Cold Comforts at Adams Park 3rd JANUARY 2010

COLD COMFORTS AT ADAMS PARK

I can rarely remember being as cold watching a game as I was at Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park ground yesterday but like the rest of the massive travelling Canary contingent I was warmed by the action on the field which in some ways mirrored the home game against Huddersfield. Although Wycombe were by no means as threatening in the first forty-five minutes as Lee Clark’s side were at Carrow Road a couple of weeks ago City were sluggish for much of the first half and gave away possession too easily. Having said that they did produce some very near misses, particularly when Chris Martin’s free-kick hit the bar and when Russell Martin (my man of the match) produced a fantastic save from the home keeper. After the break, as against Huddersfield, City were at their fluent best and even though it was very frustrating watching as Scott Sheare denied us repeatedly there was some exhilarating football to appreciate and it was great to be part of such a fantastic support.

Despite having some difficulty parking and then some ticket complications I managed to get in on time, thoroughly enjoyed the half-time penalty shoot out and some fine crowd banter. As that tiny little lad who had hardly managed the strength to kick the ball five yards left the field he must have been mystified to be greeted with a chant of ‘We love you, Paul McVeigh!’ and I wonder how many of you noticed the glamorous, stiletto-shod, perma-tanned executive of Wycombe who occasionally tottered up and down in front of our fans seated on the side of the pitch. The shout of the day was when she was told, ‘You know when you’ve been tangoed!’

There is a great tribal feeling about the gathering of our away fans at a game and as the chants go up and particularly when you are close to the action and can almost see the galvanising effect they have on the players the sense of belonging to the club is strong. It really does feel as though we are in it together and that we can actually have some influence on the action. The reaction of the boss when we scored, and of all the players but, for me, Simon Lappin in particular was somehow part of a truly shared  celebration. Then at the end when Lambert made his way to our fans and spent a good two minutes showing his appreciation was quite significant, I think.

The manager has consistently commented on the loyalty of our fan base and he never misses an opportunity to do so. It could be that this is just him being smart, saying the right things to keep the supporters happy (and, let’s face it, it’s not a bad idea given the disastrous consequences of the opposite approach as exemplified by Glenn Roeder) but actually I sense a genuine feeling here. Despite his quiet demeanour in interviews Lambert is clearly a hugely passionate football man and he really does seem to have an affinity with the Canary support. The same sort of sentiment is echoed by Grant Holt whenever he says, as he often does, that the club is ‘a good place to be at the moment’. On the subject of Holt I do hope we can come up with a better song than the current rather crass offering which when taken up by small pockets of supporters never really catches on because most do not want to chant obscenities. The effect is rather weak as the song dies a death and I really think our twenty goal talisman deserves better.