Norwich City vs Watford - The BIG Preview
Article by Colin RoweClick here to follow e-Norwich on Twitter!
After the disappointment of the opening day, Norwich return to the comforts of Carrow Road to face a Watford side who had no similar worries in sweeping aside Bolton 3-0.
There have been some significant pieces of news out of the fine city this week.
The club has rightly suspended two fans following allegations of racist abuse at the Wolves game. There is no room for this kind of behaviour at a club which has always prided itself on being inclusive and family friendly.
Secondly, it looks as if Martin Olsson will have to face a further ban for shoving the referee after being sent off a Molineux. Again, there can be no complaints and Olsson’s reaction is completely unacceptable and not what the club or the fans expect from wearers of the yellow and green.
Norwich will also face Crawley Town in the League Cup second round at the end of August, which, as it is a cup competition against lower league opposition, City will almost certainly lose.
Most troubling however, is the news of Anthony Pilkington’s probable transfer to Championship rivals Cardiff for a reported £1 million.
There were obviously problems with the Republic of Ireland player at the weekend, with the manager saying he was suffering from a minor injury, while the player claimed he was fully-fit.
Instantly, two major issues strike you about this. Firstly, why are we selling one of our most creative attacking players and secondly, why are we selling him for so little?
If you wanted to remain positive then you could argue Pilkington’s potential departure means Nathan Redmond will be staying put, which is good news, but even so this leaves Norwich short-handed on the wings.
Sometimes relationships with players break down and under those circumstances it is often best to just get rid of them, but there does seem to be an as-yet-unknown underlying problem with regard to Pilks.
Assuming the deal goes through, he will be sorely missed with the overriding memory of the player being his great header to grab Norwich a win against Manchester United and the ridiculous beard he sported early on last season.
Turning our attention to this Saturday, what is more important than anything is for Norwich to turn up and show the grit, determination and strength required to succeed in the Championship.
Against Wolves the team were all too often slow in possession and lacked ideas going forward and this has to change because if not the fans will quickly turn against both the team and Neil Adams.
With two games at home, against Watford this weekend and Blackburn seven days later, Norwich have a great opportunity to build up some good feeling and get an important six points in the bank.
So what do Norwich need to do to kick-start their campaign?
Quite simply Norwich need to start treating the teams in this league with the respect they deserve. The Championship is not a two-bit division which we can breeze through, it is tough, physical and filled with players determined to make the leap to the top-flight.
Norwich are the team with Premiership experience and we should go out there and show it, not dilly-dally with the ball and assume every team will roll-over and capitulate like the Canary’s did against so many big teams last season.
Remember how Norwich got themselves promoted form the second-tier last time?
We did it by fighting and never lying down. What is most memorable about that season was how many times Norwich scored late on to pick up important wins and draws which ultimately saw us secure the second of our back-to-back promotions.
How Adams will set the team up this weekend is a little bit of a mystery as the result affords him the opportunity to go for an alternative strategy.
A recall for Alex Tettey is certainly a possibility, while Kyle Lafferty’s impressive substitute performance may see him get the nod up front.
Lafferty was also the player chosen to represent the team at the pre-Watford press conference, but too much has been read into these appearances before so make of this what you will.
Gary Hooper and Jonny Howson are still absent through injury and are “progressing well” according to the gaffer.
Overall, what the fans and Adams will be hoping for is a much more positive display from the team. It is not necessary for them to win by three or four goals, but a confident, comfortable win would be the perfect tonic to get the season up and running.
Predicted Line-Up: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Turner, Garrido, Johnson, Bennett, Hoolahan, Redmond, Grabben, Lafferty
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
No comments: