news-engine

There are some things in life you can rely on. The sun will eventually come up. Your phone battery will die when you need it most. And Norwich City will find a new and inventive way to make a perfectly enjoyable afternoon considerably more stressful than it needs to be. After months of waiting, the Championship was finally back at Carrow Road. There was the usual optimism. New season. Fresh start. Clean slate. And for a while, Norwich looked like a team capable of making that optimism seem reasonable. The Canaries started brightly and created opportunities, looking the more dangerous side for large periods. There was energy, there was attacking intent and, most importantly, there were moments when you could watch the football without immediately wondering why you support this club. Then Max O’Leary happened. The West Brom goalkeeper appeared to have spent his summer preparing specifically for this fixture. Every time Norwich looked ready to celebrate, O’Leary was there. Save. Another save. And then another. At one point it felt less like Norwich were playing West Brom and more like they were attempting to complete a frustrating goalkeeper training exercise. Still, Norwich kept going. The problem was that the longer the game remained goalless, the more you started to get that horrible feeling. You know the one. The little voice in your head saying: “We’re going to dominate this game, miss about seventeen chances and somehow lose 1–0, aren’t we?” Unfortunately, that voice was onto something. With 15 minutes remaining, West Brom finally found the breakthrough — although “found” might be doing a lot of work in that sentence. Aune Heggebo used his hand(s) to help the ball into the Norwich net. Norwich’s players weren’t particularly impressed. Norwich supporters weren’t particularly impressed. Anyone sitting in the stands who had a reasonably clear view wasn’t particularly impressed. The goal, however, stood. And so began the traditional Norwich City supporter experience of watching the same replay repeatedly while loudly explaining to nobody in particular why it should have been disallowed. At 1–0 down, Norwich were suddenly chasing the game. And then, because apparently one problem wasn’t enough, West Brom made it 2–0. Jimmy-Jay Morgan struck in the 87th minute, leaving Norwich with a handful of minutes to somehow transform a frustrating afternoon into a dramatic comeback. This is Norwich City, though. We don’t do things the easy way. Mathias Kvistgaarden pulled one back late on, suddenly giving the home supporters something they hadn’t had for most of the second half: Hope. And there is nothing more dangerous to a Norwich supporter than hope. For a few minutes, Carrow Road believed. West Brom looked nervous. Norwich pushed forward. The atmosphere lifted. Maybe. Just maybe. Then the final whistle arrived. 2–1. Game over. Three points for West Brom. Zero points for Norwich. And approximately 4,000 new arguments on social media. The frustrating thing is that Norwich weren’t dreadful. In fact, that’s probably what makes the result more annoying. There were plenty of positives to take. Norwich created chances, looked dangerous going forward and, for large periods, were the better side. On another afternoon, with a little more luck and a goalkeeper who wasn’t apparently auditioning for the England squad, Norwich could have walked away with three points. Instead, they leave Carrow Road with nothing. There will naturally be plenty of discussion about the controversial opening goal, and rightly so. But Norwich will also have to look at themselves. When you create chances, you have to take them. When you dominate periods of a game, you have to turn that dominance into goals. Otherwise, you’re basically just collecting possession statistics for the scrapbook. For Philippe Clement, there are positives to take. The performance suggested Norwich have the ability to cause problems in this league. But football has a nasty habit of reminding you that playing well and winning are two completely different things. And so Norwich’s new Championship campaign begins with defeat. One game down. Forty-five to go. Plenty of time, then. Which is exactly what we’ll all be telling ourselves until the next match. Because optimism is free. Tickets aren’t. And supporting Norwich City has never exactly been advertised as a sensible financial decision. Welcome back, everyone.