Whisper it quietly, but the season starts here.
Sixteen league games have already been wasted ? no two ways about it.
It's been a car crash of a campaign to date and really couldn't have been much worse than it already has.
Embarrassed at Plymouth two weeks ago, out-played and out-muscled against the likes of Hull, Charlton, Bristol City and West Brom, and? well? simply shamed at Wolves and QPR, it's been little short of an abject campaign and simply has to improve otherwise it's League One here we come and a half-empty Carrow Road every other week next season.
This two week international break really couldn't have come at a better time in all fairness, because had City not been afforded a fortnight's period of inactivity, the way things were going all it would have meant is that, in all probability, they'd now have another couple of games fewer with which to try to turn this season around.
So I suppose we can look at it as being an ideal time for the dust to have settled, and particularly a perfect early opportunity for Glenn Roeder to have taken stock of the situation, installed his new backroom team and also added to the playing staff for the long and arduous journey that lies ahead.
So it's a 30-game campaign to all intents and purposes for the Canaries. Thirty matches from which to glean at least another 40 points that would hopefully be enough for them to stave off relegation.
I have to hand it to a few eternal optimists and their school of thought that suggests that even the play-off's might still be a possibility should the Canaries finally pull their fingers out and get their act in order – plenty of matches and time to “do a Leeds” if you like and come roaring up the table after being virtually written off at one time.
But do me a favour, please.
It's not physically impossible of course, stranger things have happened in football, and if the new City boss can persuade the likes of Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry to uproot from Barcelona for a couple of months in Norfolk then even I might be persuaded to take a trip to the bookmakers, but let's be serious here.
Play-offs? Let's just focus on second from bottom as a target for now, shall we? Then if and when that is accomplished third from bottom? and then maybe fourth from bottom. Then if that happens the season can finish whenever it likes and we can pretend that 2007-08 was only a bad dream.
Along with Martin Taylor, the arrivals of Matty Pattison, Mo Camara and Ched Evans are certainly the type of players that Roeder was alluding to when he said that he wanted to beef-up the look to his team.
All four loan signings possess a strong and steely desire to win, but also the equally important attribute of power that this division demands, and players with similar qualities will hopefully join them in the not too distant future.
But there also needs to be a collective new attitude up at Colney from Monday to Friday that can then translate to a matchday – a new focus, a new belief and a whole new direction for the team in order to stop this rot to make results happen.
Because to saddle just a few new signings with the responsibility to turn things around on their own would be an unreasonable ask, especially as they will need to familiarise themselves with their new team-mates and try to establish their own credentials before they can begin to turn their thoughts to anything else.
So don't for one minute think the impetus doesn't have to primarily to come from the players that are already here with the new boys merely supplementing it all with their own talents, because unless that happens, little will change.
However, with positive thoughts we'll cut the ribbons on this 'new' season that starts against Coventry at Carrow Road this weekend, and hope that it's all systems go from hereon in.
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