Worthy is right to urge caution

The five-day forecast for the days leading up to last Saturday said showers, a few sunny intervals but basically more showers the nearer to the weekend we got.

So it came as no surprise then that the weather at Carrow Road was in fact fine and dry, if a bit cloudy, and the text I sent about 4.30pm said: “It's raining here…raining goals!”

I could tell the mood all round was one of satisfaction at a job well done, even allowing for the early sending off. And why not enjoy such a feeling, for how many times have we seen City get themselves into advantageous positions and then fail to finish off teams in the way we would like. . . and in the way they should?

Again it was hard to point to any one individual out there and pick holes in much of what they did, instead there was far more to say about the positives such as Hucks back to his menacing best, Lee Croft giving us width and looking just as threatening as the phantom menace on the other flank, the midfield again looking solid heading backwards and incisive the other way, Carl Robinson's stunner, Earnie's knack of just being there at the right time and knowing exactly where the goal is, the solid base at the back upon which all successful teams are built, and finding our men when playing out of defence more times than not, to list just a few.

But despite the masses overdosing on endorphins outside the stadium afterwards Nigel Worthington is right to urge caution. There is an almighty long way to go yet and we will not win every game that's left, let alone as convincingly as this one. What will really count is how quickly we bounce back from any setbacks and in what manner.

Certainly the confidence is there at the moment for all to see, and I would hazard to suggest that I could smell the first few faint whiffs of promotion fever in the air, but these faint odours are for supporters only at this stage and the players must stick to grass, mud, sweat and leather fumes and hope they don't have cause to be woken up by some very strong coffee at any time soon. All talk of Nigel Worthington as potential Manager of the Month must also be banned for we know too well about the dreaded curse that little ornament brings with it!

And for any Barnsley fans who happen to read this (not likely I know!) I don't think the Tykes will be the worst side to visit Carrow Road this season by any stretch of the imagination and I will stick my neck out and say that I feel sure they will not be relegated either.

One thing I would have their management look into is the requirement for all Barnsley players to be called Perry as that must rather limiting in obvious ways!

At least I'm assuming that's a pre-requisite as each of the players in red had Perry above their surname on the back of their shirts. Shame there wasn't anyone with the surname Mason!