Whenever a soap opera hits the creative buffers or suffers a drop in ratings the writers tend to bring back an old character.

So, when the Scottish schemer that is Alex Neil and his trademark scowl returned to the Carrow Road touchline on Saturday the script seemed written.

The assumption was that it was a plot device to help see off Dean Smith in the most dramatic fashion possible. A run of one win in eight Championship games and four defeats in five had left the current Norwich City head coach under huge pressure.

As is so often the case, the Canaries failed to read the script. The first 70 minutes against Stoke were not easy on the eye. It was a sloppy, mistake littered game. The best you could say for City’s display was that it didn’t give the impression that any of the current Carrow Road cast-list were about to down tools. Just as Norwich’s grip on the 1-0 lead was beginning to look slender Smith sent for two of his most popular characters.

Instead of the Queen Vic or The Rovers Return, Smith sought help from a couple of the regulars at his local, ‘The Dugout’. They were the pin-up boy that every soap must have in the shape of Todd Cantwell and one of the new South American family who had appeared on the street during the summer, Marcelino Nunez.

It meant that Onel Hernandez had to exit stage left to a chorus of disapproval but he’ll be back for that much needed bit of light relief in future episodes. He’s our loveable eccentric like Barry or Nigel from Eastenders. You can probably tell I haven’t watched it for years with those being my most up-to-date references.

Things at Carrow Road exist in shades of grey rather than vivid yellow and green. While Smith was proved right for making those substitutions by the ensuing much more thrilling last 20 minutes, it also underlined why he’s struggled to capture the collective Canary imagination. That’s what this Norwich squad is capable of. Incisive flowing football, Gabriel Sara playing passes with his shoulder, Cantwell getting back towards his creative best and a three-goal lead.

It was brief but it was a reminder of how much fun Norwich City can be to watch when they get going. It was a stodgy performance for the first three quarters and yet Norwich emerged as the team with more shots on target than anyone else in The Championship this weekend.

Passages of play like the final quarter of Saturday’s game have been few and far between this season. Any delight from what was a crucial win on an important day was tempered by immediate questions as to whether the next episode will be anywhere near as exciting.

If Dean Smith can unlock that sort of form more often, he may yet be able to turn the tide of public opinion. Results and exciting performances remain the most effective way for any club to deal with whatever state of disconnect might exist between itself and its supporters.

It won’t be easy, it never is once a tide turns against a manager. The flies on the wall in the Carrow Road corridors may well have been privy to an interesting chat or two between the two managers at the weekend. Alex Neil arrived at Norwich City in January 2015 with the club seventh in the Championship and struggling to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking despite having a squad with a good reputation. He left 26 months later with the club eighth in the Championship and struggling to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking despite having a squad with a good reputation.

When the game kicked off on Saturday Smith was trying to negotiate a way forward for a Norwich City squad that was seventh in the Championship and… well you get the idea.

The more things change at Carrow Road the more they seem to stay the same.

It’s why the levels of entertainment, enjoyment and engagement really matter for a club like Norwich City.

After five decades largely spent bouncing between the top two divisions (bar a purple patch between the mid-80s and mid-90’s) it’s a fanbase that knows from experience what’s possible. It’s no wonder if often feels like they can see the plot twists long before they actually happen.

City's Uncle Trevor

On the subject of what makes supporters really tick, there were a few Norwich City fans who were quite pleased when Stoke pulled a late goal back on Saturday.

That’s nothing against Angus Gunn who was seconds away from his first clean sheet of the season. Neither was it a sense of disloyalty.

Lifelong Norwich fan Trevor March passed away recently at the age of 74. There were attempts to get an applause going in his memory in the 74th minute of Saturday’s game. Many of those who sat near him at the game remembered but it clashed with the most exciting period of the game so their tribute ended up getting a little lost.

That’s the risk with these memorials that happen during a game, Events on the pitch often don’t allow. When Norwich won at Blackpool at the start of October it was their first home game since the death of The Queen. Her coronation happened in 1953, the same year she presented Blackpool with The FA Cup at Wembley. So an applause after 53 minutes felt appropriate.

When it came the moment coincided with the exact point that several players were involved in a lengthy pushing and shoving match on the pitch over a disputed throw-in. It was one of those occasions which left me unsure of what to say on commentary.

Trevor March got a much more fitting tribute at Carrow Road on Saturday. He always put a bet on the Canaries to win 3-1. No matter who they were playing or what sort of form they were in, 3-1 was his score.

Every family has their own little traditions or routines that complete a match day. The stars aligned at the weekend for Norwich to produce an ‘Uncle Trevor’ of a result.

The commentator in me couldn’t resist checking how successful he’d been over the years. Saturday was City’s first ‘Uncle Trevor’ since they won at Birmingham City on their way to promotion in February 2021.