One thing I simple can’t stand in the game is a player going down holding his face as if he’s been given an uppercut from Iron Mike Tyson when he was in his prime!
This is exactly what Nelson Oliveira did last Saturday after Pontus Jansson had breathed on him and I can’t for one minute think that the big Swede’s breath is that bad!
If I’m honest I don’t think I went down so dramatically when I was smashed in my mouth and lost my three front teeth.
It was quite cringeworthy and I was embarrassed for Oliveira with his amateur dramatics, as he tried his very best to get Jansson (who’s no angel by the way) sent off but he was blameless this time.
Oliveira needs to sort himself out and quickly.
The selfish performance at Cardiff where it was all about him and not the team, the finger to his mouth after he’d scored his penalty against Sheffield Wednesday (his first goal in six games) to silence his critics and now this.
He’s a gifted player but it does leave you asking the question why he has had six loan clubs before joining Norwich?
I loved the Christmas period with games coming thick and fast and this one promises to be a hugely important one for Norwich, with some vital games coming up.
I think that after these next four games we will know whether it’s going to be a season of consolidation in mid-table for Daniel Farke and his players or a real relegation scrap if they don’t pick enough points up from Brentford, Birmingham, Burton and Millwall with the latter three all below the Canaries.
During my time at Norwich not once did we have Christmas day off. Whether it was first thing in the morning or around five in the afternoon we had to train for the game the next day.
It was just another day in the office for us and I regarded it as a small price to pay for being paid to do something that I loved.
It wasn’t as easy for my kids as they couldn’t understand why daddy had to go to work on Christmas Day when all their friends’ daddies were at home playing games and enjoying the festive fun.
However, staying in a hotel on Christmas night wasn’t great which I think I did for six of my seven years while I was at the club as our fixtures seemed to have us playing away from home more often than not.
It would be hilarious seeing all the lads tuck into their packed lunches (not that it was lunch time of course) of leftover turkey and stuffing sandwiches half way into our journey.
My busiest Christmas as a player was when I was at Leicester when for some reason we played two games in two days, Boxing Day we played Watford at Filbert Street in a great game that finished 4-4. Sadly I failed to find my name on the scoresheet and the very next day we played Derby at the old Baseball Ground which was a real quagmire of a pitch – not great when you’d played 24 hours before.
That game was a very entertaining one with plenty of goals, not quite as many as the one the day before, but still five in all. Sadly three of those five were scored by the Rams but unlike Boxing Day I did find the back of the net on that day.
It was a tough couple of days and not just because we’d only picked up the one point from the two games we’d played but I think that’s the only ever time I’ve played two competitive games in two days. It’s fair to say I was glad to get home after that Derby game and stuff my face with all sorts of Christmas goodies!
Finally I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year – let’s all hope it’s a good one for NCFC.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here