‘Must win game’. If I had a quid for every time I heard that over the past few seasons I would be able to buy Norwich City and afford to send Ricky Van Wolfswinkel on a season long loan to Dereham Town paying 100% of his wages. It seems that every game we now play has huge amounts of pressure on and it has been that way since last year’s relegation scrap.
I was always confident we would win last Saturday, I don’t know why but a sudden sense of optimism rushed into me. I am often a very confident character but too many times this season I have been pondering if we are going to win games that we really should and have gone on to lose out on maximum points. Saturday was different though, I was certain all week that we would win and I even felt boastful at points- it was wonderful. Us Norwich fans have been through a pretty miserable few seasons but it seems we are back on track with Alex Neil.
We of course went on to win in style against Watford and once again Neil’s tactics worked wonders despite a cautious first half which lacked in tempo and cutting edge. This Tuesday throws up another tough encounter with a long trip to Blackburn on the cards. For some reason I am feeling more nervous about this game then I was about Watford and I really don’t know why.
I’m sure most football fans can relate with me when they think the team won’t perform as well if you’re not attending the game. This idea was first brought to me by Nick Hornby in his book Fever Pitch, Hornby said that he felt like the team never would perform as well without him there and that’s so true. I have often listened to Chris Goreham’s dulcet tones wishing I was at the game so I could add an extra few decibels to the Cameron Jerome chant helping Norwich get over the line. Sadly though in reality I make no difference to the players and the result would be the same whether I’m there or not; let’s hope the lads don’t miss me too much at Blackburn.
One thing I have noticed over the past few games is the solidified back line. The start of the season was an accumulation of misplaced Whittaker passes and Martin’s lack of strength. The introduction of Bassong and the revolution of Steven Whittaker has meant that we no longer look like conceding a goal every time the opposition attack which is not only pleasing for my nervous system but also Norwich as a team. Watford’s inform strike force of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney did not even come close to scoring which is a testament to the revitalised Norwich City defence.
Blackburn started the season very well and were playoff challengers last time we played them in that entertaining 3-1 victory where we went behind after just 50 seconds. Since then though they have struggled and are now unlikely to reach the top 6 due to their current league position of 10th. Any team with Jordan Rhodes in is a dangerous one though and he has already bagged 13 goals this season; Bassong will hope to add him into his deep pockets along with Odion Ighalo and Benik Afobe.
In terms of a team line-up I would love to see Redmond and Hooper come back into the team. I felt at times against Watford we lacked an outlet which normally comes through Redmond and the holdup play of Hooper was another missing component. Except for that there is no real need for change unless Tettey needs a rest due to his ongoing knee problems ahead of Sunday’s game with Ipswich.
My Preferred Starting Lineup:
There we have it then, I’m really nervous for Blackburn but still confident. I’m going for a 1-3 victory with Grabban being on the score sheet once again – he looks unstoppable at the moment.
OTBC!
