"They Wanted It More Than We Did..."

  • by Gordon Thrower
  • Saturday, 8th January 2005

Norwich boss Nigel Worthington on his side's exit from this season's FA Cup...

Nigel Worthington - Norwich City FC

Let me start from three o'clock. We never started. We were still on the coach at three o'clock. The performance in the first half wasn't good enough. West Ham wanted it more than we did. Our passing was dreadful and our work ethic was below par. 99% of the time I'll pat the players on the back when they work hard. Today they sold themselves short and they sold 4,500 Norwich City supporters short. I'm disappointed because I think the FA Cup is a great competition. That performance is not good enough.

All I've heard this season from day one all the way through to now is “we could have....” I'm fed up with hearing that. The chances we make are unbelievable. We've got to stick them in the back of the net. Premier League or FA Cup you have to make chances on goal. Three or four chances and we still can't score. Not good enough.

The Dean Ashton thing is almost complete. He's currently undergoing a medical. We've agreed personal terms and we've agreed a fee between the two clubs. He will be signing for Norwich City subject to the medical.

Hopefully I can go and get another one or two strikers if the board will allow me the funds – because we'll need them the way we played today. Is one of those strikers Marlon Harewood? Pass! He's a player we like but whether we can afford him or not I don't know. We've spent good money on Ashton so we've got to be careful with the pennies. As for a loan signing, whether that will be a striker is something we'll look at. After today it could be a right back, left back, centre-half, right winger – our keeper's very good so I have no complaints there though!

For the Ashton deal the board have backed us in a first-class manner. If and when the deal is complete we'll have a good young talent at the club and we'll be hoping that he can carry on – it's a nice step up for him once it's complete. He's a nice young man who knows what he wants.

Finally, well done to West Ham – they wanted to be in the FA Cup more than us.

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