Most of us think the life of a professional footballer consists of being rewarded with huge wages for doing something you enjoy for a living, holidaying on yachts, consorting with models, and generally exploiting la dolce vita to the full. While much of that is true – yes Beckham, Rooney, Balotelli I’m calling you out […]
Buzzwords & clichés aplenty, but where have the left half, inside right and lino gone? :)
I can lay the blame for this article fairly and squarely at the feet of my MFW colleague Chris Sadler, who came up with a lovely piece of nostalgia last week featuring photos of Max Miller and Lenny Bruce, clever word play on footballers’ names and some pretty tasty anagrams to boot. As somebody who […]
The summer intake of 2020 (so far…): What do we think?
We’re a funny old lot are us Citizens of the Canary nation. So united in some ways yet so divided in others. The major issues just now are: are you for or against the Smiths? I’m against. Are you for or against Webber and Farke? I’m for. But I’ve never assimilated so many divisive opinions […]
No splicing of the mainbrace, as HMS Canary is set adrift of the Premier League
Like, surely, all of us, I am bringing the old ship HMS Canary into port, putting it into dry dock and looking forward to what will be a cheap refit before we set sail again on less choppy seas. We hope. But who will Captain Webber and First Mate Farke manage to recruit to join us on […]
May 2019 vs July 2020… 1st vs 20th… hope vs despair…
I have always been a great supporter of the concept of light and shade. Whether in literature, music, art or even television and film, I’m all for it believe me. So therefore it’s quite natural for me to compare our penultimate match of last season [Blackburn] with this year’s offering – Burnley of course. Last […]
Only just over a month to try and reboot the mindset of this squad for 2020/21
A shallow piece of NCFC dignity was restored at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Yes of course we lost, didn’t score, as has become de rigeur and, Olivier Giroud’s header from an excellent Christian Pulisic cross completely bamboozled Timm Klose who got nowhere near his man. Not only did we fail to bother the “goals for” […]
Norwich City 2019/20 – A Eulogy
The eulogy – something hopefully none of our younger readers have ever had to deliver at a funeral but I bet most of us aged over 50 have. I’ve done four of them – one for every goal Antonio scored on Saturday. For my grandmother, father, mother and an old rascal of an uncle. So […]
The silly season is upon us – rumours aplenty of ins, outs and 50% pay cuts…
With what could be called an assist if we push the boundaries a little bit, Onel Hernandez set up Emi Buendia for what was quite strangely his first Premier League goal and it arrived in July! Not only was it a beautiful finish but it saved this current squad from creating a very embarrassing record […]
Time for a review – one that goes all the way up to the very top of our football club
There have been warehouse-sized debates everywhere about Norwich City and their way “forward” with the finances of the club in regard to next season. And the inevitable happened. We are Championship. Quelle surprise. This was a nailed-on from the start. No significant investment, key injuries to central defenders, and only Duda and Rupp in January. […]
‘This sadness will go on’ – a clue to Martin P’s three predictions for next season
I’ve long been a believer in the phrase strike while the iron’s hot, so as I begin this article at 14:53 on Saturday knowing it won’t appear in front of you beloved MFW readers until Monday, I thought I’d write it now, get it out of the way and wallow in our collective misery all […]
Enough already. I cannot wait for this wretched excuse of a season to end
Everyone’s got an Arsenal mate, haven’t they? I’ve got three but strangely didn’t volunteer to communicate with any of them on Wednesday evening. However one of them, Mickey, couldn’t resist, erm, taking the mickey via the gift of Google Mail. There were a few cheap cracks such as had Josip Drmic borrowed his boots from […]
Two hours of football that summed up the Canaries’ season perfectly…
If you wanted our season summed up in two hours, Saturday delivered. Big time. We played our hearts out, took Man U to the brink of a penalty shoot-out but got kicked in the guts three minutes from the end. And had Timm Klose sent off for a professional that I wouldn’t actually argue with […]
Callas, Elliot or Webb – take your pick. Time is about to be called on City’s 2019/20
Well the fat lady is singing on full throttle. It could be Maria Callas, Mama Cass Elliot or even better the British original, Janet Webb on the Morecambe and Wise show. It doesn’t matter who assumes this particular mantle – we are well and truly done for. There was more huffing and puffing than against […]
More chance of The Bedsores winning Eurovision than City avoiding the drop
We all know what happened on Friday evening but equally probably realise it was a case of what didn’t happen. After 15 minutes the slightly disjointed yellow and green tide ebbed away and the red and white south coastal one flowed in with great intent. Those in their deckchairs in home gardens with knotted hankies […]
Josip & Mario to the rescue… a Jose alliance… crossed fingers… & warm cockles
This time last week I wrote that the Phoney War was about to end and the kind of real one was ready to begin on Friday, June 19 at 1800 hours precisely. That hasn’t changed of course, plus I’ve had the bonus of regular MFW commenter John telling me the Southampton game is live on […]
The Phoney War? But not long now before the EPL 2020-style becomes a thing
The first six months of the 1939-1945 conflict was known as the phoney war. War had been declared but very little actually happened during that period. It gave Britain a chance to accelerate modernisation of its war machine to cope with the inevitable matters to come. Quickly of course it became all too real for […]
For some diehards, the Carrow Road experience may be a thing of the past
Well, as we all know the wheels are firmly back on the Premier League gravy train and it’s ready to roll on June 17 with Sheffield United against Aston Villa and Manchester City versus Arsenal. The catch-up games of course. Apparently City are planned to resurface on June 19 against Southampton at Carrow Road. Not […]
In a non-football world, we take all the #NCFC snippets we can, plus a 1996 ‘mare
Well it’s been another funny old week in this current world of non-football. Our players are back at Colney in an environment of socially distanced, non-contact training in strictly limited groups and maybe the intensity levels will be stepped up next week. Maybe. Of course, it’s now straight home for them to get a shower […]
No Cromer crabs… no Dippy… Webber annoying Leeds… and the new Herr Flick
Well, the uncertainty continues apace. We’ve been denied the delights of the Notting Hill Carnival, which might not please all Londoners, but the Metropolitan Police at least will be delighted by that particular decision. And also there will be no Eurovision Song Contest this year which is certain to displease one Graham Norton and all […]
To claim or donate… that is the question
Well they didn’t mess about did they? Norwich City Official put out on Monday that they’d nip any rebate issues in the bud and at 09:15 today I received the same message as many of our MFW readers and writers doubtlessly did too. “On Monday the club made the decision to begin the rebate process, […]