- QPR PREVIEW: City still fighting for the title – and they’ll certainly need to April 23, 2021 - It matters, and it won’t be easy. I’ve spent a chunk of the past week pushing back on suggestions that it would be a let-down if we fail to win the title. The first and overriding aim of this season was promotion back to the Premier League. It’s fantastic that… ...
- PRESTON PREVIEW: Curses, howls of protest and a fog of confusion April 1, 2021 - “The closer he looked, the less he could make out, the deeper everything sank into the gloom” No need to know the literacy reference (though big respect if you do). The quote is from Kafka’s The Castle. It’s indelibly marked on my memory because it was a question in my… ...
- BRENTFORD PREVIEW: Two clubs who deserve success, but no divided loyalties March 2, 2021 - This is not a six-pointer. This is not a six-pointer. This is not a six-pointer. It’s as well that I’ve come to that conclusion, as our editor Gary made clear he’d disapprove any use of the phrase. There are extreme cases where I might try to persuade him that a… ...
- STOKE PREVIEW: Can we get back on track? Reasons to be (cautiously) cheerful February 12, 2021 - Let’s take a breath. With 18 games remaining, nothing is “must win”. Panic is neither helpful nor justified. We’re second in the league, and we’re what commentators say we are: a very good team at this level, with a formula for success. That said, our mini-blip has of course put… ...
- WATFORD PREVIEW: My most memorable day, and a big big Boxing Day for City December 24, 2020 - I was proud of myself for preparing most of this column a week early. Bad idea. Like the planned visit to my mum in Norfolk over Christmas, it’s had to go back to the drawing board. Part of my preview was an assessment of why Watford’s manager won Manager of… ...
- READING PREVIEW: Lousy forecasts, a memory of good fortune, and… *winningest* December 15, 2020 - I hesitate to mention this, as it may lead some readers to check my record. There’s no denying it’s a shocking record. And if you’re holding me to account, there are some new offences to be taken into consideration. Yes: each year the MFW writers make their predictions for the… ...
- COVENTRY PREVIEW: Tales of woe… homelessness….& revival under a City great November 27, 2020 - Let me start with a disclosure. I have a soft spot for Coventry. True, I didn’t in May 1985 when they beat champions Everton (already in their flip-flops and swimming trunks) 4-1 to ensure their survival and condemn Norwich to relegation from the top flight. But a lot of water… ...
- BOURNEMOUTH PREVIEW… (after a little rant) September 25, 2020 - Let me open with a disclaimer. I find it difficult to take a balanced view of AFC Bournemouth. The problem stems, of course, from its portrayal on the BBC and elsewhere as “plucky little Bournemouth”, “Cinderella team Bournemouth” and so on. Not to put too fine a point on it,… ...
- It’s all different this time. And yet, somehow familiar… August 27, 2020 - A Champions League final in August? That’s just weird. City playing pre-season games? Well, not so much. A month later than usual, it’s true. And without fans, even the diehards who turn out for such fixtures. Even so, much of it has a distinctively familiar feel. New players, new kit, substitutions and goals galore,… ...
- To hell with perspective – we’re hurting. But in a quieter moment… July 31, 2020 - Let’s not pretend. We’re Norwich City fans and we’re hurting. It hurts that we got relegated. It hurts that we had ten games when football resumed, and lost the lot. It hurts that the verve and belief, which had helped us win admirers and overachieve for much of the past… ...