Iwan Roberts: Time to get rid of these millstones

I bet there’s a few clubs in the Championship and League One who wouldn’t mind that record of top-flight football and wouldn’t mind the tag of being a so-called yo-yo club!

It’s been a far-from perfect pre-season for the lads, with games being cancelled because of Covid, but hopefully the hard miles are in the bank and the lads are raring to go. As a player, the first game of the season couldn’t come quickly enough for me as I knew all that physical hard work was now behind me and I could now look forward to playing games.

I guess for Norwich the first game of this new season couldn’t have been any tougher, as they're up against their nemesis, their Achillies heel in their time in the Premier League - Liverpool.

Norwich haven’t beaten Liverpool in their last 14 meetings, have lost 12 of those 14, including eight of their last nine. In those nine games Liverpool have scored an incredible 32 goals - that's an average of 3.5 goals a game. That's scary.

Mind you, I can still see the legend that is Jeremy Goss smashing one past David James in front of the Kop at Anfield back on April 30, 1994 - the last time Norwich beat Liverpool.

Jerry Goss scores his historic goal in front of the old standing Kop at Anfield - clinching City's last ever win over the Reds, back in April, 1994 (Image: Archant)

It was a very special goal for Gossy as it was the last goal scored at the standing Kop End before it was turned into an all-seater stand.

Going into this new season, one thing the lads need to do is bring to an end this horrendous run of losing games at Premier League level.

City lost their last 10 Premier League games of the 2019-20 season, scoring just one goal during that stretch - and that awful run was the main reason the club was relegated. They will be reminded of this until they put it to bed.

I do think the club's is in better shape and is better prepared this season than last time around.

Daniel Farke, I’m sure, would have learnt valuable lessons from two seasons ago. Last time around Norwich went out in nearly every game to try and out-play the opposition, which was both brave and naive - time and time again they were caught out wide open defensively and that's the main reason why they conceded 75 goals in their 38 games and ended up bottom of the league with just 21 points.

I think this time there has to be a bit more caution all around. I think the full-backs, especially away from home, have to be cautious in their roles and can’t bomb forward every single time the team attacks.

I look at Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson and if they can stay fit they will, like last season, form a formidable partnership in the heart of defence, hence the team won’t concede anywhere near the amount of goals as they did in the 2019-20 season.

I do worry where the goals will come from. Yes, the club's strengthened in that area, but the players that have been brought in are hardly prolific and will need time to adapt and settle in.

Once again the responsibility for putting the ball in the back of the net will fall on Teemu Pukki’s shoulders and if the club's going to avoid the same fate as it did last time around, Teemu has to score more than the 11 goals he got in his first season in the Premier League.

Todd Cantwell can be a more influential player follow the departure of Emi Buendia (Image: ©Focus Images Limitedwww.focus-images.co.uk+44 7813 022858)

There will be no Emi Buendia, of course, after his well-deserved big-money move to the Midlands. However, I do think this will benefit Todd Cantwell as it will give him more responsibility out on the pitch and he’ll become an even better player and can show that he’s ready to fill the gap that Buendia’s left.

There’s no doubt that it's going to be a tough season and the main thing for me is that the lads make Carrow Road a tough place to visit for any club that comes to the fine city.

Two seasons ago City won just 15 points from a possible 57 from their home games and that simply wasn’t good enough. There has to be a dramatic change in home points won in the upcoming season.