January 26, 2012

#43: Jonny’s Gone

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Dan Moylan, Michael Normanton, Daniel Chapman (Moscowhite), and Paul O’Dowd (Oddy) open episode 43 with the headline that has dominated the week: Jonny Howson has been sold to Norwich City for £2 million. Leeds United’s home-grown captain joins Bradley Johnson in East Anglia, and the episode unpicks what it means and why it keeps happening.

White Watching first. Crystal Palace 1-1 away at Selhurst Park: Chris Martin put Palace ahead after six minutes, Scannell was sent off for Palace at 44′, and Snodgrass — post-appendix, back off the bench — equalised at 63′. Then Ipswich 3-1 at home: a tremendous afternoon driven by Ibrahima Sonko’s spectacular generosity. The Ipswich central defender’s backheader created the chaos for the opener, Alex McCarthy — the same keeper who had been on loan at Leeds only weeks earlier — then handled outside the box to get himself sent off at 70′. Snodgrass (74′), McCormack (82′), and Becchio (90′) completed the scoring. Becchio’s celebration is discussed at appreciative length.

Phil Hay from the Yorkshire Evening Post joins for the third section and provides the sharpest analysis of the Howson sale: the problem is structural. Howson wasn’t planning to sign a new contract if promotion wasn’t coming; the club’s total squad budget is around £9.5 million; and the pattern of good players running down contracts and leaving is embedded in how the club operates. Snodgrass, he notes, is eighteen months away from exactly the same situation. Phil Hay is measured throughout — balanced on Grayson’s qualities and the board’s failings — and honest about the fact that neither promotion nor squad stability feels imminent.

The protests have resumed outside the East Stand. The Supporters Trust has issued a statement. Fabian Delph is back on loan from Aston Villa. Sammy Clingan — a midfielder then at Coventry — is among those linked during the closing days of the window. Alex Cairns has signed a two-year deal. Ben Parker has been spotted, alive, heading for Carlisle.