CHIRPY CANARIES ‘MEAN BUSINESS’
Coyle’s return ends in despair
NORWICH laid down an early and devastating marker on their return to the Championship as they thrashed sorry Blackburn at Ewood Park.
The Canaries showed their intention to bounce back to the promised land of the Premier League immediately as they tore Rovers apart in an impressive all-round performance.
Little wonder boss Alex Neil wore a broad smile when asked to reflect on a sparkling effort from his team.
“This was a performance which will hopefully make people in the division sit up and take notice,” said Neil.
“I think we’ve shown that we mean business.
“Having said all that, we know it’s going to be a long season. We’ve got 46 games and we just have to try and win as many of those as we can.
“Don’t forget, some of these players were called into question a number of times last season, but they certainly responded here and that showed some real quality.”
It was a disastrous first period for Rovers, who were booed off at half-time.
The Canaries were cruising, and led easily thanks to a threegoal blast inside the space of 12 minutes.
Youngster Jacob Murphy got the show on the road in some style, leaving Hope Akpan for dead before crashing home his first Norwich goal from 25 yards.
Five minutes later the visitors’ lead was doubled. This time Wes Hoolahan danced past a couple of powder-puff challenges from Rovers defenders before slotting comfortably past Jason Steele.
Rovers were in a mess and prospects took a further nosedive in the 24th minute when Cameron Jerome converted a low, pinpoint cross to the far post from Ivo Pinto.
Prospects didn’t increase for Rovers during the third quarter of the game. They ought to have conceded again just after the restart, only for the woodwork to come to the rescue as Murphy crashed a shot underneath Steele, but the ball rebounded back out off a post.
The fourth goal did arrive shortly before the hour mark though. This time a brilliant team goal culminated with Steven Naismith burying a shot past Steele after meeting Hoolahan’s through-ball.
The boos rang out around Ewood Park again, but credit to Rovers, they paraded fighting spirit in the closing stages.
They grabbed themselves a goal back as sub Anthony Stokes nodded home Liam Feeney’s cross.
This was a chastening defeat for Owen Coyle, though, who suffered in his first game in charge of Rovers.
He said: “None of us envisaged or anticipated that kind of result, certainly after the opening 10 or 15 minutes.
“We looked fine at that point, but then Murphy scores a wonder goal and there you can see the quality Norwich have.
“To be honest I thought they were unfortunate to drop down from the Premier League.
“They’ve got a good squad and here they were clinical, they were ruthless even.
“It’s a horrible feeling on the opening day, and we have let the fans down.
“Our lack of movement and poor passing in the first half was frustrating, and at 3-0 behind you’re left with a mountain to climb. We needed to start showing a bit of character.
“Nothing is won or lost on the opening day, though, so we'll