Paddy Davitt delivers his Sunderland verdict after Norwich City’s priceless Championship win.

1. The pot of gold

Sunshine and torrential showers over Carrow Road. Just past the hour mark a rainbow arced high above the Barclay, and the symbolism should be not lost on anyone who knows what is at stake if Norwich City can seal a 'remarkable' promotion back to the Premier League.

Remarkable given the arduousness of the terrain and the huge peaks and troughs in results to this point of a season which remains tantalisingly in reach for those top-six ambitions.

Josh Sargent’s eighth league goal of 2024, and his 11th of an injury-hit campaign nine minutes from the end of normal time sealed the deal against a Sunderland side full of youth, vigour and a desire to seriously dent Norwich’s play-off bid.

Those ‘USA’ chants that rose up to hail the American’s influential intervention would have been music to the ears of Mark Attanasio, and his wife, watching from the directors’ box.

What followed was tense and nervy but David Wagner’s side got the job done. That point at Blackburn can be viewed through a more forgiving prism. Much in the way they shed the disappointment of leaking another losing position at QPR on the road to hammer Cardiff next up in Norfolk.

A seventh league win in eight at Carrow Road means opponents now surely fear to tread. Unlock the key to away victories on the run-in, and the sky is still the limit.

2. People watching

Quite the turnout in the Norwich City directors’ box. In addition to Attanasio on a flying trip from the States the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, joined Ed Balls in attendance. One potentially the future leader of the country, one increasingly seen as the kingmaker regarding the longer-term direction of travel at Carrow Road.

How long into the future remains up for debate, but the reliance on the US businessman and his group was graphically underlined in the last set of published accounts, and the subsequent share allotment process. That latter move driven, in large part, by the desire to ease the interest pressure on that external debt.

As yet no further word Football League ratification has been forthcoming, and as such Attanasio’s group is now sitting on the same share pile as the club’s long-standing custodians. But internally to all intents and purposes that framing has already taken place.

Worth noting Attanasio’s trip to the UK included a scheduled appearance at the Business of Football summit this past week in London, on a panel discussing how to build a long-term strategy to make money from football.

Look at the length of his involvement with the Milwaukee Brewers and this is an individual clearly in it for the long haul at Carrow Road. That will require patience, as much as pound notes, for all concerned.

 

3. The fire beneath

That ‘stay at home’ barb from Wagner, after seeing off Watford at Carrow Road recently, was completely out of kilter with the manner the City boss had sought to build bridges since he first arrived in the bonfire of the post-Dean Smith era.

Wagner’s previous success at Huddersfield appeared to be fuelled by the force of his personality, and the personal warmth he exuded, to galvanise a set of players and a support who must have felt Premier League football was above and beyond.

Wagner admitted in the days that followed his Hornets’ post-match comments those stinging words were a touch too strong. But it also offered a rare glimpse that beneath the smile and easy-going demeanour is a fiercely driven individual who wants to bring success back to these parts for himself, and this fan base.

He looked a broken man when he faced the media after October’s 3-1 defeat on Wearside. That felt like the point of no return. City were abject on the day, despite taking the lead, and Wagner’s body language looked that of an individual waiting for his fate.

City’s board held discussions in the days that followed, but the scales tipped in favour of support not the sack, before the Stuart Webber era ended the following weekend and Ben Knapper took over.

There was a telling parallel between these two Watford and Sunderland Carrow Road returns. Wagner’s pre-match words suggested he had scores to settle, and maybe some wounds to heal.

City blew a two-goal lead at Vicarage Road but swept the Hornets aside last month, either side of that terrace rupture around his substitutions.

Here they prevailed in a nervy affair. You can be sure Wagner, privately at least, will have extracted extra satisfaction from responding to two low points in his own testing campaign.  

4. A wing and a prayer

No Jon Rowe, no Onel Hernandez and another nudge from Christos Tzolis with his latest Bundesliga.2 brace for Fortuna Dusseldorf earlier on Saturday. Add the January departures of Przemyslaw Placheta, and even Adam Idah at a push, and you can be forgiven for Wagner going full Mario Balotelli. Why always me?

The head coach clearly cautioned against the potential for injuries or suspensions to bite, prior to Placheta’s late January exit, but there was a financial as much as football consideration driving that club decision for a player out of contract this summer, and out of the picture.

Tzolis has shone in Germany but was unable to take his opportunities this time last season, after Wagner himself pushed for his recall from a previous loan spell in the Netherlands. Remember that snatched late chance to beat Rotherham in a drab goalless affair that typified the manner Norwich limped across the line 12 months or so ago.

The debate on the relative strength of the German second tier compared to the ultra-competitive Championship also has merit. Albeit the likes of Marco Stiepermann, Christoph Zimmermann and Mario Vrancic all proved excellent imports in a former turn of the Norwich wheel.

For Wagner to now lose Hernandez to a season-ending foot injury, after Rowe was ruled out until the final weeks with a hamstring setback, are forces beyond the German’s control. Now it is up to Christian Fassnacht and Borja Sainz to provide the silver lining.