Norwich City

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On this day - 14 March 1996

Norwich City captain Jon Newsome was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £1.6m.

Newsome had become the Canaries' first ever seven-figure signing when then manager John Deehan decided to pay £1m to Leeds United in 1994.

The central defender was named fans' player of the season at the end of the 1994/95 season, but Norwich were relegated from the Premier League to Division One at the end of that campaign.

Two days following the sale of Newsome, striker Ashley Ward left for Derby. The two departures were a surprise to manager Gary Megson.

He told the Independent newspaper: "I didn't sanction the moves and I am not party to either transfer.

"Every team below us is doing its utmost to ensure its survival. The team and I are getting no help from the boardroom and we don't expect them to be a hindrance. The last person out of the 32 professionals I would ever recommend us to sell is Ashley Ward."

Chairman Robert Chase had this to say about the transfers: "We must be prepared to reduce our borrowing to a level we can afford and which the bank is comfortable with.

"It is probably [the] most painful decision I have had to make since being chairman of the football club."

Chase left the club the following month in April 1996.

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Norwich City will have to do without left-back Dimitris Giannoulis for the next few weeks. The severity of his hamstring injury has not been revealed by the club, but he will definitely miss Saturday's match at Stoke City.

How much will the Canaries miss the Greek international?

Will Sam McCallum be a good replacement in defence?

Get in touch with your views here.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport understands that Canaries' left-back Dimitris Giannoulis is likely to miss several weeks of action with a hamstring injury.

The Greek international picked up the knock in training ahead of Saturday's win against Rotherham and was absent for that game.

Norwich City are yet to confirm the severity of the injury, but Giannoulis is definitely out of Saturday's trip to Stoke.

David Wagner will hold his pre-match press conference on Friday at 14.45 GMT.

Image source, Getty Images

On this day - 13 March 2022

The Canaries were beaten 2-1 in a relegation scrap at Leeds United.

Rodrigo gave the home side the lead on 14 minutes and it stayed at 1-0 until the first minute of stoppage time when Kenny McLean equalised for City.

The point would have kept City's faint hopes of staying in the Premier League ticking over but it wasn't to be, Joe Gelhardt scored three minutes after McLean's strike to send Elland Road wild.

It was Jesse Marsch's first win as Leeds boss.

Dean Smith's Norwich ended up being relegated from the Premier League in the following weeks.

You can read the full match report of the game here.

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Your views on Jacob Sorensen's future

Jacob Sorensen was one of the star players for the Canaries as they thrashed Rotherham 5-0 at Carrow Road on Saturday.

The Dane is out of contract in summer 2024, we asked for your views on his future:

Mick - Must keep him.

Mike - Sorensen is a classy and adaptable player. His injuries have been costly to Norwich, as he quietly goes about his duties in an efficient and unshowy manner. He is exactly what the club needs to underpin it's first eleven.

Nick - Sorensen is a top, top player. Gets on with the job and plays wherever you ask. Apart from a dodgy medical past he is so dependable and a fans favourite amongst my neighbours in the South Stand.

Richard - Stick with Wagner. Give a new contract to Jacob, he’s never let the side down.

Robert - Only one answer in my opinion... yes (keep him). A good versatile player who has given good service when available. How much to replace him?

Freddie - I think we should keep Sorensen because when we have a corner he will always try to header the ball and sometimes he scores, that's what happened against Rotherham.

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Opinion: Kudos to Wagner for the Carrow Road turnaround. For his next trick... the away form?

Gary Gowers, My Football Writer - Norwich City, external

Say what you like about David Wagner – and plenty has been – there’s no denying the job he has done to fix City’s home form.

In truth, for some time it has not been about the results in NR1. Despite losing four of their opening eight home games, City haven’t lost at Carrow Road since 5 November, when Blackburn beat them on an especially grim afternoon.

Instead, it was more around performance and entertainment levels – or rather, the lack of.

Even as recently as New Year’s Day, when City drew at home with then high-flying Southampton, there was unrest among many of the Carrow Road faithful who derived precious little enjoyment from a negative performance in which City had just 25 percent possession.

Little did we know at the time, but that day also signalled the start of our upturn in fortunes… at home. Little did we know Josh Sargent’s 78th minute equaliser was a prelude to brighter times… at home.

It was only the American’s second game back after missing almost four months due to damaged ankle ligaments, but that goal was priceless – and not just because of the point it earned.

Given it's lowly starting point, what has happened at Carrow Road since that day has been little short of extraordinary. Six games, six wins. Goals scored, 18. Goals conceded, 4. And in those six games, Sargent has scored seven. At least one in each.

Better still, the football has gone from soul-destroying to, sometimes, beautiful.

The type of football over which we used to drool when under the charge of Daniel Farke is occasionally back, albeit with a Wagner twist. When it clicks, it has an ebb and flow that many of us thought impossible under this head coach and his caution-first tendencies.

And fair play to the German. The quality of football we are currently seeing at Carrow Road was merely a pipe dream for over half the season.

But this is Norwich City and there’s always a sting in the tail, and this season it has come away from home. Only four wins on the road and eighteenth in the away league table compared to third in the home one. Famine and feast.

But maybe it’s one thing at a time with Wagner.

Maybe that same magic wand used, with the help of Sargent, to fix the home form can be used to do the same away from home in the remaining five games?

If it can be fixed, then sixth is still doable. Without it, Ben Knapper can start prepping for 2024-25 Championship-style.

No pressure, lads.

Norwich City supporter Anna Say was the guest fan on The Scrimmage podcast this week. She had her say on the Canaries next game, which is at Stoke on Saturday (15.00 GMT).

Rob Butler and Chris Reeve also welcomed Darren Hunter from the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation. He's the coach of the club's Cerebral Palsy team who have made it to the Disability Cup final.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Norwich City Women play an important league game against QPR at Carrow Road on Sunday 24 March.

City are currently second in the National League Divison One South East, five points behind leaders AFC Wimbledon but they do have a game in hand.

Captain Anna Larkins and midfielder Katie Knights were studio guests on The Scrimmage podcast this week.

Knights said, "At the previous game at Carrow Road we had seven and a half thousand there, but when we scored a goal it felt like that stadium was completely full. It was so loud.

"That will stick with me forever."

You can listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Norfolk FA

Norwich City under-21s are through to the semi-finals of the Norfolk Senior Cup.

The young Canaries beat King's Lynn Town under-23s 2-0 at The Walks to make it into the final four of the tournament.

Gabriel Forsyth and Adam Manning scored City's goals.

Norwich will now play Diss Town or Gorleston in the semi-final, those two play their quarter-final on Tuesday (19.45 GMT).

Watton United await the winners of the last-eight game between Wroxham and Downham Town.

'Reevo Reacts' to Rotherham romp

Scrimmage co-host Chris Reeve gives his first thoughts on the Canaries thrashing of Rotherham at Carrow Road.

Reevo will join Rob Butler for The Scrimmage on BBC Radio Norfolk from 18.00 GMT on Monday.

The podcast will be available here shortly after transmission.

Image source, Getty Images

Opinion: Five goals, five stats, and a five-star weekend

Steve Sanders, NCFC Numbers, external

Every so often, Norwich City put on a goalscoring display in the midst of a great run, which throws up a glut of subplots, talking points and stats. Think 4-0 vs QPR in 2018/19, or 7-1 vs Huddersfield in 2020/21. Now think 5-0 vs Rotherham in 2023/24.

And if you think that intro is teeing up a list of stats from the weekend…then you’d be absolutely right. Here are five you might not have known about:

1. The away form may still be patchy but it’s 12 unbeaten at Carrow Road, a feat they’ve only matched twice before since 1994. Of the 11 league games in that run, Norwich City have picked up 29 points, and you have to go back to the Nigel Worthington era in 2003 to find an 11-game spell as good or better in the Championship.

2. Josh Sargent’s at it again, and has achieved something that eluded Pukki, Roberts, Holt, Bellamy, in fact any Norwich City striker in the past 60 years: scoring in seven consecutive games at Carrow Road. No other player in English football has managed the feat this season either.

Sargent’s transformation from awkward youngster into deadly marksman now appears to be complete. Remarkably his only two shots on target (out of 24) two seasons ago were those two goals at Watford. This year, no-one in the Championship with more than 25 shots on goal can better his ratio of 54% of shots-on-target.

3. Sarge’s purple patch is nearly all his own work, but if he owes anyone a debt of gratitude in the Canaries’ squad, it’s Jack Stacey. The full-back has set up Sargent for more goals (3) than any other Norwich City player, and appears back to his best form. He’s their only defender this century to average an assist less than every seven games (minimum 40 games) and on Saturday he became the first Norwich City defender to get two assists and a clean sheet in a game since Darren Kenton in 2001.

4. About time we addressed the elephant in the room: Rotherham were bad. Really bad. Only Reading in 2017 and that Huddersfield side in 2021 have been four goals or more down to Norwich City at half-time in a league game since 1992, and don’t forget that Saturday’s visitors were on the wrong end of the same half-time scoreline earlier in the week at Coventry.

They’re also the first team to play the Canaries this century to concede more than twice and fail to register a shot on target. Norwich City didn’t beat any of the bottom three at Carrow Road last season – but this was about as easy a test as they could have hoped for.

5. Let’s finish with the 'S Factor'. Maybe the biggest oddity from Saturday was that all five goals were scored and set-up (allowing a little leeway for City’s fifth) by players whose surname begins with an ‘S’. That has, unsurprisingly, never happened before – but fans of alliterative quirks read on…

The last four-goal Norwich salvo was brought to you by the letter H (Howson x2, Hoolahan & Hooper v Millwall in 2015), while G provides the last time letter to provide five goalscorers in the same game (Johnny Gavin x4 and Peter Gordon in 1955). For four different goalscorers with the same starting letter, you have to go back as far as 1932 vs Coventry – Cecil Blakemore, Sam Bell, Ken Burditt and Oliver Brown.

And that…is the real quiz.

Norwich City utility player Jacob Sorensen has been speaking about his future at Carrow Road.

The Dane can play in midfield or anywhere across the defence, on Saturday he played at centre-back and scored as the Canaries beat Rotherham 5-0 to move into the Championship top six.

Sorensen is out of contract in the summer of 2024.

Do you think City should keep Sorensen? Get in touch with your thoughts.

Image source, PA Media

Your views on Norwich City's 5-0 win over Rotherham

Here are some of your views on the Canaries' big win against Rotherham which saw them move back into the Championship play-off places:

Sophie - What more to say than - INCREDIBLE! Fully deserved that win, although we could have been more ruthless in the second half (but that's just me being picky!) Great win, five superb goals - Sara's second was my favourite - and we're in the play-offs! What a brilliant day! There's no better way to start my weekend! OTBC 💛 💚

Freddie - Outstanding performance. We needed a big response after Wednesday night and that was simply perfect. Of course, results going our way helps massively, but we’re not up in the top six due to luck. This team has serious talent and they showcased that today. Our home form could be the difference between us getting in and missing out. Dare to dream!

Nikki - Brilliant game with great atmosphere! Sunshine in our faces, watching the goals smashing into the back of the net.

Jon - Had we not got a dodgy red card at the Riverside on Wednesday we would probably now be fifth in the table. Every point is vital now - there can be no let up until after Wembley.

Darren - It was lovely to see NCFC playing with a midfield in the first half today. Sadly, in the second half we decided to revert to type. This squad has the ability to do well, but it felt like the first half formation was forced through availability but worked so much better. So, worries about tactical maturity persist.

Big Sigh - Hi, from South Wales! I think Gunny, Stacey, Kenny (McLean), Gabby (Sara) and Josh (Sargent) are all key in the next (hopefully more) games. Comparing Max Aarons and Jack Stacey as maruading full-backs - right now, I’d favour Jack, as his crosses are great and he doesn’t turn his back all the time.

Image source, Getty Images

Time to give you the answer for our regular quiz now.

A reminder of the question:

After Borja Sainz's second red card this season, can you name the three other players in the EFL who have been on Norwich City's books and have been sent off twice this season?

The answers:

Daniel Ayala - Rotherham United

Cameron McGeehan - Colchester United

Brad Hills - Accrington Stanley

Well done if you got it right, there will be another question before the next Canaries' match.

Cedric Anselin's view on Norwich City thrashing Rotherham

The Canaries beat struggling Rotherham 5-0 at Carrow Road on Saturday in the Championship.

With nine games left, City moved into the top six play-off places.

Cedric Anselin was BBC Radio Norfolk's summariser, here are some of his thoughts at full-time:

"Very comfortable afternoon from a Norwich City point of view.

"Obviously (David) Wagner will be pleased with that after Wednesday night. We saw some unbelievable goals this afternoon, Wagner will love the clean-sheet as well."

He continued, "He (Wagner) had the luxury of rotation too. To give McLean a break, Sargent as well and to throw in some young lads. It was nice for the fans to see a young lad from the Academy (Ken Aboh).

"It was a long afternoon for Rotherham, you can see that they don't really have the pace of the Championship."

You can hear more from Cedric Anselin on Canary Call with Rob Butler here.

Image source, PA Media

Norwich City in the top six - have your say

The Canaries beat Rotherham 5-0 and moved into the Championship play-off places on Saturday.

With nine games left, do you think City have what it takes to extend their season?

Which players will be key in the run-in?

How many wins do they need to ensure a top six finish?

Get in touch and send us your comments here.

If you like stats, you're in luck!

OPTA have provided plenty ahead of the Canaries taking on the Millers at Carrow Road (Saturday, 15.00 GMT):

• Norwich City have lost just two of their last 18 league games against Rotherham United (W8 D8), failing to score in just two of those matches

• Rotherham United have won just two of their 17 away league games against Norwich City across Football League history (D6 L9), failing to score 2+ goals in any of their last nine visits to Carrow Road

• Norwich City are unbeaten in their last 10 home league games (W8 D2), winning each of the last five in a row; the Canaries last won six straight at Carrow Road in January 2010 in League One (11)

• Rotherham United have lost eight consecutive league games for the third time in their Football League history, only once before losing more in a row - 10 between February and April 2017

• Josh Sargent has scored in each of his last seven league appearances at Carrow Road, netting eight goals; only three players have scored in eight consecutive home outings in the Championship (since 2004-05): Tammy Abraham in February 2019, Jarrod Bowen in March 2019 and Chuba Akpom in April 2023 (9).

Image source, Rob Butler/BBC

It's a beautiful (almost) Spring day at Carrow Road.

Norwich City will look to get their Championship play-off push back on track as they host Rotherham United on Saturday (15.00 GMT).

You can listen to full live coverage with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM, DAB and Freeview from 14.00 GMT.

Former City midfielder Cedric Anselin is their guest summariser and he will be co-hosting the Canary Call phone-in after the match.

Get involved with our pre-match quiz.

The question:

After Borja Sainz's second red card this season, can you name the three other players in the EFL who have been on Norwich City's books and have been sent off twice this season?

Send us your answers here.

Canaries' midfielder Kenny McLean has been speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk ahead of City's Championship match against Rotherham United on Saturday (15.00 GMT).

McLean said his team owe the Millers a beating following a defeat at the New York Stadium in September 2023:

"They beat us at their place, we obviously don't forget that.

"We weren't at it that day. The way we started that game set the tempo for them, so Saturday we need to be at it."

He continued, "We need to be on it. The fans will be behind us, we know that. We've been really good at Carrow Road so that will continue for us, I'm sure.

You can listen to a full interview with Kenny McLean here.

Image source, Rob Butler/BBC

Opinion: ‘Norwich City’s season summed up in one game’

Matthew Soakell, North East Canary

If one game was ever needed as evidence to sum up Norwich City’s 2023-24 season, Wednesday night’s 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough could possibly be it.

It was a game of what-ifs and almost a 90 minute summary of our season. We looked good in possession but not for long enough, albeit majorly disrupted by the rather innocuous Borja Sainz red card, which I can’t be bothered spending too much time discussing as it's since been rescinded. All I will say is that referee Bobby Madley has been done hook, line and sinker by Jonny Howson; who we all expected better of.

The defeat against Boro also had injuries and bizarre tactical changes. Grant Hanley was forced off in the 70th minute and existing injuries to the likes of Hernandez and Rowe meant options off the bench were limited. When changes were made, the decision to keep Ashley Barnes on instead of Josh Sargent left a fair share of fans scratching their heads in the away end at David Wagner’s tactical tendencies.

And so another defeat at the Riverside Stadium seemed to encapsulate the season we’ve had thus far; some good football, some poor officiating, some shocking defending and poor decision making on and off the pitch. What it also had was a cracking group of ever-reliable, hardcore fans, spending their hard-earned money supporting their club regardless of results.

There’s still every chance we finish in the top six, but who knows what to expect over the next ten games - if only it was possible to predict consistent on-field results like we know we can rely on Norwich City’s loyal fanbase, ey?