Will Jennings: What was Norwich City's Jonathan Rowe thinking?

There are so many things us columnists could have written our pieces on this week but despite the hugely significant Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones news - what a selfless gesture and unbelievable job they have done for our club - departure of Adam Idah - a brilliantly-negotiated fee for a player I liked but wish all the best - and City’s eventful 4-3 Carabao Cup win over Stevenage, it remains difficult to get away from Jon Rowe’s ridiculous antics over the last five days.

The news that broke at 11:30am last Saturday sent shockwaves through the Norwich City community and understandably aggrieved all of us who were gearing up to watch the Johannes Hoff Thorup era get underway.

I, like the rest of us, was incandescent as I tried - and unsurprisingly failed - to source some form of Parisian sports bar that would show City’s clash against Oxford over France pummelling Poland in the Olympic men’s volleyball final.

Rowe, a player we all thought bled yellow and green, treasured his relationship with the fans and always went about his business in the most positive, professional way possible, inexplicably shredded those perceptions into smithereens by refusing to pull on the shirt he ostensibly adored.

It was an extraordinary decision by an extraordinarily talented player and sadly, may well now end up defining his Carrow Road legacy.

Even if a move was close, withdrawing from the matchday squad would still be an appalling look.

But when you do it after only one club has put a bid in, that bid is way below City’s valuation and the prospect of things getting confirmed remains such a significant way off, the decision becomes even more mind-boggling.

Throw into the mix it was Thorup’s first competitive game in English football, coupled with the fact that this is Rowe’s boyhood club who provided him with the platform to flourish and put himself in the shop window in the first place, the whole thing becomes nothing short of a farce.

Johannes Hoff Thorup has told Jonathan Rowe to train with the Under-21s after ruling himself out the clash at Oxford (Image: Martyn Haworth)

Things then descended even further when several national media outlets reported Rowe did not withdraw from City’s squad at Oxford, clearly the product of a panicked Rowe and his agent realising his reputation was in tatters and feeding distorting information to journalists.

With Rowe absent during City’s Carabao Cup triumph against Stevenage and now training with the Under-21s until further notice, a resolution being thrashed out between both parties appears unlikely over the coming days.

He has no excuse for his behaviour.

Rowe, 21, has watched similarly highly-rated City youngsters like Max Aarons uphold their professionalism and commitment to the club despite high-profile speculation, with Aarons admirably not having his head turned when linked with European giants Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

And even Adam Idah, a player whose attitude was justifiably questioned after failing to turn up for City’s pre-season tour flight to Austria, pulled himself together to put in a shift at Oxford ahead of a move to Celtic that was in considerably more advanced stages than Rowe’s to the south of France.

On the topics of Rowe’s antics and Idah’s £9.5m switch north of the border, one man who deserves huge credit is Thorup.

Despite being dealt a far-from-ideal early hand in having his best player petulantly throw his toys out of the pram before his very first game, the articulate Dane has handled the situation superbly in ruthlessly - but rightly - expelling him and insisting he will not be given a second chance until he quits the selfish sulking.

While what unfolded on the Kassam Stadium pitch threw up understandable cause for concern - although as we know, this project will inevitably take time - off it, Thorup has spoken with a maturity and experience beyond his youthful years as he bids to navigate his way through these initial choppy waters.

What happens at Carrow Road on Saturday will be fascinating and as confirmed by Thorup in midweek, Rowe’s attitude and lingering lack of interest means he will be absent once again.

So as that Marseille move remains some distance off, we can only hope that Rowe realises the extent of his error of judgement, apologises to Thorup and earns himself a second chance to rehabilitate his currently severely tarnished reputation.