Paddy Davitt delivers his Crystal Palace verdict after Norwich City's 3-0 Premier League defeat.

1. You’re not fit to wear the shirt

Yes, it was a small pocket of supporters in the Norwich City away end who broke into chorus after Crystal Palace’s third hit the back of Angus Gunn’s net in the first half. But it was audible on the opposite side of Selhurst Park, and it was repeated at the half time interval.

Plenty have an opinion on the current sorry state of affairs. But those who have given up another day in their lives, especially in these worrying Covid-dominated times, not to mention the expense involved, deserve to have their voices heard.

Yes, further injury and illness that robbed Dean Smith of Teemu Pukki, Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell offered further mitigation.

But the manner a home team who had won one of their previous seven profited was embarrassing. City look rudderless, lacking in quality and leadership. They are unable to defend and bar Sam Byram’s header against a bar and some stinging efforts from Przemyslaw Placheta, incapable of offering a threat at the opposite end. It is a toxic mix.

The game may already be up this season. Can anyone see the scale of turnaround required from here? But the worry now is the longer lasting damage this latest abject top flight offering may cause further down the line. And the potential disconnect with the people who matter most.

The biggest cheer of the day from the away end appeared to be reserved for a pitch invader from among their number. A laughing stock, indeed.

2. Billy Gilmour. Discuss?

Daniel Farke clearly did not fancy the Chelsea prospect, who arrived in Norfolk with a reputation as one of the brightest in the game. Plus a Champions League winner’s medal in his back pocket and an eye catching role for Scotland against Euro2020 finalists England.

Gilmour is playing with inferior players and for a club who operate at the other end of the footballing spectrum to the Blues, in terms of ambition. He is also a young man who arrived at Carrow Road with a handful of senior appearances and even fewer starts.

But under Smith he has had that chance he must have craved when he agreed to a season long switch. He has singularly failed to take it. Norwich’s miserable descent is not at his door.

But he offers neither defensive ballast, witness the limp effort to halt Odsonne Edouard’s burst into the City area that led to the hosts’ third. Nor, however, a residual ability to get on the ball and set the tempo in the manner many hoped would be the case when he was unveiled.

In a poor side on the back foot, Gilmour has wilted. He may return to Stamford Bridge better for what he should package as the first real setback of his burgeoning career. But at this stage it looks like a loan move that has failed to ignite for either party.

For now, there are no plans to call an early halt in the upcoming January window. Smith must weigh up whether the undoubted glimpses of quality he displays on the ball mask the glaring deficiencies without it, and his personal contribution to the enduring vulnerability around City’s midfield.

3. Recruitment

On a broader point, Gilmour’s signing was part of a summer drive unlike any previously attempted, at least in terms of financial scale from the Canaries. Numerous additions, multiple signings edging towards previous club record levels into the bargain.

But approaching the halfway stage of this season no-one would dispute the current group look any better than the one who exited the Championship with another title on the honours board. That is being charitable.

Injury has interrupted the progress of both Mathias Normann and Milot Rashica. That comes with the territory, but both had shown they could be upgrades on the available resource to first Farke and latterly Smith.

Far too many questions remain around the rest. Stuart Webber fronted up ahead of the defeat to Leeds and while acknowledging the fairness of such leading questions cautioned it was too early to make definitive judgements. Plenty of City fans already have.

In signings like Christos Tzolis and Josh Sargent, the needle appears weighted towards potential rather than finished product. Certainly at Premier League level. Even a record summer outlay, fuelled by Emi Buendia’s departure, limited City to certain talent pools when it came to making acquisitions. But fans expect better.

Webber accepted he failed to deliver in the wake of the previous Premier League relegation.

The same questions will grow louder from here, if this season follows the same trajectory until next May.

4. Numbers game

The headline figures send a shudder down the spine. No goals for Norwich in 460 minutes, give or take, of Premier League action. A goal difference of minus 34. Any wonder they have mustered only 10 points from their 19 top flight games as a result.

Smith had to suck up a growing negative deficit to the goal difference column upon replacing Farke, but since that hard fought draw at Newcastle he has also failed miserably to unlock any scoring potential that is not in the form of Pukki.

Who himself has dried up as the service became more sporadic before his absence at Selhurst Park.

It really is hard to see where the next goal is coming from. There was a stroke of misfortune to how Byram’s header was deflected against a bar. But too often this entire season there has been a lack of composure, a lack of cunning and a lack of urgency when they have got themselves in shooting positions.

Adam Idah was the beneficiary of Pukki’s absence but the Republic of Ireland international fared little better.

Smith was working with the likes of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins at Villa Park. There looks nothing like such raw material at his disposal in the City dressing room.

It will take all his coaching powers to extract something that resembles an end product.

5. Forward planning

Smith said after the Boxing Day mauling against Arsenal, City’s debilitating list of absentees had made a tough job even harder. The public messaging will remain positive and upbeat. There are many, many games and points still available, and Norwich remain in touch with enough of their immediate rivals, if listing terribly.

But privately you could forgive Smith and his assistant, Craig Shakespeare, if they are already assessing who they can rely on, and who must be jettisoned for the next phase.

Smith has inherited a group of players not of his making. If Norwich’s room for manoeuvre is constrained in January for financial reasons, then he will get an extended chance to stress test the current group for what increasingly looks like another assault on the Championship.

Tellingly, we saw a senior debut for young attacker Jonathan Rowe in the second half. A player who looks to have outgrown development football this season, based on his headline grabbing displays.

One of the tenets of the Webber era has been a faith and trust in youth. Cultivating another cycle contains the seeds to generate some desperately needed optimism, and hope for the future.