Take a deep breath and clench those buttocks. The big one is looming and this time there’s way more than regional pride and short-term bragging rights at stake.
You can almost taste the anticipation and smell the half-time meat pies ahead of what promises to be a bruising battle.
It would be great if it could be a spectacular goal-filled footballing spectacle (with the right result of course) but chances are the words of the day will be cagey, tense and close.
A cold and calculating pragmatist would try to persuade you that it’s just one more game with three more points at stake but that soul-less individual would obviously be missing the large and elephant-shaped issue.
This time, with both teams ideally positioned on the rails for a late charge for automatic promotion glory, managers – regardless of what they may say in front of the cameras – players and fans alike of both East Anglian clubs know full well that this is the most important derby clash for decades.
Just one solitary point separates the boys in blue of that old warhorse Mick McCarthy from the yellow and green guns under the youthful tutelage of Alex Neil.
Whatever the result on Sunday, there still won’t be many points or league places between them. But in terms of momentum and confidence, any gap could take on canyon-like proportions.
The usual and inevitable fierce and passionate rivalry and not-so-friendly banter will be there as always of course.
After all, back in 2008 a census of fans from the 92 Football League clubs concluded that Norwich v Ipswich was the second most fiercely contested local dust up in the land – second only to the Black Country bash between Wolves and West Brom.
By last year the Canaries/Tractor Boys mash up had been relegated by the Telegraph to the 5th spiciest local encounter in the calendar with the Welsh wrangle between Cardiff and Swansea now elevated to top spot.
Now, I’m not the most vitriolic and vengeful of people when it comes to the Portman Road populace. Suffolk is a picturesque county with a rich cultural history (Constable, Britten… Sheeran) and any fair-minded and reasonable son or daughter of Norfolk couldn’t argue against such a description surely?
While the town of Ipswich is not exactly the shining jewel of the county in that regard, its football club undeniably has a more bulging trophy cabinet than that of Carrow Road, albeit earned long before the invention of the World Wide Web and the selfie stick.
While we fondly reminisce about the Saunders, Bond, Walker and Lambert eras, Town were blessed to have two of the 20th century’s truly great managers in Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson, who went on to be the best we’ve had at international level. Credit where it’s due.
However, now the glory days of Wark and Brazil, Whymark and Mariner are all but a persistent piece of grit in the collective teary eye of a long-suffering and dwindling faithful down the road. Will they ever let us forget that Texaco Cup victory over us in 1973?
But nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. In the superfast broadband, multi-media age, where the Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ ethos has assumed ever more importance in a footballing sense, there is little room for sentimental sugar-coated day dreaming.
In recent times, the Canaries have just edged things with five wins compared to four over the past decade. The Premier League is the place to be but it was almost worth getting relegated to reacquaint ourselves with Suffolk’s finest twice a season.
That infamous ‘gap’ which was opened up back in October has been steadily eroded away since the arrival of our man from Hamilton while Uncle Mick has cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines with unexpected defeats and disappointment suffered at the hands of clubs –Brighton, Rotherham and Reading – who would have been expected to have been despatched.
That said, we too have been guilty of such failings in past months – including against those very same sides – but a new steely reserve and clinical end product has been developed in the fledgling Neil era. Long may it continue, starting on Sunday of course.
The season and our promotion hopes don’t all hinge around Sunday’s lunchtime get together. There will be time and opportunity for either side to bounce back from the unthinkable defeat and continue a push for the top spots.
But of course, those particular three points will feel so much richer and could make all the difference come end of season.
Then again, Sunday could all just be a tangy aperitif for an ‘Old Farm’ clash in May’s Play-Off Semi-Final or Final.
Now, holy cow, that really would be a buttock-clencher.
This one is going to be HUGE. The “just another game” mentality doesn’t really work with this one. Four points behind, or, two points ahead, with twelve to play. Even if nothing is decided on the day, the right result will set everything up nicely for the remaining quarter of the season.
OTBC
Russ: Still slightly concerned at the prominence of buttock-clenching in your thoughts.
Sunday, however, will be anything but shades of grey. A full-on technicolour occasion, with vivid yellow, green, blue and probably a few spots of red. And for once we don’t have to discount our manager talking just another three points. Alex Neil doesn’t shy away from it (the match in this case) being a special one. He’s relishing his job, and the grin on is face tells us he’s particularly relishing Sunday.
I think we’ll win, of course. Rather than tempt fate by labouring the point, just a side comment on ‘survival of the fittest’. Darwin is constantly misrepresented about this, usually by those of an extreme political persuasion. The point is about adaptation: those who best adapt to change will prosper. Who’s nimbler and quicker to adapt: Alex Neil’s Norwich or Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich? I know where my money is.
OTBC
…his face…
Mere words cannot describe the importance of Sunday’s ‘game’.
Generations of East Anglians going back to near pre-historic times have been divided by the River Waveney. The two camps thankfully no longer conduct physical battle to establish territory or enforce their own administration and culture over the other, but the fierce rivalry remains. Just as the Romans used gladiatorial entertainment to appease the primordial desires of their people, today we have football.
The term ‘Old Farm Derby’ does not even begin to describe the electric atmosphere which will exist on Sunday. Defeat for half of the region means inconsolable despair. Victory means unbounded exhilaration. And that’s without the added pressure of the current league positions of the two combatants: with that in the mix, it becomes a gargantuan encounter.
I’m going for a Norfolk victory for three simple reasons:
First, Alex Neil, with his own understanding of tribal culture, will be desiring victory more than the dour Mick McCarthy, and this will rub off on the combatants.
Second, the gladiatorial Brad Johnson who has recently demonstrated his loyalty to the cause, is rapidly filling the void left by Grant Holt.
Third, the roar of The Carra will have a ‘bagpipe’ effect on the warring factions.
In short, great victories need inspiration, and on that front the North Folk just shade it.
OTBC
*GazzaTTC – possibly beyond HUGE. Could be HUMONGOUS. The opposition will have the experience on the sidelines but we’ll have the edge on the pitch and in the stands. All the stars will be out – Fry, Humphreys, Jackman (?), Balls..have Ipswich got any celeb fans?
*Stewart – Apologies to Mr. Darwin if I misrepresented his theory! I’ll wriggle round it by saying it should have read either “physical fitness” or “financial fitness” – the first option is a close call on Sunday, the second option is a solid fact.
If the buttock-clenching doesn’t appeal and you can’t make it to the game, you could try some useful exercise-breathing tips while listening nervously to the radio commentary, as pleasingly demonstrated at; http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/to-clench-or-not-to-clench-your-butt-that-is-the-question.
You’re welcome.
..that’s Mick’s happy face.
Russ: no criticism aimed at you, and therefore no apology necessary!
There’s no luck involved in our having Alex Neil, any more than there was with Lambert – high time David McNally got more credit. However, we ARE fortunate in the way this year’s Championship has panned out. Last season, the leader had 74 points at this stage – so we’d have been 15 points adrift, rather than the 6 points we are now. After 33 games last year, 22 points separated first from sixth; this year, 6. It’s a ridiculously, and gloriously, open league.
I’ll be there on Sunday. However tough (indeed, buttock-clenching) it is to watch live, I couldn’t take the extra tension of listening to it on the radio.
*Azores – Blimey, Tony Robinson couldn’t have explained it better! If AN is our ‘Braveheart’, what does that make MIck Mc.? Boadicea! Let battle commence but in a fair and sporting sense..but if Wes fancies taking another tumble, then so be it.
We need to keep clear heads. If it’s a football match we will win. If it descends into a scrap it’s 50-50. The main thing is that lose or draw we’ll make the play offs barring a Devon loch experience. Win and we become the favourites to break into the Derby. boro duopoly. And boy will they start to feel the pressure.
Norfolk versus Suffolk; City versus Town
– it’s as simple as that
Good point, Mark (8). We need to combine passion with discipline. Fortunately we have some players with good experience and composure, including most of the defence. Also Gary Hooper, who I have a feeling may be a factor in this match.