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It’s a four letter word that begins with the letter ‘L’. And it’s changed.

20th December 2007 By Rick Waghorn Leave a Comment

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Tis the morning after the Christmas drinks the night before, so if what follows is a little blurred round the edges it'll be par for the course in all honesty.

But as Messrs Dennis, Wyett, Robertson, Haylett, Goreham and Baldwin all prepare to offer their festive thoughts over the next week or so, so I kind of figured I might be best advised to nip in early and beat the rush.

So, how was 2007 for you? Not one for the Canary scrapbook, I guess.

The funny thing is that ask me now who or how Norwich were playing through the months of February, March and April and, indeed, much of September and October and those whole ten months tend to blur into an eminently forgettable whole. Or hole, for that matter.

There was a brief spark of life when Chrissy Martin burst onto the scene in the wake of Robert Earnshaw's injury and I have a vague memory of a God-awful trip to Layer Road where minus Dickson Etuhu, City produced one of their more spineless efforts of recent times. But that apart, there was very, very little that was in any way memorable about the first ten months of 2007.

It was just a slow, inexorable slide into utter mediocrity. At what point the sinking Carrow Road ship hit rock bottom is, I guess, something to chew over with a festive pint in hand. I was halfway across the Atlantic on the night of the Rangers' game, so I'll have to pass on that one and instead offer up Wolves (a) as the point at which you knew that one or two people would not be long for this world.

Look back now and I think that same thought crossed Peter Grant's mind. Black Spot had, in many ways, been delivered.

Plymouth (a) is, of course, the other one. But as woeful as it was, it didn't teach the rest of us anything we didn't already know. It may well have opened Glenn Roeder's eyes to just what a shambles he had inherited, but there was nothing you couldn't have predicted about events at Home Park that afternoon – certainly not once Martin Taylor hobbled off towards the sidelines.

What has followed since has been fairly remarkable and clearly it's a story that still has a long, long way to run. But to go from Plymouth (a) to four wins, a draw and just one defeat in the space of six games is, by anyone's standards, a magnificent managerial feat.

Certain old habits refuse to die; Norwich weren't at their best at Layer Road last Saturday; the Us opener was a classic of its City kind. But the fact of the matter was that they emerged with a point – or rather whipped two big points out of Colchester's hands which is probably the more important. Down among the dead men you have to take points off your rivals. Particularly when they're at home. In that sense, even last weekend's so-so performance was a job done.

Certainly seven, short weeks ago and Norwich would have lost that game. Of that there is no question.

Where we're all now heading is the intriguing question. Not to Whaddon Road next August, me thinks.

Because while it may still be a little rash to jump to one or two conclusions on the back of a couple of months and six, pretty decent performances, something's changed. Something big.

Luck.

It first struck me when Kevin Beattie was playing with his four balls. Under previous regimes presented with the choice of Newcastle United, Stoke City and Bury as your potential FA Cup third round opponents, Norwich would not have drawn Bury (h). Particularly not when it was a Town legend picking out the ball with Norwich's number on.

Given Roeder's little spat with Tony Pulis the week before and the strength of his 'feeling' for Newcastle United, you would have put money on one of those popping out of the bowl. Or a trip to Gigg Lane – just to complete that North-West set after the Carling Cup fun and games at Rochdale.

But, no, it was the Shakers at home.

Look at that Sheffield United game. Nine times out of ten – if not 99 times out of a hundred – that's a goal. That's a late Blades' leveller; that's 1-1; that's two points dropped; that's City still locked in the bottom three. Again, Layer Road. Nine times out of ten, Danny Granville wouldn't be poking a 89th minute leveller home. Norwich don't traditionally do last minute own goals. Not those that earn them a point; they're normally giving them away.

The one slice of fortune that hasn't gone City's way thus far is winning Ms Brady's heart over. The presumption remains that more money will have to do more talking when the January transfer window opens if the Canaries are to bolt 'Tiny' Taylor into their plans on a full-time basis. But even that rare dark cloud could have a silver-lining in the shape of the Carrow Road reception that awaits the 28-year-old should Norwich manage to prise Taylor out of her ladyship's hands. There's a very big 'Huckerby moment' waiting there – one that can push a club into a serious roll as that Cardiff-like momentum gathers.

For me, I also think that Roeder got lucky with the way the fixtures fell – the way that he had that two weeks off post-Plymouth to rebuild, reorganise and recruit.

The two, back-to-back home games over Christmas are also two, great games to have. After the fun and games at The Valley, the Charlton re-match on Boxing Day could be literally that. It's a spicy little number. As is any game against Wolves. There's always a little history to that fixture.

As there is to Palace (a) on New Year's Day. But you go to deepest Croydon having sustained the recent bounce through those two home fixtures and anything from the Warnock-Jordan pantomime is a bonus. A Stoke-esque performance and even result is OK. It keeps the wind in the sails going into transfer window time – and that handy little cup game against Bury.

It seems a daft thing to say given that even now Norwich are sat in pretty much their lowliest league position in two generations. But, for me, as of this minute the Canaries appear in better shape to do something in this division than they have been since they plummeted out of the Premiership on that fateful day on the banks of the Thames.

You somehow sense that a Force is with them; that Luck is on their side. Put the two together, and that's a fairly formidable combination. They could go far in 2008.

Have a great Christmas.


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Filed Under: Column, Rick Waghorn

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🚨 We're in position at Carrow Road for this afternoon's game against Burnley.

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