Paddy Davitt delivers his Hull verdict after Norwich City’s emphatic Championship cruise.
1. Something’s cooking
Another Saturday lunchtime goal fest for Norwich City fans to gorge on after previous victories against Watford and on the road at Derby County. This is the type of over-indulgence you want more of.
The ‘oles’ were rolling around Carrow Road in the final stages when the job was complete, and fresh evidence of Johannes Hoff Thorup’s pleasing on the eye football and astute tactical brain.
The Canaries’ goal glut relegated Josh Sargent’s second half penalty miss to an irritating inconvenience, rather than an episode which had any lasting bearing on the outcome. Not forgetting Angus Gunn did not return for the second half, after what his boss confirmed afterwards was some rib pain from taking a cross late in the first half.
More assists and goals for the American and Borja Sainz. A first career league goal for Liverpool loanee Kaide Gordon to mark his 20th birthday. A 10-point haul from 15 available between the last international pause and the next one and now a frustrating halt to a domestic season which is picking up speed.
But a chance for Thorup and his coaching staff to reflect, sift out plenty of good, and address the negative areas that may lay the groundwork to move through the gears, and firmly into the Championship promotion picture as City begin the long run to Christmas.
2. SAS
Sargent and Sainz are posting numbers that might have the statisticians running for cover if they stay fit, healthy and the focal point of this fluid attacking strategy shaped by Thorup.
Sargent slotted Sainz’s cut back for his seventh goal contribution in nine league games, while Sainz added a pair of assists and the fourth home goal to his personal tally, which stands at nine goal contributions in nine.
The Spaniard may have felt an added urgency to nudge the dial, and shift the focus from his rather extravagant attempt at 0-0 to lob the ball over Ivor Pandur, when perhaps a finish more akin to his unerringly accurate slot against Watford at home recently was in order.
Thorup thrust his hands to his head at the impudence, and maybe the imprecision. But that is Sainz. As he demonstrated when he later executed the lob for Norwich’s fourth over the stranded Pandur.
An off-the-cuff young footballer who has all the tools to play higher than the English Championship.
While if Sargent continues in this vein it will not only be firm interest he attracts from the MLS in January. That is the downside of two players posting headline-grabbing numbers. But that is for another day. Albeit he might struggle to rest his head on the pillow thinking about that second half penalty slammed against a foot of a post.
Thorup pertinently flagged Sargent’s selflessness at Derby, when he served up a hat-trick sealing goal for Sainz.
The Dane said such an act would be reciprocated by grateful team mates. There might be a friendly personal duel developing, but the main beneficiaries are City’s fan base watching two clinical operators in their midst.
3. Home comforts
City’s unbeaten home record now stands at 23 matches in all competitions. Or one month shy of a calendar year. Not all that long ago attendance at Carrow Road was more like an act of devotion, one where plenty of supporters had to muster the enthusiasm to watch a brand of football far removed from the current entertainment.
Worth pointing out Thorup’s predecessor, David Wagner, should share some reflective kudos from that prolonged unbeaten spell, but there is a marked contrast in the feel and the feeling a home matchday now must engender among the fan base.
With 42 minutes gone in the first half against Hull a spontaneous volley of applause rippled around the home stands, to greet a move that had actually broken down when Marcelino Nunez tried to find Sainz.
But it was yet one more incisive, intuitive counter sparked by Shane Duffy and Jose Cordoba feeding Kenny McLean, who then found the unmarked Callum Doyle to play a one two with Sargent prior to releasing the Chilean. It was flowing football in the gorgeous autumnal sunshine.
Thorup will be the first to remind any who care to listen this remains a process pockmarked with inconsistencies from game to game, and again on this offering even within each half as Hull probed in mini spells.
But as the old footballing cliché goes, home form is a staple of any side with ambitions to chase promotion. Long may it continue.
4. Disrespect
It could have been you. What’s the score? Norwich reject. Those were the publishable barbs directed at Abu Kamara, when he emerged early in the second half to warm up on his swift return, after a transfer request paved the way for a deadline day switch to Norwich’s Championship rivals.
When he was finally introduced from the bench in the 72nd minute, it was to a cacophony of boos and cat calls. His first act was to chase a ball into the channel Kellen Fisher intercepted with a sliding block greeted almost as loudly as the home goals.
Kamara’s joy at serving up an assist for Joao Pedro was short-lived, when the official rightly spotted Pedro had guided the cross home with his extended arm. After Sainz had made it 4-0, Kamara was again asked did he know the score.
Thorup optimistically called for ‘respect’ to be afforded the youngster on Friday, who was developed in City’s academy but after an impressive League One title-winning loan stint at Portsmouth, clearly felt his future lay elsewhere.
Kamara was again named among the Tigers’ substitutes on his first reunion, which inevitably begs the question why he opted to leave Carrow Road if in the short term he is still in a holding pattern when it comes to game time?
That can change quickly, and there is no doubt a Fratton Park stint showcased his talents. Thorup was always at pains to insist the 21-year-old was a player he liked, and felt could be integrated into his plans.
Now his future career path will be a source of fascination, rather than pride in these parts at a homegrown talent who felt he wanted a new home.
