Norwich City passed ultimate Championship test at Millwall

If ever there was a place where a Premier League reputation counts for nothing it is The Den. Not The ‘New’ Den, Millwall have now officially dropped that bit of the name of their stadium. It would have felt strange calling it The ‘New’ Den on Saturday given that they moved there eight years before Max Aarons was born.  

From the moment you hear the teams run out to the knees-up of an anthem which declares ‘Let ‘em all come down to The Den’ you know the next 90 minutes will not be for the faint hearted. Twice over the years I have watched Norwich City teams crumble to 4-0 defeats in those intimidating surroundings.  

Most recently in 2017 it was the venue for Daniel Farke’s fifth league match as Canaries head coach. It was a bruising afternoon which saw Russell Martin’s illustrious Norwich City career end when he was substituted during the second half. German defender Marcel Franke would never play another league game for the club either and he’d only just arrived. It was such a reality check that within four days City had signed Grant Hanley from Newcastle United.  

That bit of work in the transfer market paid dividends on Saturday when the very same Grant Hanley produced a heroic goal line clearance in the dying seconds to clinch a frantic 3-2 victory. Saturday’s result felt significant because of where it was.  

Recent home wins over Hull, Birmingham and Cardiff had been pleasing but Millwall away was the real test as to whether David Wagner had successfully kick-started Norwich City’s season.  

Kenny McLean gets to grips with Millwall's Zian Flemming (Image: Focus Images)

When Hanley and Ben Gibson proved that two heads aren’t always better than one by challenging each other for the same ball it felt like another chastening could be in order. Tom Bradshaw capitalised on the error and put the Lions 1-0 up. If this had happened earlier in the season it would have been difficult to imagine a Canary recovery.  

Wagner appears to have recharged the levels of belief in the same City squad that had won just three of the 16 games before he arrived.  

The German made a subtle change to Norwich’s attacking line-up for this game. Onel Hernandez was switched from the left wing to the right-hand side.  

The reason for the tweak was illustrated by the build-up to Gabriel Sara’s stunning winning goal. Hernandez accelerated away from Millwall’s tall left back Murray Wallace with ease before providing the cross for Sara to score in beautiful fashion.  

Wallace played under Wagner at Huddersfield. In fact he left the Yorkshire side while Stuart Webber was sporting director up there. David Wagner knew he could back Hernandez to cause trouble for his former charge and was proved right. Perhaps that willingness to show faith in players is one of the reasons that Canary confidence levels have been rising.  

Sara’s goal was special. Hernandez’s cross actually gave the Brazilian a fair bit to do but that included an opportunity to show that it was possible to control, swivel and shoot all at the same time.  

More Brazilian brilliance from a player who is beginning to take the Championship by storm. 

Perhaps we should have remembered that it took Mario Vrancic and Marco Stiepermann until their second seasons to truly become yellow and green heroes. Sara’s spellbinding form could have as much to do with the time it takes to settle into a new culture than the change in head coach. Either way he’s now working under a boss canny enough to play to his squad’s strengths. You don’t win 3-2 at Millwall without a bucket load of spirit and belief.  

The bald truth...

The world of Norwich City is full of surprises.  

In the build-up to the trip to Millwall on Saturday it never once crossed my mind that FIFA President Gianni Infantino might be joining us at The Den.  

Word reached us during the first half that Infantino might be sitting a few rows in front of us in the Millwall directors’ box. There were national newspaper headlines about him ‘snubbing Premier League glamour ties’ to watch Norwich City. That’s a line written by someone who is basing their opinion on the Norwich City they last saw in the Premier League.  

FIFA president Gianni Infantino enjoyed City's victory over Millwall (Image: Focus Images)

They obviously can’t have seen the Goal of the Season competition that’s currently taking place between the club’s South Americans. Gianni Infantino may have his faults but even he must have watched recent footage of goals by Gabriel Sara and Marcelino Nunez and thought “I’ll have some of that when I’m next in England”.  

I’ll happily admit that when reports first emerged I raised an eyebrow and didn’t mention it on air straight away. It couldn’t possibly be true, could it?  

My colleague Rob Butler set off on a mission to try to spot him. He returned and immediately put his phone under my nose when there was a break in play. There, as clear as day, was the picture of the back of a bald man’s head. Perhaps Gianni Infantino was really watching Norwich City. Then I remembered where I was.  

The crowd was officially 18,785 at The Den on Saturday. At least 15,000 of them probably answered to the description of ‘bald man’. It could just have been one of the blokes who works in one of the garages under the railway arches that we had parked near.