So what actually happened that day?

[Eaton Yellow 0]

Evening, I''ve seen various post responses regarding Nigel worthington and the Burnley situation. I wasn''t there, clearly. Slightly before my time. Could someone please explain what happened exactly.

Thanks

[Len 74]

He got sacked.

[lappinitup 629]

We lost...

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

The game was live on TV and we slumped to an embarrassing 4-1 loss in a match played to the backdrop of a poisonous atmosphere in the stands.

And Gary Doherty wrestled a Burnley forward to the ground and was sent off.

Worthington was sacked soon afterwards.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

We got tonked at home in front of the cameras. Many could see it coming for weeks but there is a certain poster who still cannot accept it to this day. [:D]He will be along sometime soon i am sure. [:''(]

[Tumbleweed 106]

Fans so fed up that they were actually cheering Burnley goals as they felt it would hasten his departure. Very bizarre. Poor performance. 1-4 defeat. Board goes into immediate meeting after the game and come out about an hour after match to announce he had been sacked.

[......and Smith must score. 1,336]

The '' best '' bit was towards the end of the match when a huge black storm cloud suddenly appeared behind the City Stand, thunder rolled, rain poured and forked lightning flashed down directly over the dugout above Nigel Worthington''s head. It was like he''d angered the gods in a scene from a Hammer film....The view of that from the Jarrold was something extraordinary but the whole matchday atmosphere was toxic. The circumstances were all set up for a public '' execution '' which it was. It was horrible to watch half the ground singing " Cheerio, cheerio " to Worthington as he stood there but I''m glad I still couldn''t bring myself to sample the 7/2 on offer for a Burnley win.One nice touch was when the Burnley manager Steve Cotterill gave Worthington a hug as they went off at HT with City already 2-0 down.Carrow Rd wasn''t a nice place to be that day.......

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."]Carrow Rd wasn''t a nice place to be that day.......[/quote]The wake at Bayer was a very sombre affair.

[Duncan Edwards 2,221]

The wake went on for years. It outlasted several managers and our membership of the top two divisions. Still, it couldn''t be helped, nothing could possibly be worse than that Worthington team. Oh...

[komakino 272]

Remember it well. Essentially, many of players had given up on Worthington, but he was hanging out for the money - he didn''t want to walk. We then had heavy losses at Luton and QPR away - one fan was smoking two fags at a time it was so bad - so Burnley was a car crash waiting to happen as the players were not going to pull out all the stops for someone they didn''t respect.

The board were too chummy with Worthington and wouldn''t act, so we got what we got.

[Len 74]

Worthington got us relegated and Delia hung on to her pet manager as he continued to flounder. I fear we''ll eventually have another trip to league one if she sticks with Neil.

[AJ 1,218]

To be fair, we finished higher under Worthy than any other manager who replaced him until Lambo arrived.

It wasn''t a great game to be at. Wasn''t there that protest before the game as well? Really odd atmosphere, they must have been able to hear it in the dressing rooms and whilst warming up. On the pitch the players just didn''t play for him. It was like the crowd didn''t care either, ironic cheers etc. It had to be the end for him, just a shame it got to that as it all led to our collapse to relegation. In business you need to act quickly, and god knows our board never did until McNally arrived

[Herman 9,717]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."]The '' best '' bit was towards the end of the match when a huge black storm cloud suddenly appeared behind the City Stand, thunder rolled, rain poured and forked lightning flashed down directly over the dugout above Nigel Worthington''s head. It was like he''d angered the gods in a scene from a Hammer film....The view of that from the Jarrold was something extraordinary but the whole matchday atmosphere was toxic. The circumstances were all set up for a public '' execution '' which it was. It was horrible to watch half the ground singing " Cheerio, cheerio " to Worthington as he stood there but I''m glad I still couldn''t bring myself to sample the 7/2 on offer for a Burnley win.One nice touch was when the Burnley manager Steve Cotterill gave Worthington a hug as they went off at HT with City already 2-0 down.Carrow Rd wasn''t a nice place to be that day.......[/quote]That brought a few memories back. Not good ones as, as you say, it was a genuinely poisonous atmosphere.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Is it true that Peter Grant has joined the splitters in the Stracey?

[Duncan Edwards 2,221]

It was horrific. People standing outside the ground trying to get fans to sign a petition to support the sacking of the manager. There were more people there supporting that cause that day than actually supporting the team.

Worthington lost the crowd, the inference that he lost the players is more difficult to prove. I remember Huckerby saying that it wasn''t the case with him. I find it difficult to believe that some others just "downed" tools.

I suspect it was more a case of us playing crap and it suiting what was an overwhelming agenda.

He''d never have clawed it back from there but a few short years later it wouldn''t have been amiss for people to be canvassing outside the ground to bring him back such was our subsequent decline.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Is it true that Peter Grant has joined the splitters in the Stracey?[/quote]Peter Grant did the honourable thing and fell on his sword unlike someone who held desperately onto Delia''s apron springs.

[Capt. Pants 4,201]

Worthy was in an impossible position even before the game kicked off with ''Alas Smith & Jones'' issuing an ultimatum. As soon as we went behind the fans made doubly sure Worthy would not survive and the players decided best to be with the fans than with the manager. A dark day but just goes to show it''s the supporters who decide when the manager goes.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Memories light the corners of my mindMisty water-colored memories of the way we weren''t

Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behindSmiles we gave to one another for the way we weren''t.

Can it be that it was all so simple thenOr has time rewritten every lineIf we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we, could we....

The celebrating of opposition goals didn''t start and end at the Burnley game. It started the previous season iin a game against QPR and that atmosphere and the pure hatred directed to the manager went on right until that Burnley game months later.

Some of the posts on this thread are interesting because I remember going to a NCISA Forum a few years later at the Landsdowne Hotel. It was entitled a night with Darren Huckerby and a question came from the floor about those times and the atmosphere inside and outside the ground. Hucks was his usual honest and forthright self. Firstly he turned to the NCISA guy beside him and said "You see that''s the problem I have with organisations like yours". He then explained what it was like for the players and the man they respected to listen to all that before they were supposed to perform on the pitch. He left me in no doubt that those who said it didn''t affect the team were talking out of their backsides. Also that Worthy had lost the players were talking out of their backsides. Did Worthy stay on to line his pockets? Or was he a good honest man who honoured his contract? Nobody can know the answer to that. However everyone I''ve spoken to in football speaks of the man''s honesty and integrity. Does he have a track record of walking out of contracts? Or does his record playing, coaching and managing one of total loyalty?

If anyone wants to doubt the comments that night at the Landsdowne I can think of three other posters from todays threads who were there that night. One of them sat next to me....

[TIL 1010 4,722]

I was there as you know Nutty but Hucks never did explain why the players downed tools for a man '' they respected ''. Just remember also that NCISA were not the leading lights in the campaign to get him ousted. It was The Worthy Out Group with banners and placards who organised the protests pre and after games. Your old mate two dots will be able to explain their part better than me.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Indeed you were Tilly. You were the one sat next to me. But it''s not me you have to protest innocence to because they weren''t my words.

As for trying to question what Hucks said to try square it with your point of view.... the time to do that was that night at the landsdowne not years later....

[FenwayFrank 2,457]

Oh dear, the last couple of days on here haven''t been great for you have they Til ?

[morty 0]

Maybe they just lost the game, rather than " downed tools"?

We do lose games sometimes.....

[djc 0]

Worthington made some bizarre decisions along the way, such as releasing Iwan and Malky when we achieved promotion to the premier league rather than giving them their deserved chance. Then replacing them with Simon Charlton and the Doc. Then, as we got relegated he kept blinded faith with an aging loyal servant centre half Fleming (similar with Martin now). On a positive for Worthy, he exceeded expectations by earning us the playoff final at Cardiff, signing Huckerby and achieving the promotion to the promised land.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="FenwayFrank"]Oh dear, the last couple of days on here haven''t been great for you have they Til ?[/quote]It''s the internet Frank so should i really be concerned ?

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Indeed you were Tilly. You were the one sat next to me. But it''s not me you have to protest innocence to because they weren''t my words.

As for trying to question what Hucks said to try square it with your point of view.... the time to do that was that night at the landsdowne not years later....[/quote]Nothing new around here Nutty with people trying to square it with their point of view as you of all people should know.You are not the only one by the way and just take a look at any thread where someone offers an opinion and it usually runs up ten to twenty pages. [;)]Now then who mentioned that evening at The Lansdowne years ago in the first place ? Did i say i questioned what Hucks said or was it that the performances around the time looked otherwise than players showing respect for the manager ?

[nutty nigel 7,509]

You can spin it however you like but when Hucks said "that''s the trouble I have with organisations like this" he probably was talking about the Worthy Out group being an organisation like this....

[Jacko 0]

Remember it well. I was still at school doing my A Levels. I think the key thing to the match was the build up.

The discontent had set in long before in the previous season and you had fans celebrating goals against QPR because they thought it would be the end for Worthy. Miraculously Norwich came back and won 3-2 late on. There was a very strong Worthing Out campaign. There were posters and fliers printed off etc. He simply had to start next season well.

Norwich started the next season well, but crumbled after the international break, taking an absolute pasting at Coventry. In truth the tactics were questionable, i.e. Rob Earnshaw as a lone striker. So perhaps the slump in form wasn''t altogether surprising.

Then came Plymouth and afterwards the ultimatum from the board saying that results must improve. Barring a miracle Worthy was basically a dead walking by then and the stage was set. It had the feeling of a public execution as you walked to the ground on that Sunday.

The goals were relatively straight forward. A cut back into the penalty area which James O''Connor swept beyond Gallacher. The second Andy Gray heading home completely unmarked in the penalty area. That''s when the choruses of cheerio started and Gray''s celebrations were oddly muted. I think says a lot as to how the atmosphere affected the players on both sides.

The half time whistle went. Mass boos and vitriol from parts of the ground. I vividly remember Cotterill going over and giving Worthy a hug. It was a touching moment from a man who knew ''there but for the grace go I''.

Sadly, Norwich completely imploded. Doherty misjudged the flight of the ball and elected to rugby tackle Gray as he went clean through. The referee had no option. Doherty was spared another 30 minutes of humiliation - unlike his teammates and manager.

Burnley''s 3rd and it''s manner, a 3 vs 1 against the helpless Gallacher turned Carrow Road into open revolt. Again there was little from Gray in his celebration despite being near the away fans. One can only assume out of professional courtesy.

It could have been much worse. Mike Duff and Frank Sinclair hit the bar as well. Norwich to their credit got a goal back from Earnshaw but the look of anguish on his face told it''s own story about how inconsequential it all was. Alan Mahon emphatically wrapped up the point to make it 4-1.

The boos and abuse were deafening at full time. Worthy had been sacked within hours of the final whistle. In truth, the board had no choice. But they could have handled the whole situation much better though, Worthy helped pull the club out of the doldrums of the post Chase era and made the football fun again. He deserved better than what the nasty and personal vitriol he got that day.

I think it''s interesting about Huckerby saying the players were still playing for him. The problem was that whether by accident or design there were 2 matches in his reign, Fulham (a) and Burnley (h), where he desperately needed something from his players and they abjectly failed to deliver it on both occasions.

I don''t know whether that was intentional or simply that they couldn''t execute what he''d told them to do on the day (through lack of ability or poor performance). But either way it had become an untenable situation and the board had no option. Something had to change and we all know full well you can''t sack the playing squad...

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Well written post Jacko, i certainly don''t remember it as vividly as you, but certainly the writing was dry on the wall in the days before the match, as stated elsewhere the decisions on Malky and Iwan''s release were poor and turned a lot of people, was a shame the way it all ended, Worthy was a decent football man.

[sonyc 5,492]

Agree with Lessingham and Nutty here. Worthy was ( and is) a decent man ( and I know personally of people who were close to him and always spoke so well of him). His record will be remembered far more fondly than negatively. He steadied a sinking ship, assembled a great team, who played wonderful football in the promotion season. Yet his time was ending well before Burnley. We had keep the faith debates on this forum for months.

Like Neil now, I recall feeling frustrated with his subs and use of them. But like many here I am just a supporter and see things from that perspective, not from the point of view of any considered football expertise or intelligence, of which Worthington was blessed. Ultimately his leaving didn''t immediately change anything for the positive and we went on to the Grant, Gunn and Roeder regimes. All of which were less than impressive. Thankfully we have had Lambert and Neil since. Worthington was the last decent one before imo.

[GPs Beard 0]

If you ever have a moment , have a word with Steve Foley . A very interesting take on Worthy .

Worthy never recovered from relegation , and the fans never recovered from Ashton being signed late which , you could argue cost us relegation. Worthy did a good job to get us up. He needed to strengthen the squad but it all happened a bit late. Ironic because the board backed him with Hucks , crouch and cooper to get us up. Worthy had also worked miracles to get us into the playoffs in 2002.

But , as happens in football, it all ran its course. I used to frequent the gunn club in those days and hung around after the game. ,the speed in which Worthy was gone , complete with gagging agreements always led me to believe the Legals had been drafted. In true NCFC style they paid up (they always do) and the manager never says anything. Oddly enough I don''t really remember the game !