There is something quintessentially Norwich City about our current state.
Our eyes tell us we’re safe, our form tells us we’re safe, and performance levels suggest we’re safe.
We are, right?
But as I sat in my River End seat on Saturday, watching us gift-wrap two goals for Birmingham before finally deciding to turn up, I was struck by the sheer Championship-ness of it all.
For many weeks, pre-Clement, we knew (or thought we knew) our destiny. Now it’s changed.
Now we are a club currently residing in that strange, purgatorial middle ground—too far adrift from the top six to plan a route to Wembley, yet too good (we think) to go down.
Or so we hope.
The bookies now have us at 25/1 to go down. In a season where poor old Sheffield Wednesday, Wednesday night’s visitors, have already checked out, I guess these odds feel about right.
They should also bring some comfort to the two old boys I walked out of Carrow Road behind on Saturday, who convinced each other that the Birmingham defeat was a return to relegation woes.
I wanted to put a friendly arm around them and tell them that it’s going to be ok, but so entrenched was their view that by the time they’d reached Bracondale, they were arranging their League One away trips for 2026-27.
Big Phil’s got this
But Clement won’t let that happen. Some much-needed Belgian steel had been added to the infrastructure of Colney. The 30 points we’ve hoovered up since November have acted as a priceless firebreak. Six points clear of Leicester and five clear of West Brom looks and feels comfortable.
On the flip side, the top six dream still flickers for some, albeit now like a dying candle in a drafty hallway after the Birmingham defeat. To get there, we’d now need a run of form so spectacular it would make the 2004 run to the playoffs under Worthy look like a casual stroll.
We are currently massive long-shots for the play-offs, and while the optimist in me (can’t believe I just typed that) wants to believe Kenny McLean can drag this lot up into sixth, the realist – some would say pessimist – can see the gap widening as the games run out.
Saturday felt massive on that score.
We are, for better or worse, still a work in progress, albeit one on an upward trajectory. And one with a squad bedevilled by injury.
If we don’t make it this season, there’s always next, and with Big Phil at the wheel, that’s quite the prospect.
But, for what it’s worth…
The state of play: Norwich City odds as at Feb 24.
| Market | Current odds | The chances… |
| Relegation | 25/1 | A safe-ish distance. Surely not. |
| Top 6 finish | 50/1 | Requires a miracle, a telescope, and probably a points deduction for five other teams. |
| Top half finish | 5/4 | The most likely outcome. Solid, unspectacular, and, ultimately, fine. |
The fact that we’re, according to the bookies, doubly likely to get relegated than creep into the top six tells the story.
It would have been interesting to have seen the same odds if we hadn’t stunk the place out for the opening 20 minutes on Saturday. Maybe very similar?
Either way, to be almost even money for a top-half finish after the start we had to the season is a result in itself.
