Paul Lambert talks about Colchester 7-1 Horror show
Norwich City’s 7-1 defeat by Colchester on the opening day of the season hit the club much harder than anyone expected, according to manager Paul Lambert.
Lambert, who was still in charge of the U’s when they pulled off their remarkable victory at Carrow Road four weeks ago, before he switched jobs, said the result had been a crushing blow to Norwich - but praised the players for their response, winning both his league games in charge before today’s visit of Walsall.
He said: “Considering we’ve only been here a short space of time, the players have done great. You’ve got to remember, before we came, in the club was getting criticised from right, left and centre. It was getting beaten up since the Colchester game.
“The Colchester game probably hurt this football club more than a lot of people thought, but I knew that would happen because of the size of the club that’s here.
“You just don’t get beaten that heavily and think it’s going to blow over. It was always going to be a heavy downfall but they’ve responded absolutely brilliantly.
“The lads have done it themselves. The lads have produced it. They’re the ones that deserve the most credit for what’s happened.”
Lambert said he was beginning to get an idea of his best line-up.
“You do tend to get a feel for what lads will be round about it, so you have a rough idea,” he said. “But it’s the shape of the team that’s important to me. I think if you can grasp that and the personnel can get a grip, we’ll be fine.”
There will be further opportunities to assess the younger members of his squad when City Reserves begin their campaign on Tuesday night after being re-admitted to the Totesport.com Combination East, with Southend United visiting Carrow Road (7.30pm).
“I think it is important for the younger ones,” said Lambert. “The young lads need to be playing against men, they need to step up a little bit from their own age group. It’s important to get them involved in that and I hope that’s what will happen.
“That’s what I’m looking for - for the younger ones to step up and see if they can play at a little bit higher level than they’re used to.
“If you look at the squad, a lot of them are young and haven’t kicked a ball in earnest in first team football, so you can’t really turn round and say it’s a big squad for experience because it’s not.
“The young ones have done great. How long we will get that throughout the season you don’t know because young ones tend to fluctuate with their form. And the younger lads who are nowhere near it need to play some reserve team football.”
Atricle by Evening news 24
