Ben Chrisene

Left Back - Norwich City
25 Mar 2028
Saturday
Process

Marked for Ben Chrisene

85 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ruairi McConville keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Norwich City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

The wait goes on for Norwich City

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

The goals have deserted Norwich City

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Norwich City can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Santiago Bueno falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Ben Chrisene in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Norwich City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Santiago Bueno gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Norwich City come up short against Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Ante Crnac’s exile

5 goals in 31 games at Stockport County — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Norwich City updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

In brief

Back issues
83 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Oscar Bobb in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Norwich City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Jack Hunt will join Norwich City for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Jack Hunt has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Norwich City have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Match

Norwich City cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Mathias Kvistgaarden falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

No hiding place for Harry Darling

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Harry Darling, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Stephen Humphrys’s exile

7 goals in 27 games at Livorno — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Norwich City updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Squad

Paris Maghoma left out for tactical reasons at Norwich City

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

Match

Norwich City and West Ham United cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. West Ham United came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

82 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Lucien Mahovo says Norwich City went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Only the photograph left for Dylan Jones

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dylan Jones will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Norwich City the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Oscar Bobb was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Norwich City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Bueno is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

No hiding place for Paris Maghoma

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paris Maghoma, and the manager let it.

Match

The run at home goes on for Norwich City

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Loan watch

Mohamed Touré keeps scoring at Burton Albion

26 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Player ratings

Ben Chrisene was the difference for Norwich City

Marked 7.69. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

81 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jovon Makama runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Pelle Mattsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Oscar Bobb falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

No hiding place for Vladan Kovačević

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladan Kovačević, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Ben Chrisene

7.44, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Norwich City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Squad

Norwich City pick somebody else ahead of Pelle Mattsson

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Match

Norwich City draw a blank against Coventry City

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Coventry City defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Loan watch

Mohamed Touré would sign for Burton Albion tomorrow

“Nobody here treats me like a loan player, and that is worth more than people think.” 25 appearances and 10 goals, and a summer that will decide it.

Market

The Mathias Kvistgaarden question follows Norwich City around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mathias Kvistgaarden’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

78 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Oscar Schwartau at 21 — 7.70

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Oscar Schwartau did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Harry Darling puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Norwich City, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words at Norwich City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Bobb is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Ben Chrisene was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Oscar Schwartau

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jovon Makama

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Norwich City find a way past Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough made Norwich City work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

No hiding place for Ben Chrisene

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ben Chrisene, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Norwich City support went home talking about one name.

In brief

70 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Anis Ben Slimane: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Norwich City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Pelle Mattsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jovon Makama

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Norwich City

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

The terraces

Norwich City supporters have found a favourite in Ben Chrisene

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Chrisene has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Ben Chrisene takes the honours

Marked 7.37 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Norwich City had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Lucien Mahovo

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

No goals between Norwich City and Charlton Athletic

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Charlton Athletic will be the happier side with the point.

Squad

Jacob Wright has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Norwich City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

68 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Oscar Bobb wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Pelle Mattsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Jovon Makama runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Oscar Bobb falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ben Chrisene stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.68 on the card, and the Norwich City support went home talking about one name.

Squad

No hiding place for Matěj Jurásek

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Jurásek, and the manager let it.

Squad

Christopher Marshall stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Christopher Marshall and Norwich City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Norwich City draw a blank against Hull City

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Hull City defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Market

The Vladan Kovačević talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Norwich City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

66 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The small margins put Norwich City out

Out, 1‑2 to Huddersfield Town, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Match

Cruel end for Millwall as Norwich City pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Norwich City scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Market

Matěj Jurásek asks to leave Norwich City

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Anis Ben Slimane

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Pelle Mattsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Oscar Bobb falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Louie Moulden wants to come home

“I did not go to Crewe Alexandra to sit and watch. I want to come back to Norwich City and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.

The terraces

Norwich City supporters have found a favourite in Ben Chrisene

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Chrisene has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Vladan Kovačević

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

25 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jovon Makama runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for Norwich City

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Tempers go at Norwich City

Pelle Mattsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Boardroom

Norwich City beat the market to Lewis Gordon from Chesterfield

Chesterfield will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lewis Gordon has pre-agreed a move to Norwich City, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

The terraces

Norwich City supporters have found a favourite in Moctar Diop

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Moctar Diop has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Moctar Diop

Marked 8.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Ben Chrisene signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ben Chrisene commits to Norwich City for another 4 years.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Mirko Topić

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Honours even between Norwich City and Preston

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

12 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

4 matches without a win for Norwich City

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Norwich City are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Real improvement from Harry Amass at Norwich City

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Harry Amass is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

7 unbeaten for Norwich City

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Norwich City did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Pelle Mattsson in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Norwich City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Norwich City

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

The terraces

Norwich City supporters have found a favourite in Ben Chrisene

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Chrisene has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

Sam Field gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Ben Chrisene stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.40 on the card, and the Norwich City support went home talking about one name.

In brief

6 Edition

The Norwich City Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Ali Ahmed runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

4 matches without a win for Norwich City

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Norwich City are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Pelle Mattsson in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Norwich City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

Norwich City supporters have found a favourite in Ben Chrisene

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Chrisene has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

No hiding place for Sam Field

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Field, and the manager let it.

Squad

Kenny McLean dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Player ratings

Ben Chrisene was the difference for Norwich City

Marked 7.33. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Squad

Moctar Diop named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Moctar Diop is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Match

Point won or two lost for Norwich City?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Hull City? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief