sven, i do rate chopra. i think he is a good striker. he will score goals for you, thats almost guaranteed, but you don't have much creativity, if any, and i agree that norris was pretty pants - but he did score goals! its not easy to replace that many goals in a midfielder... bowyer is a cracking signing but won't score goals for you.
i don't know if he would or not. surely it would depend on who wanted him. would a club want to employ a manager who had just failed to keep a team up? nobody knows, least of all you.
Supers its a shame that I'm not allowed to talk about history as it doesn't mean anything to Norwich. All I will say is that you should try and learn from the Burley years and prepare accordingly. There are some stark similarities between our team 10 years ago and the team you have now. We all had that blind optimism and for the first season when we finished 5th in the Premiership it was rewarded. Please don't think that you have suddenly reinvented the wheel all over again, thats a round thing that goes on carts for those of you in Norfolk! If you do well next year and stay up the temptation will be to splash cash the second year and that's when it will get interesting. There is a huge likeness between the young Burley and Lambert today but there will come a time when the going wont be as easy and thats when Lambert will prove (or not) his true qualities. I do not think that your team is better than the one Burley put together and I think you will be lucky to survive next season.
Carson, Drury, JET and Martin are all good enough to create chances in this league. Bowyer and Leadbitter will chip in with the odd goal. I have faith in our goalscoring ability for next season, it's the centre of defence that worries me but I'm sure PJ has 'irons in the fire'
warky, this is basically the precise point i've been making all along! there are similarities between the two sides. difference is, we can use your failings as a warning - you didn't have many players who were regularly in the top flight but you had good players who played good football and were consistent. this is exactly what we have today. i keep comparing the two but get shouted down. our board saw what happened down the road and would tread very carefully should we stay up. now i don't think for one minute we are gonna end up 5th - but i see no reason why we can't beat the likes of wigan, blackburn, even villa on a regular basis. we are unbeaten at home this year and have only lost 8 away games in two years. we are difficult to beat and score goals. its a good combination to have, no matter what level. we will surprise many people, including you i expect.
drury is quite good to be fair, does he not play normally? bit slow but has a trick or two. i really don't see much creativity in there sven. but you are certainly right about your defence - its woeful!
Hampy, i think you have hit the nail on the head. the budgies use us a yardstick of success, almost like a little brother wanting to emulate his big brother in a way to get more attention from mother and father. Whereas we are big enough not to need these silly immature feelings, it doesn't bother me if norwich finish above or below just as long as i see progress (which unfortunately we haven't had a lot of recently). I take it almost as a compliment from them.
guru, you don't half make me laugh! let me explain. ipswich are not a big club. norwich are not a big club. they are both very similar in stature and are clubs which strive to be in the top division but spend more time out of it than in it. you will find this out if you ask any neutral fan their opinion. in a way, we do strive to match your achievements, but then don't all teams strive to win something? it doesn't bother me in any way that you've won more than us - fair play to you! the point that almost all ipswich fans miss is that it doesn't matter today what you won 30 years ago. you can't go back, you can only move forward. would i exchange city for being in the premier league next season for having won something before i was born? no - i'd rather be where we are today. i don't think i can put it any more simply than that. maybe if you lived to see your team win things thats completely different - i totally understand why you would want to cherish those memories and you should feel proud of that achievement.
Drury didn't manage to bed in last season but he's looking good pre season, can really dictate a game if he's on form. Between him, Leadbitter, Bowyer and Healy I think we have a very good midfield at this level. The new centre back will come this week or next, I have no doubt.
its the same with liverpool fans. they give manchester united fans stick because they've won 5 european cups and united just the 3. fine, but wouldn't liverpool fans be better off focusing on why their team always finishes 6th while united romp away with another title? surely, all that matters is who gets the bragging rights in the season you are in? liverpool may be more successful but i bet united fans don't care one jot as they parade their title trophy through the streets...
have to agree to disagree on that one sven. still think your midfield looks terribly weak, with the exception of bowyer...
Serious question, why do you lot never talk about the team that Worthington got promoted. You talk about learning mistakes from us but surely you should have learnt from that side more than from us. You would have thought that it never happened. And you talk about how we should be envious of you because you are higher than us but somehow I don't feel like that even though I know I should. I think it might be the fact that Norwich are the butt of the nation's jokes and your fans are widely considered weirdos.
i shall ignore the frankly stupid part of the quote above sven but the first point was interesting. i do think we have learnt lessons from that team. first of all, worthington was incredibly negative in his tactics. if we conceded a goal then there was no way back for us. once we signed ashton, four months too late, we were flying but it was too little, too late. we signed foreign internationals who didn't adapt to the league - the likes of helveg, jonsson, safri (although he did quite well) and they were on big, big money too. we went in to the campaign without a striker who you felt could hit double figures. worthy also ripped the soul out of the club by getting rid of malky mackay and iwan roberts. both would have struggled in retrospect but both would have been so useful around the squad. such big characters. we also went into the season without cover in every position. we were desperately short at the back- in more ways than one - we signed simon charlton! we relied heavily on one player - huckerby. these days, we have a team and don't rely on one or two individuals. we also have a far, far, far better manager.
if you aren't envious of our position i find that surprising. if the boot were on the other foot, i'd have felt envious! i always want my team to play as high as possible. are you saying you don't or is it just too hard to be truthful and admit it?
Superman, at what point in time did i say that we were a big club? all i said if you would take your head out of your ass is that the primary concern for any norwich fan is to finish above of us and if you do your season is deemed succussful. Ipswich fans are big enough to realise finishing above you is not the be all and end all of a season, yes its good if we do but its not our primary concern as for this history thing, you are frankly talking crap, how can history be relevant in one context and not another, but i don't expect anything else because hypocritical drivel you have posted over the day or so is laughable! to say that you could regularly beat sides like villa is frankly verging on the crazy with the calibre of signings you have made.
I'm envious you will be playing in the premier league next season but not of your club, you remind me of kid who has been told they are 'special' and see's this as a good thing, there's the same kind of blind ignorance amongst you.
