The Nigel Worthington Column

It has been a very satisfying October for us at Norwich and if we can have a similar November, I'll be a very happy manager.

The fixture list handed us away trips to Wigan, West Ham and West Brom, while Derby County and Sunderland were our guests at Carrow Road. We have come out of it with some excellent performances and some very good points, which have sent us third in the table.

It helps when you've got a player like Darren Huckerby to pick in your side. He has caught the eye all month, he's a very exciting player. When he gets the ball, he runs at defenders and asks all sorts of questions. Another to stand out during this recent run, where we've only lost one in ten matches, is Paul McVeigh. He's been in fine form and that's very pleasing for both him and me.

We are away in the Midlands once more tomorrow afternoon as we face Walsall who have some very good players of their own, not least Vinny Samways and Paul Merson. They maybe at the tail end of their careers, but they are both doing it the right way.

Samways spent a while in Spain and he made a name for himself over there, while Merson had a wonderful season at Portsmouth last year and has been a consistent performer for a long time. We've seen this week, just up the road from the Bescot Stadium, that one of Paul's old England pals, Paul Gascoigne, is perhaps on the verge of a comeback with Wolves. Though they are both the same age, I think Gazza may find it very difficult to get back playing at that level.

The game now is so much about legs, the energy levels and the pace required is phenomenal and there comes a time when you have to be honest and say to yourself, "I've done all I can do, it's time to move on."

Paul has been out of the game for a while and though he's dipped in and out, during his career he had quite a few injuries and that's going to take its toll. The fact that he's not been training and keeping up to pace with the game is going to make it even more difficult. He might be able to get away with it in a lower league, but to entertain at the top level each week is a massive task at the best of times.

I played my last league game for Blackpool when I was thirty-seven. I'd been player-manager for about six months and my body was telling me that enough was enough, I just couldn't sustain the level of energy that is required to perform as often as was needed. I had to do what was best for me personally, and the team, so I stepped back and concentrated on what lay ahead, which was managing the club and not playing.

There comes a time when your body gives you a signal and you just can't carry on. Perhaps Gascoigne's body has told him that it's time, but maybe he just isn't ready to accept it. But watch this space, I may be proved wrong. Paul was a class player at his peak and we never knew what he was really capable of then, so who knows what he can do now.

I think I made the right decision when I hung up my boots and don't regret it one bit. I had the coaching side of the game to move into and it allowed me to bring in new, younger legs to replace me. That's my philosophy now, I'd rather bring a youngster through into the first team picture than sign a player in their mid-thirties and try and make it happen again. While the game is very short-lived for individuals, clubs, and Norwich in particular, are about long-term development and I think in my position I can't be shortsighted, I've got to think about the way forward.

And that starts at Walsall tomorrow afternoon. Despite our good run of form lately, for me this is the biggest game of the lot. Firstly, because it's our next game, but also it is very important that we show the right mental approach. If our minds aren't right, then we'll be in for a nasty shock.

This is as big a game as we've had in the last month, and after losing at the Hawthorns after my last column on TheFA.com, if we fail to get anything tomorrow I'm going to have to change my schedule!

Nigel Worthington