Former Canaries Boss Held Town TalksWednesday, 20th Nov 2024 13:22

Former Norwich manager Mike Walker has revealed he spoke to Town about the boss's job at Portman Road in 1994 following John Lyall's departure.

Ex-Colchester keeper Walker was in charge of the Canaries from 1992-1994 during the period in which they finished third in the Premier League and had their one and only season in Europe.

Lyall, who had taken the Blues to the Second Division title in 1991/92, resigned from his role at Portman Road early in December 1994

While the man who eventually got the job, George Burley, was always the favourite, other candidates were spoken to, Walker among them.

Another former Everton manager, Howard Kendall, made the two-man shortlist before Burley, then in the hotseat at Colchester, was handed the job which was his for the next eight years.

"I had an offer from Sheffield Wednesday in that time [after leaving Everton] and Ipswich. They were up the road and knew me. I used to go to Ipswich quite a bit to watch games, so I knew the directors and people," Walker, who left the Toffees after a disappointing 10-month spell in November 1994, told the Pink Un's Splendid Rush podcast.

"I met in a hotel in Cambridge with them and talked with them. They said, 'We want you to take the job now'. But I said, 'I can't take it now'.

"It was all about money in that time then and I said 'I'm sorry, if you can wait another two weeks, hopefully this will be resolved - then I'm your man'. He said, 'We can't'. So they went and appointed another guy, and I sat tight. That was that."

Reflecting on what impact being appointed at Town might have had on his standing at Norwich, where he returned as boss in 1996, he added: "People don't want you to go from one side to the other - but we did have a meeting. They had to make a decision, and I said, 'Fine, you had better go ahead and do it then'.

"When I eventually got the money, which I did, I invested in a house. I wasn't working for a while and then went back to Norwich eventually."

Photo: Action Images / Alex Morton

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tempzzzz added 13:29 - Nov 20thank god that never happened!

exeterblue10 added 13:30 - Nov 20Even clearer why the Ian Crook deal fell through the moment Walker was back in-post at Nodge. Sour onions on his part.