This time last year, City's rookie 'keeper Joe Lewis was eyeing a second loan spell away from Carrow Road, with the route to the Canary No 1 jersey about to be blocked by Scotland stopper David Marshall.
However, one year on, Norfolk-born Lewis now finds himself part of the full England squad and with a promotion season behind him with League One-bound Peterborough, things couldn't have gone much better for the 20-year-old since leaving the Canaries.
It started with a loan spell at League newcomers Morecambe and ended with a trip to the Caribbean with Fabio Capello's Three Lions – not bad for a man still yet to play in England's top three divisions.
There were certainly rumblings of discontent when Lewis was allowed to make the journey down the A47 in January, but a ?400,000 fee did, in Glenn Roeder's eyes, make good business sense.
The 'should City have sold him' debate is one to be discussed another time but there is no getting away that nearly half a million pounds for a player who hadn't made a first-team appearance represented a generous offer.
And with Marshall shining in between the Carrow Road sticks, Lewis needed to get and out play ? if only to prove that he was more than just 'potential'.
“At Norwich I was on the bench, training, not playing and it was hard to motivate myself,” said the boyhood Canaries fan whilst speaking to the Telegraph at the weekend.
“I was struggling to get a club. Nobody really wanted me because I was inexperienced. Luckily, Sammy McIlroy took a chance on me at Morecambe.
“It was a big decision for me. My agent said they had just got promoted and I might have too much to do. He thought it would set me back, losing 4-0 each week. But I needed first-team football and if we were under pressure I could also be the star, as the goalkeeper.
“I had a couple of good games against Peterborough and that was where the move came from. I could have stayed at Norwich, which hadn't got me anywhere. I was desperate.”
So just why didn't get his big chance with his hometown club? “Ask Glenn Roeder. I didn't play a competitive first-team game at Norwich. Suddenly at Morecambe, I was up against big, ugly League Two strikers. I got a few knocks, but it was good fun.”
With an international call-up coming on the back of rave reviews for Posh, talk will inevitably turn to a big-money move to the Premier League.
Manchester City, who today sacked Sven Goran Eriksson, are said to be lining up a move for the 6ft 6in keeper, although how they will find room for Lewis and England team-mate Joe Hart is anyone's guess.
European champions Manchester United have also been linked with a swoop on London Road and Posh boss Darren Ferguson will certainly be filing regular progress reports to his old man at Old Trafford.
And after his little England taster, Lewis says the difference between the very top and the lower leagues is plain to see.
“It's the sharpness of the England strikers, the quality,” Lewis added. “When they get a chance, they take it. You cannot afford to switch off.”
Despite an outstanding season, you would have been a brave man to predict his rise to stardom within this timeframe. And Lewis, who will now jet off to Mexico for a well-earned break with his Peterborough pals, was as stunned as anyone.
“When I got the call, I had to check to make sure it wasn't a prank, but the call came at six, and at eight the car arrived to take me to the hotel. I grabbed a bag, threw a few things in and went. I had no time even to be shocked.”
He will, however, have found the methods employed by Capello ? a manager with an exemplary CV in European football ? a tad different to those at London Road.
At Posh, Barry Fry still has a big say and the phrase 'chalk and cheese' was probably invented to describe these two characters.
“Capello's English is better,” Lewis replied, with tongue firmly in cheek. “There is a big difference, yes, but my manager is Darren Ferguson and he has been a massive part of our success at Peterborough. He talks to you, he is a very good man-manager and that is very encouraging. He is coming up like his old man. He won't accept a lack of effort.”
Lewis didn't make it off the bench for either the 2-0 Wembley win over the USA last week, or last night's 3-0 dismissal of Trinidad and Tobago. But there were certainly a few familiar faces for Canary fans on show in the Caribbean.
And that has made Lewis feel right at home in his new, more glamourous surroundings. “You don't feel uptight when you walk in. I knew a few of the lads from the Under-21 team, plus David Bentley, Dean Ashton and Peter Crouch from Norwich.”
But whilst there was a youthful feel to this particular England squad, Lewis revealed that David James, the Premier League's outstanding goalkeeper of 07/08, was as impressive in the flesh as he is on the telly.
“It is great to be training with him now – he is a very strong character, physically and mentally. He's still got a few years left in him.”
And if Lewis can get anywhere near to matching James' achievements, then the Broome-born man will have done Norfolk proud.
Tom Haylett
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