---
title: "Is Promotion Still A Possibility?"
canonical: "https://readnorwich.com/2015/02/09/is-promotion-still-a-possibility/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Murray"
section: "Articles"
published: "2015-02-09T19:22:15Z"
modified: "2015-02-09T21:20:58Z"
---

# Is Promotion Still A Possibility?

Back in the autumn, almost every Norwich fan would have told you that promotion was basically a certainty. Norwich were occupying one of the top 3 places in the Championship and things were looking up. However, after a long bout of inconsistency and a change of manager, things look entirely different. A 10 point gap exists between City and the top 2 and 3 points lie between them and the play-offs. So, is it still possible?

Promotion is very much in City’s hands. Their next run of games involves a few of the teams around them including Wolves, Watford and the ones from down the road. To say these games are important is an understatement; they are vital to any promotion bid Norwich can muster. As it stands, promotion via the play-offs seems the realistic option. Usually in the Championship, teams around the top three will stay as they are for most of the season and I cannot see Derby, Middlesbrough or Bournemouth dropping very many points. They have shown themselves to be solid outfits and have remained consistent for much of the season – something Norwich have failed to do.

That has been the main problem this season and if we don’t go up, it will be the reason why. From thrashing Millwall 6-1 on Boxing Day to losing the next game to Reading 2-1, we’ve never kept up a consistent streak this season. Even under Alex Neil this has been a problem. The results at Cardiff and Bournemouth were followed up by the loss to Brentford. Compare this to teams in the top 3 and you see why they’re up there. Since they drew 2-2 with us at the iPro Stadium, Derby have won 6 out of 7 in the league, whereas Middlesbrough have won 5 out of 7 and haven’t lost since before Christmas.

So the play-offs: we’ve been there before obviously… But, well, that didn’t end very well. The only thing that worries me about going to the play-offs is – again – consistency. We would need to keep a good form over 3 games and we haven’t shown that at all this season. Another factor is we’ve never experienced a final atmosphere since 2002. The players may not be used to the occasion and that could be a major stumbling block if we reach the final.

Overall, our promotion hopes look promising. It’s certainly not out of our reach and it’s certainly not out of our hands, however we can not simply assume we can get promoted. We still have to keep winning games and also fix our consistency issue, as we may not make it if we fail to address that.