Anyone who has to suffer watching Norwich City’s season unravel in recent weeks will tell you how hard it has been to stomach.
That all too familiar feeling in the Premier League has been just as difficult to swallow as it has on their previous attempts to stay in this division.
A lot of those feelings have been based on the words from senior figures that placed more expectation on this campaign being different and that the lessons have been learned.
Yet, the evidence is that they haven't.
With that, feelings of disconnect and apathy among supporters seem to be growing at a rapid rate.
Fans of all ages are attending matches at Carrow Road through habit rather than joy at present. That is something City have to seek to change in the remaining weeks of what has thus far been a dismal campaign.
Norwich, historically, never seem able to upset the odds and complete a great escape. When the flashing lights come on the dashboard, often the whole thing breaks down pretty rapidly.
That contrasts drastically with Burnley, who also seem to ride out bad periods and emerge stronger.
Throughout their spell in the Premier League, they’ve suffered a lot of the same ridicule and criticism that has been forthcoming of the Canaries’ approach this season.
They don’t spend big. They haven’t had the quality to go chasing after the elite. Yet, year after year, they manage to keep their heads above water.
They’ve lost fewer games this season than Aston Villa in 11th. Only Brighton have drawn more. But, they’ve won the same amount of matches as Norwich.
In Sean Dyche, they have an unemotive leader who is consistent in his actions regardless of how matches are decided. That isn’t too dissimilar to the approach Dean Smith has adopted since becoming City boss.
The comparisons don’t end there, two years ago, a senior staff member at Norwich said this...
‘We’ve got to look at clubs like Burnley for inspiration and how they’ve done it, because they’re the closest model to us,” those were the words of City’s sporting director Stuart Webber after relegation in 2020.
The point was, and still is, a valid one. Burnley have come as close to sustaining themselves as a Premier League outfit as is truly possible in the modern era.
They’ve managed to achieve that with a clear identity, a recruitment plan to sign players based on that playing philosophy and through keeping a solid core of players at the club.
A lot of that bares resemblance to what Norwich were aspiring to do this season.
Of course, Webber didn’t mean he sought to replicate an exact copy or attempt to adopt a similar playing style on the pitch. It was more about the camaraderie in the dressing room and their seamless ability to avoid being flustered in high-pressure moments, displayed during their midweek victory over Everton.
In many respects, that statement uttered by Webber nearly two years ago is still just as valid now.
Although it seems beyond comprehension for most of a yellow and green persuasion, this is an important weekend for City and those at the bottom of the Premier League more broadly.
Even those eternal optimists would be hard-pressed to conjure up a situation where Norwich remain in the division, but a victory would mark four points in two matches and would keep them in touch with the rest of the pack gunning for survival.
The mission for Smith and his side now is to offer reasons of hope in the final matches, provide tangible reasons for optimism beyond the summer and keep themselves alive for another week.
Even to write this is a sad indictment of how the season has panned out, but the aim for Smith and his side has to be about attempting not to finish bottom and with more points than they mustered two years ago.
Smith’s rhetoric will be no different. Whilst there is a mathematical chance of survival, he must strive and believe that it can be realised.
But great escapes often hinge on goals. And Norwich struggle to create chances for Teemu Pukki on a consistent basis.
At Brighton and at throughout different portions of this season, it’s been hard to work out how Norwich are going to produce an opportunity to score.
With Burnley, there is an understanding of how they will go about their business. Everyone reading this will have an idea of what they do and how they approach matches.
The accusation among some is that these matches always seem to expose Norwich’s soft underbelly. Those are the type of things Smith’s side have to prove are unfounded in order to offer hope.
This has been a season of missed opportunities and frustration. Hopes of survival among supporters have been all but evaporated.
Aspirations of following in Burnley's footsteps will have to wait. Now, it is about ensuring they win back a connection with fans through performances.
Smith has told his squad to ‘leave it all out there’, that needs to be seen from an attacking perspective as well as just being dogged and solid.
All of that will hold the key to helping re-connect supporters and offer a reason why next time at this level may be different.
But for now, Norwich’s attempt to replicate aspects of Burnley’s top-flight success has fallen short. Now they must prove they can forge their own path in the future.
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