Interviews

Nigel - I think from a staff point of view it was important that we were calm,we had a very good first leg at home then going to Wolves with a good result in our pocket,it was just a case of being disciplined within the team make sure we didn't get carried away and yes we knew the extent of the game but it was important to go there and be solid which we were and we came out with a fantastic result, i think just being in a relaxed manner we got ourselves into fantastic positions and just focused on what we had to do and the performance,the commitment,Robert Green made a couple of saves that night,the overall night was phenomenal for everybody involved.

Hucks - Then the final.

Nigel - the final again i thought we went to Celtic manor and what i can remember is driving down to the stadium and there was just blue and white and yellow and green,it was a fantastic sight i think it was one of those occasions that don't come around too often you have to take it all in and make the most the most of it. We went a goal up didn't manage to hold on to it and lost on penalties which was a real blow for us but it really set the mantel for what group of players we had what spirit we had amongst the squad and staff and that set us in good stead for the next couple of years.

Hucks - Did Mullers miss a penalty?

Nigel - Yes he did, Mullers was the penalty taker,he enjoyed taking them but sometimes the player can become overcome by the occasion,the emotions, its a little bit like Stuart Pearce with England,he used to take them all the time and England missed you know it does happen.

Hucks - You do know he's training to become a priest?

Nigel - To be fair Mullers tried everything the other side!

Hucks - I know he did!

Nigel - In the promotion season we got to about 10/12 games in and myself and Doug sat down and looked at the whole scenario,we had a decent start but if we wanted to push for promotion we had to go out and get basically premiership players to try and boost,the three were Peter Crouch,Kevin Harper and yourself,they were the three we targeted,Kevin played his part but Crouchy, while he was at the club was fantastic and as far as you are concerned the rest is history. You came to Norwich and really loved it with your family,the crowd loved you,you had people sitting on the edge of their seats and that was the difference probably of finishing in the top six and getting promotion.

Hucks - I think for me people didn't realise you had built such a solid base,we hardly conceded any goals that season you built a great back eight and the rest kind of took care of its self. If you look at Malky,Eddy,Flem,Ads and Greeny that's as good as your going to get.

Nigel - For that division at that time that was an excellent back five they were very very solid,committed,worked well together,only you know from being there how much work was put in by all the players in different positions to make sure it worked in a game.

Hucks - I think with having Holty there as well running his nuts off.

Nigel - I think organisation and discipline within your team structure is important and the players took the information on board that we were putting across and credit to them for putting it into action.

Nigel - The first thing it myself and Doug Livermore who sat down and targeted those three players that we thought would help us,when we thought about Peter Crouch he was out of the team at Villa at the time we thought we had a good chance of getting him,when we mentioned you we thought it was along shot in the dark,one Norwich would never be able to pay your wages,two Man City probably won't let you out and i can very well remember the day that i made the phone call to yourself i was standing in Harvey Nichols shop door discussing the situation with yourself before speaking to Phil Smith about you coming to Norwich on loan and whilst i was walking around London trying to do a bit of shopping i was still doing business and we completed the loan deal. The other nice thing from my point of view was when your a club manager it's seven days a week 24 hours a day and i can remember i think it was Christmas eve i think about 11 half 11 heading towards 12 midnight and Mr Skipper rang me to say everything was sorted everything was agreed and signed and that makes it all worthwhile in those circumstances,that's what it is, you've got to be pro active you've got to really challenge yourself and challenge the football club and at that time i did challenge the football club because we were in a position where if we'd have sat back we probably wouldn't have got promotion and the gamble paid off.

Hucks - Yeah because i actually went back and we were in constant contact trying to make something happen and there were times where it looked like it wasn't going to happen.......

Nigel - Yes there was a stage where myself and Kevin were in contact as well as yourself and myself,but when i was speaking to Kevin it was all about the fee and there was no way at the time that Norwich could afford the fee but it was just a case of persistence paying off,i kept chipping away at Man City,i kept speaking to yourself to make sure we could try and make it happen and thankfully it paid off.

Nigel - The reason for Robbo and Malky was i thought we'd come to a stage where we needed to freshen things up,Robbo and Malky were fantastic servants and great players for myself as far as Norwich City was concerned but i thought they'd come to a stage in their career where we just needed to move things on and bring new blood in,we all got older and thought we needed younger players in and that happens within the game,sometimes you make  decisions for the right reason sometimes they work sometimes they don't and i look back and i've still no regrets. I think the time was right for Robbo because Robbo age wise was kicking on, his legs were starting to go,Malky did have a couple more years left in him at that level and did very well but i've still no regrets in the decision i made, i made them for the right reasons and you've got to stand by those and believe in what your doing and that's the reason why.

Hucks - Would you... say if you know we weren't going to get another centre forward in because i know you tried,would you still of not given Robbo another year?

Nigel - Well when your the manger you've got a budget to work with and you've got to manipulate and move that budget about in as many ways as you can and for somebody that shall we say is ageing ,probably won't play a lot of football that might do 15/20 minutes and could pick up injury's and so on,you've got to take that all into consideration and you've got to be bold in your appraisal and make the decision that's right for you and the football club and that's the way we went ,i think every manger could look back and say maybe should have given it a bit longer or whatever but you do these things for the right reason,its not anything against the individuals its a professional decision and that's the way it was.

Nigel - The point that might of kept us in the Premier League was the Everton game at Carrow Road where Duncan Ferguson scored off Steve Watsons cross quite late on.We played really well on the day it was a terrific game and i often think back to that game there that point,the three points we dropped that day cost us our place in the Premiership,but then you've got to have an open mind look across the board,we had loads of games to get them back if you look at the Middlesborough game,4 down came back to 4-4 if we'd had another couple of minutes we could have won the game 5-4 with the momentum,its all if,buts and may be's. The one thing i wish that we could of had as a club was more money to invest.

Hucks - We'll get to that there's some questions about that later. For me it was Crystal Palace away when we were 3-1 up,we were cruising then all of a sudden, i'm not having a go at Andy Johnson cos he's doing what he has to do, but he went down easy a couple of times,i think Shack was a bit naive in a couple of his challenges.

Nigel - I don't think you can really look at any one situation too hard,as professionals there's things that happen in a game that you don't like and things that happen that shouldn't happen but you've got to live with that,i just think over the course of the season we had a fantastic mid to end of season with the run we went on,the one thing that would have kept us in the Premier League would have been having Dean Ashton in June.

Hucks - We'll come to that in a minute.

Nigel - Being quite honest i tried to get the two but budgets allowing again i was allowed to target one and i thought it was right for us to bring you in from the point of view that you excited people,had the pace,took people on and were terrific around the club and again you make these decisions and that's something from my own point of view was probably one of the best pieces of business from a football management point of view a working on, and seeing it being complete and bringing the player in,you taking to the football club,the football club and supporters taking to you,it was like a marriage made in heaven.

Hucks - I'm pretty sure Crouchy wouldn't have signed, i don't think it was the right time for him!

Nigel - The simple reason,what went wrong is that for the money that came in from the Premiership,through Sky and the catering and everything else,for me there wasn't sufficient money being spent on players salary's and transfer fees,i can remember in the Premiership year i was given a 4 and a half million pound budget and that was for transfer fees and i signed seven players in that summer and the first year salary came out of that 4 and a half million pounds as well there was very little left of that.

Hucks - Norwich seem to do that a lot,tying everything in instead of saying its 3 million pound for a player, it included wages and transfer fee's into the whole package.

Nigel - I had a great 6 and a half years there i really enjoyed it i honestly do wish that they'd given the whole football club a chance by just releasing some more money,not putting the club in debt,but i think to go and put another,whatever was coming into the club was it 60/70/80 million through Sky with all the other bits and pieces,to go and spend 10/12 million extra on top of the current budget would have been good for the club. You can be so close and yet so far,i see clubs like Hull in the last couple of years who got promotion they've held their place in the Premiership and they've spent 20 odd million,alright their not in the best of shape at this moment in time but they had a go at it and its worked for a couple of years. What happened to the rest of that money in that period of time only the football club know but i believe if you have a go in a sensible manner i do think it can pay off. 

Nigel - I was knocking on the door to the board saying can we get Ashton and to be fair the price for Ashton in the summer was 2 and a half million,i was told we couldn't afford that at the time and i remember stating very clearly to the board please don't come back to me in December saying can we go get Ashton!  And that's exactly what happened. I was delighted when they said that we had him, as he was on the radar right from the start,could we of bought Dean right from the first day of pre season, then got him fit prior to the start of the season,if we had Norwich City would have stayed in the Premier League.

Hucks - Guaranteed,we went 13 games without winning at the start of the season, drew 8 and when Ash got here as you know he wasn't the fittest lad in the world,it took him probably 6 weeks to get to our level of training and our level of fitness. Obviously i did Ash before and even he knew he struggled when he got here just because he wasn't up to the rigours of your sessions.

Nigel - Again that's all in hindsight,but to answer the question,i asked before the end of the promotion season,Ashton was on the radar can we go and get him but the board declined that we couldn't agree the fee at that time.

Nigel - Well that's the million dollar question and something we'll never ever know as each individual has their own mind,all i can remember from the day was,when you get to that stage and we needed a point from that game i do think there was a lot of nerves about on the day,i wouldn't disagree that maybe some individuals were thinking if we get relegated i'm going to move on anyway, maybe the foreign players more so,that's a fact of life you've got to live with it. We were going there under good steam good results before but on the day to be fair nothing went right and we as a team and individuals didn't do anything to make it right and we got really what we deserved on the day,we got a real drubbing it was a huge disappointment after what was a fantastic year in the Premiership.

Hucks - I feel that and i've said it before a few people let us down,only they know deep down.

Nigel - I would never try to fool supporters i think they know their football, those that were there those that watched it on tv or on the screen,i think they would be able to make their own assessments and opinions of individuals and their performances and where their thoughts were at.

Nigel - Well i haven't got the scan Neal Reynolds obviously had that,but he did have an injury there was a definite injury and it wasn't a case of keeping him out to keep him fit, again i thought 7.2 million was a very good price,i wanted 8 and i strongly urged the board to sit tight and try and get 8 for him because i believed he was worth that, he was worth that but inside a year to go from 2.5 to 7.2 million is again good business from my point of view and the clubs point of view and then you wish and hope that some of that money is put back in.

Hucks - Say if you'd of known basically you were selling him for 7.2 million and you were only going to get half that back for players, i know you got Earnie but that wouldn't have been all up front,would you have sold him?

Nigel - There comes a point when sometimes its taken out of your hands,if you'd of said to me we are getting 2.5/3 million for Ashton i would have said no we're not selling him its not worth it he's better to us on the pitch,when you get an offer like that and you know the financial situation at the football club where your involved with it then you've got to say that's good business and its got to be done. We went and got Earnie i also tried to sign Steve Howard from Luton again trying to get a big striker and a small striker together,the answer came back that we couldn't afford the 1 million pound transfer fee and 500 thousand pound  salary a year,that was the summer of my last season. 

Hucks - I can remember you telling me in pre season,they want a million and we offered them 300 grand or something.

Nigel - No Derby had offered 500 thousand and i asked the chief exec at the time Neil Doncaster to go and match Derbys offer of 500 thousand,we were in pre season in Scotland and he came back to me within 2 or 3 hours and said we've put an offer in for 300 thousand i said well  thats not going to happen,thats the type of things football managers have to live with,deal with and sort out. From a personal point of view i knew basically from that decision of the club not being proactive i knew my time was coming to an end.

Hucks - Don't get me wrong Earnies a great player a great finisher but you needed some one up there with him he's not someone who is going to hold the ball up for the team.

Nigel -  Most smaller players do need that bigger lad and Steve Howard was banging them in for Luton left right and centre i thought he would have been a great acquisition and replacement for Robbo but then he went to Derby and they got promoted but non football people didn't allow it.

Nigel - David Bentley again moving further down the line a young lad from Arsenal with great ability,quick feet, was something different for Norwich City a young lad coming from London to Norwich to light up the lights which he did in many different places but no he never got dropped for indiscipline he might have got shall we say a .....

Hucks - A bollocking.

Nigel - Yeah.

Hucks - I think with Bents he had loads of ability but he just used to try ridiculous things all the time.

Nigel - Well he was a young lad learning the game and he had wonderful ability and he wanted to show that off,there's a time and a place for that on the football pitch and only through experience and maturity does that come. I think that's the thing with David,he was a terrific acquisition for ourselves at that time.

Nigel - If we go back to the Plymouth game away which was before the Burnley game the performance/result and then the performance and result at Burnley,you look at it in the cold light of day and you think your times up because there wasn't sufficient finances to turn it around,if you go back to Robbo and Malky there comes a time with the team that you've got to re group,re shape get new blood in and that was part of that, but as in football everybody is looking for results yesterday not tomorrow.

Hucks - Bearing in mind that we were 13th when you left which whatever you say is not as bad as all the stuff what was going on.

Nigel - The one thing Darren what you have in football is expectation,we'd been to the play off final,finished 8th,got promotion and where we finished that year we came down,there was quite a lot of success over 4 years and it was all good, people get used to that so when it's not happening people ask the question why very very quickly,one or two have got an agenda which they are entitled to have you live with that and get on with it as i always did with the staff and the players. I look at situations currently and the one thing at Norwich in my time at Norwich, people may prove me wrong, but i don't think i ever lost 3 games in a row because i always said one is a one off,two is a coincidence and three is a disaster i don't think we ever lost three in a row which is a plus,i look at some of the situations  currently and there's some clubs in different divisions that haven't won for 11,12,13 games and its being brave,the board being brave and really the club sticking together to try and come through it because its never a cheap situation to get rid of people and it destabilises  the club.

Hucks - We started the season really well with Crofty being the only player bought in,i think we were second then i got injured against Barnsley when we beat them 5-1 i tried to play in the next game against Coventry then i was out with a groin injury and didn't play until your last game against Burnley,i'm not saying i would have made a difference because some fan's had already turned on you,i don't know what the results were in that period but i just don't think you had the best luck with injuries at that time.

Nigel - I've never felt bitterness towards Norwich City or the supporters,the supporters have been fantastic the club were super to me over my period of time there,and even to this day i'm not in any way bitter towards anybody,i enjoy going back to the club and seeing all the people there. That is the game of football,when your in it you can expect it you've got to learn to deal with it which isn't easy from your own point of view and your families point of view,but it happens and it's an experience in life that you actually get strength from and not that we like it it does happen but as long as you move forward and I've done that.

Hucks - Don't you think,from my point of view some of it was totally ridiculous,people marching the streets and Worthington out stickers?

Nigel - I think there was a lot of youngsters out there being led by one or two antagonists that had a voice in different columns in the papers which their entitled to,i just look back at my time at the football club as a real passionate time,the last 3 or 4 months were hard work which it always is when its not going well. I'm absolutely delighted since Paul Lamberts come in that he's got them on the up again and their doing well.

Nigel - You're usually disappointed because everybody likes to be liked,likes to be loved and when your the manager making decisions you've got to stand there and even though i had good staff round me supportive in every way shape and form, your the one that's being targeted because your the manager,you learn to live with that,you've got to be professional within yourself and learn to bite your tongue because people are looking for your reaction and once you give a reaction they've got you. Hopefully i came through the whole scenario with a lot of dignity and i've still got wonderful feelings for the club.

Hucks - I think it was hard for the players as well because it was like they were waiting for us to lose i mean you won manager of the month then two games later they were chanting again it was like no matter what you did it was never going to change a few of them.

Nigel - I think it's a difficult situation and you still see it,it's going to be there forever in football,it's a very difficult time for players when there's an unsettling period where the manager or somethings not right because no matter where it is in the football club it affects the players who are on the pitch doing the job their being paid to do and i don't think it's ever healthy once you see it starting in a club you can see that club starting to struggle. It never goes away,if you look at Chelsea at the moment,Ray Wilkins just left through whatever the circumstances are and there's something just not right there.

Nigel - I don't think i should name anybody,again i think as long as you get more rights than wrong from your signings i think within a period of time the signings at Norwich there's been a lot of good ones,obviously there's one or two disappointments.

Hucks - I think the ones on a lot of the emails i got,people kind of pointed at Matty Louis Jean and Peter Thorne but i would put it the other way,before MLJ came here he'd played loads of league games for Forest never missed a game then came here and got a horrendous injury,it's just something that you can't help it's difficult.

Nigel - It's like you say,i can remember playing with one player,Steve Mc Coll came from Ipswich to Sheffield Wednesday,never missed a game in his career,came to Sheffield Wednesday and constantly for 3 years had injury after injury,Paul Hart left Forest and came to Sheffield Wednesday never injured then moved to Birmingham and broke his leg first game and that was his career finished.

Hucks - Even like Thorney, you look at his goal record before he came to us, it was exceptional just sometimes it doesn't work out,i know Thorney and speak to him quite a bit and he's a lovely guy but even he would say he doesn't know what happened.

Nigel - I wouldn't exactly say that Peter didn't work out he just didn't score as many goals as what his record suggested,but Peters application and attitude was fantastic and i think we've got to be careful when we're talking about that that we clarify where people's attitudes are,anybody that came in was in to what we were trying to do as we all know within the game sometimes it happens for you at a football club and sometimes it doesn't.

Nigel - I think probably Ashton,from the point of view what he offered us on the pitch,size,goal threat.

Hucks - He could do it all,he had a lack of pace but not so much where it mattered.

Nigel - He had a quick football mind,he knew where to get into positions,so i think over all he was the biggest disappointment loss this far.

Hucks - Because he was good with both feet,he was good in the air,he could finish he could do it all.

Nigel - It's a bit like not getting Peter Crouch along with you, look at him 6 foot 7 whatever he is,two terrific feet ,score goals international,Liverpool,Villa,Portsmouth,QPR now at Spurs.

Hucks - That was a question i didn't put in but did you think he would go on to score thirty odd goals for England?

Nigel - If your asking me out and out did i think he would the answer would probably have been no,but from a player point of view of scoring goals and creating goals for others could have been and proved to be a fantastic acquisition for ourselves and all the other clubs he's played for.

Hucks - I still think we would have struggled financially to buy him anyway.

Hucks - Obviously Howard is one.

Nigel - There's load's, Howard, Crouch,Linvoy Primus,Chopra that's just a few there were many,as a manager you have 4,5,6 targets for each position and you start off with your number one and you work your way down the list and see where you finish up according to where your budget is at.

Hucks - So you went quite far down the list?!

Nigel - We went to 6 or 7...

Nigel - Yes i did have a meeting with the people from the football club when i was working with NI they were aware of the situation in all honesty i didn't think it was right,i don't think it would have been fair on the club and the situation they were in,i don't think it would have been fair on myself i'd been there done it enjoyed it had a great time and i think that's probably the best way to leave it one from the clubs point of view go and get somebody fresh somebody completely different and from my own point of view to try and do two jobs is very difficult and i'm not that sort of person,whatever job i'm in i like to give 100%.

Hucks - Two big jobs as well.

Nigel - They'd of been two full on jobs and to give 50% to either would have been unfair to them.

Nigel - International management you've got a lot more time to yourself your not dealing with agents on a daily basis,you have a group of players that you've got you can't buy in you can't sell out and you make do  as best you can with what you've got and over the period of the last 3 and a half years we've done extremely well,i've got a structure in place of bringing the youngsters,school boys,17 to 19's and under 21's working very well now so there's a lot of satisfaction seeing the youngsters come through. I do miss the day to day training but the International thing has been a great experience and added to me as a manager.

Nigel - I've never been offered a position with a Premiership side,i've been offered several job's with Championship sides but the scenario has got to be right for all concerned and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't,it's a bit like the player thing we talked about earlier. You need to have the right feel for a club and your going to be happy in that environment and i think to be happy within yourself,i'm not one of these individuals that tout's himself for every managers job that comes up,and then i give 100% to the job i'm in, i enjoy it and i see what happen's from there.

Nigel - Not that i need to give Paul Lambert any advice,the one thing i would give to the football club is make sure they don't make the same mistake twice,hopefully if Norwich can get there there will be sufficient resources to allow Paul and the football club to stabilise outside the bottom three for that first season in the Premiership to buy time and experience to stay in there.