After a weekend in which both Canary chief executive and City chairman played the 'Local Hero!' card with a passion, so attention tonight was – inevitably – turning to just who might fit that bill.
And as everyone started to hanker for the return of the good times after four long and barren years in the Championship wilderness, so the Class of '93 and that of 2004 come increasingly under the spotlight.
Would it be one of Mike Walker's UEFA Cup heroes that ticked the board's 'Yellow and Green' box? Or would they turn instead to a younger generation still and install a Mackay, a Fleming or a Roberts into any new-look managerial mix?
Beyond '93 and it is difficult to see to who they might turn other than Aage Hareide. The 55-year-old Norwegian is, conveniently enough, a free agent having resigned as the national coach of Norway last month.
Rumour always maintains that he was there or thereabouts at the time of Peter Grant's appointment; a big, Viking warrior of a man – Hareide has won league titles in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Few – if any – of his potential rivals would come with that number of medals attached.
You could throw Robert Fleck's name into the mix, I guess. Few would offer his passion; his love of City life. Perhaps he's a possible. Perhaps.
But with Bryan Gunn in the box seat and 'in charge of first team affairs', so the Class of '93 is proving an intriguing mix of possibles, probables and 'You never knows…'
Because from the ranks of those that shone in Munich and Milan, a whole clutch of first team coaches have subsequently emerged – only two of whom have actually made that first step onto the managerial ladder, Rob Newman briefly at Southend United and Rotherham's Mark Robins.
An early front-runner for the City vacancy, Robins has subsequently ruled himself out of the contest. He's happy at The Millers.
Ditto Mark Bowen, who currently enjoys the most high-profile role of that generation – as No2 to his Welsh international pal Mark Hughes at Manchester City. Leaving the richest club in the world for a chance to dig the Canaries out of the Championship mire probably holds little appeal. Not whilst you're in the midst of trying to complete the ?108 million signing of Kaka.
Run across that back four, however, and three names would tick many a board box; if not necessarily for the No1 gig.
Ian Culverhouse – Walker's sweeper extraordinaire that heady autumn – is currently Paul Lambert's No2 at Colchester United. Whether he would want to jump ship so soon after joining the Us is another matter; Newman, of course, knows the bottom end of the Football League inside out having been No2 to Kevin Bond at Bournemouth – as well, of course, as that brief managerial spell with the Shrimpers.
Having parted company with the Cherries last September, Newman can now be found scouting for Steve Bruce's Wigan. The suspicion remains that he would jump at the chance of a return to coaching duties at Carrow Road.
And then there is Ian Butterworth. Given the cast of strong characters around him in that side, Butterworth's role as club captain suggested that he had more about him than most leadership-wise.
Like Newman, he likewise knows his way round the lower leagues having been at Cardiff City with first Alan Cork and then Lennie Lawrence. He went to the World Cup in Germany in 2006 as part of the Football Association's coaching and scouting set-up before joining Danny Wilson at Hartlepool where he is Reserve team coach.
He celebrates his 45th birthday next week and has all the coaching badges you need. A dark horse, would be the bookies favoured description.
As opposed to the man in the very middle of that revered outfit – Ian Crook. He, for many, remains one of the favourite 'Local Heroes'; the man who made that City side tick; the man whose absence at the San Siro was so keenly felt.
Currently the high performance director at Newcastle in Australia, his name would certainly feature on the board's wish list. Legend maintains that he hasn't been too far away on each of the last two occasions – only to be pipped at the post by first Peter Grant and then Glenn Roeder.
The fact that he would know exactly where to find the next, six-foot strapping Aussie soccer star ought to help his cause; what doesn't is his immediate knowledge of the English Championship. Maybe, that's where he comes in as the bolt-on.
Thereafter, however, and it is the title Class of '04 that come to the fore – with Messrs Roberts, Fleming and Mackay all bringing a certain something to the party.
Still living in Kent and working for BBC Radio Wales, whether Roberts would wish to uproot both teenage family and drop his blossoming media career for the uncertainty of life at the foot of the Championship is one, big question; the same one that applies to Mackay in Hertfordshire. He is, of course, still in a job with Watford.
For many, the big-hearted Scot remains the icing on Aidy Boothroyd's cake.
Fleming is, however, on the spot and would – you suspect – be available at a moment's notice. His big friendship with Darren Huckerby adds another string to his bow; as does some straight-forward, no-nonsense Yorkshire speaking. He's a strong possible.
All of which only leaves the man in possession – the former Sheriff; the man with Tommy Wright as his current deputy.
Having occupied nigh-on every other role at the football club in his 22 years at Carrow Road, can Bryan Gunn 'do a Worthy….' and grab the hot-seat off the board from his caretaker's position?
Has Saturday's 4-0 win given him the kind of emotional momentum he needs to grab the Canary managerial crown? Has this weekend's 'little think' convinced him that now is his time, his moment, his chance?
He ticks every 'Yellow and Green' box going; the spontaneous round of applause that greeted his arrival in the Press conference on Saturday night further proof of the abiding affection in which 'The Gunner' is held. And he has Sir Alex up his sleeve. Surely, he will have something left on his Old Trafford table for his one-time teenage baby-sitter to borrow for the remainder of the season?
It is, in short, an intriguing list of City characters and Canary candidates that sit before the board this week.
And given the strength of those 'Local Hero' speeches this weekend, one of them will surely emerge to claim at least a share of the selection spoils; that if there isn't an outright No1 in their midst, then there's a very able No2 lurking in that famous pile.
One whose heart still pumps yellow and green.
Leave a Reply