It pays to play your cards right

Last updated : 03 November 2009 By John Maiden
Apologies for the prolonged silence endured in recent weeks by all my Canary Talk readers - always assuming there are some of you out there in cyberspace? I cannot blame the striking postmen for the recent lack of Canary talk, at a time when there has certainly been plenty to talk about. It is simply that I find it difficult to speak, or even write, while holding my breath!
 
Why am I having difficulty breathing? It is just that I cannot believe the Canaries have turned it around in such spectacular style and I did not want to tempt providence by writing about it! All credit to Bryan Gunn for bringing in Grant Holt, our very own Captain Marvel,  but Paul Lambert is the man who is picking the team and bringing out the best in each and every one of the players he inherited.
 
Leeds was, of course, a heart-breaker, but United's last-gasp strike, which denied City a well-deserved point, proved that defenders must face their own goal whenever their keeper is taking a goal kick. Had they done so, Fraser Forster's blushes could have been spared. Once again, credit to the Norwich manager for keeping faith with the unlucky keeper.
 
Stockport threatened to give the army of travelling fans a nervous last ten minutes, but surely the County goal should have been disallowed for offside? How can a player not be interfering with play when the ball deflects off his back on its way into the net? Was this another case of an assistant referee who should have gone to Specsavers?
 
On this occasion it mattered not, because substitute Cody MacDonald's quick thinking set up Holt to score his second goal and steady the nerves of those loyal supporters who are finally being rewarded for following the Canaries to far flung corners of the country.
 
The name Paulton Rovers had me reaching for an atlas when their small ground became the next destination for the Canaries. Fortunately, this FA Cup tie is being screened by ITV so no one needs to miss out on seeing the whole of this historic encounter. Fingers crossed that Paulton Rovers will not emulate Melchester Rovers by delivering the kind of cup upset masterminded by the legendary player-manager, Roy Race!
 
There was some speculation that our own version of Roy, Grant Holt, would get himself a fifth yellow card at Edgeley Park, in order to take a one-match ban for the FA Cup tie, thereby wiping the slate clean and ensuring his availability for league action in the run-up to Christmas. It says much for the player, and his manager, that the in-form Canary striker avoided the temptation to tear off his shirt, or commit some other technical infringement, in order to sit out the next game.
 
This opens up the possibility of seeing the Norwich striker returning from Paulton with the matchball tucked safely under his arm and three more goals to his credit. What's the betting on that scenario?
For my part, predictions are still strictly off limits and I never bet, even on a dead cert with both lungs functioning at full capacity...