What a weekend it turned out to be for Norwich City thanks to the 5 star second half performance which truly shocked Huddersfield, and the 25,000 Norwich fans at Carrow Road.
Lets take a quick trip back to the evening after the Reading game; however painful that may be. Whilst editing the interviews to go up on our YouTube channel my good friend phoned me, the conversation was a long one and by the end of it we had both run out of adjectives to describe what we had seen that horrible Saturday afternoon. The following weekend was a much better one though, I had followed the Wigan game via a text commentary as I was in London and had spent the majority of my time ranting at my mate why Whitaker is still starting for us, luckily it payed off for us that day and we scraped a win. The train journey back to the fine city of Norwich was joyful – mainly because I had forgotten what it felt like to win.
It felt glorious waking up this Saturday before making the journey to Carrow Raod knowing that we were going into a home game off the back of a win, I was hoping it would make for a more upbeat atmosphere. I was right. Arriving at Carrow Road felt different, there were smiles all around, even the freezing cold programme sellers had excitement in their voices whilst they beckoned ‘get your match day programme’. The excitement and positivity was infectious; until half time that was.
Norwich were in complete control first half but it could have been much different had Nahki Wells converted his one on one with John Ruddy, luckily we had luck on our side and his shot rattled the crossbar. It’s fine margins such as that chance that changes seasons around, it was like Ruddy’s triple save at Wigan or Jonny Jackson’s goal for Charlton, luck goes both ways in this strange game.
Huddersfield were down to ten men though and Norwich fans were once again critical of the players having not taken full advantage and consequently booed off at half time – harsh.
Most Norwich fans could see that Nathan Redmond was the man we needed to change this game around, he brings width and sheer pace – exactly what we needed. For once I was confident Adams had spotted this and would make the change, that’s exactly what he done and the rest is history.
I won’t be forgetting the first five minutes of the second half anytime soon. It was liquid football and you could feel a massive sigh of relief when our players finally performed to their potential. Too many times this season we have been disappointed with below par performances but Saturday was simply wonderful. Every single player in that memorable second half put in a massive performance and one they should be very proud off.
Of course people will say ‘well it was only Huddersfield’ and ‘they only had 10 men, we should be thrashing them’. I couldn’t care less if they had 9 men and we won 1-0, we just needed a win, more than we have ever needed one. If we hadn’t have won it would have haunted me for the following week, as many games have done this season
That win against Huddersfield felt like more than a win though, it felt like Adams had finally made improvement and the players realised the level they had to perform at. Nobody will ever know if the new solid defence is down to the work of Mike Phelan but something has certainly improved, the introduction of Carlos Cuellar has worked wonders. His performance at the weekend was reminiscent to Sebastaian Bassong in his early days for Norwich – controlling.
The substitutions were faultless as well. Nathan Remond changed the game, Wes Hoolahan was at his magical best and Lewis Grabban smashed home an overdue goal. Everything that could have gone right at the weekend did and boy does that feel good.
It seems like we have turned a corner, of course we now travel to Derby this weekend and it’s certainly going to be a much tougher game, but going into it off the back of a 5-0 win gives me massive confidence of a positive result. As David said in his interview at the weekend, ‘Derby should be scared’. I’m with you David, they should be. We’re capable of anything, and 3 points are certainly possible this weekend.
Enjoy this week Canary fans. It’s a nice feeling to win.
OTBC.
