The Man In The Stands THERE is something quite disorientating about the early Sunday derby kick- off times.While this year's kick-off time of 1.15pm was a touch more humane than previous years, The Man still found himself wondering where exactly his life had led him to be drinking in Mercy nightclub at 10am on the Sabbath.

The Man In The Stands

THERE is something quite disorientating about the early Sunday derby kick- off times.

While this year's kick-off time of 1.15pm was a touch more humane than previous years, The Man still found himself wondering where exactly his life had led him to be drinking in Mercy nightclub at 10am on the Sabbath.

“Is this really what the beautiful game is all about?” mused The Man.

The answer was a resounding “yes”. From start to finish Sunday was the sort of cherished occasion that you learn to enjoy.

You know your football club is on the skids, you know there's only a relegation battle and no cup run ahead, so when the football lords afford you a bit of joy you grab it with both hands.

The image of Crofty's shot hitting the back of the net is still etched in my mind. As is the picture of Matty Patty (having a party) crashing the ball in off the crossbar.

t Take that Sheepshanks and take that Magilton! We all knew that joy had a 72hr shelf-life - only an idiot thought we would

follow up the **** win with a result at Watford - so we enjoyed it.

The Man is still very nervous about what this season has in store for us, certainly the notion of mid-table mediocrity is an ambition too far. Whatever happens it was a great day. A very big thank you to all those responsible I just hope we don't have to wait too many years for another one.

t IF THEY AWARDED POINTS FOR PASSES, WE WOULD BE MID-TABLE BY NOW

ON THE same night that an assisted suicide was shown on British television for the first time, Norwich City did a damn fine enactment of the controversial practice at Vicarage Road.

We gifted Watford two of the weakest goals you will ever see and lost the game, despite having more possession than Chris Lewis at Gatwick Airport.

Roeder said we had played well, it was “daylight robbery” no less. We “wiped them away”.

The more Glenn does his post-match laments the more it sounds like David Lloyd's infamous “we flippin' murdered 'em” rant after the England cricket team's unspectacular draw with Zimbabwe.

The same old Norwich City hard luck story then. If only they awarded points for passes we'd be in mid-table by now. Next year we'll be millionaires, Rodney.

For those who were not at Watford on Wednesday - and believe me watching an assisted suicide on Sky was probably preferable - The Man really can't stress enough how bad the Golden Boys (sic) were.

They join a long, uninspiring list of rubbish football teams who have beaten us in recent times. They were morbidly bad.

They couldn't string two passes together yet somehow managed to score twice against us in their one-and-a-half attacks in the entire game.

None of this came as a shock of course, we got a significant taster of this phenomenon in the very first game of the season. We “played Coventry off the park” yet mysteriously lost 2-0.

I do have some sympathy with Roeder, we are certainly being a lot more proactive away from home than we ever were under Worthy. We are getting in the opposition's half for a start, which is something of a novelty for our travelling support to see.

But call me old-fashioned, you just can't beat that grubby old system of scoring more goals than the other team for winning matches...

t STARK REALITY OF CITY'S FINANCIAL PREDICAMENT

OUR £179,000-a-year chief executive continued his campaign for the salary cap this week, with articles in both the Guardian and the EDP.

As The Man said last week, I'm with him on this one, although I wonder whether it can ever be truly enforced.

However, in one of his articles this week Mr D casually tossed in the line that we are “losing £10,000 a day”.

Under analysis, this stat is no different to the multi-million pound losses we have already been made aware of.

Yet when it is broken down to a daily basis it seems more stark.

I know we have received strong assurances to the contrary, and I have no reason to disbelieve them, but this £10,000-a-day figure is precisely the sort of desperate stat clubs start bandying about before they go into administration. It's just a thought.

Another thought: would you pay £16m in shares for a business losing £10,000 a day? That's before you've even looked at the £20m debt; and acknowledged the threadbare squad. Thought not. Good luck Mr Harris…

t HOW DID CARL MANAGE TO SLIP UNDER THE RADAR?

HE MAY be 6ft 4in and once cost £7m, but it appears Carl Cort was able to slip under the radar at Colney for a few weeks.

The lanky striker was spotted by a member of the Press pack previously, and an inquiry was made as to who the mystery man was.

The official response was that the mystery man (Mr Cort) was just some bloke on work experience with our physio.

And so the potential scoop disappeared, only for the work experience lad to turn up as an “ace” signing this week.

Let's hope Cort proves similarly elusive to opposition defenders for the remainder of the season.

If ever we need a 'gamble' signing to pay off this is it. No pressure then.