I was delighted for David Wagner and Adam Idah after the win at Cardiff City.
Does it change the head coach’s position? I'm not sure, but it changes the atmosphere up at Colney, that’s for certain.
I’m not saying the corner has been turned, far from it. It's one win at the end of the day. I look at that result and it's what I would call a coupon buster - if you do a coupon at the weekend you'd put that as a home banker all day long. If you look at the form of the two teams - Cardiff had won 16 points from their previous six home games, Norwich had lost their last four, an horrendous run of form.
The irony is that no team had scored more goals from corners than Cardiff in the Championship this season. So what do they do? They concede two from corners.
I think David Wagner is one who’s had everything thrown at him. But you know what? He's been dignified in the way he's spoken. He's been a proper cool, calm gentleman about everything. He hasn't bitten, hasn't sniped. When you hear him talk he's got a cool, mild manner about him, and I was absolutely chuffed for him because, before the game you hear these different rumours, how he’s a dead man walking, how whatever happens, he's gone by Monday anyway.
He will feel better about himself, having seen the lads dig in and scrap – after they gave two sloppy goals away just before half-time it could have gone either way. They could have downed tools or gone into their shells and gone out and gone through the motions in the second half and lost the game. Or they could do what they did and say, ‘right, we’re going to show people’ and roll their sleeves up, make a couple of substitutions and change things and go for it and win the game and it is a magnificent result. Cardiff have been really good at home this season. It's a tough place to go. Erol Bulut has got them playing some good stuff so to go there and win in the manner that that they did was excellent.
I was also delighted for Adam Idah, who poached that winner right at the end from just a couple of yards out. Whoever is playing regularly, they should be getting 10 of those goals every season.
I think nowadays, centre forwards don't like scoring those types of goals. You give me 20 of them a season- no problem!
I remember when Frank Stapleton signed for Huddersfield when I was playing there - I stuck to him like glue, because he was like an encyclopaedia of forwards’ play. He played for Arsenal and Man U, he’d won trophies, he scored goals, loads of them for the Republic of Ireland. He was only there for about six months, came on loan because him and Eoin Hand were really good friends so he came and helped him out… because their record signing at the time, some ginger lad that they signed from Watford wasn't scoring goals …
He just taught me, showed me the right areas to be for the centre forward. He said ‘you’ll end up stealing goals off people’, and that's what I did. I was in the right area, someone would have a shot, it's going in and I'm there from two yards out just for the last touch. Honestly, I must have got loads from three yards out.
So I learned so much, but that's what Adam's got to do. When that ball's in and around the opposition's 18-yard box, get yourself in around that six-yard box, whether it's on the back post, whether you're making runs to the near post. Doesn't matter if you're standing still at times, the ball still might come to you.
To score the winning goal in an important match was special, not just for him, obviously, but especially for the manager because he's had a lot thrown at him.
Adam’s got five goals now. We’re in November - people think five, six, seven goals from your centre forward coming up to December is acceptable. In truth, you want to be close to double figures, you want to be between 10 and 15. I think it's a rarity now, because the way the game is played centre forwards aren’t out-and-out centre forwards anymore. I think there were only two players who got 20 or more goals last season in the Championship – Viktor Gyokeres, then at Coventry, and Chuba Akpom at Middlesbrough.
That goal should be just what Adam needs - if it doesn't, he shouldn’t be a centre forward.
Sometimes there's moments in a game, in a season, that can turn things around. Big goals. One thing for sure, it will give everybody a huge lift up there.
Thanks, Stuart
I think Stuart Webber is a good man who did wonders for the football club. He took over in a really difficult time for Norwich and I think in those first few years he worked wonders.
It annoyed me when he was lambasted for his reaction when he walked into the main reception at the club and there was a protest outside and him and his wife were getting abused - he turned around and said a few words back to the protesters and it all kicked off, all hell broke loose. 'He's not supposed to be doing that.' That's what annoys me. If you're abusing someone, whether you do it to their face or on social media, if they come back and give you a little bit back, ‘oh - he's not supposed to do that’. Why is that then? It stinks of double standards for me.
Stuart was always good to me. I've been away from the club now for almost 20 years and I have to say I've never had a welcome back like when Stuart invited me up to Colney.
The time I was up there – the lads wouldn’t know me from Adam. Some of them would, some of the younger boys like Todd (Cantwell) and Max (Aarons), maybe some of the older pros might know who I was, but not the foreigners - and Stuart stood there and reeled off what you'd done for the football club, which was great. There was me, Forbeys (Adrian Forbes), Kents (Darren Kenton) and Cedric (Anselin) and he made us feel so, so welcome. I can't say enough good things about him, but obviously I'm not a ‘fan’ and fans just want one thing – they want to see success on the pitch every time they play.
There's a reason why I've not been back to the football club. There's only Michael Foulger who has ever invited me to go down and watch a game in the directors’ box - I was a good friend of Michael’s. And over the years, for one reason or another, the club sort of lost their way with ex-players, apart from maybe one or two who they roll the right red carpet out for - I'm not one of them, by the way! I don't think Paul Lambert liked ex-players in and around the place and don't think Alex Neil did for some reason.
We’re not a threat, we don't want their job, but it was fine by me - and like I say, Stuart welcomed us with open arms.
