I believe the 10-game mark is where you can really begin to get a sense of how things are going to progress. Well, we’ve reached that stage now and even taking into account last nights disappointing result, I think we should all feel pretty content with our start, though there is certainly much room for improvement, despite sitting top of the pile with 2 points a game! Adams’ attitude has impressed me since being appointed permanently. He’s been positive in everything he says and does and there’s little doubt that positivity has transferred across to the players. Having myself been concerned pre-season that, despite possessing an exceptional squad at this level, the manager may hamper our ability to stamp our authority on this division, he has in fact done exactly that with the enthusiasm of an avid fan. A quick glance at our fellow relegationees (is that a word?) shows just how awkward it can be to adjust to Championship football when dropping down, especially after a sustained spell in the glitz, glamour but more-often-than-not grief of the Premier League. There appears to be a vibrant atmosphere emanating from both within Colney and amongst supporters, something perhaps reminiscent of the Lambert era and that can only be considered a good thing. In my opinion we’ve got the best goalkeeper in the league. Considering our profligacy in front of goal it’s pleasing that we’ve still seen plenty hit the onion bag. We’re competitive in every game, even if we fall behind. I think defensively we are ok, but I dread to think what would happen if Turner picked up a long term injury – he is holding the defence together. All in all, Adams has put together a squad which can stand up to anyone in this league physically yet stands head and shoulders above them technically, but the best thing about our start has been ridding the ‘away-day hoodoo’ – that was vital. So there’s little doubt that we’ve got the squad in place to win promotion and win it with style. Do we have the manager to achieve this? At this stage it’s still a ‘maybe’ from me. He’s done much better than I expected following our drop from the top flight but it’s definitely not been plain sailing and there are some very frustrating aspects which have perhaps been glossed over due to being top of the table – last night highlighted a few of those. There is still a blatant lack of balance in the side. There are still players playing out of position - for goodness sake let Redmond play on the right. I can’t understand for the life of me why he has abandoned the 4-2-3-1, which was working extremely, well for an outdated, lopsided 4-4-2 which has totally disrupted our style, seen us play too many long balls to compensate and try to shoehorn certain players into the side when they don’t work in the system. He still thinks Wes Hoolahan can play on the wing (I find it astonishing how many managers convince themselves that he can play there). Not once this season have we played well for more than 45 minutes. Charlton ‘parked the bus’ and we had no plan to deal with it – we need to find one – many other sides will take this approach (though perhaps not execute it as perfectly as last nights visitors). We cannot keep falling behind in games and still pick up results all the time – it will come back and bite us. Yes it’s nice to be the ‘entertainers’ but we have to start games with a better application and the fact we haven’t even registered an opening half strike since the Ipswich match says we have not hit on the right formula going into matches yet. So in spite of the many positives we are far from the finished article but, even with a number of teething problems, we should all be delighted that we are setting the pace in this very difficult division. It looks as though it’s going to be incredibly tight at the top, with as many as 12 teams looking possible promotion contenders. A couple of losses on the bounce would see us potentially drift into mid table very quickly and I suspect the table will be congested for much of the season, so we need to improve quickly and build some momentum like we did before. The division is wide open but it’s there to be won and we are probably the best situated club to grab the league by the scruff of the neck. Other than last night, the only other real low point so far was the cup defeat to Shrewsbury which was bitterly disappointing as a cup run may have helped our very large squad. The hosts deservedly won the right to face Chelsea in the next round but I’m not sure Adams should take too much flak for that, as the side he put out was comfortably good enough to get through the tie. The league is the only benchmark for the manager and the club this season and it is the league that he should be judged on. Let’s face it, if we don’t go up this season our squad will be broken up in the summer. A cup run would have no bearing on that. I mentioned at the end of last season that sometimes you need to take one step backwards to go two steps forwards as a football club. There’s little doubt a spell in League One did us the world of good and likewise now, a spell in the Championship might be exactly what the doctor ordered. Its given everyone the chance to fall back in love with the club, score some goals, enjoy winning games again. It just isn’t always possible to enjoy the Premier League as a Norwich City fan - not that we don’t want to get back there - we do! It’s the place to be. After a depressing season last time out I hope we reap the rewards for being brave in the summer. The board made a bold decision by appointing Adams. Despite having massive (but fair) doubts when Adams was appointed, I did also state how refreshing it was for a relatively big club to appoint from within for a change, rather than hop on the managerial roundabout. It would be great if he can do the business. We’ve made a very promising start but we won’t know for sure if Adams is the ‘real deal’ until he hits a rocky spell and comes out the other end. However, he’s definitely got everybody on his side and its pleasing to see our fan base reunited after a tetchy couple of years. He took over a poisoned chalice last season but its abundantly clear he truly appreciates the opportunity awarded him and that might take him quite a long way. He’s been backed – this is his team now and the pressure is massive to be promoted - it really is the only outcome that will satisfy me this season. The football has been cavalier at best, naive at worst but definitely much more enjoyable, albeit at a lower level than we’d like to see the club representing. Winning football? Even better! I do feel like the weight has been lifted around the club and that we’ve got our mojo back, but there is much work to do if we are to sit in one of the automatic promotion slots come May 2015. OTBC --- Been away for a few weeks so apologies if any of this has already been covered - and for the usual essay!
Its all very well you 'falling in love with the club again' but what happens next year if Adams gets you promoted and you go back to getting beaten week after week! You are only papering over the cracks until the poisonous anomosity between your supporters returns! But hey what the hell do I care! Give me Magic Mick any day!
I would totally agree too - must say, all this agreeing is very aggreable, far more so than all the disagreeable disagreement!
A few more home defeats like this one and we shall soon see what you guys really think about your new messiah!
My god. 1p5wich win a few games and he's suddenly 'billy big balls'. MM would need to stand for Merlin the Magician for him to take you lot up this season.
You already owe ME around £90M couldn't afford any addition to the debt which he'll want back when he pulls the plug!
warky, i'm intrigued to know at what point you derided that i or indeed any norwich fan believes neil adams to be 'the messiah'. at this stage he is merely getting 'the benefit of the doubt' as far as i can tell. some probably believe in him more than others but 'messiah'? nah - that's what you keep calling mick mccarthy. except you weren't, were you. weren't you calling for 'mccarthy out' last time i logged in? you also said you'd never go to another game during his tenure as you were so s**te. must have been about five weeks ago. you are arguably the most fickle football fan on this board.
i've always said, ipswich's biggest asset is mick mccarthy. were he to leave that squad would struggle enormously. he is, at this level, an excellent manager, even if his pragmatic outlook on football isn't to everybody's taste. he's like a slightly less capable version of tony pulis. but as we witnessed last night when a stubborn but talentless charlton escaped with three points - simply being organised and defensively sound can take you a long way in this league.
hang on a minute dave, I'll just pop to tesco's to get some more straws for you to clutch! bloody computers!
So thats why Marcus Evans turned down combined player bids of £11 Million in the Summer because he wanted to pull the plug! Our finances must be in a hell of a mess!
