Iwan Roberts on van Hooijdonk, Psycho letter and Mark Robins

I did a podcast earlier this week with Cameron Toshack, son of the great Liverpool and Wales striker John. I didn't ask him about it, but sometimes I think that's weighed on his shoulders because his football career never really took off.

It's hard when your dad has been in this industry and done so well because people expect the same from you. So people will expect van Hooijdonk to perform as well as his old man Pierre did when he was at Celtic and Nottingham Forest. I'm not sure if there are similarities in their style of play. Pierre was six foot four, lean, great with his back to goal, great at holding the ball up, good in the air, could score you all types of goals – he could score tap-ins, he could score from 25, 30 yards, he could take free-kicks.

Sydney had a great reaction from the fans at Carrow Road on Saturday, but he wants to get that first goal out of the way. I've had it on a couple of occasions in my career where you move to a club and expectations are high. And I think they are high because he's played at a good level. He scored plenty of goals last season on loan at Heerenveen, but it hasn't quite worked out for him in Italy, hence he's come out on loan to Norwich, and fair play, it tells you a lot when on the last day of the window there were two clubs looking for him. Celtic were desperate to get another van Hooijdonk north of the border, but he would have sat down with his dad, 100pc, and discussed what the best option for him was and it's great for Norwich that they decided to come to Carrow Road.
Can City fit Josh Sargent and new signing Sydney van Hooijdonk into the same line-up? (Image: Dan Hambury/Focus Images Ltd)

He's obviously got that pedigree of his surname - I haven't seen too much about him. Can he play that number 10 role or can Sargent you play that number 10 role? Because I get the feeling they've not brought him here to be sat on the bench. You would expect him to be starting most games from now until the end of the season. So it's now a case of, how do you fit both of them into the starting XI, because you can't not play Josh Sargeant, can you?

I think fans will have to have some patience. With any new signing you've got to give them time to settle into a new environment, a new football club, a new dressing room. I don't think there will have been too many familiar faces in that dressing up at Colney, and that's hard. It doesn't matter how old you are, whether you're a 17-year-old who's just moved from wherever or a 32-year-old experienced professional. The minute you walk into that dressing room and you look about … you look and think, I played against these lads, I know who they are but I don't know any of them.

Who do you go to? Who do you go and sit next to? Who do you go and talk to first?

Robert Fleck - open arms (Image: Newsquest library)

There's nothing better than when you walk in and you see maybe an international team-mate sat in the corner and he's the first one to come up to you and shake your hand. I remember when I first walked in at Colney, Robert Fleck and Bryan Gunn were brilliant. Honestly, I couldn't thank them enough. They were straight up to me, especially Fleckie – and back then I might have been taking his place, but it didn't bother him. Proper blokes the both of them.

Sydney is going into an environment that's around his age group, and I'm sure they will have made him feel welcome.

To get into that top six, his contribution is going to be really important now.

Going out last week was Adam Idah who has joined a magnificent football club in Celtic, with an unbelievable fan base. It might be just what he needs - a bit of a kick up the backside.

Adam Idah in action for Celtic (Image: PA Images)

I've heard one or two things about the way he lives his life. Not that he's out all the time partying and drinking, but dietary wise, the stuff that he puts into his body isn't great. Sometimes you just need a fresh start, a new environment, a different voice, different ideas, a different, man who's going to lead you, give you instructions and tactics and what he expects from you.

Will his old team-mate Todd Cantwell, now at Rangers, give him a call? If he does, then they need to meet up in Manchester or Newcastle – not Glasgow!

Dear Iwan...

Stuart Pearce (Image: PA Images)

I played against Pierre van Hooijdonk at Carrow Road when I scored the only goal of the game against Nottingham Forest, back in 97-98: he scored in their 4-1 home win and I scored the only goal of the game back at Carrow Road.

I don’t think I ever won at Forest, but I do recall something happening that I don’ think you’d see today…I got into a massive brawl with Stuart Pearce when I was playing there for Leicester, a game that is a passionate derby.

I went up for the header with Steve Chettle, fair and square. I flicked it on, I landed on my feet, he landed flat on his back, holding his face. Stuart Pearce came running up to me, grabbed hold of my throat, I smashed his arms away and we both started pushing each other until all the players got involved. In the meantime, the physio’s come on to see Steve Chettle and Chettle’s gone, ‘I'm alright. I've only got a bit of grass in my eye’.

All that for nothing - but to be fair, Stuart Pearce did write me a letter apologising about his reaction, saying he hadn’t realised I was totally innocent. And I was.

Robbo rattled

Mark Robins (Image: PA Images)

My old mate Mark Robins had a right old moan after his Coventry side lost at Carrow Road last weekend. I think it was the typical reaction of a manager who just lost a very important game. But it wasn’t the Mark Robins I know – it made me laugh.

I get his reaction, although I think he went a little bit over the top about the treatment of Sakamoto. I’ve seen the incidents between him and Norwich players and there's nothing in them whatsoever. I don't think he was the target of an over-physical approach. I mean, the lad isn’t Lionel Messi, is he?

Remember when Darren Huckerby played? Opponents tried to nullify him every game. He was always a target - because he was a special player, a match winner because he could go out and turn the game on its head in a blink of an eye. He knew he was going to get that treatment. Did whinge, did he moan? No, he got on with it.