Archive for June, 2007

Plan C came to fruition just in the nick of time this afternoon as Robert Earnshaw exited stage left, to be followed – bang on cue – by Jamie Cureton returning to his spiritual home as he entered stage right no more than a hour later.

The 31-year-old former Canary trainee signed a three-year deal with the Carrow Road club this afternoon after Norwich agreed “an undisclosed fee” with their Essex neighbours Colchester United for the current holder of the Championship's Golden …

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With BBC Radio Essex busily proclaiming this afternoon that Jamie Cureton's hopes of an emotional return to Carrow Road this summer were about to be answered – and the official City site duly confirming it - Canary fans found matron handing out a small spoonful of sugar this evening to go with the bitter pill of Robert Earnshaw's ?3.5 million 'get-out' to Derby.

That Cureton wants to come to Norwich for all the right, yellow-and-green blood reasons is not too …

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The lure of Premiership football – and the small matter of, in every likelihood, doubling his weekly wage packet – today proved too hard to resist for Canary striker Robert Earnshaw as he joined newly-promoted Derby County for ?3.5 million.

That figure corresponded exactly to his get-out clause – a coincidence that did little to improve Peter Grant's mood. “Disappointing and somewhat ironic,” was the manager's verdict on City's official site this afternoon.

The …

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With the City squad preparing to return to pre-season training next week, all eyes will be on any potential new faces and any absent Canary stars with the transfer merry-go-round now in full flow.

But one young starlet will definitely be missing, as full-back Andrew Cave-Brown embarks on the biggest challenge of his career to date.

The Gravesend-born defender is still to make a real impression on City's first-team picture; his big chance came last year when he started …

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Further evidence that this summer's transfer merry-go-round was suddenly whirring dramatically into life was not too hard to find this morning – open up The Times newspaper and there was Robert Earnshaw in among their 'dead certs' to move to Charlton Athletic in a ?3 million switch from the Canaries.

And there was this morning's Daily Mail following suit. Same story; same destination for City's Welsh international striker.

The last 24 hours have hardly …

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To be fair to my old mate James up on the Star, he had it nailed at the start of the week.

That every Blade in the city knew that Sharp was a done deal – if United ever decided they wanted the lad back.

The kid is a United nut; his family are all Reds. The Academy boss Ron Reid is this nigh-on father figure to him; with his 'apprenticeship' at Glanford Park served, it was time to bring the boy home.

They could sit there, watch everyone else run this way …

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Dean Ashton's lingering affections for Norfolk and Peter Grant's salesmanship emerged as two of the principal driving forces behind Jon Otsemobor's arrival in Norfolk, he revealed today.

The 24-year-old, attacking right-back was making his first public appearance since signing from Crewe on a free transfer this summer – albeit he only, officially, becomes a Norwich City player this Sunday, on July 1.

?I was desperate to get back into the Championship and when I …

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In the end it would appear that blood was thicker than water after BBC Radio Sheffield reported that the Blades had agreed a ?2 million fee with Scunthorpe United for their one-time Academy starlet Billy Sharp.

Blood and huge bundles of Australian cash.

For with United Plc owner Kevin McCabe away Down Under talking to investors about his ?850 million sale of the family-owned Scarborough Property Company this week, it was left to club chairman Terry Robinson to break the …

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Canary legend Bryan Gunn today gave his verdict of life on the transfer front-line – and left the door wide open for a Premiership loan signing to be added to Peter Grant's '07-08 brew before this summer's window finally closes on August 31.

The club's liason officer continues to be Grant's man on the phone and along with chief executive Neil Doncaster will spend the rest of this week charting the progress of in-demand Scunthorpe striker Billy Sharp – now reported …

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Norwich City's hopes of a swift and successful resolution to the Billy Sharp saga took another, unexpected twist today when the Sheffield Star confirmed that Sheffield United were, indeed, firmly in the race for the 21-year-old's much-prized signature.

And while that may no longer be news after Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton revealed earlier this week that his prized frontman was now the subject of a four-horse race with United, Norwich, Wolves and a water-logged …

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