How well has Naismith settled in?

Norwich City matched their transfer record when they brought in Steven Naismith from Everton last month for £8.5m…. so, how well has he settled in at the club?

When a team is struggling down the bottom of the Premier League there is one thing that is a necessity; Premier League experience. When signing players in the January window you want them to come in and settle quickly. This is why Alex Neil persevered in his pursuit of Naismith, as he had that experience from his time at Everton in the top-flight.

Naismith scored 18 Premier League goals during his time with The Toffees and certainly came to Norwich with a proven pedigree. It was just a matter of whether or not he would be able to fit into Alex Neil’s system and perform whilst in the side.

The 29-year-old made his debut the week he signed as Norwich hosted Liverpool at Carrow Road. Naismith had in fact scored on his Everton debut against Liverpool so it seemed like destiny for him to score.

Norwich went 1-0 down early on to Liverpool but Naismith played his part in the equalising goal. A ball was launched into the box and Naismith made himself a nuisance around Simon Mignolet, causing him to flap it behind for a corner. The corner ended up having Dieumerci Mbokani back-heel the ball in to make it 1-1.

Naismith then made his first crucial difference to a match in a Norwich shirt. The attacking midfielder made a clever run behind the Liverpool defence and fired in a superb driven shot into the far corner to put Norwich 2-1 up. Something Norwich lacked earlier in the season was a lack of movement from forward players, Naismith came straight in and amended that.

The Scotsman was making clever runs and forcing others to make runs with his intelligent positioning and passing. Norwich profited from this again in the match as Nathan Redmond played a ball in behind for Naismith to race onto and end up winning a penalty, which Wes Hoolahan converted.

Norwich ended up losing the match 5-4 in a thrilling encounter but Naismith’s debut was a huge positive for the club and he was already looking like a very good piece of business.

One thing I noticed from the stands was that he was constantly ordering players around and trying to drive the team forward and press the opposition. This has an effect on the whole team as it pushes the whole side up the pitch. He just came across as a natural leader and hard-worker, something Norwich had been lacking.

Naismith also impressed me against Spurs. Although Norwich lost 3-0, Naismith had another good game. He should, in my opinion, have been awarded a penalty when Kevin Wimmer barged into him in the box. It was his determination that got him into the position and is already proving to be a very useful asset for Norwich.

He also would have scored if it were not for Bassong… his own teammate. Naismith saw his first shot blocked by Hugo Lloris but his second shot was rolling in before an offside Bassong tapped it in and meant Norwich were unable to be given the goal. Had Bassong of left the ball then Naismith would have had two goals in two games. Naismith also had a header in the game that went an inch wide of the post and was unfortunate not to go in.

Naismith’s most recent game was against Aston Villa last weekend when Norwich lost 2-0 at Villa Park. There were no players who were great for Norwich but Naismith was one of the few who could be slightly pleased with their performance. Naismith looked most likely to score when he was on the pitch and was unlucky to have been substituted.

So, when looking back over his first three games for Norwich, it is safe to say he has hit the ground running and will be a key player for Norwich between now and the end of the season. If Norwich are to stay up this season, I think Naismith will have played a huge part. He has settled in fantastically well and I look forward to him keeping up his form when Norwich host West Ham at Carrow Road this weekend.