City's thrilling Reserve team win over Arsenal's much-vaunted youngsters last night gave everyone something to ponder.
Not least the identity of No9 'Danny Kelly' who, it has now emerged was on-trial Austrian international Roman Kienast.
Who lasted less than 15 minutes before hobbling off injured; a move that actually did the Canaries a favour or two as Kris Renton's new strike partner, Luke Daley, then proceeded to offer City boss Glenn Roeder a headache or two ahead of this weekend's Sky TV date at Nottingham Forest.
Should he reward the pacy teenager with at least a place on the bus to the City Ground? Or between the likes of the on-loan Leroy Lita, the injured Antoine Sibierski and the one-time Arsenal starlet Arturo Lupoli, have the Canaries got enough edge in their attack to dig themselves out of their current – and all-too familiar predicament?
Speaking to the club's official website after last night's three-goal show, Daley was clearly hoping that his night out with the teenage Gunners stars had furthered his cause with the manager.
Certainly the Canary Academy product proved that he had all the pace anyone needed to unsettle a footballing centre-half – and he had the composure and the calmness to finish as and when opportunity knocked.
Whether it is all enough to earn him a promotion into Roeder's thoughts for such a crunch game at the City Ground is another matter.
“I've just got to keep on playing and keep catching the gaffer's eye and see where we go from there,” said the level-headed youngster, clearly well aware as to who was in the stands watching last night – over and above the 7,000-odd spectators who arrived little suspecting that Norwich would be on the right end of a 4-2 goal fest.
“With the first team gaffer watching the games, it doesn't do any harm,” said the young Canary striker, who in previous years could have looked forward to 'testing' himself against Barnet and Grays Reserves in the much-derided Pontins Holidays Combination.
Norwich's decision to quit the competition and concentrate their energies on securing such prime friendlies as last night's clash with Arsene Wenger's Class of '08 would appear to be paying off.
Certainly as the club's assault on the FA Youth Cup kicks-off at the start of next month with that home clash against Wigan Athletic so the City youngsters should go into the competition fearing no-one having now added Arsenal to their list of Premiership scalps.
“The game's that we've been getting arranged – like against Arsenal – aren't going to do us any harm anyway because it's good competition to show the gaffer what we can do,” said Daley.
Much will rest on the fitness of Antoine Sibierski. Should the Frenchman – as expected – shrug off his knee injury in time for the trip to the City Ground then the likes of a Daley or a Tom Adeyemi earning their first team spurs on the TV duly diminish.
Adeyemi was close last weekend with Roeder revealing that the newly-signed 17-year-old was the '17th man' on his squad list following Lee Croft's disappearance with flu and Darel Russell's suspension.
The return of both Sibierski and Croft will – in theory – knock the hopes of both Stephenson's charges; their next big night out may prove to be that FA Youth Cup clash with Wigan.
One of the bigger plusses to emerge from last night's events was the fact that the Canaries – traditionally short and second-best to the strapping athletes that arrive up from the Smoke – looked to have narrowed the size gap of late.
A policy to 'go big…' was one instituted under ex-City chief Nigel Worthington – one fully endorsed by Roeder, even if at first team level six-foot plus athletes have proved rather harder to come by.
Reserve team boss Paul Stephenson can also take credit from the way in which his young charges rose to the occasion – refusing to be over-awed by an Arsenal reserve team that arrived in Norfolk with a big reputation on the back of their Carling Cup triumphs.
The City youngsters were quicker in both thought and deed for long periods of last night's contest and thoroughly deserved their sudden share of the back-page headlines.
In the meantime, one all-too familiar face was hoping that his own reserve team heroics could yet book him a date on the telly this weekend as Lee Martin looks to force his way back into Colin Calderwood's thinking.
Martin, 21, last popped up on City's radar in that infamous trip to Plymouth this time last season – a game in which the on-loan Manchester United ran riot.
Now, having scored twice in Forest's 3-0 win over Port Vale Reserves on Monday night, Martin is keen to renew his acquaintance with the Canaries.
“I am pleased to get the minutes but obviously the goals top it off,” he told the Nottingham Evening Post tonight.
“I need games now. I had a spell where I missed about four weeks of football,” he added. “We are starting to do well and have turned the corner and I want to be part of that.”
Just not this Saturday… would be the hope in Norfolk.
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