MONDAY MARDLE: Hornets hit for four but Thorup still not satisfied.

Writing this week’s puzzle is challenging. I arrived in Madrid on Saturday and could barely watch the first half of the match before I had to head out of my hotel for business.

Chris Goreham’s iconic comment, “Let’s hope that City don’t regret scoring a second,” was audible for a brief moment as Sainz finished from what was deemed to be an offside position.

My Canaries app pingged me to inform me of what I had previously anticipated would happen by the time I arrived at reception. Watford was now level.

All I can say is that I’m starting to get a lot of respect for Johannes Hoff Thorup.

How many times have we witnessed city managers merely reorganise staff members within the same system or “feel that the lads deserved another chance” following a loss?

Following the Swansea defeat, Thorup rang the changes. They were very striking.

The signing of Jose Cordoba as a starting left back seemed inevitable, and Callum Doyle’s switch to left back wasn’t difficult at all.

It was brave, though, to bench Jack Stacey—who, let’s be honest, didn’t exactly have the worst game against Swansea. When Kellen Fisher entered, from what I could see, he appeared sophisticated, collected, and at ease with the ball. He performed admirably when Thorup ordered him to take on the part of the fullback who tucks inside.

With Anis Ben Slimane still out with an injury, Oscar Schwartau and Ante Crnac also got off to a start.

It had a striking effect.City quickly emerged from the traps.Josh Sargent should have scored in the next ninety seconds, but for a fantastic save.Doyle scored in less than four minutes.

And all of this in a week that saw the departure of three key members of his backroom staff.

I understand that much of the football was easy on the eye but that at 3-1, City sat back too much and invited pressure upon themselves.

How am I aware of this? Since Thorup essentially brought it up first during the press conference. Not some meaningless cliche like “the boys did great today.”

His degree of candour is not only welcome, but also exactly what was required, especially in light of the recent era in which, let’s say, certain bridges between the club and its followers were burnt.

It will be interesting to see if he can maintain this level of transparency and still have the players’ support if—or, more likely, when—we experience a string of underwhelming performances and results.

This is a season of transformation for City.Unavoidably, progress will stall occasionally, as it did against Sweden. The same way that game kept us out of the relegation zone, a single home victory—no matter how spectacular—hasn’t convinced me to book accommodations at Wembley for May 2025.

In order to maintain momentum with such a strong performance, there is first the minor issue of a journey to Derby to deal with.

Next, on a Tuesday evening at the beginning of October, a particular German introduces his Leeds team to NR1.

Whether you like it or not, Daniel Farke will always be the standard by which Thorup is evaluated. and especially whether this is Farke’s 2017–18 or 2018–19 season.

It seems like City might be about to experience something positive. or, alternatively, another phase of two steps back, three steps ahead.

I will only mention that I haven’t looked at the league table yet this season—this week.

Narciss Pelach passed away in Stoke, which is the other piece of news I have already mentioned.

With players requesting to go and now the first-team coach, some have speculated that “something must be wrong” at Colney. I would point such pessimists towards Pelach’s initial interview upon his appointment.

That was when he made it very evident that he was eager and driven to achieve his goal of being a head coach and that this was his next natural professional move. When such an occasion arises, it is hardly surprising that he has departed.

What this does imply is that nearly the whole first-team coaching staff has changed within the short period of a few months. A long way from the old Costa del Colney days. Additionally, it implies that Thorup and Ben Knapper can bring in.

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