Norwich City - a new start

[Skater]

PAYNE REVEALED AS NORWICH CITY MANAGER​

Norwich City have unveiled local boy Lee Payne as the replacement to manager Glenn Roeder, who left to wait for a bigger club to employ him. The fans have been mixed by the news, some phoning BBC Radio Norfolk with "his managerial credentials are unknown, but he will have the passion" and others slamming the club with "he will just be another Peter Grant, we could have got somebody much better". Everyone hopes Payne can get the team to fulfil their potential, something they haven't done since coming down from the Premier League in 2005. He will be the only change to the staff at the club, former Newcastle United favourite Lee Clark will stay as assistant manager, and old Norwich players Simon Charlton and Bryan Gunn will remain as first team coach and goalkeeping coach respectively. The new era is only expected to start with a top half finish for the Canaries, with ?2 million made available for transfers by the board, which includes celebrity cook Delia Smith.

SQUAD​

GK Matthew Gilks - The 25 year old is the reserve goalkeeper at Norwich City and he has not made any appearances for them at all so far because David Marshall has always been favoured. He played 176 times for Rochdale before moving to Carrow Road on a free transfer.
GK David Marshall - Marshall made 35 appearances for the Scottish giants Celtic before he came to the Canaries on loan, playing for them twice in a season in which he was 1 of 5 goalkeepers to turn out for Norwich City. He was one of Peter Grant's last signings. He is likely to be the main keeper.
DR Andrew Cave-Brown - The 18 year old is amongst the young players at Norwich City. He has spent his entire professional career at the Canaries but he is yet to play in a first team game.
DL Ryan Bertrand - Bertrand is on loan at Norwich City from the Chelsea youth team after being recommended by Jimmy Smith on his return to Stamford Bridge after a spell at Carrow Road. Despite being just 17 years old, he is likely to play a big part in the first team before his loan ends.
DL Adam Drury - The 28 year old was the Norwich City captain before he spent a long time out injured. He faces a battle for a place in the first team with Ryan Bertrand.
DC Gary Doherty - Doherty was signed from Tottenham Hotspur in 2004 and played in Norwich City's last Premier League season. He has the experience of 33 international caps for Northern Ireland to strengthen the back line for the Canaries.
DC Alex Pearce - The 18 year old is another of many loan players at Norwich City at the moment. He has never appeared for his parent club Reading but he did play 15 times for Northampton Town in 2006/07, scoring one goal.
DC Jason Shackell - Shackell worked his way through the Norwich City youth system and eventually broke into the first team on a regular basis in 2004/05. He has now played 79 times for the Canaries and scored 3 goals.
DC/ST Dion Dublin - The 38 year old fans' favourite will retire at the end of the coming season after an illustrious career. He has made 577 career appearances with 176 goals for 10 different clubs, including Manchester United, Aston Villa and Celtic. Surprisingly, Norwich City was Dublin's first ever club as a professional footballer back in 1987, and he has returned to end his time as one now.
D/WB R Jon Otsemobor - Otsemobor joined Norwich City on a free transfer from Crewe Alexandra where he made 57 appearances in his 2 spells there. He will be a safe defender for the Canaries.
WB L Mohammed Camara - The 32 year old is on loan at Norwich City from Derby County and in his career he has played 324 games, most of them in the French leagues.
M RC Darel Russell - Russell is in his second spell at Norwich City. He started his career at Carrow Road in 1997 and left for Stoke City in 2003, but returned at the end of Peter Grant's reign. He will be a utility midfielder for the Canaries.
MC Mark Fotheringham - The 23 year old became the Norwich City captain when Adam Drury was injured and has been a useful midfielder for the club since joining from Freiburg on a free transfer.
AM R Luke Chadwick - Chadwick signed for Norwich City from Stoke City for ?200,000 but he has only made 4 appearances for them. He is likely to struggle for a first team place.
AM R Lee Croft - The 22 year old has been praised for his pace down the wing in a partnership with Darren Huckerby since signing for Norwich City from Manchester City in 2006. He will play a big part in how the season goes for the Canaries.
AM L Kieran Gibbs - Gibbs is on loan from Arsenal. His youth will give Norwich City pace during the season and if he does well they could sign him permanently.
AM LC Matty Pattison - The 20 year old South African was signed on loan from Glenn Roeder's old club Newcastle United and then stayed permanently after an impressive spell. He could be part of a squad rotation system for Norwich City.
AM L/FC Darren Huckerby - Huckerby joined Norwich City on loan from Manchester City and was the one to be signed permanently out of his fellow loan player Peter Crouch who came to the Canaries at the same time. He has scored 36 goals in 156 games for the club, and has become a favourite amongst the fans.
FC Jamie Cureton - The 31 year old was the top scorer in the Coca Cola Championship last season for Colchester United, notching up 23 goals in 44 games. He is in his second full spell at Norwich City after starting his professional career at Carrow Road back in 1992.
FC Ched Evans - Evans was signed by Norwich City on loan from Manchester City, and is touted as a future star. He has the ability to score a lot of goals.
AM L/ST Daryl Murphy - The 24 year old signed for Norwich City from Sunderland for ?350,000 and he was Lee Payne's first signing as manager. He has the pace to cause problems and supply crosses for strikers to score from and he has the youth to play for many years to come.
AM R/FC Dave Cotterill - Cotterill is on loan at Norwich City from Wigan Athletic until the end of the coming season. He has been capped 8 times so far by Wales, and is a hot prospect for the future with his pace.
ST Jon Parkin - The 25 year old signed for Norwich City from Stoke City for ?500,000 and in exchange for midfielder Mickey Spillane. He has scored 58 goals in 203 games in his career.

CANARIES HAVE EYES ON TAYLOR​

The Norwich Evening News has reported that Norwich City first team coach Lee Clark is scouting Birmingham City defender Martin Taylor, fuelling reports that the 27 year old is being watched by new manager Lee Payne as his possible first signing. Taylor is currently out injured with a chest injury and he will not be able to play football for another 2 months.

 

[Kiko_97]

Good Luck Lee

 

[covlad-99]

Taylor? Thast dirty git that broke Eduardo's leg?

Coventry were going to buy him for ?1mil in jan, he didn't come and then he broke Eduardo's leg. Anyway, he's not really a malicious player, only ever got 5 yellow cards or something like that, and would be a pretty good signing. Good to see another story from the best league in the world!

 

[Manly]

Got your work cut out for you there Lee...

Nah, I'm joking, good luck, will be interesting what you do with the team. I do actually consider myself quite knowledgeable about all things Yellow, well, more than my mates anyway lol.

Good luck mate. (FM08, I presume?)

 

[Skater]

Taylor? Thast dirty git that broke Eduardo's leg?

Coventry were going to buy him for ?1mil in jan, he didn't come and then he broke Eduardo's leg. Anyway, he's not really a malicious player, only ever got 5 yellow cards or something like that, and would be a pretty good signing. Good to see another story from the best league in the world!

He was on loan at Norwich at the end of last year, he gave the defence some solidity and we wanted to buy him too. Unfortunately, Birmingham wanted too much for him. Sadly a player will be judged on one incident, and Taylor will be remembered for that tackle on Eduardo.

Got your work cut out for you there Lee...

Nah, I'm joking, good luck, will be interesting what you do with the team. I do actually consider myself quite knowledgeable about all things Yellow, well, more than my mates anyway lol.

Good luck mate. (FM08, I presume?)

Yep, I am playing on Football Manager 2008.

I am surprised you take an interest, I am not as ashamed to admit I know very little about Ipswich! Other than they are scum of course. The derbies in this story are going to be fun with you around!

CANARIES RULE OUT TAYLOR MOVE​

Norwich City chief executive Neil Doncaster has confirmed that Birmingham City defender Martin Taylor will not be moving to the Canaries. First team coach Lee Clark apparently recommended Taylor to new manager Lee Payne and Payne subsequently asked the Blues how much money they would want for him, and the Midlands club set a ?4.7 million price tag on the 27 year old. With funds of just ?2 million, it would not be possible for the Carrow Road side to come up with the cash needed and they will now look elsewhere.

PRE SEASON FIXTURES ANNOUNCED​

14th July 2007: Queen's Park at Hampden Park, Glasgow
18th July 2007: Dereham Town at Aldiss Park, Dereham
24th July 2007: Lowestoft Town at Crown Meadow, Lowestoft
27th July 2007: King's Lynn at The Walks Stadium, King's Lynn

MURPHY TO COMPLETE ?350,000 MOVE TO CANARIES​

Norwich City have had a ?350,000 offer for Sunderland midfielder Daryl Murphy accepted. The Canaries are now in contract negotiations with the 24 year old and he is likely to complete his transfer before the friendly game against Dereham Town. Manager Lee Payne believes Murphy will give his team the 'athleticism and the supply it needs'.

 

[freddiw]

awesome I love norwich and I love this story

where is Earnshaw ????????
\\
Good luck and KUTGW love it

 

[Skater]

awesome I love norwich and I love this story

where is Earnshaw ????????
\\
Good luck and KUTGW love it

He left Norwich a while ago now and signed for Derby in real life.

QUEEN'S PARK v NORWICH CITY​

My first game as manager was a friendly against the Scottish minnows Queen's Park, a club who to this day refuse to pay their players. We played at the Scottish national stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow.

I was expecting a comfortable win, but in my experience as a fan Norwich City never do anything as they should do. It would have been a terrible start if we had lost.

I was without Darren Huckerby because he was injured, with a groin strain, but other than that I tried to keep the team at full strength. This was the line up:

----------------------Marshall------------------------
Otsemobor---Shackell--------Doherty---------Bertrand
Croft---------Russell-------Fotheringham (c)--Pattison
------------------Evans----Cureton------------------

Substitutes: Gilks, Cave-Brown, Drury, Pearce, Dublin, Camara, Chadwick, Gibbs

I left the old man Dion Dublin on the bench for the start, but I expected him to make an appearance in the second half, along with Kieran Gibbs.

It was a warm and dry afternoon, the players would get tired quickly but they just have to remember the cold and wet days they will play on in the winter! We started well, Queen's Park had hardly any chances. They had their striker Richard Bowers injured and he had to be substituted.

The best chance of the half came to Ched Evans, who was in space after a brilliant passing move from the back, but he completely messed his shot up and it sailed wide. At half time, I said I believed they could win the game and tried to gee them up a bit. Dublin came on for Jamie Cureton, so he played as a striker instead of a defender, and Kieran Gibbs came on for Matty Pattison.

Just 4 minutes into the half Dion showed me what he can do by scoring, and then in the 58th minute he scored again to double our lead. It became apparent that Queen's Park were tiring and Dion's experience was too much for them.

It stayed that way until the end of the game, just some yellow cards for Jason Shackell and Darel Russell the only things that went against us. I said the team had done well, we were rarely troubled and we got the comfortable win we wanted in Glasgow.

Queen's Park 0-2 Norwich City
Dublin 49, 58

PLAYER RATINGS​

Marshall - 7/10
Otsemobor - 7/10
Bertrand - 8/10
Doherty - 8/10
Shackell - 7/10
Croft - 7/10
Pattison - 7/10
Fotheringham - 7/10
Russell - 7/10
Evans - 7/10
Cureton - 7/10
Dublin - 8/10
Gibbs - 8/10

Man Of The Match: Dion Dublin

 

[Highlander999]

Great start for the new season. Dublin is a legened

Keep up the good works

 

[Skater]

Great start for the new season. Dublin is a legened

Keep up the good works

There was a British feeling to the friendly. A man with a name of the Irish capital scored two goals for an English team to beat a Scottish team, the opposition who have a name whose son is the Prince of Wales!

MURPHY BECOMES A CANARY​

Former Republic of Ireland U21 midfielder Daryl Murphy has agreed contract terms with Norwich City and he has completed his £350,000 move to Carrow Road from Sunderland. Murphy will compete with Darren Huckerby, Matty Pattison and Kieran Gibbs for a place in the first team down the left.

 

[covlad-99]

Nice to see a Coventry legend bag 2 goals straight away Although we don't like him so much after his move to Villa
Daryl Murphy? 350K? I'd say that was a pretty good bargain you've got yourself there! But another Coventry legend, Daz Hucks will stop him from playing Pattison is a quality player too, he was awesome in my old story before my save file crashed.

 

[Pakistani Army]

This is a great start here Lee. Keep this story going mate

 

[Manly]

Even after one game quality is there to see, should hopefully be a successful season.

*uncrosses fingers

 

[Skater]

Nice to see a Coventry legend bag 2 goals straight away Although we don't like him so much after his move to Villa
Daryl Murphy? 350K? I'd say that was a pretty good bargain you've got yourself there! But another Coventry legend, Daz Hucks will stop him from playing Pattison is a quality player too, he was awesome in my old story before my save file crashed.

In game, Sunderland said they valued Murphy at £2 million, but only set a £350,000 price tag on him! With Huckerby ageing, he will be cover for the future.

This is a great start here Lee. Keep this story going mate

Thanks. Comments are what inspire me to keep stories going!

Even after one game quality is there to see, should hopefully be a successful season.

*uncrosses fingers

An Ipswich fan admitting there is quality in the Norwich squad is not something you see every day!

CANARIES LOOKING FOR A SCOUT​

Norwich City's veteran scout Colin Watts has been employed by Charlton Athletic. The 56 year old was in talks with Queen's Park Rangers too but opted to move to the Valley. The Canaries will now be on the look out for a new scout and eligible for £30,000 in compensation.

DEREHAM TOWN v NORWICH CITY​

Our first of three friendlies against local teams was against Dereham Town at Aldiss Park. I felt if we could control Queen's Park, we could control Dereham Town even more and I expected a convincing win, but once again, I wasn't holding my breath.

Despite it being a friendly, I didn't want to radically change the team so I made just a few swaps from the 2-0 win at Queen's Park. Darren Huckerby was still out injured with a groin strain so my new signing Daryl Murphy started and Matty Pattison dropped to the bench. Alex Pearce came in for Jason Shackell and Adam Drury came in for young Ryan Bertrand in defence and Dion Dublin played so well in Glasgow I couldn't not start him as a striker for Jamie Cureton for this one. This was the line up:

----------------------Marshall-----------------------
Otsemobor---Pearce--------Doherty---------Drury----
Croft---------Russell-------Fotheringham (c)--Murphy-
------------------Evans----Dublin--------------------

Substitutes: Gilks, Cave-Brown, Bertrand, Shackell, Cureton, Camara, Chadwick, Gibbs, Pattison

It was cooler than it was in the last game and there was a strong wind, so some conditions for my players to get used to. I told the players to enjoy the run out and took my seat in the old dug out.

We didn't have a very good start with Dereham Town having some possession but we came up with a nice move of our own in the 9th minute and the useful midfielder Darel Russell scored to give us an early lead. This gave us confidence and we played some good football. Ched Evans finished well and wheeled away to celebrate it but the referee Russell Booth had already blown his whistle for a free kick the other way and it was disallowed. I hoped this would spur him on rather than have a negative effect.

I was right when Cheesy slotted one in the net from a move that started with a goal kick in the 27th minute. We were 2-0 up and well placed to win handsomely. 6 minutes later Dion Dublin scored his 3rd goal in 2 games to put us 3-0 up, Dereham Town's defence just couldn't handle us and I was very pleased so far.

At half time I told the players I didn't want them to slow down now, I wanted them to push on and keep going forward like they had been. I brought on young Andrew Cave-Brown in place of Jon Otsemobor to give him a run out, but that was my only substitution as I was pleased with how the team was doing.

Dereham Town made a lot of substitutions and threw everything they had at us in the second half, and after some defensive errors, David Marshall was called into action. This was good in a strange way, because it gave the Scotsman a feel of the ball in his gloves. Daryl Murphy got a yellow card on his debut, but he was one of the better players on the pitch. A 3-0 win was a decent effort.

Dereham Town 0-3 Norwich City
Russell 9, Evans 27, Dublin 33

PLAYER RATINGS​

Marshall - 7/10
Otsemobor - 7/10
Drury - 7/10
Doherty - 7/10
Pearce - 7/10
Croft - 8/10
Murphy - 8/10
Fotheringham - 7/10
Russell - 8/10
Evans - 8/10
Dublin - 8/10
Cave-Brown - 7/10

Man of the Match: Darel Russell

 

[covlad-99]

Du du du du! Dion Dublin...

He's on fire! And he can play anywhere, I remember him playing in defence for you a while back, and still does occasionally, hes a decent midfielde too. Very versatile, bt knocking on a bit! Also, its good to see young Chedwyne Evans bagging one too.

 

[Skater]

Du du du du! Dion Dublin...

He's on fire! And he can play anywhere, I remember him playing in defence for you a while back, and still does occasionally, hes a decent midfielde too. Very versatile, bt knocking on a bit! Also, its good to see young Chedwyne Evans bagging one too.

He plays in defence or attack for us still, when he plays there is a feeling that there is some control in the side. "Cheesy" Ched Evans is going to be a class act too!

TWO MORE SCOUTS LEAVE CANARIES​

Brian Smith and David Martin have followed Colin Watts in leaving Norwich City to scout for other clubs. Smith has moved to Premier League side West Ham United and Martin has gone to the Canaries' Coca Cola Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion. The exits have made Norwich City a further ?74,000 in compensation, taking their total compensation due to scouts leaving to ?104,000.

SKY SPORTS SELECT TWO CANARY MATCHES TO BROADCAST​

Television network Sky Sports have chosen to show two Norwich City matches on their channels in the early months of the coming season. The East Anglian Derby against Ipswich Town at Portman Road will be screened as well as the game against play-off hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

29th September 2007: Ipswich Town at Portman Road
20th October 2007: Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux

CANARIES DELAY DECISION ON MICKEY SPILLANE MOVE​

Tranmere Rovers have offered Norwich City their striker Chris Greenacre in exchange for young midfielder Mickey Spillane. The Canaries have delayed making a decision to scout Greenacre first.

NORWICH CITY ENLARGE CARROW ROAD PITCH​

The Norwich City manager Lee Payne has requested that the pitch at home ground Carrow Road be enlarged to the maximum allowed for the Coca-Cola Championship, 120 yards long and 80 yards wide. He said it would 'give way to passing football'.