It’s guest blog time again and today it’s the MFW debut of Dave Major, who looks back to his formative Carrow Road years of the 1980s and draws some parallels with the Class of 2020.
“I have been particularly impressed this season by the way in which our younger professionals have acquitted themselves on the pitch.”
“Their growing talents demonstrate the effectiveness of our youth policy here at Carrow Road.”
Stewart Webber, right?
No.
Robert Chase.
Yes.
Him.
Those quotes are from On the Ball, a club-produced magazine in late 1990, and are primarily about Ruel Fox and Lee Power – a makeshift strike force that gave the then (and now) league leaders Liverpool a run for their points at Carrow Road.
While so much in football has changed in the last thirty years, it’s perhaps surprising that so much has also stayed the same (as the saying goes).
This was a time of playing the Norwich way: quick passing football, the dominance of flair players, and a development line from youth to first-team. Rather like now.
At the time, City fans were concerned about their team’s position in the football hierarchy. Maybe not as a “top 26” side, but then as one that could break into the footballing elite. Mike Phelan, Andy Linighan and Andy Townsend had all recently departed for big money, the thought of relegation was nowhere near and there were no two-division plans then – a problem that nearly led to bankruptcy a few short seasons later.
So, what’s changed 30 years on?
- Focus on tomorrow. Norwich have developed an ethos of developing and progressing some of “their own”. That’s not new. For the 1980s we hadFashanu, Barham and Gordon; for the 2020s read Cantwell, Aarons, and Lewis. But the focus is as much on the mid-term, as it is the short – the case in point being the January window where it would appear those inside Colney were as focussed on Sam McCallum as they were Lukas Rupp.
- A plan for each and every individual. If you’ve not yet watched the Sky Sports video of deadline day signing Sam McCullum, the clear Norwich differentiator comes in a comment from agent Olly Henry. “It’s not just about the club. They showed what they wanted to do with him. Not just now but for 6 months … 24 months. They had a real plan for him … It’s not just about getting him there … Norwich was a really good fit.”
- Better people in charge, with football as the central point. I was no fan of Mr. Chase. Him vs Stewart Webber. No contest. We’ll leave it there.
What’s not changed but maybe returned?
- An emphasis on improving what you have; to coach the next 20% out of the players. Hark back to those dazzling days of European Football. Those bought to supplement Fox, Sutton and co weren’t the finished article when they arrived. Mark Bowen, a case in point, wasn’t even considered a full-time full back by Tottenham.
- The willingness to give youth a chance. Read the above statements from Olly Henry. Sam McCullum wouldn’t be at Norwich if he wasn’t going to be given the opportunity to develop and progress at first-team level. It’s what led to Jamie Cureton turning down the overtures of Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in the early 1990s. “I thought I wouldn’t get the same chance to break through at United”, he said in an interview with the Independent in 2014.
The latter – having “one of our own” to get behind on the terraces brings players closer to you and I. They’ve bought into the club, have played on the pitches of Dereham and Hellesdon. My early Norwich City memories are all about Dale Gordon and, later, Ruel Fox owning that right-wing. For my son, it’s all about Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell.
We’ve had a few false starts along the way. Josh Murphy’s exodus was partly down to an air of expectation never being regularly met among supporters; exasperated by a series of managers not having the faith. Others simply haven’t cut the Colman’s.
So, this year it’s Cantwell and Aarons. Will next year bring a Josh Martin or Adam Idah to the fore? If they’re good enough, they’ll be given a chance. If they come off, they either move us forward or move themselves forwards.
The challenge is keeping pace. Relegation is a backward step a few will not make. It’s why this season, more than most, will be tinged with regret. Last season we had the attacking, free-flowing football complete with more than one of our own. A green and yellow dream of a team.
We now face the prospect of watching that team being broken up. The football, philosophy, and style, however, will remain. The big difference is that thirty years on, these foundations aren’t built on chalk mines.
And it’s that which we should all grab hold of now. It may not be as good as last year on the pitch but we’ve still got our Norwich back. With bells on.
Hi Dave
Some very good thoughts in there.
Ian Culverhouse, Ian Crook and Mark Bowen were signed from Tottenham in 1985, 86 and 87 respectively. One a year for three years!
Bowen was a midfielder at Spurs when they had Glenn Hoddle and Micky Hazard as their regular fulcrum. No wonder he came here!
The guy could play literally anywhere and even played in goal once. Coventry in the early 1990s?
He actually established himself straight from arrival and was an immovable fixture in the first team long before Foxy [who may well have actually debuted before him] and played for us light years before Chris Sutton.
Robert Chase and Stuart Webber. Is it even fair to compare them?
Chase didn’t have a Webber as such. If it wasn’t bolted down he sold it and wouldn’t have consulted a Sporting Director even if he’d had one.
Webber isn’t the Chairman and isn’t autonomous but pretty much seems to run the show. Unlike somebody else he comes across as straight down the line and is ostensibly doing a great job with the very limited resources he has been given.
I doubt you’d get anyone selecting Chase over Webber!
An enjoyable read.
Sorry to go on about Mark Bowen so much – he’s my all-time favourite NCFC player.
2
When I think of Robert Chase, I’m grateful for Delia and MWJ. I know they take a lot of stick (co-owner virus?) but I feel they have the club’s best interest at heart-I never felt that with Chase.
I loved the early 90s team and was pleased that the team was built on excellent signings and players coming in from the youth and reserve teams. We now speak of good recruitment and the success of the academy. The result is similar-good football and a lot of love for the team.
Great result on Friday, perhaps the season starts here!
1
Chase was a snake oil salesman
1
Or just a snake
0
You should have stopped at snake.
0
Co-owner virus!!!
I was praising Gary G’s headline writing skills yesterday but you’re obviously the top geezer in reality.
Love it. You’re hired:-)
ps you’re right about Chase. He was one of those things that Biblical shepherds used.
As much as I wish they’d bugger off I would never put the Smiths in that category.
1
Thanks for the recognition-should I trademark it and sell it to Wetsham fans?
I never heard of Chase being called a Collie!
0
I don’t think Mr Chase was ever called a collie either. Border collies tend to be loyal, hard-working, highly intelligent, slim, lithe and attractive dogs that genuinely care about their sheepish charges even if only to earn their food and board honestly.
Mr Chase always suggested to me the image of an elderly rottweiler with too many pounds on its jowls. And elsewhere about its person.
Don’t worry Dave Major – MFW’s not always like this but you started it by using the C-word:-):-):-)
1
Hi Dave
Being from Gt Yarmouth I would disagree with Chase building the city foundation on chalk as he was from Caister and as a kid of the 50’s it was always said that his foundations came from the Caister Treacle mines.
City had some great players back then and in my memory we picked up lots of potential players from the south west and wales at young ages, locally my disappointing was the Javis brothers not really making it.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
0
I think there needs to be a reappraisal of Chase. The reason for this is two fold. One, it gets viewed by the end play rather than the whole and two, who his de facto replacements were.
Never a person I would want to get close to. I like to do business with someone who you do a deal with a handshake. With Chase, you never knew whether you had done the deal or not….
He replaced the maligned figure of Sir Arthur South and was ambitious – by comparison.
The club was still running at a loss as the turnstiles could not make things break even. Therefore there still had to be wheeling and dealing. As previously mentioned, the purchase of Culverhouse, Bowen and Crook – much to the increasing chagrin of Tottenham Supporters – for £50K, £60K and £80K respectively was an amazing piece of business. Did Chase get lucky? – without doubt – but he made his own luck. The success of our bargains was pretty high.
Younger fans are probably completely distanced about Norwich City in the Chase era. Going to Old Trafford and disappointed to ‘only’ get a draw. Motson saying that watching Norwich v Liverpool was like watching Liverpool v Liverpool. That’s right folks, we were a seriously good outfit. And not a one season wonder either.
With the Premier League, the days of the modest local businessman owning a top league outfit were over. Trouble was, we all got greedy and choked on the feast. The club wanted more and Chase couldn’t deliver.
Whether Chase knew he time was up before or after his departure I’ll never know, but he left. In the end. With the help of riots, mugs, t-shirts and a lot of hostility.
In retrospect, on paper, it was disproportionate – but that was before the level of the typical Norwich fan was reset to much lower standards. Fans wanted blood and they got it with Chase’s – eventual – departure.
The future has to be better? Doesn’t it? Nobody was allowed to own more than 50% of the shares. Everyone thought that was fair going fair going forward. We wouldn’t want a dictatorship would we?
In ride the Stowmarket Two. Or more like the Stowmarket 1+1.
With a piece of sheer opportunism, gets two seats on the board and eventually the majority shareholding by circumnavigating the existing rules. Hang on, isn’t that what we didn’t want?
‘Wearing her heart on her sleeve’ is a phrase we often hear, but to me that’s just sanctimonious rubbish. Thats said, it has served her well.
Whether the last two decades or more is considered progression from before, only you can decide, but I sincerely hope the reset button doesn’t hit again to a further downward level if relegation does occur, because we were once, one of the best. We just don’t want to seem to go there anymore.
2
And to think I so nearly missed reading that.
Excellent.
1