An excerpt from an article by Ed Couzens-Lake, which pretty much sums up the next few weeks and months for the Canaries - "Hence the type of football now being played. Plus the reluctance of the Manager to give his wide players carte blanche to escape their tactical responsibilities and play with abandon as traditional wingers-exciting? Yes. Sensible? Probably not. And, above all else, the solid emphasis on creating a team that is difficult to beat and difficult to score against. It hasnât been easy and sometimes the spectating that has gone with it hasnât been easy either. But if it means that we live to fight another day of Premier League football next season then it will have been worth it. The clear intent of the Manager and club this Summer will be to bring in players of a higher quality than some of those we already have-as has been shown with the acquisitions already made this season-meaning that the type of football the club plays and what we pay to watch-might just be a similar upgrade to our newly acquired financial status. Short time footballing pain this season for long term footballing gain in the seasons to come? Iâll take that." Full Article here - http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...ing-compared-to-the-potential-long-term-gain/ Yes, I'm behind survival rather than go the way of Blackpool. PS - Yes, I've changed my mind
I know there has been loads of comments on this forum of late over attractive football vs survival in the prem and like most I've got mixed feelings on the subject. Do I want my team to play fast atractive exciting football and be lauded by the media? You Bet I do! , but then again do I want them to stay in prem? absolutely! I believe NCFC are doing what is right, they are building strong foundations and building them carefully and slowly to gradually improve the club. That includes developing the Academy to establish a legacy of developing a stream of talent for the club both to improve teh team, but also to generate income as Southampton have done so succesfully. They are also planning to develop the facilities and ground SLOWLY to build capacity and increase gate sizes... we must be one of the few clubs in the prem that consistently has more demand for seats than seats available. I expect them to address this slowly & sensibly bit by bit adding more capacity until we get to an optimal level. For these strategies to pay it requires NCFC to stay in the prem, not just to fund the development, but also to continue growing the demand for seats. Like it or not, long term demand for seats will be higher if we stay in the prem than if we drop down a level again. It's my opinion that NCFC now have in place a dream team of a management who are building the future in the best way possible. I for one support what they are doing 100% to grow the team I have supported since I was a kid into something that actually is becoming a bit special!
I think on the playing side of things it's very much a case of short term vs. long term. Short term, meaning the rest of this season, I'm prepared to take dire football if it means survival. I think most fans can see financially how important survival could be to the long term success of our club, so I'm prepared to sacrifice some enjoyment this season for that. Equally though, I don't have a season ticket at the moment, so can simply turn off the stream/tv/radio if it's poor, I'm not putting in hard earned cash at the moment. For that reason I can see people being frustrated by our current tactics. Longer term, whilst off the pitch I'm happy to emulate Stoke, on the pitch, I'd be pretty annoyed if that was the case. Irrespective of formation,etc, next season I'd like to see more attacking intent, and hopefully the calibre of players we can bring in this summer would allow us to pose more of a threat going forward, whilst maintaining our new-found defensive solidity. If this time next season our points total is similar, and we're still playing the same way, I'll be disappointed, and be more vocal about wanting changes.
if we stay up this year then for the first time ever i am dreaming that perhaps in 10 or 15 years time people could accuse me of being a glory hunter supporter! if mid table obscurity for years is glory ...
Just about on a par with my thoughts. I have accepted this season the team needs to do what is needed and maybe even next season. As with DH I only watch on streams so can pull the plug if I get totally fed up with constant dross but for how long will some season ticket holders endure it I wonder?
Excelent post. Whilst I was pretty gutted after the displays against both QPR and Fulham, I guess at the end of the day, we didn't lose to either of them. In reality, around 10 points should see us safe and I'd like us to get 3 wins between now and the end of April, so that we're not involved in battling for survival come May!!
season tickets are still good value for money if you break it down by game. it's the casual and away fans where prices have increased substantially on last season. not saying they can't complain (the ST holders) the article in question was a good read, especially the historical context of formations and playing 2-5-3! i too hope we are safe by the man city game - i'm off to Barcelona that weekend so really could do without sweating over our safety whilst soaking up the culture there!
I don't know whether you'll have the time, or if Gaudi's architecture floats your boat, but do try and check out Casa Milà , better known as La Pedrera at 92 Passeig de Grà cia. Especially the roof
we are staying not far from the passeig de gracia actually; Gaudi architecture will be high on the agenda Cromer sadly, the Camp Nou won't be
This season ticket holder is hanging on in there in the expectation that it will get better. Actually, if I look back over the season there have been some pretty good games at CR this season: Man U, Arsenal, Sunderland (1st half), 2 Spurs games, the way we kept coming back at Man City and nearly pulled off a draw, and even Chelsea. There have been dross ones; there were under Lambert as well; and the limpness in front of goal in the last few games has been worrying....but... if I wasn't able to get through times like these, I wouldn't remain a NCFC supporter. I got through Grant, Rodent, Gunn..times when we truly were on the slide; I can manage a bit of deferred gratification now.
gg - Obviously, you were there when we went down to league 1 and as you rightly say, there were some pretty dire matches both home and away last season, so on reflection, my glass has definitely gone from being 'half empty' to 'half full'. Especially when I think of better days ahead!!! We are still missing Whittaker and it will be intereesting to see if he replaces Martin or Garrido on his return to the starting 11. He was developing an excellent understanding with Snoddy before his injury.
Congrats, gg. Mine was during the Stringer, Walker, Deehan, Megson, Rioch and Hamilton eras. I remember plain as yesterday 0 - 0 draws at home versus Bury and the mighty Oxford United Plus cup exits to Cheltenham and similar icons of the game. Makes a goalless draw with Newcastle and Fulham seem like quite a tidy result, really!
You poor sod Resolve, beyond endurance. My first at Carrow Road, having moved around lots as a youngster, was Norwich 4 - 4 Southampton. Goal of the season from Rosario! That was me, hook, line and sinkered. [video=youtube;_r0_Qc_tp74]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_r0_Qc_tp74[/video]
My first match was a goalless draw against the binners back in 1972. They weren't all stunners back then either!
Good article and interesting to read about the old formations... A little sympathy for the squad players reading about aiming to keep the club up so that they can be replaced by better players with the new TV $... I suspect the reality is though that we won't be able to buy up this amazing new short list of players quite as easily as the author suggests. Wouldn't be surprised if our starting XI looks quite familiar next season.
In amongst the comments after the article is #3 from Andy Watson which echoes a recent thread on here, 1) Dour football and survive, 2) cavalier football and risk relegation. Here's his take on it.
