Archive for December, 2007

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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