The last thing that Norwich City would have wanted this forthcoming weekend, fresh from a scoreless draw against Cardiff City that kept them languishing in the Premier League’s relegation zone, is a trip to a Manchester City side that has scored 13 goals on the way to winning all four of its home games to date.
This visit to face the 2012 English champions is a prospect far removed from that which faced the Canaries when they completed last season’s fixtures with a free-spirited 3-2 win at the Etihad. Chris Hughton’s team went into that contest shorn of the anxiety that had consumed them across much of the preceding five months – a 4-0 thumping of West Bromwich Albion a week earlier having banished any threat of relegation.
In those two year ending victories came a reminder of the style, and consequent results, that had defined Norwich during the inaugural phase of Hughton’s reign. When, on December 15th, they followed a thrilling 4-3 triumph at Swansea City by defeating Wigan Athletic 2-1 the 1985 League Cup winners sat 7th in the Premier League – just four points off third placed Chelsea.
Then came an incomprehensible run of form which, for the first time since striking out on his own as a ‘Number 1’, caused Hughton’s capabilities to be called into question. The Canaries won two of 19 league matches – one of those somewhat fortuitously against Everton, the other a narrow success over a doomed Reading. For good measure, non-league Luton Town knocked Norwich out of the F.A. Cup on their own Carrow Road ground.
Anybody who had watched this enterprising outfit, forged on a solid back-line, and with the bustling Bradley Johnson and Alexander Tettey at the base of a midfield which set the foundation for exciting and purposeful individuals such as; Anthony Pilkington, Wes Hoolahan, Robert Snodgrass and Jonny Howson to supply the bullets for Grant Holt, could never have foreseen the Canaries’ slump.
Indeed, character in adversity had been exhibited by the team’s recovery from a sluggish opening to the season which was typified by the shipping of five goals to Fulham and Liverpool, and four against Chelsea. Norwich’s response included wins against Manchester United and Arsenal.
The occurrence of the Norfolk club’s later woeful string of results was all the more astonishing for the identity of the man at their helm. Hughton’s equanimous and calm bearing had brought him only success during his incipient ventures in management.
Tasked with restoring Newcastle United to the Premier League, and in the full knowledge that he was never Magpies owner Mike Ashley’s first choice for the role, Hughton led the team to a runaway Championship title at the first time of asking. His dismissal, with Newcastle comfortably placed in mid-table four months into their top-flight return, was popularly considered one of the harsher sackings of modern times.
The accomplished former Tottenham Hotspur full-back earned his chance to work back among the elite, by overcoming off-field turmoil, and a swingeing fixture, list to guide Birmingham City into the Championship play-offs during his sole term in charge at St Andrews.
Hughton’s fluent, positive brand of football made him a welcome choice to replace the enormous gap left by Paul Lambert, who had dragged Norwich from their lowest ebb in League One and, within two years, made them a Premier League club.
That 2009/2010 season spent in the third-tier, perhaps best encapsulates the parochial backing with which the Canaries are blessed. Attendances never fell below the 23,000 mark, with the average home gate nearer to 25,000.
Norwich’s fervent support – in addition to the partisan environment at Carrow Road on match day, thousands follow the side on their travels – is too readily overlooked. Perhaps owing to its location well away from any rival football hotspots, there is a real affection for the City’s club – and sightings of Chelsea or Liverpool, et al, shirts are rare.
A sweeping City wide desire to see the team succeed, inevitably results in the manager of the day feeling the heat when things aren’t going well. That is a phenomenon of which Hughton will now be acutely aware.
When Lambert sealed the Canaries’ 2011 promotion, it heralded what would be only the club’s second top-flight campaign in 17 years. Having, for the most part, been a fixture at that level between the early 1970’s and mid-1990’s, and then suffered instant relegation after topping 2004’s second-tier, that vibrant Norwich fan-base is desperate for this latest coming to be much more than a fleeting visit. Moreover, in common with any group of supporters, they want their club to progress. At Carrow Road, following finishes of 12th and 11th that requires moving into the top-half of a fearsomely competitive Premier League.
With that burden, allied to a keen determination to avoid a repeat of last season’s major stutter, Hughton was allowed by the club’s powerbrokers, ahead of this campaign, to elevate his sights in the transfer market.
The manager won the board’s trust with some astute trading early in his tenure. Solid performers such as Sebastian Bassong, Michael Turner, Tettey, Snodgrass and Steven Whittaker were acquired at little combined cost and, Whittaker aside, (owing to an ankle injury from which he is now recovered) all made telling contributions to what was ultimately a successful term for the club.
In his previous managerial assignments, Hughton had displayed a knack for identifying and recruiting individuals capable of rapidly integrating into his unit of the time. Chris Wood and Andros Townsend both spent prosperous loan periods at Birmingham. Wade Elliott, Chris Burke, and Jonathan Spector were all taken, by Hughton, to the Midlands where they continue to flourish.
At Newcastle, with the Magpies feeling the pinch of their drop into the Championship, a number of the relegated squad departed but, with his restricted budget, Hughton targeted Danny Simpson and Mike Williamson who would both emerge as cornerstones of the promotion campaign. With Premier League football back on the horizon, the boss attracted the mercurial Hatem Ben Arfa and domineering Ivorian Cheick Tiote to St. James Park.
Hughton’s proven ability to work the market according to his prevailing circumstance seemed sure to bear further fruit with Norwich’s latest additions.
There is no questioning the exciting potential of the teenaged winger Nathan Redmond, while Leroy Fer, a powerhouse midfielder, was at the top of David Moyes’ Everton shopping list in January. Any team, however, lives or dies by its ability to put the ball in the net. To that end, the Canaries statement signing, at close to £9m – a club record – was Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The Dutch forward is fresh from two prolific years with Sporting Lisbon in Portgual but, to date has scored just once in the yellow and green – and that was on the season’s opening day.
Gary Hooper’s signature cost Norwich a further £5m but, in common with his fellow new striking arrival, the 25 year-old has not hit the ground running. The former Celtic player’s start to life in East Anglia was hampered by a shin problem, but his combative front-running style has since endeared him to his latest set of fans.
Indeed, when Hooper was withdrawn during the second-half of the Cardiff match, the move was used by large sections of the home crowd as a cue to target Hughton for renewed criticism. It doesn’t help the boss’ cause that another forward option brought in during August, Johan Elmander, has so far been no more than a peripheral figure.
When any football club is not meeting expectations, every facet of the manager’s approach is held up for dissection. Hughton’s tinkering with his team, – with regards to personnel and tactics – and a perceived cautious bent were acceptable when positive results outweighed negative. A poor run, though, and those acknowledged ‘traits’ become weaknesses.
There is certainly a growing consensus among Norwich’s support that the time is ripe for change. That appears a severe judgement on a respected football man who, in real terms, is still young in the job. Nevertheless, it is universally acknowledged that time is not a gift bestowed on today’s managers, especially those who have spent relatively large sums of money and, therefore, must accept the responsibility that outlay brings.
Despite their lowly current position, the Canaries beginning to this season has not been disastrous. Four points from home matches against Everton and Southampton looks a solid return in light of those two sides subsequent form. Hughton’s men went toe-to-toe for chunks of contests with Chelsea and Arsenal, before finally being undone by those opponents’ undisputed superior ability.
The hangover from last year’s wobble lingers, though, and Norwich followed an assured late September win at Stoke City, which many anticipated might be the kick-start to this campaign, by taking a single point from three matches. A tame surrender at Manchester United in the League Cup didn’t do much for the feel good factor in Norfolk.
There is a squad in situ at Carrow Road that is far more accomplished than its league position suggests. After the rigorous demands of facing up to Manchester City over the weekend, Hughton will lead his team into games against West Ham United, Newcastle, and Crystal Palace.
The manager’s short-term objective is to prove he remains the man for Norwich City. The club’s is to significantly improve on their present lot. If both are to succeed in their goals, the Canaries cannot continue in the same vein. It is time to get on the ball City.
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