Opinion: 'Play-off football - and promotion - is in our own hands'
Matthew Soakell, North East Canary
It’s stating the obvious I know, but what a position we found ourselves in to have the chance of finishing in the play-offs and extending our season further in our own hands. And with two of our three remaining games at home, you’ve got to fancy Norwich to finish the season on a high and give the fans the excitement of play-off lottery.
I ended last week’s column by saying that “I hope he (David Wagner) proves me wrong on Saturday away to Preston.” - well he and his team certainly did, and I’m delighted to be proved wrong. I’d mentioned how his in-game management and changes from the bench had been poor and how bad our away form was, but Saturday’s win at Preston felt huge. And credit to Wagner; bringing Jonathan Rowe on at the right time to run at tiring Preston legs and leaving Josh Sargent up front for as long as possible definitely worked. The noise coming out of Colney is that Rowe is still not quite fit enough to start and I think most City fans are fine with him coming off the bench for the last 20-30 minutes to build up fitness just in time for the play-offs, hopefully then giving Wagner a headache about who starts where.
But going back to this weekend’s football, it’s a lovely position to be in to know that we’re fully responsible for what happens going forward. The win at Deepdale almost certainly secured 6th place and I still feel there’s every chance we catch West Bromwich Albion and finish 5th, especially given that two of their three remaining fixtures are Leicester - challenging for the title - followed by Sheffield Wednesday - who’re scrapping for survival! These games won’t be easy for West Brom and I think Norwich’s aim should be catching them and keeping the good form going.
Now isn’t the time to take our foot off the gas, we’re in a position Hull and Coventry would love to be in. Even with their respective games in hand, you’ve still got to fancy Norwich to have cemented 6th place and who’s to say that the side who’re joint top of the form table over the last 10 games (that’s us by the way, Canary fans!) won’t keep that good form going and finish 5th. After that, who knows who we’ll face in the play-off semi finals and hopefully final, but one thing is for certain: it’s some achievement that whatever happens from here on in is in our own hands.
Credit to David Wagner, his coaching staff and the players; no one saw this coming at Christmas, did they?
