The writing was on the wall for Ollie Norwood shortly after Chris Wilder returned to take over at Sheffield United last December.
Under Paul Heckingbottom, the midfielder started 12 of the Blades’ first 15 Premier League games and took the captain’s armband in six of those. Under Wilder, he started just four more times all season, barely able to help the – ultimately futile – fight against relegation in the miserly 371 minutes he was afforded.
He had been – and continues to be – loved by the Bramall Lane faithful. Two promotions out of the Championship cemented him into the club’s rich history. But, out of favour and out of contract, it came as no real surprise when Norwood was subsequently released in June after 250 appearances.
“It was quite evident quite early when the manager came back, to be honest,” he explains in an interview with Sky Sports. “I rarely played, so I think it was quite obvious I wouldn’t be staying.
“But it’s football, isn’t it? Different managers have different opinions and pick different teams. I’d have liked to have played more, but it is what it is.”
Norwood had previously made clear he wanted to finish his playing career at the club. “Why would I want to go anywhere else?” he said in February 2020.
“When you have a connection with a club and you play so many games for a club, you want to stay there, but it wasn’t to be. You can’t cry about it,” he says, back in the present day.
“The best six years of my career were definitely at Sheffield United. I loved every minute of being there. The messages since leaving from the supporters have been amazing. When you leave, you want to be spoken about really well and I’ve got that.”
There is not too much time for sentiment right now, though. Norwood is in the thick of his next challenge at Stockport.
His agent’s friendship with County owner Mark Stott and director of football Simon Wilson secured a trial in the summer after the monotony of training alone at home and it snowballed from there.
Contracts exceeding two years in duration are seldom handed to players over the age of 30, but Norwood was given a three-year deal to join the club in August.
“The security of a three-year deal is one thing, but there are other factors: I live locally and I’ve got a young family who I’ve dragged around the country in the past, so it’s about settling down,” he says.
“The biggest factor for me – and I genuinely mean this – is the ambition of the owner, where he sees the football club going in and what he wants to achieve.
“I’ve really enjoyed being back in an environment with a team. It’s really exciting as a senior player to come in and help. Hopefully I can do my bit, pass on little bits of knowledge and we can all be successful together.
“This is a team that wants to kick on and isn’t happy just staying in the league without ambition.”
That ambition is there for all to see. Stockport bounced around non-league for seven seasons after relegation from the EFL in 2010/11 and won the National League North in 2018/19.
Since Stott purchased the club in 2020, they have won the National League and League Two titles. Next on the list is a return to the second tier.
The club have spent five seasons there in their history, playing in Division One between 1997/98 and 2001/02 – and there is no one better to have at the helm than Dave Challinor, who already has seven career promotions under his belt. When the 49-year-old will hit his ceiling remains to be seen.
“The way we play, the way we set-up and the details that are given to the players is at as high a level as anything I’ve been involved with,” Norwood continues.
“We’re doing everything right, it’s just a case of finding that balance – not get too carried away when we win and when we lose, asking where we can be better.
“That means nit-picking at times, but it’s got to be like that to drive the standards. To get where we want to get to, everybody’s got to be all in.”
Stockport are sixth in the Sky Bet League One table at present. It seems momentum has carried over from last season’s promotion, which means business as usual, even though Norwood urges caution. “It’s a new team… we’re still finding our feet,” he adds.
Ahead of their trip to Charlton on October 19, they have won four, drawn four, lost one and kept five clean sheets. It is hard to stop tongues wagging after a run of form like that.
“Over the course of the season, if you take 16 points from nine games, almost two points on average, you’re not going to be far from getting promoted. We’re going to lose games, but it’s how we react to those losses.
“We set off flying and people might have got carried away, but we got a bit of a reality check against Leyton Orient (lost 4-1 on September 21). We’ve got to be so much better than we have been if we want to be in and amongst it come May.
“But it’s only October, so it’s pointless even talking about promotion.
“I don’t mean this in a cocky or arrogant way, but barring last season, I’ve only been used to success over the last few years. That said, I’m at a point where I just want to really enjoy my football. I’ve not got years and years left ahead of me now, so I take each day as it comes.”
Things are different to when he last played in League One in January 2012.
“It’s definitely changed! Everybody’s trying to play football – I think they have all become obsessed with Pep Guardiola and you can see that filtering down the levels. A lot of teams try to play out from the back now and everyone sets up the same as Man City, so it’s interesting.
“I remember when I first played with Carlisle and Scunthorpe, I got a sore neck just watching the ball sail over my head the whole afternoon!
“The standard’s high, there’s a real intensity to the way people play and it’s a good level. I’m really enjoying it and the challenge that’s ahead.”