Norwich Defeat: Reaction

Blackpool lost 3-1 to a decent Norwich side after goals from Dion Dublin (2) and Martin Taylor. On loan Bart Slusarski scored the 'Pool effort.

Dublin's opener was a free run at goal from a corner, which needs to be rectified, otherwise we'll continue to conceed soft goals.

Bart's goal was a deflection, and fortuntate by all accounts - who says we don't get any luck?

Taylor's header for their second was from a corner as well. Shocking defending and the header found the corner.

Then we were awarded a dubious penalty after Welsh took a tumble. Hoolahan missed, typical of his personal performance, and the ball was cleared after a poor rebound.

In stoppage time, Dublin had time to slot home a well constructed counter attack. However, the veteran shouldn't have been on the pitch, as he saw yellow instead of red for a two footed lunge on goalkeeper Paul Rachubka in the first half.

So The Seasiders have now only won once in 13 league games, which is clearly not good enough; what's going wrong?

We were beaten by the better side on Tuesday, to put it bluntly. Norwich came with a clear game plan - keep the ball and frustrate the opposition, a game plan they carried out very well. Our frantic attacking was poor to say the least, with no end product all game, largely down to the ineffective nature of Hoolahan's performance. It shouldn't be up to Wes every single game to produce that bit of magic; we need more match winners in our ranks.

I felt we were doing ok until the substitutions, which ultimately lost the game for us. When Andy Welsh came on for Taylor-Fletcher and Parker for Bart, it was obvious that our whole attacking impetus - although not brilliant even then - was lost.

The decision to bring Welsh on was the correct one, with the penalty award clear justification, however I'm still not sure why GTF was the one to be replaced? Tuesday was his best game in a tangerine shirt as he looked menacing all night long. Bart was also hauled off, for what, making himself a nuisance to the opposing defence?

My personal opinion at the time, which hasn't changed, is that GTF should've been pushed up front alongside the Slush with Welsh replacing the ineffectual Andy Morrell (who I'm afraid to say isn't cut out for this division) and playing right wing, moving Wes onto the left.

Instead we were left with an out of sorts Parker alongside a knackered Morrell - not the most imposing force is it?

Larry has spend a large chunk of the last two weeks bemoaning refereeing decisions, which is fine and justified, but when it came to doing his job properly, he fluffed it, just like Mr Williamson did on Saturday!

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