It has been a while since I last posted something on this site. This week though I managed to get in contact with another ex Norwich City player Darren Kenton. The ex Norwich player agreed to an interview and here it is:
JB: You were successful in the City Youth team before making your way to the first team and a debut on 4th October 1997 in a 2-0 loss against Tranmere.
DK: Yeah I remember that day well. We had 2 men sent off and was losing with 10 minutes to go so the manager sent me on and told me to run around. Don’t think I touched the ball but was great to finally get some 1st team action. At the time I was doing quite well in the reserves but we had a lot of experienced players at the club so was hard to break into the team.
JB: You scored your first goal for City in a 2-1 win at Carrow Road against Stoke? How good was it get the goal in front of your own fans?
DK: My 1st goal was actually against Crewe. Was great to score in that game. Craig Bellamy had opened the scoring for us and was great to get a goal on the same day as him. At the time I was sharing a house with him and Jamie Shore so we cracked the bubbly after the game. Norwich has a history of bringing young players through so was good to get my 1st goal in front of our fans.
JB: In 1999 you were transfer listed and reportedly boss Bruce Rioch gave you an ultimatum of signing the contract City were offering or to forget it. How true were the reports?
DK: No that was not true about the ultimatum. We had a bit of a falling out in training which led to me smashing him in a tackle. I was transfer listed after that! Then if remember right we had a bit of a defence crisis where a lot of players were injured so he put me back in and offered me a new deal.
JB: Norwich City would finish mid table for the majority of your time there. 2001 you signed another contract with the Canaries and the next season City made the playoff Final. Even though it was lost on penalties was the mood a positive one for the next season or was it a feeling of ‘that was our chance’?
DK: The season before the play offs we were quite well down the table and we kind of thought each season that’s where we are going to finish. What changed the club was when Nigel Worthington took over and promoted Steve Folly to 1st team coach. Everyone loved Steve’s sessions and that brought an extra zip to our game. When we lost in the playoffs it was heart breaking as we thought we deserved to win. Geoff horsfeild, who scored their equaliser, should of been sent off early in the game for elbowing me in the face. The ref gave the foul but said nothing to him. The next season we went in believing we could better what we did the previous season. We started well but unfortunately couldn’t maintain. If you compare that to the next where Norwich got promoted the difference was the Premier League players that were loaned and brought in.
JB: Early on in the next season there were more links with you and a move to the Premiership and a trip North to Newcastle. The Norwich press office stated there were no approach from Newcastle what was your view of the situation?
DK: There was a few clubs interested in my final season. I wasn’t really taking much notice, was just interested in playing.
JB: In the end your contract was terminated early May 2003, two months before it contractually ran out at the end of June. Mid May you signed for Southampton and would finally get your Premiership football. How good did that finally feel?
DK: Ideally I would of been playing in the Premier League with Norwich. I said I wanted to captain the side in the premier league. I never once said I wanted to leave Norwich and certain promises were made that we’re not kept. In my final year you had people like Neil Doncaster saying that the club would not be held to ransom which was frustrating as that was not the case at all. But in the end we missed out on the playoffs so I said that I would be leaving at the end of the season. Norwich made the decision to terminate early. There were a few clubs interested but I felt Southampton would be good for me as I thought it is a very similar club to Norwich and they had just made the FA cup final and qualified for Europe.
JB: So while at Norwich you worked under Bruce Rioch, Bryan Hamilton and Nigel Worthington. Which one would you say you learnt more under?
DK: I must say I learnt nothing from Brian Hamilton. I could not of worked under a worse manager! Even though we had that early falling out I would say it was Bruce Rioch. He was a good manager and I was disappointed to see him go.
JB: The next season Norwich were in the Premiership and in November 2004 you returned to Carrow Road in Southampton colours. What was it like to go back to Carrow Road but not be playing yellow and green?
DK: It was a little strange going back and playing for another team. I had played for Norwich since I was 13 years old. The team had changed a fair bit so was a little easier playing against them.
JB: Both Norwich and Southampton were relegated and you had spent some of the season on loan at Leicester in the Championship. 2006 you moved to Leicester on a permanent deal and toward the end of the season got a goal against Norwich. What was that moment like?
When Southampton got relegated I had moved on loan to Leicester. I had tore my medial ligament in my knee so was injured for a while. In our final season in the premier it had become a bit of a soap opera. We had 3 managers by Christmas and had Clive Woodward as director of football, who hardly even knew the offside rule! When I got fit Harry said I need to go play 1st team for fitness. So went to Leicester which eventually got extended to end of the season. Harry left the next season when we was relegated and we had another manger for that season. I left after 3 years at saints for Leicester. When I scored against Norwich we was struggling and was in a bit of a relegation battle. When it went in I didn’t even think who I’ve scored against, was just a good feeling to score early. Unfortunately we lost.
JB: You moved from there to a few other clubs including over to the Rochester Rhinos in the USA a couple of years back. Throughout that time did you still follow Norwich City’s results and if so what do you think of their current run and now second consecutive season in the Premiership?
DK: I always looked out for their results, even when they were in League 1. It’s good to see them doing well now and believe that they are an established premier league club now. Being able to spend £8.5 million on 1 player is amazing and hopefully they can push for a mid to top half finish, and maybe even Europe.
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for us and good luck in the future.
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