Chris Goreham: Thorup has shown he can think outside Norwich City box

The Canaries are a club in transition, at the start of a new project and patience is needed. All of that has been said so often over the summer that it was taken as read when supporters turned up for the first home league game of the season against Blackburn Rovers.

Norwich City were barely mentioned in any of The Championship preview pieces and podcasts that heralded the arrival of a new season. They are now way-off being promotion favourites but not so much that anyone on a national level has concerns about them being dragged into a relegation battle. While the 25,000 supporters at the game on Saturday understand their team’s current standing as one of The Championship’s in-betweeners they still need to be given signs of promise to buy into.

There were indeed some good bits. Well worked goals, chances created and youngsters given a chance to make an impression. There is also plenty to work on. Seven goals conceded in three matches at the start of a new campaign suggests a team that is going to take a bit more organising before it’s watertight enough to inspire confidence.

Tactical tweaks are important but nothing matters more than Norwich City supporters feeling that watching their team is going to be fun again. If all that emotional and financial investment isn’t repaid with hearty entertainment and enjoyment then what’s the point?

There have been some promising signs to that end over the past week. One of Thorup’s first tricks was to employ something that has rarely been seen at Carrow Road since the 1990s: a makeshift striker.

Onel Hernandez took his two goals against Stevenage in the EFL Cup with the sort of conviction that Teemu Pukki would have been proud of. It belied the fact that he hadn’t scored at Carrow Road since October 2019. That little nugget can finally be retired from my commentary notebook.

The Cuban’s scoring record meant he wasn’t the obvious choice to lead the line. If Thorup can think outside the box as effectively as Gabriel Sara used to shoot from there it suggests the campaign ahead will have us all on our toes.

City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has already shown an ability to improvise at Carrow Road (Image: Paul Chesterton)

The makeshift striker was a more regular feature back when squads were smaller and only a couple of substitutions were allowed. Teams would often have to improvise in moments of crisis and chuck an untried attacker up front. It was usually a big centre back. Our co-commentator on BBC Radio Norfolk at the weekend was Rob Newman and it was good to reminisce about his own success as a supply striker in the team that came third in the first Premier League season.

The most famous example of this was when Sheffield Wednesday sent defender Paul Warhurst into attack. In that same 1992-93 season he went on a remarkable run of 12 goals in as many games. He ended up getting into an England squad and winning the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995.

Times have changed though and in this more tactically astute era it’s hard to imagine anyone of that ilk enjoying such prolonged success.

That’s why it should be noted that Norwich City ended the game against Blackburn with a front three of Kellen Fisher, Onel Hernandez and Abu Kamara. To put it another way, a 20-year old right back who was playing non-league football just over a year ago, a player who hasn’t scored a league goal at Carrow Road in nearly five years (I can still put that in my commentary notebook) and a winger with just five substitute appearances at Championship level.

Ashley Barnes’ injury, Adam Idah’s departure and Jonathan Rowe’s transfer to the yellow and green naughty step have left Thorup short of options. It’s clearly a situation that needs to be addressed before the transfer window closes.

While Norwich City go through this transition there may be other occasions when they are threadbare in certain positions. Thorup’s start suggests he has the necessary imagination to negotiate those choppy waters better than some.

Brucey bonus

One of Thorup’s mission statements when he walked into Norwich City for the first time was that he would give academy talent a pathway into his first team.

The decision to start with Gabriel Forsyth on Saturday provided an early opportunity to cash that cheque.

Rowe’s banishment together with Christian Fassnacht’s injury and Hernandez’s temporary conversion to a centre forward opened the opportunity. Forsyth’s inclusion in the starting XI initially seemed like a surprise. He wasn’t even on the list when squad numbers were announced at the start of the campaign less than a fortnight ago.Given his pre-season form and the fact he’d come on against Oxford and Stevenage it made sense.

Forsyth slotted in nicely. We resisted the temptation, on the radio at least, to say “Didn’t he do well” or remark that it was “Nice to see him, to see him nice” on the team sheet. I’m sure he’s heard those cheap gags before. Actually, he only turned 18 earlier this month so he might not even get the references.

Gabriel Forsyth’s first name may end up causing him more issues around Carrow Road than being called Forsyth.

Having arrived in the squad just as a certain Brazilian left the club I have already heard him referred to as ‘Garbrielle’ Forsyth. I imagine that there was a shortage of South American flair in the registry office in Glasgow in August 2006. Perhaps we’d better stick to ‘Gabe’.

It was an assured full debut. He had a decent effort saved in the first half. A goal at that point really would have been a Brucey Bonus.