...and not dissimilar to what several of us here have been saying regarding expectations. http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...n-a-smallish-fish-in-the-premier-league-pond/ and personally I can see the gap between the ´have´s´ and the ´haven´t quite so much´s´ only getting wider in the coming years.
Just common sense really. We will never be able to spend the sort of money of those who have rich owners and we will never consistently if ever challenge for Europe. Money, sadly is just so important in the game for long term success.
Point well made, received and understood, but, as comment number 3 points out, the problem is not where we are in the league per se, it's the quality of the football and the fact that things seem not to be improving in that area.
But surely it is all part of the same overall problem - you get what you pay for and can afford. Most skill, creativity and attractive football comes from midfield. Ozil, Carzola, Wilshere, Arteta - a brilliant balanced midfield - how much would it cost to get that together especially if you wanted Rosicky, Walcott, Ramsey, Flamini, Diaby and others in the wings. Meanwhile back at Carrow Road we have ......? Incidentally look at the players mentioned and Carrabuh's description of an ideal footballer. Doesn't he have a point?
I found this point quite valid, RBF. Indeed - Lambert may have been the Messiah down here - anyone who can take a team up 54 places in the league pyramid in three years on a shoestring budget can't be only a mere mortal, surely? And yet has he torn up too many trees in the West Midlands? There's little doubt what Mick Dennis says has much truth in it - we did 'overachieve' in our first season back under PL and many supporters 'raised the bar' disproportionately based on that. The fact that we now struggle to achieve those same heights is what galls many, but there are precious few managers who can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - those that can are surely destined for bigger things than NCFC?
I can understand some people bemoaning the standard of some of our football, but in today´s football climate and with our resources, we´re not suddenly going to start playing like Barcelona from one week to the next, it´s a long (very long?) gradual process. I think the point that Dennis makes regarding Fulham is particularly pertinent, because club-wise, fanbase-wise, we´re probably quite comparable to them, and yet despite them having had a wealthy benefactor ( far wealthier than we have had, or can hope to have) in Al Fayad for many years, and many consecutive seasons in the Premier League, they still haven´t managed to shake off their tag of being a bottom half of the table Club.
Exactly Cromer, and many might think that Lambert was one of those precious few, but I´d say the jury´s still out on that one.
BRILLIANT, common sense post rbf. I agree that a lot of the football we have played under the helm of CH has been dire, but Canaries fans would do well to remember that we had some equally dire games under PL's stewardship, but of course the 'Hughton-outers' choose to ignore that!!!
From the outset I will admit to being Lambert's biggest fan and as far as I am concerned he can walk on water but, having said that, I do think other people completely underestimate the size of the task he has taken on at Villa. They are a sleeping giant - biggest club in our 2nd biggest City - who have been in steady decline for the last 20 years ending up with an ageing, lazy squad who couldn't care less. PL has been brought in by an owner who doesn't want to invest a lot more money in the club until the wage bill and average age of the squad have been drastically reduced and until their good academy players have been given a chance. You can't achieve that in the Premiership in 2 seasons and I am sure the owner realises that - it will be interesting to see where Villa are this time next year. Lambert and Hughton are like chalk and cheese and whilst I am not in the ' Hughton out ' camp can I just mention 2 players who sum up the differences. Jed Steer is a brilliant prospect considered too young to be even 4th choice at City. He goes to Villa where he has already played games for the first team. Secondly, our most skilfull player, Wes, does not seem to be appreciated by CH but is wanted by PL.
Hate to disagree with you 1950, but it wasn't too long ago (about three/four years?) that Martin O'Neill led them to three consecutive sixth place finishes, and during one of those seasons they threw a Europa Cup quarter-final to concentrate on their challenge to finish in the top four - which in that season looked fairly achievable.
I personally think comparing CH and PL is a waste of time. PL came in at our lowest ebb, had the right attitude for the situation, a captain that inspired his team and a was in a league that we clearly had the best team in (bar maybe Leeds and Southampton). From there, momentum and spirit seemed to push up to the Prem and Lambert had the perfect mentality for that. Now we are in the premier League and the momentum has run out. CH is trying to make a new squad for the premier league out of one that some how forged it's way up the football league on nothing but hope and determination it seemed. I would say when PL left we only had 2 or 3 truly Premier league quality players, Ruddy, Wes and maybe Holt, but he was clearly not going to be able to keep up his good form. I'm not the biggest CH fan, but he has had an incredibly hard job to take on, with a substandard squad, a fan base lamenting the loss of one of their most successful managers and no more of that momentum that had been so strong under Lambert. But he kept us up last season on a fairly similar squad, even improving on PL's finish and now we are finding it hard this season because teams coming up have spent a huge amount, the fans are getting restless and we had a large influx of players over the summer. Add to that a lengthy injury list and you can see why we aren't setting the world alight. Alright the football has been pretty dire on a few too many occasions but I'd rather let Hughton work with this squad for another season, maybe 2. I hate that every time things aren't going as the fans want they demand the manager be sacked. Look at the situation at Man U! The only manager in the world that could get that squad of players without RvP competing for the league retired last year and Moyes has been given a bloody hard job to follow. This knee jerk reaction that because we aren't doing as well as we expected, the manager has to be sacked is one of the main problems with the sport at the moment, along with the money and the general attitude that seems to be displayed by the governing body. I seemed to have rambled on a bit here, sorry about that.
Colk - I really think you've 'hit the nail firmly on the head' - especially your 2nd paragraph!! Well said.
Cheers JR. I feel like someone says something along these lines at least once a week yet it gets forgotten almost immediately. I know every other club in this league is unlikely to break the mould of sacking managers at the first sign of danger but it'd be nice if Norwich did. I honestly wouldn't want CH sacked even if we went down. Continuity is far more important when you want to get back up.
And herein lies why so many of us do not like the current manager. His movement in the transfer market from creative to physical dictates that he is less inclined to play in a creative way, more of a formulaic rigid system. The reason for no comment initially Robbie has more to do with this being yet another tedious thread started by you happy clappers to try to tell us pant wetters how to think and be a better fan. What MD says does make sense and contrary to the H.C's belief I think that most city fans PW et al know that we are a small fish, we just want to see some reasonable return on investment, some cognative plan for how to play and that plan to bear some fruit. And for the love of god could we be entertained by some decent football once in a while? That and lets stop rolling over for the big boys to take the pee out of, as some one else said as a fan you should be able to dare to dream of a stiring victory whoever the oposition, that simply isn't the case at the moment! And there you have it another boring thread of CH this that and the other. MD hasn't said anything that we had not already discussed in an endless circle on here anyway. The point was again? Bah!
Going back to the article I found his comparison between us and Fulham very interesting and something that a lot of our fans should really take note of. Progression for a club like ours may mean stability in the PL. This stat for the 'Hughton Outers' was particularly interesting: "Modestly successful, I’d call that. Pertinently, they built that long period of survival by chiselling out points at Craven Cottage. In their first decade in the Prem, they won only 23 away games in total, or fewer than three a season on average."
I agree this has all been said before, but hey, this is a forum, that is what happens when theres not much else to talk about. As for you saying we roll over to the big teams, yes we've been thrashed by Man City (Who hasn't) and Liverpool (Because some how we seem to have upset Suarez) but we tend to make a good fist of it against the rest. Did we not get wins against Man U and Arsenal last season? Did we not push Chelsea and Man U incredibly close this season. We had a real go of it against Arsenal away, but they were just too hot to handle that day. Plus the 4-3 games against Man City when their second goal shouldn't have counted as Kompany should have been sent off in the first 4 minutes. I fail to see how we have rolled over against all the big teams!
