Norwich City ground out their second home win of the Championship campaign on Wednesday night, edging Birmingham City 2-1 at Carrow Road and nudging the mood around NR1 firmly upwards.
It was not always pretty. It did not need to be.
What mattered was the result – and the sense, growing week by week, that this side under Johannes Hoff Thorup and sporting director Ben Knapper’s new direction is beginning to find a harder edge.
Scrappy, but effective
Norwich rotated with one eye on looming tests against Middlesbrough and Manchester City, yet still carved out a healthy number of chances. The football, at times, flowed. At others, it frayed badly.
“Very scrappy performance, too many misplaced passes when not under pressure,” said Craig, summing up what many inside Carrow Road saw.
Two good goals underlined the attacking threat, but the sloppiness in possession kept Birmingham interested far longer than they should have been.
Blues, now three without a win, never quite went away. Norwich’s control came in bursts rather than in a sustained grip, and that inconsistency is exactly what keeps supporters cautious when talk turns to automatic promotion.
“Two good goals but not enough quality for automatic promotion,” Craig added. The win was welcome; the warning was clear.
Makama’s spark
The night did offer a glimpse of something new. Jovon Makama stepped off the bench and immediately changed the feel of the contest. His impact was sharp, direct, and exactly what a side with promotion ambitions needs from its depth players.
“Jovon Makama had an instant impact and could lift this team into play-off contention,” Craig noted.
One cameo does not define a season, but it can reshape a manager’s options and a crowd’s expectations. Makama brought energy and purpose at a moment when Norwich risked drifting.
The pressure finally told, and Norwich saw it out. Not comfortably. But decisively enough.
Midfield questions linger
If Makama’s display hinted at a higher ceiling, the middle of the pitch underlined what still holds Norwich back.
“To sustain a promotion push we need a midfield general who commands the ball,” Craig argued. On this evidence, it was hard to disagree.
Kenny McLean and Pelle Mattsson worked, covered ground, and kept the structure together, yet neither truly dictated the rhythm in the way a top-two side usually demands.
“Neither Kenny McLean or Pelle Mattson did that,” he added.
When Norwich were on top, Birmingham looked stretched. When the tempo dropped, the game became a scrap, and the hosts too often got dragged into it.
Norwich created “lots of good chances” despite the rotation, as Andy pointed out, but the absence of a dominant conductor in midfield remains the nagging flaw in an otherwise encouraging performance.
A club finally facing forward
For many Norwich supporters, the most important element of the evening went beyond the scoreline. It was the growing conviction that, after “some wasted years,” as Patrick put it, the club is finally moving with purpose again.
“Clement has us going in the right direction after some wasted years,” he said, capturing a wider shift in mood.
The football is not yet polished enough for serious automatic promotion talk, and the table in September rarely tells the full truth, but the direction of travel matters.
Norwich are winning at home again. They are finding different ways to do it – sometimes with fluency, sometimes with grit. A new signing like Makama can walk into a tight game and tilt it. The crowd, restless not so long ago, can sense a plan.
Two home wins, a growing identity, and a squad still clearly short of that commanding midfield leader.
If Norwich find that missing general, Carrow Road might not just be watching a play-off push.
