TEAMtalk

High-flying Canaries deserve more praise

Friday 10-February-2012 11:15

This season has seen a plucky newly-promoted side effortlessly cut a swath through the Premier League following a rapid rise from lower-league football.

With a modern and innovative young manager in charge, they have confounded their critics with a refreshing brand of football and currently sit in the top half of the table looking almost certain to be nowhere near the relegation battle in the concluding weeks of the season.

I am talking, of course, about Norwich City, who are two points better off than the graceful Swans having banked 32 from 24 top-flight games.

It seems peculiar to me that whilst Swansea City have rightly been winning plenty of admirers for their impressive season, the ninth-placed Canaries have largely flown under the radar.

There are, after all, remarkable parallels between the two clubs.

Both clubs have tasted League One football within the last four years, both clubs have steadfastly stuck to the footballing beliefs upon which their Premier League status was secured, and neither club chose to spend heavily since promotion.

I can accept that Swansea have caught the imagination of many fans, bloggers, and pundits with their in-fashion style of Barcelona-inspired football. They are well-deserving of whatever plaudits that have come their way.

But surely football is about points, not possession, and Norwich have matched them blow for blow all season - with a fraction of the fanfare.

Perhaps the key difference between the clubs is that whilst Swansea have looked towards the modern game to find their path, Norwich are something of a throw-back.

Paul Lambert has created an effective brand of efficient high-tempo football. Granted, it isn't as eye-catching as the obsessive monopolization of the ball that the Welsh team produces, but it is worthy of just as much merit.

Their football is based upon simple old-fashioned principles such as clearing your lines, competing for the ball in midfield, and delivering quality into the box from wide areas. That there is still a place in the pretension-ridden modern era for such traditional values without vilification has been, for me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of this Premier League season.

At the forefront of Norwich's success is their forwards, and nothing encapsulates the Canaries' power of bringing about footballing renaissance more than Grant Holt and Steve Morison. In recent years, the burly, bustling centre forward has become something of an outcast in the Premier League, mostly exiled to the lower divisions against a backdrop of sneers.

There has been the odd exception to the rule, as there always is. Kevin Davies is the obvious one, but even he had found himself on the fast-track to football oblivion before Sam Allardyce grabbed him on a free transfer, built a team around him, and gave his career the kiss of life.

Generally speaking, however, the archetypal Premier League targetman has been more athlete than footballer.

But Holt and Morison have been a revelation, both scoring goals and providing their team with a solid focal point to their play. Get the ball, hold the ball long enough to allow the midfield to get up in support, and play the ball. That is the essence of centre-forward play and the Norwich forwards are proving to be reliable exponents of the art.

Is it especially flash? No. Very effective, though. Norwich City in a nutshell.

Despite no other team picking up more points per game than the Canaries in the month of January, it is Swansea's Brendan Rodgers who is picking up a Manager of the Month accolade. I don't think many will begrudge him that.

There is, however, more than just one newly-promoted club in the Premier League this season blazing an inspirational trail for those who aspire to follow their lead - and long may it continue.