Robert Snodgrass is ready to bust a lung for Norwich City

Robert Snodgrass believes the great team spirit at Norwich City will go a long way to helping them achieve Premier League survival.

Paddy Davitt Saturday, March 9, 2013
11:00 AM

Robert Snodgrass is prepared to go the extra mile in pursuit of Norwich’s push for Premier League survival.

The Scottish international’s prodigious work rate since arriving from Leeds last summer has complemented the technical skills that mark him out as a leading City player-of-the-year candidate.

Snodgrass, inset, routinely clocks up more than six miles per shift and the midfielder insists such feats of endurance are an essential component for any top player.

“The fitness coaches go through that type of stuff and show you this is your number, so as an individual you try to beat that each week,” he said. “You try to put in that level of performance and me running six or seven miles is trying to help the team. That’s the most important thing, it’s not about Robert Snodgrass but in a certain way it is trying to help the team. I don’t know the most I have ever run in a game, you would have to ask the fitness coaches.

“They will say high numbers this week or whatever, and I’m sure every manager in the Premier League will look at the numbers to see if their players are tired, or who is not so tired and keep them in the side if that’s not the case.

“This league is all about high energy and athletes and I’ve seen that, especially against Everton. The amount of miles the Everton boys covered, and that comes from a great manager, David Moyes, wanting them to play at a tempo. It’s what he’s wanted for many years and just shows you why they’re up at the top.”

Premier League footballers may enjoy the trappings of success but Snodgrass’ approach to his craft illustrates they live the life.

“As a footballer you’ve got a job to do and it’s preparing yourself for Saturday so you can be in the best mental and physical shape you can possibly be, he said.

“You eat the right things – sometimes you’re just like a machine, you need to take care of your body, especially with how physical it is. Take care of yourself on and off the park and make sure you’re physically right for the high demands the Premier League sets upon you.

“There are a loads of things, technology-wise, to take care of players so they are physically right when it comes to Saturday. You need to add those little extra bits to your game and that’s when you see players like David Silva and Sergio Aguero. They work as hard as anybody.

“I’ve seen it this year when we played against them and they were down to 10 men, with Aguero on the left wing working hard for the team.”

Chris Hughton’s ability to keep Norwich clear of the relegation battle for the majority of this season hinges on harnessing the collective work ethic typified by Snodgrass.

“You get it into your head that it’s about the team and you need to work as hard as you possibly can for the team. That will be the be-all and end-all. There is no individual bigger than Norwich City,” he said.

“People say it takes individuals to win games but you look at the team, people pulling you through. It might take Sébastien Bassong or Michael Turner with a flick in the 94th minute. As an individual, I try and do that.

“We have a great bunch of lads, honest, hard-working and a great nutrition and fitness side of things and that’s why people have noticed this season that Norwich do work very, very hard and that’s the way the club’s been built. That’s the feel I’ve got about it.

“The gaffer has brought that in a lot this year – work as hard as you possibly can and get legs and energy in defence, midfield and up front and it gets you results. If you work harder than your opponents, you’ve got a better chance.”

Snodgrass’ ability on set pieces has tipped the balance during numerous points in City’s timeline this season, including a free kick equaliser against today’s opponents Southampton on the south coast.

“That goal, people say, the keeper gave me a hand on that one. I was just quite glad to get the ball on target and cause them problems,” he said.

“Since then I’ve scored a couple of free-kicks but have not had many chances from free-kicks since, so it was nice to get on the score sheet that day but I’ll just be happy if we get three points. That’s the main aim.

“When we were down at the bottom, people were writing us off and saying we were down. Then you see the pundits saying you’re safe when we started to pick up some results. Too many people speak about different things and it’s just up to us as players, we are the ones who can go out there and do the business.

“We’ve done quite well against the teams round about us, and we’ve done really well at home. It’s only Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool who have beaten us at home in the league.

“We’ve had some real ding-dongs at home and as a player you want to be part of that, fighting for every point and it will be no different on Saturday.”

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12 comments

There's your problem. Quote Snods: "We've done quite well against the teams around us" so getting a home draw against QPR is doing quite well. Aim a bit higher lads could you please.

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waclor

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Bust a Lung. wasn't there a similar chap in Viz Magazine? Buster Gonads, that was him. Perhaps we should sign him to score unfeasibly good goals.

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waclor

Saturday, March 9, 2013
ScotCan, Snods is merely an `inset` in this article. That`s because he is merely the subject of it! Divot is a crass act.

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Mad Brewer

Saturday, March 9, 2013
I got there using that link, Stew, and managed to see 80 min of fairly good quality stuff (NOT the actual football!) until 80 min. when it froze. It was liveview365. I shall carry on trying!!

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Mad Brewer

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Calm down!!!! Calm down! Another point. Move on ;-)

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sharky

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Full Time ! The only thing missing was the toilet paper! Snodgrass is now a liability rather than an asset! and Howson will never make it! Thank god I did not turn out in this lousy weather to witness that rabble that Hughton and co has turned us into!

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Stew Pydsodd

Saturday, March 9, 2013
...Snodgrass is playing an absolute blinder!....Must have his eyes shut!..... Useless!.... Brilliant Substitution! Wes playing as a left winger! I ask you!..... Manager lives on another planet!.....

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Stew Pydsodd

Saturday, March 9, 2013
I`ll tell you how I get on. All those IT courses I was sent on, and have certificates for, prove how f*****g useless those certificates are!!

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Mad Brewer

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Just to say stories dont dissapear straight away. They can usually be accessed by clicking on the Norwich City FC tab at the top of the page for a couple of days longer

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sharky

Saturday, March 9, 2013
...Brew and all other interested Friends ....Once you are on the Wiziwig home page, create a short cut for your desktop.....Right click, and in the box, Left click on 'create short cut'...This will enable you to access Wiziwig quickly in future.....Next..Left click on Live Sports...then Left click on Football...Seek out the match you want to watch....Norwich are on page 2 at present.....Left click on Live....there are 6 stations announced to broadcast today....These cannot be accessed until about 2.30pm. ....At about 2.50pm choose one of them and Left click to access. Often you have to wait whist various adverts etc are running through but after a short while these will clear, and the live match should appear... At the bottom right of this picture, Left click on the Full Screen symbol..... Then just enjoy (hopefully). Blast! I seem as though I've done a days work. Calls for a Drink!....OR you could have a dry run on a match being played at present!....

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Stew Pydsodd

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Neither player in the picture looks like Snodgrass to me. Possibly Bassong and Kamara - just a wild guess! Divot does it again, class journalism.

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ScotCan

Saturday, March 9, 2013
I suppose it`s not the actual distance they run that counts, but the impact\pace of the individual bursts? After all, most fairly fit people could walk 6 miles in 90 min? Just a thought.

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Mad Brewer

Saturday, March 9, 2013