If there is one thing we’ve come to expect this season it’s the unexpected.
A week ago I certainly didn’t expect us to be kicking off at Ashton Gate minus one Alex Pritchard (and him simultaneously lining up in a Huddersfield shirt to play West Ham) and, equally, I really didn’t expect us to go on and beat the finest that Bristol has to offer.
The more astute among us may have foreseen the draining effect of the Robins’ heroic 2-1 defeat at the Etihad in Tuesday’s first-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final but all muggins here saw was a side full of verve and energy whose impressive high press would almost certainly scupper the Canaries’ desire to work it through the thirds.
That Lee Johnson’s men did all of those things at times in the game yet City still emerged victorious therefore made the win all the more impressive. And in the most unlikely of circumstances City have now gone five unbeaten; a run that includes four clean sheets.
From somewhere Daniel Farke has harnessed that same resolve the travelling hoards witnessed at Bramall Lane, the Riverside, the Madjeski and Portman Road. It wasn’t especially pretty at times but it was resolute, determined and full of heart, and we now find ourselves two wins shy of the top six.
The six teams between City and said top six obviously present a small problem – probably an insurmountable one given our chronic inconsistency – but such is life in the Championship that a mini-run of three wins and a draw has been enough to propel us back within six points of the pack that matters.
To now be significantly closer to the fight for promotion than we are to the relegation scrum is quite the turnaround from where we were post-Brentford, and all played out amidst varying levels of turmoil off the pitch.
Yesterday was thankfully not about Alex Pritchard or Delia Smith. It was solely about Farke and the 14 bodies he chose to do a job for him. The head coach and his team had formulated a plan and it was duly delivered.
Heroes emerged, as they tend to in these circumstances, and for those that made the trek the sight of James Maddison’s fine strike nestling perfectly in the corner of Frank Fielding’s net was a fitting reward. For 98 minutes (where the hell did those eight minutes come from by the way?) there was no disconnect, only togetherness and it was one of the good days.
There were no weak links yesterday, no-one shirked, even our stroppy Portuguese striker put in a shift, but it was those three central defenders who, backed up by Angus’s brilliance, who were the bedrock of this win; Grant Hanley in particular emerging from the shadows of Duncan Forbes and Malky Mackay as a towering Norwich City centre-back in the Braveheart mould.
And to think we doubted if he would be quick enough when he made the switch from the North East.
One incident in the second-half – just after Maddison’s goal – summed it up for me. For once Bobby Reid looked to have found a yard on Timm Klose and Christoph Zimmermann, Angus was in his sights, and careering across from the right side of the back three came Hanley to thwart a potentially dangerous situation.
I suspect he’ll never be able to touch Josh over 100m but over five and ten he’s displayed a turn of pace that has surprised many, all helped by his starting position being invariably spot on. He was a colossus yesterday, ably assisted my Messrs Klose and Zimmermann.
Jamal Lewis, in the most trying of circumstances, learned more in those 98 minutes than he will have done in all of his other outings combined. On a yellow card and being singled out as potential source of Bristol City joy, the lad stood firm alongside his more experienced colleagues, un-rattled by either the yellow or the going over. He emerged a man.
Maddison’s brilliance was again there for all the watching scouts to see but it was telling that in his post-match chat with Norfolk’s Chris Goreham, the head coach, amidst praising the youngster, was keen to point out occasions where his decision-making let him down. A shot across the bows maybe for the circling vultures who already see the finished product and perhaps a reminder for the corridors of power, who saw fit to deprive him of the services of Pritchard, that he’d like to work with Madders for a bit longer.
Farke cut a dejected figure on Friday’s presser – the departure of Pritchard, possibly Wildschut too, clearly didn’t sit comfortably – but the smile had returned by the time Chris had started asking the questions yesterday. He’s an intelligent guy, he knows the financial constraints he is working within, but he’ll also know when those in power are taking the proverbial.
For Maddison to also depart in this window would cause ructions that Stuart Webber would do well to avoid.
Yesterday’s midfield wasn’t solely dominated by Maddison though. Instead it was one Mario Vrancic who stood tall with and without the ball and produced his best shift in a yellow shirt. In for the injured again Tom Trybull, the Bosnian no longer finds himself on the periphery as the hussle and bussle of the Championship goes on all around him. He’s starting to look at home and, finally, his quality is starting to shine through.
His cross-field diagonal to pick out Ivo Pinto ahead of the goal was a thing of beauty, even if the national media chose to ignore the aesthetically pleasing ten-pass move that preceded Vrancic’s moment of quality. It mattered not though, the only thing that did being where Maddison’s shot ended up.
There were of course some “spicy” late moments to survive, as you would expect when faced with a good side, but survive them they did; Angus and that save being the absolute highlight.
It’s a shame to think we’re entering the final throes of watching a team that includes a Gunn and a Maddison but hopefully there will be a few more good days to come before we wish them a fond farewell.
In fact, there’d better be.
A very solid performance. Even before the goal I was content with how we’d played. Decent defending, a number of good opportunities upfront. We didn’t particularly look like the away side.
No complaints.
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Nice read. This is what we do as Norwich city – we have a rum week then we go and make it all better by winning when absolutely no one thought we would. That’s why football is so addictive. There’s a long way to go but thank you DF and the team for giving us hope and above all, trying, despite adversity and the bad will of so many.
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Oh my good god. A good result yes, but the end of your comment…urgh. So unnecessary. It was like when your auntie kisses you with an immovable lipstick.
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He was referring to you.
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Following a tough week the team has responded magnificently. Over the course of his tenure Daniel Farke and his coaching team have endured upheaval of epic proportions and many a bigger name manager simply would not have had the skills to guide a team shorn of its stars to the current position in the league. The upheaval will continue and James Maddison will move on to bigger things, good luck to him when that happens but let’s enjoy him for now.
There is a togetherness about the team, coaching staff and DOF that is starting to shine through. Dare I say it but that has been missing for sometime at Norwich certainly during the latter stages of the Alex Neil reign.
With the buy in from the supporters we could be on the verge of a Lambertesque revival and that must be preferable to trying to drag the club down via social media.
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A very good result, but I still have next to no faith this team will do this consistently. We seem to strain every sinew to score one goal in a match and when we do, its like we get a nose bleed and drop down with exhaustion like something off stranger things.
The fact we never seem to waltz a game (shame we cant play ourselves), even against dreadful sides, means the team is still going to fail when the pressure really sets in later in the season. If you dish out a surprise thrashing or two with goals galore its onoy a matter of time before the strain to get just one goal will tell.
The pritchard move was as obvious as it gets in football by the way!
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Thanks Gary, a great summation of events yesterday on and off the pitch. All congratulations to team Farke indeed for what they pulled off, following the week’s upheavals. And although the squad is thin at the moment, it was good to see Cantwell on the bench again (I hope he gets an appearance sometime soon), as well as Raggett. Raggett’s few moments on the pitch means there is no going back then, he is here now to stay, and if we are to play more often with 3 at the back, he will be needed now that Franke is currently not in the building.
For the club’s powers that be, we now need to see at least a couple of incoming names, especially if 2 or more of Martin, Naismith and Jerome are outgoing. And don’t they dare even consider any offer for Maddison this window, because that will spark a riot amongst supporters – I think the club would get at least 25,000 objections to that in one way or another.
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There are a fair few on here that wouldn’t object in the slightest,
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Wasn’t going to comment – I never normally feel the need to on Gary’s stuff – but I’ll make an exception this time.
Chris mate, I agree with you.
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Raggett could still go back to Lincoln, but it seems unlikely. He’s 23 so there’s nothing to lose by trying him out over the next few months to see if he really has got what it takes at this level.
I’d be surprised if Maddison goes in this window unless someone offers silly money or he’s positively angling for a move, which I doubt. I don’t think he’s the kind of young player who’s eager to take the PL money and then sit on the bench. His wages compared to our ex PL players like Naismith and Jerome aren’t likely to be significant so it seems unlikely there’s pressure to move him on for that reason.
People are forecasting a big hole in the club’s finances after the parachute payments run out, so in the longer term the club may well have to cash in on him. But I don’t see any reason financially why it needs to do so right now.
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I’m sure Bristol City’s midweek labours were a factor, just as the physical and emotional roller-coaster of the Ipswich and Arsenal games, 2 in 3 days, extra time et al, undoubtedly had a knock-on effect when Derby came calling.
Chelsea have had a tough schedule too, and it’s not impossible we’ll be able to hold out until extra time on Wednesday, before bowing out gracefully. Unless of course Farke abandons all hope from the start and plays a deliberately under strength team. But he doesn’t strike me as that sort of guy, and frankly I hope he isn’t.
ET or not, what happens next? 3 days later Sheff U come to town, fresh from an 8-day break. Given their position, if ever we need 3 points to start bridging the gap it’s next Saturday. Don’t hold your breath.
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A positive post and very few replies. Interesting, compare to a post which includes the words Stowmarket clapper ambition investment – in any order- and moaners all appear.
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My cousin’s partner bought tickets for him and I to go to the game which was fantastically generous of her. Unfortunately, she’s a Bath rugby season ticket holder and thought the fact that we had a ticket would allow us to watch from whichever part of Ashton Gate we chose. Such were the events which led me to watch the game from BC FC’s equivalent to the South Stand with the home fans.
I can’t disagree with any of Gary’s article. Everyone played well and gave huge effort and DF got the tactics right. It was agony to not be able celebrate our goal, Angus’ brilliant late save or their effort crashing off the bar earlier. A strange scenario but the display and result made it worthwhile.. I was a bit concerned at how long Maddison spent saluting and waving and blowing kisses to the fans at the end; hopefully it was just me being paranoid.
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Think a lot more positives can be made out of the good transfer business that has been done recently. Trybull, Zimmermann, increasingly Vrancic. Add these names to Lewis, Godfrey, Morris and hopefully Thompson then there is optimism going forward as and when we do sell Maddison. The jury is out yet on Hubbard , Watkins, Ragget and Stiepermann because of lack of playing time for whatever reason.
Clearly we need more attacking players brought in and so much will depend on their quality.
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Sadly Maddison will go if there are lucrative offers which NCFC can’t refuse. As a fan, I would like to think that some of any transfer money will be used to bring in players to strengthen the squad. My greatest fear is that Webber et al will decide that we can carry on until the end oft he season without reinforcements.
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After a performance which epitomises teamwork & togetherness, it’s a shame to see some comments which appear to be no more than point scoring against others who have a differing view. We’ll lose soon & then it’ll go back round the other way…
Great credit to Farke who has now twice arrested slides which many thought would end his tenure. Whether he has the ability to turn these mini runs into genuine consistency is still to be discovered but I think he’s certainly got something about him.
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Another one decided by the odd goal. I think most would agree that we were worth the win this time. It’s good to see Vrancic looking more useful, we need him to be.
My desire to see a 343 being used was based on our having both Pritchard and Maddison; I thought it the best way to make use of them. So, I was surprised to see it being used without the former. I’m glad it was, though.
Klose, Pritchard; and, Lewis. We could’ve, should’ve, been playing with all three of those from the start of the season.
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Great sum up as always Gary and had not picked up on your Hanley observation.
For me……I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago but I truly do think the tide is well and truly beginning to turn.
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