“Very flat, Norfolk.”

It is always assumed that Noel Coward’s topographical takedown of this fine county was inspired by the local landscape. Could it be that he was actually influenced by experiencing the final whistle at Carrow Road after a Norwich City defeat?

That was the only word for the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat by Watford. Saturday, September 18 was supposed to be the day the season started. It was a date inked into everyone’s yellow and green diary the moment this season’s fixtures were published. Kicking off with the formidable foursome that was Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester and Arsenal meant that game five, Watford at home, provided the earliest realistic chance of win.

For three months Norwich fans had been targeting this one. It was like having a wedding invitation, a holiday booking or a ticket to a big concert stuck on the fridge. Something to look forward to and to get us through those difficult opening weeks. They even dressed for the occasion.

Thousands of supporters answered the calls to turn up wearing their scarves to help create a pulsating pre-match atmosphere. Knitwear around necks with temperatures above 20 degrees. It’s the sort of thing that people like Noel Coward would enjoy describing as ‘Normal For Norfolk’. But when have we ever cared about what outsiders think? Even the warm weather added to that first day of the season vibe.

We had conveniently forgotten Daniel Farke’s hobby. He’s a keen record collector. With his trendy beard and coat he’d fit right in at any sale of vintage vinyl. Like any connoisseur he’s picked up some absolute classics along the way. Take for example the 97 points amassed in winning The Championship in 2020-21. It’s the best season in Norwich City’s history. Farke’s record collection also includes a few turkeys. He’s now the first ever manager to lose 15 straight Premier League games. That can’t even be justified as a guilty pleasure.

His impassioned defence of Lukas Rupp on the eve of the Watford game was like listening to a proper muso talking up an underrated band he’s just seen at The Arts Centre. He was a heartbeat away from saying something like “Pukki and Buendia are good but I much preferred their early stuff”.

Watford’s most famous fan is due to play a concert at Carrow Road next summer. Sir Elton John can only dream of being greeted with such hospitality. The goals Norwich gave away at the weekend meant that Saturday night probably wasn’t all right for sleeping for Daniel Farke and his coaching staff.

That game though has gone and all we can do now is hope that Farke takes the opportunity for a flick through his own back catalogue.

An early season defeat that leaves cracks far too wide to be papered over can be a blessing in disguise, if the right lessons are learned. The fifth league game of Farke’s first season in charge brought a 4-0 humbling at Millwall. It was a match that inspired the signing of Grant Hanley and the reintroduction of Alex Tettey as a first team regular. A year later and the fifth league game saw Leeds romp to a 3-0 win at Carrow Road. The next week Max Aarons made his league debut at Portman Road and a remarkable campaign eventually saw Norwich win the title and Leeds beaten in the play-offs.

If you want to go pre-Farke there was the 5-0 defeat at Fulham in Chris Hughton’s first game in charge. The drastic actions after that game included Sebastien Bassong and Javier Garrido, two defenders, being signed.

Do we even need to mention Colchester United in 2009? The straw that didn’t so much break the camel’s back as lead to the evolution of the entire species going in a new direction.

Let’s hope that Daniel Farke can scour eBay and come up with a few more rarities for his record collection. In fact as he was starting life at Carrow Road in 2017, Crystal Palace were busy losing the first seven games of the Premier League season. Not only did they stay up, they actually finished 11th. Maybe that’s the record that Daniel Farke is destined to break next.


Cup (in)convenience

Given the desperate need for Premier League points a League Cup game right now could be seen as an inconvenience. However, Liverpool’s visit to Carrow Road this evening might provide a useful opportunity.

With five straight league defeats it’s hard to make a case for many players being undroppable for Saturday’s trip to Everton. That means a genuine chance for some members of Daniel Farke’s squad to really push their claims tonight. He’s never been blessed with more options during his time in charge so it feels like an occasion which is about more than paying lip service to fringe players in need of some game time.

Farke has tended to use cup ties wisely. The promotion season of 2018-19 was kick started by an impressive victory at then Premier League Cardiff City. Even during project restart the only game that produced any sort of pride for Norwich fans was the FA Cup quarter final defeat to Manchester United where they came close to holding on for a penalty shoot-out with 10 men. That game itself was preceded by the epic penalty shoot-out win at Spurs just before the first lockdown.

The better moments of Farke’s first season in charge also came in the cups. In 2017-18 Norwich could only finish 14th in The Championship but they took Arsenal to extra time in the League Cup and Chelsea needed penalties to knock them out of the FA Cup after a replay at Stamford Bridge.

It’s odd to think that back then Norwich were able to find a way of being difficult to beat against Premier League opponents. That was when they were a far cry from being a team that felt capable of actually challenging for promotion.

Liverpool are bound to rest most of their stars tonight and it won’t have the intensity of a Premier League game. But the position Norwich City are in and the recent run of results suggests they could do with making the most of an opportunity to restore some belief before the most important stuff starts again on Saturday.