Remember back in the day when MyFootballWriter regularly had writing from proper football hacks, like the Micks and the Ricks? Even then, the ‘…icks’ was part-used (by Wrath of the Barclay, mainly) as rhyming slang for a group of MFW writers. Nowadays that collective noun is mainly the preserve of Facebook when describing the MFW […]
Kevin Baldwin
Do the footballing gods have one final trick in store? And if they do, will it end in glory or despair?
Here’s a question for you. Since the new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007, how many of the 92 teams currently in the Premier and Football Leagues have played there? Go on, have a think. I’ll give you a bit of time. Dum-de-dum-de-dum…
Is the run-in to be enjoyed? Just endured? Or can the Class of 2015 calm the nerves of the Yellow Army?
Forced to follow the Forest game at home via the unsatisfactory multi-platform experience of Canaries Wall, Final Score and the radio commentary, I spent the fifteen minutes after the Forest goal looking pained and clutching my head.
Norwich City: More than a club. A connection with our roots, an expression of our local identity
I think it’s fair to say that it’s part of the Norfolk character not to be easily impressed by reputations. People from outside may misinterpret this as coldness or suspicion, but it’s more a case of us wanting to make our own minds up in our own time.
Two weeks, two wins but still a long road before becoming the new Special One
Neil hasn’t said anything which has jarred or rung alarm bells – and while the absence of a foot in the mouth may not sound like a big plus point, it’s actually hugely important. You may not be able to win everyone over straight away, but you can certainly lose them if you’re not careful.
Forget Facebook and Twitter. The best social network doesn’t need a tablet or hand held device
It works within the Norwich-supporting community. I’ve bumped into people at matches all over the country: at train stations, on the walk to the ground, while getting felt up by the friskers and in the stadium itself
While the finger of blame has been wagged at Mark Robson, part of the City problem is finding a pair
I think the defensive failings in the team stem from a general lack of confidence and belief – which in turn comes from the inability of the front two to play together. It’s like a fault which has gone uncorrected and has eventually compromised the whole structure.
The infamous ‘best supporters in the World’; how much influence do we *really* have?
I suspect that vocal support doesn’t affect performances on the pitch as much as we believe. It’s a factor, but a relatively minor one; in the case of Fulham, for example, any encouragement from the crowd at the start of the season would have been greatly outweighed by the malign influence of madcap cheesemonger Felix Magath.
All change, even in the Fine City, with the advent of oddities called ‘problem solving’ and ‘a Plan B’
What’s surprised me about 4-2-3-1 is how well it allows players to get forward from deep positions; not just the two holding midfielders taking turns to join in with the attacks, but the full-backs too.
Here we go again: ‘Eyes front, men. Prepare to attack. And don’t even think about looking back’
Fans provide the continuity at a club. We were here before the current players and we’ll be here long afterwards. We are the ongoing narrative, and spend as much time (if not more) looking backwards as forwards.
No anger, despair or bemoaning bad decisions this time round; only numbness and exasperation
The board gave Hughton every chance to sort it out. They gave him longer than many other clubs would have done, and far longer than most City fans would have liked. But as faults go, trying to be patient is not the worst one to have.
Don’t mention the ‘r’ word but if the worst happens, for the City faithful in a sense very little will change
My son’s simple, unjaded attitude is a reminder of two basic truths about our situation as supporters: first, about what our expectations should be; and second, that our love of the game and of our team overrides all setbacks
‘Six foot two, eyes of blue’. Big Dunc will forever be a Canary colossus. Saturday proved it
Two memories of Duncan stand out: the roar of the crowd on those odd occasions when he would start to dribble forwards tentatively from the halfway line, encouraging him to keep going and have a shot; and seeing him close up at the Royal Norfolk Show when I was about ten years old.
Statistics… splinters… Arry… passion… and why, up to a point, things *are* getting better
My biggest complaint all season has been that the team doesn’t appear to know what it’s doing when going forward. There’s been no clear plan of attack; even when we’ve enjoyed plenty of possession, t’s seemed that the players don’t know how to engineer real chances to score.
Waiting for goals: From Beckett to Hughton to Baldwin, the issue is of waiting rather than making…
Perhaps Dion Dublin’s pre-match speech on the pitch, in which he stated that the players owe the supporters, was a contributory factor in making us sit back and talk amongst ourselves while waiting to see what happened
With Young, Johnson and co performing pikes with 1 1/2 twists, what chance for the youth of today
I’ve been giving the whole idol/role model question a bit of thought lately because of some of the behaviour at our son’s Saturday morning football sessions. I’ve always been rather sceptical of the notion that kids copy what they see in televised games, but now I’m beginning to wonder.
“Very worrying”… “goal drought”… “system not working”… “lack of creativity”… Sound familiar?
Life in the Premier League doesn’t automatically get easier when you have more money to spend – or as a number of Spurs fans put it, to splash* up the wall. (*Not the word they actually use.)
Is City’s missing link an attack-minded coach? Or is there yet room for Wes to unpick those stubborn locks?
There have been a number of periods so far this season when we’ve enjoyed plenty of possession but haven’t been able to create a clear chance – the Hull and Villa games being the most obvious examples
Do we follow football or Norwich City? A time for reflection ahead of the visit of you-know-who…
Football is also the perfect game for pessimists and conspiracy theorists. If you believe that the world is against you and that life will always let you down, there’s no shortage of circumstantial evidence. Do you have a need to associate yourself with success to compensate for a lack of self-confidence and self-worth which you can’t openly admit to? Manchester United can provide that.
With expectation at Beckford levels, Norfolk expects that every (City) man (and player) will do his duty
I can’t remember feeling like this about the team at the start of any other season. There have been individual signings of whom I expected a lot – Darren Beckford, for example, who had been a prolific scorer at Port Vale and raised expectations even higher with a pre-season hat-trick after joining us in 1991.