Two away wins in the space of a week: we should know better than to take that for granted.
Even the manner in which we secured the wins against Watford and Portsmouth should be seen in a positive light. Whilst in both games we regressed in the second half, that shouldn’t be surprising one week into a season with a new coaching staff and a bunch of new players.
It always takes teams time to get the ‘in-possession’ part of the game right when significant changes are made. It’s not unambitious or making excuses to say that it should be expected for the first couple of months to be a work-in-progress.
What matters is picking up solid points along the way and building a team spirit to hold us in good stead.
That’s what we did against Portsmouth. It wasn’t always pretty, but – as many have already said – that was the type of situation in which we would have completely crumbled last season.
It was pleasing that some of the new recruits were instrumental in the rear-guard effort.
I suspect Vladan Kovačevic will never be the ‘steady Eddie’ goalkeeper that some would prefer, especially under aerial bombardment, but there’s a reason why he has been so highly rated in the past and you saw that yesterday. The best goalies are able to pull off saves in the crucial moments and Kovačevic has that trait.
Jakov Medić fronted up well to the pressure Portsmouth applied after some unconvincing moments in his first two games. It frustrates me how some fans make instant decisions on players, especially when they are new to English football. An adjustment period should be expected for Medić, although playing alongside the calming presence of Harry Darling hopefully will speed that process up.
In contrast, Mirko Topić has taken to the Championship like a duck to water. He has all the attributes you could want in a deeper-lying midfielder, combative but calm and composed on the ball.
The only real blemishes on the day were the injury to Marcelino Núñez and the reckless manner in which Kellen Fisher gave away the penalty. Both topics – the latter on the Fisher-Stacey debate – will be the subject of blog posts in the coming days.
For now, everyone should enjoy getting our first win on the board and look forward to what another week on the training pitches can bring to our performance at Carrow Road against Middlesborough next Saturday.



Leave a comment