Norwich City: The laughing stock of the football league!

Bryan Gunn was sacked as manager of Norwich City football club today. Just one league game into the season, the Norwich board have decided to disgracefully axe the club legend.With huge debts, practically a new team of players and no manager it is not a great time to be a Norwich City fan.

Where on earth has it all gone wrong for Norwich City? Fifteen years ago ‘the canaries’ were flying high in Europe, smashing Bayern Munich along the way and still the only British club to have beaten Bayern in Munich.

Today Norwich are languishing in the third tier of English football, their first game of this season was a humiliating 7-1 defeat at home to of all clubs Colchester. With the summer transfer window drawing to a close and virtually no transfer funds, even a new manager will not be able to improve or transform his squad.

How can you appoint a manager like Gunn who had no previous experience and then give him the job personally after getting the club relegated? And furthermore how can you appoint a manager and then sack him after one league game at the start of the season? It is crazy.

But Norwich fans will not be surprised, the club has been a shambles for years. Nothing makes sense about the way the board approaches running the club, there have been some horrific manager choices recently including serial failure Glen Roeder and unexperienced former player Peter Grant, all with disasterous consequences ultimately ending in relegation last season.

So to the sacking of Gunn. Once he had been given the job despite fans uproar and huge disagreement, you would expect the board to give him a chance. The 7-1 loss on Saturday was a sham but the fact is it was the first game of the season, there are bound to be a few rusty players and it is tough for a manager to know his best eleven on the first day given the amount of changes there were in the squad. Also, Gunn turned it around on Tuesday night by changing a few players, with Norwich acheiving a very respectable 4-0 away win at Yeovil. Over at the other side of the country Yeovil is certainly not an easy place to win at. Given City’s dreadful cup record it was a fantastic result for the club. So the manager has lost his job on the back of a 4-0 win, how ironic it is then that he was given the job after a 4-0 win earlier in the year.

Hardly surprising though given how poorly the club is run. The owner is a TV chef who is better known for her drunken half time ‘let’s be ‘avin ya’ rants than her boardroom knowledge. Perhaps it really is time for Delia Smith to go before she causes anymore damage, surely it could not get any worse. Yes, Delia has put a lot of money into the club but this does not justify some dreadful decisions and playing in the third tier of English football. Aside from Leeds United, Norwich City are the biggest club in League One and should on this merit run away with it this season. Not many fans believe that is likely to happen.

The only possible salvation would be a big takeover and a decent investment of cash but as always a lot of talk about such things has merely been rubbish in recent months. Another way the club may restore some dignity is if they appoint a great manager to take the reigns and shake up the club, but who in their right mind will want this job now. Anyone who is worthy of a good manager job would not take it and that just leaves Norwich City with the scraps and unsuccessful managers to choose from.

Possible candidates to take over are current caretaker Ian Butterworth, who will be blighted by being part of the Gunn regime, Mark Robins, a former player who has had some success in managing at this level, and the man most City fans would love to have in charge, Aidy Bothroyd. Bothroyd a former academy boss has the skill and the nous to lead a promotion charge but even if he gets the job he will not be able to bring in many players and is pretty much stuck with the current untested City squad.

This is all very worrying for Norwich City and rather than harbouring promotion ambitions, most fans have already given up hope, mid-table may be the best city can get this season, the board needs to rectify this situation quickly or they will have a City riot on their hands.

Hiddink Hope

Chelsea Football Club has been on a seemingly downward spiral ever since the sacking of Mourinho. The less than inspiring replacement Avram Grant did little to impress fans and as expected achieved some solid results but nothing particularly special. Soon he was out of the door ready to be replaced by the one who may be the ‘real special one’ Luis Felipe Scolari. Again the hype turned out to be rubbish as Scolari’s inexperience of top class club management was his downfall and after a string of poor results he was also shown the exit. All of this coming in the space of not even two full seasons.

This is to not even mention the reported dressing room bust ups and the ageing squad which seemed to have been past its footballing prime. Also forgetting the owner, Roman Abramovic, who was less than interested in a club which he had built up from top 4 finishers to back to back title winners. Transfer funds were drying up and there was little reason for Chelsea fans to be optimistic.

Then suddenly, from nowhere along came a hero. A manager who could save this dwindling club and rekindle the owner’s interest. His name Gus Hiddink. A former European Cup winner, a man known for his ability to turn average sides into potential world beaters. A man tough enough to eradicate the dressing room disruptions. It seemed as if Chelsea fans prayers had been answered.

A few weeks on from his temporary appointment Chelsea already look a renewed team, a force to be reckoned with. Undefeated since the ruthless Dutchman took over the reigns and again hopeful of salvaging something from another bleak season. Hiddink’s tactical noose cannot be questioned and he had even got temperamental star Didier Drogba playing at the top of his game. Hiddink has brought a real unity to the previously disillusioned Chelsea squad something that only a ruthless manager can acheive.

But just as it looks as though Hiddink has restored hope to Stamford Bridge, the feeling may not last long. Hiddink has only been given a contract until the end of the season. By which time he may not even take the job, assuming he is offered it, as he is still the coach of the Russian national team. It is hard to be too optimistic when the instability that has blighted Chelsea for the best part of two seasons is still aparent. Chelsea would be far better off if they make sure they hang on to Hiddink. Another new manager by the start of next season will just add to the uncertainty of the club’s future and names like Carlo Ancelotti and Frank Rijkaard are hardly going to enthuse the Chelsea fans in the same way that Hiddink has.