With one quarter of the Championship season consigned to history already, Michael Bailey posed the question – who is City’s top performer so far?
There are stats. There is perception. And there’s fashion. All of which form our football opinions.
Already 11 games into the Championship season, it’s also already been a curious ride – even for Norwich City.
Rarely would you get to this point in a 46-game campaign and see such a clean watershed between good and bad – yet for the Canaries, it’s effectively August and September.
So when trying to ask the question ‘who has really shone for City so far this season?’ it’s no wonder those prominent since the ‘Millwall debacle’ are shining brightest – whatever your chosen method of judgment.
Our swift supporters’ poll on Tuesday was unequivocal.
With 47pc of the vote, Tom Trybull was out on his own – the German midfielder also rated City’s top performer (7.29 out of 10) so far this season on football statistics website WhoScored.
Trybull hadn’t even made a league appearance in August.
The same scenario stands for Timm Klose, who only returned from pre-season injury come September – and so began City’s consecutive clean sheet record ended only at Reading.
With 15pc of the supporters’ vote, Klose makes the podium there and in the ratings (7.06). That in turn makes James Maddison’s performances all the more eye-catching, given he is one of the few to make appearances throughout both months – nine in the league, starting with the opening draw at Fulham.
Maddison picked up almost a quarter of the vote (24pc) as well as silver in the ratings (7.12) – to go with his Championship player and goal of the month nominations.
Perhaps just as interesting is further down the list, where performances and match-influence from the likes of Marco Stiepermann (7.00) and Mario Vrancic (6.88) sees them rated City’s fourth and seventh-best performers so far – yet neither got near the votes of Christoph Zimmermann (5pc, 6.88), Ivo Pinto (2pc, 6.85) and Angus Gunn (2pc, 6.80).
The club is yet to announce who won its September award – that is likely to come on Saturday – while Nelson Oliveira was player of the month for August. However, injuries saw him slip off our pace come September’s reflections (1pc, 6.77).
Of course, a quarter through still means three-quarters to go – but for now the verdict is universal be it statistics, perception or fashion: Tom Trybull is City’s standout so far.
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey, Facebook @mbjourno and Instagram @mrmichaeljbailey
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