Four games into the Premier League season and with four defeats, the home game against Watford was as close to a must win as it is possible to be at this stage of the campaign. Sadly, Norwich didn’t have any answers on another dreadful day. Here are some thoughts on Norwich City 1-3 Watford.
Norwich had another bad day at the office against Watford
Running out of answers
It doesn’t seem to matter how much money Norwich spend, what team they put out, or what formation they play – the Premier League is a nut they just can’t crack. I was pleased with the team news before kick off today. New signings Ozan Kabak and Mathias Normann were given their debuts, and there were two recognised strikers in the eleven in Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent – rare to say the least in a Daniel Farke side. Both of the new boys were brought in to try to strengthen our rather leaky defence, Kabak as part of the back four and Normann in a defensive midfielder role acting as an extra barrier. Kabak was good in places, read the game well and looked comfortable on the ball. Normann showed only a glimpse of his passing ability. There will be much more to come from both of them, but today it was the same old story for City.
Just as they had done against Leicester, the Canaries conceded an early goal. When you’re always having to chase the game, it’s really tough to get anything out of it. In the first half they actually looked quite bright going forward and Teemu Pukki’s lovely finish was a reminder of what the team are actually capable of – but it was all too fleeting as more needless mistakes at the back saw Watford run out pretty comfortable winners.
For the first time, Farke hears the boos
It’s been four years and four months since Daniel Farke was appointed Norwich City manager. Today may well have the been first time he’s ever received boos from the Carrow Road crowd. It was sad, but not unexpected, as the frustrated City fans told the boss exactly what they thought of the performance as he manfully acknowledged each side of the ground at full time. It really isn’t easy to turn the atmosphere in a football ground around once it’s turned toxic. Only goals and wins will get the boo boys back on his side.
Daniel Farke has work to do
Watford are nothing special
Towards the end of the game the Watford players were literally running rounds around their Norwich opponents. It was actually quite embarrassing. You can sort of take losing to the likes of Liverpool and Man City, but being taught a lesson at home by a team as ordinary as Watford? The Canaries have got serious problems. There really doesn’t seem much that sets Watford apart from Norwich, they just showed a bit more guts on the day. I can see it being a relegation battle for the Hornets, but given how easy it was for them in the end that really isn’t a good sign for Norwich.
A good cup result is important
With Norwich’s 38 game battle to stay in the Premier League now reduced to a 33 game one, some fans might think it right to put out a second string against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday so we can ‘concentrate on the league’. With confidence as low as it is, however, a decent performance and a good result against the Reds could do wonders ahead of our next league assignment at Everton next weekend.
Some thoughts on Norwich City 1-2 Leicester City, as the Canaries go into the first international break of theseason winless and without a goal from open play in the Premier League.
Trouble getting a pre-match coffee should have been a warning
I met my mother and her significant other for a coffee and a muffin in the Morrisons café opposite Carrow Road before the match, only to have my dream of a refreshment break having raced down there from work thwarted by mum being told that ‘they had no cups left for hot drinks’. Excuse me? It’s 1.30pm on a Saturday, a matchday, and a big shop like that has run out of cups to have a hot drink in? Mum was furious, but thinking about it now it’s so hilariously rubbish. We left and found refreshment elsewhere but, Morrisons, you really have to plan ahead for when Norwich are at home. It shouldn’t be a surprise to you that you’re extra busy when there’s a match on. I guess it should have been a warning of what was to come on the pitch.
The Morrisons supermarket opposite Carrow Road, who had run out of cups for hot drinks by 1.30pm on a matchday. I didn’t call the police on them – this photo is from when the store was subject to a bomb threat.
VAR just isn’t worth it
The dreaded Video Assistant Referee (VAR) played its part in two major incidents in today’s game, having been virtually absent from Norwich’s first two Premier League matches. First, they were awarded a penalty in the first half when Leicester’s Turkish defender Çağlar Söyüncü went to ground clumsily near the byline with Pierre Lees-Melou. The referee gave only a corner, but after a lengthy delay with his hand to his ear was advised by the VAR to go and look at the screen next to the pitch. Teemu Pukki sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to get Norwich back into the match.
Having gone 2-1 down, the home side looked like they had equalised when Kenny McLean headed in from a corner. The whole of Carrow Road, barring those in blue and white at one end of the South Stand, jumped up in delight and it took some time for the crowd to notice the awful sight of the referee with his hand in the air, disallowing the goal, seemingly based on something seen by his assistant. After what felt like an age, VAR had decided it was indeed offside – 5ft 8in Todd Cantwell was standing in an offside position, apparently blocking the view of 6ft 2in goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The mind boggles.
Both of these, as far as I’m concerned, are further proof that VAR has to go – I’m not just saying this because Norwich were on the rough end of it today. Supporting a football club is about those moments of joy, those roars of delight, that greet a goal. Especially an important equaliser like McLean’s would have been. The VAR took so long to look at it that it surely cannot have been a cut-and-shut decision. Is this really worth destroying the soul of the game for? VAR doesn’t solve an issue, it just creates a new one. Norwich fans are still haunted by the perfectly good goal Pukki had disallowed for offside by VAR against Spurs in 2019 – to this day I cannot fathom how anyone could think he was offside.
Teemu Pukki was apparently offside here against Spurs in December 2019
Lees-Melou and Söyüncü came together at the opposite end of the pitch to me in my Barclay seat, but it looked like one of those incidents where everyone shouts for a penalty but no one really expects to get one. If VAR hadn’t been there, and the referee had just given the corner, I would have been fine with it. As it is, the system is ruining the experience of being inside the ground. With each VAR decision cutting short scenes of joyous celebration, a small part of football dies. Get rid of it.
Williams looks a useful addition
Brandon Williams is on loan from Manchester United for the season
I was slightly surprised at the signing of Brandon Williams on loan from Manchester United when it was announced on Monday. I had been impressed with Dimitris Giannoulis at left back in the first game of the season against Liverpool, and thought that a club like United wouldn’t be sending one of their players to us if they didn’t think he’d be playing a lot. I saw him for the first time against Bournemouth in the cup on Tuesday night and he caused plenty of problems down the left, though I found a right-footed left back to be rather odd. On another difficult day for the Norwich defence, I thought he was really good against Leicester. He is able to think quickly, put in the perfect tackle, and has a knack of nipping in just when needed. He could be very handy for the Canaries this season and it shows that there’s quality out there if you look for it in the final days of the transfer window.
We might be too nice for the Premier League
It’s fair to say that the step up in class from the Championship to the Premier League is huge, but there’s more to it than pure ability on the pitch. Leicester finished 5th last season, and for all their talent, were still time wasting, diving and getting away with sneaky little fouls all over the pitch today. If Norwich are going to stay up they should think about taking a leaf out of Leicester’s book – they won’t be the only ones who play like that. We’ve got to show more of a nasty side.
Disappointing to hear the taking of the knee being booed
There were audible boos when the players took the knee before kick off, and it was incredibly disappointing to hear. I can’t speak for any Leicester fans but I definitely heard jeering coming from the home supporters. What is it about a simple anti-racism stance that gets some people so worked up? The more they boo it, the more it shows that a stance like the knee is needed. If you boo it, you’re not the sort of person we want supporting our club.
This morning, a major social media boycott by the world of sport came to an end.
Clubs and governing bodies from football, cricket, netball, rugby union and rugby league were joined by companies including Barclays and Adidas and broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport in not posting anything on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube between 3pm on Friday and 11:59pm on Monday.
The boycott took place with the aim of pressuring the social media companies into doing more to identify and punish people who post racist, sexist and homophobic messages on their platforms. The problem has been getting worse in recent months with several high profile cases highlighted by the media.
My team, Norwich City, were part of the boycott and encouraged their fans to join in – which I did. This meant that there was no official content from the club on the weekend it won the Championship title.
I see a lot of racist, sexist and homophobic messages online and, while I am a straight, white male, I find it very difficult to ignore and will often call people out on it. Usually it is because I am so astounded by some of the things they say that I feel the need for them to confirm that they really do mean the bile that they type. I am under no illusion that I can ‘talk them round’. I have written about sexism in sport in the past.
Some say that those on the receiving end of such abuse on social media should simply ignore, block or report it. I think that is the wrong stance. This pushes the responsibility onto the victim of the abuse rather than challenging those who write it in the first place. The fight against abuse has to be about changing attitudes, not simply keeping them quiet.
I hope this has helped to explain why the social media boycott was important and why I took part in it. No one involved expects online abuse to stop because of it, but if Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are shocked into action by a taste of what their platforms without the country’s biggest sports using them would be like then that can only be a good thing.
With Norwich City bottom of the Premier League, my column for the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News this month is a rallying call to the more fickle fans of the club to stick with the team through a difficult period. You can read it online by clicking here.
My column for the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News this time tracks a Saturday following the fortunes of Norwich City FC from the comfort of my own home.
My first column of the new football season was published in the Pink Un pullout, inside the Norwich Evening News and Eastern Daily Press, on Friday.
I tried to call on my fellow Norwich City fans to stick with the team this season, even when life in the Premier League is tough. I also made my predictions for the season.
The column can also be read online by clicking here.
On Sunday I went to Old Trafford for the T20 Blast match between Lancashire and Durham.
Me, my mum and her partner at Old Trafford
A week on from England becoming world champions (I will never get tired of saying that), cricket is enjoying a boost in popularity. The Cricket Paper reports that counties have noticed an increase in ticket sales for the T20 Blast as people who maybe haven’t been to a match for a while, or indeed at all, seize the opportunity to see the game in the flesh.
This includes – crucially – children. Most of the crowd in Manchester, which was huge for a domestic game, were families with youngsters. I’m not a big fan of kids – they are noisy, carry illnesses and can’t sit still for five minutes – but they are vitally important for the future of cricket. They all seemed to be having a great time, and that’s key. Children need to think of going to a cricket match as a normal thing to do, and something to look forward to. They will be the next generation of players and fans and will hopefully pass on their enthusiam to their own kids in years to come.
The players warm up at Old Trafford, Manchester about an hour before the start of play
I had been to Old Trafford before, for the Test match between England and India in 2014, and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and friendly stewards. This makes it the ideal venue for 20 over cricket compared to, say, Lord’s which I find stuffy and inaccessible. The emphasis was on fun, with the Lancashire mascot Lanky the Giraffe dancing on the boundary before play began.
As for the match itself, T20 is perfect for those who are unfamiliar with cricket. It’s short and sharp and you get to see plenty of big sixes and wickets. Lancashire batted first in their opening home game of the tournament and amassed 189-3, opener Steven Croft top scoring with an unbeaten 65 from 43 balls. The star of the show, however, was Australia international Glenn Maxwell. The world number one ranked all rounder in T20s hit 58 off 33 balls with four sixes. Each boundary was received with loud cheers and a burst of pop music. It was interesting to see how partisan the crowd was, a lot of the people there seemed to feel for the Lancashire cricket team the same way I feel for Norwich City Football Club. They weren’t just there to enjoy a day out, they were there to see the home side win.
Australia international Glenn Maxwell bats for Lancashire in front of a huge crowd at Old Trafford
Durham never looked like chasing the 190 they needed to win and were all out for 117 within 17 overs. Scott Steel had scored 58 from 46 balls but the next highest score for the visitors was 12. Lancashire won by 72 runs and a couple of run outs were enough to secure Maxwell the player of the match award.
Maxwell played for Australia in the World Cup (having won it in 2015) so he was the main attraction for the kids. They gathered round to watch him be interviewed at the end of the match, taking photos and hoping for an autograph. The occasion was slightly lacking in big names. Both sides were packed with solid professionals and the standard was high but aside from Maxwell only D’Arcy Short, another Australian, would have been recognisable to most of the crowd. Short was not involved in the World Cup but has played for his country, as well as in T20 leagues around the world. Also on show was Keaton Jennings, who has scored a Test century for England but has otherwise struggled at the highest level and has been dropped from the most recent squad.
Player of the match Maxwell is interviewed after Lancashire’s 72 run win
The majority of the England players involved in the victorious World Cup campaign were getting a well deserved rest, with the seven week long tournament soon to be followed by a Test match against Ireland and the five match Ashes series against Australia. Part of me, though, wished that there could have been a way to get those stars involved in the first couple of rounds of T20 Blast fixtures to really capitalise on the current popularity of cricket in this country.
Had those England players been available, the Lancashire side would have featured Jos Buttler and Durham’s side would have boasted Ben Stokes, who was player of the match in the World Cup final. Mark Wood is also a Durham player but is injured and out until September. It would have been fantastic for the crowd to have been able to see their new heroes, but I understand that with a packed schedule it was almost impossible. Wood and Stokes paraded the World Cup trophy around Durham’s home ground the Riverside on Saturday, as captain Eoin Morgan had done around Lord’s, where he plays for Middlesex, on Thursday. I had a faint hope that Buttler might have done the same around Old Trafford on Sunday but it was not to be.
The T20 Blast is a fantastic product. Now in its 17th season, the crowds are big, the standard is high and overseas stars want to play in it. If some of it was on Free-to-air television instead of it all being on Sky Sports I have no doubt it would be a massive annual summer event.
Walking away from Old Trafford, I couldn’t for the life of me fathom why the authorities have felt the need to invent an entirely new format of the game to try to attract new fans. Next year will see the launch of The Hundred, a convoluted version of the game with the simplest part being one hundred balls per innings. Eight completely new teams, based around the major cities and with awful names like London Spirt and Leeds Superchargers, will take part. These teams will have to start from scratch, with none of the existing loyal following of the county sides. The only thing going for it is that some of it will be on BBC TV. It makes absolutely no sense and from what I can see it is doomed to fail.
My visit to Manchester on Sunday was conclusive proof for me that the England and Wales Cricket Board already has everything it needs to make cricket the undisputed second sport of the nation again. I can only hope that their seemingly muddled thinking doesn’t mean they miss the opportunity.
I nicknamed Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, ‘Whiny’ after his hilariously bitter reaction to losing to Norwich earlier this season. Not only does he look like what I see in my mind’s eye when I think of the typical Brexit voter, but Wilder lost all credibility when he tried to blame the City coach driver for his side’s defeat.
Chris ‘Whiny’ Wilder
All this made it all the more galling this afternoon when Whiny Wilder walked over to the Blades fans pumping his fists in the air having just taken the three points from Carrow Road. While I will never be able to take him seriously after his rant, they clearly love him, and you’d expect that having finally got them out of League One and taking a group of bang average players into the top six more than halfway through the Championship season.
Norwich’s heroic performance against Chelsea on Wednesday had done the world of good for the club’s image, with disillusioned City fans getting firmly back on board and the casual BBC One viewer being impressed with the effort put in against the champions. Having worked so hard at Stamford Bridge, however, and with such a thin squad it was inevitable that tiredness would be a factor. Daniel Farke would have been keen to avoid using that as an excuse, but it was clear that there were weary legs among the City team and while they huffed and puffed they didn’t have enough to win today.
City’s efforts at Chelsea in midweek put them at a disadvantage today
Sheffield United’s first goal, early on, could have been defended better but really it was a pot shot that happened to find the net. Their second, coming just as Norwich looked to be close to an equaliser, came through the combination of an ill advised Alex Tettey backpass and the poor decision of Angus Gunn not to charge out of his goal to try and clear. Gunn has been brilliant this season, but from my vantage point in the Barclay I do think this was his error. By choosing to stay on his line he made it too easy for the striker.
I overheard on the way out of the ground that, yet again, it was a defender that had to score Norwich’s goal. While left back Jamal Lewis was the scorer against Chelsea, right back Ivo Pinto gave us hope very soon after Sheffield United’s second – but it wasn’t to be. With James Maddison having an off day (which he is allowed, ignoring the fact he was being kicked all over the place by Sheffield United’s players) it was left to Nelson Oliveira to get a goal from a forward position. Nelson continued to do what he’d done for most of this season, though, and that is spray it all over the place. Norwich need to sign a striker and they need to do it soon. Before the end of January.
Ivo Pinto, Norwich captain and goalscorer
When these two teams met at Bramall Lane, the Sheffield United fans could not accept that Norwich had simply done a job on them and they had been beaten by the better side on the day. They, like their manager, were incredibly bitter about City’s so-called ‘antics’. There was nothing unusual about what City did that day. Every team, every single one, will do their best to waste a bit of time when they are protecting a narrow lead away from home. Ironically, this is exactly what Sheffield United did today. They didn’t win the game through beautiful football, they closed it out by wasting time. So despite some of the Blades fans saying they ‘wouldn’t want to support a team that plays like that’, it turns out that they do and are quite happy about it.
It was another irritating home defeat for Norwich but we must not get too down about it. It was clear at Chelsea that there is something building under Daniel Farke and I think it might be next season before we really see the benefit of it. From what I’ve seen today, I can’t see Sheffield United sustaining a promotion push either. Their squad is nothing special and they should be happy with a top half finish. City may have come up short today, but at least you won’t find our manager blaming the opposition’s coach driver for it.
We did it! It was an amazing day at Wembley yesterday and it capped off a thrilling season for Norwich City – full of ups and downs – but we can celebrate because we have achieved our aim and we are Premier League once more. I have never been prouder of my club and my fellow supporters.
My article about wearing my dad’s old City shirt to Wembley got a lovely response. Thanks to everyone who read it. I didn’t write it looking for pity or sympathy, I just thought it was a nice story to tell. To my surprise the Norwich Evening News got in touch wishing to feature the story and you may have seen it in the papers yesterday. Thanks to Peter Walsh for that.
I’ve picked some pivotal and memorable moments from the season for my season review. I got a bit carried way writing it so I’ve split it into two parts. This is part one. Part two is here. I hope you enjoy looking back at this incredible season for Norwich City.
Norwich fans head down Wembley Way before the Canaries’ glorious victory in the Championship play-off final
22nd May 2014 – Hello Neil
Norwich City were licking their wounds in the days and weeks after relegation from the Premier League. The club’s decision to sack Chris Hughton as manager had come too late to save them, and chief executive David McNally – who had said relegation would be ‘worse than death’ – appeared on BBC Radio Norfolk with other members of the board to give the fans some answers. Eventually, Neil Adams was given the job on a full time basis. Adams had played 182 games for City as a midfielder, and had led the club’s Under 18s side to winning the FA Youth Cup a year before.
5th June 2014 – Welcome aboard
A club that is run very smartly in financial terms, and backed up by Premier League parachute payments, Norwich did have some cash to spend in the summer transfer window. On 5th June they made their first purchase, with striker Lewis Grabban signing from Bournemouth. Grabban had scored 22 goals in 44 games in the season that had just ended and was seen as an exciting buy. The club would end up buying nine players in the summer window – players such as Cameron Jerome and Gary O’Neil were signed for their experience of Championship promotion, and others such as Conor McGrandles and Louis Thompson were signed with an eye very much on the future.
30th June 2014 – Hull of a fee for Snodgrass
When any team is relegated from the top flight, the fans expect the players who don’t think they belong in the Championship to find moves elsewhere. Norwich’s player of a bad season was Robert Snodgrass, who worked tirelessly down the right for the club for two seasons after joining from Leeds. On 30th June 2014 it was announced that the Scotland international would be leaving to join Hull City for a fee believed to be around £7m. Many City fans were pleased with the money the club made on the deal. As it turned out, Snodgrass suffered an agonising-sounding dislocated kneecap in the very first game of the Premier League season and would not play again for the rest of the campaign. Hull were relegated.
Anthony Pilkington, Leroy Fer and Andrew Surman also left Norwich – for Cardiff, QPR and Bournemouth respectively. The club had managed to keep hold of the core of a decent squad and it was a reason for optimism as the season approached.
20th July 2014 – We have Novara idea who we’re playing
One of the lighter and perhaps more farcical moments of Norwich’s preparations for life in the Championship, on the club’s pre-season tour of Italy they were due to play a friendly against little-known Novara, but they pulled out of the fixture at short notice. A game against Saint-Christophe Vallée d’Aoste was hastily arranged, which Norwich won 13-0. Saint-Christophe Vallée d’Aoste later denied that it was them that had faced The Canaries, and that in fact it was an amateur team made up of players from all over the region that had been given a beating. Later friendlies against Sampdoria and Livorno were also cancelled at short notice, and Norwich’s trip to Italy wasn’t quite the preparation they were after.
5th August 2014 – The Wolf departs
Everyone with a connection to Norwich City was so excited when Ricky van Wolfswinkel became the club’s record signing. But after a terrible season in which his debut goal against Everton would turn out to be his only positive, van Wolfswinkel left to join French team Saint-Étienne. It was only a season long loan, but there was an option to buy at the end of it. After 9 goals in 40 games, Saint-Étienne have not taken up that option and so The Wolf will be returning to Carrow Road.
10th August 2014 – Wolves 1-0 Norwich
On a warm Sunday afternoon in August, Norwich got back into competitive action with the opening game of the Championship season at Wolves. The year before there had been two divisions between the teams but they pretty much matched each other. The game will be mostly remembered for Martin Olsson’s push on the referee earning him a red card, which was later put down to the out-of-sorts left back grieving the loss of a family member. A header from David Edwards saw City got off to a losing start in the second tier.
16th August 2014 – Norwich 3-0 Watford
The first game of the season at Carrow Road felt like a fresh start after the depression that had captured the place in the grim end to the Premier League campaign. Watford defender Joel Ekstrand was sent off just two minutes in for drawing blood on Nathan Redmond, and lovely chipped goals from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban were punctuated by an Alex Tettey strike to give Norwich a comfortable 3-0 win. Watford would go on to get automatic promotion.
23rd August 2014 – Ipswich 0-1 Norwich
Of course, being back in the Championship meant the return of the East Anglian derby for the first time in more than four years, and the fixtures computer decided that the first meeting would be at Portman Road just weeks into the season. The Canaries showed how strong they would be on the road by holding out for a 1-0 win – Lewis Grabban’s first half header was the only goal. It gave the City fans a sweet taste of derby success once more and was the third win in a row in the league.
Lewis Grabban heads the winner for Norwich in the first East Anglian derby of the season.
13th September 2014 – Cardiff 2-4 Norwich
A theme of Norwich’s relegation season was how poor they were away from home, so the fans who had travelled all the way to Cardiff would not have expected much after Joe Ralls and Aron Gunnarsson had put the home side 2-0 up after 22 minutes. But second half goals from Martin Olsson, Wes Hoolahan, Michael Turner and Cameron Jerome sealed an incredible comeback. Cardiff had come down with Norwich and would finish 11th in the Championship, proving just how hard it is to bounce straight back.
20th September 2014 – Norwich 2-2 Birmingham
Norwich were among the Championship’s pacesetters going into the home game against struggling Birmingham. However, goals from Callum Reilly and Demarai Gray saw the Blues were 2-0 up at half time. Cameron Jerome scored twice against his former club in the second half to make sure of a point but this was a sign of Norwich having trouble breaking teams down and being too open at the back.
30th September 2014 – Norwich 0-1 Charlton
If the Birmingham game hinted at the problems Norwich would have if they couldn’t break sides down, this game against Charlton was a clear example. City dominated the match but couldn’t find a way through a resolute Addicks defence, and to add insult to injury Johnnie Jackson’s deflected shot gave Charlton a late winner and all three points.
21st October 2014 – Cameron Jerome vs Giuseppe Bellusci
The 1-1 home draw with Leeds would play second fiddle to the moment Norwich striker Cameron Jerome lost his cool with defender Giuseppe Bellusci. Jerome complained to referee Mark Clattenburg that Bellusci had used racially abusive language towards him, and an investigation got underway. Several months later, The FA cleared Bellusci, accepting that the Italian defender had been ‘misheard or misinterpreted’ and that he had actually threatened to give Jerome ‘a black eye’.
Cameron Jerome accused Leeds defender Giuseppe Bellusci of racially abusing him during the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road
4th November 2014 – Middlesbrough 4-0 Norwich
Norwich’s heaviest defeat of the season would come on a Tuesday night on Teesside, as Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford, Grant Leadbitter and winger Yanic Wildschut scored to give Middlesbrough the win in a game the Canaries never turned up in. They would pick up only one point from their four games in November.
3rd January 2015 – Out of the FA Cup with a whimper, and it’s goodbye Neil
The first game of the new year saw Norwich travel to League One Preston on FA Cup third round day. Two Paul Gallagher goals knocked City out after a dismal performance. It took some by surprise, but this turned out to be the last game Neil Adams was in charge of – he left two days later, with a suggestion that he had jumped before he was pushed. With half of the season still to play, Norwich were in mid-table and 11 points behind leaders Bournemouth. The search began for a manager who could get the club back on track.
LEE PAYNE 