Having not seen this thread before posting on the McNally one, I'll paste my views here as well: After some consideration, my take on the current situation is that relegation was always a possibility at the start of the season, as it always is for promoted teams. Having to go the play-off route was another disadvantage in getting new players in and the failure to recruit a quality CB was a blow. Also, unlike Watford and Bournemouth, we don't have billionaire backing when it comes to signing players, and without a doubt we are the poorest team in the PL money wise. Watford and Bournemouth both had a 'promotion buzz' that carried them early on, though both seem to have declined in the second half of the season and I think both will struggle to survive next season. Their relative success, however, left us having to displace three established PL clubs and that is what we haven't been able to do. I think there will be player changes when we go down, but not a major clear-out as we simply can't afford to do that, despite being one of the richest clubs in the Championship after Newcastle and perhaps Villa. I doubt that either DM or AN will leave, and we will set about building a squad to compete for promotion, including bringing on as many of our young players as we can. I can live with that. I can see where both RBF and GM are coming from (and good to see you back RBF). We should always be striving to be the best we can, but I do think we need to continue to build the squad the way GM suggests. Our success in the early 1990s didn't just happen, it was the result of a long building process by both Ken Brown and Dave Stringer which came together as a team with 'synergy', where the total performance was greater than the sum of the individuals involved. IMO, AN is capable of that kind of building again and Leicester shows that can still happen when everything comes together.
Is the gap really widening ? I'm not so sure. Leicester won the league 2 of the 3 promoted teams are staying up 'Big clubs' are getting relegated Aston Villa & Newcastle Teams that a few years ago would have generally been considered Championship teams or lower are now doing relatively well in the PL Southampton, Swansea, Watford, Palace There is now genuine competition for a champions league / top 6 finish Leicester, Tottenham, West Ham and Southampton are now in the mix It no longer seems that to have unlimited resources is enough to guarantee a team a top 4 finish i.e Chelsea, Man City All we needed to do this year was to compete with teams similar or just slightly better than us not the big boys. We had our chances and if we'd had a little bit more ambition, spent a little bit more, not let sentiment get in the way of decisions / team selection and some of our players had shown a little more fight then we'd have been looking forward to next season in the PL. I think one of the things that will surprise many Norwich supporters when we are back in the championship is just how far the top championship teams have moved on since last season. I think we will need to overhaul our squad, retain our best players and spend at least as much as we did this year just to be in with a chance of going back up. I fear if we don't we may find ourselves in a relegation battle next year
and that's the problem by the time a promising young player has proved he's worth £10m, you'll never be able to buy him for that. In my mind this is an great example of the thinking at the club that is holding us back.
Great comments above Canario Shame you weren't 'head-hunted' on to the NCFC board instead of Delia's cousin/nephew whatever. Off topic, I visited the Burnley & Middlesbrough forums last night to send congrats and.....no activity of any description since 6th April Cor, blimey, the utter thrill of achieving promotion clearly underwhelms our northern brethren!
Some very good points canario, but Southampton have been up there challenging for some time really. Swansea were up there before as well, but have struggled comparatively this year. Most of us were well satisfied with our dealings in January and I'm not at all convinced that the club "let sentiment get in the way of decisions / team selection" - it seems to me that AN is anything but sentimental. The point made above that AN had only been in charge for 5 months before we were promoted carries some weight. My hope is that, given a chance to build the squad over the summer the incremental development process GM described will be taken a step further to enable a strong promotion push. Who stays and who goes will give some indication of players' commitment as well as AN's intentions. I suspect that he knows that if we aren't pushing for promotion by December, his position will be vulnerable.
Excellent post Carrow. Yes, we have to 'loosen the purse strings' just to attempt to keep up with the likes of Derby, Villa and I'm assuming Newcastle. If we don't, then it really is time for McNally etc to 'jog on'.
Yes - the gap is definitely widening, and in fact you´ve given the answer yourself. Now even clubs that have got money, are finding that isn´t enough to keep them up, A. Villa and in all probability, Newcastle, who´ve spent millions on players and wages this year. Things are definitely getting worse, not better.
There is absolutely no reason why we can't do a West Brom and bounce back every other season. We are in good financial shape even more so after selling Redmond and whoever else wants out plus we have parachute payments to keep us going .
Not picking a fight guv, honest, but shrewd and canny does still exist in the game. Obviously Manc. City, Chelsea etc are bookies faves for next season already, because money talks. (Leicester were 33/1 to retain the PL title, ffs From 5000/1 this time last year !?) But the recent travails of Southampton, West Ham, even Palace for a while recently and clearly Leicester this year have given clues galore that it's (a top six finish) not actually a closed shop and if you have astute people at the helm, and a massive slice of luck, you can gatecrash their party. Shrewd and canny were my operative words. I've seen neither in abundance at Carrow Road in the last year.
You could say that the signing of Klose came into the 'shrewd and canny' category, Cromer (given that you can't calculate for injuries). I've also been impressed with Pinto's improvement in recent matches, so he could move into that category for a very reasonable fee. Luck does also come into it though, and the confidence that comes with a good run of results. I'm willing to bet that Leicester will struggle next season if they get off to a bad start or get injuries to key players. It's a very uncertain business.
I don’t think I’ve ever criticised any of the hierarchy at the club. I’m eternally grateful to them for getting us out of the mess we were in. We probably wouldn’t even exist without their input. However, I don’t think it’s a crime to suggest they’ve become a bit set in their ways, and some fresh blood (preferably not familial) may not be such a bad thing should it happen. Yes, I’m sure Watling would indeed turn in his grave if he saw the money in the modern game. I’m sure we are all a little shamed by how much some players make. Then again, Judge Judy earns £30 million a year. I wonder how much of that goes to Africa. It’s the way it is, like it or lump it. So, better to remain in the Championship? Does that mean if we creep up the table we should send out the tea lady lest we get too many points and look like being promoted again? What on earth is the point if there is nothing to compete for? I’ve watched City for many years and have been used to the ups and downs, and how exciting some of the ups have been. This year, for some reason, relegation has hit harder than before. I think it’s because of the meek way we faced adversity. The problem areas were known, but not addressed, Heaven knows why. Dear Prudence again one suspects.
We were actually very lucky Bennett and Bassong didn't have lengthy injuries or we would have been in big trouble especially as they both usually sit out a few months especially Bennett so we went into August with a dodgy defence then paid out in January for an upgrade. If Bassong got crocked before Saturday we literally had no back up at CB and would probably have to play O'Neil back there. Beat Newcastle 4 points above 18th then Palace who hadn't won in 12 then Sunderland at home . We could have been 10 points above if we beat palace or 7 if we just beat Sunderland. This should be very achievable after the long hard slog and jubilation of last season , we can't let this chance slip through our fingers can we ?. We haven't scored since Olsson and lost all 4 without a fight. I would rather see us kicking lumps our of Man U and players getting sent off because it hurts so much to lose. No evidence of any heart they just coasted through 4 losses and accepted their demise like a slow motion car crash .
If any football club worth its salt does not have ambitions to play in the top league and win every cup there is to win then its pointless spending any money on them and give them your support. The gap between the so called big clubs and the rest of us has closed significantly where the big clubs are not assured anymore to beat the smaller club, them days are gone as there have been far to may cases of the smaller club beating the big clubs and we have witnessed this not only this season but last season as well.....OK you will probably get relegated but its not the end of the world it's the beginning of something new where the club can go through the season and find out what went wrong and do something about it....keep doing the things that worked and improve on the things that didn't and you should have a great season as one of the favorites to return to the premiership....you have done it before and you can do it again and cut out this defeatist attitude of we are better off out of it as i promise you you are not. Its the place that every club wants to be....good luck...
Hi skald bor, sorry if you think I put words in your mouth but this is what you said "if we do end up being relegated, then I´d say we´re better off out of it, altogether." Now I can only take that to mean that you would be happy if we didn't bother to contest the league to regain our PL status. If there is any other interpretation to your remarks please put us in the picture because I am not the only one who misunderstood your meaning. Let me take your statement piecemeal. We end up relegated and drop down to the Championship. Then you say we're better off out of IT ALTOGETHER. By IT ALTOGETHER, that can only be the PL so you are advocating we do not compete to get back in the PL, ie better off out. You later say "I´m not suggesting that we don´t try to get out of the Championship" so what exactly are you saying ? If you feel that you did not express your opinion correctly, then by all means rephrase that opinion.
I think you've said it all in your last paragraph. We've been shipping soft goals for several seasons, so do we try to bolster the defence - NO!!!! A lot of our goals were scored by our midfielders last season, not strikers, so do we try to bolster our strikes - NO!!!! In the last 15 minutes on Saturday, several players could have put more effort in chasing down through balls to try and get something out of the game. IMO, the main reason for us dropping out of the PL is our failure to beat other teams around us - Villa, Palace and Sunderland. Unless there is a significant change in players and a real desire to win, next season could well be my last season as an ST holder.
NORKIE - you seem to have read the first paragraph of #8 and yet still not understood it, that explains perfectly what I mean and I don´t see any real point in repeating it, do you - if it still remains a mystery, then I´m sorry, but you´ll have to stay befuddled.
