It is incredible to think that for all his brilliance, Jeremy Goss only scored 14 goals in his entire 13-year-long Norwich City career. Even now, 13 summers after the great man's retirement, Norwich fans can easily remember four of them off the top of their heads.
The man affectionately known as Gossy, now more famous for cycling from Norwich to Italy, started out at Carrow Road in 1983, at the tender age of just 18. He was actually born in Cyprus, going on to represent England at schoolboy level before eventually electing to play for Wales. How England regrets that decision! And how Wales regret that they only had him for nine caps. He deserved many more.
Goss was so sublime in the early-mid 90s that we forget he spent the best part of eight years barely breaking into the Norwich first team. His big break came in 1991, though, and his form improved dramatically thereafter. By 1993, he was one of the hottest midfielders gracing the Premier League, blessed with technique even many of today's foreigners can only marvel over. Little surprise that John Toshack saw him as pivotal to propelling Wales to the 1994 World Cup, and had Swindon defender Paul Bodin had his shooting boots on at the penalty spot, Goss would surely have gone to the 1994 finals in the USA.
The four goals that Norwich fans easily remember are as follows. The first was his MOTD goal of the month against Leeds in August 1993. An inspired Ruel Fox was the man who made it, easily outpacing the Leeds defense to race onto a long punt, and chip the ball over for Goss to score the most aesthetically-beautiful volley we are ever likely to see. Even thousands of Leeds fans, many of whom had seen Revie's super side win the league in the flesh, could do nothing but applaud an opposing player's brilliance.
The second, of course, was his long-range beauty against Bayern Munich a few weeks later, where he reacted at speed to lash another volley into the German net from 25 yards. Two weeks later, he ghosted in behind the German defense to score again, and put Bayern out of the UEFA Cup in one of the biggest European shocks imaginable (no English team had ever beaten Bayern on their home ground prior to Goss' wonderstrike).
The last goal the fans fondly recall, and even Liverpool fans easily remember, was the 1994 strike in front of the Kop - the last goal to be scored before that end of the ground was rebuilt. There seemed to be to immediate danger as the ball ballooned around the 18 yard box, but Goss stuck a boot out from nowhere to rifle home another volley which bamboozled goalkeeper David James.
They say British players have no technique today. They sure used to!
