When Harry Kane Played For Norwich City…badly

It turns out I was at Carrow Road for two of Harry Kane’s appearances in a Norwich shirt. Of Norwich City nil, West Ham nil in August of 2012 all I can remember is that it was a match of the utmost caution. The visitors literally played 70 yard diagonals into the corner the entire match. The home side weren’t much more adventurous. It was a classic example of Premier League pragmatism and Sam Allardyce’s fetish for ‘the priceless away point’. As for the future golden boot(s) winner, he emerged from the bench for 20 minutes or so. He had a decent chance to win it, but scuffed his shot into the body of Jussi Jaaskelainen.

In between Christmas and New Year I saw City engage in a rather more compelling encounter with Manchester City, a match which ended 4-3 in the visitors’ favour. I remember Sergio Aguero muscling his way past Seb Bassong. I remember Russel Martin showing, once again, his eye for a flairful finish. And I remember my girlfriend being very amused by the back and forth that began with the Barclay singing ‘Samir Nasri, he looks like a duck’ and ended with the short-fused Frenchman getting sent off. But despite the fact he came on at the interval and played a part in our third goal, I don’t remember anything about Kane that day.

There is one image that sticks in my mind’s eye when I think about Kane’s Norwich stint. He’s sitting on the floor, hand in the air, pleading for the referee’s attention, in vain you suspect. I never actually saw that moment in real life, it’s on a Pink Un article some place, but it’s summed everything up nicely enough. From the number of tweets I’ve seen goggling at Kane’s subsequent Cinderella-style transformation, to quotes from Canary teammates suggesting they were unaware one of the best strikers in the world had been sitting in their dressing room, I know I’m not alone.

I’ve been trying, but I’m struggling to think of another example of a player whose ‘I saw them before they were big’ story is quite like Kane’s. In fact, experiencing the precise opposite sensation; watching a young player excel to the extent they convince you they are destined for greatness, only for whatever reason to ultimately disappoint, is far more common. Ian Henderson, Ryan Jarvis, Kieran Gibbs (in central midfield) are just three names I can think of who fit that bill, while I am also on record as saying that Robbie Brady would leave us for a Champions League club and £20m minimum.

That price was eventually fetched 18 months after Brady left. It was paid by Leicester for James Maddison, a player whose rise was almost the precise inverse of Kane’s. Both players were tipped for the top from their teens, but by the time Madderz made it to our first XI it was universally expected that he would succeed. A successful loan at Aberdeen had been followed by a derby goal on his City debut. Before the 2017-18 season had ever started his coach, Daniel Farke, had described the then 20-year-old as being able to “control the rhythm [of a match] and produce special moments on the pitch”. For the next 10 months the German built his team around this young prospect and, to Maddison’s credit, he repaid the faith in spades.

It was the Premier League, he was younger, and Kane’s time in Norfolk was cut up by injury. But it’s also true that Chris Hughton never set up his side to get the best from Kane’s obvious attributes (number one of which being: find him in or around the box and he’ll get a shot on target). We also know, from his own subsequent confessions, that Kane wasn’t exactly in the best position himself when he came to Carrow Road. After having starred in his previous loan at Millwall he had hoped to be given a chance at White Hart Lane, it hadn’t been forthcoming.

So in the end we got to see the greatest English striker since Gary Lineker (yeah, come at me) in the lowest ebb of his career to date. Or maybe second lowest ebb, his loan to Leicester in the latter half of that same season, probably being even worse. If that summary doesn’t quite the have the ‘tell your grandkids’ ring to it, then that’s life.

There is another way to look at it though. We know that struggling to get past the massed ranks of Luton Town’s defence in an FA Cup third round tie brought about the end of Harry Kane’s Norwich career (he was hauled off at half-time, when the score was still 0-0). But we don’t know how much it influenced the success that was to come. Nobody learns anything if they don’t fail and, according to Les Ferdinand who was coaching at Spurs at the time, the experience ‘flicked a switch’ for Kane. The following season, 2013-14, and the youngster forced into the Spurs first team. The rest we all know. It was challenging for all concerned, but Harry Kane’s time at Norwich might just have been the making of him. You know, in a way.

This article first appeared in Issue 1 of the Along Come Norwich printed fanzine from August 2019.