They look to have moved up a couple of levels, whilst we have at best remained the same. It's what you get with British players (of which we still sadly have large percentage of), they are hopeless in comparison with the foreigners.
I think underneath the flavour of the month that surrounds them, they have "Tottenham Syndrome" I like Swansea, son't get me wrong, but I've got a distinct feeling they've started a little too quickly.
I think we have to recognise that, despite being constantly linked together for the past season, Swansea and Norwich came from totally different places. Swansea had been building up slowly for years in the Championship whereas we flew up from virtual meltdown at the foot of League One. Each season Lambert strengthened the squad to fit the league we were in, but our greatest asset was always our team spirit rather than the depth in quality of our squad. This means Swansea have a far more solid base than we do, so they can buy from a position of strength. I can't help but a feel a bit concerned, though, that their country of first call seems to be Spain while ours seems to be Scotland.
Saw it reported last night tht good old JR is having a medical with Blackburn. It would be a tad ironic if the fee we paid Rovers for Mark Bunn was part used to buy someone we had an "interest" in. A fee of £8m was reported
was just about to point this out! some interesting points being made about swansea, mainly that they have had a sound base to build from since the days of martinez five years ago, would started the ball rolling and their style has grown and matured from there. we were a mini metro turned into tank within a couple of years - we are still a work in progress and don't have the money that swansea do to improve the team at the same rate. i side with beefy on this - i don't think swansea have suddenly become a great team and i think they'll still struggle to stay up this season, although i personally didn't have them in the bottom six before the season started, i still think they'll be in the bottom eight or so. they've beaten qpr (who if our match was anything to go by are a shambles - we could have beaten them by at least three goals with a little more luck) and west ham who are still adjusting to life in this league. don't understand the comment about spain and scotland - as far as i can work out we have two players from scotland and a further scottish international who's from brighton, therefore not scottish. some have always got to find something to moan about though...
again, we had no 'interest' in the guy. i promise you. you're probably joking to be fair but thank the lord he's gone somewhere so we don't have to put up with this nonsense anymore
Could of beaten QPR but we didn't. Other than Ki all of Swanseas signings have been affordable for Norwich and I wish we would start looking abroad more especially La Liga where there are some real cheap gems about.
Cheap because of the financial state of there country at the moment. Watched revista la liga and they were saying that there are up to 10 michu type bargains for grabs in la liga due to financial struggles.
we have been re-building our scouting network this summer because we still had it at a championship level! these things take time to implement so we need to be patient. with the extra revenue invested into the academy and sourcing young players around the country and abroad, the whole web of scouts is changing. swansea have the advantage that their manager just came from that country! we've all seen that michu was a good player last season, so you could say we should have been in for him but it really isn't that simple - there is so much more to it than just looking at a player and thinking 'they're good - lets sign them'.
It concerns me that with a supposedly 'biggest ever' transfer budget we still appear to be shopping in the bargain basement. IMO, rather than bringing in several new faces which was not needed, we should have spent the money on a quality DM and Striker. If the likes of Swansea are finding these bargains overseas what the hell are our scouts doing ? Incidently, what is our 'biggest ever' transfer budget ? £10 6' 2d ! please log in to view this image I don't know about anyone else, but I'm more than a little concerned about this season especially as the new TV deal kicks in next year. It's imperitive that we stay up and we should be showing a little bit more ambition. While I would never want us to be in the perilous position we found ourselves in a few years back, I do think that the board are being somewhat over cautious. That's just my opinion and I'm sure there are those of you that disagree
you have to remember that OUR largest ever transfer kitty is considerably less than most people would like and less than most other clubs! had we signed just two players, do you think we'd have covered all our weak spots? i personally tend to agree that we should have spent most of our money on a quality DM but then i don't know the budget and if there isn't one available at a price we can afford, you have to spread the costs out more effectively. i've said all along this summer that buying a striker will be very difficult because they cost so much damn money!! i think when you look at how many players we've signed we've done pretty well for our money - there is certainly no need for panic - that is bonkers! the board have not been over-cautious at all - they have given the manager every penny they have (he may still have some left to spend, we don't know) but they have agreed to pay ALL external debts off this season so their hands are tied whether you like it or not. we've signed bassong (early signs are good), garrido (likewise), turner (proven premier league ability, difficult start), whittaker (too soon to say but champions league experience), tettey (likewise), butterfield (massive potential), snodgrass (already a hit) and bunn (to put pressure on our keeper). that's a lot of players, all of whom have something to offer our team. or we could have signed a striker for £7m and a DM for £3m. difficult balancing act...
I suppose seeing Swansea and Southampton picking up what seem like excellent buys for good prices is making some of us (including me, I admit) a bit edgy. But who knows, maybe in the long run our new buys will prove more influential, especially when the season is really up and running and consistent performances from week to week are more important than stunning debuts. Also, our squad looks quite strong in depth (except for the forward line) which should stand us in good stead later in the season. If we bring in an inspirational signing as a forward, I'm sure we'll all start to feel a lot more optimistic. I also think one thing that may have worried us is that the forwards we have been linked with so far have not really excited, although this is only gossip and rumour and we may have someone far more exciting up our sleeve. Let's hope, and let's keep the faith
Well me for one. It is simply untrue to say "it is imperative we stay up" because of the new TV deal. It is neither more nor less imperative than if the TV money stayed the same. It has never been imperative that we stay up. That would only be true of a club whose whole future rested on staying up, which thankfully is not us. Here is how I see it: 1. Three years ago we were in League 1, in dire financial straits, and heading for administration. Lambert was appointed and made some inspired signings of lower league players in an attempt to get back into the Championship. Agreement was reached with our major external creditors based on a 7-year plan, which envisaged stabilising in the Championship and slowly strengthening the team over three or so years for a tilt at the Premier League. It was not envisaged that we would be strong enough to survive in the top flight, but on relegation to the Championship we would be in a much stronger position financially and able to further strengthen the team for not just promotion back to the top flight but also survival. The whole process of team building for survival in the top flight was anticipated to take SIX years. 2. Well we all know what happened. We got back into the Championship that first year and were able to make some modest signings with a view to stabilising in the second tier. To the astonishment of everyone, our squad far exceeded every reasonable expectation and won us immediate promotion to the top flight. 3. This had two completely unexpected consequences: first, it affected the terms of the 7-year plan and the time-scale for paying off our external debt; second, it meant we found ourselves in the Premier Leage with a squad built basically for consolidation in the Championship. Many of the players had little or no Championship experience, let alone top flight experience, and none of the planned strengthening over time had taken place. 4. Even more astonishingly, our squad, with one or two modest additions, got us to a position by January where survival for a second season in the top flight was not impossible. The signings made in January "to give the lads a hand" (Howson and Ryan Bennett) were nevertheless more of the same, i.e. consistent with the old plan of consolidation in the Championship. But it worked and we survived. 5. Again this had unexpected consequences: first our external debt, still considerable for a club of our size, is to be cleared within the year; second, we face a second season in the top flight with a squad which STILL hasn't undergone the full process of year-on-year development and strenghtening envisaged in the original plan. As far as the club's indebtedness is concerned, the situation has been transformed; but as far as the strength of our squad is concerned, we are more or less where we might have hoped to be had we been entering our third year in the Championship. 6. Chris Hughton has accepted a poison chalice. The chances of defying the odds for a third year in succession with our current squad are poor; yet the finances still do not allow for buying enough of the quality we need, which I believe is why Lambert left. It will be a miracle if CH keeps us in the PL, equal to any of Lambert's achievements. CH deserves immense respect and total support for having taken the task on. People need to stop moaning and carping. Everything CH has done so far makes perfect sense given our situation, but he doesn't play the football. So it's up to the players -- and to us fans.
An absolutely excellent post! I'm not as optimistic as most of the people on here, but this really helped me to put everything in perspective.
Perhaps I haven't put my point across exactly as I meant. Call me a dreamer if you will, but if we are to establish ourselves as a PL force we must retain PL status this year. The chasm that already exists between PL and Championship clubs is set to widen so much more that it will be almost impossible for a club like us to ever compete in the top league again IMHO. Unless major investment were to take place that is.
