Rick Waghorn

A quote from one of this weekend's papers.

“The message is that it's not about individuals, it's about balance and about playing with attitude, commitment and passion…”

The author of that quote was not Canary boss Peter Grant, but rather England coach Steve McClaren after a week in which 'Second Choice' Steve's reputation has risen to unexpected heights courtesy of those two, back-to-back 3-0 wins against first Israel and the Russia.
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First a little story.

About four years ago I was jointly commissioned by Norwich City Football Club and Jarrolds Publishing to conduct 12, big sit-down interviews with various Canary legends for a book entitled '12 Canary Greats'.

It was, pretty much by and large, a total pleasure. There was, however, one moment that ranks as one of the more sickening in my 20-odd years as a sports journalist.

Given my short-hand would last, at best, about three minutes …

I'm guessing slightly. But I would imagine that come five o'clock on Saturday, there were probably 22,000 wannabee Norwich City managers who, having stumbled out of Carrow Road in silent disbelief, would have been muttering darkly about what they would have done if they were in charge…

Would they have thrown Lee Croft into the fray ahead of Chris Martin? Would they have kept Dion Dublin up-front and given Michael Spillane his big chance at centre-half? And what, exactly, …

In theory, this ought to be one of the biggest weeks of City's summer.

And without wishing to demean in any way, shape or form tomorrow's night's Carling Cup trip to Rochdale, it has nothing to do with a trip to the northern suburbs of Manchester.

It has everything, however, to do with the date on the calendar. The 28th of August. And then the 29th, the 30th and the 31st. Four days in which Canary boss Peter Grant has the simple task of slamming in the last …

Winning the Championship title by a canter is no easy feat. Particularly in your first full season of management; particularly when your new employers ask you to start work on nigh-on the bottom rung of the ladder.

Which is why you have to give Roy Keane every credit for the feats he achieved at Sunderland last season. This Saturday's 1-0 win over Spurs wasn't the worst start in the world, either.

And just as much as he appeared to morph into this ultra-dedicated, …

As one or two of the more observant among you will have recently noticed, there's been the odd tweak to the site overnight.

Suddenly there's a chance to comment; to have your say. Oh, and he now wants some money…

Less than the price of a pint, to be fair. And in an ideal world, you wouldn't charge; it would be access all areas for now't as Ady's Skips, Fincham Demolition and the British Army put the odd roll of bread on the Waghorn table.
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Most of the times headlines are done for fun; you try – and usually fail – to get something witty and pithy into the short space that the gods of website design have allowed you.

Which is why Safri's move to Southampton this afternoon was such a bonus; after Tuesday night's fun and games, it screamed out 'Sinner to Saint…' Thereafter, it's just a race to see who can get their first. Fair play to the official site. They won.

But, for me, the headline …

Canary chief executive Neil Doncaster this afternoon found himself firmly in the supporters' sights as he sifted through some of 250 questions posted online on an hour-long webchat hosted by the club's official site.

Inevitably given events of recent weeks, two names figured large – Dickson Etuhu and Robert Earnshaw . That and their respective get-out clauses of ?1.5 million and ?3.5 million respectively.

Richard Chilver led the Dickson charge asking: “One, why …

And so it starts.

OK, so it doesn't officially start for another four weeks or so. But for those of us who, for professional or personal reasons, find our lives dictated by where Norwich City Football Club are at any moment in time, it all starts again tomorrow. Courtesy of FlyBe, in Exeter – 300-odd miles from home.

Look out of the hotel window now, at a little after six o'clock on a Friday afternoon, and it is a dank, drizzly early evening in Devon with precious …

Right now you sense that Peter Grant's head must be spinning.

And little wonder that he chose this morning's official arrival of Jamie Cureton to (a) pay tribute to the work of his backroom staff in making sure that every call was answered and (b) stressing just how much he was looking forward to 31 August when the transfer window finally slams shut for another summer.

“I cannot wait – I cannot wait until the 31 August when every door gets slammed shut,” said the …

There are certain traditional rituals that accompany the production of the fixture list.

And, hand on heart, some that are born simply out of doing the job for 15 years – like looking forward to a mid-week trip to Blackpool in the back end of November. Still, at least the Lights might be on.

And I always think that Turf Moor looks at its best on a Tuesday night at the end of October.

Other dates revolve around Christmas and New Year. So while there is an …

I'll quote the first paragraph of Michael Walker's piece in The Guardian today in full. And I'm not about to name names. But it is utterly crucial to an understanding of where we all are right now.

As for the player concerned, I can think of someone that fits the bill.

Anyway, Walker's opener reads:

“It will be dismissed as anecdotal but within English football, and specifically among agents, the following story is circulating and generating …

In the small little world that is the Footbal Championship, the times are a-changing.

For the the first time in many a year it looks as if the three clubs that got relegated from the Premiership last season will all bounce back at the first attempt – providing, of course, Derby County don't spoil West Bromwich Albion's party on Bank Holiday Monday.

In fairness, Wembley are doing their very best to take on that role with the revelation that some 9,000 seats will be …