His lordship is never one to mince his words. Shoot from the lip he might, but it is always straight from the heart.
So as Darren Huckerby looked forward to tomorrow's home clash with Crystal Palace, he had one simple message for all concerned – ?We need to pull our fingers out…? was his simple verdict.
He has a point. After this weekend's Palace visit, the Canaries hit the road with a vengeance – travelling to Charlton Athletic next Tuesday night, Wolves the following Saturday and Manchester City in the third round of the Carling Cup the following Tuesday.
Thereafter it is Sheffield Wednesday at home. The last thing anyone needs is that to be painted a ?six-pointer? given Wednesday's own shaky start to the new season. Norwich need to be up and motoring comfortably by then.
?It's a big month for us – definitely,? said the 31-year-old, who started City's last home game on the bench, hard on the heels of his two-hour Carling Cup marathon against Rochdale on his first game back from that summer-long injury.
?We've got to start picking up points. Cup games are a little bit different, but especially in the league games we've got to go away and get good results.?
Which is why a little more spotlight falls onto this weekend's game. Performances can wait; tomorrow is all about a result.
?It's a massive game on Saturday,? said City's two-time Player of the Season. ?We've got to win – it's as simple as that.
?If we want to do anything this season then we can't lose three games at home. It's as simple as that. We've got to crack on and, hopefully, start a run and get the points that we should be getting.?
Particularly at home – that's where the foundation for any successful season comes. At home. Away and, on occasion, you can get away with murder; home is your bread and butter. That's where you establish a winning routine.
?We've got to start putting performances together – we haven't played as well as we can do this season. It's obvious.
?And so – whoever's playing – it's time to get the fingers out! It's easier said than done, but we've got to start picking up points.?
Whether Huckerby starts is one of the bigger selection decisions facing Canary boss Peter Grant. Simon Lappin's early season form – and goals – has been one of the bigger plus points.
All of which means that to accommodate Lappin, Huckerby and, presumeably, left-back Adam Drury into your thinking, the City boss has little option but to go 4-3-3 with Huckerby either assigned his traditional left-ish role or else, nominally, given the hole behind the front two.
A straight partnership with Jamie Cureton doesn't look an option. Go 4-4-2 and either Grant drops either Lappin or Drury and plays Huckerby wide left or else Huckerby is left to click his heels on the bench as the manager goes for the safety-first option offered by playing a Drury-Lappin combination down the left.
It is exactly the same tactical conundrum that has dogged this manager and the last; one that shows no sign of being immediately resolved. For most, however, Huckerby has to play. Minus both Mark Fotheringham and Jimmy Smith, City need a creative spark; they need his edge.
?We haven't played as well as we can do – that's obvious. But, in saying that, we haven't had our strongest team out yet – I don't think,? said Huckerby, no prizes for guessing as to who he thinks Norwich have been missing.
?Hopefully, when everyone's fit we should be getting to where everyone wants to be.?
And after all his summer groin trouble, Huckerby is firmly in the 'fit' camp. He has, after all, two hours and a penalty at Spotland under his belt.
?I'm ready to play. It's been a tough three months really, but hopefully now I can get a few games under my belt and, hopefully, start winning some games.?
The fact that he has also had a full two weeks to top up his fitness tanks has not, it seems, made too much of a difference.
?I was ready to play the last game,? said the City favourite. ?So it's just been another two weeks training.
?Obviously it's better because I've trained more – and I've trained with the lads a bit more – but, like I say, I want to play every game and if the manager had said to me last time: 'Do you want to play?' I would have said: 'Yes!'
Huckerby won't – in theory – be the only one making his first Championship appearance of the season; Palace new-boy Paul Dickov is expected to start his first Eagles' game since his deadline week switch to Selhurst Park. Throw in James Scowcroft and Clinton Morrison and there's one or two names to worry about.
?They've got some good players – I've know Dickov for a long time and he's a good player,? said Huckerby, of his former Manchester City pal.
?He works hard and causes defences a lot of trouble, so hopefully we can keep him quiet for the whole game.?
Which brings us neatly to Grant's second selection headache – whether or not Jason Shackell's ankle injury has healed sufficiently for him to return to the fray. Or whether, in the absence of a dramatic loan swoop, he'll be forced to turn to either 38-year-old Dion Dublin or new-boy Ian Murray for a partner for Gary Doherty.
The fact that the games come so thick and fast from here on in may equally play a part in his thinking. From now on, Grant, Dublin or whoever will barely have to time to catch their breath. That will only come on Tuesday, October 8, as the dust settles on that Monday night trip to QPR. Otherwise, it's fast, furious and – potentially – crucial to City's hopes this season. They need to click into a higher gear; to spring into more consistent life.
?That's how it happens – especially in this division. It happens all the time; the lads are used to it now and, hopefully, we can get a bit of a run going,? said Huckerby, determined to get Cardiff out of the system.
?And it doesn't matter who it is – we've got to look to put right what happened in the last game.?
Leave a Reply