Gary Gowers

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 […]