That little glimpse of normality for the 2000 must have felt good.
Even for those of us unable to make the pilgrimage, there was something comforting and ‘normal’ about On the Ball City echoing around Carrow Road in those few excitable seconds before kick-off and the accompanying buzz.
So too hearing those same voices coming together to do precisely what home crowds do – the clue being the word home.
No more of this level-playing-field nonsense. No more games that may as well be played in the sterile neutrality of St George’s Park, or the calm of Normanston Park, Lowestoft or even the peace and tranquillity of Portman Road.
This felt and sounded proper.
Referee Jarred Gillett had that sub-conscious seed planted in his head; that little voice reminding him there’s flak coming his way if he gives a 50/50 against City or if he makes a mistake that costs us. More on that later.
While Tony Pulis was spared the usual City Stand analysis of his modelling of the entire Sheffield Wednesday club shop, he’ll have known he was away from home… assuming he can hear a thing through those Owl ear muffs.
And those playing in yellow knew they were around friends. They knew they’d be lauded for doing something good – who doesn’t love that? – and, by the same score, also knew that those in the South Stand were watching closely and would note any perceived lack of oomph or determination, and would probably politely remind them if they felt shortchanged.
The senses, both good and bad, were heightened and, while that doesn’t automatically translate to greater quality on the pitch, it makes for an occasion; an event; something we recognise; something to be a part of; something to share with fellow City fans.
The players felt it, and had something to feed off.
Such had been Tony Pulis’ success at throttling the life out of that game, I don’t believe, at 1-0 down and with 80 minutes on the clock, we win it. In fact, I don’t believe we even get a point without those 2000 voices.
Yes, of course we’re the masters of the late, late show but this felt different. Faced with a wall that Trump would have been proud of – on this occasion, one that comprised six giant defenders – and with a City team running on fumes, this had all the hallmarks of an afternoon that was about to fizzle out to a demoralising 1-0.
I already had pictures in my head of a beaming Tony extolling the virtues of the Charles Hughes playbook at the post-match presser, and bemoaning those who think they can achieve anything playing that “tippy-tappy garbage”.
But the 2000 were never going to let it fizzle out. Not a chance.
And in Mario Vrancic we have one who not only can thread a ball through an eye of a needle but can also find the most minute sliver of light in a seemingly impregnable and watertight PulisWall.
Oh how Tony must gave cursed as Mario did the impossible and Josh Martin gloriously applied the deftest of finishing touches.
Up until that point, Tone’s plan had worked a treat although I’m not sure he’d have been overly enthralled with Barry Bannan passing the ball in a Pirlo-style or Adam Reach’s use of that cultured left-foot to pass and not hoof the ball.
I do suspect though he’d have permitted himself a rueful smile as Reach’s inch-perfect cross was met perfectly by Josh Windass’s head, even if quality of that ilk wasn’t necessarily part of the plan.
It was a brilliant goal, although from a City perspective, Ben Gibson for once was on his heels when he desperately needed to get his shoulder in front of Windass. Michael McGovern had no chance – the cross was too good to come for and the header too powerful to stop – even if he did end up in River End no man’s land.
TP’s decision to reinforce his wall rather than go for a second goal would have been lauded by fellow C Hughes devotees – like Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche – but equally, they would (did in the case of the former) argue at least one of two penalty claims should have been given.
While the second shout was, in fact, a perfectly timed tackle by Vrancic, it was definitely in the seen-them-given envelope, and the first, a slight tug by Grant Hanley, was of a type that would have been met with the fury of the South Stand if it had been denied at the other end.
Would Master Gillett have stood so firm if the only voices ringing in his ears were those of our Tony, his cohorts on the bench and the Wednesday players?
Not so sure.
And, like I said, I’m equally unsure if, after 80 minutes of battering unsuccessfully headlong into that PulisWall, we’d have found a way in the remaining ten if the only voices roaring City on were from the bench, the subs and Michael & Delia.
And if Mario’s eye-of-a-needle pass was something special, his backheel to Max Aarons for the second was worthy of the Genius Bar. Credit too for Max’s ice cool finnish; one that Teemu himself would have been proud of.
There’s a danger of us taking young master Aarons for granted. Not once since the summer has he made a consequence of himself. No tantrums, no self pity, and no downing of tools.
Instead, we see a work ethic that never ceases, an understanding of the game and his role that grows week on week, and now, the pièce de résistance… winning goals.
We talking of treasuring Emi Buendia as long as he’s here. We should do the same with Max.
So, I’m not quite sure how, but we did a win! An unlikely one given the behemoth we faced and the circumstances surrounding it, but we did it. We found a way, helped in no small part by 2000 voices.
Same again Wednesday? Oh, go on then…
Anyone else notice the similarity of Mario”s pass to Martin as his pass to Teemu in the epic Millwall win. It ain’t luck.
Gary, I was lucky enough to be one of the 2000. I went with one of my sons and one of my grandsons. It was just like old times.
The atmosphere was great, more like being at an away match with that sense of bonding between supporters and players that you don’t seem to always get at full-house home games. There was also none of the moaning (which I’m sure there would have been normally) at our inability (until very late on!) to break through the Sheffield Wednesday wall.
I had almost given up hope of a Norwich goal, resigned to a typical 1-0 Pulis win, when we had two moments of magic from Mario. It felt very special.
Pleased you and your family were able to attend. Best to ask one who attended, would it have been better had those attending been spread into a couple of stands, instead of the one. That would certainly have allowed better social distancing. Not just in the stand but in entry and exit.
I would be most interested in you views.
I thought the social distancing was fine. There was nobody in the rows in front or behind us and at least two empty seats either side. The South stand is big!
Max is some player and the fact that he’s now got 99 appearances (only Tettey, Zimmermann, Vrancic and Stiepermann in the current squad have more) highlights his growing importance to the team and belies his young age.
Hopefully, our current league position means any ‘nibbles’ in January can be resisted and we can enjoy Max’s presence for a few more games, this season (and next).
Good read as usual Gary. I must admit for most of yesterday’s game I was certain the Gods had deserted us and teams worked us out at last.
Absolutely wonderful final ten minutes and all credit to Farke for changing things and making full use of the limited resources currently available to him. We are truly blessed to have him as our manager.
I note several idiots on other sites persist in blaming our keeper for their goal. This is absolute nonsense. Sometimes you have to just sit back and admire a piece of opposition brilliance and you won’t see a better cross into our box than yesterday’s. I hope it’s the last for the time being.
I wonder if it’s not time to play Mario in the number 10 slot?
Regarding Max I’ve stated before that in my opinion he’s the best right back that’s ever played for City and I’m just glad we have another season to admire his outstanding talent.
A fine read this morning Gary.
A first class experience which rammed home just how much I’ve missed family football Saturday’s. The massive cherry on the cake of course being the result. It simply had to be a home win.
The whole organisation surrounding the matchday was first class, felt extremely safe and secure and was aided and abetted by the adheren e of all in attendance to the rules, which enabled the event to go off smoothly. I would advise anyone debating whether to attend a game to do so. I don’t regret it.
That allardyce was allowed to grunt about penalties and such like without addressing the context was disappointing. I was level with the incidents and had a better view of them than him, or many others for that matter. The Hanley tackle had me fearing the worst, had it been denied city I would be cursing the referee. The Vrancic incident was never a penalty, not close. The fact that an owl was booked for dissenting the second non award was ironic, as they had a far better case with the first one!
While mood Hoover allardyce droned on about denying Pulis a red card, he made no mention of the obvious red card for the over the top tackle which took a lump out of Buendia. The rolling on the floor of the full back maybe swayed the referee to flourish a yellow, with sympathy. This in spite of some seriously aggressive efforts by the crowd to remind the referee of his responsibilities Luton style.
Vrancic added to his store of wondrous moments in yellow and green and the two finishes by the youth were from the top drawer. Sorensen continues to look an exceptional signing and without him we wouldn’t be near top spot.
Omotoye showed that he can be fully trusted to do his bit and for one glorious moment looked set to put the seal on proceedings before uncle Teemu got all selfish and went for goal himself.
Lovely stuff.
Nice to read that Chris – much appreciated so please ignore my last paragraph tomorrow! I’m delighted you enjoyed yourself and had a good time.
Hi Gary
You mentioned Big Sam on Quest last night he said both were pens and the first was a sending off.
As I understood the rule change and I might be wrong but a team can’t now get penalised twice so it was either one or the but in this case neither.
I was surprised that as like Luton City had no supporters behind either goal but hopefully come the Forest game that might change.
At present city players are running on fumes and like many clubs the fixture list is not helping with recovery times for slight knocks and these can escalate into much worse injuries.
With the news that possibly Dowell and Hugill are a head of schedule and Xavi could soon be back from his parent club fully fit and ready to go can only send a few shivers down the league but we need Onel back and Bryan to give us options and allow some other players a rest.
Now city have got 2000 back in the ground and the R level falling just think 4000 in the ground could soon be a possibility and with premiership clubs crying foul that they should be allowed a 50% gate then numbers could increase rapidly, let’s all hope that their is no big collapse in this pandemic and people abide by the simple rules to keep everyone safe.
Wednesday game up against the master of defensive play so I will only say sorry Chris Houghton your not winning streak can wait for another few days.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay Safe and Stay Healthy
It was a great day to be back at the football. It was probably like being at an away match just with opposition fans banned. I’ll be honest it looked like more than 2,000 fans were there but everything went reasonably smoothly and hopefully the Xmas rule relaxations won’t prevent this continuing for the rest of the season. We felt that we would not have turned it round without the supporters. I also felt that McGovern had his confidence boosted by the reception for his name and gave us a steady performance.
First penalty shout I think came after a quick break leaving everyone trailing the action, referee included (can’t blame him – if the players can’t keep up, neither can he). He was too far away to see, and didn’t choose to guess – thank goodness. In fact I don’t think anyone from SW really appealed at the time. Second one the ref was on the right side to get a clear view and called it right.
Vrancic for Stieperman in the number 10 slot looks a good call though the latter’s height making that vital clearance off the line early one shouldn’t be forgotten.
As for the winner, I must admit I was expecting to see Aarons tumble looking for a penalty – he’s done that 2 or 3 times this season. But credit to him, he left his marker with “twisted blood” and got into the space, brilliant finish too.
Totally agree we need fans all round the ground if we can manage it. In fact the social distancing looked a bit ropy at times yesterday, so maybe they’ll try it.
Aaron’s was a great finish but looks like he mucked up his celebrations by hugging a supporter so the Sun are saying and now both the EFL and Health and Safety want answers from him and the club
Watching the game on iFollow, I didn’t realise initially until I saw the highlights later that Josh Martin had clearly pointed to where he wanted Mario to play the ball, to which Mario duly obliged, and Martin’s perfectly timed run was capped with a really cool finish which any senior pro would be proud of. No need for a touch on the perfectly placed ball, just a simple poke through the keeper’s legs. Real class all round. I think that was his first touch after coming on.
Max’s goal was brilliant teamwork. His understanding with Mario, Mario’s intelligent run and back-heel, and Max’s clever feint to draw the keeper, then clipping it past him to the far post, when he was expecting a near-post shot.
With their trick of leaving it late in games, this club don’t help to slow my aging process!
The possibility of hearing Allardyce and Brazil together on the radio ensures that my early morning radio is tuned to anything but TalkSquit.
A brilliant win from a mediocre performance yesterday. If we ever really click this season, some team is going to be shall shocked.
Great to have the fans back, and given the circumstances a great win.
Had there been no fans there, I do wonder if the Hanley challenge would have resulted in a penalty….it looked a bit dicey to me, but Vrancic’s challenge was pretty much perfect, just like his last 15 minutes or so.
Given Steipermann’s current form (yesterday’s header aside), his place must be under severe pressure.
Very impressed with Martin’s cameo and what an excellent finish for his goal; if Max’s had been scored by a Premier League side, Lineker and co would still have been waxing lyrical about it.
Plus the maturity shown by Omotoye at the very end when, instead of heading for a very unlikely goal opportunity given how many defenders were back, he went to the corner flag to run down a bit more of the remaining time.
Just the one (very slight) moan; why is it that regardless of how many supporters are in the ground, they for some reason do not or cannot sing our wonderful song properly??
O T B C
I think it is certain that the 2,000 city fans made a hell of a difference yesterday Gary.
It was like against Preston, that support was vital. Not like at Watford where they left early to avoid the traffic perhaps ?
The first Sheffield Wednesday penalty shout Against Hanley to me was a penalty, but justice was done as the one he conceded against Luton was an absolute joke. The second, Big Sam was a fantastic tackle, never a pen.
We got a lot of stick from Tim Sherwood, formally of this parish yesterday on Sky.
What is it about Tim and Danny Mills, they never seem to give us any credit. So Tim if you care to look at all the Opta stats you will find we are top of many of them.
In recent weeks Liverpool bar a 3-0 defeat of Leicester have beaten West Ham and Sheffield United by one goal at home, drawn against Everton and been thrashed 7-2 by Villa. Hardly scintillating form but they like us are getting the job done.
Now Liverpool are officially the best Team in the world at present but are suffering a mass of injuries, sounds familiar ? This Sat-Wed grind with 12-13 first team players out is having a big effect on the team, to be top is an absolute miracle.
By the sounds of it Teemu wasn’t 100% fit yesterday and I will bet 2-3 others are carrying knocks as well. When Tettey was interviewed the other day he actually said that he was glad he wasn’t playing every match.
So come on boys give us some praise, we all know Liverpool have all these players out, do your homework and realise our situation. Also Sherwood saying “milk turns faster than Hanley” Now forgive me but when Tim was here I do not think he was in any way blessed with pace ?
Out of order on how well Hanley has been playing this season.
Finally Mario Vrancic, what a player, i’ve loved him from day one. He must get a few games as number 10. His passing reminds me of the great Martin Peters.
Hi Tim
There used to be an NCFC fanzine called *Never Mind the Danger* which I think at one point sponsored Tim Sherwood’s training kit, or something very much akin to that. Maybe MFW’s Andy Head might recall this better than me.
After certain publicised remarks from a seemingly egotistic and over the top Mr Sherwood that sponsorship was removed. Immediately.
Anything Mr Sherwood says I ignore.
Tim Sherwood and Danny Mills both hate Norwich. It’s best to just ignore everything they say through their bitterness. Both are quite dreadful pundits who show an almost laughable ignorance about what they are supposed to be “experts” on.
At least Glenn Roeder isn’t on the TV or radio – imagine what he’d say about us!
There’s another one to add to that list of players who won’t ever admit to playing for City – Andy Townsend.
Yes lady luck us surely with us regards pens and bein top without being particly good if there been a better passer than vranic at The club in 55yrs i have been.goin. I haventseen one has more unflunce on games then crookie use to have keep well
As for sherwood and mills werent they given The boot for being bad boys i remember stringer say that sherwood dont play for Club again and mills fell out with walker may explain why they Always jibe us
Possibly two penalties but after the atrocious refereeing and VAR debacle for the whole of last season, who cares? They say that luck balances out – in the end that means over two seasons for us as we had hardly any last season whatsoever.