I'd hazard a guess and suggest that if there's one thing that irritates football supporters more than anything else, then it's hearing players proclaiming precisely what is needed on any given match-day and stating exactly how they're going to go about providing it, only to subsequently produce nothing of the sort…
You know what I'm talking about.
Players seemingly at one with their fans, saying all the right things beforehand, apparently possessing an unerring ?understanding? of what it means to the supporters and then affirming any one or a number of reasons why they will be sure to deliver when it comes to the crunch.
And then all those rousing words ring hollow as they promptly fall flat on their faces.
Sometimes it's better to just keep it buttoned and let your football do the talking. Because you can be certain that as admirable as the rousing battle cry it might appear beforehand as the date with destiny nears and the tension builds, it's sure as hell going to come back and bite you on the bum if you don't back those words up with actions.
I refer only in moderation to ?that? game last Sunday mind, because it is only right to highlight that there wasn't exactly a overload of ?Just watch us go!? snippets from the City camp in the pre?match build-up before the local-derby.
There were one or two, granted. But no-one ever quite got to the footballing equivalent of the Churchillian ?We will fight them on the beaches?? dialogue.
Which was just as well given what subsequently unfolded between the hours of 12:04 and 1:49pm at Portman Road on Sunday afternoon, eh?
Now's not the time to reopen old wounds on that score though, because those that were unfortunately present at Portman Road who had to endure almost all of the 90 minutes of witnessing their beloved Canaries being ripped to shreds on the field, and the inevitable taunting that accompanied it all from the terraces have already had a bellyful of derby-talk.
And those that weren't there will know all about it now anyway? So I'll move on!
But I think it's probably best that it's all been relatively low profile stuff from the Colney camp this week.
We've not generally been bombarded with a plethora of ?Putting it right…? schpiel.
The Canaries know what they did ? or rather, didn't – do last weekend. And they know what's required of them tomorrow as well as in their subsequent two remaining matches. So let's see if they can respond accordingly, shall we?
After all – and irrespective of the grammatical formulation of his words – one top-flight manager summed up perfectly what is required at this stage of the season this week when he said that, ?The time for talking has stopped. Now's the time to start doing…?
After succumbing to one of the play-off hopefuls last Sunday, City face a side tomorrow with just three matches standing between them and automatic promotion to the top-flight.
Acknowledged as one of the best footballing teams in the division, West Brom arrive at Carrow Road after enjoying a deserved 1-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday night ? a result that put them back on top of the table and with the title very much now within their own grasp.
Three wins from their remaining three matches will guarantee that Albion return to the Premier League as Champions after they narrowly missed out on a swift return to the top-flight via the play-offs last year, and as far as the visitors are concerned there is good news and bad news for Norwich tomorrow.
It doesn't make for pleasant reading when noticing that Tony Mowbray's team are easily the highest scorers in the division with 83 goals – evidence of why being witnessed at first hand in the corresponding fixture at the Hawthorns just before Glenn Roeder' s arrival last October when West Brom should have added considerably to the two goal margin that earned them all three points on the day given the chances they created ? or that they arrive at Carrow Road on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run on their travels.
However tomorrow's clash will be Albion's sixth game in eighteen days, and so hopefully they just might be a little leg weary!
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