What a difference a year can make.

Roll the clock back to game nine last season and, while we were in the same league position (seventh), it felt nothing like this. Not even close to feeling like this.

In truth, we were a point better off and had just beaten Birmingham City 2-0, but the mood couldn’t have been more different than it was in NR1 at 17:00 yesterday.

We had a nice bloke in charge but whose footballing ideals were based around pragmatism and caution, a sporting director who – as hard as he tried – couldn’t disguise his loathing of the NCFC fan base, and, the biggie, had already suffered that 6-2 mauling at the hands of newly-promoted Plymouth.

Wins were generally of the ground-out variety and there was little joy.
As it transpired, even a season that ended with us in the top six and a playoff semifinal was, a few notable exceptions aside, generally devoid of fun and joie de vivre. Carrow Road, for the most part, was a disgruntled, unsettled place where, even amidst a run of good home form, games were endured rather than enjoyed.

But, thanks in no small part to having a new sporting director who perceives the Yellow Army as an asset rather than a hindrance, it’s fun to be a Norwich City supporter again.

And then there’s that almost forgotten P word.

We have a football club and a team of which we can justifiably be proud again. A team of likeable individuals who appear to enjoy playing for their h...