David Cuffley Manager Glenn Roeder insisted last night he was not troubled by calls for his dismissal from sections of the Carrow Road crowd, arguing: “I've been in the game too long.

David Cuffley

Manager Glenn Roeder insisted last night he was not troubled by calls for his dismissal from sections of the Carrow Road crowd, arguing: “I've been in the game too long.”

The 3-2 defeat by Nottingham Forest brought the first direct chants of “Roeder out” from City's home fans in his 14-month reign.

But the defiant City boss said: “The expectation levels now and the hype that surrounds professional football have never been greater and the wonderful thing about football is that we are all allowed to have our own opinion.

“But one thing that has changed over the last 10 years or so is that most supporters think they are good judges. I haven't got a problem with that either, but they watch so much football on the television, they listen to all the clever people that have never been brave enough or good enough to try management and they suddenly think they're experts.

“But I never ever, ever, ever worry about anything like that.

“Today they got frustrated and they deserve to get frustrated because we didn't play to the levels I know we can and we have shown, so that's life.

“There are worse things in life than a football crowd's reaction. You have to be men, you have to stand up and be counted.

“I would have to say that there were periods in the game when, had I been one of our supporters, I'd have got frustrated as well. I think the crowd here is fantastic - over 25,000 and I thought they were very good and when we had periods when we did get on top they got behind us. When we had periods where we didn't play so well, obviously they let the players know their feelings.

“I haven't got a problem with that and nor have the players. The players fully understand that. They know they have to play well to keep the crowd onside.”

Two defeats in three days over Christmas have left City a perilous 20th in the Championship table.

“We've missed a lot of opportunities in the past few months to put daylight between ourselves and the bottom three,” said Roeder.

“We have really thrown away points and we've done that again today. It's frustrating, it's annoying but you have to keep working hard on the training ground and you have to keep the players believing in themselves.

“Generally speaking they have had an off day - they're players, they're humans.

“But they accept the responsibility that they earn their living in the public eye.”