Gunned Down in Broads Daylight

Norwich City FC have just announced that Bryan Gunn’s contract has been terminated with immediate effect. It seems that Assistant Manager Ian Butterworth will step into the breach to take charge of the team for tomorrow's Coca-Cola League One game away at Exeter City. This makes Bryan Gunn the first management casualty of the new campaign and with the season barely a week old, one has to ask the question whether this might have been just the tiniest bit premature ?

Gunn’s sacking seems to have been the result of the shameful 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Colchester United last Saturday. However awful that game was and having made a round trip journey of nearly 300 miles to see it, I can promise you it was stupendously bad, it must be remembered that it was promptly followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Yeovil Town in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. It would have been difficult to have asked for a better response from the team and the manager than to bounce back in that way. Of course, I am not privy to the Boardroom discussions and decisions and there may be much more to this than meets the eye, but to a comparative (although not disinterested) outsider, it seems like a very odd way to handle things. Just when the team needs its maximum support from the Board and supporters alike to help recover from being the laughing stock of football and to attempt to rebuild the morale, the Board decides to sack the manager.

Bryan Gunn has been one of the most loyal and devoted servants of Norwich City FC. He played almost 500 first team games for City during the period from 1986 to 1998, he was voted Player of the Year twice and has continued to work hard for the Club ever since his playing days finished.

Last Saturday no one on the pitch seemed to have a clue what they were doing. This week a similar affliction seems to have struck the Board.

Hey ho. On the Ball City…