To win 2-0 against the champions elect without getting a shot on target is about as ‘Norwich City’ you can get.
Throw into the mix the fact that Brighton fans felt more inclined to roast Alex Pritchard than celebrate their own promotion and it all added up to a funny ol’ evening at the the Carra. While most expected Pritchard’s M25 U -turn to be a sideshow, few expected it to be the main event. It was fun though.
Yet it seems I missed a trick by not wallowing in the schadenfreude of David Stockdale’s double-mishap (less half a season on loan down south isn’t sufficient to trigger my ire-ometer) although there’s no denying the oddity of seeing the ball cannon in via woodwork and keeper twice in the space of 21 minutes in virtually identical circumstances.
That Pritchard was denied a brace and the chance of a hat-trick was a shame, but by the letter of the footballing laws were it not for Stockdale’s interventions it would have stayed 0-0, so there’s unfortunately no debate to be had.
But there was no taking away from Pritchard’s impact on proceedings and thanks to the cacophony of noise that accompanied his every flick, trick and dropped-shoulder his evening’s work was played out under the brightest of spotlights.
Back in October on that horrible afternoon at the Amex, Pritchard shrunk and cowed under a blanket of spite and venom. Last night was different.
He confirmed afterwards that painful 5-0 drubbing was central to the pre-match chat and while the Seagulls are destined to have the last laugh this season there remained an element of City ‘owing them one’. And, more importantly, the players owed themselves a performance that would at least deaden some memories of the season’s darkest hour.
On that scored they delivered.
For us, any joyed derived from this end-of-season tour is naturally of the scant consolation variety and it was impossible not to experience a tinge of envy when faced with the barrage of balloons, flags and scarves that accompany promotion to the Promised Land.
And, despite their odd take on the events of the evening, there’s no doubting the worthiness of Brighton’s promotion given their journey that so nearly came to a juddering halt at the Withdean.
They’ll go up at champions and fair do’s. And the same to Chris Hughton who, despite his less than glorious second season at Carrow Road, has proved again he’s a very decent second tier manager.
My only advice to Brighton fans (in the very unlikely event they’d seek it) would be to drink it all in and extract every last ounce of joy out of the time between now and the start of next season. That’s all.
For City’s part it’s impossible to ignore the ‘too little too late’ that understandably accompanies every point gained now the play-offs have drifted off into the distance but equally there is still a professional job to be done as the season winds down and they’re actually fulfilling task that rather well.
Last night’s performance level was thoroughly decent almost across the board and it would certainly be remiss not to mention an almost water-tight display from a back-four that had Russell Martin and Ryan Bennett at its heart. Neither are likely to figure next season, at least not in a regular basis, but credit where it’s due and both delivered an 8/10 last night; the latter arguably having one of his best outings in the yellow shirt.
John Ruddy too, while not over-worked, has from somewhere rediscovered a performance level and air of authority that I’d assumed had disappeared for ever and perhaps I need to reconsider my ‘needs a fresh challenge’ waffle of a few weeks ago. He’s offering food for thought for those, like me, who’d earmarked the keeper department for a complete overhaul.
But it’s not what we think that counts. Right now Stuart Webber is judge, jury and executioner – and will remain so until a new head coach is appointed – and by all accounts he’s not messing about.
Talk of only “12 to 15” of the existing squad avoiding the assassin’s bullet will make for an uneasy dressing room and may well partly account for an element of bite and hunger that’s belatedly reappeared in City’s armoury. In terms of this season however it makes for an edge to the final two games that would otherwise have already been halfway to the beach.
City made a more than decent fist of delaying Brighton’s Championship winning celebrations last night; let’s hope for reasons too numerous to list they can do something rather more permanent to Leeds’ play-off aspirations.
Now that would really be fun.
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For those who are unaware, our own Stewart Lewis was granted interviews with the aforementioned Mr Webber and also the club’s managing director, Steve Stone at this week’s Norwich City Fans Social Club event, both of which will be adorning the MyFootballWriter pages in the next week or so.
Stew informs me they’re both enlightening and free of the usual platitudes, so watch this space…
Can’t beat the bottom team when we need to, can beat the top team when we don’t. How very Norwich.
I look forward to Stewart’s grilling of Webber and Stone. I’m sure he pushes them on their plans for keeping the club solvent when the parachute payments run out.
No food for thought for me on Ruddy. When he makes some saves that win us points on their own, rather than performing competently in a comfortable win, I might change my mind.
Another night to savour good football. If only we’d had more of that.But it wasn’t to be and the excitement of the rebuilding programme looms. My own list of players to stay and players to go seems to gel with most others in as much as some are obvious. The intrigue comes from the unexpected departures and I think there will be a few. One thing is for certain the close season will rekindle the flames of hope for next season.
The rumour mill continues about the identity of the new head coach and so far the list from people I talk to seems to have Gary Monk as the name in the frame. Another I heard last night was Shakespeare from Leicester but the source was a fellow season ticket holder whose window cleaner happened to be a Leicester fan. For me Uwe Rosler still seems most likely as he and Stewart Webber have some history already. Time will tell but it is good fun.
I may be in the minority but cannot help but feel that there is a decent centre back in Bennett. Maybe he will have to move for it to come out or maybe a new coach will extract it. Another Ayala??
Good result last night, but controlling the game and still having no shots on target won’t go unnoticed by Webber.
This close season will be enthralling if Webber is able to wheel and deal as hoped. Only 12 players needed makes me smile, as long as they’re not just all the obvious ones (Laffs, Bassong etc). We need to shock the players into a reaction by removing a friendly and comfortable face or two as well.
I wonder why Webber & Stone (the perfect name for a 1970’s investigative duo) granted Mr. Positive an interview with them?! No testing questions there then.
Dave B – “keeping the club solvent when the parachute payments run out.”
Most Championship clubs are loss making and surviving of a description, but there’s no doubt that there will be some tough decisions ahead if we’re not promoted next season.
Dave B #1: Actually, I did.
Watch this space.
Jeff #5: Happy for you to decide about the quality of my questions – if you’re prepared to do it after you’ve seen them, rather than before.
Can you look at them with an open mind? All I ask.
@6 Gary
Most clubs aren’t as debt adverse as us, nor did they wax lyrical about being debt free.
Still, a decent game last night that us folk abroad could stream.
Comfortable win last night. Satisfying yet frustrating contemplating what might have been. But maybe the close season will be more exciting than watching all those potential PL targets slip through our fingers.
Look forward to Stewart’s interview reports for pointers on the way forward.
Good performance last night even if we had nothing riding on it. Am now looking forward to a very interesting season as Mr Webber has spoken. Surely after last night (and last Monday) we must keep Pritchard and build the team around him, although I hear that he himself wants away……Maddison was a decent enough cameo which puts Wes well out of the equation. Maybe he’s not one of the 12 – 15??
On recent performances I also think Ruddy deserves to start next season as our number one.
O T B C
Hope Stewart can clarify one thing. 12-15 of the squad likely to remain. Was that the squad for the Brighton game or the whole squad of 30+?
@9 Dave B, it’s an aspiration that’s only achievable while in the Premier League – virtually impossible in the Championship. You’ll undoubtedly see a change of tone if we’re not promoted next season.
@Richard (12) Well, the squad for the Brighton game only had players so its not likely to be that list. I went through the squad list of 30 players and its not difficult to get it down to about 15-16 players with no surprises and being kind to players like Ruddy and Martin. This includes keeping all the youngsters plus Dijks. If the list goes as low as 12, then there will be a few surprises, but for that to happen it would probably mean some players going who we don’t want to lose eg Pritchard!
That is one thing I hope Webber is also good at – keeping the players we do need.
Richard #12: Too late, in that I’d already done the interview before that specific comment.
I’m sure he means the whole squad, though. In some ways it’s not as dramatic as it sounds – ten are out of contract and other possible leavers, as Michael D says, aren’t too difficult to identify.
Stuart and I DID talk about whether you can deal with a large number of new recruits in a single window. Suffice to say he’s not afraid of it.
Thank you Stewart. 12-15 from 30+ is realistic. The important thing is the core group he expects to stay.