Well that went rather well.
This feeling of contentment though – I’m unsure about it. Doesn’t sit comfortably. Give me a good old crisis to cogitate over any day.
I jest of course but there is something very un-Norwich City about the way we are going about our business right now, every facet of which was on show to the watching Sky audience last night.
We’re nasty for a start, and I’m not talking about Marley Watkins’ late dismissal, which was nasty and stupid. I’m talking about the stuff that so enraged Chris Wilder and Garry Monk, and enabled Angus, through making the game stop-start and fractured, to have a final 20 minutes free of making a worthwhile save. And I’m talking about the no-frills. no-nonsense from the technical area.
And right now we’re clinical. When was the last time we were able to describe ourselves as that? We didn’t create loads of chances last night, in fact other than the one Cameron Jerome rolled against the post I’m not sure there was one that could even be described as clear cut, yet we conjured up two priceless goals.
And we upset people. For the third consecutive Championship away game – fourth if you include the Carabao Cup – there was something in the air that just got under the skin of those in the stadium who were not adorned in yellow and green. We just appear a little bit… unlikable. And it’s great.
We’ve even spun the whole caboodle around 180 degrees and, I have to say, it’s not especially aesthetically pleasing on the eye right now – the very antithesis of Daniel Farke’s pre-season vision. But it matters not one jot. Team Farke, through some shrewd decision-making and a few slices of good fortune, have carved out a formula that has found favour with Championship football.
We’re obdurate, resolute, determined, focused, together… in fact we’re almost every adjective you can think of that we weren’t when away from home last season; that hateful day at the Amex being a prime example.
I hesitate to use ‘antithesis’ again but that’s exactly how far removed these away performances are from the vast majority of last season’s offerings; the same almost (but not quite) applying to the current travails at Carrow Road. And the same most definitely applying to the mood in which we enter the international break.
The turnaround has been simply astonishing, the only downside being a month that has yielded 14 points, five cleans sheets and a route through to the next round of the Carabao Cup is almost certain to propel Farke toward a nomination for Manager of the Month. Hopefully Steve Bruce, with Villa on a similar run, will get the nod courtesy of his club being a ‘sleeping giant’ for whom there is oodles of love out there.
Yet even if the worst happens – an occurrence that would virtually condemn the Hull game to be yet another goalless draw – it would be a small price to pay for a transformation that was unthinkable in the heart-wrenching aftermath of the New Den.
The factors that have led to this surge are manifold and have been well and truly done to death – so I’ll spare you – but at the very heart of it is a young man who over the last month we’ve watched grow from a boy into a man.
Angus arrived as the son of Bryan – and there’s no denying the Gunn connection felt cosy and right the second his loan move was announced – but other than when he’s been asked directly he’s not attempted to make any capital out of the fact he’s the son of a club legend. He’s his own man.
I suspect within hours of arriving he lost count of the number of the ‘header the crossbar in front of the Barclay like your dad did’ requests but equally I suspect it was never ever going to be a thing. Yet still he arrived a young player with literally no first-team experience and on the part of Stuart Webber it was a brave call.
Some City commentators, whose opinions I thoroughly respect incidentally, questioned whether it was a jump too far from the Premier League Under-23 to the Championship and in those fraught opening weeks those questions persisted. Not, however, because Angus did anything particularly wrong or made any glaring errors but because questions were asked as to how he was organising those in front of him.
He was being asked to manage a back-four that had three new faces, two of whom were still learning the ropes of Championship football, all while learning those same ropes himself – a massive ask in anyone’s book. And no-one would have baulked if his confidence showed signs of waning in those days after Millwall.
But it didn’t. Not a glimmer of uncertainty. His response was a clean sheet against Birmingham. And since then he has simply grown and grown in stature; his command of the penalty box and the six in front of him a testament to one who resembles a keeper with 300 games under his belt. In a nutshell he’s been simply magnificent and even if he suffers a dip, as young players tend to, he now has credits aplenty in the bank.
There were of course plenty of other heroes at the Madjeski, not least the two goalscorers. Cameron Jerome, him of the latest scapegoat fame (in the absence of Russ), was well deserving of his goal and will hopefully have socked it to a few whose criticism was getting just a little out of hand. And what is there left to say about Master Maddison?
I watched with great interest his warm-up prior to the Bristol City game, which he concluded with four free-kicks, all of which sailed perfectly in the exact same ‘postage stamp’ as last night’s effort. It didn’t happen by accident. Our biggest battle with him will be holding onto him in January.
Yet we should enjoy the moment. Runs like the one we’re on don’t come along too often and we must milk it for all it’s worth.
On the Ball City
_____________________________________________________________________
As we enter another international break you still looking for a City football fix? If so, how about mingling with the great and good of our club at this week’s Tales from the City 3 launch?
The launch event for the third volume of the popular Norwich City book series will offer up an unmissable night of lively discussion, memories and laughter with former manager Ken Brown, former players Dale Gordon, Terry Allcock and Simon Lappin plus newest board member Tom Smith.
Included with your ticket is the new book which you’ll get signed by the cast & there’s a complimentary welcome drink too.
Tickets priced £25 includes Tales from the City volume 3, meet the cast & signing and welcome drink.
6.30pm – Doors open with arrival drink for guests
7.15pm – All guests take their seats
7.30pm – Show starts
9.30pm – Guests to depart
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Well said.
Big shout for Zimmerman too. He suddenly looks like a top defender, a classic German centre back who is big, strong and comfortable on the ball. And giving the captaincy to Ivo has changed both the man and the team.
We can be confident that we did little wrong v Reading, CJ’s poor marking for their goal aside but even that was one individual mistake in 90 mins of no real collective mistakes, which added to some seriously good (and oh so overdue!) game management, bodes extremely well. OTBC
Totally agree; to those who questioned the move from Germany’s fourth tier to the Championship Cristoph has really shown them. Good in the air, on the ground, and can pick a pass – surely one of the bargains of the season??
Along with the emergence of Angus (another great find), makes me wonder where we might be if only Klose had been available from the start……..
O T B C
A good read and this run is certainly something to savour.
The international break has indeed come at a bad time momentum-wise, however hopefully Farke will use it as an opportunity to work again with those not away on duty.
It has been a busy month – often with two games in a week – and hopefully we can make some progress to combine more of an attacking threat to our new-found defensive stability.
Well done Cameron Jerome, being one of those to question his performance last weekend I doff my cap to him this week. We begin to look like the Fulham of last season, efficient,effective and well organised. All that is needed is ruthlessness to be added to the mix and we will have a team that could far outweigh early expectations.
It has to be said that we may have arrived at this style of play with a certain amount of serendipity but the players sourced by Webber and Farke are certainly not the result of luck.
A well thought out article and a very good read.
Gary my biggest disappointment yesterday was with the officials yes they sent off Watkins for a bad sliding tackle that could have injured a fellow professional but at no time did they protect any city player from over robust treatment from Reading players.
Beerens was booked once could have or should have had at least another so would have been off he also on 2 occasions waved an imaginary card at the Ref when he was closely marked by Klose.
Van de Berg and Bacuna were similarly booked and should have had another all 3 were mentioned on TV at one time or another by commentators that they should have been booked again.
Stam mentioned city were a physical side and his team had to deal with that his side took it to the extreme if the ref was harder on Reading early on it might have been less controversial but city took it and a great win
The referee certainly offered no protection to City players suffering from persistent if mainly niggly fouls, particularly on Murphy and Maddison, to the extent that they both picked up injuries resulting in their substitution. There was also a very obvious arm thrown backwards into Pinto’s face, which should have been a red card, but only resulted in a free kick. Daniel Farke was right in his PST-match comments when he said that several decision had not done us any favours.
An interesting read as usual Gary, and I like your comments about Angus. In fact as we head into the next international break – which I think will be good to get some of the injuries time to rest – Stiepermann, Maddison, Olivieria, Murphy, amongst others – one thought I had is that even though still early, it would be very hard to pick any front runners for POTS at the moment. There are so many that could potentially qualify – Gunn, Klose, Pinto, Tyrbull, Maddison, Oliveira, just for a start. And that’s probably being unfair on the improvement in ZImmerman (and the fact he has been there almost every game), Jerome’s hard yards and Vrancic’s occasional flashes. And this is before Pritchard, who most of us would have probably labelled the potential POTS in advance, has even set foot on the pitch in a competitive game.
It’s a very healthy situation to be in. And as for our head coach, who has made this possible, I don’t think he is really bothered about manager of the month. I don’t think he will get it – VIlla have won their last four league matches in a row and are also unbeaten in Sept, as are Bristol City, who have an identical Sept league record to us, matching us game for game in terms of wins and draws (including of course when we played them). And they both sit above us in the table. Alex Neil’s Preston were also unbeaten in Sept, but with only 3 wins not the 4. So that’s four sides that were unbeaten.. and whilst Wolves and Leeds did suffer losses, both also had 4 wins during the month.
One further point just to note… when one compares the early Premier League table in contrast to the Championship. The Championship table is tight, healthy and competitive, with the largest positive GD being only 10 (Leeds). There are 12 sides with positive GDs, 2 with 0, and 1o with negative GDs (including City still). In contrast, the Premier League has 12/20 sides with negative GDs, including Watford, currently in 5 place. Of the remaining 8 sides, 4 have a GD of only 1, whilst 2 others have single figure GDs (Chelsea 6 and Spurs 9)… And that leaves the two Manchesters, City with a GD of 20 and United with a GD of 19. A league of fun and unexpected results it is not.. And yet that’s where we all still aspire to go…
As far as manager of the month is concerned having backed Bristol City for relegation I hope Lee Johnson gets it; he’s making me look a right mug at the moment (I know, not hard is it?) I could do with the curse of MOTM falling on him. And actually, he deserves it anyway, certainly more than those like Bruce and Santo with their huge wage budgets.
Funnily enough I thought Gunn got slightly caught in two minds on the goal yesterday; one step forward and I think he’d have been able to make the block. As it was he looked as though at the critical moment he was on his heels. But the delivery was excellent and they are very hard do deal with. And overall he and the defence look so much more together now than they did. I wonder when Hanley will actually start a game for us, because he won’t be able to play at the Emirates.
The progress in September has been very pleasing. The next two home games are against teams who fall into the “should be doing better” category so it will be interesting to see if we can keep the improvement going. If so, we should have plenty of confidence when we have to take on Portugal B at the end of the month.
We still look to be short of one or two options up front, especially with Watkins, stupid boy, now out for 3 games.
And now it is Bristol City that has the highest GD in the Championship, with +9 goals.
I genuinely believe, if we keep treebull (as Mr sky sports man kept calling him), other teams will struggle to keep pace with us and we will win the league. That man must have been a serious miscreant in his past for us to get him in, esp on a two year (option included) deal. He is the best player we have had since Holt, no question. Certainly the most natural baller I can recall since Crook and way too good for the champ. I will disagree with your use of the word scapegoat based on recent results (aka proof), but we all make mistakes ;o) There we go…my prediction is a league win if we keep our treebull mints a little bit stronger and he stays away from the unfortunate passage that makes them last a bit longer.
Yes a really good month and I agree with most of what I read here. However without wanting to be the Craig Revell Horwood here I feel Gunn has been ok but a 5 not an 8. I believe he does not yet command the area. I would fault him as much as Cameron for the goal. . Having said all that a really promising start. Maddison – superb.
I still believe we are in danger of getting ahead of ourselves. After 2.5 years of rubbish I don’t think that one month of good results is enough to declare that “we’ve turned the corner”. Give us another results like the last one and this realistic supporter will join the clamour.
Fair point Tony. Still early days – but promising early days.
I would usually be right there with you (the realistic niggard that I am), but there is something absolutely horrid about this side. There already seems to be a growing train of thought amongst opposition that we are awful to play against. Obdurate even. I never thought I’d say it, but I love it. Long may the payback of unwise hope continue.
Just want to say that was the best i seen us play for a while some really good passing in triangles reminded me a bit of england v holland in euro 96 lol ……….I also thought pinto had an amazing game too and glad he is captain but to be honest wouldnt mind if klose was either …he also looked world class to me yesterday .
Gary, I’m a bit surprised by your comment about not being ‘aesthetically pleasing on the eye’. We’re pressing & winning the ball, appear comfortable in possession, looking to pass through midfield the majority of the time, creating space – I really enjoyed watching it. I’m not sure how that’s not pleasing on the eye & what you’d want instead. Yes, we could create more chances & with the return of arguably our best 2 attackers I would expect that to improve too.
Fair comment Dave … probably a bit harsh on my part. Was clumsily trying to convey how far we’re currently veering from the style of play that Daniel originally spoke of. But yes, still very neat and tidy when in possession – as you describe.
Great stuff Gary.
The first time I have been able to witness us away from home thanks to sky. I would echo the thoughts that something very un Norwich City like is taking place. Playing in black it was easy to forget that this was indeed the canaries managing the game and playing with pragmatism, I still can’t quite comprehend what has happened during the last month.
On more than one occasion the broadcasters mentioned good coaching and alluded to how well drilled the side were. I think we can now take it as read that we have Quite a considerable upgrade in the dugout this season.
I’m itching for the return of Pritchard and Nelson who will surely add significantly to the potency of the team.
As a footnote, Gary raises the spectre of the biggest potential spoiler. The wretched transfer window opens again in two months time. This would not be a good time for the smiths to cash in on some or all of the growing reputations and values within the squad. It’s too early to say whether Farke can mould this squad into a top two outfit but it would be criminal if the rug was pulled from under his feet after Christmas.
While I’m about it. What on earth was the referee doing on Saturday? The thug of a centre half started his campaign of foul play as early as the second minute and continued until the end, kicking Maddison out of the game in the process. The professional foul when he pulled down Reed was a yellow card all day long.
The clothes line on Pinto was the most dangerous challenge of the match and worthy of a straight red – a bar across the windpipe can kill, a kick on the foot won’t,
There were many other minor poor decisions against us but on the whole, the performance of these officials reminded me of Simon hooper at his worst,