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Daniel Brigham

Stay classy, Norwich fans (latest blog)

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The nerves are kicking in for Norwich''s game against Sunderland like never before, and it''s not just because of the importance of the match. By Daniel Brigham.

Who''s looking forward to the game on Saturday? 

That usual feeling of excitement and anticipation, of meeting up with friends and eating terrible burgers, has been replaced with something I thought I''d left behind years ago: the creeping dread of exam results. 

The butterflies. The anxiety. The faintly sweaty palms. The irritability. The slightly iffy smell emanating from armpits. The inability to eat (almost certainly a good thing in the case of the burgers). The mild palpitations.

As kick-off approaches, each echoing tick of the clock brings with it that old feeling of dread. It''s all coming back. We haven’t even touched on the worst of it, though: the hope. That''s the real killer.

The hope that all those nerves will be worth it. That it will be good news; that Norwich have passed their exam. It doesn’t have to be a flying pass. Just scraping through would do. All season we''ve been craving entertainment at Carrow Road. Now it''s all about the points. Nothing else matters. It’s just points, points, points. 

It''s tough to remember the last time the build up to a Norwich game felt like this. The matches against Reading and West Brom last season came close, but not with quite the same creeping alarm. It was only our second season in the Premier League; relegation would have been awful, but there was more of an acceptance that these things happen to clubs like ours. It had been a brilliant journey, and we were going to be grateful for it.

Now, however, we''re too far down the Premier League road. The thought of turning back is terrifying. We''re no longer just spoilt by games against the big teams, it''s become a right. It''s what Norwich City do. They play the big sides. Sometimes they even beat them. They get talked about on Match of the Day. They''re involved in Super Sunday. The national press come to watch them. We. Are. Premier. League.

It''s the thought of losing all of that, to see everything unravelling like Lindsay Lohan on a night out, that is making it difficult to even think about trying to enjoy the game. 

Of course we should have perspective. You tell yourself we''re performing beyond our means. We have no right to be a Premier League side. Relegation will inevitably come to us at some stage. It''s only football, you keep reminding youself. But at the moment perspective can go do one. Perspective is the product of a rational mind, and the threat of relegation is very good at turning normally sane football fans into irrational wrecks. 

However irrational you’re feeling, and whatever does happen on Saturday, it wouldn''t be a bad thing to spare a place in your mind for the Manchester United fans'' reaction at Old Trafford after they lost to Liverpool on Sunday. This isn''t something I''d normally write – I did warn you that the threat of relegation can make you do irrational things – but the United fans were extraordinary. The support for their club, in the face of one of the worst results in their history, was almost moving. There was no booing, no calling for the manager''s head, no taking it out on the players.

There was just support. Loud, mass, united support. With all of the mud that gets thrown at the Premier League about selling its soul, about money and ego, this was a reminder of football at its best. It was football fans supporting their football team irrespective of the score, irrespective of their league position, and there was something very pure about that. It captured perfectly the cliche of supporting your club through the highs and lows. 

It’s worth remembering this because, well, can you imagine the scenes if Norwich are beaten 3-0 by Sunderland? The thought gives me the shivers. There will be no singing, no support, no united front. It''ll be toxic. 

Perhaps this, more than even the thought of losing the match and the horror of relegation, is what I – and many others – are dreading about the game. The reaction to losing. There will be booing, anger, hostility. It will be football at its worse. It will be irrationality at its worse. 

So, if the unthinkable does happen, think of Old Trafford. Keep the anger between you and your mates, keep it to the Pink’un forum, keep it to Canary Call. 

Or that feeling of dread will just happen all over again when West Brom come to Norwich. And what good would that do anyone, other than the opponents? 

Daniel Brigham is Features Editor of The Cricketer magazine. He tweets at @cricketer_dan

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I agree with the general thrust of what you''re saying but I think it''s out of the hands of any individual fan and therefore the fans in general.Even if the fans ''behave well'' and don''t call for Hughton''s head or take it out on the players, there is still a collective atmosphere that will transfer itself to the pitch unless events on the pitch fire up the fans. There is a kind of mass resignation or despair that can take over a crowd even if most of the individual members want to support their team to the hilt.We can only hope for a repeat of West Brom last season, where the same was true and the performance lifted the fans.

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You''re right Daniel. I''m sure someone will say you''re wrong though, and that it''s their right to boo Hughton and the players because of what they and the team has served up - but that would be rather missing the point wouldn''t it?

If we think we really are the best fans in the world - then I think we have to look at those United fans & their reaction as the benchmark.

I thought they''d be wailing and crying and calling for Moyes'' head. But it does go to show that the majority of United fans that go to Old Trafford are proper football fans.

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I have always admired it when fans show solidarity in adversity, i have supported norwich for well over 30 years and i have never been involved in an act of defiance like the man u fans showed on sunday, as i said in another thread at the time i actually thought it was the scousers singing some sarcastic song and not the home support... of course it does help when you have 20 league titles to crowe about but i think as norwich fans we crumble far too easily when there is a setback particuarly at home where the support isn''t that great in the first place..

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Just thought I''d bump this thread, in light of the United fans now apparently organising an aeroplane to do a fly-by over Old Trafford with a "Moyes Out" banner behind it!

That classiness didn''t last long then!

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