Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening. Donner und Blitzen – and I’m not talking about Rudolph’s mates in Santa’s once a year all-star reindeer display team. Or in the words of Daniel Farke: ‘In the first half we [were] like a thunderstorm. We created so much lightning.’ And how true. Possibly the best 45 minutes of […]
A clear philosophy on the pitch, played some very entertaining stuff, even in a 1-4
Well I’m not getting my Calvin Klein’s in a twist after the 4-1 reversal at Anfield. For starters, we were missing two key centre backs as in Christoph Zimmermann and Timm Klose. Already some people are leaping on Grant Hanley’s back, but he was (not arguably but factually) our only available centre back on Friday […]
Four days and counting, and then City’s Premier League adventure begins…
That was an impressive way to end the phoney war, as our very own Connor Southwell described it yesterday. Sure, les Violets should have been put to the sword more clinically than they were but it’s no bad thing to go into a Premier League season with a win under our collective belt. So, what clues […]
Just two trips to Carrow Road to mix with our European friends, then it gets serious
Well, if Carlsberg made friendlies… we couldn’t have asked for much more. No injuries. I repeat no injuries. And there was also the small matter of a 5-1 win against a side who strolled to a well-deserved promotion last season against the odds. Does that remind you of another team we all know well? Apart […]
German tour over and now it starts to get real, with the Bees and Hatters up next
Well, the half-time whistle has blown and it’s time for a (very) brief period of consideration. Our pre-season tour of Germany is over, but the action will resume on home turf very soon. Was our Westphalian excursion successful? Yes, I would say so and for several reasons. In the simplest of terms, we return to […]
Chase out… the Battle of Naseby… pigs bladders… and the 16:45 to Liverpool Street
During this off-season, we’ve experienced many ups, as in sensible, cost-effective recruiting, the impending departure of Nelson Oliveira and the announcement of very appealing home friendlies against Atalanta and Toulouse. A temporary, short-lived down was relieved by the discovery that Ben Godfrey’s ankle injury is not as bad as first thought and Adam Idah, Patrick […]
NCFC vs ITFC: Divergent paths (for now) and two *very* different models of ownership
A dozen doors away from me in the city there dwells an Ipswich supporter. I have had many conversations with him over the years but I can truly say I do not know his name and he probably doesn’t know mine. That’s urban life for you I guess, but he’s a really nice bloke and […]
New kit… top German keeper… new, quality Under-23s… classic vid… what’s not to like
It was quite a week for all us Norwich City folk. A clutch of new arrivals, including what to me looks like the release of the best kit I’ve seen since the classic Asics one from the late 1980s. Players must be at the forefront of consideration of course. In comes what appears to be a Webber/Farke […]
When Gossy spoiled The Kop’s final hurrah… and a busy old day down in NR1
Back in the day when I had to work bloody hard for a living, my job involved visiting factories and/or tech bases all over the UK and occasionally Europe as well. I was Norwich-based, which meant many hours of travelling time, but if I had to get up at four in the morning and stay […]
Finally down to business for City. The hard work starts now… in Westphalia, Germany
As June turns to July, it’s time for MFW to take a look at our pre-season friendly fixtures. There’s no Dereham Town, no Lowestoft Town and thankfully no Cambridge United on our schedule this time around. I’m sure Timm Klose would agree with me regarding the latter. A crocked knee acquired on a pitch Farmer […]
So, the countdown begins and Liverpool (a) will be here before you can say Josip Drmic
The incredible march of time dictates that pre-season training for Norwich City (and doubtless many other clubs) means that it’s all back to Colney within a week. Not you Nelson, but everyone else will reconvene to face a serious medical and physical analysis of how they have behaved on their holidays. Sports science in the […]
The direction is clear, no marquee signings, but this time around we’re cool with that
Oh My, how the times have changed. We’ve just signed a young lad from Rochdale called Dan Adshead, for, it’s suggested, around £300,000. He’s 17-years-old and Rochdale Chief Executive David Bottomley had this to say about it: ‘On behalf of the Chairman and Board of Directors at Rochdale AFC, I would like to thank Dan […]
Welcome to the Prem, City! Liverpool away first, and then it gets really tough…
All the nightmares came today, and it seems as though they’re here to stay, was written and sung by somebody in 1971. Nearly all of us will own a CD, album or mp3 download created by him. To the very few of the MFW community who don’t know who I’m referring to, please feel free […]
TV WEEK – It’s a wrap! Martin P signs off via tales of Frankie, Fiona and Bernard…
Well our MFW TV week certainly revealed a lot of common likes and also a fair bit of diversity. I never thought we’d conclude with a magnificent appraisal of Star Trek from Ed Couzens-Lake, but that’s life Jim, just not as we know it. There was quite a bit of collective love for some of […]
TV WEEK: Martin P kicks it off – starting with Sooty and concluding with Red Dwarf
I guess relatively few of us will remember last off-season’s MFW music week. I do because I was quite involved with it and we had some fine contributions from readers and writers alike. Well, this time around we’re collectively going for a TV week. One of the greatest things about this site is that we […]
Forgotten City “heroes”? Time to look back on some infamous names of yesteryear
Well, we all know by now that Villa have joined us in the Promised Land. In my personal view, it should have been Leeds as they finished third but that isn’t how the football world works these days. More’s the pity. But out of the four teams involved in the (truly) dreaded play-offs, clever old […]
Martin P and pals sum up the season with a few at the Ribs of Beef…
At the very end of the season there’s always an excuse to meet up with some NCFC mates in “off-duty” circumstances. So, being a person who can extract a quote from an angry dragon I thought I’d meet some friends in the Ribs of Beef on Saturday to see what their personal highlights were from […]
City are big time on the global stage again folks – let’s enjoy the ride
For all those supporters of other clubs – and indeed most of our own – our Championship triumph will have come as something of a surprise. To myself as well if I must be totally honest. And several of us here on MFW will surely feel the same. Let’s face it, most of us were […]
City have every right to mix it with the big boys and not every fixture will go Pete Tong
Juggernaut. Steamroller. Or maybe just simply awesome. And with squillions of quid to further reinforce them (as if it’s really needed). Yes, we’ll be up against Man Citeh twice next season. So welcome to the real world of the elite of the Premier League. We’ll have to swallow the occasional result like that ourselves next season […]
Self-belief and motivation: Two key components of Norwich City FC 2019-style
Back in the early 1980s I often had to work a 1400-2200 shift, or two to ten as the Old Bill called it. With a bit of overtime I often didn’t get home until midnight. No worries, I was well paid and the underground from St James’s Park to Buckhurst Hill ran until nearly 0100. This […]