Canary favourite Darren Huckerby today put a big, fat cat right among Norwich's pre-season pigeons by all but announcing that midfield star Dickson Etuhu was following Robert Earnshaw out of the door.
A big, Black Cat, to be more precise, with Etuhu suddenly linked to a ?1.5 million switch to Sunderland.
What should have been a fairly routine and innocuous lunchtime Press conference to announce a new coach service in association with the club's main sponsors FlyBe – offering supporters a new, more environmentally friendly matchday coach service from 100 pick-up points across Norfolk and north Suffolk – proved anything but as Huckerby found himself with a Radio Norfolk microphone for company.
At which point he decided to get one or two things off his chest in typically, no-nonsense Huckerby fashion – kicking off with the expected departure of his big midfield pal Etuhu.
Given that Huckerby was already seemingly resigned to kissing Youssef Safri good-bye as rumours continue to circulate of his impending exit to West Bromwich Albion – the Birmingham Mail this morning reported the two parties as quibblingover a wage packet with the Baggies offering ?6,000 per week and Safri reported to be holding out for ?10,000 – so his lordship's patience was being sorely tested by the breaking Etuhu news.
“By the looks of it, it looks as if we're going to be losing a couple more and it's going to come to a point where we can't afford to keep losing our best players,” said Huckerby, with the kind of off-the-cuff speech that only he is capable of.
You can normally hear a pin drop when Huckerby is in such a mood and today was no exception.
“Take into that what you will,” he told Radio Norfolk.
Quizzed further and City's two-time player of the season opted to elaborate even further – and let an impending move out of the bag. Sunderland was the early suggestion.
“Dickson looks like he's going somewhere else; Safs maybe; we've already lost Earnie (Robert Earnshaw).
“For a team that struggled, shall we say, for a bit last season to lose three of your best players… you can only go on like that for so long.”
It was Etuhu's apparently impending exit that had clearly rattled Huckerby's cage; the two are big pals. And while Julien Brellier's arrival may clearly have pre-empted Safri's long-muttered exit, replacing Etuhu with a like-for-like player is going to be a distinctly tall order.
About a 6ft 3in tall order – with the physique to match. The fact that Huckerby was also quoting a ?1.5 million transfer fee will throw another fly into the ointment.
“On his day, Dickson is the most complete midfielder in this league – on his day.
“Maybe he's had his inconsistencies, but when he plays well he is virtually unstoppable. To lose a player of that quality for what is it? ?1.5 million?
“We ain't going to be able to spend that money and get the same player in.
“I'm very disappointed and there's going to come a point when I'm not going to to be happy about losing players,” added Huckerby, as the Radio Norfolk tape kept turning.
“I want to win games; I want to play in a team that wins games – simple as that. And at the minute we seem to be losing our best players.
“And it's not just once or twice – it's your Dean Ashtons, your Damien Francis', tour Leon McKenzies, Earnie, Greeny (Robert Green), though to be fair he's a bit different; he'd been here ten years; he'd done his stint.
“But the gaffer must be tearing his hair out – Dickson gone. Or going.
“And the lads are gutted because he's a good player. It's started to get on my nerves, to be honest.”
Etuhu missed this weekend's trip to Exeter having been at the dentist, according to City chief Peter Grant.
He had already been at the centre of one transfer rumour in the shape of his ex-Preston boss Billy Davies who was reported to be circling again with the prospect of Premiership football with Derby County – a trick that Black Cats boss Roy Keane can also pull as he embarks on a major rebuilding process at the Stadium of Light with not only Sunderland's top flight riches at his disposal but also the untold wealth of Niall Quinn's Irish backers.
Certainly Grant will be desperately disappointed to see Etuhu walk out of the door if Huckerby's worst fears are realised over the next 24 hours.
Part of the reason for Brellier's arrival was to give Etuhu the chance to maraud that much further upfield with a combative, midfield presence alongside him – one that instinctively played 20-yards further up-field than Baggies target Safri.
And while Etuhu's interest in games can wane on occasion, he still managed to play more games than anyone else last season – topping the 50-mark and adding seven goals to the pot too.
Indeed, it was when he wasn't there that you noticed just what he had come to bring to the party – most notably at Colchester United away where in his absence the Norwich midfield let the Us help themselves to that 3-0 win.
In amongst all the public hand-wringing that will no doubt accompany Huckerby's unscheduled outburst, there might be one very valuable lesson to be had for the newly-arrived Turners – that in this game it pays to expect the unexpected.
That just when you think all is going quite swimmingly, that's when football tends to smack you straight in the chops.
And if bringing in six players ahead of the start of pre-season was all very un-Norwich, today's events in front of a Radio Norwich microphone were – you have to say – pure Norwich.
Radio Norfolk's Huckerby interview
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