Bristol City 1-0 Norwich City: Paddy Davitt Championship pointers

1. Deflation

That sun-kissed Championship win at Coventry feels a long time ago now after two sobering, self-inflicted league defeats. Burnley were distinctly a cut above but Bristol City, despite engineering an eight match unbeaten run going into this tussle, had won only once in the league at home since October 12.

For a squad, a head coach and a club still harbouring promotion ambitions it was an assignment that had to be navigated with the minimum of fuss, and points in the kitty for the return to Norfolk.

But, let’s be brutally honest, this group look nowhere near promotion contenders.

There is a brittleness that is exposed too often, and an ever-escalating catalogue of individual errors at the heart of many concessions.

So it proved here. Kieran Dowell lost the ball cheaply, the recalled Angus Gunn failed to grasp Mark Sykes’ effort, and the game was up. Norwich rallied for a 20 minute spell after the interval, but it then returned to a frayed end-to-end contest that suited the hosts.

David Wagner’s joy was short-lived when Adam Idah guided home Dimi Giannoulis’ low cross in the 85th minute, only for the Greek to be flagged offside. Joy is distinctly in short supply.

The tipping point between a meaningful end to the season or a rebuild is ranging into view.

2. Changing places

Once the team news was announced you just knew it was going to be one of two scripts. Either Gunn was going to produce more heroics in this part of the world, after surely one of the best saves of his career at this ground in a previous James Maddison-inspired away win.

Or he was going to be culpable in the manner perhaps that finally did for Tim Krul against Burnley.

Gunn will feel he should have kept out Sykes’ shot midway through the opening period that squirmed through his grasp, and rolled agonisingly over the line in front of that travelling support.

Certainly not the statement he or Wagner would have wished for. Although his head coach was insistent Dowell was fouled in the build up.

Thereafter it was largely a watching brief until an excellent smothering stop to foil Harry Cornick in the 80th minute.

But such is the life of the last line.

It does not detract from the widespread belief he was harshly jettisoned to accommodate Krul for Wagner’s first league voyage at Preston.

To this point of a dispiriting season he had arguably been City’s most consistent performer. At the start of this congested phase of games one can expect he will get more chances to finally put this debate to bed.

3. Malfunction

Easy to focus again on the individual aberrations but Norwich mustered one shot on target from 63pc possession. A pitiful end product that Wagner himself chose to highlight. 

Two wins, two defeats in the Championship. Should that trend continue then it will be another campaign in the second tier next season.

There was always a sense when Dean Smith remained in charge, and Wagner only arrived in early January, that time may be his greatest obstacle.

Those four-goal wins at Preston and Coventry were great to lift the mood but perhaps masked some of the deeper-lying issues.

There was one almost comedic moment in the 75th minute when Onel Hernandez’s attempt to take a quick throw in for the overlapping Giannoulis saw him land the ball on the head of the Bristol full-back, who cleared upfield.

Wagner simply turned at the front of his technical area and put his hands to his face. He knows the scale of the task ahead and it requires much more heavy lifting that simply transforming the mood music.

Robins’ chief Nigel Pearson paid tribute afterwards to his side’s success in ‘keeping Norwich out of our box’ but that should not excuse the deficiencies in the visitors’ lacklustre cut and thrust.

4. Changing man

Wagner said on Friday he felt there was players on the margins who could step in. That was in answer to a direct question about Marcelino Nunez and Idah.

The Chilean did indeed start, and Idah appeared, with Hernandez and Josh Sargent making way.

Liam Gibbs also replaced Dowell just past the hour mark. But in truth none of the changes had the desired impact.

Norwich’s attacking play remained largely toothless. Wagner also made some tactical tweaks during the contest, with Sargent deployed closer to Teemu Pukki and Hernandez pushed much higher but to no avail.

The German is clearly still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase with this group. Each fresh setback will only serve to crystalise in his own mind who he can rely on and who can be part of this journey moving forward.

Irrespective of how the next few months unfold it feels like a big summer in store is required to refresh and renew, and for Wagner, to put his own stamp on a group who look bereft of confidence when they face adversity.  

5. Not this time, Nacho

A first league start since January 2 but Nunez was withdrawn at the interval after a 45 minutes from Norwich Wagner deemed unacceptable, when pressed for his post-match verdict.

That will be tough to take for a player who has had a bumpy introduction to life in England.

Nunez has played around the clock for over 12 months now, after leaving Chile’s domestic league to try his luck with the Canaries. Plus you can add on a sizeable dollop of international duty. That is a lot of miles on the clock.

But Wagner revealed recently Nunez’s training numbers are in the front rank among his first team squad. There is no doubt that high watermark in August is a benchmark he has failed to scale too often since.

To parachute into a new league in a new country and for a new team struggling to justify their pre-season billing as promotion favourites is a tough hand. You could apply similar criteria to his fellow south American, Gabby Sara.

There are glimpses of quality from both, but it may taken another season in green and yellow before that emerges into a consistent productivity.