This is the first time in a long while that I’ve been tempted to write anything for MFW about Norwich City.
I’ve consciously made the effort to insulate myself from the swirling vortex of opinions that follows on from being a fan of a club struggling on and off the field, mainly because football isn’t worth the strain on your mental health on top of all the other pressures life brings.
It will also be one of the shorter pieces I write.
On a personal level, 2022 has been tough after losing Dad. And on a football level, Dad was my mentor in the madness that is being a lifetime supporter of Norwich City Football Club.
Yesterday was one of those days in a long lifetime of following the club when everything changes. There have been a few over the years!.
Sitting in the biting cold brings a certain focus to what’s been coming for months – the final bitter argument in a relationship that both sides could have agreed was over a long time ago and saved a lot of rancour along the way. Staying together for the sake of the kids etc.
I wasn’t one of those who decided they hated Dean Smith the moment he was appointed, but there were plenty who did.
I was one of those prepared to give him a bit of slack until he had a fully functional squad to pick from. But, I also knew the writing was on the wall with stuttering performances scraping results and a league position that apparently belies our true quality.
Last night, the dam broke.
Blackburn were the perfect counterpoint for the occasion – potentially dangerous, but chaotically defying their own erratic performance metrics to somehow occupy a playoff place. Scruffy, awkward, and as desperate as us for a win; aided by a ref with no sense of control.
It was never going to be a classic.
An early own goal finished the game as a contest as City lost their way and fully demonstrated their most worrying trait – a complete inability to grab a game by the scruff and force the agenda.
What unfolded was entirely predictable.
Living in King’s Lynn means our match day routine is a bit of a slog – over an hour’s drive, to park well away from the ground so we can avoid the worst of the traffic, etc.
The result is that at the end of the game, there’s a long hike out of the city to the car, the long haul home (and not listening to Canary Call) – usually arriving home a couple of hours after the game ends.
This means I miss all the early heat from social media.
As I’d sat there in the South Stand in subzero temperatures, my cohort had debated what was wrong with the quality of the squad, the team selection, and missing players; the apparent lack of tactics and the wonder about why players, despite all the problems on display, couldn’t just take responsibility themselves.
All perfectly normal for football fans. But, as I said, the dam broke.
Very early ‘Deano out’ (we initially thought Delia out – it works either way) rang out and precipitated the full pantomime effect as the game went on.
We’d also discussed the reasons why some of the post-covid gaps in the stands were bigger than they had been – an evening TV game, freezing weather, cost of living, train strikes, etc. People voted with their feet before, during, and as the game drew to a close.
All of this is and has been normal in my long experience but what shocked me most was what awaited me on arrival home – Dean Smith blaming the fans.
Football is cyclical. Fortunes rise and fall. Joy and despair are bedfellows, and, worryingly, it’s our turn to find ourselves on a very steep downslope on the rollercoaster.
But one thing is constant…
The moment a club and manager turn on the fans there can only be one outcome.
I won’t turn my back on the club I’ve supported for more than 50 years – they won’t deny me.
My grandkids are desperate to go to their first game and asked for City kits for Christmas. They won’t be denied either. A new generation will begin their journey on 8th January with me bursting with pride alongside them.
But when Dean Smith blamed the fans, he took people like me for granted – the majority who will renew their seats in February and give unconditional support, and I’m not having it.
He also took for granted an owner who is past her sell-by date, and knew his sporting director has been more interested in being up a mountain in Nepal this week than wondering if the head coach has lost the plot.
It was a man speaking who knew there was no connection between the management of the club and the fans, and therefore felt no need to maintain it.
Life is too short to bear grudges but a lifetime is also what it means to be so embedded in support that you can’t sit back and not say what’s wrong.
That’s what the Snakepit and Barclay, and all around me did yesterday.
My dear old mum moved into a home a few weeks ago because life got too difficult without Dad. Sometimes things have to change forever because they no longer work.
It’s time Delia retired in comfort.
It’s time Stuart Webber picked his mountain and didn’t come back to professional sport
And it’s time Deano found a clearer way of asking for the sack.
Me? I’m not going anywhere – it’s my club and you won’t take it away from me, but the board needs to book itself a taxi.
See you on 30th December.
Absolutely bang on Dave particularly the last 5 sentences. That’s exactly how I feel after 55 years as a fan. The overriding sense that night was a complete lack of interest anywhere or in anything. Mr Webber takes a huge amount of the blame particularly now he is on his glorified gap year. The only substantial change that will ever make a difference is if Delia and Michael sell up but that has been my view for that last 10 years at least.
Sorry to hear about your Dad and best wishes to your Mum.
A wonderful, heartfelt piece. As someone who can still remember the Ron Saunders days the current situation hurts me. I can remember being devastated by a home defeat one Christmas v Southend under Megson? but we moved beyond it. These people are passing through. Dean Smith is a bad fit for the team as he tops up his pension at our expense and there is a feeling of staleness surrounding the whole place. This most important season is in danger of going up the same wall Webber referred to. As fans we need something to cheer.. I hope our US investors step up and make changes because it is sorely needed.
Excellent write, right from the heart and one I am 110% behind. I have been a supporter of Delia , this was and is her last hold to some publicity. any monies LOANED to the club have been paid back in various shares strengthening her vice like grip. Unlike you I let them force me out I lost heart totally . I campaigned for Chase out almost knocked senseless by horse, and organised the worthyout cycle.
Hugtons second season was enough, I lost my best mate and traveling companion to away and home games. I just could not drum up anything. I used to get to the odd game every season except so far this one, I was going to get tickets to the FA Cup game but my son said don’t bother dad why spend money to get cold and witness shit. We can lift the manhole cover for that.
Nothing will change, get shot of a coach wait a little while and it starts all over again. Worthy, Grant Roeder, Hughton, Neil, Limp onwards. Highlights in between Lambert Farke but these are never built on, hardly backed . shrink back into their little cocoon and leave the rest for the workers.
Until it is cleaned out from the top nothing will ever change, we will have some good times but always come to where we are yet again.
We can lift the manhole for that. Priceless!
Magnificent Dave👍
The day went down hill after I spoke to you!
Feel it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Also feel it time for others to have a shot at the poisoned chalice of the premiership. I’d be happy to support a young lower middle champs team for a year or 4. I cannot fault our owners, they have supped with the devil and tried hard. It’s amusing that critics claim that Ncfc is their ‘hobby’. Does anyone think that Man City is not a hobby for their owners?
Your comments make little sense in general, however the one clear point you make about hobbies and owners? The difference between the owners of Man City and Norwich, is that the owners of Man City can actually afford their hobby. The owners of Norwich palpably cannot!
Excellent piece Dave and I’m certain your views are now held by the majority of the fans.
When a board turns on its customers it’s a sure sign they’ve bereft of ideas.
Chase was bad enough but the current situation is worse.
At least Chase left assets in the form of land, all Delia will leave is a £50+ million black hole in the finances.
The self funding model has been shredded, Webber’s five year plan has ended in disaster and Deano hasn’t the decency to resign.
The unfortunate bit that troubles me is Delia probably thinks everything is going along splendidly!
Excellent Piece Dave & will echo the thoughts of the vast majority of City fans at this present time.
The clubs majority shareholders are well past their sell by date in age & ownership & are quite happy for Webber & Ward to make a total Horlicks of the club, Dean Smith was always an easy option along with Shakespeare because of their employment situation but the football just gets worse & like most of us realised weeks ago City are in a false position. Time for a change’s if the club wants to maintain their top “26” position.
Change must come. From the top down the club needs a total reset. Self funding is nothing of the sort. The more intelligent majority amongst us knew all along. It was a cover, a catch phrase for a rip off. The truth is out. Supporters are seen as a necessary irritant and treated as such. Time for the whole gang to foxtrot Oscar,
It all flows from the top in my view. This is the way that those in positions of power at our club view the fans and I have no doubt this sort of sentiment is voclaised regularly behind the scenes. Webber has said similar things on a number of occasions and I think it comes primarily from him (although Delia herself in moments when the veil slips has shown it as well) but now everyone at the club in the senior positions is a Webber (one of them anyway) recruit it is permeating more widely. You could see it in Richens comment. You can now see it in Dean Smiths quotes and attitude.
Smith is done. He should have been out after the Boro game and a new man in during the world cup. That he wasn;t sacked is just typical of our board who rarely make the right decision at the time it really needs to be made. They will do it eventually and we just have to hope its not too late. Fans have been able to see it for months so its truly shocking that the echo chamber within the club can never see it early enough.
This is an excellent article by Dave Cole and I totally agree that “The moment a club and manager turn on the fans there can only be one outcome.” That one outcome can’t come soon enough. At 62, I’m a life long Norwich fan too. Saturday was awful… as has been the last 13 to 14 months under Dean Smith. However I had to smile at the comment on it being a long haul from Norwich to Kings Lynn. Try living in North Yorkshire, south-east of Middlesbrough and being a life long Norwich City fan – as is my son too. Let’s hope all us Canaries will be singing a new song in 2023. Happy Christmas/Happy Chanukah (which ever one you do) and a happy 2023.