Mother to blame as Morrison snubs Saints and Norwich

NORWICH and Southampton can blame Clinton Morrison’s mother for their failure to prevent the striker returning to Crystal Palace.

Morrison rejected offers from Palace’s Championship rivals to sign from Birmingham in a £2million deal - three years after he left Selhurst Park to move to the Midlands.

And Morrison revealed his family - especially his mother - had strongly favoured his return to the capital.

“My mum had a big say in my decision,” said Morrison, who has signed a three-year contract.

“She said: ‘I definitely want you to come back to Palace’. She said it was closer to home, and that it would be good for me at Palace because I’ve done well there in the past.

“My family wanted me to have a change from Birmingham and for me to play regular first-team football.”

Morrison scored 71 goals in five seasons during his first spell at Palace, which persuaded Birmingham manager Steve Bruce - who worked with the 26-year-old when he was in charge at Selhurst Park - to sign him in a £4.25million deal in July 2002.

England striker Andrew Johnson moved to the other way as part of the deal, and is now one of the most proficient strikers in the country.

Morrison looks forward to playing alongside Johnson - but is determined to prove Bruce wrong for not to giving him a better chance.

“I wasn’t enjoying it at Birmingham, and I thought I was treated unfairly. I wasn’t playing last year or at the start of this year. They brought in two new strikers (Walter Pandiani and Mikael Forssell) and I knew I wanted to come back to Palace.

“I did well in tandem with Emile Heskey at Birmingham for a spell last season. But as soon as a few results went against us, I was sacrificed - and that was disappointing.”

Morrison made 14 starts for Birmingham last term, scoring five goals, and scored 16 times in 64 starts during his three-year spell.

His only appearance during the current Premiership campaign came as an 87th-minute replacement for Heskey in the 0-0 draw at Fulham on the opening day.

Palace manager Iain Dowie believes he is a player who belongs in the top flight: “Clinton is a Premiership player, and we want to get back there. Let’s hope we both realise our dreams.

“Clint did two things well during his first spell: he scored goals during, and his move brought Andrew Johnson here. So he has done all right for this club. We need someone apart from Johnson to chip in with more goals, and we’re looking for Clinton and Jon Macken to do that.”

Morrison is a regular for Ireland - and success for Palace would surely see him cement his place during a World Cup season.

Dowie is confident the incentive of playing in the tournament will bring the best out of his new striker during the domestic campaign.

“He has the carrot of the World Cup to aim at, and he will be playing regularly at Palace,” he said.