• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Football Writer

My Football Writer Norwich City news… comment… analysis

Norwich City – news, comment and analysis

Find the best betting sites
  • Home
  • About us
  • The Team
  • Archives Index
  • Patreon
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contact us

Five things we probably already knew before Sunday’s derby but which became crystal clear

2nd March 2017 By Steve Cook 9 Comments

Please share

1) We’ve been spoiled

For all the talk of Ipswich not having beaten us since 2009, we’ve actually only played them in three of the subsequent seasons, albeit a total of eight times.

But prior to this year, the derbies have proven to be stepping stones on the way to promotion -significant both in the manner by which we have dominated the fixture but also the wider context of the results.

“Here’s Cameron Jerooooooome… and that’s Wembley”

With the play-off places inching away from us, on the back of our failure to dispatch the league’s lesser lights (such as Ipswich), Sunday’s match had the feel of two sides from the Championship’s barren wastelands playing for little more than supposed bragging rights and local pride.

That’s fine if you’ve spent fifteen years in the second tier and the derbies are the only things that make you remotely relevant, twice a year.

But Norwich started the season with far more important aspirations than laying claim to the title of ‘the Pride of Anglia’ – an accolade, that outside of our region, is like an argument between Dopey and Grumpy about which of them is the tallest dwarf.

2) You’re not famous anymore

Both sets of fans know the script.

Ipswich fans delight in pointing out that we didn’t match their achievements from over 35 years ago. We counter that with the reality check that they have become nothing more than a mediocre Championship club which can’t fill its stadium.

I don’t blame Ipswich fans for looking back fondly at better times – even if it was before the majority of them were born.

But Sunday saw claims that they are “still famous”.

Now in today’s society, ‘fame’ comes (and goes) in many different guises.

The supposed fame claimed by Town fans is the sort which is coveted by countless Z-listers on Celebrity Big Brother or on the pantomime stages up and down the country.

The fame enjoyed by those people, who once ‘went viral’ on social media and those who’s opening introductions invariably begin with “did I ever tell you about the time?”

3) Mick will always moan about money

My friend has got an Aston Martin.

I haven’t.

Instead of moaning about this, I recognise that he earned the right to buy it by studying hard at university and then working his nuts off, whilst I spent a disproportionate amount of that time playing video games.

Sometimes in life, you reap what you sow.

City’s current financial position owes nothing to Russian rubles or Chinese cheques, but is a legacy of the efforts of Messrs McNally, Lambert and Holt.

It might not seem fair to all those Ipswich supporters who waved wads of cash in our faces and bragged about being ‘loaded’ when Marcus Evans took over.

But life isn’t always fair.

Just ask any of the small local businesses that received five pence for every pound they were owed by Ipswich Town following the club’s voluntary administration.

4) Some Dijks are bigger than others

Mitchell Dijks is a beast.

Seeing him on a football pitch is like going back to the school playground, when the lad in Year 3 gets his brother from Year 6 to join in.

Taller, stronger and faster.

The referee disallowed Mitchell’s second-half ‘goal’ for use of the arm. However, replays would suggest the ball actually came off his ‘aura’ and was therefore a perfectly legitimate strike.

The mantle of ‘greatest-ever-Dutchman-in-a-City-shirt’ is there for the taking, even if his stint at Norwich is short-lived.

With Derveld, De Waard and The Wolf for company, it’s perhaps not that difficult. Then of course there was Leroy Fer – whose finest performance in Norwich came on the dancefloor at his wedding.

But not since the legend of Huckerby, has a loan signing looked such a class above his peers.

He’s bigger and better and bound for bigger and better things.

5) You can’t take the hooligan out of the man, but you can face-plant it into the turf

I recently wrote a column on the little things that I appreciate about the match-day experience –  the small moments that don’t make the TV highlights but bring a genuine sense of pleasure.

How could I have completely overlooked the glee of seeing an away fan being wrestled to the floor and then ejected from the ground by the ‘boys in blue’?

Or in Sunday’s case, the ‘boys in blue’ being ejected by the boys in hi-vis jackets.

Assuming that the two individuals who made that walk of shame will shortly be appearing in a magistrates court at a location near you, I imagine that the case for the defence will go something along these lines;

“Your Honour, Ipswich Town has endured many years of misery and mediocrity. When Jonas Knudsen opened the scoring at the stadium of their bitterest rivals, the defendants were simply overcome with emotion to the extent that they conducted themselves in a way which they fully accept was ill-befitting for men of their advancing years”.

The prosecuting barrister will stand and simply say

“The days of skin-heads launching themselves towards the opposition fans are long gone and a throwback to darker times. Such behaviour belongs in the past – much like your club’s achievements.”


Please share

Filed Under: Column, Steve Cook

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeff says

    2nd March 2017 at 8:12 am

    Oooooosch. Love it. I imagine some very old chap in Uruguay knows exactly how they feel.

    Reply
  2. Stewart Lewis says

    2nd March 2017 at 9:02 am

    I agree with Jeff!

    Reply
  3. Jeff says

    2nd March 2017 at 9:21 am

    Kindred spirits

    Reply
  4. Gary Field says

    2nd March 2017 at 9:33 am

    Very amusing Steve.

    Mick moaning about money is amusing, not least because he ignores the fact that “invisible Marcus” has been lobbing bundles of cash in his direction for the past few years, yet there’s only plenty of teams who’ve been promoted without the benefit of parachute payments!

    Reply
  5. Giles.S. says

    2nd March 2017 at 11:09 am

    Well done to our manager for bringing in Dijks. Perhaps we might get him on a season loan next season.

    Reply
  6. Don Harold says

    2nd March 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Some time ago after one of our many wins against them, I was going to post one of those Norwegian commentator’s things listing all the famous 1p5wich fans and say ‘your boys took one helluva beating’ and post it on one of their forums. Unfortunately, the only named celebrity fan I could find at the time was Canadian snooker ace and champion lager drinker Bill Werbinuik, and he had been dead a long time.

    Reply
  7. John Tyrrell says

    2nd March 2017 at 8:12 pm

    This is a rather sad article.

    Reply
  8. Jim Davies says

    2nd March 2017 at 10:24 pm

    Steve, the Beast may or may not be the greatest Dutchman we’ve ever signed, but he does have competition. Derveld, the Wolf, and de Waard aside, don’t forget our Milk Cup winning left back, Dennis van Wijk. The Beast will have to get a few more games in a yellow shirt before you can write of Dennis.

    Reply
  9. Steve Cook says

    3rd March 2017 at 7:54 am

    Jim – how could I have forgotten Dennis?!? Although didn’t he give away the penno that Walker missed in the Milk Cup final? Let’s up Wildschut proves to be stiffer competition too!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FIND MY FOOTBALL WRITER ON

As featured on NewsNow: Norwich City news” style=

Norwich City News 24/7

#NCFC LATEST

23duff Ryan D 🔰 @23duff ·
20m

Tzolis and Marquinhos on the bench! Love it!! 3 points incoming!! 🤩🥳 #ncfc #otbc

Reply on Twitter 1621839222536634373 Retweet on Twitter 1621839222536634373 Like on Twitter 1621839222536634373 Twitter 1621839222536634373
curtis_furness Curtis Furness @curtis_furness ·
20m

Surprised Giannoulis keeps his place but I think Wagner must have seen something in training. Come on you yellows! #ncfc

Reply on Twitter 1621839149505413121 Retweet on Twitter 1621839149505413121 Like on Twitter 1621839149505413121 Twitter 1621839149505413121
norwichcityfc Norwich City FC @norwichcityfc ·
20m

The visitors 👇

#NCFC

Reply on Twitter 1621839140990902272 Retweet on Twitter 1621839140990902272 Like on Twitter 1621839140990902272 3 Twitter 1621839140990902272
pinkun The Pink Un @pinkun ·
20m

🚨 We're in position at Carrow Road for this afternoon's game against Burnley.

Follow live updates, join the debate and have your say throughout the afternoon with our live blog👇🔰 #NCFC

https://app.pinkun.com/norwich-city-v-burnley-live-blog/content.html

Reply on Twitter 1621839023395201025 Retweet on Twitter 1621839023395201025 1 Like on Twitter 1621839023395201025 Twitter 1621839023395201025
jgraver7 James @jgraver7 ·
21m

Can’t argue with that. Strong starting team with many options from the bench. #ncfc

Reply on Twitter 1621838992437026816 Retweet on Twitter 1621838992437026816 Like on Twitter 1621838992437026816 Twitter 1621838992437026816
Load More...

Copyright © 2023 21VC Ltd | All rights reserved | Not to be reproduced without prior permission.

Disclaimer: The information on this website consists of personal opinions. Whilst we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained on these Web pages is accurate and correct at the time of writing we do not accept any liability whatsover for any loss or damage caused by reliance on this information.

We do not accept any responsibility for information contained in other websites to which this site links. We strongly advise users to check any information before acting or relying on it.

Developed and Hosted by