838 days. 100 articles. Thousands on thousands of my words posted and read on this forum. So, it feels rather poignant that article 101 will be my last. Two years ago, a wide-eyed, bushy-tailed sixteen-year-old fancied rambling about all things Norwich City, knowing he’d bored the minds of those around him with his rants and […]
Connor Southwell
Time to re-group and re-evaluate the defensive shape but principles will remain
The Premier League, as we have found to our cost in the recent past, brutally exposes flaws that don’t exist in the Championship. City’s Championship campaign was based on self-confidence and self-assertion, but the early fixtures haven’t been kind to the Canaries, with them having played two of the continental competition holders in the opening […]
TOTAL FOOTBALL PREMIERE: WE ARE DEREHAM….
Living in Nelson’s County can cause us to view our lives from inside a secure bubble. The beauty of the coasts, the history embedded throughout the county and devotion to one professional football club who don the colours of yellow and green. These pages dissect every ball kicked, contextualise every result and offer an opinion […]
Frustration and deflation but these are not the games that will decide City’s fate
Frustration and deflation were the overriding emotions in a sun draped Carrow Road as City succumbed to their first defeat in NR1 since January. Frank Lampard is the only opposing manager to leave Carrow Road with three points in 2019 and his transitional Chelsea side, full of youthful exuberance attempting to establish a philosophy, impressed […]
Mo and Teemu at its heart but an all-round City performance of quality and verve
Following City’s curtain-raising defeat to Liverpool last Friday, the buzzword that emanated from the national media was naïve. The realities of the Premier League means greater exposure and, as a consequence, opinions of varying reliability will increase. But that word will not be repeated in the description of the Canaries’ first Premier League win at […]
‘Ignore the noise’ is the mantra but the sheer ignorance feels unrelenting…
If anybody needed an immediate verdict on how City fans felt towards Friday’s performance at Anfield, then watching the reaction of those who made the journey up to the North West painted a picture more meaningful than any words spoken by former players or written in columns. Compared to the rapturous applause and vivid colour […]
City’s heart and attacking prowess at Anfield offers hope for the season ahead
Welcome back to the Premier League, Norwich City. The script wasn’t supposed to involve being on the receiving end of a 4-0 deficit. But then, that’s the quality possessed by a side who are European Champions. They can break defensive shapes and manipulate sides into losing their solidity. Many would have lost their heart. Self-doubt […]
The phoney war is over, the prep is done. Now bring on the European Champions!
After Tuesday night’s humbling defeat to Italian Champions League debutants Atalanta, Daniel Farke would have demanded a reaction from his Norwich City side ahead of their Premier League bow on Friday night. The nature of how the Italians put the Canaries to the sword will have disappointed Farke, especially after a promising opening period where […]
Lessons to be learnt from Atalanta defeat but plenty of positives in the opening 44
Pre-season is sometimes an impossible beast to analyse. Describing it as a ‘faux form’ of football isn’t hyperbole, with each test being useful for working on specific elements of performance as opposed to operating in a finalised system witm the purpose of victory. Undoubtedly, the primary objective of any pre-season campaign is to restore fitness […]
VIDEO: MFW Total Football – An Exclusive Interview with Matt Jarvis
If you haven’t already seen it, here’s our exclusive chat with ex-City winger Matt Jarvis, who talks openly on his unlucky and ultimately unhappy time at Carrow Road and in the Colney treatment room. Please check out our Total Football YouTube channel for more great content from the lads – Ed
The Matt Jarvis Interview: MFW’s Connor talks exclusively to the ex-City winger
Matt Jarvis’ Norwich City career was one full of frustration and regret. The England international spent an injury-hit three seasons at Carrow Road, failing to secure a long-term run in the side due to a lack of fortune with fitness. This summer, Jarvis’ three-year association with the club came to an end when his contract […]
The ‘little Norwich’ trope isn’t about to go away but we have to ignore the noise
Eye-watering transfer fees, sleeve sponsors and VAR. Welcome back to the Premier League, Norwich City. The gulf between the Championship and the Premier League is vast – we’re told that constantly – but it’s in terms of money where the different ballparks become obvious. For a community football club whose current model sees it operate […]
VIDEO: Ben Kensell Discusses City’s New Shirt Sponsor – Dafabet
City continue to do it their way, breaking tradition and convention along the way
Open-top bus parades, mass gatherings in the centre of Norwich and popping champagne corks; the last few months have been memorable ones for those associated with Norwich City Football Club. But the party is over, and the hangovers have been nursed. Daniel Farke has created himself a pathway to the Norwich City Hall of Fame, […]
Is VAR the answer? Or merely a stopover on the way to finding the right answer?
As human beings, we exist in an immoral and imperfect universe. Don’t fear, a philosophy essay hasn’t accidentally surfaced on MFW, although I accept it is an unusually deep position from which to begin a football piece. Some offer their opinion pieces in the form of fact but, often, the answer lies in being transparent […]
No longer are City a club who gamble and scramble to recruit – no longer afraid to say ‘no’
The Championship trophy is resting safely in Carrow Road’s glass trophy cabinet and the champagne corks have been cleared away after the extensive celebrations that culminated in a show in front of the masses at City Hall. From Kenny McLean’s self-proclamation as the new mayor of Norwich to the range of sore heads on display, […]
‘Grant Holt: A Real Football Life’ – from tyre fitter to the top of the English game
Grant Holt’s rise from footballing obscurity to the glamour of the Premier League was tinged with romance, emotion and determination. His path to the top of the game was unconventional. At 21-years-old, he was prepared to walk away from the game he had devoted his life to. A series of rejections had blunted his attempts […]
For City fans it’s been a magic carpet ride, with destination Premier League…
Tony Mowbray referenced it, and many others operating the corridors of power will have thought about it. Norwich City’s methodology from the season just gone will be dissected and emulated by aspirational Championship clubs. Many coaches have eulogised around the way City soared to the summit of the Championship, opting against conforming to the rules […]
MFW – The Review: ‘The Hangover’ (Episode 1)
Welcome to Episode 1 of our mini-series The Review, where Connor hosts a review of Norwich City’s phenomenal season alongside the voice of Norwich City, Chris Goreham, and EFL Vlogger (and Norfolk’s favourite Ipswich fan) Benjamin Bloom! In this first episode, the guys discuss City’s hangover from the previous season, as well as delving into […]
A fine celebration in the Fine City and a chance to salute two legends, wrapped up in one special day
Thousands lined the streets of Norwich city centre yesterday, waiting to catch a glimpse of that precious piece of silverware that was claimed at Villa Park on Sunday. A promotion celebration fit for champions was ordered and the people of Norwich duly obliged. A reported 12,000 Canary loyalists painted the scene in front of City […]