City old boy Leon McKenzie is gearing up for a long overdue Carrow Road homecoming with new club Charlton later this month.

McKenzie is set for a first return to his former stomping ground since leaving in 2006 as part of the Addicks’ table topping squad on August 19 after agreeing a free transfer switch to The Valley.

The 31-year-old retains a special place in Canary folklore after notching a brace in a winning East Anglian derby debut display at Ipswich during the club’s Championship promotion-season in 2003/04.

McKenzie, however, rules out any divided loyalties after Charlton boss Phil Parkinson offered the popular frontman an escape route from his injury-jinxed spell at Coventry.

“I didn’t know the manager, but he obviously knew of me and thinks I will be a good addition to his squad,” said McKenzie. “I know it is a drop down but it is a good club and hopefully I can help them get back up to the Championship. They have had a fantastic start to the season, winning all five of their league games so far, and I know that a fit Leon McKenzie has still got a lot to offer.”

McKenzie had the chance to join another Championship club up north or move back south to his former stomping ground. The one time Crystal Palace trainee admits his Coventry move turned sour after overcoming a ruptured Achilles injury that saw him miss the last six months of the previous Championship season.

“Charlton is near all my family, the package is decent and 100 per cent better than what Coventry offered me,” he said. “I have worked really hard to get back to the levels I am at. I feel Coventry should have done better for me. The manager wanted me to stay until the end of the season and all the players have said it doesn’t make sense.”

Chris Martin’s love affair with the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy continued last night as his 30th minute strike proved enough to see the Canaries through to the second round of the competition.

City could – and, probably, should – have won by rather more than the one goal against visitors Brentford after turning on the style for the game’s opening half-hour.

In the end, however, Martin’s classy strike on the half-hour mark proved the difference as the 20-year-old began to dream of a return to Wembley following last season’s 3-2 final triumph with Luton Town.

By coincidence, the Hatters likewise beat Brentford in the opening round…

“I really enjoyed it tonight,” said the 20-year-old striker, one of eight changes boss Paul Lambert made to the side that won 2-0 at Hartlepool at the weekend.

“It’s just nice to get a game and I thought we dug in well and came away with a win that we probably deserved in the end.”

The former England Under-19 striker also came away with the sponsors Man of the Match bubbly for his efforts against the Bees.

As well as the sharpest of strikes for the game’s winning goal, Martin saw a big, far post header fall just wide after the interval as he continued to flourish in a wide-left role.

He could, equally, have opened the scoring as early as the eighth minute as he latched onto a horror back-pass from his full-back only to badly lose his bearings as Bees keeper Lewis Price advanced.

“I think that left-hand role favours me in that I like coming in and shooting on my right foot,” said Martin, as he filled a hole vacated by Wes Hoolahan who – along with club skipper Gary Doherty – spent most of yesterday and the weekend sat in a shop window.

“But if you ask most right-footed players, they’ll say that they like coming in off the left-hand side and shooting,” added Martin, well aware that one had gone AWOL early on.

“It was sloppy by me,” he admitted, honestly. “I should have just come onto it and placed it into the far corner. But I was happy to make up for it with the goal that I got.”

It was a sweet strike; pinging in off the base of Price’s left-hand upright from some 22-yards distant.

“I was pleased with it, but its just nice to go through to the next round.”

Interestingly, the City Academy product admitted that there was still plenty more to come; that his lack of match practice was still evident in his game; the sharpness wasn’t quite there yet.

Whether he will get another opportunity at home to Walsall on Saturday is the next question for Lambert to answer. He can either recall Hoolahan to his thinking or restore Adam Drury to left-back and push the man of the moment – last night’s skipper Simon Lappin – up into that wide-left role.

Or else reward Martin for his efforts with a second successive start.

“I’m probably not as sharp as I would like to be, but obviously every 90 minutes helps,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep on playing and obviously that will get me sharper.”

The fact that Lambert had made the eight changes – including first starts for both striker Goran Maric and midfielder Darel Russell – ensured that everyone is getting their chance to shine; to prove their worth to the new man at the helm.

“That’s what a lot of the boys tonight had a chance to do,” he said. “Obviously, there was a few of us that haven’t played and this was a chance for them to show the manager what they can do and basically give him a headache for selection on Saturday.”

Like Lambert, Martin also paid tribute to the Canary supporters who again turned out in their thousands for last night’s game – in their twelve and a half thousands, to be precise.

The next highest attendance for a JPT first round tie was 4,000.

“We’re going to get great support every game here – even in the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy,” he said.

“12,500 is a hell of a lot of fans – the next was 4,000. So credit to the supporters. And it’s nice to give them a win to cheer us on.”

It ought to tee everything up nicely for Saturday’s return to league duty; back-to-back wins and two clean sheets to boot, Lambert’s star is still on the rise; the honeymoon has a few more days to go…

“We were conceding goals,” said Martin. “But its nice to tighten things up with two clean sheets in a row and, hopefully, we can keep working defensively on the training pitch as a unit and keep getting more and more clean sheets.”

Article from Myfooballwriter

Norwich City have just announced that Newcastle United loanee Fraser Forster’s loan has been extended until January 2nd 2010.

The 21 year old was between the sticks for the 2-0 win over Hartlepool, and despite having seen that Otsemobor, Nelson and Docherty will be protecting him, has signed up until the new year

‘He did well coming in on Saturday at very short notice and showed he is a very capable goalkeeper,’ Canary chief Paul Lambert told the club’s official website.

‘We needed cover due to Ben Alnwick’s injury and we have now extended the loan until January, giving us more options between the sticks.’

Dejan opts to leave Carrow Road
Norwich defender Dejan Stefanovic has left the club in search of more regular football after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.
The 34-year-old ruptured cruciate ligaments in the Championship game against Preston in November, and made a total of 12 appearances for the club.

Manager Paul Lambert said: “Dejan made it clear he wanted to leave the club before I joined. We thank him for his efforts and wish him well for the future.”

Norwich midfielder Darel Russell is set for a first appearance of the season in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash with Brentford.

Russell had expressed a desire to play at a higher level but has held clear-the-air talks with manager Paul Lambert and is set to return to the fold.

Goran Maric should also make his debut for the Canaries after being frozen out under Lambert but midfielders Matt Gill and Owain Tudur Jones are both out.

Gill could be out for as long as two months after limping off against Brentford several weeks ago while Tudur Jones has suffered a calf problem.

Lambert is set to make changes with the likes of David Stephens, Luke Daley and Chris Martin coming into contention while goalkeeper Declan Rudd could be handed a debut.

Michael Spillane is available after a one-match ban but goalkeeper Ben Alnwick (facial) is joined on the sidelines by Rhoys Wiggins (knee), Kris Renton (foot) and Damon Lathrope (broken arm).

Former City manager Bryan Gunn has told Sky Sports that his sacking as Norwich City manager still leaves a bitter taste.Gunn was a guest on the Soccer Extra show, and was asked to describe the series of events that lead to his sacking 24 hours before the game at St James’ Park.

‘They had a board meeting on the Thursday and then on the Friday David McNally came down to Exeter,’ Gunn explained.

‘We’d named the team in the morning, we went through our set plays, and then at three o’clock in the afternoon I got told that my services were no longer required.’

The irony that the new man in the Carrow Road hot-seat was sat in opposition dug-out in the Colchester game has not been lost on many, and Gunn believes his successor can do a good job - but still he believes he could have turned things around:

‘Paul’s a good manager and I’m sure he’ll do very well there. He’s got his own style and he’ll do it his way, just like I was trying to do it my way.

‘I still feel that I could have done a good job there with the squad, with the coaching staff that we had but that’s not to be any more.’

There was always a risk that the managerial dream could turn sour for the former Sheriff of Norwich once he had stepped up to the plate to replace Glenn Roeder, but the man who made over 400 appearances for club admitted he was shocked at just how quickly things went south.

‘I didn’t expect it to happen so soon,’ he added. ‘I felt I’d been given the backing from the board and the coaching staff I’d brought in - Ian Butterworth, Ian Crook and John Deehan as chief scout - had that Norwich connection and we were the right people for the job, and the fact that I was backed throughout the summer in terms of the signings that we made - some quality signings as well who will do well for the football club - leaves a little bitter taste in the mouth.’

You certainly can’t blame him for harbouring some ill-will towards his now former employers, so has the whole episode damaged his relationship with the club?

‘I hope not. We’re still in discussions with the club about the settlement terms. I’ve had some good advice from the League Manager’s Association as well as it is something new to me.

‘They are good people and I am lead to believe that I will always be welcome back at the club.

‘It’s two weeks on now, still a little bit of a bitter taste in the mouth, but the golf handicap is getting better and I’ve still got a bit of charity work to do in Norwich with the Leukaemia appeal - and my garden’s got a few weeds in it as well.’

Article by Vital footaball