THE TUCKSTER on last night’s Carling Cup defeat at the hands of those pesky MK Dons.
Originally I hadn`t intended to go to this match and it follows that I didn`t intend to be writing a report on it either.
I don`t like the early matches in the Carling Cup – they are large banana skins to trip the unwary. If you`re a smaller team then it gives you a great chance to have a go at the bigger clubs. If you`re a bigger club you find yourself in a lose-lose situation.
Should you win handsomely then it`s just a professional display. Should you lose then it`s humiliating. Should you lose heavily then it can be embarrassing.
And that`s exactly what we got against MK Dons on Tuesday night at Carrow Road.
As I say, I wasn`t going to go but my wife suggested a family night out. Cheap tickets, school holidays etc made sense I thought, but I was still wary.
Paul Lambert made eleven changes to the side that drew with Stoke. Aaron Wilbraham started against his old club with Simeon Jackson up front. A midfield of Surman, Hoolahan, Fox and Korey Smith looked quite strong and a back four of Drury, Ayala, Whitbread and Russell Martin were protecting Declan Rudd`s goal. If this exact side had started in the Championship, things would`ve been expected.
Right from the off City weren`t at it. The Dons had a great result at the weekend in a 6-2 win over Chesterfield that put them top of League One and played with pace and confidence.
It took just 21 minutes for Ayala to give the ball to Gleeson while under very little pressure. He fed Luke Chadwick who overlapped into the box and scored easily. Old players always come back to haunt you – maybe Wilbraham could do the same to them.
City toiled and laboured for another seven minutes until Adam Drury, usually so reliable, gave the ball away to Gleeson when he didn`t have to. He set up Sam Baldock to give Rudd no chance.
The first half finished 2-0 and my 5yr old son, Callum asked me when Grant Holt was coming on. I knew he wouldn`t though, he`s far too important to be risked here what with a visit to Stamford Bridge looming.
Usually such a display prompts an early second half effort from the losing team after a manager`s half time rocket – not here. City were still unable to get going and the Dons were well worth their lead. “We`ve come to a library” sang the Dons fans – a crowd of 13,000 odd didn`t have much to sing about although a brave few tried.
On sixty minutes, a flowing move gave Chadwick the chance to score again – which he did. He was never this powerful or seemingly motivated when he played for us!
Shortly after, Hoolahan was replaced by Steve Morison. Wes trudged off after a dismal night when he just couldn`t get going – he was his usual tricky self but it just didn`t happen for him and it wasn`t his best display in a yellow shirt.
Just four minutes later, Andrew Surman inexplicably gave the ball to substitute Powell to give him a one on one with Rudd – he scored easily and completed the rout. Rout isn`t a word to be used lightly and that`s what it was.
The back four will need replacing for Chelsea. Drury looked short of match sharpness and had a poor game by his standards. Russell Martin was exactly the same. He was beaten far too often by the left winger and seemed short of ideas going forward. His crosses rarely beat the first man and it`s fortunate that Kyle Naughton offers choice at right back.
Whitbread and Ayala looked like they`d never played together, which of course they hadn`t. Ayala limped off on 77 minutes after being hurt when he looked like he pulled out of a tackle – De Laet was a sub that Lambert wouldn`t have wanted to make.
Korey Smith ran a lot but got nowhere and the rest of the midfield just weren`t at the races. Wilbraham is just not good enough. He was ineffective against this committed, pacey League One side and didn`t have any real chances or create much for others – it`s hard to see what he can offer in the Premier League. Jackson ran a lot and worked hard but fluffed the chances he did have albeit they weren`t clear cut.
I guess we`ll have to “concentrate on the league” for another year. I knew this would be tough. Table-topping MK Dons played their best eleven while we played a near second string side. It`s a measure of how far we`ve come that this can be called second string, although Wes, Surman and Fox are not reserve players.
Let`s hope this result doesn`t send a tremor through the whole squad. Although the Chelsea game is a worry, at least we can go there without any pressure. No one will expect us to get a result other than a loss. Anything more would be remarkable, but you never know.
Holt and Morison against Terry and Alex should be a good match and Chelsea have not exactly started on fire. They`ll be missing Cech and laboured against Stoke and WBA. I`m not saying they`ll win but they can give it a right go.
The Carling Cup needs to be forgotten immediately – there`s no time for hangovers. As for MK Dons? They played well and look as though they have a real chance this season on this performance.
Good luck lads in League One but I have to ask you, where did that boy Chadwick come from? He looks a real prospect…
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