Ouch. That stung. Football’s ability to bring you crashing back to Earth if, or when, you’ve been getting overly giddy rarely fails. Two four-goal wins in two games had us believing that David Wagner had sprinkled over Colney some of the same magic dust he used so successfully at Huddersfield, but Vincent Kompany’s Burnley took […]
CITY v BURNLEY (H) – THE PREVIEW
It’s been a long two weeks. While the extra seven days spent on the fields of Colney will have hopefully worked well for David Wagner as he looks to embed Wagner-ball in the psyche of his new squad, for the rest of us it’s felt like an age. Given the excitement generated by the German’s […]
Time will tell. Will Marquinhos and Tzolis Mark II make Jan ’23 a good window?
While City’s business in this transfer window has been less crash, bang, wallop than most, I guess we ended up in a decent place. The general consensus on #NCFC social media appears to be that the net result of the comings and goings leaves us, at the very least, no worse off than we were […]
Is now time for the Attanasios to strike?
It’s all about timing. In my case, almost always of the bad kind. The ink had barely dried on my Friday piece, in which I expressed my ongoing fear over our club’s financial future if promotion is not achieved this season, when they go and announce an Extraordinary General Meeting for 13th February. The purpose […]
Two fine wins in two for City but the wider concerns still linger … for some
We don’t require a statistician to tell us our chances of achieving automatic promotion are slim. While, on the face of it, there are still 54 points to play for, the gap between ourselves and Sheffield United is 15 [fifteen] points. So, basically, we need a minimum of five matchdays where City win and the […]
Wagner’s wagon rumbles on… another four… and the formation of Amber’s Army
I have rotten memories of Coventry (a). Long story, but in the 1970s I had an uncle who lived in Warwick and was a Cov season ticket-holder, so Dad and I would stay over and go to the games. Five times we made the trip; five times we watched the Canaries stink Highfield Road out. […]
CITY v COVENTRY (A) – THE PREVIEW
Could someone please explain this weird feeling? I refer of course to that rare phenomenon known as looking forward to a Norwich City game. To use the common vernacular…“buzzing”. I should add, as a City supporter it’s an emotion to be very wary of because it invariably ends in disappointment but, as hard as I […]
A win… four goals… and a display of unity… which was nice
What a difference a week on the fields of Colney can make. Wow. Obviously, it’s important to not get too carried away – just three points – but so gloomy and miserable have the last 14 months been, sod it. Let’s dream. It was the type of performance we’d spent the last year and a […]
The reset may be underway on the grass, but issues aplenty to address at the top
During Monday’s Colney presser, when David Wagner was formally introduced to the local and national press, Stuart Webber directly answered questions asked of him by Paddy Davitt and Michael Bailey. I’d like to think of it as a sign of a minor thaw in the spat between the Club and the local press. We’ll see. […]
A promising debut from Wagner but old habits die hard in the Class of 2023
So much for the magic of the FA Cup. And so much for footballing fairytales. If David Wagner was under any illusions as to the size of the task that awaits, then he’s not anymore. Under their current guise, and with their current fitness levels, this group is a million miles away from being able […]
CITY v BLACKBURN [FA CUP] – THE PREVIEW
It’s hard to know where to begin. I mean, it is the FA Cup Third Round, which for some is the ‘best weekend of the season’, but for Norwich fans that’s been almost lost amid the hullabaloo of a new coach arriving. It may have been the most dragged-out saga since Edward III first invaded […]
The David Wagner story … so far
So, while it’s not yet official, the good folk of the EDP and Pink Un are reporting that David Wagner is now in Blighty and will be confirmed as our new head coach once that pesky paperwork has been completed – probably tomorrow. When not if. And so, for me, that’s a strong enough signal […]
The new head coach can’t arrive soon enough but won’t right all the wrongs
It was always going to be the toughest of gigs for Allan Russell and Steve Weaver. Two games and not many more training sessions to make a positive impact on a group of players who had underperformed for the first 24 games of the season. And, to be fair, in both games, the players have […]
An infinitely more buoyant Carrow Road but the same old problems linger
Well, the atmosphere was much improved. I’ll say that much. And there appeared more energy in the team’s performance. But in terms of productivity, the removal of Dean Smith alone was never going to be enough to get a tune out of this group. Renewed effort and vigour can only get you so far. Allan […]
Farewell, Deano. I’d love to say it’s been a blast…
It was inevitable in the end. The only thing that could have saved Dean Smith was if his prophecy that his team would emerge from the World Cup break a “different animal” had come to fruition. It didn’t. The exact same animal emerged. A muddled, half-hearted, and miserable one. The one that played turgid football, […]
The final straw… and not just for Dean Smith
As I write, Dean Smith (as far as we know) remains in situ. Whether he will be by the time I finish this piece… who knows. But if he is and, more importantly, if he is still here on Friday when we face Reading, then no one wins – unless, of course, you’re a stubborn, […]
Smith is part of the problem and should go, but is far from the only problem
For someone who’s not always the quickest to embrace the spirit of the season, I confess to feeling slightly Christmassy as I walked over Carrow Bridge and was greeted by the unmistakable tones of the Salvation Army band. Norwich’s equivalent of the ‘the boys of the NYPD choir’ delivered. Traditional and heartwarming in equal measure. […]
Not exactly a “different animal” but can a few tweaks win over the doubters?
Those hoping that the World Cup amnesty would help rebuild some NCFC bridges will have been disappointed. Despite City beating Swansea, the level of performance was such that I suspect not a single view will have changed since that disappointing 2-1 defeat by Middlesbrough just over a month ago. Those who are content with the […]
The light and shade of being a football fan … in the space of four hours
Well, that was emotional. I say emotional, what I really mean is heart-wrenching. And all within four hours of having been on a Championship high. I say high, what I really mean is being massively relieved that an ordinary performance somehow yielded three vital points and upset Russell Martin in the process. Let’s start with […]
With season ticket renewal just around the corner, an interesting few months await
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, […]