19 April 2007
Earnshaw dilemma has familiar feeling

KEVIN PIPER

The long-awaited return of striker Robert Earnshaw last weekend triggered a distinct sense of end-of-season déjà vu. Cast your minds back a little under two years, to that fateful afternoon when Norwich City's return to the Premiership was cut cruelly short on the back of the thumping defeat on the banks of the Thames.

Even as City fans were leaving Craven Cottage talk was soon turning to the following season and the Canaries' prospects of bounding straight back to the top flight.

One man, above all, was cited as being crucial to the club's chances of a swift return. With the prolific Dean Ashton leading the line, there would be every reason to be confident.

Sure enough, the fans' favourite made all the right noises, openly declaring his commitment to the cause and duly kicking off the next campaign at Carrow Road. The rest is history.

Two years on the future of City's current leading marksman is again likely to prove the big talking point as thoughts turn to next season.

Earnshaw wasted no time in reminding us - as if we needed reminding - of his credentials, within minutes of coming on at the Walkers Stadium. Despite missing some three months of the season, the Welshman is still riding high in the Championship goalscoring charts.

Clearly, it's in Norwich City's interest to keep Earnshaw at Carrow Road, as Peter Grant sets about his first full season in charge, just as Ashton was key to Nigel Worthington's plans in the wake of relegation.

Circumstances have changed significantly since then. Fresh from relegation, with the benefit of parachute payments, Norwich appeared to have sufficient means to keep Ashton on the payroll.

From here on the parachute payments stop. Millions will be wiped off the budget and it's therefore logical to assume that finances, already tight, will be even more restricted.

Where, then, does Earnie fit into the equation? On the one hand there are clearly few better finishers in the Championship right now. On the other, we have to assume the Welshman is a relatively high earner at Carrow Road and, of course, the player most likely to attract interest from one or two big-spending clubs.

How tempting would it be, therefore, for the club to cash in on their prized asset and give Grant the funds to set about some significant team rebuilding?

My hunch, and it's only a hunch, is the Canaries would be reluctant to see their ace marksman leave Carrow Road, but it's going to be an interesting one to watch now he's back from injury and raring to go.

More immediately attention turns to Sunday's East Anglian derby, where I'd guess Earnshaw is a likely starter, fully fit or otherwise.

I appreciate the ongoing injury crisis at Carrow Road hardly makes for ideal preparation ahead of the big match, but all the same you have to hope the Canaries can go some way towards atoning for recent disappointing performances against the old enemy.

Regional pride is all there is to play for now. Victory on Sunday would give City a good chance of finishing above Ipswich in the table, something that shouldn't be underestimated.

Let's not forget that for many fans the two derby games are by far and away the most important matches of the season.

A certain young Danny Haynes has proved City's nemesis of late; it would be great to see one of the Canaries' young guns make a name for himself this time round.

The local derby remains a massive occasion in this part of the world. What better stage for City's rising stars to drop a hint of what the future might hold?

Now, more than ever, Norwich City have to depend on a significant increase in productivity from its academy production line.

The emergence of a crop of talented youngsters would be a fantastic fillip ahead of the close season. That, and victory against Ipswich, of course.