Archive for February, 2009

City boss Bryan Gunn was defiantly clinging to the prospect of 11 more Championship games and the 33 points therein as the Canaries lurched ever nearer the third flight of English football.

For if this afternoon's 2-1 home defeat by Coventry City was not disaster enough, the fact that nigh-on every one of their relegation rivals picked up points for their troubles left an air of dread and resignation hanging heavily over Carrow Road.

The Norfolk side are now four …

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City boss Bryan Gunn was today busily hoping that the curse of the Manager of the Month award would come to haunt Coventry City's Chris Coleman as Norwich prepared for the first of their 12 do-or-die cup finals.

Successive 1-0 wins over Midlands rivals and title hopefuls Birmingham City and Wolves – coupled to the initial 2-2 FA Cup draw at Premiership Blackburn Rovers and this week's 1-0 replay win – have put Coleman firmly in the judges' sights.

Victory at …

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The precise costs of Glenn Roeder's transfer policy became clear today as the latest Football League report detailing the level of payments made to agents by its member clubs had Norwich City shelling out a whopping ?490,000 to the Mr Ten Per Cents of this world – a ?345,000 increase on the fees they paid for a six-month period ending December 31, 2007.

Only Derby County paid out more – ?717,000 for the six months to December 31, 2008, as first Paul Jewell and then Nigel Clough …

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City boss Bryan Gunn this afternoon left the door wide open for a return of last season's loan star Ched Evans.

He – like 23 other Championship managers – would love to bolt the 20-year-old Welsh international striker into his plans between now and the end of the season.

And having picked up a new mobile phone courtesy of the club's new tie-in with the Digital Phone Company, he would dearly love Mark Hughes to ring.

As would new Nottingham Forest boss …

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As ever in these fearful times, there is an expectation on many of us to deliver our predictions – a game by game City 'Survival Guide' between now and the end of the season.

That, I'm afraid, is beyond me. So, apologies.

I've honestly no idea how Norwich will do at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, April 4.

And nor do I have much of a clue how the Canaries will fare away at Queen's Park Rangers next Tuesday night.

And …

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City boss Bryan Gunn could yet find himself facing another difficult conversation with Australian international David Carney this week after the on-loan Blades winger scored one and made one in tonight's 3-0 Reserve team win over Great Yarmouth.

And made one for a certain C McDonald to boot, as the ex-Essex scaffolder marked his first competitive appearance in a Canary shirt with a 70th minute strike for City's third and final goal.

Roll the clock back some 48 …

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Kevin Baldwin got it spot on in his most recent column; maybe, we've cried relegation wolf once too often over the last few seasons and now no one's listening anymore.

Undoubtedly we've come close to the drop in years past, and at the rump of Grant's disastrous tenure we looked for all the world like a team heading for tier three, but right now it's getting very hard to imagine how we'll survive.

The salient point is that when Grant …

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City boss Bryan Gunn was maintaining a steadfastly upbeat tone after this weekend's 1-1 draw with Burnley.

Another two home points dropped? Or the rot of those, two back-to-back defeats stopped?

As ever, opinion will be split between those who invariably deem their glass to be half-full – and those for whom the glass is half-empty.

For both parties, however, next Saturday's home clash with Coventry City is the big one. Burnley are a decent side; big, …

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City boss Bryan Gunn tonight pleaded for a little patience from the Canary faithful as 12 “cup finals” now loomed large on his radar.

Hard on the heels of this afternoon's 1-1 draw with play-off chasing Burnley, comes a second home game against Coventry City next weekend.

That needs to deliver the three, huge points that today's performance just about deserved as the Canaries enjoyed by far the greater share of the possession against a big, awkward and …

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To some of my friends who don't support City, I'm like the boy who kept crying 'Wolf' � the only difference being that I keep crying 'relegation'.

�You say the same thing every year around this time,� they say. ('Around this time' meaning around February 2nd, or Groundhog Day, which they also keep bringing up…) �But you never do go down, do you?�

This nonchalant certainty about our safety might be reassuring, except that it's …

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