LAST time Norwich City went to Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday's Championship standing was at risk on the last day of last season.
The shoe, sock and shinpad are not quite on or above the other foot but it is the East Anglians who have been falling towards drop zone.
Times have changed and not just with Darren Huckerby, scourge of every Champion-ship defencer, leaving Norwich to play for San Jose Earthquakes in the US-based Major League Soccer.
Inconsistency has become the Norwich trademark as much as Delia Smith cooking and the club's Canary crest.
The signs were there at Hillsborough in May. Huckery gave Norwich the lead, they faded fast and as Deon Burton scored twice and Ben Sahar and Leon Clarke completed a 4-1 triumph.
Big things were expected from Norwich after they had battled their way to just their second away win of the season on Saturday at Nottingham Forest but they failed to produce on Tuesday against Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace.
Norwich's 10-men at Forest toughed out a 2-1 win but they are a team who have registered consecutive wins only once this season - surprisingly against top team Wolves and second from bottom Doncaster Rovers.
Any Norwich hopes of climbing away from the bottom six were all but over by half-time on Tuesday, with a surprisingly low-key side already two goals down to Palace.
Matty Pattison gave the home fans at Carrow Road some hope with a goal just after the hour mark, but Norwich just could not conjure up an equaliser.
And Roeder witnessed precisely what he did not want to see when his team fell behind to Craig Beattie's opening goal for Palace.
"I just thought a couple of them had a ball and chain around their legs when we went one behind," Roeder reckoned.
"We had a good chat at half-time and they left the ball and chain in the dressing room and came out and ran, ran aggressively and we were on a surge. I am saying, like I said on Saturday, if you can play like that I want you to play like that 100 times.
"We are going to have to play like that at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday - carry on where we left off in the second half against Palace."
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