After losing heavily on consecutive Saturdays to Liverpool and Chelsea in early autumn, shipping nine goals in the process, there were plenty of glum faces around Carrow Road.
However Norwich City (players celebrating pictured) have defied the odds again and sit comfortably in mid-table approaching the halfway point of this Premier League season.
The Canaries seem to be in complete control of their own destiny this season, having put together a very handy six match unbeaten run in the top flight.
Not only that, the sequence has included memorable home victories against mighty Manchester United and Arsenal and a late draw at the weekend against Everton.
Solid team unit recovering
Manager Chris Hughton has driven together a solid team unit and after a shaky start, he has built on the hard work that Paul Lambert began and then left behind in the summer to join Aston Villa.
As Lambert toils in the bottom three at Villa Park, he might want to take a look at Norwich’s more comfortable position of 13th, just behind Liverpool and ahead of Newcastle in the table.
Defender Javier Garrido told Sky Sports recently of his pride at playing for the East Anglian side.
He said: “We have set no targets, we know who we are. We have our humility. It’s one of the things we keep in mind.
“We’ll see what’s going to happen in the future. Our strength is that we never give up. Even when we are losing we keep going.”
The one weakness the Canaries have is finding a goalscorer. The team are in the bottom three when it comes to scoring goals.
Holt struggling to recapture last season’s form
Grant Holt might have scored against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal this term but has struggled to recapture the form of last season that almost took him to the brink of the England squad at Euro 2012.
Steve Morison hasn’t fully built on his first season promise, while midfielders Anthony Pilkington and Wes Hoolahan have created opportunities but haven’t converted any – apart from Pilkington’s cracking header to beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s United just over 10 days ago.
On Wednesday, Norwich head to struggling Southampton, hoping to extend their unbeaten run to seven.
The last time these teams met in the Premier League, it was a day for defences to completely forget. Henri Camara scored a 90th minute winner as the Saints wound up 4-3 winners.
Norwich are a tighter unit nowadays and have conceded just one goal since the beginning of October.
They are defying the critics again and have proved in recent games that there is no such thing as second season syndrome.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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