New Management Team Is Yellow and Green

By: David | January 23rd, 2009

Some of Norwich City’s most distinguished modern servants have stepped out of the Hall of Fame to steer the club away from relegation and restore the pride and feel good factor around Carrow Road and Colney.

At last, in a superb second half performance, we had our boys back playing as we know they can in a cohesive confident team, having been released from the shackles of fear. Not since 9 April ‘05 whilst beating Man. Utd 2-0 have I felt so positively emotionally connected to the team.

Talk following the game centred around what a magnificent performance the players gave and who would be filling the managerial vacancy full time. Bryan Gunn’s name was mentioned in passing but the general consensus was that nobody wanted to put him up on the pedestal where he could fail and incur negative feelings from the City that loves him.

Then Wednesday morning a press conference is called confirming Bryan Gunn as manager at City until the end of the season, with Ian Crook joining him as coach and John Deehan taking over as Chief Scout and having an input on coaching as and when required.

I was surprised. Shocked even. We were meant to be having a new manager. Someone off the bookies list. Boothroyd, Robins, Ince, Calderwood, Hareide, I knew how I felt about each candidate. If the right one was appointed then praise the board, if a poor appointment was made then it was another stick to beat them with. But this? I initially felt cheated.

On reflection, it is an exciting time to be a Norwich City fan. Gunny has done what was needed a long time ago and put an arm around the whole squad, replacing doubt with confidence and smiles. The desire to play for the shirt and team mates is coming back. Looking forward to match days must surely return for players and fans alike.

The new management team played over 1000 games for City between them, add in potential assistant manager Ian Butterworth’s and that’s 1387 appearances for this club by four guys entrusted with saving and rebuilding it. They were playing, or assistant manager in Dixie’s case, when the Club arguably achieved it’s best success; in the inaugural Premier League season and then the following seasons UEFA Cup run. Plus it represents a player in each area of the pitch; goal, defence, midfield and up front.

Looking at the way the players’ reacted to Gunny on Saturday they approve of his appointment too. He brought a real togetherness to the dugout. Most fans seem to be concerned about the possibility of this appointment not working because Gunny is Mr Norwich City and failure is a horrendous thought. We’ve become used to abject failure and disappointment over the past three years. We now have someone in charge who knows the fans and what the Club is all about. Sure there are plenty of side issues to sort out, but we have a good enough squad to survive this season, and that’s the current requirement. So well done Norwich City board. Things have started looking up at the club since the day Jamie Cureton was recalled from loan.