VERDICT: Wolves fans deflated after Norwich defeat

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Matches are decided on fine margins. Unfortunately, for the second time this week, we fell the wrong side of the margins.

Chasing the game after two minutes does not help anyone and the goal cruelly exposed another weak link in our supposed armour.

Danny Batth - yes him from Brierley Hill - was beaten for power and pace on Tuesday at Wigan and here the 6ft 3in captain was easily beaten in the air and we were one down.

Norwich were no great shakes and no better than us but scored a beauty to make it two after another fine margin was missed.

One year out of action and Nouha Dicko would have been gagging for a chance that good but he didn't take it.

A great header from Edwards aside we didn't break them enough to get an equaliser.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? On this and previous performances Cavaleiro is no better than James Henry, Nathan Byrne or Michael Jacobs, but time will tell.

Costa tried hard but others were lacking en masse. At least we now have two weeks to get the Viking back.

Steve Plant

What's your verdict on the match? A big question needs answering...why do we start so badly in virtually every game?

Is it the training schedule, pre-match programme or the team being given poor instructions? Yes it could be down to pure bad luck or coincidence but personally I think something is just not right.

It's unfair to pick out individual players for mistakes made because very few were blameless yesterday. In fairness I have seen us play worse and win but against a Norwich team that were a step above us we needed to be on it from the start.

My love for all things Saiss is well documented but four bookings in as many games is a big worry. What is the point of having a Ferrari in the garage if it can't start every few weeks?

I also thought we looked lightweight. Too many times we were bullied off the ball but that is more an observation than criticism.

The effort was there and there were also some positives. Costa and Cavaleiro are improving by the game, Matt Doherty is becoming Mr Consistent and of course the return of Nouha.

I honestly believe that a fit Dicko and Jon Bod would make us a very different proposition. One coming off the bench to replace the other would give us high tempo forward play for the full 90 minutes. The difference in our play after Nouha made his emotional return was obvious for all to see.

Not all doom and gloom from me this week, thought it was a good game in the end against a Norwich team destined for a quick return to the promised land.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Poor display - could have been half the team but will pick out Teixeira purely because he was so far off his recent standards.

Good display - got to be the return of Nouha purely for the lift it gave the crowd and the difference it could make to our season. The other big contender for me was the South Bank, they were superb yesterday.

Sarah Connolly

What's your verdict on the match? The club have always used the rollercoaster analogy as a way of explaining how it feels to support Wolves, and it looks as though this season will be no different

A very poor first half, although that may have been down to having the stuffing knocked out of us after conceding within two minutes. We just never really got going, our midfield was outshone in every department and we didn't really have much going forward.

I can't really understand the justification behind not playing a striker. Yes, Cavaleiro is a decent player but he seemed lost yesterday and failed to make any kind of impact.

Someone posted a stat showing points won with and without Jon Dadi. Yesterday showed again just how big of a miss he is when he's not in the team. He's central to our style of play now and orchestrates much of our play going forward. Hopefully the international break sees him recover fully and back in the squad for Villa.

I'm not sure where to start with the defence. Doherty needs to be playing at left back, that's where he's found his feet. The lack of communication among centre backs this season is becoming a concern. Batth not even looking at the ball for their first goal is unforgivable for a professional footballer. Also, for the love of God, will somebody buy that man a hair band? I lose count of the amount of times he's caught messing with his hair!

The one shining light was of course the return of Dicko. His return lifted the crowd which in turn seemed to lift the team. He did miss a gleaming chance to make it the perfect comeback, and should really have scored. I'm not sure whether that's just down to confidence or being rusty from a year out.

All in all, we played a very well drilled Norwich team who will definitely be up there at the end of the season.

Yes we still have work to do, but it's definitely not time to hit the panic buttons yet.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Costa still looks promising albeit he didn't have his best game. He still looks to be one of the best signings so far.

Edwards ran, a lot. He does work hard and he got his reward with the goal. Not the most gifted of footballers but he will always give 100 per cent.

Saiss for me is frustrating. You can see that he is a good player with the ability to control games. But the fact that he has played four games and received four bookings is a massive worry. He needs to stick to the football and keep his thoughts to himself, or he may find suspensions dominate his season.

I really, really want to like Batth this season and be happy that he's got a new contract. He's shown at times this season that he can play well (Newcastle for example). But the fact he has been directly responsible for at least two, probably three, goals we've conceded just isn't good enough. I hope the international break has come at the right time for him and he uses the time to compose himself.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? Shambles. No other word can describe that performance.

From the moment our super skipper decided it would be more fun to engage in a wrestling bout with Cameron Jerome rather than actually attempting to get off the ground and challenge for the header we were up against it.

Sixty-five minutes on the clock before registering our first shot on target in a home game is shocking but is all we can expect to see when we play with such a deep defensive line and consistently hoof long balls straight to the opposition.

There were moments when we got our act together and looked half decent going forward but repeatedly let ourselves down with poor decision making and shocking final balls in the attacking third.

The only spell where we looked like we could get something out of the game was after Coady was introduced from the bench and added some bite in midfield but any hope was quickly extinguished after poor marking left Brady with far too much space to pick his spot for the second.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? No one really covered themselves in glory. It seemed that for every moment of quality a player produced they offered up two moments of awful play. Costa was probably the standout player but too often his final delivery was awful.

As for who didn't play well...take your pick. At half-time someone mentioned possible options from the bench to change the game but we'd have needed more than three substitutions to remove all of the underperformers.

Batth's performance drew some choice words from various supporters near me, with one dubbing him 'Captain Ladypart' to much amusement.

Oniangue was a passenger for much of the game, Edwards regularly gave away possession while Saiss seemed to be hunting his customary booking from the outset with continuous niggly fouls.

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match? I fully expect Norwich to finish in the top two. I also expect us to put up more of a fight when playing them, especially at home.

We deserved nothing from this game. We played with passion in the last 30 minutes, but for 60 minutes we were second best. It was "men against boys" in the first half. Our midfield was sluggish and lacked creativity again. It must be hard to play positively without a recognised forward player. We were playing far too deep.

Norwich's midfield played just how we would like to see ours - fast-paced, first-time balls, lots of movement and nearly always moving forward when in possession.

At half time we could easily have been three or four down and in return had not mustered a shot on target.

We were better in the second half, but it was not until the comeback of Dicko that both crowd and players came alive. We had a chance for a draw, which would have been a travesty.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Saiss did well again and should improve further with added fitness. Coady came on and did well for last half hour. He's worth a start in my opinion.

Best player for me was Costa who used the ball well and was the most lively of the forward players; until Dicko came on.

This was another horror story for Batth. Simply not strong enough in the challenge leading to the opening goal. He's having a poor season and needs resting!

I fail to understand how the custodians of our club can sign 13 players in one window, yet leave us so obviously short of fire power. To end September without strikers in the starting XI must be a dereliction of duty?

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? After flying back from Connecticut early yesterday morning I was obviously feeling jet-lagged as my view of the match, especially the first half, was very different to Zenga's.

I didn't think we were that good and the first 45 minutes were incredibly poor. We looked tired (not just me then) and lacked confidence going forward. Some shocking defending made it easy for them to score and our defence just stood still like ice statues as Norwich's first goal sailed in.

But in some ways it was a match we have seen many times at Molineux - a terrible start followed by a lively 15 to 20 minutes at the end when we run out of time before we can make it count.

Hopefully it's just the busy fixture list taking its toll but the lack of consistency is worrying.

It was great to see Dicko playing again and what a welcome back he had from the fans, but talk about putting the poor guy under pressure to score on his first appearance in more than a year. However, we know what he can do so it's exciting to have him back in a Wolves shirt.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Edwards was our strongest player as he was at least able to keep hold of the ball helping to push us forward. Good goal too.

This was my first game for more than a month and players I had expected more from such as Teixeira and Costa failed to deliver. Sorry Zenga, but I don't agree that we did enough to deserve the three points.

Peter Abbott (London Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? No attacking force again until the Wanderers No.9 was on - welcome back Nouha. We were also improved by Cavaleiro moving to then play out wide.

I was annoyed that Norwich were to go two up soon after, especially as they were so calm about it - a position where we would like to be...

It was typical that Dave Edwards popped up with our goal rather than a forward player, though Dicko beforehand had possibly the best chance of the match.

It will take many matches before (hopefully) it all comes together, and this will test the patience of most supporters.

Yes, I think we have better players in our new squad, but better in the Championship is a different question.

We certainly don't yet have a team to consistently take on the top of the table.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Teixeira and Prince each had pretty anonymous games, with our most influential players being Costa, Saiss and Edwards plus substitutes Dicko and Coady.

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match? Losing to Norwich at home in October isn't the end of the world and certainly will not define our season. The Canaries have a good core of Champ/Prem players that have played with each other for a number of seasons...this was reflected in their more fluent approach to the game, the additional quality when it mattered and their ability to close the game out 'comfortably' at the end.

What worries me more and what I feel is the biggest talking point is our lack of 'identity'. One of the lads I follow on twitter (@louiesilvani4) hit the nail on the head when he said we hadn't found it yet and he's spot on.

We've had the lack of a pre-season, an influx of players (many of which would struggle to find the Championship on Fifa 17) and a manager that has had more clubs than are currently on display at the Ryder Cup.

What all this has equated to is a mishmash of potential, some fantastic passion from our Italian manager and results that go from the sublime to the ridiculous. I think we will all have to accept that this season will have more ups and downs than a former Sky anchorman's summer parties in Doha.

So what is our identity? Are we a team suited to playing on the counter, do we retain possession and press high up the pitch, are we a full on attacking force, do we play long ball, is it all about the wide men?

We've probably ticked the box for each one of these in the games I've seen this season, but unfortunately it has only been for the odd 15 or 20 minute spells.

Creating an identity will take time and that's something I think Zenga will have, as long as he stays in and around the 10th spot and the play offs by January. By then we should know whether the players we've brought in are suited to the demands of the Championship and hopefully what the best system is.

He should also have identified where we are lacking, which for me is a quality, experienced centre-back, a creative midfielder who can run with the ball (Brady/Hoolahan) and another striker in the mould of Bodvarsson.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? I still think Costa has been the pick of the Portuguese players we've brought in and I thought he had a decent first half before fading in the second.

The midfield three were invisible until Dave popped up with a classic header to give us some hope. If only the Welsh midfielder could swap his feet for his head and we might have a decent player on our hands.

Saiss was poor again and secured his obligatory booking (only a matter of time until he sees a red) and Prince looked like he had partied like it was 2016 the night before and was suffering from a hangover.

Cavaleiro isn't a forward and his better work came when he was switched back to his natural wide position. However, even then his final ball and choice of pass wasn't anything reminiscent of someone that has once commanded a £12m transfer fee.

Defensively we still look shaky and Batth celebrated his four-year deal with a second mistake of the week, whilst I'm still amazed at how many times Ikeme gets beaten from long-range. From the South Bank it looked like he should have got a hand to it, but I can't make my mind up from watching the replays.

The big plus point was the return of Dicko and his arrival lifted the entire stadium and arguably created our best spell of play. However, as fans, we need to be realistic and shouldn't expect him to come in and right all out attacking wrongs over the next six games.