Rooney's View

Where was Mr Huckerby?

The most discussed topic since Saturday’s game at Leicester hasn’t been the 4-0 drubbing itself, and it hasn’t been the 13 arrests made after the game. For it’s the omission of a fit Darren Huckerby from the entire squad that has caused many arguments between City fans.

Firstly, a brief mention of the game itself. It was a bad performance, there is no shirking away from that. Although, the Russell sending off and playing 3-3-3 by the end of the game certainly ensured we were hammered 4-0, rather than just 2-0. We could have shut up shop at 2-0, to try and save face but that’s not the way Roeder operates and fair play to him for remaining positive. Let’s just hope it was a one off and we can get back to winning ways this Saturday against a Barnsley side fresh from their fantastic victory at Anfield.

So, onto the main talking point. Darren Huckerby. With Lee Croft being in decent form , I can settle with Hucks not making the starting eleven every week. However, not having someone with his quality even on the bench seems ridiculous. There must be more to it than Roeder not fancying him as a player. There has to be. Hucks isn’t the player he was four years ago, but you don’t have to go too far back to remember what a threat he can be. Last season for example, he was phenomenal. He really got us out of the mire, most notably at home to Leeds United where we picked up a vital three points just as we were getting seriously dragged into a relegation scrap.

It seems almost inevitable that every time Darren Huckerby’s name is absent from the squad, who ever we are playing will produce a rye smile. Everyone would rather have him in their team, rather than against them.

I’m not saying he should be picked on past glories or reputation alone, it’s just having seen James Henry and Kieran Gibbs in action, I think Hucks can offer a lot, lot more. Even if it is from the bench.

Which brings me onto something else bothering me. These loan players, are they under a contract that they have to play? On Saturday, James Henry operated the majority of the game on the right hand side of midfield. That meant Croft, our most in form player, was having to play out of position on the left wing. So is a young unproven loanee really a better option than Hucks? Is an out of position Lee Croft, really a better option than Hucks? I’m not convinced.

What does seem obvious is that Huckerby is on his way in the summer. If things remain as they are, it will be a sad way for a true Norwich City great to leave the club. He can still have an impact this season, there is no doubt about that. Leicester on Saturday was a game crying out for Hucks to be brought on, we lacked that killer instinct that he has often displayed for us.

Without any question, whether in the starting eleven or just on the bench, Norwich City look a stronger squad when Hucks is involved. His passion for this club cannot be underestimated and I just hope he can end his City career in a similar way to when he started it - bursting down the left wing, wowing the Carrow Road crowd. Just give him a chance Glen, he won’t let you down.

On The Ball City

Rooney

A remarkable turnaround....

It was a strange sensation come Saturday at 3pm. Not only had Norwich already secured a fantastic three points at Ninian Park, but we had also moved to within four points of the play-off places.

That’s when the strange sensation started. After months of wanting the likes of Colchester, Scunthorpe, Leicester and Preston to be on the receiving end of a thumping - I wasn’t looking at their results anymore.

Instead it was the outcome of the games involving Hull, Plymouth, Wolves and Barnsley that interested me more. In particular the late kick off between Leicester and Plymouth. A couple of weeks ago, the 1-0 win that Plymouth achieved would have been just fine, as a relegation rival would have been defeated. However, because of our ridiculous unbeaten run, I wanted Leicester to win so we avoided dropping into 13^th position. Now if that’s not a sign of how far we have come, I don’t know what is.

That’s the effect Sir Glenn and his ever effective loan army have had since our last defeat on the 1^st December against Stoke City. The players are full of confidence, competition for places is strong and in Ched Evans we have a fantastic young player making his name in the game. A cheeky £1million bid come the summer beckons for the Wales Under-21 striker.

Now to this talk of the play-offs. People say ‘don’t get carried away’, but why on earth not? The manager won’t get carried away, he won’t let the players get carried away, but as fans we have every right to go as over the top as we wish.

We are 12 games unbeaten and a season which looked like being a relegation fight until the very end, could now end in a Wembley appearance. It’s unthinkable, but it’s possible. Looking at our next four games where home games against Hull, Blackpool and Barnsley are broken up by a trip to Leicester and it seems fair to say that things could get even more exciting in the next few weeks,

But do we actually want to go up this season? Looking at things as they stand, we have seven loan players who by all accounts will be heading back to their parent clubs come May, add to that the departures of Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby and the squad is thin to say the least. Do we really want to be rebuilding a whole squad in preparation for the Premier League?

The sensible answer would probably be - no. Just look at Derby County this year, they have had an horrific time. However, the genuine answer of any Norwich City fan, would be - yes, bring it on. What a truly remarkable few weeks would now be ahead if we were to do it. To bring back memories of that play-off season and that Championship winning season would suit us just fine.

One final thought for today, who would you rather have - Marcus Evans or Ched Evans? Having seen the goals from yesterday, I don’t think that one requires much discussion.

OTBC

Rooney.

Going down, going down, going down........

After a comfortable 3-0 defeat at the mighty Plymouth Argyle not only has the optimism of the ‘Roeder Revival’ completely gone but we now find ourselves rock bottom of the Championship and destined to be relegated to the third tier of English football.

I’m 21 years old. This is the lowest point I can ever remember as a Norwich fan. Without any question. Week in week out the worst Norwich team I have ever seen is producing inept performance after inept performance. As for this ‘Roeder Revival’, if people felt we had turned a corner after conceding two goals and drawing at home to Ipswich then I’m sorry but you are very much mistaken.

I’ll get my mini Roeder criticism out of the way. Today’s team made no sense. I know we have injuries but Jamie Cureton and Chris Martin can’t play up front together. It’s one or the other for me although at the moment I’m not even sure who I would choose. I also can’t believe Ian Murray played left wing, but the more I think about it who else could we have played there? Without Hucks and Drury the only two players we have who can play on the left side are very very average Scottish players in Lappin and Murray. We have Mr Grant to thank for that. While on the subject of Grant we also owe him thanks for bringing the biggest bunch of average footballers to our club in one summer - great work.

At this moment the club as a whole does not know how to win a game of football. I can genuinely see us going the rest of the season without picking up another victory. We are hopeless from top to bottom.

People keep saying ‘Well it can’t get any worse can it?’ Well I’m afraid it can. If we are now resigned to relegation, how much more misery are we going to have to endure during the last 30 games of the season?

I didn’t expect Roeder to work miracles, he hasn’t got anything like a good squad to work with and that is not his fault. He has also been unlucky with Drury, Dublin, Huckerby and now Taylor being unavailable. However, today he has seen the real Norwich City - no passion, no fight, no quality, no ambition. I’m afraid that’s what you have got yourself into Glen and believe me you will be a legend if you get us out of it.

Our next fixture sees us face Coventry at Carrow Road in two weeks time. It seems this presents an opportunity to save our season. Glen, you need to ring every contact you have, get favours of all your football mates and get us some quality loan signings. That’s the only way I can see us turning it around. I’m not talking one or two players we need four at least. We can’t wait until January - it will be too late by then. We have to act now.

I apologise that today’s blog is a bit of a rant, but it’s things that I needed to get off my chest. I along with thousands of other Canary fans would give everything to the cause of keeping us up. I would do anything if it would help my football club. But it’s not the likes of me that are going to influence the future of Norwich City. It’s the players - and they don’t care half as much. That’s the problem. That and the fact that they are useless at football!

Despite my anger - City Until I Die.

Rooney.

Looking forward to Sunday.......

Forget Manchester United against Arsenal. This weekend is all about Norwich City against Ipswich Town. It’s without doubt the biggest game between the two sides in recent years and I have never wanted us to beat them more.

It’s one of the most important matches since we were relegated from the Premiership in 2005. It’s a chance for us to turn our season around. If we beat Ipswich in Glenn Roeder’s first game in charge, then that could be the start of the revival. In fact I’m almost certain it would spark a more positive run of results. If we lose, it highlight’s the massive task that the former Newcastle boss has in front of him.

On the subject of Roeder, I am amazed with some of the reactions from fans after his appointment. I saw some comments saying that it was a dark day in our history and that relegation was now guaranteed. Who are these people? Who did they expect us to get?

My money says that if Paul Jewell wasn’t rumoured to be in contention, people would have been a hell of a lot happier with Roeder. I’m not going to sit here and say that Glenn will turn it around, because I don’t know that he will. Nobody does. So how about we just get behind him? Starting this Sunday.

Say if we had gone for Martin Allen - would people have been happier with that? Another ranter and raver like Grant who has a history of falling out with players - I don’t think our squad would have reacted half as well to him as they will to Roeder.

One thing I like about Roeder after hearing him speak is his focus and determination. He is a man on a mission. He knows what needs to be done. After two training session with the players, he realises we need a centre back so he get’s one! Step up commanding defender Martin Taylor on a months loan from Birmingham. Now I don’t want to criticise Peter Grant too much, because he gave it everything he possibly could, but his decision not to sign a centre back during the summer really got to me and I’m happy Roeder has done something that needed doing quite some time ago.

So overall I’m happy with the impression our new boss has given me so far. Now back to the game.

We haven’t beaten Ipswich for what feels like an eternity. September 18th 2005 - to be precise. Hucks bagged the winner at Portaloo Road. That’s too long. Surely we are due one? Carrow Road needs to be rocking and we need to get behind our team - they need us more than ever. No matter how it looks at the minute we are all after the same thing - for Norwich City to be a success again.

One of my proudest moments as a Norwich fan came after disappointment on the pitch. It was the truly incredible singing from our supporters after our 6-0 drubbing at Fulham which confirmed relegation. Let’s get this sense of unity and togetherness back and unite to defeat our Suffolk rivals.

What we as fans do to help us win does have it’s limits. So does what the manager can do. At the end of the day it’s all about the players. It’s about Hucks making sure he’s at his best. It’s about Jason Shackell showing us why he is captain and it’s about every single Norwich player that pulls on the shirt this weekend.

For what it’s worth, this is the team I would put out on Sunday:

                                Marshall

Otsemobor   Taylor       Shackell       Lappin

Croft       Smith                   Russell       Huckerby

              Cureton                   Hartson

I’ve got a feeling Hartson is going to bag himself a goal. Always seemed to score in the Old Firm derby and he will cause them problems - no doubt about that. My only concern with this team is the lack of defensive cover that Lappin will get from Hucks, but we have to be positive and I think this the team to give Ipswich a well deserved reality check. Do us proud boys. We’ll be doing our bit - make sure you do yours. Come on City!

City 'Til I Die.

Rooney

The only way is up

A classic sign of the times occured at the end of Saturday's game. I sat there and said to myself, "Ah well, at least we scored." Yes, after losing 3-1 at home to newly promoted Bristol City I found comfort in the fact that for the first time in over ten hours we had scored a goal. This highlights the fairly horrific state our club is in right now. And I'm not just talking about on field matters.

Not only are we languishing second from bottom of the Championship, we are without a manager, without a first team coach, without our parachute payments and we don't even have enough quality players to claim that we are 'too good to go down'. League One is looking closer than ever and we desperately need a new man to come in and shake things up. In fact, I would go as far to say the whole club needs a shake up, not only the players, if we are to move in the direction.

Let's rewind a little bit. We won the Division One title in 2004 with the successful coaching team of Nigel Worthington, Doug Livermore and Steve Foley. Since then we have got rid of all three. Peter Grant and Martin Hunter have also been and gone. During this season we had Grant and Jim Duffy dealing with first team affairs. Meaning former first team coach Hunter was never replaced. Following Grant's departure we have been left with Duffy as our manager and former Sheriff of Norwich Bryan Gunn as his assistant. It's a shambles. How has Gunn gone from 'Media man' to 'Club Liason' and to temporary 'Assistant Manager'? Just how?

I want to know who is making these decisions. Who signed John Hartson? Who decided not to replace Martin Hunter? Is it Delia? Is it Roger Munby? Is it the Turner's? Or (god forbid) is it Neil Doncaster? I have no idea and more worringly I'm not even sure who I want making these decisions about our football club.

It's not only the choices that have already been made that I am concerned about. It's the ones that need to be made in the not too distant future that really concern me. Mainly, the appointment of a new manager. Last time around we went through a process of appointing Peter Grant. That, as we know, went horribly wrong. Now just over a year later we find ourselves in the same situation again and we seem to be going through the same process again. Dave Stringer is again being consulted and I fear that someone may be able to talk themselves into the job - just like Grant did.

This certainly is a testing time for all concerned. However sometimes things do have to hit rock bottom before they can get better. That's what I'm hoping anyway. Neither the board, the coaching staff or the players can be trusted to perform at present and they owe it to the only permanent part of Norwich City Football Club - the fans - to improve things. Consistently high attendances have not been rewarded and it's now or never for that to change.

We must keep the faith though. It's a tough time for everyone connected with the club and things can't get much worse. In my opinion the appointment of a new manager is just the beginning of the changes that need to be made if we are to move forward as a football club.

City 'til I die.

Rooney.