Change is in the air and Norwich City fans are loving every second 

There’s none of the Daniel Farke style cheerleading with the crowd after a home win. No such grand gesture is required to illustrate that The Barclay is already eating out of his hands. Instead, the Dane preferred to let his players take the lead on their post-match victory lap on Saturday afternoon.

As he wandered a polite distance behind them surveying the scene of smiling faces, flags waving and scarves being held aloft it was hard to not get carried away at the thought of what might be possible this season.  

Norwich City had just endured an afternoon which involved missing a penalty, squandering two one-on-ones and losing their goalkeeper to injury. All the hallmarks of the sort of frustrating afternoon that suggests a long, hard season. We’ve been there so many times over the years. 

To absorb all of those blows and still emerge with a fine 4-0 victory over Hull City suggests that this summer’s Project Restart at Carrow Road is going to be a whole lot more successful than the one which followed the first lockdown in 2020.  

Thorup is underlining why the job of leading Norwich City into Championship battle is now called ‘head coach’ rather than ‘manager’. By definition someone who is ‘managing’ is just about finding a way to get by.

The Canaries are not in a position to spend the sort of money that guarantees success so the coaching ability of whoever is in charge of the squad is of paramount importance. Norwich’s best seasons have been when they have been led by a figurehead who gets the very best out of the talent available to him.  

It's a judgement that goes beyond results. No team is going to win every week but when individual players are regularly raising their performances to levels that previously seemed beyond their capabilities it’s a sure sign that they are being well coached. 

City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has got supporters believing again (Image: Paul Chesterton)

Look at Kellen Fisher’s flying fortnight. He already has more league starts in 2024/25 then he did in the whole of last season. Two weeks ago, when Fisher was selected ahead of Jack Stacey at right back for the home clash with Watford, there was a bit of concern in the crowd.

Should a slight 20-year old in only his second year as a senior footballer really be picked ahead of someone regarded as one of the team’s most consistent performers?  

Three times under David Wagner, Fisher was chosen ahead of Stacey for a league game. On all three occasions he swiftly swapped them back again, twice at half-time. In the last two weeks Fisher has started four times in the league and impressed each time.  

Then in midfield Marcelino Nunez has lifted his game to new heights. On a personal note I have already noticed a direct correlation between how often I’m mentioning Nunez in a radio commentary and how well the team is playing.  

At the start of this season the Chilean had played 51 games for the Canaries in two seasons, scoring five goals. Three of those strikes had been direct free-kicks, including the winner in the last East Anglian derby. His other two goals were within the space of 10 minutes in a 3-1 win over Birmingham in the early days of the Wagner era.

One was a special volley from distance after a corner had been cleared, the other a close-range finish. That though was the only one of his 51 City games in which he’d scored from open play. Nunez has netted twice in his last four matches, without the need for a set piece.  

It’s another sign that Thorup is finding ways to unlock the potential in his squad. That’s nearly as impressive as selling the concept of change to a Norfolk boy.  

He’s even making this traditionalist enjoy 12.30pm kick-offs on a Saturday lunchtime. Having an extra couple of hours of weekend to bask in the glow of a Norwich City win is something I’m getting used to. 

Oven ready... 

Whenever Norwich City make a new signing a frantic internet search ensues.  

I’m not looking for a YouTube highlights reel. Canary fans have found out the hard way that those carefully selected ‘best bits’ don’t offer an accurate impression of what might happen when the yellow and green shirt goes on.  

As someone who will likely get to interview a new recruit the more pertinent question is about how they might handle a microphone being put under their nose.  

It is for this reason that I have high hopes for the newest Canary.  

Emiliano Marcondes made his debut off the bench against Hull. He’s struggled to get minutes on the pitch in recent seasons which saw him spend some time on loan at Hibernian.  

There’s a brilliant clip of his first interview on joining Hibs which contains the best bit of footballing philosophy since Eric Cantona’s seagulls followed that trawler.  

“When you haven’t played for a long time, you are like a cold pasta dish. No-one wants you. 

“When you are in that situation you need to put yourself in the oven, warm yourself up and that’s how I feel right now I need to make myself edible again.” 

How profound is that? Carrow Road is now his oven.  

Hopefully it won’t be long before we get to chat to Emiliano Marcondes on the radio. If he just says that he’ll ‘take each game as it comes’ I’ll be really disappointed.  

Perhaps we should take it as a cryptic clue that Norwich might be in for Italian striker Kevin Lasagna in the next transfer window. He’s scored twice in seven games for Bari this season, on loan from Verona.