Norwich City Fan View: Can the Canaries cope without Nelson Oliveira?

Tuesday evening saw Norwich City recover from going behind within 23 seconds to fight back and earn a battling 2-2 draw against leaders Newcastle United at Carrow Road.

The point, which could have been three if not for Jamaal Lascelles’ late leveller, made it 6 games unbeaten for City who’s recent revival under Alex Neil continues.

I think that the greatest thing to take from the game is that a month ago we would have lost. To recover from going behind so soon into a game requires huge mental strength, and back in December and early January we did not boast such mental strength. In all likelihood, especially against a supremely talented Newcastle side, we would have crumbled and Benitez’s men would have returned to the North East comfortable 3 or 4-0 winners. Recent weeks, however, has seen team spirit levels return closer to that of Alex Neil’s early Norwich era and this was shown on Tuesday night as rather than fold, City regrouped and hit back within minutes.

It would be wrong to say that Newcastle did not dominate – the stats prove as much: 62% possession, 20 shots to our 8 and 6 corners to our 2. Much of the second half was backs to the wall stuff but, despite one slip up which allowed Newcastle to level in the 82nd minute, we defended manfully. In the context of the other results on the evening it was a game that we really needed to win, yet the full-time whistle which marked the dropping of two crucial point was greeted by the most vociferous and adoring Carrow Road that we have seen all season. The fans saw that the players had committed everything for the cause and, whilst they were ultimately unable to hold out for victory, the Carrow Road faithful reciprocated this effort with their support from the stands. With players and fans united, we can go a long way.

It would be harsh to see it as anything other than a good point and a positive result. Newcastle have by far and away the strongest squad in the division and this showed on Tuesday: City have lost numerous games at Carrow Road this season but even during these defeats never before have we been dominated for such long periods as we were by Newcastle. Following the game I saw a Norwich fan tweet saying that if Newcastle do not win the league by 10 clear points then Rafael Benitez will have failed, and, when looking at the squad and the resources that he has at his disposal, it is difficult to disagree. Any point against the league leaders should always be considered a good one, right?

Some of the less easily pleased Norwich supporters among us, however, would argue that it was a disappointing result. First and foremost, when you are leading any game going into the final ten minutes and you fail to win it is always going to feel more like two points dropped rather than two earned. Furthermore, with Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday, our two closest rivals for a play-off position, both winning it was imperative that we clung on to victory. Our failure to win has meant that the gap between us and the two Yorkshire clubs has increased to 4 and 6 points respectively, with Wednesday (4 points ahead) also boasting a game in hand. It is starting to get to the stage now where any gap much larger than this 6 point margin begins to become insurmountable and Burton away on Saturday suddenly looks like a must win game.

Tuesday night’s most crucial development arguably came off-the-pitch, however, with Neil’s post-match announcement that star striker Nelson Oliveira is set to be sidelined for an estimated period of 4-6 weeks. I fear that this news could prove to be season defining, or rather, season crippling. Cameron Jerome put in an absolutely mammoth display on Tuesday and all of the signs suggest that he is back to his powerful best – but the issue doesn’t lie with him. The problem lies within the (lack of) back-up we have for him. With Carlton Morris out on loan, the only senior alternative we have is Kyle Lafferty and if, at any stage, we are left to rely on him then we can kiss goodbye to any play-off aspirations. Until Oliveira returns from injury, we are absolutely dependent on Cameron Jerome: a) staying fit and b) maintaining his form. Should one of these fail to happen then it is hard to argue that our season won’t be over. Will we get lucky?