Coventry City news from CoventryLive as former Sky Blues favourite Darren Huckerby gives his take on Sam McCallum’s release by Norwich
After Sam McCallum was released by Norwich, Darren Huckerby maintains that whomever signs the former Coventry City defender this summer will be getting a “real bargain.”
The 23-year-old full-back was loaned back to the Canaries for the balance of the season after being sold to them in the January transfer window of 2020 for a move that may have cost up to £3.5 million depending on the player’s performance. After being snatched by City from non-league obscurity, McCallum returned for a season-long loan in 2020–21, appearing in 41 Championship games and notching one goal.
He was once more farmed out as part of his development upon his return to Carrow Road, and he played a season with QPR, though a hamstring strain derailed his progress, necessitating surgery that kept him out for several months, limiting his appearances to just 19 games.
After that, he made 25 appearances for Norwich in 2022–2023 and 34 the previous season, including comebacks in the play-off semifinals versus Leeds United. However, he primarily played as Dimitris Giannoulis’ backup over the majority of the previous campaign.
Huckerby, a former star player for the Sky Blues, frequently plays at Carrow Road, where his English playing career came to an end. When asked about McCallum’s development and his thoughts on the player’s dismissal by Norwich, the 48-year-old told CoventryLive, “I thought he did pretty well towards the end of his time at Norwich.” Norwich lost out on promotion this season after being eliminated by Leeds in the play-off semifinals. He was only a little boy when he initially arrived, and he came and went when they were within the Premier League. Giannoulis was then ahead of him, but I felt that he held his own when he played, thus his release was likely more the result of his playing regular first team football than anything else.
“They might be cutting back a little bit,” he continued. “The manager (David Wagner) has gone, and I think Sam was on half decent wages.” He is undoubtedly a skilled player, and I felt he was showcasing his abilities towards the end of his spell. It’s one of those where he should be playing football every week with the first team.
“He was a full-back for Norwich, but given his skill at attacking, perhaps he would be more effective as a wing-back. Many other teams will undoubtedly be searching for a true steal on a free transfer.
“I think so, he’s obviously been at one in Norwich so whoever gets him will do OK,” he replied when asked if he sees McCallum at another elite Championship club. At the age of 23, he has to play football on a regular basis in order to establish himself somewhere, as he hasn’t been able to accomplish at Norwich.
“It will be interesting to see what happens and where he goes because, while he was there, Coventry obviously did well, and they have moved on since then as well.”
He continued, “It depends what they have done before, to be honest,” when asked if he thought it was ever a good idea for a player to return to a club. Norwich acquired him in his youth, so it’s not as though he’s been gone for ten years. He still has a lot of growing up ahead of him, to be honest. It’s not nice to look back on your career and believe you only played 200 games because he went for a lot of money but wasn’t able to play every week.
