A smash and grab? A plan that worked? Or just a Sarge masterclass?

03/30/2025 05:04 AM

“Blimey … what are you going to find to write about tomorrow morning?”

The words of my esteemed River End neighbour on about 88 minutes. Let’s call him Andrew.

My response was typically nonsensical.

“I’ll probably just have a whinge … if in doubt, have a whinge.”

And then injury time happened. And you’re spared one.

Of course, what occurred in added time doesn’t change anything that happened in the 90 minutes—and there’s no doubting the highlights were the marriage proposal, the response of the West Brom fans to it, and the world’s most lacklustre pitch invasion—but there’s also no doubt the goal and some defensive heroics put a different spin on it all.

No goal and no defensive heroics and we’d have had boos for sure. The River End was itching to unleash. Instead, there was cheering, applause, a lap of honour, and olés in front of the Barclay.

There was even talk on Canary Call of City still sneaking into sixth place, for god’s sake

But that’s us … the Y’Army. We oscillate between hope and despair; we flip and we flop; we quickly forget (our deficiencies), only to be reminded of them again one game later.

We are, to use a Norfolk colloquialism, a bunch of rum ‘uns.

To be fair to Johannes Hoff Thorup, he did add some useful post-match context to a performance that was at odds, in terms of style and intent, with most of what we have watched this season.

Part of my intended whinge was going to be around a planned City back-three that became a back-five due to the inability of the team to get Jack Stacey and Kellen Fisher into advanced areas. But, as it transpired, that was the plan.

JHT’s thinking, along with his coaching team, was that the 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns in November was beset by problems down the left side of our defence, where Tom Fellows caused problems aplenty for Fisher, who, again that day, was forced to fill in at left-back.

Presented with a similar scenario yesterday, JHT’s solution was to fortify that area of the pitch with a left-sided centre-back, Jose Cordoba, who, as a result of being in a three, was able to tuck in and be there to support Fisher two beats quicker than he would if playing in a four.

If the aim was to nullify Fellows as an attacking threat, it worked. Rarely did Fisher get exposed one-on-one, and on the few occasions he did, he responded magnificently.

The downside of playing a back five is obvious. You’re immediately a player light in midfield and cannot, therefore, commit as many players to the high press. The upshot was an acknowledgement that they would be conceding both possession and territory to West Brom.

It was a set-up that, it has to be said, flew in the face of three of the main principles of Hoffball – possession, control, and playing on the front foot.

While JHT could, probably successfully, argue that despite not having loads of the ball, they still had an element of control in the game, we don’t need to examine the stats to see that possession was ceded and there was little evidence of proactive, front-foot football.

Yet it was all part of a plan that ultimately worked. Few gave us an earthly of beating a decent Baggies’ side, who had been unbeaten in six and who are already in the playoff places. But we did.

So, while JHT has quite rightly taken some flak in recent weeks for being wedded to a system that saw us conceded goals for fun, it should also be acknowledged that, yesterday, he formulated a plan – albeit a not very attractive one – that saw them concede very few high-quality chances.

He was also helped by there being no horrific individual errors and by Angus playing well.

That’s not to say there aren’t still one or two lingering questions around a starting lineup that again included Lungi Sorensen and didn’t include Marcelino Nunez, Eni Marcondes, or Jacob Wright.

In the same situation, I’d have been tempted to give Ruairi McConville his debut in that right-sided berth, but, presumably, he preferred Sorensen’s experience and steadiness. And fair play. It worked.

I’d also have been tempted to start with Nunez alongside Kenny McLean in the engine room, but can see why he chose the more physical and robust qualities of Anis Ben Slimane, who did the heavy-lifting part of the job okay but had one of those days where his passing radar was miles off.

The quality of the passing improved immeasurably once Nunez was on the pitch and further still when Jacob Wright made his late cameo – both of them adding the much-needed and much underrated quality of keeping the ball with confidence and surety.

A word too on that very late cameo from McConville, during which time he managed a goal-line clearance in the aftermath of Angus’s spectacular save from Kyle Bartley’s close-range header.

McConville hasn’t done very much in his Norwich City career so far, but everything he has done cries ‘the future’.

But the key moment was, of course, the goal. The vision and weight of pass from Nunez were wonderful. The clinical finish of Sarge was of one who’s at the top of his game – both physically and technically.

And that was it. A smash and grab of sorts, one that some have tried to liken to the 1-1 with Southampton on New Year’s Day 2024, in which Sarge was again the City hero. It is worth pointing out though that Wagner’s City had just 24 percent possession that day, and yesterday, they had 42.

So, nice try, but not lacking in intent on quite the same scale. And yesterday we won.

But the arguments will continue. Some will salute JHT for forsaking his principles and formulating a game plan that yielded a much-needed win. Others will bemoan the lack of entertainment. Some will persist with their ‘get rid’ campaign.

He’ll never win

I say we just enjoy the novelty of three points.

OTBC.