A daft question really, but how are we doing? Good enough I hope, in these most trying of times.
I’ve been posting pieces of daily content from the MFW team in an attempt to offer even the tiniest of distractions, but in the real world, the most awful of disasters is steadily – in London not-so-steadily – unfolding.
Wallowing in some NCFC nostalgia has, for some, been a way of temporarily escaping the gloom but for others – and I totally get it – there are far more important things to be thinking about right now than Norwich City FC.
As long as there is a demand I’ll keep on posting – even if I have to occasionally dip into the archives – but I respect those who’ve told me in no uncertain terms it’s neither the time nor the place. We all handle things differently at times of crisis.
But I can’t thank the team enough for their efforts so far. Content-wise, it’s been no different to any spring and, for that, I’m immensely grateful.
[By the way, if any of our readers wish to post their own thoughts or reminiscences vaguely related to our wonderful football club, then please feel free to forward them to me (gary@myfootballwriter.com) and there’ll be a guest blog awaiting you. Some of the current MFW team began with said guest blog.]
But, in the greater scheme of things, this is just fluff and we’re well aware of that. As this crisis deepens, it becomes ever more apparent that when we eventually return to Carrow Road it will be a very different place – with some empty seats.
Never before have we encountered a period of such uncertainty. While heroes emerge, so too do the worst society has to offer. When this is over, the world, and its chancers, will be perceived very differently.
For some, there will be a day of reckoning.
Right now we’re gripped by anxiety, fear and dread, and it’s horrible. The small things that one month ago would have driven us mad, would now be welcomed with open arms.
A stupid example, but I’d give anything for a news bulletin to contain ‘Brexit’ as its opening gambit, just as I’d happily be nudged by anyone in that ironic ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ type way. Man, that used to really irk, as I’m sure it will again, but right now I’d take one of those.
And how I miss giving my mum a hug and her telling me I need to lose some weight, or for Dad to look me up and down and tell me I badly need a shave, or that I’m starting to look old, or… you get the gist.
Things that one month ago would have been met with a frown or a shrug, all of a sudden become so important. The little things even more so than the big ones.
***
Football’s response to the crisis has been acutely analysed in the media and there’s no doubting the Premier League has not covered itself in glory, as they leak theories of how they think they can conclude the season to appease their Sky and BT paymasters.
If the idea was to gauge public opinion on how well received a ‘World Cup style’ tournament in London or Birmingham or a China-based schedule would be received, I hope they were listening.
Of course, at some point, these things will have to be considered, but not while ever-increasing numbers of those around us are dying. Some things are more important than pounds.
But… in the last few days, they’ve also said a £125 million solidarity payment will be made to the EFL and another £20 million will be donated to the NHS.
Fair play.
They also stated they would meet the PFA over the clubs’ proposals to cut player wages by 30 per cent during the pandemic. That meeting took place yesterday.
As it transpired, the PFA were not agreeable to the proposal and have set their members, potentially, on a crash course with their employers. Gordon Talylor and his merry men instead argued that any pay cuts would deny the Exchequer vital millions in taxes and would instead feather the nest of the owners, who may not necessarily direct the 30 per cent to the areas needed.
While part of this may come from a good place, the part that appears solely focussed on protecting their members’ earnings at this critical time for the country, stinks to high heaven.
So, still plenty more discussions to be had, and I was never keen on the use of the word ‘deferral’, but football is desperately trying to play its part and it didn’t need Matt Hancock putting the boot in when a) he has other stuff to concentrate on, and b) the same sentiment could equally be applied to the rich, wealthy and powerful who are not professional footballers.
(I’ll sshhh… not for MFW).
Our club, through some unfortunate timing, has found itself lumped in with Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool in the ‘nasty PL clubs who are furloughing their non-playing staff’ stories, while the nationals conveniently forget to mention that our club is making up the additional 20 per cent of each employees’ salaries.
If this had been announced alongside the story of the playing squad, Head Coach and Executive Committee agreeing to donate over £200,000 to those in need in the Norwich and the wider Norfolk community, then maybe we could have saved ourselves some negative press.
But, for those who care to study the detail, I fail to see anything intrinsically wrong with how this club has acted in these most difficult of circumstances. We have neither wealthy owners, nor oodles of reserves swishing around and when you’re self-financing the margins are very fine.
Our income has risen significantly since entering the Premier League but so too has our expenditure. The net position remains. To lump us in with the behemoths of north London and Merseyside is, quite frankly, ludicrous.
Those who are taking a pop are doing so because they’re looking for an excuse to do so.
Quite how long we’ll be in lockdown for remains to be seen and, as Johnson has reminded us, it will get worse before it gets better. But somewhere down the track, it will get better.
And at some point, God willing, we’ll be re-united, either at Carrow Road itself, or by tuning into Carrow Road as the Canaries resume.
But for now, we stay indoors, do all the right things, close our eyes and dream. Dream of that visceral, deafening, spine-tingling roar as Big Grant next leads our players out of that tunnel.
Stay safe my friends. I miss you.
Keep going Bud.
Miss you too Gary. Each day that passes is a day nearer to when this is all over.
Never mind slashing the pay of PL footballers, who as far as I can see have handled this situation very well. Apart from Jack Grealish – no surprise there.
The ladies and gents who need to be in the limelight are the leaders of the NHS and Public Health England who knew in January that they needed to stock up urgently with PPE and have testing labs on standby.
Not the politicians. Their style might be different but Corbyn or Starmer would be just as much at the mercy of the incompetence of their civil servants as Boris is.
In a few months time I wonder how many senior Civil Servants will be quietly slinking off into early retirement, clutching their golden handshakes and a nice gong, before the inevitable inquiries have a chance to look closely at how they’ve mishandled things?
Anyway, back to football. Someone is still on the ball. This clue appeared in yesterday’s crossword:
“Canaries perhaps shrewd changing goalie – first of penalties held (11)” *
I wonder who set that? Triumphant City fan? Certainly someone who knows the Tim Krull story you would think. One of the Sunday Times setters lives in the fine city, despite a family allegiance to the lot down the road, so it might be him, but I’m not sure if he sets for Saturday the papers as well.
Stay safe and well everybody.
* took me a while but I sussed it in the end, so I’ll leave it for others to try to unravel
Couldn’t agree more with Mick and Kathy. Keep going indeed.
Gary, can I say a big thank you to you and all the MFW writers, both regulars and occasional bloggers. We need something to keep us going in the absence of a proper life, and to those who have criticised you saying it’s not important now, then they have the option not to read MFW. They are welcome to stick to the endless news reports and “corona virus updates” on television. They don’t have to log in to your web site.
On the ball, City, and I can’t wait to get back to Carrow Road.
Jim – I couldn’t agree more.
Gary – a sentimental piece and probably needed to be written. Govt advice for mental health is quite clearly to not let yourself get consumed by this. At times I’ve felt overwhelmed, but that was in the infancy of this thing. Since then I’ve engaged with other activities, my family and quite literally anything to distract me from what is happening. The only thing I can to do to help is stay at home. That’s it.
As such I need anything to provide a welcome distraction and reading / writing about the club I love gives me a sense of normality.
Those who don’t wish to read – don’t log on. Those who do – do.
Keep the articles coming MFW team and guest writers. They are helping a lot of people.
Gary – as you well know I love the reminiscing, so those articles are great!
Good piece Gary. Certainly missing my Mum telling me ‘ you look a bit wish washy ‘ or ‘ you need a good meal ‘.
Of course, we love our NCFC and our sports, but all of this goes to show that the UK’s treatment of the NHS, it’s key workers and other key workers is arguably the most important of all.
Hoping we might see slithers of normality and grains of sport in whatever form returning in June if we are lucky – just hope.
Cheers
We have little option but to leave the main firefighting to the emergency services, health service and support services and follow government guidelines but as well as protecting the physical health of both ourselves and others. There is also the issue of protecting our mental health.
By spending significant amounts of time indoors it is only natural to want to find things to do and protect ourselves from cabin fever, and I am grateful that the government has allowed DIY shops to stay open so that I can get on with some much needed decorating.
I find I have to work hard at not continually looking at the BBC and news websites and getting caught up in the gravitational pull that is coronavirus news. It may keep us informed but it also has a propensity to induce anxiety.
Thank god then for Gary and colleagues for keeping us distracted. Being able to have access to such distraction is, in my opinion, therapeutic and does not detract from having the awareness that serious things are going on in the world.
In a virtual world, I would have been down at the Emirates yesterday, witnessing a rare away victory for the Canaries. Instead I watched Wales v Germany [1991] on iPlayer. David Phillips played though I’ve no idea whether he still played for City at the time. At 4 minutes 11 secs, I thought I saw Jeremy Goss coming out with the subs. The lineups didn’t mention any subs and the only Welsh one to appear was Gary Speed late on.
The game is worth a watch although the first half-hour perhaps less so. I was surprised to notice how short Lothar Matthaus is and I seem to remember him straining to clear a ball which Goss volleyed into the net. Hang on a minute, was that a quantum leap?
Keep up the distractions Gary, your club needs you
Thankyou Gary. It’s a lovely little NCFC community on here (others can be rather fierce) and I hope, this year, to meet some of you in person at a game or for a beer, to cherish life again and talk all things NCFC,,,
This will end. So stay safe everyone. This month will be grim but I think we will start to see tiny green shoots in May/June sometime. Football will be quite a bit longer than that before it returns but hell, when it does, the result won;’t matter a bit, the fact that We. Are. Back. …will be cause for Carra Rud celebration like no other.
Back to the garden. It doesn’t know whats hit it. But simple pleasures. Like ‘my’ robin which sits atop the fence and sings at me. It isn’t quite a canary but it’ll do…
Take care all.
I’ll tell you something Ed – Mrs P has been going berserk on our gardens too!
I’m always up at first light [cos of the dogs really] and we too have a regular robin, which also bestrideth our fence like a noisy little colossus.
And at dusk we have a pair of blackbirds which simply love the worms and insects Sue has brought to the surface earlier in the day. In Mundesley we have a buzzard which is wonderful to watch as it puts the Red Arrows to shame while in search of rodents. Said rodents are pretty sparse in the back garden as our terriers always have first shout.
Like all of us, I cannot wait to return to my uncomfortable perch in Daniel’s “living room”.
Simple pleasures indeed – but not to be taken for granted.
And I think we’d all like to share a sociable beer:-)
You know it. i think we will need to arrange a post match get together for all MFW peeps and peepesses post-Covid. Worth looking forward to!
I’ve had a wildlife pond in my garden for ages, have spent the last two days giving it a right go, pimping up my pond as the youth would say.
Lockdown isn’t nice. But we owe it to ourselves and, much much more, to the NHS to make the best of it-because one things for certain, a lot of the people roaming the parks and beaches right now saying they have a ‘right to exercise’ etc etc will all be sat on their arses on their sofas as soon as we can all do it legitimately again.
Thanks Gary and the MFW team for keeping us distracted at this difficult time. It certainly makes me take a step back to appreciate some of the simple pleasures of life that we mostly take for granted. Whatever happens with the rest of the season, I have a feeling that most supporters will just be happy to be back at Carrow Rd, with all that entails, regardless of what division we are in.
Hi Gary,
I echo the sentiments of many of the other comments on here, saying that you could argue that MFW is actually needed now more than ever.
I log on daily to read what is being written and the comments associated with the piece. It doesn’t take up much of the day but is a very welcome distraction from what is going on around us.
Clearly, in the grand scheme of things, football is not that important but to some it is. Some less fortunate than ourselves will need that 90 minutes away from reality from time to time and the impact should not be underestimated.
As regards furloughing, I wish we hadn’t done it. I know it’s the prudent thing to do and there is nothing wrong with it, but it just doesn’t sit well with me. Particularly, as we apparently signed a player this week!
Hi Gary,
I lost for words last night when I had heard the Premier League clubs had refused a 30% wage cut, and i’ve said what I think of Gordon Taylor the PFA chief executive on Martin’s post, and it is not good. He stands for nothing but personal greed. Where has he been when his members have suffered depression or Alzhemeirs, pocketing his obscene wages that’s where.
I think most of these players do want to help but the way this has been handled has been nothing short of a PR disaster. People are dying and Premier League players are refusing a wage cut ! that’s how it looks. And then you get Wayne Rooney saying ” poor us, we are being picked on” give me a break. Take a look at Barcelona, Juventus agreeing 70% cuts.
I am not having a go at your average “Joe” footballer, Grant Hanley and the boys have done the county proud with their donation. But there is no football being played, they have to come into the real world.
The players in the lower reaches need the government help just like everyone else, and even some in the Championship no doubt.
All the musicians, most actors and other entertainers have had all their concerts etc cancelled and unless they have, unlikely, insurance they are not getting paid.
I had a go at Joe Lewis the Spurs owner on Martin’s excellent piece as they have furloughed non-playing staff to be paid by the government scheme with him being worth £4.7 billion. But can he put money into the club to pay these wages? or will it be against FFP rules ? personally I feel the rules should be changed so all wealthy owners can do this to take the burden off the taxpayer.
But the players also have to realise if Sky and BT withhold the monies that are due, clubs like us and Burnley will struggle to pay their wages. And while social distancing remains in force how can you play football even behind closed doors ?
Like you say Gary for the PFA to ask for deferrals to help the NHS is cynical to say the least.
To put this into context there is a Premier League player who for the last 2 years has had his entire salary go to good causes he refuse publicity, this shows some do want to help.
Rant over !!!
Niall Quinn stands as an early and exceptional example of doing what is clearly right.
We have had a few of our own in the past too, such as Gossy [NNAB], Peter Mendham [EA Air Ambulance] and probably most particularly Flecky with his involvement in both local special needs education and largely unpublicised charity work.
And they’re just the ones I know about!
That weren’t no rant mate:-)
Oh Jeez I forgot the fine men that are Darren Eadie and Cedric Anselin who have done so much for the cause of male mental health of course!
“I lost for words last night when I had heard the Premier League clubs had refused a 30% wage cut,”
Whilst I have no time at all for Gordon Taylor I cannot agree with this proposal of a blanket cut simply because one group of people are in the public eye. Indeed would it not be pretty dangerous if he, one individual, could make the decision that would oblige approx. 400 -500 PL players to give up this money?
And why 30%? Why not 35% or 10%, or any other random number people would like to come up with? Why footballers specifically, but not F1 drivers, golfers, broadcasters, and the incompetents running Public Health England?
Why a one size “Fitz Hall” figure anyway? Contracts are negotiated between the club and the player, depending on their circumstances. The club cannot breach the contract by imposing a cut in wage, unless they want to make the player a free agent, so surely they have to renegotiate player by player, also depending on their circumstances.
Why in particular should a player whose contract runs out when the season ends, and who may well be permanently out of work thereafter, have to accept a cut in salary now? His club may well struggle after all this is over and unless he signs a new contract very soon he won’t be on their payroll anyway. And if he is offered a new deal it may well be at a considerably lower rate than the one he’s on now.
Next summer likewise, those with their contracts running will very likely suffer the kickback then.
And what about the bright young stars at clubs who, prior to all this, were expecting to move onwards and upwards in the summer?
Suppose for example that, using a composite name, Max Godwell was likely to move to Spurs in the summer? That deal may not happen and young Max will be stuck on his City salary a lot longer than planned. Or maybe the move will go ahead. If it does, he might well be 30% down on the salary that would have happened before all this occurred anyway.
One way or another the salaries within the game will very likely fall in the next few years, and players will take that hit as contracts expire or players are transferred.
Effectively they are being asked to accept a double whammy, and I don’t see why they should just because they are footballers.
What I do see though is the wonderful work being done in the current crisis by leading players at our club, and many others, which I’m sure will continue as long as it’s needed..
Hi Keith
I take your points, I wasn’t talking about your league one or two players here, nor some championship guys.
My point, not very well made I will admit, is that to me it is wrong with no football being played and some players earning at the top end earning £100,000 + per week while some super rich clubs are putting non playing staff on government schemes relying on the taxpayer.
Also the players seem to think all of the money saved from their 30% would go/stay into the pockets of their very wealthy owners ( Is FFP rules regarding owner investment still in play ?) but if Sky and BT withhold the next payment of TV money clubs like us and Burnley will struggle to pay our players.
The old days of the players being owned by the clubs in the pre minimum wage age are thankfully long gone, people like Harry Kane, Raheem Stirling get paid the “going rate” nowadays and that is correct. It is a fleeting career and they have to make the most of the time they are playing.
But that is my whole point, playing, they are not at the moment and I feel those at the high end should make some kind of compromise.
Definitely keep going. The quality of the regular columnists’ pieces is high, the nostalgic reminiscing is a joy and evokes fresh memories and previously forgotten moments in almost equal measure. The guest bloggers often provide a creative and different take on all things NCFC and the comments section shows the balance of the ‘greatest fushball fans in the world ‘
I look forward to MFW on a daily basis. Keep up the great work
Hi Gary
During tough times and hardship we all a bit of escapism so keep up the good work