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Marshall relishing life outside the Glasgow goldfish bowl as the big day nears

7th August 2007 By Latest News Leave a Comment

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New Canary No1 David Marshall this afternoon revealed just how much he is enjoying life outside the goldfish bowl of Glasgow football.

There the football is raw and tribal; here, the two East Anglian tribes are the better part of an hour apart; life isn't lived under quite such a microscope.

Instead, he can just go about his working life unchallenged; he can even walk the streets of Norwich unrecognised – something that could all swiftly change if the 22-year-old maintains the kind of form he showed in the pre-season clash with West Ham United through the forthcoming Championship season.

Certainly the one-handed save to deny Lee Bowyer in that furious early onslaught from the Hammers was one to make everyone sit up and take notice.

?It's a totally different kettle of fish – up in Glasgow you're getting recognised all the time and down here it's different,? said Marshall, now free from some of the pressures that come with a professional footballer's life at Parkhead and Ibrox.

Passions can run all too high in a very tribal city. And while Marshall might have enjoyed a far lower profile than say, ex-Bhoys skipper Neil Lennon, stepping into the wrong bar in the wrong company can, even now, be fraught with peril.

As Lennon famously, if not infamously, found out, stopping at the wrong set of traffic lights at the wrong time of night can also land a player in trouble.

?Nobody has stopped me in the street at all – it's a bit different from Glasgow. If you're playing away after Auld Firm games and that, you've got to watch yourself.

?It's more enjoyable I think – to have more time to yourself,? added Marshall, speaking at the launch this afternoon of a new affinity tie-in with the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society – this time offering home and motor insurance to Canary fans.

?I just think this is the best place for me at the moment – it's a very good club and I think if we keep everybody fit, I think we've got a very good chance this season.?

Football lore always maintains that a good keeper can be worth an extra ten points a season. That save to deny Bowyer – and two more either side made the one-time Celtic starlet look a very good keeper indeed. He pulled off another excellent stop in Friday's 1-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem in City's final dress rehearsal for the new campaign.

?It happened that quick – it was just a bit of luck. I just swung my arm up and I didn't even know who had had the shot until a couple of days after,? said Marshall, with every City fan hoping that the same luck of the Scots will stay with their new No1.

Likewise, most will hope that Norwich don't bump into a team of West Ham's ilk every week; not likely, in all fairness. This is the Championship where Bobby Zamoras are in short supply.

?They came out of the traps pretty quickly and were a really good side and I don't think we'll play a side much better than that this season,? said Marshall.

?I wouldn't like to be that busy during the league campaign,? he added. ?But as I say, we'll not play against as good an opposition as that and it's obvious that you're not giving it 100 per cent going into pre-season games so I think it'll be different come the league and, hopefully, it'll be a lot tighter come Preston on Saturday.?

Whether that greater tightness will come from an additional arrival between now and kick-off at Deepdale is probably the last remaining question for the manager to answer; that and whether Darren Huckerby will be fit in time.

Proper judgement, says Marshall, will come when City see the whites of Neil Mellor's eyes, as opposed to spotting Zamora's disappearing form.

?I don't think anyone can be sure until we start playing games,? said the City keeper.

?I think if you looked at it on paper in terms of numbers I think we've got more cover than we did last season, but until we start playing games, bedding in and seeing how much quality there is I don't think you can say.?

That bedding in process has long been underway – one, big advantage of getting most of the summer shopping done before a ball is ever kicked in anger.

?The players have had maybe three or four weeks bedding in together now and everybody's getting on,? said Marshall, his own form and fortune buoyed by the fact that he knows he will start come Deepdale – no longer lost in someone else's shadow, he's the main man. The one in possession.

?Competition for places is always good, but I think if you know you're going to start the season then it gives you that little bit extra confidence – it's a weight off your shoulders,? said Marshall. ?And, hopefully, I can play well and justify the manager's decision.?

His next target is quite simple – to claim the second clean sheet of his Canary career. The third, if anyone is feeling generous.

?It was my first clean sheet against Vitesse there, so hopefully we can carry that into Saturday. I managed to get a clean sheet up at Chelsea, but that was only for about ten minutes… but I'm claiming that!?

How the cookie crumbles from here on in remains as much in the hands of Lady Luck as ever, but Marshall appears in a confident mood.

?As I say, you don't know until you start playing games but I'm pretty confident and I think the boys are pretty confident that we're going to have a good season – if everybody stays fit,? he said.

The last two games have done their job. Now for the real thing.

?It was good to get the games in and I think it was much better opposition and it'll stand us in good stead for the games coming up – to get the sharpness and the fitness back and be ready for Preston.

?But the main thing is that we've done OK in the last two games and, hopefully, we can take that into the season.?


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