Norwich City Season Two Part Two

Whilst the transfer window was open we were, of course, still playing fixtures. 2014 started with a 4-2 loss to high flying Man City (Carroll and an og). Then 3 days later our FA cup campaign started with an edgy 0-0 away to Blackpool.

                                               Hard working Stracqualursi in his Everton days

Away to Blackburn we improved with braces from Carroll and the impressive Paloschi leading to a 4-1 win and with confidence high, the mid-week FA Cup replay saw us down Blackpool 4-0  (Paloschi again, Bradley Johnson and a brace for Stacqualursi making the most of a rare start).

A 0-0 draw at home to Newcastle in the league was followed a week later by a 1-1 draw against the same team in the FA Cup. Now we would have to go to St James Park and get a result if we wanted to progress.

On Jan 28^th Kweuke made his return against Wolves and grabbed both goals in a 2-0 home win.  Our short run of great form was ended by Stoke who beat us 2-0 away.

Then came our FA Cup replay, and it was to prove a highly memorable game. Going in at half time 2-1 down, I made a decision that annoyed the fans but paid off in spades. I felt we were too open at the back, giving Newcastle too much possession and control. Although we were losing I took off our Attacking Midfielder, and replaced him with an anchor man.  This was the turning point and we began to dominate and to create chances.  In the second half Andy Carroll grabbed his second of the match feeding on a perfect pass from David Beckham to equalize, and then in the 85^th minute, great club servant Bradley Johnson popped up with the winning goal.

 I was elated as I had analysed the game and made the key changes that turned it all around. Now we were in the 5^th round of the cup and hoping for a kind draw.

Back in the league we continued to perform to expectations. A 2-0 
loss to powerhouse Chelsea followed by a win against West Ham (1-0 : Paloschi)

The FA Cup had been kind and our 5^th round tie at home to Championship Derby saw us triumph 3-1 : Johnson, Jennsen, Carroll. 

Andy Carroll was having a great season scoring plenty and creating far more with his amazing physical presence. I had hopes of bringing him in permanetly but his high wage requests seemed likely to be a stumbling block

 I was talking regularly to the players as individuals to ensure they stayed motivated, and received praise when needed, and a rollocking when required.

Carroll scored again in a respectable 1-1 draw at Tottenham and barring a collapse we looked certain to finish in the required top half position, but almost certainly outside the European spots.

A loss to Man Utd, and a creditable 0-0 against :Liverpool meant Europe was now off our radar, but importantly we stopped the rot and returned to winning ways against Sunderland, with a great goal from Arshavin.

Kweuke, with his fat new contract in tow, had gone off the boil somewhat but the other strikers were certainly picking up the slack. In fact we had a great squad and a great spirit. I can’t commend Straqualursi enough for his patience and professionalism.

He was back up to Andy Carroll and rarely got a start but when he did, he was ready.

The FA Cup 6^th round drew us away to Championship Bolton and he got himself 2 excellent goals, as did Paloschi as we eased through 4-0.

Although injury prone, the more I saw of Paloschi the more I wanted to buy him permanently. He was a superb ‘poacher’ and got both our goals as we beat Aston Villa 2-0 before getting injured for a couple of months.

Relegation bound Fulham proved tougher than anticipated but a Bradley Johnson goal meant the fans left Carrow road happy with a 1-0 win.

April started with a 1-0 loss to Swansea.  We were hovering around the 7th position and I definitely wanted to improve on the 10^th place finish of last season.

A 1-1 home draw against Cardiff didn’t help and we had suddenly gone off the ball.

Next up it was the FA Cup semi-final and once again we’d got a kind draw. Chamiponship Reading were our opponents and by this stage there was no ‘resting’ or ‘rotating’ going on. My strongest side was fielded as I did not want to underestimate reading and blow a possible chance of a European place.  Johnny Howson and Adelmilson scored the goals in a 2-0 win that took us to the FA Cup final where we would meet Premier league Stoke.

Our disappointing league form continued with two more draws in very winnable games. 2-2 against Southampton (Arshavin and Howson) and 1-1 vs QPR (Adelmilson getting a run with Kweuke out of form and Paolschi injured)

It became 5 League games without a win when we drew 2-2 with Arsenal (Johnson x 2), though this was a much more respectable point.

It wasn’t the sort of form I wanted to go into the FA Cup Final with. Stoke were a tricky proposition. We’d beaten them 2-0 at home, lost 2-0 away and of course Wembley was neutral ground so it seemed set to be a close match.  Had we been playing a Champions League bound team, even a loss would have taken us into Europe but against Stoke, only a win would do. Plus, of course, we wanted to actually win this most prestigious of cup trophies.

The game was as closely fought as I had expected. Both sides had chances but somehow the ball would not go in for either team.  Half Time came and went without a goal. The second half saw more chances, more great saves, big misses, and woodwork hitting, but after 90 minutes we were still at 0-0.

Carroll was out on his feet so on came Straqualrsi.  Then on 94 minutes, Adelmilson raced onto a long ball, used his pace to get to the left hand byline and drilled in a cross. Two Stoke defenders and Straqualursi competed in the box but Straqulursi’s strength, and  incredible determination meant he got there first and touched the ball home from two yards out.  Wembley erupted in green and yellow as Norwich took the lead.

Jonathan Viera was also shattered so on came Ronaldinho for what was to be his last competitive football appearance.

Stoke poured forward but somehow the defence stood solid as a rock and we emerged victorious. The FA Cup 2014 won by Norwich City, and a place in the Europa League was ours.

On a high from that, we finally got a league win in our next, and final game of the season. Everton were dismissed 4-0.  Kweuke got a penalty to get out of his goal drought,  Ayala the central defender headed 2 home from corners, and Jenssen got the 4^th.   The victory left us 9^th in the table,  one place higher than last year.

I was very happy with the season overall, we had clearly made progress as a team, and had much more strength in depth. A higher league position, and an FA Cup victory could not be sneezed at, and now there was the excitement of European football to look forward to.