My name is Norwich City gaffer, so don't call me Bryan

Today was my first taste of the “Bryan Gunn Colney”, having been given the job of covering Thursday morning’s presser ahead of the game in Sunny Donny.

Okay, so “the gaffer” was still late – something Glenn Roeder managed to achieve with such consistency, he should have harnessed it and sprinkled it over his players – but the atmosphere was different. Just seeing a bit of banter between a player and his manager on the way into the training ground was enough to confirm it.

Not that Glenn wasn’t good to talk to on a one-to-one basis. I always enjoyed putting together his weekly Evening News column because he was an interesting man, even charming, in that situation.

But when there was a pack of us ungainly hacks sitting in front of the ex-Norwich boss, it was never the same.

Back to Bryan and a couple of observations from his pre-match press conference.

I thought he was a little hard on himself. Gunny revealed he felt warning his players at half-time against Southampton that the next goal would be important sowed the seed of doubt once the Saints got a goal back.

However, I’ve certainly heard the phrase from other managers in the past. Oh how fragile the confidence of players is (something I experienced fully, on the wing for Trunch. Sort of).

Also, there has been a running theme since Gunny took charge. Jamie Cureton did it soon after Bryan was appointed, Darel Russell did it ahead of the game on Tuesday, and Sammy Clingan did it on Thursday.

And even new signing David Carney did it on the phone to his new boss while on his way to Carrow Road.

What is it, I hear you all cry?

It was always Bryan, but now they have to correct themselves and call him “the gaffer”, otherwise they get fined; I presume the light hearted, in the kitty-type fine that boosts morale; not the ‘£320,000 I’ve gone AWOL because I can’t remember why I moved to Manchester’ fine.

You can see Gunny is watching what he says very carefully, and is being careful how he comes across, and I fully understand it. He’s doing alright so far, let’s hope everything gets a big boost on Friday.

Speaking of which, we’re leaving at 2pm to travel up to Doncaster. With award-winning journalist, Sports Writer of the Year and self-confessed “failed punk” Chris Lakey needing to get his match report and manager quotes over as soon as possible after the final whistle for Saturday’s EDP, I’ve been handed the job of grabbing as many player interviews after the game as possible.

So, as well as my status as a fan, it’s another reason to hope for a positive result; it really ins't easy chasing five players for quotes after they’ve lost a very, very important game.

In other news, my esteemed colleague Jonathan Redhead is going to contribute to this ramshackle blog, no doubt talking about powerlifting, Liverpool's 'title bid' and Norwich finishing 18th. He'll be good value, for sure.

Although he is an Everton fan, so feel free to hold it against him…

posted on 29 January 2009 20:35 byMichael Bailey - Sportsdesk

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