Town boss Mick McCarthy says Claudio Ranieri’s sacking by Leicester only nine months after winning the Premier League title illustrated how quickly fortunes and expectations can fluctuate in football and the fickle nature of the game.
"If I needed any reminding about that they’ve just sacked Claudio Ranieri, for God’s sake,” reflected McCarthy with Town going into the back-to-back home games against Brentford and Wolves in a more positive collective mood after an unbeaten February. "There’s going to be a protest, then everything’s golden again. Fickle?
"I want us to play the way we’ve been playing. I can’t do anything about the result. Play the way we’ve played. Just perform the same way, the same level, the same energy levels, the same intensity, the same football that we’ve played over the last five weeks and I’m going to be happy.”
Going into what was billed as a tough run of February fixtures McCarthy predicted that his side might fare better when up against the division’s top teams.
"I think it’s probably more the fact that I wasn’t resigning myself to the fact that we were just going to play badly like we had been doing,” he said.
"And that playing those games would inspire the lads. I just know what the lads are like. That’s not to suggest that the rest of the games aren’t going to inspire them because that’s wrong.
"And also just the way the players that had come in had helped, the players we’d got back from injury had helped.
"And there was no point in me coming in here and saying ‘Well, we’ve had a bad time, we’ll probably be s--t against the good teams as well’ was there really? ‘Oh no!’”
Having been on the end of jeering and boos during January, does he believe the February form changed a few people’s opinions? "I’m not bothered. It’s more about how we feel about ourselves.
"When you’re stood on the side of the pitch and there seems to be a lot of people, not everybody, [giving it to me] you think just get on with it, do what you do.
"And actually don’t bother what anybody thinks about you. I much prefer it when the fans are enjoying themselves, for sure.
"But I get a bit apathetic towards it all if they’re giving it to me and they should leave the lads alone.
"I said at the time I’ll just continue doing my job, trying to find a way to win games and that’s what we’ve done. Whether it’s changing the shape or changing personnel.
"It’s not some magic formula that’s just turned up, it’s us doing what we do. If we have, great, if people are thinking better about the club and the team, I much prefer that. Me personally? I’m not bothered.”
Speaking after the Norwich match McCarthy said he hoped the performance and the 1-1 draw with the Blues’ greatest rivals would have helped to mend what he admitted had been a "broken” relationship with fans. He says that’s something which is an ongoing process.
"It is all the time,” he added. "But we had lost it badly, we certainly had. Fans pay their money to come and watch a good team, their team win, their team play well.
"And if they don’t win at least play well and think ‘Oh well, they got done by a great goal or and offside goal or it was a great game’. That wasn’t happening. It’s important that the fans feel good about the club, absolutely it is.”