The time was 15.12 on Saturday the 28th January when I uttered the unthinkable... ...After several minutes of trawling through my preferred streaming sites, I had drawn a blank. There was no illegal stream for West Brom vs Norwich in the FA Cup 4th Round. I was frustrated. I was just plain angry. My Saturday afternoon had be spoiled by the global media network, who in their infinite wisdom had judged that West Brom vs Norwich wasn't fit to be broadcast ANYWHERE! I turned to Mrs CanariesSoccer, who was sat patiently next to me on the sofa, and declared "There's no stream, don't they know we're Premier League?!". My face dropped, I couldn't believe that those words had come from my own lips... "don't they know we're Premier League?!"... what was I thinking? I had no right to say that, not considering where we've come from. Those years spent teetering on the brink of the abyss, Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder, and then that shameful day at Charlton where what we had all feared became reality. We then went on to be humbled by Essex side Colchester United, utterly destroyed by a team with only two fleeting seasons in the Championship. We had reached our lowest ebb in the living memory of many, but we turned it around. We fought hard, week in week out, and that relentless effort translated itself into win after win. Two seasons later here we sit, comfortably mid-table in the Premiership, but the ethos of hardwork and never-say-die hasn't left us, we aren't a "big-money" club, and we certainly aren't what I would consider as a traditional Premiership team. So what was it that gave me the big-time attitude? Why did I assume we had a god-given right for our matches to be broadcast on television in a far flung corner of the world? I've watched our matches on Saudi TV, FOX Soccer in the US, and the odd south-east-asian sports network; the Premier League had temporarily corrupted me. I'd forgotten the hard work and graft which had led to our meteoric rise, and I believed for a moment that we were one of the big boys, why? The answer - because we ARE one of the big boys. Where we've come from doesn't make us the minnows punching above our weight, not at all; where we've come from, means we DESERVE to be where we are now, and whilst I regret my outburst, I can stand by it, we are Premier League, and the world deserves to watch us. On The Ball City, Never Mind The Danger.
You are of course Right PC. Not so long ago we were the plucky mites swinging for a lucky punch on a Blackburn or a West Brom We are now the masters of these clubs, and rightfully so.
I am afraid to say I have nearly forgotten what it felt like to be League One. I think its because we had the set up and the fanbase we just needed the team. Now we have it, it feels like we easily belong with the big boys. Like we were never away. Im ashamed to say I scoffed at the Lambert v Holt debate. Little Southampton comparing their striker to ours. My arrogance then got me worried, we feel so comfortable at the moment, things are going so well, too well? 3defeats and we will be left with a team just outside the relegation zone and a group of fans moaning, ego's over inflated. I think that is why Lambert is always so quick to remind us of where we were three years ago, it is so easy to forget and become complacent. I now sit on a saturday and watch us streamed to my laptop and then sulk if we are not one of the earlier games on MOTD. How can I not be happy with my lot? only 2 years ago I was staying up into the ealry hours of the morning with Manesh and Steve just to glimpse 30 seconds of our game vs Rochdale or Leyton Orient (No disrespect).
maybe we should do a charity single "Don't they know we're premier league?" Gett all the squad involved, maybe a Lappin gansta rap verse? All proceeds go to the less fortunate, the Ipswich debt fund.
