Rhoys Wiggins became the latest City departure today, joining Bournemouth on a permanent deal for a nominal fee.
The left-back, brought to Norfolk last summer by Bryan Gunn, never really got going during his year at Carrow Road, with injuries and the excellent form of Adam Drury standing in his way.
And now that former Rangers defender Steven Smith is also in front of him in the queue after his arrival on a free transfer, a parting of the ways was always a likely scenario.
But after spending time on the south coast last season, Wiggins’ move will be a seamless transition, especially now the Cherries are plying their trade in League One after last year’s promotion.
The 22-year-old has penned a two-year contract at Dean Court, with a 12-month option, and will be well known to the Bournemouth faithful having made 30 appearances in two fruitful loan spells for the Cherries.
He was among the crowd for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham and stayed in Dorset to finalise negotiations at the start of this week.
Wiggins has been accompanied by his representative, former Derby favourite Darryl Powell, during discussions and Eddie Howe’s men are understood to have beaten off competition from a number of other clubs to capture the former Wales Under-21 defender.
“I’m absolutely delighted that we have secured the signature of Rhoys,” said Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell, speaking to the club’s official website.
“It’s an important position to fill as left-backs are few and far between and this is an important part of the jigsaw that we have put in place. It is full credit to Eddie Howe for persuading Rhoys to come here.
“Rhoys has been at the club twice before for long spells and played very well and also fitted in with everyone. It is full credit also to the players because they made him welcome immediately and that has been a big factor.
“Everything combined has tipped the balance in our favour because there were a number of clubs looking to sign him.
“Rhoys still had a year on his contract at Norwich and that shows the ambition of the player because he could have just sat back and had a holiday for a year.
“It also shows the ambition of the football club and this is what we have all come on board to do. It shows that we are looking to compete and that is our aim.
“I’m sure we will have days that won’t go as we want, but I am also sure that there will be many times that we will be jubilant.”
In other news, the Canaries have become the latest club to ban the much-maligned vuvuzela for the coming Championship season.
The instruments, which were so popular amongst the South African public during the recent World Cup, have now been prohibited from Carrow Road with immediate effect, mirroring the decision of many Premier League and Football League clubs.
“In line with a growing number of other clubs in the FA Premier League and Football League, Norwich City have decided the plastic horns, which were popular in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, will not be allowed into our stadium,” said an official club statement today.
“The instruments contravene existing ground regulations and there is a concern the noise from many of the horns blowing simultaneously could impair supporters’ ability to hear safety announcements on the public address system, as well as the possibility they could be used as weapons and/or thrown on to the pitch.
“Clearly there is also a strong customer service issue to consider as well. The Club has received very robust input from supporters on the subject of vuvuzelas since the World Cup started in June, with the vast majority firmly against them being allowed into Carrow Road.
“The overwhelming feedback is that Norwich City fans would prefer to generate the usual superb atmosphere they create for games at Carrow Road without the need for vuvuzelas.”
I wonder how many of the complaints about the vuvuzelas were actually from people who attended the world cup? Not many, I’ll bet. That said, they would be very annoying. We tried to get behind England after ‘that goal’ by Lampard against Germany and were drowned out by the horn. All supportive atmosphere lost… but saying that, maybe Colchester and Ipswich should gratefully accept them, if only to bring some life to their grounds.