Paddy Davitt delivers his Blackburn verdict from Norwich City’s 2-0 Championship win at Ewood Park.

1. All I care about is NCFC

The perfect way to end a turbulent few days in the history of Norwich City. A build up completely dwarfed by Marcelino Nunez’s shock transfer to Ipswich Town. Then a pertinent reminder in Josh Sargent they have a 24-carat star still in the building.

A player who has had to deal with a summer long saga around his own future, including that Wolfsburg episode, and yet conducted himself with the utmost professionalism and focus on his job of leading this Norwich City squad into a new era under Liam Manning.

Sargent slotted a nerveless penalty, after he was hauled back by Sean McLoughlin, then thumped home an unstoppable rising shot right in front of those 1,100 travelling fans in stoppage time.

On one level, this was the first chance to gauge public opinion to those recent seismic events, beyond the funnel of social media.

Even before Sargent’s latest goalscoring heroics, with the game goalless in the first half, there was no air of protest or fractiousness. No disgruntlement expressed on the terraces. Just an expression of unity and a love for their club reaffirmed in a chant to the strains of ‘All I care about is NCFC’, with a few choice expletives thrown in Nunez’s direction.

As it should be. The Chilean is part of the past. This is now about Manning’s bid to nudge the dial and move Norwich forward.

2. Sugar and spice

A first Championship start in tandem for Sargent and Mathias Kvistgaarden. One a golden goalscoring ticket in the Championship, and another a player who arrived with a soaring reputation after 86 goal contributions in 100 Danish Super Lig games for Brondby earned him a first senior international cap for his country this summer, and participation at the European Under-21 Championships.

With that type of pedigree how could they fail to hit it off? The signs were hugely encouraging before Manning opted to withdraw Kvistgaarden early in the second half as he sought to quell Rovers’ second half surge.

Sargent has ploughed a lone furrow most of the past two prolific campaigns in green and yellow. Albeit Borja Sainz, for a spell this time 12 months ago, provided ample goalscoring support before he dipped.

But at Ewood Park he had Kvistgaarden looking to play in and around and offer another focal point to occupy the Rovers backline. There was one perfect illustration in the first half when he drifted to the far post to knock down Jakov Medic’s raking diagonal ball for Sargent to sweep a shot deflected over the top.

City still have some nervy hours to navigate between now and the transfer window finale, but with it all quiet on the Sargent front the tantalising prospect of the ‘Josh and Mathias’ show to come over the next few months should have Norwich fans salivating.

3. Triple lock

Pelle Mattsson could be forgiven for thinking what he had let himself in for, when his eventual Norwich move this week was overshadowed by Nunez’s sour exit.

None of that was of the young Dane’s making. Mattsson is another who has been on City’s recruitment and scouting radar for quite some time. In profile terms he is far removed from a direct replacement for the Chilean.

By his own admission, in his first public media engagement on official club channels, he outlined his game is built on energy, aggression and variety to his passing range. In many respects he is in the same mould to Mirko Topic, the other central midfield transfer addition designed to allow Manning to mould this Norwich side to something perhaps more representative of his body of work at Bristol City.

There he had players like Jason Knight and Max Bird, full of industry and endeavour, and who offered consistency in their output and influence.

Manning has spoken liberally about eradicating the ‘four and five’ out of 10 performances, and raising that lower bar. Mattsson feels like another recruit with a high ceiling and a reliability to his range. That might not set the pulse racing to the same degree when you consider what a Gabby Sara, or even Nunez on his better days, produced in green and yellow.

But with Kenny McLean and Liam Gibbs in this equation as well it should be clear now Manning wants the engine of his side to be low maintenance, and the counter-point to the attacking licence afforded players like Papa Amadou Diallo, Ante Crnac, Sargent and Kvistgaarden.

4. Nightmare Nacho

A level of fallout befitting the first senior player to move from Norwich City to Ipswich Town in nearly a quarter of a century. The first in the social media age to fan the flames and heighten the emotions as it played out in real-time across the digital space.

Nunez’s defection may well still be a discussion topic in these parts for generations to come.

But this is only the first act in the drama. There is an East Anglian derby in early October. A Carrow Road return next year and then the bigger picture of what a move that has whipped up fury and delight in equal measure either side of the border means for these respective rivals’ Championship prospects.

Ben Knapper and the club have mapped out their reasoning behind sanctioning a move many fans feel is unforgivable. Manning was excellent in his post-match dissection at Ewood Park. Nunez was complicit in a high stakes game of poker after his camp indicated they were not interested in exploring a new Carrow Road contract.

City have harvested £7.5m up front for a player with less than 11 months on his remaining deal.

Had it not been Ipswich as his end destination that piece of business would have been bracketed in the same Knapper transfer sphere which saw Celtic snare Adam Idah, or Marseille sign Jon Rowe. Both of whom look set to have moved on again before Monday’s upcoming transfer deadline, with Rowe now at Bologna and Idah poised for Swansea.

But for Nunez to be tapping the badge of City’s greatest rivals as he strode across that Portman Road pitch sticks in the throat. For Knapper and Norwich they need to come out on the right side of this divisive deal, once the furore has subsided and the focus returned to the pitch. History is written by the winners.