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Remember that game against Cardiff in December 2003? The one we thought was Darren Huckerby’s Canary swansong, only for him to joyfully reappear as a permanent signing on Boxing Day? If you don’t, YouTube it. Well, for me, Huck’s performance that day was the best individual performance I’ve ever seen in a City. To think about it 23 years later still makes the hairs on the neck stand to attention. I’m not sure it will ever be bettered, but for one to be even part of that conversation and to have occurred yesterday says an awful lot about Andre Brooks’ afternoon. Among many good performances, his stood out and not just because of the backflip he delivered in front of the River End after he’d made it 4-1. We already know that he’s quick and strong, and has an eye for goal, but as our Robin (Sainty) pointed out on Canary Call, his ability to track back and help his full-back, which yesterday was Jack Stacey, proved invaluable. But there was so much more. His first touch, a much-underrated quality by some, is clearly right up there, and, yesterday at least, he had this wonderful knack of his first touch intuitively taking him into space rather than into a crowd. A priceless commodity in the maelstrom of a Championship midfield. And he’s happy to go both ways; two-footedness being another priceless quality. But what he also has – or appears to have (early days and all that) – is that Huckerby trait of getting City fans on the edges of their seats. When Brooks had the ball yesterday, we expected stuff to happen. And again, you can’t put a price on it. But, as I said earlier, he was far from alone. You don’t beat a side with Burnley’s player-for-player quality by it being a one-man-band. On the other wing, Anthony Musaba already looks part of the furniture and ensures we have a double threat out wide going forward. Add Mo Toure’s pace and power into that mix, and we have a front three who look capable of causing trouble to even the best of Championship defenders. Then add a fit Jovon Makama in as a Mo alternative, and we quickly forget the horrors of The Den last Saturday. I still know why it went so horribly wrong, but judging by the response, we should treat it as a one-off and consign it to the Norwich City bin of horror shows and forget it. I’m sure it’s lost on anyone that yesterday’s success was achieved with the Cordoba-McConville-Mattsson-McLean axis at its heart. All four were magnificent, and it does seem that Jose Cordoba’s level goes up a notch or two when partnered with Ruairi McConville, with no slight intended on Harry Darling. We mustn’t forget that this Burnley side – as hapless as they appeared defensively – still has much quality and kept the ball successfully and purposefully for spells of the game. Had Bruun Larsen’s shot, early in the second half, gone inside Vlad’s post instead of against it, we could have been having a different conversation this morning, but, hey, who cares. It didn’t go in. So… *big fat raspberry* And it was good to see that, yesterday, City looked in control of the game even without having most of the ball – not something we have always been able to say about a Norwich side under Big Phil. It was – and please forgive me for mentioning them – not unlike the job those in Blue and from Suffolk did on us at the back of last season, where we had lots of the ball yet they felt in control of the game. (I’ll not mention them again). And then there’s Pelle, who that little junior canary insisted is the best player in the world 🙂 While that may be a bit of a stretch, the Mattsson of spring 2026 is starting to reappear; the one who runs his socks off, covers every blade of grass, and gives even the best of Championship midfielders not even a nanosecond to get their head up to make a pass. It’s a massive over-simplification, but I’m sticking with it – when Mattsson plays well, the team tends to play well as they all feed off his infectious enthusiasm and energy. So for him to be back to something like his best, and for Kenny to also be back to his imperious finest, set the tone for the afternoon. A word too for both full-backs who, for a horrible 15-minute spell midway through the first half, both found themselves under the cosh against two very good wingers. But both, with the help of a tactical tweak that saw their respective wide colleagues drop ten yards deeper to offer greater support, saw the job through successfully. A fit and strong Ben Chrisene – especially one who has Darlin Yongwa breathing down his neck – is a good player. And then, of course, there’s Mad Vlad who, in truth, didn’t have too much to do, but did delight the River End even before a ball had been kicked by joining in, with a huge smile on his face, with the pre-match On the Ball City. He is, without doubt, as my late dad would describe him, as ‘mad as a March hare’, but he’s our mad March hare, and is now truly one of us. So, yeah, not just a good day, but a great one. Bloody great. The cobwebs are gone. The season starts here. To the Potteries we head with no fear. OTBC.