Norwich City: Why Carrow Road is vital against Watford

As the German’s backroom staff leave the Avant Training Centre, his playing style is transformed and his fleeting play-off campaign fades quickly from memory, there’s an almost unprecedented sense of change at Norwich City.

Sporting director Ben Knapper fell in line with very few of Wagner’s footballing principles, fans grew increasingly despondent with his pragmatic tactics and a strategy of improving good young players suffocated under his preference for experience.

But there was one thing the 52-year-old boasted that any manager or head coach would love to have: his home record. Wagner lost none of his final 17 games in NR1, turning Carrow Road into a formidable fortress of atmosphere, belief, confidence and, above all else, results.

So far that’s a run his successor has been more than happy to lengthen. He’s overseen a 4-3 Carabao Cup win over Stevenage, a frustrating 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers and a relatively pleasing 1-1 tie with Sheffield United. There were pre-season defeats to Magdeburg and St Pauli, but luckily for him nobody’s counting those.

For somebody so keen to engage in discussion about fan support and the importance of a united club, that is very good news, and it will be needed again this weekend.

Johannes Hoff Thorup has stated the importance of fans to his project (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) That was underlined by a bleak display in last Saturday's 1-0 loss to Swansea: the definition of an away performance that fell flat, a typical 'tough place to go' afternoon following one of the Canaries' longest trips of the season.

In many ways, Daniel Farke's 'living room' metaphor is befitting of the current situation. After a quintessentially autumnal afternoon in South Wales, more than 300 miles from home, Watford's visit is the proverbial rest on a familiar sofa. There's even hot chocolate available on the concourses.

In that sense either the fixture list has been kind to Norwich, or they've timed their peaks and troughs impeccably so far. Had the trip to Coventry's CBS Arena come after that lacklustre Swans outing, the chances of a win would have been seriously diminished. Instead it's a welcome stay in Norfolk, and the opportunity to take that unbeaten streak to 20 games.

Quite how that run has come to be so long and prosperous is unclear, having spanned entirely different eras, a transformed squad and a different offering of Championship opposition. There are the arguments for tactical setup, for fan mood and even for architecture.

The former is one of the most common diagnoses across the board, with away teams more inclined to sit in and aim to soak up pressure from the hosts. Thorup has talked up the importance of control, and there have been times when visitors have allowed it this season. But Wagner's system was not so based on dominance of the ball, and in truth there are aspects of both that thrive on having space to exploit.

The second, fan mood, is a fair suggestion based on results. Who doesn't love going to watch their team in a seemingly unbeatable vein of form, presenting every season ticket holder with a feeling of invincibility when they walk through the turnstiles? But fan mood wasn't great going into last term's run-in, and even thereafter it was fragile.

Perhaps, then, architecture is the answer. Thorup's certainly a believer in its ability to cultivate the right ambience, and Carrow Road gets his approval. "It's a beautiful place, a great atmosphere, fantastic for football games," he said after his first appearance in the home dugout. But rarely has that architecture changed, and it's been in place for the barren runs of Dean Smith and miserable Premier League relegations.

Whatever the true source is, City's current crop will hope the hallowed turf helps them once again in the lunchtime kick-off. Tom Cleverley's side have started well, and they won't make it easy, but little does as much for the confidence as a 20-match unbeaten run.

As they recover from the Swansea humbling, Norwich have got their timing right when it comes to the venue. Now all they have to do is seal the deal on the pitch.