearing the ball. West Brom’s speedy winger Peter Odemwingie (with his bleached hair making him look like a cross between Harpo Marx after a haircut and Michael Jackson on a bad hair day) did not hesitate. He nipped in like a blond streak between the two defenders and scored.

Once again City conceded a soft penalty. Morison was harshly adjudged to have fouled Steven Reid in the Norwich box. Reid made the most of it with a theatrical dive, and the ref pointed to the spot. Norwich hearts were in their mouths, but Rudd dived to his right and superbly turned Odemwingie’s penalty round the post.

Once again the opposition proved to be better than us at time wasting, conning the referee, and diving. Or as some people would call it, being “professional”.

Once again the officials seemed to playing for and with the opposition. I thought Mark Halsey was supposed to be a good referee. But both he and his assistants seemed to ignore our appeals for free kicks and award contentious decisions to the Baggies. And how the ref, two assistant referees, and one fourth official missed Gabriel Tamas’ deliberate elbow in James Vaughan’s face is beyond comprehension. Tamas looked round, took aim deliberately, and hit Vaughan smack in the face, splitting his lip so badly that he will require plastic surgery. I hope Norwich will press charges in court. My solicitor advises that a good case could be made for common assault, or even actual or serious bodily harm.

Once again City are licking their wounds, feeling aggrieved that they did not gain the point at least which they probably deserved from this game.

Once again the dreaded Rail Replacement Services played havoc with the Capital Canaries Travel arrangements.

And finally, one thing happened on Sunday which is definitely not d�j� vu. City have now lost two league games in a row in the same season for the very first time under Paul Lambert’s managership.

Here endeth the French lesson. Sunday was a disappointing day all round for all Canary fans. We have now fallen to 17th in the Premier League, and travel to Bolton on Saturday with only two points to our name after four games. If you are the sort of person who thinks that the glass is half empty, then you would argue that we are not scoring enough goals, we are conceding too many soft goals, we are giving away too many penalties, and our squad is being found wanting.

But if like me you believe that the same glass is half full, then you know that our players are rapidly adjusting to the demands of the Premier League, that we will have at least two goalkeepers to choose from next week, that every week sees our injured players nearer to fitness, that our players have proved their quality over the last two years, that our luck will change soon and we will put on the board the points that our performances have merited, that we have not so far been outclassed by any of our opponents, that we have a superb management team, and that very soon we will complete a game without conceding a penalty!

The future is bright..the future is yellow (and green). Next up Bolton, Sunderland and MUFC. I have it on good authority that Wayne Rooney is so frightened of playing the mighty yellows that his hair is falling out....