I was in the local butchers on Saturday and became embroiled in a football conversation. The guys were Chelsea and West Ham fans respectively and when they asked me for my team they were full of compliments as a well run club with a good manager and great ground. Our fans I said have just been voted the best away fans in the prem for the second year running and this was acknowledged as being a good decision and not surprising - the guys thought Stoke were probably the best home fans by the way. It is funny because we all have our views on our club and sadly I see very few live games due to various commitments and so I take on board the comments on our site particularly from season ticket holders and I feel that sometimes we do expect maybe too much when you take into account the size of club and wage bill etc. So my question is - do we expect too much and what would we change if we could change one thing.
I think it is good to expect better but we have to keep a sense of proportion. Expecting more prevents complacency. however realistic words have been used around here with words like 'hope' 'consolidation' 'moving forward' rather than a stupid commitment ( a la Man City) to winning the champions league year after next. Given this I greatly enjoy watching the w.....s on match of the day squirming and resisting the inevitable of having to declare we may actually be quite good sometimes! This puts the fairmindedness of the fans you met in the butcher's in some perspective - they also deserve considerable credit for their attitude
I don't think we expect to much, survival progressively more comfortably is what we can aspire too. A cup would be great, and this last season certainly proves that the cups may be attainable for well run clubs of our size. The one thing I would change is that I would have us playing to win more often than last season. I would love to see us passing the ball better and showing a little more control of games especially at FCR and just occasionally handing out a good thrashing if a side ain't quite on it (like West Brom). Actually scratch that last idea, whilst important. If I could change just one thing it would be a salary cap or more even playing field in the league, meaning that we could aspire to more than what I suggested in the first paragraph above! Bah!
I prefer the word ASPIRE to the word EXPECT. Talking about what we expect suggests we think we have some sort of right to be in the PL for example, or to have a league football club at all. What we can ASPIRE to is staying in the PL, playing attractive, entertaining football of the kind we are known for, displaying good sportsmanship and behaviour on and off the field, aiming as high as we can without putting the club at risk, and so on. In short, we should aspire to be the best we possibly can but avoid EXPECTING like the plague! Good thread
I agree with 'aspire', Robbie. Football has too many variables and is too unpredictable for words like 'expect'. If City can get more of the right sort of players in, get them playing as a team with the whole squad involved, then we can move up the league. We all felt that during the 10 match unbeaten run, but the confidence slipped away with the four consecutive defeats and players got more defensive minded, taking fewer risks. the key is to build that confidence and then sustain it. It isn't easy, but it can be done.
I'm sure that's pretty much what everyone at Carrow Road aspires to as well. Unfortunately there are too many others with "expectations"!
Seperating HOPE from EXPECTATION will be very important over he next couple of seasons. I HOPE that we will improve our league position year on year, with better players and a more pleasing style of play. IF this happens then I will be immensely pleased. It's when I EXPECT this to happen that I'm setting myself up for disappointment and bitterness. As for the OP wanting to know what one thing we would like to change about our club, I'd like to move the UK media bases closer to our ground. That way we might get some decent coverage in the press and on TV, and maybe even attract some of the international managers to come and have a look at our players.
My use of expect Robbie was in terms of anticipate as in 'to expect it will rain tomorrow' rather than take for granted which would be wrong. So aspiration is a fair word to use instead, hope this clears things up.
but surely as fans, we can EXPECT the club to ASPIRE to greater things. we, ourselves, cannot aspire on behalf of the club.
Perhaps in that sense, 'hope' is the better word but, IMO, 'aspire' relates to the aims the club is trying to achieve. For me, another mid-table finish would be good, but I'd still like City to aim above that.
Nice point. My reason for suggesting "aspire" was that aspirations have more to do with hopes and wishes rather than expectations. For example, we can hope and wish that David McNally continues for many years as Chief Executive, but can we "expect" him to? I'd say not. It doesn't much matter if fans have unrealistic hopes and wishes; but unrealistic expectations cause trouble and if sufficiently widespread are capable of destabilising a club (plenty of examples around of that).
