If anyone claims they saw that one coming, Stanley frankly doesn't believe them.
OK, maybe a '1-0 to the City' prediction Stan could accept. The kind of prediction which wouldn't be based upon having watched Norwich play over the last couple of months, but actually over the last three decades or so.
Based upon that eternal truth of NCFC, just when you cannot possible envisage any other result, the exact opposite happens.
Admittedly they have always tended to be defeats such as, Hillsborough '92 (third time lucky in the semis; lower league opposition; no way they'll blow this chance?) and Craven Cottage '05 (they've done the hard work getting out of the bottom three; Fulham nothing to play for; just avoid a complete capitulation and we are home and dry?)
But then victories fit into this category as well such as Highbury '92 (put seats in the Barclay; sold Fleck; appointed reserve team manager to replace Stringer; 2-0 down at half-time; this team is 'nailed on with your eyes shut' to get relegated?). So, yes, 1-0 to City, fair enough.
Stan would have laughed in your face called you a mad fool, but he'd understood where you are coming from. But 5-2 against the league leaders?
A goalfest, entertainment rollercoaster, served up by the bunch of dullards who'd been wearing the sacred yellow jerseys this season? Never in a month of Sundays, fella. Never in a month of…
Such form and logic defying results are of course what keeps Stan going to the football. The kind of result which rekindles the flame of hope which this particular season, following the dross of the last three or four seasons, was, and if Stan is honest, is still in danger of being blown out by another bleak winter struggle against relegation. So this result should get Stan through November come what may.
So what of significance can we make of last night's game?
Well, the one thing Stanley has craved of late is to be entertained and that, thank the Lord, was what Stan got in buckets full last night. Beyond that of course is the same old question you get with these kinds in results in these kinds of circumstances. Is this a turning point for our season?
Well, wins like this only breed confidence so that alone bodes well. If Roeder takes on board the lessons of last night – play in a 4-4-2 formation; play round pegs in round holes; play with two wingers; don't play Fotheringham; base team around the masterful Clingan; play our most creative player Hoolahan – then we will certainly score goals.
Just imagine what would happen if Bell ever gets given a start as well? So if Hoolahan and Bell carry on playing then, just maybe, it is a turning point…
The alternative view is of course this was a freak; one-off result.
The kind of result that just reinforces the fact that in this bloodbath of a division anyone can beat anyone else on their day. Last season Leicester beat Watford 4-1 and ourselves 4-0 but still went down largely because of their inability to score.
So not only does a big win over promotion favourites fail to fireproof you from relegation, but it just illustrates that the gap between top and bottom is always so close in this division.
It will be interesting to see how close the gap between seventh and fourth from bottom will be at the end of season. Plus, of course, our goal scoring hat-trick hero from last night Leroy Lita is only here until the 1st of November and, of course, our defending is still dreadful.
So which of these two camps is Stan in? I can't say until May to be honest, until then I'll be between and betwixt.
Although the best way to find which way the predictive 'wind is blowing' at the moment is for Stan to sit the Jonah 'Chip' Millar. Would Stan be a getting a lift in his old mate Chip's new Alfa Romeo to Derby next Tuesday night?
Away up north, mid-week, with Jonah. If asked at 7.45 last night Stan would have said he would rather have his tackle trapped in the fridge door whilst watching the ITFC greatest derby wins ever DVD then watch City play away again ever.
However by 11pm Stan, whilst not about to open fridge door and jump into the passenger seat, was a good performance against Doncaster away from disappearing off down the A47.
Although in truth that probably says more about Stan's hopeless inability not cling to any glimmer of hope than any real faith in the imminent future of his beloved club.
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