Norwich City vs Swansea City
Norwich City may well be known as a yo-yo club to many, if you only follow the Premier League you would be mistaken for thinking that they are a club who are only renowned for being the team who have been tormented and traumatised by Luis Suarez and other elite footballers during their exploits in the top division. When you scratch beneath the surface though, what you can see is a club who are trying to do things the right way.
The Canaries pride themselves on having a highly impressive Category one academy and they have seen the benefits of that in the countless number of top talents that they have managed to nurture and eventually sell on, creating a sustainable model which allows them to continue to compete towards the top half of the Championship table and look towards the Premier League. If you ask most Norwich fans though, they will probably tell you that they don’t want to get promoted, particularly not this season as it is widely agreed that it is a transitional one.
Having sacked former boss David Wagner following a heavy play-off semi final defeat to Leeds last season, Norwich opted to go for a fresh approach this season by hiring the FC Nordsjælland head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup on 30th May 2024. FC Nordsjaelland are a Danish club who have an ultra sustainable club model, often boasting that they are the youngest team in Europe based on average player age. As well as this, they also prioritise character development of their players, equality and multiculturalism. Norwich City’s values clearly align with those of Thorup’s former side and it seems that it could be an excellent fit.
So far, it has been an up and down season for Norwich as fans expected. While the results may not be as promising as they were under David Wagner, the feeling is that the style of football has improved significantly. You could see that in Norwich’s recent 2-0 loss against Leeds United at Elland Road, where they played well and regularly broke into the final third in the first half but lacked end product. Their recent struggles in front of goal can be put down to a key injury to American striker Josh Sargent. The striker suffered a groin injury against Cardiff City back in November and the team have missed his ruthless edge in front of goal ever since.
The Norwich faithful would have been delighted then to see that Sargent was back in the starting line up for this game against Swansea City which we watched from the comfort of the ‘Top of the terrace’ hospitality suite. Swansea came into the game having not won a single match since the start of 2025. The most damaging result in that run came a week earlier as they suffered a gut-wrenching 3-0 defeat against their bitter rivals Cardiff.
Upon kick off, the sun beamed through the glass panel that we were sat behind after polishing off a three course meal courtesy of Delia’s catering. It was so blinding that we opted to move a couple of rows back where the sun was blocked. Watching a game behind a glass panel for the first time was hard to get used to at first and felt a bit like watching the game on an enormous, high quality TV. The trade-off between regular matchday seats and hospitality at Norwich is atmosphere for relaxation. Much of the noise in the stadium is drowned out despite speakers in place to filter through some of the crowd noise so that you can partially feel the atmosphere.
It was a quiet start to the game with Swansea trying to dominate the ball and find their patterns, and Norwich offering a threat with Sargent and Lewis Dobbin in transition. As the half wore on Norwich started to create more chances and eventually broke the deadlock as a neat passing move was eventually finished emphatically by the returning star man Sargent.
Norwich came out of the blocks strongly in the second half and looked like they would stretch their lead even further. However, Swansea equalised against the run of play in the 62nd minute after Liam Cullen’s glancing header flew past Angus Gunn in goal following Joshua Key’s cross. Swansea weren’t level for long at all though, Croatian attacker Ante Crnac came on just after half time to replace Onel Hernandez and he made a significant impression as Swansea fans were still celebrating in the away end. His incisive pass through to Sargent in the box set up a good shooting opportunity for the striker, who doubled his goal tally for the day with another impressive finish.
Lewis Dobbin was on the bench for West Brom for the game that we went to at the Hawthorns on 8th December against Sheffield United, he wasn’t getting much game time at the Baggies so Aston Villa took the opportunity to recall him as soon as the January transfer window opened and subsequently sent him out on loan to Norwich. This was Dobbin’s best performance by far since joining the Canaries, with an 8.12 rating (courtesy of www.whoscored.com), constantly dribbling with pace at the Swansea defenders who failed to handle him. He capped off a good performance with a fine solo goal which saw him dispossess right back Joshua Key, slalom his way into the box and slide the ball past Vigouroux. Two goals from Crnac and Marcondes in the final ten minutes turned the scoreline from comfortable victory to annihilation as the Swansea defence fell apart completely. Not an enjoyable journey home to Swansea when you’ve just seen your team collapse.
The win came at a much needed time for Thorup and his men following the two successive defeats against promotion contenders Sheffield United and Leeds. Norwich are unlikely to finish in the top six this season but there are positive signs that the appointment will prove successful in the long run.
Norwich City are still trying to do things the right way, and it is commendable in the modern era of English football that clubs like this still exist and are sticking to their club model. They may be taking a new direction in terms of the ownership, with American shareholders led by Mark Attanasio now controlling a majority stake in the club, but the signs show that the new investors strongly value long termism and are aligned with the clubs vision. Norwich fans are optimistic to see what the future holds and with a little more financial backing, the next few years could be promising at Carrow Road.
Written by Joe Horne
