As fans streamed out onto Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon, the arguments were in full force.

If there is one thing that football supporters excel at, it is finding something to argue about, even after a heartwarming 4-1 victory.

Depending on whose exchange you overheard, it was Marcelino Nunez. Or perhaps it was Callum Doyle. No, it was certainly Jose Cordoba, but how about Kellen Fisher?

A heated argument erupted over which Norwich City player should have been chosen man of the match. There have been other games in previous seasons in which selecting the Canaries’ greatest performance has been extremely tough. This time, it was because there were so many applicants, not so few.

The habit of singling out one athlete each week for particular recognition is perplexing. Especially when the majority of the time, the conversation revolves around the significance of the team above individual. Choosing who gets the bottle of champagne is typically a reward of paying to sponsor a game. As a result, the beneficiary is frequently someone the person would like to meet rather than the person who did the best on the day.

When the team wins, no one is concerned about the man of the match, and when they lose, no one wants to win. Being offered with a bottle of bubbly following a 3-0 home defeat is a true test of judgement. How much is a player permitted to grin in official photographs? You can’t appear too joyful because of the outcome, but you can’t appear too upset for fear of offending those who have thought you worthy of an award.

Fortunately, this was not an issue following the crushing victory against Watford. The Canary contenders are a positive sign for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s goals.

When challenged about team selections, the City head coach explains his reasoning honestly and plainly. His ability to effectively adjust and tweak a line-up and formation before and during games has been a highlight of the season’s first few weeks.

Few predicted Fisher would start at right back against Watford. That’s not a criticism on him, but rather an endorsement of Jack Stacey, who has appeared in all 52 Championship games since joining Norwich City. Bringing on a 20-year-old for only his fourth league start felt like a major decision.David Wagner made it three times last season, and twice it resulted in Stacey being reinstated at halftime instead of Fisher.

Thorup made the identical maneuver, but much later in the game on Saturday, after Fisher had earned a standing ovation for his performance. There was still time for Stacey to come on and maintain his 100% league appearance record, setting up Ben Chrisene for the fourth goal. Given Doyle’s opening goal, two Norwich left backs scoring in the same game may be a first.

If this is what ‘Hoffball’ is going to be like, Carrow Road is completely converted. Not since ‘Farkeball’ has the place been humming as much as it was at full capacity on Saturday. Neither ‘Smithball’ nor ‘Wagnerball’ ever really captured the imagination.

I’m not sure when the term’managerball’ was first used to describe a style of play. I simply wish it had existed in the 1990s, when Alan Ball was overseeing the Premier League. Would his chosen style have been known as ‘Alanball’ or ‘Ballball’? I suppose we’ll never know.

Still, it’s heartening that such trivial ideas, as well as the relative qualities of the man of the match adjudicators, dominated talks on the drive home on Saturday.

The early kickoff provided for a wonderful late-summer stroll back into the city following the game. If such trifling topics are all that is debated over on the long winter evenings ahead, then ‘Hoffball’ will be quite effective.

Toto time...

Some celebrity deaths have a more emotional impact.

As a 42-year-old football fan, hearing of Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci’s death brought back a flood of wonderful memories.

To save you the arithmetic, I was eight years old during Italia ’90. Gazza sobbing, David Platt’s volley, and Schillaci’s Midas month all capture the optimum age for imagination. Winning the Golden Boot at a home World Cup. It’s no surprise his career faded after that. How could it be topped?

It turns out that ‘Toto’ may also hold the record for the shortest Carrow Road career.

I had a vague recall of him coming on as a substitute for Inter Milan in a UEFA Cup match in 1993 (I was 11 years old and impressionable at the time). Before the digital age, it was impossible to obtain a record of the complete line-ups, including substitutes, and when they were utilized online.

So I found a YouTube video of the full match. No, I did not watch it all. Life at 42 is too hectic for that. A short read through confirmed that Schillaci had indeed come on as a late substitute. He enters the pitch in a rush to replace an injured teammate. The camera follows Toto as he jogs onto the pitch, approaches the center circle, and crouches down to tie his laces up. Bryan Gunn then hits a goal kick as far up the field as he can. At this time, the final whistle blasts. Schillaci is on the field for only 13 seconds, but if you were there, you can say you watched him play.

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