Opinion: Stoke result showed there’s no more ‘soft’ Norwich City 

Right there, sharing wall space with Stanley Matthews and Gordon Banks, is Rory Delap. In the picture he’s clutching a ball in both hands ready to wind up for one of his famous long throws.  

There’s no disputing his status as a proper Stoke hero. For fans at what is now the Bet365 Stadium, those years when Premier League giants were often tamed by Tony Pulis and his no-nonsense approach must have been fun.  

It might not have been pretty but having been an established and feared Premier League opponent for so long Stoke are now embarking on a seventh straight season outside the top-flight.  

Reputations tend to be difficult to shake off. On Saturday Norwich City and Stoke City were led by two young, progressive head coaches.  

Johannes Hoff Thorup and Narcis Pelach have both been brought in for their ability to inspire fast, inventive and attacking football. They have philosophies that rely on relishing having possession. Yet, when you put them in charge of a Championship clash between Stoke and Norwich City the game ended up reverting to type.  

The second half was the sort of blood and thunder affair that could have been played in this division at any time over the past couple of decades.  

There was no shortage of desire from either side but it became a scrappy match in which promising attacks often broke down by themselves without the necessity for any difficult defending.  

Only the fact that it was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon in Stoke saved it from being the living embodiment of a footballing proverb.  

This sounds like a harsh, three-star at best Tripadvisor review of my afternoon out in the Potteries but it was much more encouraging than that from a Canary perspective.  

Borja Sainz charges down Michael Rose's clearance against Stoke (Image: Paul Chesterton)

Norwich City have been brilliant in some games so far this season. The four-goal thrashings of Watford and Hull at Carrow Road with a Borja Sainz hat-trick at Derby in between have inspired plenty of positivity. Those games already stand out and the excitement about what Thorup’s side might be capable of at their best is palpable.  

This though is the Championship and it’s never like that every week. Even those all-conquering promotion campaigns under Paul Lambert and Daniel Farke were littered with games that were nicked by a single goal or points that were salvaged in stoppage time.  

Players tend to end up at this level because they struggle to be at their brilliant best all the time. It’s actually a right old slog.  

City will be travelling the equivalent distance of several hundred Rory Delap throw-ins over the next couple of weeks. Quickfire trips to Stoke, Preston, Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday underline how difficult it is to maintain any kind of consistency over the course of a 46-game season.  

It means that digging out results when not in full flight is a valuable asset in the Championship. That’s what Norwich City did on Saturday. There have been times when the Canaries not playing well meant big trouble. This time last year they were on the slide, down towards 17th place in the division before David Wagner managed to turn things round.  

“We’re too easy to play against” was the often-heard lament in the stands and on our phone-in. Despite their eventual top-six finish Norwich were actually in the bottom six of the Championship for away results last season. They are currently fifth best on the same metric, for what it’s worth, so far this time around.  

Curing the Canaries’ soft underbelly was one of the tasks that Thorup needed to get to grips with. It’s not as much fun to talk about as the swashbuckling attacks but it’s really important.  

“If you can’t win then make sure you don’t lose” was a regular quote from Paul Lambert during his time at Carrow Road. Although he was also in charge of Stoke when they last played a Premier League game. It was probably around then that the Rory Delap picture got put up on the wall as a reminder of better times.  

Long dilemma 

One of my current Canary commentary dilemmas surrounds goalkeeper George Long.  

He’s set to deputise for the injured Angus Gunn again at Preston this evening. Johannes Hoff Thorup has already remarked upon the monster kick that his back-up keeper possesses and what an attacking asset it could be. When asked about his lusty boot after the game at Stoke on Saturday Long pointed out that he already has a handful of assists in his career.  

With players like Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent to aim for these days who would bet against him adding to that tally?  

My issue is one of nominative determinism. “Long kicks it long” is an absurd sentence to say on the radio but it’s an accurate description of what’s occurring. I tried “Long lives up to his name” at one point on Saturday but that’s probably only something that can be said once per game at the very most before sounding a bit too smug.  

It’s like having a striker called Josh Tappin or a Spanish winger by the name of Borja Backheel. It’s a good job that City’s new head coach has turned out to be far more tactically sophisticated than John Beck or Dave Bassett. Maybe there is a Danish manager who likes to play direct football called Johannes Hoof Thorup.