McConville Calls Norwich Defending Embarrassing After Seven-Goal Thriller

Ruairi McConville did not bother dressing it up. Norwich City had just lost 4-3 at home to Bolton Wanderers, and the defender, who had put them in front earlier in the game, stood and called it what it was: “embarrassing”.

The Northern Ireland international had enjoyed his moment in the first half, scoring to give the Canaries the lead in a wild contest at Carrow Road. That should have been the platform. Instead, it became the prelude to another defensive collapse.

Bolton came from behind to snatch their second straight win, punishing a Norwich back line that has turned leaking goals into a grim habit. The visitors’ fourth – and decisive – goal cut deepest for McConville, who admitted he was directly at fault.

“The fourth goal, I run out of the way of it,” he told BBC Radio Norfolk. “It’s just terrible defending all over to be honest. We have to look in the mirror and look at ourselves.”

The numbers are brutal. Norwich have shipped 13 goals in their last three matches. They have yet to keep a clean sheet all season. Their 17 goals conceded is the joint-worst record in the division, level with bottom side Burnley.

No wonder McConville’s assessment was blunt.

“Very disappointed. It’s not good enough,” he said. “We concede four goals at home off the back of conceding four goals last week so it clearly shows we haven’t learned our lesson.

“If we want to achieve the things we want to achieve then it’s so far from good enough, it’s embarrassing really.”

The frustration is sharpened by what happens at the other end of the pitch. Norwich are not struggling to score. They play on the front foot, commit bodies forward and have already found the net 16 times in eight Championship games.

And yet, for all that attacking verve, they sit 17th in the table, six points off the automatic promotion places heading into the international break. Every step forward in possession seems to be dragged back by a step, sometimes two, without the ball.

McConville refused to point fingers at anyone else.

“We lose as a team so we have to work on the training ground to improve on things,” he said. “We’ve got to take the international break to work on things.”

He did not spare himself either, dwelling on that decisive moment for Bolton’s fourth.

“I’ll be thinking about what’s happened and try and fix what I’ve done wrong on the pitch,” he admitted. “I, more than anyone, want to change things quick.”

Norwich now have a pause they badly need, not to admire their attacking stats, but to confront a defensive record that is dragging their season off course. The question is simple and unavoidable: can they fix it quickly enough to keep their promotion ambitions alive?