Last week, my column buddy Ian Clarke ruffled a few feathers when he noticed that this season, the Canaries seem to be in a bit of a flap when it comes to facing other birds.

It is the most bizarre of coincidences that this term, Oxford United aside, every single defeat has come against teams who are also named after birds.

The Swans, the Eagles, the Bluebirds, the Owls and most recently, the Robins have all flown away with the spoils when coming up against the Canaries.

I'll leave it to somebody like David Attenborough to say how these clashes would have played out in the real bird world - though I suspect swans, eagles and owls would all make pretty easy work of canaries if push came to shove.

But as fun as it is to mull over hypothetical battles between winged adversaries - and trust me, it is - I'd wager the sports pages of the country's finest regional newspaper are probably not the appropriate forum for this.

Instead, as we return to proper football after yet another break for the super important, prestigious, definitely not glorified friendlies League of Nations tournament, we are faced with the daunting prospect of yet another clash of the birds.

Clearly, very few of us consider West Brom to be birds, as we know all very much know them as the Baggies. But Baggies or not, the badge doesn't lie.

So as sure as I am that you'd do well to even find a West Brom fan who knows their beloved club as the Throstles, this weekend, I suspect an exception might be made, knowing what we now know about City's feathered hoodoo.

So with this in mind, what cancels out a hoodoo? An even bigger hoodoo, of course!

Therefore, I decided for this week's column I would set out to find another totally rational and not at all barrel-scraping hoodoo we can use to brush off City's bird-based struggles.

Brace yourselves - it didn't go well.

Baggies and the birdies

As tough as City's fortunes have been against feathered foes this season, who is to say West Brom haven't had the same struggles? Maybe we're not the only ones to have fallen fowl to fellow birds.

It turns out, my theory fell at the first hurdle.

The first encounter with a bird team Carlos Corberan's was against the Swans of Swansea, on August 31. They won.

The next was a 3-2 defeat away to the Owls of Sheffield Wednesday, while they shared a goalless draw with the Bluebirds of Cardiff.

So all in all, a mixed bag. One win, one draw, one defeat. Nothing to see.

Sweet 16

Numbers are always a great source of football hoodoos - how often are we reminded that it has been x games since something happened, or, I don't know, for argument sake's 15 years since one team beat another.

So with this being the 16th game of the season, maybe there's something in that?

Last season, round 16 saw City end a bleak run of six games without a win (including five defeats) with a 3-2 away with at Cardiff - the Bluebirds might I add.

That same round of fixtures saw West Brom lose their first game in five, courtesy of Southampton. 

Perhaps I was onto something. 

The season before that, West Brom also lost in round 16, while City avoided defeat against Sheffield United - interesting enough, it seems we often have a Sheffield team on the 16th game week of the season.

However, it only took one more season for this one to blow up in my face, as in 2021/22, West Brom claimed a home win against Hull while Cristiano Ronaldo's diving earned Manchester United a narrow win at Carrow Road.

So on we go on my hunt for a hoodoo to trump birds...

Could Trump be the key?

Sometimes, major international news can provide the inspiration for a hoodoo, so perhaps the impending return to the White House of a certain Donald Trump help make City great again?

While I realise the tangerine-faced danger to us all has not made his return to the Oval Office yet, perhaps there was something in his last term to help us this weekend?

No such luck.

During Trump's first term in the White House, the two clubs only actually crossed paths twice - a 4-3 Carrow Road triumph for the Baggies and a 1-1 draw - or tie if we're sticking to the American theme - at the Hawthorns. 

Back to the drawing board.

Onel the lucky charm?

One small boost over the international break has been the return to fitness of cult hero Onel Hernandez, who will be full of beans after featuring and scoring for his native Cuba.

Perhaps the incoming return of Onel could create the hoodoo I'm looking for?

Maybe, just maybe, Onel has never been on the losing side against West Brom?

Since arriving in England in January 2018, the avid Argos aficionado has come up against the Baggies seven times for his three clubs, winning two, losing two and drawing three.

So all in all, fairly inconclusive.

Is it in the date?

Having exhausted all other avenues I was prepared to, my last hope for a hoodoo came in the form of Saturday's date. November 23.

Perhaps there is just something about playing Norwich City in November that West Brom just can't cope with?

In the 68 times the two sides have met in the past 117 years, only eight of these meetings have been in November.

Of these, City have won five, lost two and drawn one. A strong record, but a hoodoo? Probably not.

You do also have to go back 11 years to find the last time Norwich lost on November 23. We've only played twice on this date since then, but that's beside the point.

However, there is something  in the date that seals the deal though. The number 23.

Throughout the 117 history of this fixture, Norwich have NEVER lost on the 23rd of the month.

In the battle of the Canaries and the Throstles, the Canaries have a 100pc unblemished record on the 23rd of the month. 

One game played, one game won. A 3-0 League Cup victory on September 23, 2015, with goals from Matt Jarvis, Kyle Lafferty and a Sebastien Pocognoli own goal.

There you have it folks, bird hoodoo, be gone!