Norwich City head to Nottingham for Wednesday night’s match against Forest and a reunion with an old ex-manager in the shape of Chris Hughton.
“Hooton Out!”
That was the cry back in April 2014 after a poor run of results had taken the Canaries to the brink of relegation and after a particularly dismal 1-0 defeat at the hands of West Brom, David McNally pulled the trigger and Chris was fired.
Hughton’s excellent turns at both Newcastle and Birmingham City had persuaded the Canaries’ Chief Exec that he was the man for Norwich but it didn’t really work out. His style of football was a far cry from the Farke Ball that we have become used to now but after Norwich he resurrected Brighton and took them to the Premier League, successfully keeping them there too before things turned south and he was sacked again.
At his pre-match press conference, Daniel Farke had plenty of praise for the former incumbent of his office at Colney.
💻 Daniel Farke's pre-Nottingham Forest press conference is about to begin. Updates here ⬇
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March 16, 2021
“Chris Hughton is unbelievably experienced on this level. He behaves with so much dignity and I’m full of respect for what he’s done. He’s such an educated manager and it’s always a pleasure to speak with him, it’s not a pleasure to play against him! There’s so many top players up front, it’s a really good side and you wouldn’t expect them to struggle at the wrong end of the table. I’m sure next season Chris Hughton will turn them into a side competing for the top six next season. We want to grind out this result.”
I have to say, I fully agree with that. I imagine that next season, Forest will be a tough prospect in this league for any team to face and probably a good shout for a top six challenge.
For this game though, Forest will be without dangerous winger, Joe Lolley who looks like his hamstring tear will mean he’ll miss the rest of the season.
Defender Joe Worrall also out due to a cracked rib, and could be out until after the upcoming international break.
Midfielder Fouad Bachirou (hamstring) remains unavailable, too, although centre-back Scott McKenna and another ex-Canary turned villain, Lewis Grabban did make their comebacks against Reading. Grabban is always seen as a bit of a bad egg after the way that things ended for him at Norwich but selling him for almost £8m to Bournemouth softened the blow, I’d say. Having said that, he is always a goal threat but there won’t be a travelling Canary contingent to boo him and gee him up this time.
Summer signing Harry Arter is a potential doubt but according to Hughton, his substitution in a recent U23s game was precautionary rather than anything more sinister.
In terms of Norwich, the squad is pretty much as it was for the win over Sheffield Wednesday with no new injury concerns. Adam Idah sounds like he’s going to need surgery but if that decision is made he could be back within two weeks, if all goes well.
Norwich have won eight games in a row and are on a heck of a run. In Norwich City’s best ever season, can we make it nine in a row?
The game is on the Sky Football red button as well as on iFollow with a 7pm kick off, so don’t miss it!
OTBC