A remarkable turnaround....
It was a strange sensation come Saturday at 3pm. Not only had Norwich already secured a fantastic three points at Ninian Park, but we had also moved to within four points of the play-off places.
That’s when the strange sensation started. After months of wanting the likes of Colchester, Scunthorpe, Leicester and Preston to be on the receiving end of a thumping - I wasn’t looking at their results anymore.
Instead it was the outcome of the games involving Hull, Plymouth, Wolves and Barnsley that interested me more. In particular the late kick off between Leicester and Plymouth. A couple of weeks ago, the 1-0 win that Plymouth achieved would have been just fine, as a relegation rival would have been defeated. However, because of our ridiculous unbeaten run, I wanted Leicester to win so we avoided dropping into 13th position. Now if that’s not a sign of how far we have come, I don’t know what is.
That’s the effect Sir Glenn and his ever effective loan army have had since our last defeat on the 1st December against Stoke City. The players are full of confidence, competition for places is strong and in Ched Evans we have a fantastic young player making his name in the game. A cheeky £1million bid come the summer beckons for the Wales Under-21 striker.
Now to this talk of the play-offs. People say ‘don’t get carried away’, but why on earth not? The manager won’t get carried away, he won’t let the players get carried away, but as fans we have every right to go as over the top as we wish.
We are 12 games unbeaten and a season which looked like being a relegation fight until the very end, could now end in a Wembley appearance. It’s unthinkable, but it’s possible. Looking at our next four games where home games against Hull, Blackpool and Barnsley are broken up by a trip to Leicester and it seems fair to say that things could get even more exciting in the next few weeks,
But do we actually want to go up this season? Looking at things as they stand, we have seven loan players who by all accounts will be heading back to their parent clubs come May, add to that the departures of Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby and the squad is thin to say the least. Do we really want to be rebuilding a whole squad in preparation for the Premier League?
The sensible answer would probably be - no. Just look at Derby County this year, they have had an horrific time. However, the genuine answer of any Norwich City fan, would be - yes, bring it on. What a truly remarkable few weeks would now be ahead if we were to do it. To bring back memories of that play-off season and that Championship winning season would suit us just fine.
One final thought for today, who would you rather have - Marcus Evans or Ched Evans? Having seen the goals from yesterday, I don’t think that one requires much discussion.
OTBC
Rooney.