Marked for Alexander Mitchell
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
Alexander Foster damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Loan watch24 May 2027
39 starts and an average of 7.08. He went there to play and he is playing, which is the only thing a loan was ever for.
The dugout24 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout24 May 2027
Bruno Alves 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
Anthony Musaba asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market24 May 2027
The name of Manfred Ugalde keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Norwich City say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
Swansea City will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Norwich City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Norwich City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Dec 2026
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Jovon Makama at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Norwich City.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Darlin Yongwa
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Joshua Matthews, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Norwich City have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Norwich City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pelle Mattsson, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2026
West Bromwich Albion left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tammer Bany 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
A promise honoured for Jack Stacey
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Norwich City told Jack Stacey something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Liam Gibbs
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Norwich City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The match ball belongs to Óscar Aranda, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 Dec 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Norwich City and Charlton Athletic, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match1 Dec 2026
A 4‑2 win over Charlton Athletic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Tranmere Rovers to sit and watch. I want to come back to Norwich City and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Óscar Aranda, and the manager let it.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
At 22 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Blackburn Rovers left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.