Skip to content

FL72 talking points: Opportunity knocks for Norwich and Boro while impressive Watford keep pace

Norwich City's Jonny Howson celebrates scoring his sides opening goal during the Sky Bet Championship match at Carrow Road, Norwich.

In his latest column, Peter Beagrie looks at an opportunity for Norwich and Middlesbrough and a 'huge' Watford win...

Clear heads key for Norwich and Boro

It’s another pivotal weekend coming up in terms of keeping momentum and keeping pressure on other teams, and two sides who have a chance to do that are Norwich and Middlesbrough on Friday evening live on Sky Sports 1.

It’s a huge game at this stage of the season; second vs fourth. I still think Bournemouth will get an automatic spot, but Watford have one defeat in 11 and the amount of games Alex Neil has won since taking over at Norwich is incredible.

FL72 Live

He came with not many people knowing much about him, but certainly made his mark early with some big decisions and some brilliant substitutions.

You pick horses for courses for matches then you have to adapt and react to whatever is happening at any stage of the game and Neil has done that probably better than the vast majority of managers - that’s why Norwich are in second place.

They have also shown resilience because in the early part of the season they had some players feeling a bit sorry for themselves coming down to the Championship, but when Alex Neil came in he said ‘we have to be scruffy, stubborn and resilient, but then we have to go and play’.

When I look at the work-rate to how it was before under Neil Adams there has been a massive improvement. Neil has managed some big name players, he hasn’t been scared of reputations and has said 'I’m the manager and this is the way I’m going to play, if you want to be in my team then this is how you have to operate'.

Norwich City Manager Alex Neil on the touchline before the Sky Bet Championship fixture at Carrow Road, Norwich.
Image: Norwich City Manager Alex Neil.

Boro’s last 11 games have been punctuated with four losses but, fortunately for them, they have this ability to bounce back and have secured successive wins after the Watford defeat. This is a chance for them to overtake one of their immediate rivals in the fight for automatic promotion.

There will be nerves and you have to be desperate to win, but you have keep your head. We have seen how sending offs have affected games, it’s a time to clear your mind, do what you have been doing, look at what has got you where it here and put that into play.

It’s that window of opportunity, you have to seize it and take any advantage you possibly can. Norwich and Boro in particularly will be looking at that game on Friday and it’s a massive opportunity.

What a win for Watford

Matthew Connolly celebrates
Image: Matthew Connolly celebrates scoring in the 3-1 win against Forest.

It was a huge victory for Watford on Wednesday evening against Forest. They were put under massive pressure with the wins for Bournemouth, Norwich and Middlesbrough the previous evening and it was a test they came through.

They got an early goal to settle the nerves and man of the moment Odion Ighalo came up trumps. It was a big decision by Slavisa Jokanovic to leave Matej Vydra out and bring Ighalo back in, but he is making the big decisions and, more importantly, is making the right ones.

There is no sign of any let-up whatsoever, the last three games are going to be incredibly important and the teams playing catch-up will be hoping to win games and put pressure on the other sides.

There are some tough fixtures in the run-in and there are no gimmes. It’s the football equivalent of the hokey-cokey in the automatic positions, with teams going in and out. It’s going to continue in the final three games and it’s enthralling, there are huge games all over the place with the stakes so high.

It’s nip and tuck and we might see the fourth-placed team get the highest points tally since Charlton got 88 in 1997/98, that’s how close it is. It’s definitely the most exciting Championship race I have ever witnessed. The top eight have been phenomenal and all for different reasons.

FL72 Live

Look at the goal differences – 47, 39, 38, 31, 32 – the top five teams are all being rewarded for having quite tight defences built on solid bases, but all have a plethora of talent in the striking positions. There is a lot of counter-attacking football being played as well, not just possession-based.

I have picked out Wolves in recent weeks. Sometimes your survival depends on how well you defend then it is a case of trying to put meat on the skeleton to have more of an attacking threat. Wolves have done that, they have gone from a 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 and have gone 4-4-2 with Benik Afobe and it has pushed them into a top-eight position. But for the last back-to-back results they were flying and they have to respond now.

There’s also a story at the bottom because if Rotherham get deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player then it’s not a foregone conclusion as we thought it was that Blackpool, Wigan and Millwall would go down. I tend to think that still but it will make it very interesting if because of an admin error Rotherham get deducted three points.

Brilliant Bristol City

Image: Steve Cotterill should be lifting more silverware soon with Bristol City.

It’s been an amazing achievement by Bristol City to secure automatic promotion. They were in a terrible state when Steve Cotterill took over last year, but he galvanised them, got them to an incredible position and they kicked on over the summer.

We spoke to him at the first live game of the season and he was positive about pre-season and the way the players had gelled, what they were offering him on and off the pitch. He has been great and when he has had to delve into the transfer market, like getting Matt Smith to replace Aaron Wilbraham, he has come up trumps. You pick players to play in a system and Cotterill has done that amazingly well.

They have loads of pace, athleticism, genuine ability, goalscorers and creative players in the mix, it has made for a brilliant season.

Not too long ago you worried for them with the financial situation they were in, the money they had gambled and lost by trying to get to the Premier League, with just that Dean Windass goal denying them a double promotion under Gary Johnson. It was a downward spiral from there but it has been readdressed, the bleeding has stopped and the heart has been pumping as far as people at Bristol City are concerned.

For Cotterill this was the right time and the right place because geographically he fits, he is from down there and knows the area. It just seemed right from the start, he has done an excellent job and now winning the title will be the icing on the cake.

Chance for Bury?

David Flitcroft and Nathan Cameron
Image: Bury boss David Flitcroft.

Bury were on a massive roll but then had the home defeat to Morecambe the other week which was probably hard to take for David Flitcroft. They have had opportunities to overtake Wycombe, who have slammed the door in their face on a few occasions and been lucky that Bury lost when they lost too. It’s fascinating.

When Wycombe had back-to-back defeats against Oxford and Burton that was an opportunity for Bury and they go and get beaten after leading against Morecambe. Both teams have since responded with excellent wins and Bury's against Morecambe could be pivotal because that will make the players think they can do this.

When you look at their run-in, that Southend game could be the one, they will be thinking they can beat Portsmouth away, but Southend at home, they will put them under pressure. Then the final game at Tranmere, just 40 minutes up the road, could have implications at both ends of the league. It will be a titanic tussle if Tranmere need to stay up.

Bury have the game in hand but Wycombe have the points on the board and with Wimbledon, Morecambe and Northampton to come you would think Wycombe have just got enough. That injury-time penalty to beat Exeter on Tuesday was huge, the difference would have only been a couple of points if they hadn’t won so that was fantastic for them.

It’s going to be difficult for Bury, they have the players going forward and a decent run-in aside from Southend, but their automatic chance may be over by the time they play Tranmere on the final day.

Around Sky