You’ll need Premier League experience, they said. You’ll get slaughtered with those players, they said. Holt will be useless against Premier League defenders, they said. Lambert scoffed, finished off his Carlsberg Special Brew and got to work. I’m almost sure that’s exactly how it happened, says Norwich City fan Matt Wallace. More or less. But those kind of statements, those broad generalisations were and still are part of the discussion when promoted teams make the step up. It’s as if a special type of aura surrounds a Premier League player but not a Football League one, like they’re two different…
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Stepping Up: Norwich City schemer Wes Hoolahan adapts to survive
It’s dog eat dog in the Premier League. Adapt to survive. Wes Hoolahan is doing a mighty fine job of making the step up from the Championship to the top flight with Norwich City - and he’s having to master a new role in the process, as Canaries fan Matt Wallace, who runs the Norwich blog Holtamania, explains. Wesley ‘Wessi’ Hoolahan has had a rollercoaster of a career with Norwich. Bought from Blackpool, he was initially played on the left before spending time out of the team when Glenn Roeder complained about his fitness. He’s been through relegation and looked…
Apart, together, apart: The recent past of Norwich City and Stockport County
We all develop a soft spot for other clubs at some point during our football supporting lives. Norwich City supporter Matt Wallace gradually found himself drawn to Stockport County and their current struggle for survival, both on and off the pitch, therefore has an unlikely ally in deepest Norfolk. A superb bit of writing. Enjoy. I first saw a Stockport County game when they were languishing in the basement of League Two. I was out of my comfort zone: a Norwich fan transplanted into the North West, away from the capacity crowds of Championship mediocrity. What I found was a…
The Old Farm: a yardstick for Norwich City
To some, the rivalry is quaint; two teams more than an hour apart in some sleepy rural backwater. It fails to evoke the same feeling as a heated Merseyside derby or the recent turnover in North London. But when Norwich host Ipswich, live on the BBC this Sunday, Matt Wallace recommends that you tune in. The old cliché says form goes out the window, and this is likely to suit both teams. Norwich have won only once in their last eight games, though they’ve drawn five of those and surrendered winning positions in three, while Ipswich are in a particularly…
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