The Expert

Considering the events of the past week – and the emotional roller-coaster that the Canaries have already subjected us to – I think that it would be safe to assume that Peter Grant might have drawn up some sort of mini check list ahead of Saturday's clash with Southampton.

The hard-earned draw at Preston last Saturday and the first-half demolition of Barnet in midweek certainly had their plus points?but there was also plenty of things that evidently need to be worked on.
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Picture the scene on Tuesday night if you will, in a 'before' and 'after' kind of way ? you know, the type that you see in TV sitcoms and the like.

Half-time, and the Canaries file into the home team dressing room five goals to the good and after delivering a 30-minute spell of football that has probably never been surpassed in terms of the number count here at Carrow Road.

And City boss Peter Grant literally has nothing to say to them except something …

For all the positives that emerged, Saturday's performance at Preston was still worrying it has to be said.

Despite the admirable defending and energy and bite that permeated throughout the side, the manner in which City set their stall out to make themselves difficult to break down meant that they were only ever going to take a maximum of one point from the encounter at Deepdale.

True, Norwich did everything and more that was asked of them from a defensive point of …

You always get a pretty good idea of what level you're at against Preston. It's one of those ?benchmark? type of games.

Because Preston never actually tear the division apart so to speak, but they always seem to linger around those top six places and are a tough enough team to beat on their own patch.

The Canaries haven't exactly enjoyed success in abundance at Deepdale in recent seasons. And they haven't really delivered performances that have merited …

After the Canaries somewhat dejectedly left the pitch at Hillsborough following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday in last game of the season back in May, the vast majority of City fans would have no doubt been hoping and praying that when they next saw their team take to the field in a competitive match the Canaries' starting line would be much different than the one that they had just seen lose it's twenty-first game of the campaign.

For just like in the …

It hadn't been the greatest of weeks for the Canaries prior to last night's friendly clash with Vitesse Arnhem.

There had been the occasional fleeting moment of success in an improved second half performance against West Ham on Tuesday night, but by and large City had had most of their weaknesses laid bare for all to see and generally been given the run-around by Alan Curbishley's men.

Then 24 hours later fan's favourite and midfield lynch-pin Youssef Safri …

An incredible crowd of almost 23,000 fans turned up for last night's friendly and for the vast majority of City fans it would have been their first glimpse of this new look Norwich side.

And many, I'm sure, would have been quite pleased with what they saw.

After all, a 2-1 defeat against Premiership opposition is nothing to be ashamed of – surely?

Well, there were one or two plus points to take from the encounter ? I'll come to those in a moment, but …

Pre-season results matter not a jot once you get down to the real business on the first day of a new season.

You can look like Real Madrid and smash teams all over the park in friendly games, only to be left with red faces when you find that it isn't quite as easy once the action gets competitive and really matters.

Similarly, pitching yourselves against a higher standard of opposition during pre-season to really test yourselves but continually being …

As midfield powerhouse Dickson Etuhu makes his way up the A1 to complete his ?1.5m move to Sunderland, it seems that Darren Huckerby is the one person at the club who has delivered an opinion that is surely shared by everyone.

Never one to hold back with his feelings or unduly concerned with the consequences for that matter, Huckerby fired a verbal volley across the bows of the club yesterday after seeing another of City's key players leave for pastures new on the eve of the new …

It was plain enough for virtually the whole of last season; namely that the Canaries simply didn't have a good enough squad to achieve the consistency and standards required to give themselves an opportunity of challenging for one of those coveted top six places in the table.

On paper though, and assuming that Peter Grant was able to field his strongest XI, City should have had more than enough talent to have given any team in the Coca-Cola Championship a run for its money.<br …

So what signal does allowing your top scorer to leave for only a marginal increase on the fee it cost to bring him in send out to supporters of a club intent on making its presence felt in the Coca-Cola Championship this season?

…And especially so after what can only be described as a nightmare campaign last term?

Well, hold on, just hang fire a little and let's look at this from a realistic viewpoint.

First things first, and Robert Earnshaw himself made …