The Man In The Stands ONCE more the boil has been lanced and Norwich City has relieved itself - a bit like going to the toilet - of its manager. As much as we would hate to admit it, we are now one of those clubs that lurches from one manager to the next on an annual basis, never far from turmoil or crisis.

The Man In The Stands

ONCE more the boil has been lanced and Norwich City has relieved itself - a bit like going to the toilet - of its manager.

As much as we would hate to admit it, we are now one of those clubs that lurches from one manager to the next on an annual basis, never far from turmoil or crisis.

At the current mortality rate, it is highly probable that whichever poor sod gets the job this time will be sacked within 24 months, and that's being generous.

The board has appointed the worst, and the least popular Norwich managers in quick succession, so the mind boggles as to who'll be next through the door.

To be fair, now that Nigel has rightly turned his nose up at the prospect of a stunningly ill-thought comeback, the board are going to struggle to complete the hat-rick; unless Delia's old pal Bryan Hamilton can be lured off the lawnmower and out of retirement.

Looking back, I know that Glenn Roeder did not float a lot of people's boats.

His barbed comments often made me squirm, and you wondered whether they were having a similarly corrosive effect in the dressing room. Certainly his rumoured Colney nickname of Mr Arrogant did not bode well.

Although Glenn was often keen to remind us, it is genuinely worth remembering, that we would already be in League One without him.

His achievements with us last season were significant, and if we somehow avoid the drop again this year the long-term history of Norwich City should remember him rather more kindly than the present.

Many people will disagree with that, but it is just my opinion.

As for his successor? He (or she) will have an even tougher job than the one Glenn inherited. No money, a threadbare squad with very few good players, and a board who are so out of touch they thought getting Worthington back was a realistic option. And did I mention we've got no money?

Stability comes at a price these days and I'm afraid that without cash - and under the, ahem, direction of this board - we can't really expect an end to this cycle of despair any time soon.

All we can do now is get behind the team and hope to God that we don't go down, because if we do, we ain't coming back for a long, long time. OTBC.

t CURO HAS FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

IF JAMIE Cureton scored today then thanks will presumably be due to someone in the directors' box…

Most fans had assumed that Gunny had recalled the striker after Glenn Roeder was given his marching orders.

However, Gunny let slip in his inauguration press conference that it had not been his decision, a mystery man - or woman - had in fact made the call earlier.

The board has always been adamant that it leaves all footballing decisions to the footballing staff; but it seems on this occasion it was not the case. Curo clearly has friends in high places.

Even if JC was unable to get a goal today, it was a shrewd move to get him back if just to get some first-hand intelligence on Barnsley. By the way, if we can't get a result against Barnsley at home, then we really are at a new low.

t NEW ADVERTISING IS OFFENSIVE

AM I the only one who finds the Norwich Union, sorry Awhatsit, commercials a bit offensive? The premise of the adverts is that Norwich is a boring name to be associated with, and the company is not going to be successful unless it drops it.

After all, as the ads show, how would rocker Vincent Furnier have become a big star without changing his name to Alice…? Presumably, whoever signed off spending �10m on these adverts to try and replace a well-known brand with something that sounds like a toilet detergent will one day find his or her judgement held in rather low esteem.

I know this name change means they can use the same letterheads in Bombay, Shanghai and Norwich, but I find it all rather irritating.

The Man suspects there are darker forces at work here too.

Lose the name Norwich, and suddenly the attachment to the city becomes less prevalent.

Just as I expect the firm to walk away from Norwich City as soon as the current sponsorship deal expires, I worry they'll eventually try to sneak away from the Fine City too. As a footnote, billboard ads for the Awhatsit campaign feature the line: “Leningrad to St Petersburg” to highlight a change of name. Then “From Brosnan to Craig”.

I wasn't aware that Pierce Brosnan had changed his name to Daniel Craig, were you? Must have dyed his hair too.

t LET'S HOPE MAN CITY DON'T SPARK A WAGE WAR

THE MAN kept an ear on the Kaka transfer saga this week not knowing quite what to make of it.

The numbers involved seemed slightly grotesque and comical. I am still not convinced that the Arabs actually know they have bought Manchester City rather than Manchester United. I mean really, if you were trying to build a “big club” - would you really try and do it on the doorstep of the “biggest club in the world”? It seems a peculiar place to start.

And wouldn't it have been more of a laugh to do it at Huddersfield or Burnley anyway? Imagine some of the stuff the slimy new signings would have had to come out with then…

”Growing up in Sao Paulo, Burnley always the first result I look. Robbie Blake my hero. Steve Davis - he good at set pieces.”

In reality though, it was only a few years ago Man City themselves were in the third division, now they are hoping to shell out �100m on a player, before they've even started paying his wages, or those of his dad.

It is so far away from the world that we inhabit that it feels like a different game, even though we were playing them as recently as 2005.

It is exciting in a Match of the Day highlights sense, but there is a negative aspect too. Football wages and transfers were just starting the calm down when Abramovich came along and blew everything out of the water. The trickle down effect kicked in, and other clubs loaded up their debt to keep up. Every idiot thought they were worth 10k a week.

Now - in the midst of recession - you feel wages and fees will be on a downward spiral again, only for Man City to be artificially distorting the market this time. However, on this occasion the wider financial problems are so acute that you suspect other clubs simply won't be able to keep up. At least we must hope they don't try to.