i think the issue here is that we are not reliant on staying up this year in order to carry on our plan of becoming an established premier league club. we'd scheduled in to be relegated in our first year and i suspect we will have it pencilled in again this year. what is imperative is that we get promoted if we do go down! its a long term plan and as robbie points out we've leapt miles ahead of it. at some point there would be slow down and we may have reached that point. staying up is important but it is not the be all and end all, as it is with other clubs, and that's precisely why we should be thankful we are being run this way. if we go down we will still be a strong club who are trying to push forwards. it wouldn't be the end of the world and nor should it be. we do not need major investment in playing staff at this stage - what we do need major investment in is the ground so that when we are secure in the league we can stay there. at this moment in time with the ground as it is we will always be fighting in the bottom half of the league. great post by robbie by the way!
just to add, we've had a whirlwind three years. if people don't understand how unusual that is then they need to have a little think about it. these things happen incredibly rarely - we are extremely lucky to have experienced it! these things don't last forever and at some point things will level out. if levelling out means returning to the championship for a year/two years then so be it, so long as we carry on doing things the right way, we'll be back bigger and stronger. anyway, we've played two games and sit 17th in the table! we're hardly doomed - if we finish there come may then this season will have been a success!!
Sorry, disagree again. Irrespective of how much money flows into the Premier League, every single season three teams will be relegated and three will get promoted from the Championship. It will still be the case that well-run and well-managed Championship teams will be able realistically to compete for a promotion place. Money helps, but there are countless examples of how it isn't everything -- not just in football. IMO it just doesn't help to keep on exaggerating the implications of relegation and talking as if it will be the end of the world.
Slightly off subject. The most concerning thing for our friends down the road is that if we do manage to stay up again and pay off all the debt we will really start to put some daylight between us and them. People will start to forget about Ipswich and they will find it hard to attract players and their youth setup will also suffer.
Hey stop it with the "what IF we go down" "if only we were Swansea" rubbish We're Norwich, we're awesome and we've got the best team in modern times so all we have to do now is just get down to it! I think we're better than all promoted teams AND Swansea.
I hate the Premier League and all its trappings. I wish SKY would pull the plug but Virgin or someone would step in. Clubs won't stick together because they want to steal a march on each other. Walcott is the latest example of player power (he didn't suggest a cut when he's ****e did he). We will get relegated at some stage. It doesn't bother me if its this season. I don't want a miserable season but I won't feel anywhere near as bad as I did when we dropped to L1 if it happens.
the club is in good hands now. good people doing good things on the board and in the dugout. we have nothing to be overly concerned about anymore other than trying to do the best we can - a marked contrast to a few years ago where our whole world appeared to be collapsing
I'm going to have to apologise again for disagreeing. There is no, and never has been, any significant connection between the fortunes of ITFC and NCFC except in the minds of some supporters. Whatever happens to us this season has absolutely zero implication for Town as a club. What matters are the actions of their board, their management team, and their players, full stop.
I don't share a lot of the pessimism about this season I hear from some quarters. Even if we do not make another signing we have a stronger squad this year than last. We have the nucleus of the team that finished 12th last season and have added strength and depth to the defence (which was the weak area last season) and midfield plus we now have a more experienced keeper as back up. We have Howson and Bennett for a full season. These are all positives. Even up front we have lost a player who didn't manage 5 games last season and our fifth choice striker. We have not been forced to sell our best players like other clubs. Realistically only Naughton is a serious loss and we have invested in an international with Champions League experience to replace him. I would definitely like to see a new forward but even if we don't get one we should have enough to hold our own as there are some pretty ordinary sides around us. I don't see Saints/Reading being comfortable. Wigan have lost their best player and QPR have lost the plot. Villa have a weak squad and no funds and who knows what West Ham will be able to achieve. Swansea/WBA have made a fast start but whether they will be able to follow this through is debateable. I reckon we'll be fine with what we have but if we got a bit more firepower we should be looking mid-table rather than nervously over our shoulders.
as much as i agree with you robbie that the two have never before been interlinked, i believe this is an important era for the premier league with the new academy rules. the gulf between ourselves and ipswich will widen massively if we stay up and they remain in the championship or drop lower because we will be the club where all the youngsters from east anglia head to for their development. other than that there is no link at all.
Cool - always liked Craig Mucky Duck at Posh although he seems to have fallen away a bit since he moved South ..... would prefer him to Victor Anchovy.
its not imperative from our point of view though is it. we will still retain category a status (assuming we receive the status) so even in the championship we've committed as a club to paying the extra for it, therefore we'll still get the pick of the youngsters in the area and beyond hopefully. the gap will widen if we stay up but its really irrelevant at this early stage. it could be in five-ten years time though when we start to see the benefits.
I dont care where we play as long as I can get in the ground to watch, that wont happen if the administrators have welded the doors shut The fact is we will always be in the gang of 12 from whom 3 are sent down sooner or later those odds are going to catch up with you, dont worry just enjoy the football whatever division we are in and dont get carried away with silly fees being paid by other clubs they are only setting themselves up for the administrators to keep in buisness when things go wrong which they will as its a GAME!!!!
Sorry Jarrold but can't agree here. If the likes of Stoke, Fulham and Wigan can establish themselves in th PL then we should be able to ! Is it wrong to be ambitious ? Far from it. While I don't advocate spending millions we don't have I just think we could be setting our sights a little bit higher. With reference to our scouting network and not being able to find hidden 'gems' from Europe, this is 2012 FFS. EVERY game in EVERY league can be viewed somewhere by our scouts so that argument doesn't hold up IMO
that is NOT how scouting works!!! if it was, almost every signing would fail. and i really don't understand how we can set our sights any higher than we already are! we've just signed a defender who cost £8m three years ago - what more do you want? if we can't afford to buy players we can't afford to buy them!! you can't have it both ways... i believe we're the 12th biggest spenders this summer - hardly scrimping are we.
