Flown From the Nest

Dedicated to former Norwich City Players from 1980
Trial and Error - Norwich's triallists in 1999/2000

In the 1999/2000 season, over 12 players have joined the Canaries on trial, most of whom just play one game for the Reserves and then move on. Is this anyway to judge a player's ability when in many cases, he will have had only one day's training with his new teammates. Norwich's failure to strengthen their squad in 1999/2000 despite the sale of Darren Eadie and the injuries to Craig Bellamy and Phil Mulryne have left the Carrow Road faithful asking why the club is not signing anyone. Even more mysterious is the fact that those triallists that do impress are not taken on. Cynics on the Unofficial Norwich City message board suggest that these triallists are acting as a smokecreen to make it look as if Bruce Rioch and the Borad of Directors are planning to sign someone when in reality the purse strings are tightly closed. It has been suggested that these players have been brought to Carrow Road to play in Reserves matches to hide the fact that the Norwich squad is so small that it can hardly afford to field two teams. Indeed if the Sunday People of 27th February 2000 is to be believed, Norwich's financial plight might mean they have to scrap their second string. Whatever the truth, the fact remains that the following players have all come to Norwich on trial this season, with the Canaries paying their expenses and have returned home often to join another club.

Name	Nationality	Club	Month	Reserve Games
Jorgen Hammersland	Norwegian	Haugesund (Norway)	Nov 99	vs Luton 3.11.99
Deemed by Bruce Rioch not to be what he was looking for.
Michael Hansson	Swedish	Trelleborg (Sweden)	Nov 99	vs Ipswich
Didn't impress Bruce Rioch, returned to Scandinavia and joined Helsingborgs.
Trym Bergman	Norway	Kongsvinger (Norway)	Nov 99	vs Ipswich
Did not impress Rioch. Further trials with Shef Utd & Port Vale before joining Hammarby
Mark Jackson	English	Leeds United (England)	Dec99- Jan 00	vs Orient & Gillingham
Poor performance vs Gillingham, later joined Scunthorpe
Michael Stephen	Scottish	Fraserburgh (Scotland)	Dec 99	vs Orient
had a quiet game
Martin Wood	Scottish	Rothes (Scotland)	Dec 99	(see below)
International clearance failed to come through. Norwich didn't pursue.
Jesper Kristensen	Danish		Jan 00	vs Fulham
Struggled to impose himself on the match - still not recovered from injury
Tony Vaughan	English	Man City (England)	Jan 00	vs Portsmouth
Man City wanted £350,000 - too much for Norwich. Joined Notts Forest
Jonathan Hunt	English	Shef Utd (England)	Feb 00	vs Colchester
Did not impress in the game vs Colchester. Returned to Bramall Lane
Craig Russell	English	Man City (England)	Feb 00	vs Colchester
Did not impress. Joined Oxford United on loan
Andy Wright	English	Fortuna Sittard (Holland)	Feb 00	vs Swindon
Despite scoring, Rioch decided Andy needed more match fitness. Joined Luton on trial
Hasney Aljofree	English	Bolton (England)	Feb 00	vs Swindon
Bolton's insistence on a fee scared off Rioch. Hoping to sign him in the summer on a free
Michael Twiss	English	Man Utd (England)	Feb 00	vs Oxford and Wycombe
Rioch decides not to take any action for the present..
Fernando Derveld	Dutch	Haarlem (Holland)	Feb 00	vs Oxford
Rioch decided that Fernando wasn't the answer to his left back problems. However Hamilton later signed him
Andy Claydon	English	Newmarket	March 00	vs Brighton
Had a poor game and seemed unsuitable for league football
Darren Terrington	English	Wroxham	March 00	vs Millwall
Injured after 20 minutes.
Paul Roberts	Welsh	Bangor	April 00	vs Tottenham
Played alongside Paul Dalglish and Craig Bellamy in 1-0 friendly victory over Spurs

Dedicated to former Norwich City Players from 1980 Trial and Error - Norwich's triallists in 1999/2000

Dedicated to former Norwich City Players from 1980
Trial and Error - Norwich's triallists in 1999/2000