John Eustace vows to fight on as Derby boss following Norwich thrashing
The Canaries were three goals ahead at half-time.
Derby head coach John Eustace insisted he is “no quitter” after his team were thrashed 4-0 at home by Norwich in the Championship.
On his 47th birthday, Eustace watched the Canaries take his side apart on a night when they were booed off at half-time and on the final whistle.
Norwich never looked back after Anthony Musaba fired them ahead in the eighth minute and the game was over by the interval with Paris Maghoma and Darlin Yongwa putting the visitors in complete control.
Derby improved slightly but Jovon Makama’s fierce shot sealed an impressive night for Norwich and a miserable one for Derby and Eustace, who said: “To be in the situation we are now is really disappointing.
“There are reasons why, we’ve got nine defenders out which certainly doesn’t help, but collectively we haven’t been good enough and I take responsibility for the performances.
“Ultimately you can make as many excuses as you want with injuries and suspensions but I get judged on results and results haven’t been good enough.
“The club is much bigger than me and all the great work we’ve done over the last 16 months has been something I’m very proud of and not to continue that throughout the summer and up to now has been tough.
“Football is about results and to lose 4-0 at home after losing 4-1 at the weekend is not acceptable and it’s my head at the table.
“Of course it hurts, I’m a very proud person but the Championship is relentless, it’s ruthless and we have a lot of injuries and we have to respect that fact as well.
“It is very frustrating at the moment but I’m not a quitter and I know we can get more out of the group which is something we will keep trying to do.”
For Norwich head coach Philippe Clement, it was a night to savour as his players celebrated a hat-trick of victories.
He said: “I’m really pleased with what the team did, we could have scored more than the four goals and keeping a clean sheet after a long time will also help the team with their confidence.
“The structure of the team is good and I’ve seen a lot of positives with the guys who started and the guys who came on. That’s what I want to see, no complacency and a mature game in controlling it in most of the moments.
“The group knows me for a long time and I’ve said the message a lot of times, I hate it when people become complacent, I want to see a hungry team full of desire for more and not to be happy with where they are.”