Norwich boss Paul Lambert heaped praise on Michael Nelson after the defender made a goalscoring and winning return to his former club Hartlepool.

Following six years at Victoria Park, Nelson moved to Carrow Road this summer on a free transfer, and on a quick return to his old club in a Norwich shirt he scored a spectacular opener and secured a shut-out at the other end in a straightforward 2-0 win.

“It was Nelson’s first game since the first day of the season and he was great, I thought he had a great game,” said Lambert.

“It’s brilliant for him to come back to his old stomping ground and do so well and to score like he did.

“But his general defensive display out there was excellent, which is why he is there and his goal was a bonus - and some bonus at that.”

HARTLEPOOL United paid the price for a collective off-day, as former defender Micky Nelson haunted his former club.

After exiting Victoria Park this summer for Norwich City, Nelson put his new side in front with a spectacular overhead kick in the first-half.

And he was rarely troubled all day as his side eased to victory.

It was only Nelson’s second appearance of the season. After making his debut in the opening day 7-1 humbling he has been forced to look on from the sidelines.

But he won’t have many more comfortable afternoons than this.

And the result means that Pool have now lost four games in front of their own fans this season.

“It was a poor game from start to finish,” said Turner.

“Both sides struggled to pass and play positive football.

“They took advantage of a mistake for Nelson to score and the second came from our own set piece.

“Everything that was good on Tuesday was poor today. Our back four and keeper kept up their standards, but the midfield and forwards didn’t.

“The two best players on the park were Grant Holt and Stephen Hughes. We couldn’t handle them.

“Norwich City took their chances well and will finish in the top six this season.”
Pools’ passing was out of sorts from the off, as they gifted possession to the visitors in the early stages.

It set the tone for a flat afternoon from Turner’s charges.

The opening goal came when Paul McVeigh peeled off to take possession from a short free-kick.

He worked into the penalty area and fed Jamie Cureton.

Keeper Scott Flinders saved his shot, and the home fans must have thought the chance was gone when the ball fell to Nelson with his back to goal.

But he took off to spectacularly volley into the net, in front of the Town End fans who used to laud him.

Pools only chance came when goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who Norwich signed on loan from Newcastle on Friday, pushed out an Antony Sweeney shot.

The ball fell into the path of James Brown, but the substitute turned and could only fire into the crowd.

That aside, it was a quiet day for Forster, who played at Victoria Park only two weeks ago for Bristol Rovers.

But Pool then went two down. From a Ritchie Jones corner, defender Jens Berthel Askou powerfully headed away to set up a classic counter attack.

Three passes later and the outstanding Stephen Hughes was on hand to sweep the ball into the net from 16 yards.

“We have had a hard month, a hard start to the season, but we move on from it,” said Turner.

“Everything that went wrong in terms of selections and decisions went wrong today.

“Our bench is looking a lot stronger and we prepare for Oldham on Friday straight away.

“We take the plaudits from how we played against Burnley last week and we take the downside from this performance as well.

“Now it’s about how we react on the training ground.

“We have honest lads here who are disappointed and they will pick up.”

Bryan Gunn’s 11th and 12th signings of the season come on free’s, with Maric signing a one year deal and Askou a two year deal.

NCFC Manageer Bryan Gunn said:

“Both adapted well to our style of play and the physical elements, which will be needed in League One this season.  I’m obviously delighted they have signed – both had offers from other clubs, but the attractiveness of Norwich City Football Club – the facilities and supporters have all played their part again.

They have boosted numbers in the squad and bring healthy competition in the much needed areas of striker and defence and we look forward to working with them.”

So in this highly unusual pre-season, we are unbeaten and have now signed enough decent players to really have a crack at league one.  Anyone out there still thinking we don’t have the squad for a title challenge?

Rss Feed from Kick It Off

Featured Business

Serbian striker Goran Maric and Danish defender Jens Berthel Askou say the ambition shown by Norwich City was key to them agreeing to sign.

Serbian striker Goran Maric and Danish defender Jens Berthel Askou joined the League One outfit on Thursday.

Askou, who signed after two years in Turkey, told BBC Radio Norfolk he was impressed during his trial spell.

“I had a very good impression of the players’ level, it seems like a very nice place to be and an ambitious club with good support,” he said.

Maric joins the Canaries after a spell with Barcelona B, on loan from Celta Vigo, and speaking through an interpreter [City's Bosnian teenager Dario Dumic] he said he was glad to be joining a club with high hopes.

“I think it’s a very big club, with an ambition to go up in the Championship and I want to be a part of that.

“I also heard that the fans are very supportive of the club, and I’m looking forward to playing in front of 20,000 supporters every week,” he said.

Manager Bryan Gunn now has plenty of attacking options, with Maric his fifth senior striker, and the 26-year-old says he does not mind having some first-team competition.

“There needs to be five strikers with so many league games and three cup competitions, but I have a lot of confidence and that’s how I’m going to play,” he said.

Rss feed from the BBC.

Featured Business

Doncaster and chairman Roger Munby stood down from their posts at Carrow Road last week in the wake of the club’s relegation to League One.

In urging fans to get behind the board and manager Bryan Gunn, Doncaster made a farewell plea.

He said: “Please do not assume that grass is greener on the other side, that there are queues of wealthy non-supporters desperate to ‘invest’ in the club. Such people simply do not exist. Or, if they do, they always, always want something valuable in return.

“There really is no such thing as a free lunch. It may well be possible for an owner to make a profit out of a football club - that, ultimately is what ‘investment’ means. But that profit would, in all likelihood, come at a huge cost to the club itself.

“There are many examples of where this has happened, despite the best efforts of the football authorities. Norwich City’s most likely route to a secure financial future is, quite simply, wealthy supporters and local businesses using their resources to back the club that they love.

“This, in combination with continuing efforts to drive further money out of off-field activities, is the way forward. It may be unglamorous. It may sound hackneyed. But I believe it to be fundamentally true.”

Doncaster paid tribute to City’s staff, supporters, volunteers and fund-raisers - and had special thanks for the board.

He said: “I would like to thank Delia, Michael and Michael Foulger for all that they did to support me personally and for all of their ongoing financial support of Norwich City.

“There seems to be a perception in some quarters that those directors earn money from the club, or take cash out in some other way, or are involved for some other personal gain. The truth could not be more different. Andrew and Sharon Turner, Delia, Michael and the Foulger family - all have simply given over their hard-earned cash to try to buy on-field success for the club they love.”

Leaving, he said, had been a difficult decision.

He said: “Stepping down from any company is a difficult thing to do. When that company happens to be an iconic football club, to which you have given nearly 13 years of your life, the decision to stand down is one that can only be taken after a great deal of thought and soul searching.

“Roger Munby and I want only for the best for Norwich City and, in circumstances where change is so much in demand, we felt that stepping down was simply necessary for the club to be able to move forward in harmony.

“Ordinarily, to lose four senior people in such a short space of time would be hugely destabilising for any company. But the recent departures of Andrew Cullen, Shaun O’Hara, Roger Munby and myself have created opportunities for the club’s talented senior managers to step up and fill the void and for new people with fresh ideas to come in. “

Article by the pinkun:

Featured Business

Norwich City FC’s response to the latest NCISA statement

The club totally understands the anger and frustration following relegation, which prompted 400 to 500 of our fans to answer NCISA’s call for a meeting at St Andrew’s Hall recently.

We recognise their passionate support for the club and thank them for the views expressed at and after the meeting. The departure of our chairman and chief executive last week represented the start of an on-going process of real and substantial change at the top of the club. More changes at board level will occur - and new people with fresh ideas and strategic vision will help to lead Norwich City through the summer and into the 2009/10 campaign.

The club remains totally united behind our manager Bryan Gunn and his management team of Ian Butterworth, Ian Crook and John Deehan. The Board’s decision to appoint them for next season means we have a team steeped in Norwich City tradition fired up and ready to guide us through a busy summer.

It will be a summer of much-needed changes to the playing squad and a whole new approach regarding the type of player who will be representing this club in the future. Bryan and his staff now have a firm mandate to roll their sleeves up and get on with this massive challenge and they are doing just that.

As far as the season ticket rebate is concerned, the club recognises how important this issue is and will be contacting season ticket holders with further information in the near future.

Finally, as far as potential investment leading to a change of majority shareholding is concerned, once again the message from directors is clear. They would be delighted to talk to anyone who is prepared to commit to making a substantial investment into the football budget on an on-going basis in return for shares. No such person has actually made any such offer to the board, despite much talk in the local press suggesting otherwise.

The only people currently committed to investing substantial amounts of cash into the football squad are our existing directors Delia Smith, Michael Wynn Jones and Michael Foulger, though they are in talks with members of the Norfolk business community who may be able to lend financial support.

That mistakes have been made the club fully accepts - the league table does not lie. However the club has started a process of radical and far-reaching changes to make sure we learn from those mistakes. Our best chance of those changes resulting in a successful future for the Canaries is for all of us who love the club to unite and look forward to facing the challenges ahead together.

Article from news24

Featured Business