After the Canaries somewhat dejectedly left the pitch at Hillsborough following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday in last game of the season back in May, the vast majority of City fans would have no doubt been hoping and praying that when they next saw their team take to the field in a competitive match the Canaries' starting line would be much different than the one that they had just seen lose it's twenty-first game of the campaign.
For just like in the previous season, once again Norwich simply hadn't been anywhere near good enough to make any significant impact in the Coca-Cola Championship.
Changes to the playing staff were clearly required therefore if City were to have any chance of making a go of it this season, and achieving what has undoubtedly become their nemesis in recent years, namely consistent performances.
So give City boss Peter Grant his due, as he hasn't exactly been out on the golf course over the course of the summer and neglecting his duties in the search for new additions to his squad, seeing as there is a possibility of us witnessing at least half a dozen new faces on duty at Deepdale tomorrow.
Whether they can all dovetail together in order for the Canaries to be competing where they ought to be at the top, rather than bottom end of the table though is the $64,000 question.
After a relatively disappointing pre-season in terms of both results and performances there is still a concern that City could struggle to make the kind of impact in the Championship this season that everyone would like, although as it is only right to highlight, pre-season results and even the performances themselves count for very little once you get down to the real business in hand.
Looking on the positive side of things, Norwich's second-half display against Vitesse Arnhem last Friday was what City should be aiming to achieve on a weekly basis this season, as once the team appeared to have the bit between their teeth and the necessary levels of urgency to their game they demonstrated just what they were capable of.
David Marshall, Julien Brellier, Darel Russell and, in particular, Jon Otsemobor will undoubtedly add a bit of steel to the side and give the Canaries a more solid look about them, because despite being able to name players like Dickson Etuhu and Youssef Safri in the starting line up on numerous occasions last term – as was to become all too clear – it didn't necessarily lend itself to City dominating their opponents in the manner that perhaps it should have.
As always a positive start is a major contributory factor for any success in a League campaign, but the computer at the Football League headquarters hasn't been kind to City in handing them what could prove to be a very difficult opening half dozen fixtures – including tomorrow's opener at Preston.
Deepdale hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds in recent years for Norwich, although City can take some encouragement from the fact that just like themselves, Preston haven't exactly covered themselves in glory during their pre-season fixtures.
Paul Simpson's men have only won one of their eight, meaningful warm-up matches and they were given the run-around by Blackburn in a 3-0 home defeat last Saturday, and of course, they now no longer have England striker David Nugent spearheading their attack after his summer move to Portsmouth.
You get the feeling that Preston could be there for the taking tomorrow, especially so given that Simpson himself has admitted that Preston's pre-season hasn't at all gone according to plan.
As has been the case for too long now though, it's whether or not the Canaries themselves can get their act together in order to be able to fully cash in.
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