Archive for the ‘Column’ Category

With the passing of time – and a renewed enthusiasm for football engendered by the transformation at Carrow Road over the last three seasons – I felt able to give it another go. Fired by that enthusiasm, not to mention a large Mars bar and two Red Bulls, I stepped onto a pitch again last Friday evening…

Read the rest of this article

The changed football landscape meant that clubs like Norwich could never again compete at the very top of the English game on equal terms. But, there are no other clubs exactly like Norwich, with fans who stay so loyal and so passionate in the third tier. Certainly there are no managers quite like Paul Lambert…

Read the rest of this article

Paul Lambert continues to do little or nothing wrong; taking full advantage of Rangers’ lack of numbers was a huge result coming as it did on the turn of the year and the season. In 400-metres terms – beloved in these parts – Norwich are still kicking on again down the back straight…

Read the rest of this article

I can still remember being part of a little gaggle of people who followed the chairman all the way down on the train to a Robert Fleck disciplinary hearing in Lancaster Gate – with Martin O’Neill desperate to front Chase up about just how much money he did have to spend…

Read the rest of this article

The point is, of course, that as well as Norwich have performed thus far this season, there are still teams who lie beyond even the reach of a Paul Lambert; teams against whom you ‘take your medicine’, pick yourself up and go again…

Read the rest of this article

I think the difficulty of comprehension may come from the fact that for many supporters, football serves as a relief from depression – even as a treatment for it. The idea that football can be a cause of stress and depression for those on the pitch is one that does not always occur to us…

Read the rest of this article

If Norwich City Football Club managed to cut out every mistake, every slip of concentration and bag all three points every time they managed to sneak into a one-goal lead whilst still scoring the goals that they do, they would – by default – be better than Manchester City. Or Manchester United.

Read the rest of this article

“People say staying up is success, and I can understand that and agree but I don’t want the players to think that is enough. I want to drive them on. Sir Alex Ferguson must have a bad back, from lifting trophies but he still wants more. So I want to be at that sharp end, where you can win things.”

Read the rest of this article

I wouldn’t be too swift to judge this Norwich side on that performance. The level of concentration required to keep those individuals under lock and key for 90 minutes is probably unsurpassed by any other opposition in the country right now…

Read the rest of this article

I think there’s a point that many a punter needs to grasp here – in the sense of recognising just how close the ‘Band Of Brothers’ that is any professional dressing room gets during every ten month ‘tour of duty’ they do year in, year out…

Read the rest of this article