Sheff Weds 2-0 Norwich City: Davitt Championship pointers

1. Disappointment derby

A team who conceded five goals at home in 36 minutes on Saturday, against a team who threw away a win, and then contrived to cough up even a point in stoppage time on the same afternoon.

Entertainment was always likely to be in short supply at Hillsborough.

But it was a patched-up Norwich who charitably offered the Owls a proverbial leg up, ahead of their ‘Steel City’ derby against rivals United this weekend.

The kick-off was delayed a minute or two at Hillsborough for running repairs to George Long’s goal, in front of those hardy 1,100 or so travelling supporters. Pity they did not brick it up, such was the manner Long and his backline parted twice before the interval in the defining moments of this defeat.

Josh Windass ran between Jose Cordoba and Callum Doyle to slot past Long. Then Cordoba was forced to desperately concede a free kick, after playing his way into trouble, and then was outjumped by Dominic Iorfa at the back post. But the manner Long parried the header into his own net was symptomatic of the fragility, the lack of zip and the alarming drop off between the frontline options and the stand ins.

This was every bit as bad as Oxford on the opening day. A sobering reminder when you think you are on the up in this league the Championship has nasty habit of biting back.

Where was the fight and the spirit and the refusal to surrender that typified the recent games at Stoke or Preston or Middlesbrough? Or even for 80 minutes at Cardiff, in how they had defied a growing casualty list?

Hard to overlook the jolt to the collective Canary psyche from how events unfolded in those closing moments at the Bluebirds. The sense of dejection was palpable watching the body language of Shane Duffy and his side on the full-time whistle in Wales.

But now a fourth league defeat of the season, to follow hard on the heels of the third, has sapped much of that rising optimism. After the honeymoon period, the reality is setting in.

2. Holding pattern

Bristol City’s weekend visit to Carrow Road now feels like 90 minutes to navigate without any more damage, prior to the respite of another international pause – be it in terms of injuries or confidence or the alarming escalation in goals conceded.

City have now shipped 10 goals in five league games.

But it is predictably the opposite end of the pitch where much of the focus has rested since Thorup’s confirmation on Monday his star striker, Josh Sargent, must undergo groin surgery that will sideline him for the fat end of eight weeks. Which, if an accurate timescale, would be 13 league games.

A significant chunk of a season for a head coach on his debut tour, and a vibrant playing philosophy seemingly so reliant on Sargent’s unique skill set in this current roster.

Whether the January window brings reinforcements to ease the burden on the American there are points at stake before then to ensure when he returns Norwich still harbour a realistic chance at promotion this campaign.

They are now in a holding pattern, and the echoes with last season, and Sargent’s injury-disrupted 2023/24 are hard to shake.

The 24-year-old missed nearly four months following ankle surgery, but roared back on New Year’s Day with the first of 13 league goals to earn a point against Southampton that propelled David Wagner’s side into the play-offs. Before, alas, Sargent’s fitness issues returned for that one-sided aggregate loss to Leeds.

Ante Crnac looks a lightweight alternative at this stage of his Norwich career, while Ashley Barnes is yet to kick a ball competitively for the Danish head coach.

It took Norwich 72 minutes at Hillsborough to muster a second shot on target. But Thorup and his coaching brains have to come up with a solution that can go some way to filling the Sargent-shaped hole at the point of his attacking trio.

3. Tough gig, Kaide

A first Norwich start for Kaide Gordon, and a first senior outing since featuring for Liverpool in a Europa League tie in December 2023. It lasted less than an hour before he was replaced by Amankwah Forson.

Hard not to feel for the 20-year-old thrown into this makeshift midfield and forward line, and expected to stamp his undoubted quality over a Championship game between two clubs struggling to find their rhythm.

There was a 14th minute shot deflected behind from Cranc’s pass and then a clever drifting run infield in search of work to knit together a move that saw Oscar Schwartau earn another corner. But the Owls were content to sit deep and let City pass laterally in non-threatening areas of the pitch.

That limited the space, or the counter-attacking threat, that was why you presume Norwich moved for the England Youth international, after sanctioning Abu Kamara’s deadline day summer move to Hull.

Thorup spoke subsequently how Gordon’s ability to dribble offered his squad a different dimension. There was a series of encouraging cameos from the bench, and a first senior goal in the win over Kamara’s new club, but this was a shift which will not live long in the memory.

But in the right environment, with the right calibre of seasoned senior players around him, Gordon offers the potential to inject something into Norwich’s patchy quest for upward mobility.

4. Midfield misses

If you wanted to gauge how big a miss both Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez are in this Norwich engine room what unfolded at Hillsborough offered another timely reminder.

Together, they bring industry and technical quality, energy and athleticism. Jacob Sorensen was pressed into service again for a second start in a matter of days after his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

In that first half, the experienced midfielder struggled to cover the ground and put out the fires in front of the Norwich back four.

Emi Marcondes and Schwartau bring different, more progressive qualities but after what unfolded in that final 15 minutes or so at Cardiff – in a midfield that featured Doyle and Forson – it brought into sharp focus again how influential both McLean and Nunez had become under Thorup in short order.

McLean’s original three game ban for his red card in the late 3-3 draw against Middlesbrough is up after the Robins’ weekend visit. But there is a growing sense that additional FA charge will extend to West Brom, away, the other side of November’s international break.

The hope remains Nunez can return for that particular assignment, but on the growing evidence of recent games, Norwich’s fortunes will only improve again when the ‘Mayor’ reclaims his place. As Thorup remarked recently, he is the ‘heartbeat’ of this team.