Archives Index

As one who frequents Twitter far more than is healthy, it’s become clear over the last few weeks that there is little appetite right now for anything Norwich City-related. MyFootballWriter’s Google Analytics page confirms as much. Numbers are at quiet-period-of-close-season levels. All of which is fine but not ideal if you’re the editor of MFW, […]

For the many reasons we’ve already discussed on MFW, and as highlighted perfectly by Robin, this World Cup, on a wider scale, has been a tough watch. FIFA and the state of Qatar have made it so. But for those who’ve been able to strip away all the bad stuff – an inept, corrupt governing […]

It was nice to be able to afford MyFootballWriter readers a glimpse behind the Iron Curtain. When I say Iron Curtain, what I really mean is an account of City’s open-to-all, 90-minute training session in Tampa, but the fact Dave Bowers’ much-appreciated account of events and a few posted images on social media are as […]

Just typical of England. In a tournament that just feels (and is) wrong on so many levels, they go and turn in a performance that gets some of us interested and engaged. Not how I’d imagined it or even really wanted it. I’ll be honest, my patriotism is not unconfined – particularly at the moment […]

You may or may not have noticed that the Sunday stripes this week have been passed to our Martin. For reasons too trivial to mention, he and I have swapped for today and I’ll be here in the week. In fact, we, as in the MFW team, will be here for the duration of the […]

It’s a year to the day since Dean Smith and Craig Shakespeare rocked up at Carrow Road. The Club decided to commemorate the anniversary with a tweet of a beaming, yellow-and-green-scarf-adorned Deano standing in the tunnel. If you can stomach it, it’s at the foot of this piece. You don’t need me to expand on […]

In the aftermath of Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Wolves last night, Mikel Arteta was asked the reason for his team’s outstanding start to the season. His reply was obvious, yet telling. ”The unity… from the top of the club through to every single member of the team and the staff”. Something that, right now, we […]

Wins in Rotherham don’t come easy. They never have. And in recent times, Paul Warne or no Paul Warne, any point there is hard-earned. While to the watching world, the Millers are not considered Championship hopefuls, anyone who’s made the trip to Millmoor or the New York City Stadium will know exactly what I mean. […]

For the opening 20 minutes, it was good. Excellent even. But the old adage about having to capitalise on your good spells is an old adage for a reason. We didn’t capitalise. As Teemu Pukki’s brilliantly self-made opportunity slammed into the post and escaped the overtures of Seny Dieng’s goal line, so drifted away City’s […]

For 15 minutes it was pretty good. In that respect, it felt like we’d been transported back to the heady days of the nine-game unbeaten run. A win but an underwhelming win. The type to which we’ve become accustomed. But so poor has been the run we’ve been on, it was just a relief to […]

I don’t say it lightly. I’d resisted the urge to demand change longer than most because I wanted to see a side with a Dean Smith imprint on it, and by that I meant one that contained Isaac Hayden, two fit South Americans and a proper left-back. I’ve seen it now. Amid the barrage of […]

If you’ve not seen Robin Sainty’s EDP column of yesterday, then I strongly urge you to give it a read. As ever, he nails it and one sentence, in particular, stood out: “What should be a pleasure is becoming a chore for many and that’s not good.” Too right it’s not good, but it’s absolutely […]

Dean Smith was right in saying that last night’s performance was not dissimilar to those we put in during the nine-game unbeaten run. But that’s part of the problem. The performances during said run were okay for a few parts of a few games, but were generally accepted as being uninspiring, tepid, and disjointed. It […]

It was almost a game of two halves. Almost. But almost was not enough. And the first was so poor, it would have been nigh on impossible for the second to be as bad. To make it doubly disappointing, Watford are not the Championship galacticos Mick McCarthy would have us believe. They’re an okay side […]

Before I start I should warn you I’m not as angry as some. If you’re looking for some Dean Smith-related rage look away now. Yes it was disappointing, and yes we were profligate in front of goal and sloppy in defence, but those of a certain age have seen this a hundred times before. It’s […]

Hhmm. Traditional footballing convention tells us we should be happy with that. A point away from home against the side who were third, just two points and one place below us, sounds fine. So too the fact the league leaders lost at home, which means we’re now level on points with them and only second […]

And on we plod. No trees being uprooted, not too much swashbuckling, the entertainment meter only occasionally flicking into life, yet another three points on the board. Those in the ‘Smith out’ trenches are still able to hold the line after another afternoon of carelessness, blunders and staccato football, while those for whom three points […]

We find ourselves in what my dad would describe as a rum ol’ place. Some would call it a rut. Second in the league; averaging two points per game; a new, vastly wealthy American investor on board (and on the board), yet there’s barely a hint of joy evident across the Canary nation. Wins are […]

I deliberately gave social media only a light touch last night. The fallout from anything other than a win was always going to be unedifying. When I did dip in, it was typically laden with I-told-you-so’s from those who, since the start of the season, have been pointing out that despite being second in the […]

There are many different ways to win a football match; the list is almost endless. Yet Dean Smith’s City keep discovering new ways… usually inadvertently. Last night it was… a) Race into two-goal lead while playing like the away side, b) Give ball away with alarming frequency and so invite thoroughly decent Bristol City to […]

To not have a live game to watch on Friday night was disappointing but, as Kathy described beautifully yesterday, it was probably the right call by the EFL. Whether it was right to call off the whole Premier League and EFL programme yesterday was rather more contentious but was, I guess, one of those damned […]

It’s not often it can be said that Todd Cantwell has gone under the radar. That’s not his style. But he has, or at least his road to redemption has. It feels like, almost without noticing, we have our old Todd back. The one who clearly loves playing in the yellow and green, is warm […]

Yesterday was was a funny ol’ day. These are funny ol’ times. City won 3-0, it was their fifth win on the spin, it took them to the top of the Championship – just three weeks after being bottom – and they still have some key players to come back into the team. By almost […]

I wrote on Sunday morning about there being few more satisfying ways to win a game than a backs-to-the-wall smash and grab. Well, last night was the perfect demonstration of one that matched it. Maybe even trumped it. Who doesn’t love an injury-time winner? That we did it via a similar route to the win […]

Those who’ve played the game and who’ve come off the pitch with three points after taking a proper shellacking will have recognised the pride and joy in Andrew Omobamidele’s voice. The young Irishman’s voice quivered as he spoke glowingly of his defensive colleagues in the direct aftermath of yesterday’s win. “The excitement of that defending […]

So, our Carabao dream is over for another year. There will be no re-run of 1985. In reality, of course, we knew that before we’d even kicked a ball. Unless the inhabitants of that exclusive club known as the ‘big six’ bugger off to that European Super League they so crave, the likelihood of a […]

Not for the first time, I have to open with an apology. Prior to the Huddersfield game, when discussing on Twitter who should slot in at left-back, I jokingly suggested that as said emergency full-back was almost certain to roll his ankle and be out until Christmas we should consider playing Josh Sargent there. It […]

A win! So scarce have they been over the last year, Carrow Road has all but forgotten how to celebrate, although the muted celebrations upon Josh Smith’s final whistle were probably more to do with the collective unclenching of buttocks than anything else. We certainly don’t make it easy for ourselves, but let’s not underestimate […]

Not for the first time, I need to choose my words carefully. I took an online kicking during yesterday’s game for suggesting that minute 43 was too early to unfurl the #SmithOut banners. My poorly made point was that we could yet go on and win the game and the landscape would shift but was […]

I didn’t attend last night’s game and so hadn’t planned on penning a thought piece on events at the Carra. The fact there were no alternative ways of watching the action other than being there tends to render any comment I have on events even more futile than normal… and then Marcelino Ńuñez, in the […]

It was one of those something-for-everyone afternoons. For the pyro lovers, there was Carrow Road’s best effort yet; for everyone, there was a much-deserved ovation for our heroic Lioness; for the optimists, there was a performance that was infinitely better than its Cardiff equivalent, and for those who continue to demand Dean Smith’s P45, there […]

So, our first ever Chilean has finally arrived. Last night, following some transatlantic jet-setting, Marcelino Nuñez was finally introduced as a City player amid the now traditional fanfare of slo-mo badge-kissing and name-on-the-shirt pointing. Whether this signing is a stroke of genius from Stuart Webber or another damp squib will only be revealed over the coming […]

I’m not sure the defeat in Cardiff is quite the prelude to Canary Armageddon that some are predicting but it was definitely one of those where it was hard to nail down too many positives. I mean, it might end up being all of the things the prophets of doom are saying and more, but […]

We can blame Dean Smith and Craig Shakespeare, or the players, or some lamentable refereeing all we like for the defeat in Cardiff but the fact of the matter is the die was cast at 10:27 yesterday morning. A Twitter account for The Second Tier – a reputable podcast that covers all things Championship – […]

I need to tread a bit carefully. I took some mild stick on Twitter yesterday for suggesting those who bemoaned City’s performance in the 2-0 defeat by Celtic were blubbing prematurely. As I’ve said many times before, I pay little heed to results and performances in friendlies – even those that occur just seven days […]

So, things are finally moving. The friendlies are starting to come thicker and faster, the mood of the faithful is starting to oscillate more wildly than a bedroom fan, there’s a tangible increase in intensity in training and matchplay, and we already have our first casualty of the new season. So, the week that was, […]

So, things are slowly starting to move – both in terms of incomings and outgoings. Still slowly, but they’re moving. We even appear to have a new signing imminent… possibly. So… the Norwich City week that was: Monday 4 July A slow start to the week, with the first team squad partaking of day three […]

I try not to devote too much MyFootballWriter time to Ipswich Town… Because we’re a Norwich City website, so why would we, and Because it plays straight into the ‘living rent-free’ narrative they love to purport. But, about once a season I do invariably feel the need to open up that festering wound that is […]

Given that we’re just a week-and-a-bit into pre-season and there’s been nothing new to report in terms of incoming players or incoming investment, it’s still been an interesting few days in the life of Norwich City FC. Oddly, after a year in which we’ve become used to the news being generally disheartening, the last week […]

And to think we’re only five days away from a ball being kicked in anger for the first time in season 2022-23. Okay, so there’s unlikely to be too much anger and venom on display when Dean Smith takes his squad to Dereham on Friday night – kick-off at Aldiss Park is at 7pm – […]

It’s been a slow-burner of a summer for City fans, but with some of the squad reporting back for duty yesterday, or for fitness testing to be more precise, we should expect some moving and shaking in the next few weeks. I’m not sure whether Christos Tzolis or Przemyslaw Placheta were among the early arrivals – I suspect […]

So… we travel to Gareth Bale’s Cardiff City on opening day then. At least we will if, as is heavily rumoured, their prodigal son decides to join the Bluebirds by way of getting match fit for Qatar 2022. If he doesn’t, we’ll just be heading to Cardiff. The other thing to note is that if […]

The latest Todd Cantwell rumour – and I expect there are more to come – is that Blackburn Rovers are looking to take him to the north-west on a season-long loan. The report emanated from The S*n’s so-called transfer expert Alan Nixon who declared that their new head coach, Jon Dahl Tomasson, has highlighted Cantwell […]

Miracles rarely happen in football. Not in 2022. Invariably, those with the most money and the best players end up winning the big prizes, although Leicester City’s Premier League triumph of 2016 did admittedly edge into miracle territory. That was good. But the point is they’re very rare. Yet, another occurred yesterday morning. If you’re […]

We’re a resilient bunch really. Okay, so we moan a lot (I don’t think I’m alone) and we completely ignore the not-too-high, not-too-low ethos espoused by most managers, coaches and sporting directors. Wins are met with ecstasy, defeats with desolation, and rarely do we trundle along in that hinterland described by Kipling. Balance, even from […]

When the rumours began to circulate around Daniel Farke going to Blackburn Rovers, it was enough to make the stomach churn. With the greatest respect to Blackburn, it didn’t feel like a natural fit for our favourite German, and the thought of him lining up in a different Championship dugout next season was about as […]

The absence of anything concrete concerning the involvement (or otherwise) of Mark Attanasio in our football club has obviously left the door wide open for speculation. And sure enough… While MFW is far from alone, we (I) have managed to fill a whole week’s worth of articles based almost solely on the fact that Attanasio […]

As expected, there’s been no white smoke regarding the rumoured investment in Norwich City from a group of US businessmen led by the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers MLB franchise, Mark Attanasio. All we’ve had is a missive on The Athletic that suggests initially Attanasio and co will just be looking to buy Michael Foulger’s […]

There are, of course, too many unknowns to get overly excited at the moment, but the fact there appears to be some interest in investing in Norwich City from someone with no links to murderous Middle Eastern regimes or Vladimir Putin has to be a positive sign. Having blathered on endlessly around self-funding and how, […]

Unlike the official local media (Archant, local BBC and ITV, The Athletic), MFW doesn’t have any form of regular access to the club. And that’s absolutely fine – we know our place. So I’m definitely not getting the hump because we were unable to quiz Stuart Webber over the season that’s just ended. That’s not […]

As the saying goes, as a football fan you have to endure the bad times in order to fully embrace and celebrate the good times. All true I guess unless you’ve opted to be a fan of a random ‘big club’, in which case you’ve given yourself some control over the good/bad ratio. But the […]

I didn’t go to the West Ham game. Not because I was protesting at the disaster that is our football club but because of ill health. Unfortunately, ill health didn’t prevent me from watching it. Martin was there to see it all unfold (or at least 45 minutes of it), so he more than deserved […]

When you’re relegated before spring has properly sprung you know it’s been a disaster of a season. When you’re fate has been sealed with 12 points still to play for you know it’s been an undiluted cock-up. In fact, pick any metric you like and it’ll reveal a season of woe, embarrassment and ineptitude right […]

In early 2019, I was contacted by the club’s then media head-honcho, Joe Ferrari. After months of me pestering, haranguing and, probably, annoying him, Joe – a really lovely guy – was calling to offer MyFootballWriter the chance to interview Stuart Webber. In this particular instance, persistence did pay off. We chatted for a bit […]

What a day. A car crash of epic proportions – both on and off the pitch. In a season essentially made up of a collection of dark days, Saturday 23rd April made a compelling case to be the darkest. It started of course with the oddly-timed Stuart Webber interview with Henry Winter in The Times, […]

It was one of those where you’re left feeling conflicted at the end. Proud because they put in a proper shift and took the so-called ‘biggest club in the world’ all the way. Proud too because, along the way, they played some good stuff, created plenty of chances and resembled an actual football team. But, […]

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit you got it wrong. In this case horribly so. I. GOT. IT. WRONG. Having watched Burnley dispose of Everton in midweek with a display of high energy and thunderous intensity, I saw no way that City could win that game yesterday. Certainly not when […]

Well, it wasn’t another defeat, I guess. Maybe we should just be thankful for that. But it was grim. Wholly devoid of any joy, excitement, purpose and skill. That we’ve reached the point where all we have left to celebrate is a point from a goalless draw against a terrible team who are still several […]

On Friday I posted a piece in which I looked at my unlikely City favorites and anti-heroes of yesteryear, and most agreed it was a healthy distraction from the hand-wringing and brow-furrowing that tends to occur when we talk about the here and now. So to continue that theme (and to fill space in the […]

If you’ve ever strayed onto the tab entitled THE TEAM at the top of this page, you’ll find a rogues’ gallery of those who write, or have written, for MyFootballWriter. Accompanying said pictures is a mini Q&A, asking the team some generic City-related questions – favourite game, favourite players etc. Nothing very innovative. In case […]

The fierce defence of Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones by their supporters when the question of ownership is raised is quite something. Admirable in many ways. For those of us who have asked the question, it can be a bruising experience. Despite believing it’s a valid one, I invariably end up asking myself if it […]

And so the defeats just keep on coming. Grim isn’t it. If we didn’t realise it before now, yesterday’s defeat confirmed that we are indeed in the midst of Project Restart Mark II. The target now – and forget any daft notions of survival – must be to break the 21-point barrier, and make this […]

I guess the scoreline was about as good as we could have wished for. I was hoping for a performance more akin to Liverpool (a) than Man City (h) [or Chelsea (a) come to that] but as it transpired we were given a bit of both. The sterility, passiveness and lack of resistance in last […]

And the horror shows keep on coming… Getting tonked by Man City and being plucky losers against Liverpool is disappointing, albeit par for the course, but getting stuffed at home by a relegation rival who, prior to the game, had been in freefall is taking it to another level. To perform so poorly in a […]

There’s always something about Liverpool away that jars. That probably boils down to the fact that they’re a very good side and we usually end up on the receiving end of a tonking, but there’s so much about the Anfield experience that can get the hackles up if you’re a visitor – especially one clad […]

“It’s like watching Southampton first team versus Norwich Under 23s”. Ouch. The words of Jamie Carragher as said Scouser described, as delicately as is possible for said Scouser, City’s performance last night. He was right. Unfortunately, it was a line that could be attributed to far too many of City’s performances this season. As I […]

To see the relief-tinged celebrations at Anfield spoke volumes of City’s efforts yesterday afternoon. It was a performance to be proud of – something that’s not always been the case this season. But, regardless of any heroic failures, the fact remains it was an afternoon that ended with us being back at the bottom of […]

It’s a funny ol’ week for City fans. Well, I say funny – there’s nothing remotely amusing or fun about potentially being betwixt and between drubbings that threaten to halt in its tracks our mini-revival. The general thrust before the Man City game was that, while a win or a draw felt almost beyond the […]

There is no questioning the quality of Manchester City. Several respected voices have described their performance at Carrow Road last night as one of the best they have ever seen from a visiting team and it’s a hard one to contest. A brilliant team made up of brilliant individuals, playing brilliant football and all overseen […]

If anyone had offered us seven points from the last nine we’d have taken it, right? Equally, if anyone had offered us a narrow defeat at Molineux and a narrow win last night we’d have taken that too. Lots of ifs. Including if Temmu Pukki has not taken a second touch from that square pass […]

I should be opening with a pithy line about how City made it three wins on the spin at Molineux and how, while embarking on what’s apparently known as a cup run, Dean Smith has transformed the team from a bunch of lily-livered pushovers into a professional unit that’s remembered how to win. I should […]

Well, that was a Saturday to savour. And they don’t come along too often. To get your business done early is usually a phrase we associate with the transfer window but a win on a Friday night before all of your opponents take lumps out of one another on the Saturday feels even better. Even […]

I know I shouldn’t harp on, but is anyone else a little envious of those teams for whom January is an opportunity to strengthen their squad? When it’s those against whom you are battling to stay in the Premier League who are making signings it stings a bit. Like the cool kids at school with […]

Whoa! We’ve not experienced a feeling like that for a while. Felt good, right? It’s all too easy to get carried along on the tide of emotion on days like yesterday and before you know it we’re all proclaiming “WE CAN DO THIS” a few hours after resigning ourselves to City being the worst team […]

And so it goes on… You know it’s bad when you no longer get fired up or angry when City concede a goal. Even worse is when that final whistle goes to signal another defeat and it gets greeted with no more than a shrug. But that my friends is where we are. Or at […]

I didn’t go to Charlton on Sunday but was aware in the days leading up to the game that a Delia Out protest was planned by a small group of City fans. This was confirmed when a picture of said group with said banners appeared on Twitter. I trust it’s not being ageist to say […]

It wasn’t pretty by any stretch but if the object of the exercise was to ensure we were in the hat for the next round of the FA Cup, it was mission accomplished. If the purpose of the exercise was to entertain and offer hope going forward… at least we’re in the hat for the […]

As tends to be the case when things go awry in the hallowed halls of Colney and Carrow Road, much of the focus turns to how this club is run and, hand-in-hand with that, how it is funded. MFW pages aplenty (including yesterday’s) have been filled with the rights and wrongs of the current self-funding […]

You have to feel for Dean Smith. He knew he was signing up for what many deemed a mission impossible, but his own professional pride and some carefully chosen words by Stuart Webber were enough to convince him that there was enough quality in this squad for it to achieve 17th place or better. There […]

Shambolic… woeful… outclassed… pitiful… pathetic… Take your pick. Personally, I’m inclined to hone in on ‘outclassed’ because the one thing that wasn’t lacking yesterday was effort. No one stopped running, no tackles were shirked and the heads didn’t drop on the pitch as they did off it. But my god did City come up short. […]

It doesn’t take much for the City/Ipswich rivalry to spill over and ignite. Not in the physical sense of course – let’s hope those days are gone – but in its modern-day, slightly less bruising, equivalent: social media. This weekend all it took was the unveiling of a statue, a good crowd and an appearance, […]

If Saturday’s performance against Manchester United offered hope that survival is not beyond us, last night’s tame offering against Villa was a salutary reminder of how and why we are rooted at the foot of the Premier League. And why survival probably is beyond us. There is of course mitigation in the form of a […]

I’ve mentioned plenty of times that the key element of my post-match ritual is a phone call with my dad to dissect what did or didn’t happen at Carrow Road or beyond. He no longer attends games due to his health but the Norwich City fire in his soul still burns and his two penneth […]

Okay, so it wasn’t the pitiful no-show of Man City or Chelsea proportions, but there was still a horrible inevitability around what unfolded at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yesterday. An inevitability borne of simply not being quite good enough; of not having enough top-level quality when top-level quality is needed. This was the Norwich City […]

Most of us would have taken a point before a ball had been kicked – goes without saying. It also goes without saying (even though I am) that in end it was two dropped. Ciaran Clark’s ninth-minute brain fade ended up impacting both teams negatively. Newcastle for obvious reasons but City too because, armed with […]

First of all, they came after us because we were “uncompetitive”, “woeful” and apparently weren’t even having a go at staying in the Premier League. Now that we are competitive, are not woeful and are clearly giving it a proper go, we’re “boring” and “drab”. Anyone would think that a club that espouses careful financial […]

It didn’t take long for Dean Smith to be afforded a demonstration of why City’s goal difference was -21 going into the game. Hesitancy, missed tackles, missed opportunities to clear, ball-watching, you name it… the full gamut of defensive cock-ups Norwich City-style were on show as Che Adams bundled his way through the Keystone Cops […]

The ups and downs of being a City supporter are supposed to pertain to events that occur on the pitch – not when we’re ‘between managers’. Yet rarely has there been a week when a ball has not been kicked when the emotions have so fluctuated. First, it was Knutsen, definitely Kjetil Knutsen, the number […]

There’s something very Norwich City about going 20 games without a Premier League win and then when it finally arrives, after immeasurable amounts of heartache, we sack the head coach and his assistants within an hour of the final whistle. That’s not to say it was the wrong decision but it was certainly brutal in […]

You know when you sign up to be a City fan that the gig is generally a tough one. There’ll be some highs but to really feel the joy they bring you have to have experienced the heart-wrenching lows. And there are more of the latter. That’s a given. If we weren’t prepared for all […]

I’m not sure the ‘board’s dreaded vote of confidence’ is even a thing anymore but even if it was I don’t think Stuart Webber would do them. Not in the sense of it being indicative the manager getting the tin tack. That’s why when Webber told the gathered media yestreday that Daniel Farke’s position is […]

I need to be careful how I word this. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a few messages bemoaning the negativity on MFW this season, with a few people telling me they are departing these pages for good. I deliberately, on request, turned to Mick Dennis and Stewart Lewis to offer a more positive […]

The second international break of the season is usually a chance to take stock and evaluate how the first couple of months have gone for City. On this occasion, it was best not to look too closely – a bonnet that didn’t really need opening. Unfortunately, said international break is also the trigger for Observer […]

Those of you who don’t frequent social media and are able to resist the dubious delights of talkSPORT may be unaware that said radio station has been less than complimentary about our beloved Norwich City over the last couple of months. Not just the once, but consistently… on what feels like a weekly basis. Some […]

To paraphrase Jarvis Cocker, we had to start it somewhere, so it started there… in Burnley. It wasn’t a rip-snorter of a performance by any stretch of the imagination, but it was resolute and gutsy; two words that have been absent from literally every Norwich City match report or thought piece so far this season. As […]

This Premier League lark isn’t much fun is it. Not when you support Norwich City. Not at the moment. In fact, it’s hard to recall a time when City have been in the top flight and things have felt quite so grim. The stats back it up. Played 6. Lost 6. Goal difference -14. Things […]

You know things are not going well when you’ve had to give Match of the Day the swerve for five consecutive Saturdays. Some of you are no doubt braver than I, but Lineker’s half-hearted ‘and Norwich?’ that invariably follows the collective gushing over the qualities of our opponents is too much to take when the […]

The joy of watching Emma Radacanu winning the US Open last Saturday evening may have temporarily eased the pain of another City defeat but was only a short-term fix. I’m not sure what specifically it is about an away defeat at the Emirates that encaptures everything about Norwich City in the Premier League (we tend […]