Given that the plan was to play two ‘up top’ against Fulham I expect the skipper to have some help at close quarters on Saturday. If, come 16:50, Messrs Jagielka and Distin fall into the ‘known they’ve been in a game’ bracket, it will go a long way to being job done.
Wins or pure entertainment… while the debate has raged, the current style is surely a means to a prosperous Premier League future
If my memory serves me correctly, one of the many statistical reports produced at the end of last season deduced that City played more long balls than anyone else. While I can recall being more than a little sceptical of its accuracy – how could City have hit more long balls than Stoke for example? – for this purpose at least, it doesn’t portray a team with a penchant for the beautiful game.
Another point… another dour draw… but City maintain that priceless eight point gap with those in 'the zone'
Credit again is due the Match of the Day production team who – not for the first time – excelled themselves in finding five minutes worth of highlights, although showing a Luciano Becchio that flew ten yards wide from four different angles is cheating bit.
With Twitter giving us 24/7 access to our heroes, will Kamara take us all on a glorious Premier League chapter…
With Harry Kane having been returned to sender – his first-half appearance against Luton being a rather inglorious way to bring his Canary career to a close – Chris Hughton finds himself back to ‘as you were’ in terms of striker numbers, but with a different looking mix to his striking pool.
QPR draw puts into very sharp perspective just what it takes to earn three points in the Premier League
The similarities between the Premier League and the Championship (and the SPL for that matter) are few and far between; even taking aside the riches on offer. The intensity and tempo of your average EPL game is what sets this league apart from all others, and is precisely what makes it such an unforgiving environment.
City hold on for a hard-earned point at QPR as Bunn takes star billing with a brilliant second half penalty save
If the first half was pretty much a case of honours even, the second was a more open affair and was dominated for long periods by the home team. Buoyed – one assumes – by some typical Harry Redknapp ‘rabble-rousing’, the home side carried more of a goal threat in the second period and forced the Canaries into some desperate defending.
McNally and Hughton continue to test the Celtic nerve as City reflect on a much improved day at the office
The next few hours – as absurd as the January scrum is – promise to be interesting ones. So interesting in fact City have been assigned their very own Sky Sports News reporter at the gates of Colney. We have indeed arrived, but let’s pray that Hughton isn’t cunningly lured into a roadside interview through the wound-down window of his 4×4 in an ‘Arry Redknapp-style.
As City appear to be closing in on signing #1 all eyes now head north of the border as McNally again tests the Glaswegian water
With TalkSport reporting a third unsuccessful bid for Celtic’s Gary Hooper , ‘believed to be around £6 Million’, it’s worth reminding ourselves that even if successful in our pursuit of the former Scunthorpe man – or any other striker – the hovering clouds of doubt remain.
The darkest of dark days for City as Luton make light of the 85 league places that separate them
We’re used to lows and horror shows – part and parcel of being a Norwich supporter – but since the unveiling of Messrs Bowkett and McNally, days of that ilk have been thankfully few and far between. In fact since ‘that’ game against Colchester, they have been virtually non-existent.
With Lee Camp arriving for his second tour of duty, all eyes now turn to City's search for that elusive striker
When all is said and done, it appears Hooper is top of the City list and anyone else will be perceived by many as either second-best or a compromise offering. Wholly unfair on anyone who does arrive late in the window and who doesn’t answer to the name Gary (I do still have some boots in my garage), but such is the risk of doing business so publicly – however unintentional that may have been.
Farewell to the King of Spain; a decent player but more than that… a thoroughly loyal and decent bloke
A confirmed member of the ‘Plymouth Brethren’ – a group of players ‘black-marked’ by Roeder following that 3-0 defeat – he found himself well and truly out of the first-team picture, and was consigned to train and play with the reserves and youth-team.
Anfield was a disaster, but now is not the time for panic… now is the time for clear heads and to re-focus on the task ahead
There is no hiding away from the abjectness of yesterday’s performance, and even those of us for whom the pint-glass is half-full have struggled to unearth too many positives. But we need to remind ourselves that this is the same group of players who took us all on that terrific ten game unbeaten run.
Liverpool hit City for another five as one point out of eighteen makes it a very bleak mid-Winter for Team Hughton
The first sign that it wasn’t to be City’s afternoon came in the form of the team-sheet, with no sign of Sebastien Bassong – one assumes the result of a late injury or illness. In his place, Ryan Bennett was drafted in to the starting XI – to slot in alongside Michael Turner; the last time they lined up together in central defence – in a league game – was the opening day of the season.
Liverpool next up for the Canaries as Turner and co look to put right a few of the wrongs from that awful September day
One player likely to figure, and who was also part of the September debacle, is Michael Turner. The source of much derision early in his City career – the Liverpool game looming large in his early-season CV – he would almost certainly take the ‘most improved Norwich player’ award if such a thing existed.
City endure a 'nearly' afternoon against the Toon; one that is best forgotten and consigned swiftly to the annals of history
There were a few positives – the obvious one being the clean sheet – and it was important that we ended the four-game run of defeats; but to quote the BBC’s commentator, ‘it was not one that will last long in the memory’. And he wasn’t kidding…
With Newcastle on the horizon it's two members of the 'Old Guard' who could be at the forefront of Chris Hughton's mind
As Jonesy would say, those delicate souls ‘don’t like it up ‘em’… and our Holty is just the man for that role. The joint-demolition job done on Newcastle’s makeshift backline by Holt and Steve Morrison last December – when City beat the Toon 4-2 at Carrow Road – was a classic case, and what we’d give for a repeat on Saturday.
It's Luton at home in Round Four but first it's eyes down for more of the January transfer window rumour mill
In terms of away days, it had everything… terracing, flares, toilet roll, ageing facilities… and was rounded off nicely with a thumping win. Even with eight changes to the starting eleven Chris Hughton’s men had more than enough in the tank to easily see off a Posh side missing three of its best players. Whilst […]
City cruise to a comfortable victory at London Road in front of Hughton's truly magnificent, 5000 strong, Yellow Army
Goals from Elliott Bennett, Simeon Jackson and Robert Snodgrass were sufficient to see Norwich cruise through to the FA Cup Fourth Round. A comfortable 3-0 win over a hapless Peterborough outfit was no more that City deserved from a game that, for long periods, resembled a training match of the type seen every day at […]
When does a blip become a wobble? Four defeats on the bounce gives Hughton a gentle reminder that work is still to be done
Four straight defeats in some quarters have constituted a mini-disaster but, given that the middle two were against the current European and Premier League champions, things are not as bleak as some would have you believe. The two away games – West Brom and West Ham – were undoubtedly in Chris Hughton’s ‘possible win’ file, but we’ve come up just short on both occasions.
An odd-goal defeat at West Ham for the Canaries as referee Mark Clattenberg again finds himself centre stage
Whilst some ponderous defending for West Ham’s second goal was a contributing factor, referee Clattenberg now finds himself in the esteemed company of Messrs D’Urso, Ilderton and Oliver as referees from whom the Canaries can rightly feel a sense of injustice.