Paul Lambert has warned the Norfolk public to keep their expectations in check, despite the Canaries building on their excellent start to the season with a 3-0 success at Bristol City yesterday.
They do say the league table begins to take shape after 10 games and now we’re at that stage, Canary fans will be quietly confident with the club sitting pretty in third place.
Yesterday’s Ashton Gate contest was never really in doubt after Simeon Jackson put Lambert’s men ahead on 23 minutes with a rasping shot past former England goalkeeper David James.
Fans’ favourite Wes Hoolahan extended City’s lead 12 minutes later from the penalty spot following a handball by Louis Carey and the Robins, who have slipped to the bottom of the Championship, were booed off at the break.
The hosts rallied at the start of the second period but Norwich were home and dry when Jackson netted his second when racing on to a John Ruddy goal-kick before sliding the ball past James.
Things are certainly rosy in the Canary garden right now, but Lambert, in his calm and collected manner, is keen to keep a lid on any wild ambitions for the time being.
“Nobody should get carried away. But we’ve done really fine and to come here and play the way we did; I thought the lads were brilliant,” he told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“We were under pressure for the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game and it’s a hard place to come to, regardless of where they are in the league.
“It was always going to be a tough game and their crowd are vibrant, of that there is no doubt, but we deserved to win.
“However, I’ve been in the game long enough to know that there are miles to go. We’ve done really fine and it would be ok if we were sitting where we are with 44 games gone but at the minute, I’ll just wait.”
City continue to churn out the victories and they’ve only drawn one match on their Championship return. Lambert is clearly prepared to take a few risks and so far, it’s paying dividends.
With three wins on the road already, the Canaries clearly aren’t going to sit back and play it safe. It’s a bold new era at Carrow Road with the wily Scot at the helm.
“I just always think that you’ve got to get on the front foot. I don’t think we’ve drawn too many games since we’ve been here – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But with the way we played here, we could have won by a bit more.”
After yesterday’s two-goal heroics from summer signing Jackson, it would be fair to say that the Canadian international has well and truly arrived in Norfolk after a slow start.
And his boss paid tribute to the pacy forward afterwards. With Messrs Holt, Martin and Jackson vying for two places up top, there is some serious competition in the striking department.
“Goalscorers are always judged by their goalscoring ratio and I thought his first goal was top class. His second was difficult as well and it was a terrific finish. Simeon has been excellent.
“Him and Grant [Holt] gave them problems all day and Simeon does what he’s good at, which is getting on the end of things and using his pace.
“One thing I’ll say about Simeon Jackson is that he’s a brilliant pro. Not once has he been down when he hasn’t been in the side.”
City: Ruddy; R Martin, Ward, Barnett, S Smith (Fox 85); K Smith, Crofts, Lappin; Hoolahan; Holt, Jackson (C Martin 81). Subs not used: Rudd, Johnson, Daley, McNamee, Askou.
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