10:01:00
Rotherham 1 Norwich 2: 5 things we learned
Rotherham
lost for the fourth time this season, but it was an impressive
performance against Premier League Norwich in the Capital One Cup.
Indeed,
had it not been for an raft of missed chances the Millers would have
advanced into the third round.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
Rotherham
again were left to regret their inability to put the ball in the back
of net – how many times has that been the case over the last couple
of seasons? The Millers, although sometimes exposed by Norwich's
slick passing, held their own for much of the game and created enough
chances to have won it. The cost of not been able to convert golden
chances was never more evident than in the first half when Jonson
Clarke-Harris planted his free header straight at goalkeeper Declan
Rudd and then 20 seconds later the ball was in Rotherham's net after
a quick Norwich breakaway. Their spell of sustained pressure in the
second half had to yield a goal and as you saw chance after chance
slip away the inevitability of the Canaries' second goal increased.
The Millers even had opportunities to get back into the game aside
from Paul Green's effort, as the less we say about Matt Derbyshire's
effort when he had an open net the better. It's a bad trait to have
and it has cost the Millers a lot of games over the last 12 months.
At least against Norwich there were no points dropped.
He
did give Rotherham something to go for in the final 10 minutes when
his sweetly struck volley went through a crowd of players, but Green
then missed the best chance to sneak an equaliser and force
extra-time. It should have come as no surprise as it was a headed
opportunity – something we know is not his strong point. On a
number of occasions last season, Green, who has never rediscovered
his autumn form of last year, put headed chances wide or over, with
notable ones going wide against Cardiff, Brentford, Birmingham and
Blackburn. He had the chance to redeem himself after Chris Maguire
whipped in a cross late on, but unmarked and eight yards out the
former Republic of Ireland international skewed his header over the
bar. There was unlikely to be any other outcome.
Considering
he was not even in the matchday squad for the first three games of
the season, it has been some turnaround for Clarke-Harris, who is
just beginning to show exactly why the Millers paid £400,000 for
him. Starting two games in a row for just the second time in a
Millers shirt, the striker was a menace against Norwich, with his
surging runs, ability to find himself in dangerous positions and his
physical strength. There are issues still to address – Steve Evans
was constantly barking at him to chase and close down and he should
have scored at least twice - but it was an impressive performance by
the former Oldham man. With Jordan Bowery seeming to have fallen out
of favour – it's now his turn to not even make it to the matchday
18 – Clarke-Harris' arrival to the party has given Evans a timely
boost.
The
sight of Adam Collin's name on the teamsheet was something that a lot
of people have been desperate for given the doubts over rookie
first-choice Kelle Roos and the Wembley hero did not let anyone down.
He looked assured in the area, his handling was good, the defence
seemed to know exactly where he was and what he was doing and he
produced several good saves. Evans, who said only last week that
Collin's form was not good enough to displace Roos, conceded that
Collin had done a good job, though raised questions whether he could have saved the first goal. Now Evans has to decide whether he
sticks with Collin for the visit of Fulham on Saturday or revert back
to Roos. One on hand there's a goalkeeper in Collin, who did nothing
wrong on Tuesday, but the manager seems not to have complete faith in
versus a rookie who has been error-strewn in his first few games.
This one could have Evans pacing his bedroom over the next few
nights.
If
Evans is as good a mates with Norwich boss Alex Neil as he says, then
he must be tempted to put a phone call in and ask if Canaries
goalkeeper Declan Rudd is available for loan. Rudd, the usual number
two at Carrow Road, put in a display that Evans described as the
“best goalkeeping performance at New York Stadium in its short
time” and he may not be far wrong. Rudd undoubtedly won it for the
Canaries with some outstanding saves, three in the second half that
were to borrow a phrase from Evans, “simply stunning”. The double
stop to deny Greg Halford and then Joe Newell was brilliant and then
his flying save to tip Matt Derbyshire's curling effort around the
post was breathtaking. With the Millers still having the goalkeeping
issues outlined above, on the evidence of Tuesday's night's game,
Rudd would be an answer to those problems.