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Norwich fume after going from 2-0 up to 3-2 down in 12 minutes vs Sheffield Wednesday

Norwich fume after going from 2-0 up to 3-2 down in 12 minutes vs Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on Tuesday.

Michael Ihiekwe, Josh Windass and Djeidi Gassama seal an astonishing second-half comeback win for Danny Rohl’s Owls.

Borja Sainz and Ante Crnac put the Canaries 2-0 up going into the break, the Owls turned the game around in dramatic fashion by scoring three times in 12 minutes to leave everyone inside Carrow Road rather shocked.

Norwich’s Johannes Hoff Thorup, per Sky Sports:

“In the first half we played some outstanding football and scored two beautiful goals but in the second we were not at the same level.

“We will not always be on top in games and when that happens you have to find a way of winning it. It’s about the players learning what it takes to see it through.

“We had a great chance to make it 3-0 early in the second half but a game can change on one moment and we saw that tonight. After that we were too passive and it was too easy for them to create. It was not good enough.

“I am getting tired of the goals we are conceding to be honest. For the second we allowed the ball to bounce around in our area for far too long – it should have been kicked away long before they scored.”

 Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk:

“On a night like tonight we need to get home and recover, and we will talk tomorrow. Is it a surprise it could go like this? Probably it is because there were many good things going on before.

“We conceded some simple goals; goals that we as a team should not concede.

“It felt like something changed and we were not aggressive enough, too passive in our defending. We opened up for simple passes in behind and didn’t deal enough with crosses and of course set pieces, which has been part of the story for us this season.

“They had three corner kicks today and we had nine, but they scored from two of them, and we scored zero.”

“I’m not sure I can give you the exact answer to that,” he replied when asked how his side lost the game, per Sheffield Star. “There are some individual things, some collective things. Also an understanding of what it takes to win a game when you are not on top.

“We didn’t get off to a good start in the second half. We have a big, big chance when Borja (Sainz) can slide in Emi (Marcondes). But a game can change in a split second. We got too passive. We could see it coming. We tried to adjust with the players on the pitch to see if we could change the game picture. It is a character thing. It is a personality thing. It is understanding what it takes to get three points in the Championship…

“It was a game we should win nine out of 10 times. It was not the case when we played Stoke. It has not been a pattern but something that has happened here at home this season… That probably tells us where we are as a group and that we are not ready to compete for the top positions in the league. In performance and results and many things we do, we are probably mid-table.”

Norwich captain Kenny McLean said to BBC Radio Norfolk: “Seven months into the season and it’s the same old story. I’m struggling myself to get answers.

“We can’t turn up and play football for 45 minutes every week. It’s not enough.”

McLean says that is something “we have to fix” but added, “we still don’t have the answers, or are able to find the answers, during games”.

“It’s actually a shambles. We need to do so much more. When teams get a goal, they know we’re vulnerable.

“That’s the worst probably this season [the performance] – that was evident at the final whistle with the crowd.”

He felt the issue might be a mixture of both their tactical and mental approach during matches.

“A bit of everything. I’d love to be able to say exactly what it was. We’ve got experience of being in these positions a lot this season and it still continues to happen. It’s such a frustration.

“We’re a nice team. When it clicks, it’s really good. When things go against us, it’s shocking. We need to deal with tough situations better and stand up to the challenges teams throw at us.

“We’re not wresting control back. We should know what we’re doing. We should be more resilient, more committed to winning second balls. At times, we’re the best footballers in the league and it baffles me.

“We’re being told to adapt during games but we’re not doing it at the right times. As soon as teams come after us, and we lose the ball, we crumble. One mistake always leads to another and then another.

“There seems to be an anxiety across us when we make a mistake – teams see that vulnerability in us and we don’t deal with it.”

Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl, per Sky Sports:

“We have 51 points, which makes us safe I should think, and now we can see how the rest of the season goes.

“We need to take it step by step. There are nine finals coming up, 27 points to play for, and we will see what direction our journey goes in. But at the moment we are only thinking about Sunday (a home game against local rivals Sheffield United).

“We were up against a good team tonight and very early on I could see we were a little bit slow in our mindset.

“I don’t think anyone would have put a penny on us winning at half-time but I looked the players in the eyes and could see they still felt they could get something out of it. We changed our shape, bringing on another striker and pressing them higher up the pitch, and I was delighted with their response.”

 Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield:

“We played a strong Norwich who showed their quality in the first half, but I thought even at 2-0 there were moments we were in the game, though the transition moments were not clinical enough.

“At half time we brought two players in, changed the shape, changed the pressing line to a little bit higher up.

“To have this mentality to come back, after Middlesbrough and now in Norwich, is outstanding. It felt really good because we had momentum against us and now we have a little bit back.”

Twitter users reacted as Norwich fume after going from 2-0 up to 3-2 down in 12 minutes vs Sheffield Wednesday…

@rob_speers: I am sorry to say.. I don’t believe in this project anymore.. I have tried to give it a chance.. tried to believe in a transition year.. but we have to be honest.. it’s terrible.. and completely unacceptable

@OTBCRyan: Not sticking up for that second half performance but so many ‘fans’ on here seemingly happy to see results and performances like this just to prove their point, ‘thorup out’, okay great, then what, we’ve been stagnant for so long and that’s not gonna change in one season

@Joey77boy2000: 30 points lost from winning positions this season. Serious questions need to be asked of the coaching and mentality of this team. Disgraceful 😡

@PeekyNCFC: An absolute disgrace

@Cailum_01: Start the under 23’s after international break 👍

@RobboITV: So unprofessional after such a good first half. Serious question marks over our head coach failing to respond when we were being outplayed at the start of the 2nd half. Shocking!

@francosworld_: This is unf’n believable. Massive changes have to come. No lead is safe for us, for 2 seasons we’ve dropped more points than any team. I’d rather flat out be terrible than be talented and blow it 2x a week. You’d think law of averages would play out but no, you find new ways.

@DWyattHupton: JHT’s summer homework…figure out a Plan B. Danny Rohl absolutely schooled him today in making decisive tactical and personnel changes at the right time. JHT right now plays one way and when it doesn’t work or opponents find ways to disrupt it, we fall to pieces.

@MartinJBuck: Last night was poor #ncfc criticism is deserved and from some ppl long over due. But… we prove time and time again we can do the hard part and score goals, improving the defending as team bit should be the easiest thing to fix so im quietly optimistic for next season.

@les_canaris: Injuries aren’t an excuse, ‘transition’ isn’t an excuse. Sheffield Wednesday don’t have a winger as good as Sainz, a striker as good as Sargent, a defender as rated as Doyle, a signing as expensive as Crnac. There are zero excuses for last night so stop looking for them #ncfc

@pablooooooo: Imagine being the manager of a professional football team, and your team captain describes the game in a press conference as “a shambles.” I wonder if he was he referring to just this game or the team/management in general. Kenny was spot on either way. #ncfc

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