Norwich City Fan View: Alex Neil buys himself more time at Carrow Road

Norwich City’s recent home comforts continued on Saturday afternoon as the 3-1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers made it 4 wins in the last 5 games at Carrow Road for Alex Neil’s men. Whilst performances away from home remain unacceptable, this up-turn in fortune on home turf will be cause for some optimism for both Alex Neil and the City supporters as Norwich try desperately to build some momentum in the second half of the season.

There seemed to be a sense of inevitability that Wolves boss Paul Lambert – who many City fans still laud – would come to Carrow Road and, in beating us, inflict Neil’s final, fatal blow as Norwich manager. On the back of last weekend’s embarrassing defeat at Rotherham, followed by the last-minute heartbreak at Southampton on Wednesday, and with star-man Nelson Oliveira suspended, such an outcome seemed likely.

Nonetheless, Neil has developed a habit in recent months of pulling out a result when on ‘last chance saloon’ and on Saturday he produced once again. This success was in no small part due to the fitness of Jonny Howson who, despite limping off during the Rotherham defeat, was able to recover in time for a starting berth. Following our two recent Premier League relegation’s, many of our ‘star’ players have been sold, whilst many who have not been sold have been the subject of intense transfer speculation.

Somewhat bewilderingly, Howson does not fit into either of these two categories: unless interest has not been reported by the media (which is a rarity in this day and age) then Norwich have never really faced a fight to keep hold of the ex-Leeds man. It is performances like his on Saturday that make this fact all the more mystifying, as his 30-yard thunderbolt cannoned off the crossbar to set up City’s opener and his volley sealed the victory in the closing stages. Norwich fans may talk of the importance of Wes Hoolahan or Timm Klose, but it is Howson that is priceless to us. I have absolutely no doubt that he is more than capable of being a mid-table Premier League midfielder, but I am not complaining – the longer he remains our little secret, the better.

Arguably just as impressive was the performance of Steven Naismith – who, despite a slow start to his Norwich career, is finally beginning to show just why we spent £8million on his services last January. After scoring an impressive header to equalise in the 2-2 draw with Southampton, he was on the scoresheet again on Saturday as he fired in Howson’s rebounded effort. The Scot was still left with a lot to do, but he did it well – demonstrating some of the predatory instinct that helped him earn over 100 appearances for both Everton and Rangers. For what we paid, City fans and Alex Neil will still expect far more from him but it is pleasing to see that he is beginning to make a significant contribution.

So, where does the win leave Norwich and, more importantly, where does it leave Alex Neil? Well, we have certainly been here before. Back in December, everyone thought that the big 5-0 home win over Brentford was a turning point. Two weeks later, when this had proven not to be the case, we all hoped that the 1-0 home win over Aston Villa would be the momentum-shifter. Just 3 days later, we were woefully outplayed by Huddersfield and, once more, were back to square one. It was then the comprehensive 3-0 victory over Derby, the first game of 2017, that was supposed to represent the beginning of a new, more successful year. As we know, this was followed by the dismal display at Rotherham and City supporters were back to calling for Neil’s head again (not that we ever really stopped).

Evidently, each of our last three home wins have proven to be nothing more than false dawns and with this in mind it is difficult to get too carried away by Saturday’s win. It is all well and good winning the odd game here and there but until we put together a sustained run of form – both home and away – then the Neil doubters, of which there are many, will remain. This time, he has the advantage of the win being followed by another equally winnable home game against Birmingham – offering the potential to achieve rare back-to-back wins. Even if we do beat Birmingham, however, the true test of how far we have come will be shown in the week that follows, with the two away trips to Cardiff and Wigan. We have failed to win away from home since October 1st and until we break this duck then, quite simply, we have not turned any corner.