With City's hopes of a consistent run of results and form nipped in the bud at Derby in midweek, it would appear that another season stuck among the Championship's also-rans awaits the Canaries.
Which, basically, means that anything and everything is still possible given the nature of this particular beast – for all their
all-too familiar failings, Norwich are still just two wins and six points away from sixth-placed Sheffield United.
Of course, that gap may widen yet further; the Canaries may slip further and further back into that mid-table mire.
But with the honourable exceptions of both Wolves and Birmingham City – and, potentially, Reading – there is precious little to suggest that fifth and sixth spots won't remain open to anyone that can string any sort of run together through the back end of April.
Which, frankly, is just as well.
Because without that play-off system it is hard to imagine just what 'treats' the Championship would have in store for both its East Anglian clubs if three automatic promotion positions were all but done and dusted come November.
Yes, the play-off system is less than perfect.
The fact that a team can finished third, say, 12 points better off than the team that finishes sixth – and still miss out on the golden ticket to the Premier League thanks to events in a one-off game as opposed to the events of a 46-game season can still appear grossly unfair.
Likewise, I always feel slightly sorry for the team that finishes second – granted neither the chance to lift the Championship trophy aloft from the balcony of their particular town hall nor the big day out at Wembley.
And another chance to parade around their home town with the play-off trophy in tow.
But, there again, I guess £60 million odd in nigh-on guaranteed income from membership of the richest football league in the world might soften the disappointment of a day out with the mayor and his Mrs.
The play-off final is the saving grace to the second tier of English football; it's what enables hope to spring eternal even as winter starts to set in with the Canaries as dismally inconsistent as ever.
Wembley... it's just two wins away. Even now, even after normal service was resumed at Pride Park... Wembley is just two games away.
It is a thought that many a Canary supporter will need to cling to as reality – be it financially off the field or football-wise on it – starts to bite ever deeper over the forthcoming months.
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