Once more, he was farmed out as part of his development upon his return to Carrow Road. He played a season with QPR, but a hamstring strain derailed his progress, requiring surgery that kept him out for several months and reducing his number of appearances to just 19 games.
After that, he made 25 appearances for Norwich in 2022–2023 and 34 the previous season, including comebacks in the play-off semifinals versus Leeds United. However, he primarily played as Dimitris Giannoulis’ backup over the majority of the previous campaign.
Former Sky Blues favourite Huckerby is a regular at Carrow Road where he ended his English playing career. Asked about McCallum’s progress and why he thinks the player has been let go by Norwich – who missed out on promotion this season after being knocked out by Leeds in the play-off semi-finals – the 48-year-old told CoventryLive: “I thought he did pretty well towards the end of his time at Norwich. When he first arrived he was just a young lad and then he was in and out when they were in the Premier League. And then he had Giannoulis ahead of him, but I thought that when he played he held his own, and his release is probably more about him playing regular first team football than not being wanted as such.”
“They might be cutting back a little bit,” he continued. “The manager (David Wagner) has gone, and I think Sam was on half decent wages.” He is undoubtedly a skilled player, and I felt he was showcasing his abilities toward the end of his spell. It’s one of those where he should be playing football every week with the first team. “He was a full-back for Norwich, but given his skill at attacking, perhaps he would be more effective as a wing-back. Many other teams will undoubtedly be searching for a true steal on a free transfer.
