Does it change the head coach’s position? I’m not sure, but it changes the atmosphere up at Colney, that’s for certain.
I’m not saying the corner has been turned, far from it.
It’s one win at the end of the day. I look at that result and it’s what I would call a coupon buster – if you do a coupon at the weekend you’d put that as a home banker all day long.
If you look at the form of the two teams – Cardiff had won 16 points from their previous six home games, Norwich had lost their last four, an horrendous run of form.
The irony is that no team had scored more goals from corners than Cardiff in the Championship this season. So what do they do? They concede two from corners.
I think David Wagner is one who’s had everything thrown at him. But you know what? He’s been dignified in the way he’s spoken. He’s been a proper cool, calm gentleman about everything.
He hasn’t bitten, hasn’t sniped. When you hear him talk he’s got a cool, mild manner about him, and I was absolutely chuffed for him because, before the game you hear these different rumours, how he’s a dead man walking, how whatever happens, he’s gone by Monday anyway.
He will feel better about himself, having seen the lads dig in and scrap – after they gave two sloppy goals away just before half-time it could have gone either way.
They could have downed tools or gone into their shells and gone out and gone through the motions in the second half and lost the game.
Or they could do what they did and say, ‘right, we’re going to show people’ and roll their sleeves up, make a couple of substitutions and change things and go for it and win the game and it is a magnificent result.
Cardiff have been really good at home this season. It’s a tough place to go. Erol Bulut has got them playing some good stuff so to go there and win in the manner that that they did was excellent.
I was also delighted for Adam Idah, who poached that winner right at the end from just a couple of yards out. Whoever is playing regularly, they should be getting 10 of those goals every season.
I think nowadays, centre forwards don’t like scoring those types of goals. You give me 20 of them a season- no problem!
I remember when Frank Stapleton signed for Huddersfield when I was playing there – I stuck to him like glue, because he was like an encyclopaedia of forwards’ play. He played for Arsenal and Man U, he’d won trophies, he scored goals, loads of them for the Republic of Ireland. He was only there for about six months, came on loan because him and Eoin Hand were really good friends so he came and helped him out… because their record signing at the time, some ginger lad that they signed from Watford wasn’t scoring goals …
He just taught me, showed me the right areas to be for the centre forward. He said ‘you’ll end up stealing goals off people’, and that’s what I did. I was in the right area, someone would have a shot, it’s going in and I’m there from two yards out just for the last touch. Honestly, I must have got loads from three yards out.
So I learned so much, but that’s what Adam’s got to do. When that ball’s in and around the opposition’s 18-yard box, get yourself in around that six-yard box, whether it’s on the back post, whether you’re making runs to the near post. Doesn’t matter if you’re standing still at times, the ball still might come to you.
To score the winning goal in an important match was special, not just for him, obviously, but especially for the manager because he’s had a lot thrown at him.
Adam’s got five goals now. We’re in November – people think five, six, seven goals from your centre forward coming up to December is acceptable. In truth, you want to be close to double figures, you want to be between 10 and 15. I think it’s a rarity now, because the way the game is played centre forwards aren’t out-and-out centre forwards anymore. I think there were only two players who got 20 or more goals last season in the Championship – Viktor Gyokeres, then at Coventry, and Chuba Akpom at Middlesbrough.
That goal should be just what Adam needs – if it doesn’t, he shouldn’t be a centre forward.
Sometimes there’s moments in a game, in a season, that can turn things around. Big goals. One thing for sure, it will give everybody a huge lift up there.
