Norwich City have been the big losers from Celtic agreement as promotion bid falls short: View | OneFootball

It’s been a chaotic few days for Norwich City, after their season ended following a hammering at Leeds United on Thursday, with boss David Wagner then sacked.

Whilst the Canaries deserve huge credit for reaching the top six, they let themselves down with their performances over the two legs.

Wagner’s side were conservative in the goalless draw at Carrow Road, and they were then outplayed at Elland Road and deservedly lost 4-0.

The ex-Huddersfield chief paid the price for that, as Norwich announced his exit less than 24 hours after the loss.

Norwich City’s Adam Idah deal comes under the spotlight

There will be a lot of reflecting on what went wrong for the Yellows, and the January window is sure to be something that comes into question, and, more specifically, the decision to let Adam Idah leave and replacing him with Sydney van Hooijdonk.

Firstly, it’s fair to say that Idah didn’t always convince at Norwich, so letting him join Celtic on loan in isolation wasn’t a call that prompted outrage, and it’s a move the player wanted.

However, this was a player who knew the Championship, and he had made 28 appearances for Wagner before departing, so he was regularly used, and he chipped in with six goals.

Idah offered a physical presence and he was a team player. Even if he didn’t dislodge Ashley Barnes or Josh Sargent from the first XI, he would have a role to play.

In fairness, Norwich did get a replacement, with van Hooijdonk joining from Bologna, and he came with a decent pedigree, having scored goals for Heerenveen in the Dutch top-flight previously.

But, January is a notoriously difficult month, and the Norfolk side gambled on an untested foreign player who they needed to hit the ground running.

Sydney van Hooijdonk’s Norwich City struggles

In the end though, van Hooijdonk will leave Carrow Road having made 12 appearances for Norwich, which totalled just 135 minutes, and he failed to score.

Simply put, Wagner didn’t trust the player, and he didn’t look good enough to make his mark and he wasn’t up to it physically during his time with the club.

Of course, every club gets transfers wrong, but this was a costly one as Idah’s exit meant Norwich were desperate for an attacker to come in.

Norwich City’s blunt attack proves costly

With van Hooijdonk struggling, it didn’t go unnoticed among the Norwich support that Idah was thriving north of the border.

The Irish international came up big for Brendan Rodgers during the run-in, scoring some crucial goals for the Glasgow giants as they won a third title on the bounce.

In many ways, this poor deal from Norwich’s perspective was summed up last week.

On Wednesday, Idah was starring for Celtic as they won at Kilmarnock to claim the title, and this was the 23-year-old at his best.

He led the line superbly, he linked play, and he got his eighth goal of the season as the Hoops produced arguably their best performance of the season to seal the league.

Meanwhile, 24 hours later, Wagner opted to go with Sargent and Barnes in attack, even though there were major question marks over their fitness.

Soccer Football - England - Championship - Norwich City v Millwall - Carrow Road, Norwich, Britain - August 20, 2023 Norwich City's Ashley Barnes celebrates scoring their third goal Action Images/Andrew Boyers EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contac

Both looked way below par, along with Jonathan Rowe, yet still van Hooijdonk watched on, including when the USA international was withdrawn due to injury at half-time.

In the end, the January loanee was given the final ten minutes as the game was lost.

Clearly, had he remained, Idah would’ve featured prominently over the two legs, and whilst you can’t say it would’ve changed the result, Wagner’s preference for an unfit strikeforce spoke volumes about the poor January decision the club had made.