My Football Writer Norwich City news… comment… analysis
Norwich City – news, comment and analysis
The Expert is a worried man.
Not being at their best in the past four matches hasn't really inflicted much damage on the Canaries' fight against relegation.
City have picked up points in all four games, and the three draws and one victory have merely extended what had earlier been an excellent run of form with Norwich securing four wins from five matches after being winless from their previous eleven.
And when a team isn't being beaten …
The opening of the January transfer window may still be some six hours distant, but that didn't stop Paul Gallacher becoming the first move of note this afternoon after his Canary contract was cancelled “by mutual consent”.
In theory, it is not a move as such. The 28-year-old, one-time Scottish international keeper merely becomes a free agent after his Carrow Road deal ends six months earlier than scheduled. With “immediate effect”, to quote www.canaries.co.uk.
In …
City centre-half Gary Doherty is hoping that Clinton Morrison's New Year celebrations do not start off with a bang tomorrow as the two, Republic of Ireland pals come face-to-face at Selhurst Park.
Morrison, 28, has grabbed eight goals in Palace's last ten outings – a rich vein of goal-scoring form that has helped propel Neil Warnock's Eagles from the bottom three to the very edge of the play-off places.
Little wonder that The Doc treads warily into Croydon …
City boss Glenn Roeder this morning dropped the biggest hint yet that a phone call to Arsene Wenger may be on its way in either this transfer window or the next as the Canary manager plots his next move in the 2008 loan market.
But for events at Ewood Park earlier this month when Wenger's young guns booked their place in the Carling Cup semi-final with that dramatic 3-2 away win at Blackburn Rovers, Norwich might have been able to benefit from Roeder's long-standing …
Well, at least that's 2007 out of the way. And, in the grander scheme of things, a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves is not a bad way to end one of City's most torrid ever years.
Indeed, it is a mark of Glenn Roeder's positive impact on all things yellow and green that Stan heard much grumbling at the final whistle, primarily about the fact that we failed for the second time in three days to secure all three points.
With expectations raised, the …
City boss Glenn Roeder admitted after the game on Boxing Day that it had been particularly frustrating watching his side enjoy the majority of possession against Charlton, but not be able to turn it into goals and three points.
For my part, I said afterwards that City had basically been off-key in their last three matches, with the mid-week encounter with Alan Pardew's ten-man outfit being the classic case in point and merely highlighting the fact that despite the essential …
City goal-scoring hero Jamie Cureton is never one to mince his words. And in describing yesterday's 1-1 draw with Wolves as “dire”, the 32-year-old was merely saying what many a supporter thought.
The fact, however, that he was saying it with a big smile of his face proved another point – that for as long as the re-born Canaries continue to gather points at their current rate, so few will quibble with the exact nature of the performance. Norwich have lost just once in their last …
City boss Glenn Roeder this weekend dropped a broad hint that all four of his loan chases were heading in “a very positive” direction as the January transfer window began to loom large in everyone's thoughts.
Speaking ahead of yesterday's laboured 1-1 draw with Wolves, Roeder revealed that he was due to have conversations with Chelsea's director of football Frank Arnesen, Manchester City No2 Tord Grip, Newcastle United's under-fire boss Sam Allardyce and Derby …
It is one of those situations where the world and his wife can't help but speculate. Might not always be helpful, but sometimes it's just the nature of the beast – to wonder out loud…
It was just the same as when Paul Stephenson was putting out the bibs and cones at Bloomfield Road – something was clearly afoot, even if the one-time Hartlepool youth coach hadn't actually officially been unveiled as Norwich's new first team coach. He was there though – right in …
Jamie Cureton rode to Norwich's rescue again this afternoon with a 75th minute leveller to wipe out Andy Keogh's opener and keep Glenn Roeder's recent unbeaten run intact.
In what was still a poor, patchy contest against an out-of-sorts Wolves side, Norwich had struggled to gain a sight of Wayne Hennessey's goal for much of the afternoon. And it was only with the arrival of first Lee Croft and then Dion Dublin after the break that the contest started to open up and …
For mad keen City supporter Tim Warner, it all became clear on a Christmas morning some six years ago. Now, after much hard work, financial commitment and plenty of red tape, the dream has been realised.
Sat under many a Christmas tree across the country this yuletide will have been the replica stadiums of Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge, with plenty of young Blues and Reds now owning the latest must-have on the shelves.
For Warner, it has been a long and winding road but …
Only five points from the last three games for the Canaries ? standards are obviously slipping!
But seriously, Glenn Roeder has done such a terrific job since he walked through the door here at Norwich and raised hopes and expectations to such levels now that when games are lost or points are dropped there's every reason to feel disappointed.
When City take to the field nowadays, especially at home, they rightly do so as favourites to win the game, and the vast …
Stand-in City skipper Darel Russell heads into battle tomorrow determined to right a few autumn wrongs – in particular, that wretched 3-0 defeat at Molineux.
For many, you can forget Plymouth (a) or even Queen's Park Rangers (a). If you want a performance that stank to high heaven, the away game at Wolves was the one that reeked of the manager's days being numbered.
Three months and a new manager later and Russell still shudders at the memory – it was a performance …
City loan starlet Jimmy Smith this morning repeated his hope for an extended tour of duty in Norfolk whilst equally admitting that the African Cup of Nations could scupper his best-laid plans.
In theory, tomorrow's home clash with Wolves is due to be the 20-year-old's last in Norwich colours before he is hauled back to Stamford Bridge to act as cover for the likes of John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien who, alongside Didier Drogba, are about to down their club tools for up to …
City boss Glenn Roeder was expecting a busy afternoon on the phone today as he looked to extend the loan deals for Messrs Evans, Pattison, Smith and Camara.
All four are coming to the end of their existing loan arrangements with the Carrow Road club.
But with all four likely to again figure large in Roeder's starting plans for tomorrow's home clash with Wolves, so the City chief was clearly in a mood to do business – providing he could drag each and every one …
The Editor very generously offered this correspondent an option when commissioning a festive article.
You can either look back on 2007 or forward to 2008, he said.
I'm hugely grateful for the choice, because you could easily sum up what we've witnessed this year with a few well-chosen and rather disparaging words. It would take someone far brighter and more analytical than me to even begin to contemplate the 900 word diatribe The Boss normally …
Charlton Athletic at home on Boxing Day always brings back memories for Stanley of one of his favourite City games.
Getting on for a quarter of a century ago, back in 1985, when City hosted the Addicks and gave the 'Carra Rud' faithful a 'roight' royal 'Christmas Cracker!' of a match. City 1-0 down with 20 minutes to play, inspired by the midfield majesty of David Williams, won 3 1 to lend yet further credence to both City's promotional credentials and …
City terrier Matty Pattison insists that he won't be curbing his competitive ways as the current clamp-down on the two-footed lunge continues to produce one red card after another.
Charlton's Sam Sodje was, of course, the name on everyone's lips in Norfolk yesterday as his horrific, shin-high lunge towards Darel Russell found the Addicks having to dig out a point with just ten men for the last hour of yesterday's festive contest.
Down in the East End of …
It should have been more.
No, not a hasty knee-jerk reaction to a side that has just had to settle for just a point after playing for more than an hour against ten men. An opinion that when analysed impartially and rationally in the cold light of day is surely difficult to dispute?
Of course there is valid reason for taking the alternative viewpoint and highlighting that this was against a side that in all probability will be contesting one of the top six places at the end …
City boss Glenn Roeder could not hide his intense irritation tonight after the Canaries failed to prise all three points out of a ten-man Charlton side.
Chinese international Zheng Zhi had already given the visitors a little deserved lead, before the on-loan Sam Sodje made it two reds in a week for one of the promotion favourites with a dreadful, two-footed lunge in Darel Russell's direction on the half hour mark.
The Reading centre-half was halfway to the tunnel …