Will Jennings on how Norwich replaced Rowe and Sara

Rowe, who left Carrow Road in such unsavoury circumstances this summer, netted a stunning stoppage-time strike to fire his new Ligue 1 club to the most dramatic of 3-2 victories away at Lyon.

Whatever we all think of him after his ridiculous refusal to feature in City’s opening day defeat against Oxford, you have to hold your hands up and accept that Rowe’s winner - that saw him miraculously cut in from the left-hand-side and curl an unstoppable effort into the far corner - was a thrilling way for him to announce himself in the French top flight.

And while it remains difficult to feel genuinely happy for him after the way in which he departed - unlike Gabriel Sara at Galatasaray, who scored in their recent 3-1 win against red-hot rivals Fenerbahçe but obviously pursued pastures new in a far more professional manner - you can take nothing away from Rowe revelling in that moment as he bids to forge a career on the elite European stage. 

What is more interesting to note, however, and particularly off the back of Saturday’s brilliant 4-1 win over Watford, is that nobody is talking about Rowe and the extent to which City may miss him.

Nobody is talking about the fact that we lost our most dangerous attacking player and the role he may have played in Johannes Hoff Thorup’s exciting new system.

Similarly to Sara - another equally significant asset lost this summer - both have been almost immediately forgotten about as early as six games into this Championship season.

The reason?

Thorup’s intoxicating early impact and the way his current group of players are implementing his tactics on the pitch.

When a club lose probably their finest two players in the same transfer window, fans have every right to miss them and ponder what might have been.

And while the results may not have all gone the way of Thorup’s new-look City side, the feel-good factor he has fostered means we are now all firmly behind his vision in turning the club’s fortunes around.

Of course, the prospect of both Rowe and Sara featuring in this new fluid, free-flowing system the Dane is instilling is a tantalising one.

But such is the speed in which he has already embedded his philosophy, coupled with the performances of both the players he inherited and others brought in, nobody is dwelling on the past and, instead, we are all looking forward to what we hope can be a bright Norwich City future.

Admittedly, club record signing Ante Crnac - the player occupying the position vacated by Rowe - has far from hit the ground running and still has lots to learn.

But signs of promise have been there and more broadly, the absence of our two high-profile outgoings have given so many other players - old and new - the opportunity to thrive.

Both Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez were magnificent in Saturday lunchtime’s dazzling display, accompanied by the enormously talented Oscar Schwartau - somehow just 18 - in Thorup’s remodelled midfield.

While at Coventry - where Schwartau also sparkled - fellow half-time substitute Anis Ben Slimani looked brilliant after the break as City secured a hugely encouraging triumph on the road.

Bolstered by the performances of Callum Doyle, Jose Cordoba and Kellen Fisher - who this week earned a hugely deserved new long-term contract - it’s no wonder that no one is thinking about the players Thorup was stripped of.

Which makes the early achievements of the articulate 35-year-old even more impressive, a young manager forced to deal with the difficult departures of probably his two best players and adapt to life without them as he embarks on this bold new English challenge.

Rowe’s Marseille magic and Sara starring in Turkey comes as no surprise to us City fans who loved watching them propel us towards the play-offs last season.

But as Thorup and his players now look to go one step further, there will remain no hint of regret, resentment or frustration that they are doing so without Rowe or Sara in their ranks.