The Man In The Stands And so the race for the Turner Prize hots up. The Man understands that Jim Duffy has assembled a dream ticket trio to try and land the post. remains to be seen.

The Man In The Stands

And so the race for the Turner Prize hots up. The Man understands that Jim Duffy has assembled a dream ticket trio to try and land the post.

His reconfigured Tartan Taliban includes former legends Bryan Gunn and Robert Fleck - although whether those two Canary legends have the necessary coaching qualifications remains to be seen.

The Man reckons Duffy is in with a very good shout of getting the job - although it will depend on today's result.

Trips to Burnley and West Brom follow, and not even the Good Lord himself could get our current collection of misfits to win at either of those places.

So if Bristol became the latest in the increasingly long line of clubs to win at Carrow Road, we can safely assume Duffy is out of the running.

The Man was reassured by Andy Turner's comments this week that he is solely focussed on the appointment of a new manager at the moment, and that we'll pay what it takes to get the right man in.

Doubtless it is a big decision, but as The Man wrote last week, getting a new manager only solves about 10 per cent of the club's problems.

The real decision Andy and Sharon are going to have to make is whether they are now going to put money in for squad improvements - as that is where the real problem lurks.

Let's be clear. There is absolutely no reason why the Turners should bankroll new signings.

They have worked their guts out to get where they are - and I'm sure a lot of the voodoo economics which surrounds football is utterly counter-intuitive to the way successful businesses are run.

They owe us nothing, and the £2m loan was a significant sacrifice in itself.

But the way The Man sees it, with the current lack of quality in the squad, we are heading for League One.

These sentiments were echoed by a fan at the AGM, who said: “I don't think this board realises how poor this squad is.”

Quite honestly, I am not sure there is a manager out there who could keep this team up, unless he was given money to bring loan players in now, and proper signings in January.

So aside from deciding who the next boss is, the Turners have also got to decide - now - whether they are going to give him a spade to dig himself out of the s**t.

Football doesn't fit in to timetables, sometimes you just can't wait to get your feet under the table.

If this club goes down to League One it will not recover.

t The Man did not attend the AGM, but I always worry when I think The Stowmarket Two are getting fed up with the criticism the club is facing.

Just for record The Man would like to restate that he is still utterly grateful for what Delia and MWJ have done for this club.

The money they have given the club, compared to the size of their wealth, is a genuine sacrifice that few - if any - other football club owners have matched.

Criticism of the football club is not really criticism of them personally, although nobody is perfect.

The Man saw the look on MWJ's face after the Wolves game, he looked like someone had just kicked him in the nuts, there's no doubt these two are passionate supporters and we are lucky to have them. OTBC.

The Man noted that the arrival of John Hartson on loan was not greeted with universal acclaim by supporters.

As this opus is written before today's game, I am slightly hindered by the fact I have not seen him play for a while.

But quite simply, Hartson cannot be worse than what we have currently got, even if he is morbidly obese.

Quite which players some of our supporters expect should be turning up on a white hoss I don't know...

Norwich is a bum move in football circles now, the days of getting a Peter Crouch to lend us a hand are long gone.

At least it's clear Duffy had done his homework on Hartson, as the Welsh striker admitted this week that he "can't buy a goal at the moment" - he should fit in a treat.

It's perhaps worth remembering that it was only four years ago that we beat West Brom to the Championship title.

Had you of told me then that just a few years after that triumph we'd be begging WBA to lend us a player from their reserve team to try and avoid relegation to League One, The Man would not of believed it.

Thank heaven our board “will not gamble with the future of this football club” eh? Otherwise we'd really be in trouble.

Good luck JH.

The Man has a dirty secret to admit - he has started enjoying rugby.

Only a couple of weeks ago I derided the rugby world cup as a pathetic, ill-located competition.

But in true glory-hunter form, I have changed my tune.

I do not claim to know the rules - I do not claim to know who any of the players are - but up until today they were winning, and in the current climate that will do for me.

It occurs to The Man that this must be how those women and 'guys who like F1' must feel during football world cups.

You know, the ones that turn up in the pub with their faces painted, and retell analysis they've heard on Radio Five Dead about Nicky Butt being "immense" in the midfield holding roll.

In the inverted snobbery of football, The Man and his entourage have always looked down on these characters.

But actually, it's quite a nice existence.

You get to support a team while it's winning, and then if they lose you don't really give a monkey's, and can just switch over to the X Factor audition re-runs without the merest bit of grief.

After all, 'Jonny' is a Norwich fan so it would be wrong not to support him. It is still a rubbish sport though.