“We want our money back” was the disgusted chant fired out from around 1,800 travelling Norwich City fans after seeing Millwall bully their team in a 4-0 defeat at The Den.
All of those Canaries supporters didn’t join in with the chant of course but following on from last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa, it was certainly a difficult performance to stomach, as the reign of head coach Daniel Farke veered off track drastically.
Defensive mistakes, a lack of physical presence, booing of captain Russell Martin and a 3-0 deficit at half-time made for a thoroughly rotten afternoon.
While those loyal fans have witnessed some tough times, seeing four goals conceded in successive games has thankfully not been endured too often – in the Championship at least, with the Premier League a totally different proposition.
It was the first time a Canaries team has conceded four goals in consecutive matches in the second tier since March 1999 when a 4-3 home defeat to Port Vale was followed by a 4-1 defeat at Bradford just four days later, with Bruce Rioch’s side going on to finish ninth that season.
Report: Millwall 4 Norwich City 0 – Canaries bullied at The Den
The facts in the rest of this article don’t make for cheerful Sunday reading, so take a deep breath before pressing on.
It was also the first time Norwich have conceded four goals in back-to-back away games in the second tier since 2000-01, when a 4-1 loss at Watford was followed by a 4-3 defeat at Gillingham – with a home win and defeat in between those games.
Four goals were conceded away from home on three occasions last season, losing 4-3 at Newcastle, 5-0 at Brighton and 5-1 at Sheffield Wednesday as the Alex Neil era fell apart.
Before those thrashings you have to go back to November 2014, when Neil Adams’ team were beaten 4-0 at Middlesbrough.
In 2001-02 the team of Nigel Worthington conceded four away from home in the second tier on three occasions, losing 4-0 at Millwall, Preston and Birmingham, but went on a late run to the play-off final where they were beaten on penalties against Birmingham – at least showing that teams can have bad days on route to success.
It has been a nasty shock to the system for Farke, his squad and all connected with the club though, with two weeks to search for answers during the international break, when seven senior players are away on national duty.
If that flow of goals against cannot be halted quickly, more angry chants won’t be far away, but all Canaries fans will spend this fortnight hoping it doesn’t come to that.
Do those travelling fans deserve a refund? Cast your vote in the poll above.
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