#NCFC - The Biggest Football Club on Twitter?

As I'm sure you know by now if you read this site site regularly, I support Norwich City. I keep it quiet at the moment given their relegation and the subsequent 7-1 home defeat by the might of Colchester United that signalled our arrival in Coca Cola League One.

However I have been delighted by the power of Twitter in uniting fans of the club. Led by Stephen Fry, a Canary himself, Norwich fans the world over have popped up, with 289 fans adding a 'Twibbon' to show their support for the club. Ipswich Town, to give you some context, have 11 Twibbon-declared fans, while of the 'big four', Manchester United and Chelsea currently have fewer fans thans little old Norwich.



Norwich also yesterday achieved something else pretty special in Twitter terms. Having sacked club legend Bryan Gunn in the wake of the opeing day humiliation, they appointed the very manager who inflicted that defeat, Colchester's Paul Lambert.

The news broke at a press conference, but the journalists present were straight on Twitter, as were Sky Sports News viewers. This ties in with the fact that I'm finding Twitter a more reliable and quicker source of up-to-date sports news from regular folk than any mobile applications - and I'm an iPhone owner.

Within minutes the news spread, discussion began and hopes were raised. And Paul Lambert became a top ten trending topic on Twitter. Yes, Norwich City's new manager was, at around 10:30 yesterday morning, one of the ten most discussed things on Twitter, ahead of Glasgow and behind New Moon and District 9.



Admittedly this time of day is pretty much owned by the UK in Twitter terms, but still. I was helpfully sent a Twitpic documenting the momentous occasion, surely never to be repeated. Thankfully our opening day humiliation was kept off the trending topics by England's Ashes capitulation on the same weekend.

Tee du jour - Bryan Gunn by teetude

Don't be mean about this, it's very close to my heart. Bryan Gunn is a bit of a local hero in Norwich and, touch wood, looks like leading the Canaries to safety in the Championship after a truly ordinary and potentially disastrous run.

So this tee is pretty appropriate really, a Shepard Fairey-style treatment of Bryan Gunn. As fitting as Darren Huckerby's declaration that California is 'like the Norfolk of the USA', I'm prepared to say that Bryan Gunn is Norwich's answer to Barack Obama. There, I've said it. Now buy the t-shirt.



Get this in t-shirt or trucker cap form from teetude's Cafe Press shop here.

Google Streetview Reaches Some of the UK

I'm quite excited by Google Streetview, although it seems to have missed the whole of Bolton and the 50 yards outside the front of my Hackney-based home.

It didn't miss fortress Carrow Road though.

Carrow Road on Google Streetview

Simon beat me to this, but I felt I had to share this.

West Ham Kid Nets Record Deal

According to this story in The Sun, a 16-year-old West Ham United prodigy has given up on football to sign a £1million deal with Universal Music to play the saxophone.



There are two things that I found notable here. First, that there is a choice to make between football and another career, given that even top professionals only train for about 3 hours a day. Surely you can fit in another job in the afternoon? I suspect some of Norwich's players have been for years, if their performances are anything to go by.

The second is the name of the record executive - Dickon Stainer. Dickon Stainer! If ever there was a better name for a jazz music record exec, I would love to hear it.

That is all.

The Annual Norwich City Manager Decision

Some of you I know, some of you I'm meeting for the first time. Those of you I know are most likely aware that I am a fan of Norwich City Football Club.

Handsome man at Carrow Road shocker

When I'm not working or posting frivolous piffle on here, I am also the editor of the NorwichCityMad site, part of the FootyMad network. I put as much as I can on there that's Norwich-focussed but don't always pay it enough attention, particularly when they're doing badly and there are no arrivals or departures on the horizon.

I decided a while ago to buy up the url www.letsbehavinyou.co.uk, where I fully intended to post my musings on the general state of football and footballers. When this blog and my interest in social media really took off a few months back, however, it completely fell by the wayside.

NorwichCityMad on Twitter

I've considered, and even attempted to no avail, a rebrand of www.ricklamb.co.uk as Let's Be Havin' You, but was concerned about losing the SEO I've built up on this site, and confusing what little audience I have.

So, I've decided to allow myself to whack the odd football post up here. If it's particularly Norwich related, chances are it'll already be on NorwichCityMad, which also means it will be on Twitter under @NorwichCityMad (eat that My Football Writer).

Anyway, Norwich sacked their manager today, Glenn Roeder. I think he gets a raw deal in general from West Ham and Newcastle fans (particularly the latter, but they've got more to worry about), and would have advocated patience. He's the third manager to lose the same job in three seasons.

Glenn Roeder - tight-lipped

Anyway, I'm publicly advocating the appointment of Aidy Boothroyd as his successor (partly because, for some reason, he really reminds me of my uncle), but am tempted to put myself forward. Loads of football fans have similar tales of applying for jobs at their club, and some even get letters of rejection. I think that's the attraction. That and the fact that maybe, just maybe...

Aidy Boothroyd - waving at himself drives him crazy

And I got through a whole post without mentioning Delia Smith. Oh well.

Norwich v Derby - Looking Back to Look Forward

Norwich host Derby at Carrow Road this afternoon. The last time the two sides met, Derby were heading towards promotion to the Premier League and triumphed 2-1 thanks to a brace from midfielder David Jones.

Norwich took the lead in the March 2007 clash through youngster Chris Martin, who at the time was bursting on to the scene with a scoring spree. Martin, however, was stupid enough to believe his own hype and went backwards last season. He is pending this term building his character down at Kenilworth Road, where he is impressing as Luton Town attempt to surmount the insurmountable and stay up despite having a 30 point deduction imposed on them because of the frankly ridiculous actions of the Football League.

Southampton v Norwich - Looking Back to Look Forward

Tonight two recent Premier League sides struggling to reach former glories face off at St Mary's as Southampton host Norwich.

Less than two years ago, the Saints won this fixture 2-1. After falling behind to a Robert Earnshaw goal, a Gareth Bale free kick drew the home side level before Kenwyne Jones scored the winner. The sale of the likes of Bale and Jones obviously hit Southampton hard, but it's crazy the club is so strapped for cash having made millions out of these two and others.

The managers for this game were Peter Grant, who Norwich fans see as a bad joke that went on too long, and George Burley, who had the good fortune to be offered a route out of the sinking south coast club by Scotland. This evening Glenn Roeder faces Jan Poortvliet for the first time.

Ne's a Norfork legend

I'm pretty sure that when foreign sports stars come over here, our local news is as condescending as anywhere in the world. It just seems that Americans are so much more natural atbeing ill-informed and patronising.

'English legend' Darren Huckerby (who I believe may have slain dragons) got the full treatment following his signing for San Jose Earthquakes. Apart from not knowing how to pronounce his name, the presenter on Kron managed to refer to Huckerby's former club Norwich City as 'the Norfork (sic) club', who are apparently based in the North East of England.



The interviewer went on to listen to pretty much nothing Huckerby said, even ignoring his intial mention of David Beckham (he was in the team when Hucks scored a superb goal for Coventry about ten years ago at Old Trafford, which he discusses with the presenter while a goal for Norwich against Birmingham from 2 season ago is shown). When asked about his own 'WAG', Hucks pulled some comedy gold out of the bag by declaring his wife as 'too old' to be a pop star. It never stopped Cher, Darren.

As I say, it's easy to poke fun at the Yanks and in particular their horrendous interpretation of football coverage and culture. It wasn't all that long ago, though, that I remember Wigan Athletic pulled off a major transfer coup by signing three Spaniards.

Isidro Diaz, Jesus Seba and now Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez were the men, and Granada Tonight celebrated by togging them up in their Latics kits, taking them to Wigan town centre and feeding them pies. While referring to them as 'The Three Amigos'. It's the sort of preposterous stereotyping often seen in the work of BBC's Football Focus, and particularly Garth Crooks. Who I think would do very well reporting on the MLS. Where I can't see him.