Well, now the last piece of the jigsaw has been located, Darren Eadie just asked on twitter for City fans reactions to the new setup. Here are a few examples! What are the overall thoughts on here - I would suggest 'a safety first approach' has been applied, as in 'better the devil you know' which may well have hamstrung us in attracting top calibre reinforcements?
The only one I would question, simply because I don't know too much about him, is Ricky Martin. I am very much looking forward the the new season, I think we'll do well!
Cromer bor, like you I am reserving judgment until I have seen NA and his management team in action in the league. I had a brief chat with NA at St George's Park and can see why he impressed the board when they interviewed him for the post. Unfortunately FA security was extremely tight and I was unable to get a close look at the training session. Probably due to the Romanian league champions training at the site. As usual our fans seem split on a manager's appointment, those voicing disapproval and those like me withholding judgment and waiting to see if the proof is in the pudding. Sunday August 10th (Wolves away) starts a new chapter in our annals, that is the date we can start to assess our new management team. I don't think the board's decision had any affect on us attracting top calibre reinforcements, we lost that attraction when we became relegated from the PL and players like Snoddy choose to continue their career at that higher level. We are an ambitious club but still have to compete with the likes of Hull etc for outstanding players. Once thing I am certain of . . . this should be a more entertaining season than the last and hopefully a rewarding one with promotion the culmination of our team's efforts. OTBC.
Great post Norkie. As I have said many times before, if - like you and I - the current supporters had lived through the traumas of the mid 50's and the doldrums of the 60's they would realise that what is happening now is nothing to worry about and, unlike then, our Club is financially stable and still heading in the right direction albeit with a few hiccups on the way.
Top post norkie!!!! I'm all for giving the new management setup a chance, as opposed to writing them off before a ball has been kicked. I'm hoping we can get a few wins under our belt in the August, but there are no easy games and I'm sure Wolves will be trying their hardest to get a result against us, so a draw would be good enough for me. Overall, the new 'management team' does seem to be very much 'an old boys act' and my REAL hope for the coming season is that the board will act more swiftly if it is becoming apparent that they're not up to the task.
Hi bors, thanks for the endorsements. 1950, yep, like you I remember those days you refer to when King's Lynn came to Carrow Road to play in a friendly just to raise funds for our club which was in disarray; we survived then so should be no problem despite finances being more crucial nowadays. JR, like you say, NA and his management team deserve the opportunity to prove themselves. All teams enter the field of play not just to win but also to take pride in their winning. Now all we need is for the doubters to hold their horses and see how we progress this season. Like you JR I will be quite happy with a draw. Have two Wolves mates and they are looking forward to the Wolves doing a "Norwich."
Whoever had been appointed there would be dissent and this, IMO, could be one of the biggest obstacles to gaining promotion. If Malky had been appointed, he would have been criticised for being too defensive (something you can't say about NA). It is a competition with a lot of other teams aiming for promotion, so it won't be easy. Also, I don't think it's an 'old boy' team, but a team who McNally and the Board know and trust. Ricky Martin has been at the club since 2001 and knows the whole set-up very well and can do the 'technical' linking up very well, IMO. I don't think McNally does 'old boys' for the sake of it. I can remember many people questioning Lambert's appointment because it 'was just someone McNally knew at Celtic'. He respects Simmonds as an accomplished professional in his seven years at Fulham and that's good enough for me.
I think the board, have made a mistake, I can't believe Adams is the best option and he wasn't good enough in the boards eyes to have taken the reigns when he could of made a difference last season so why now? All of that said, he is! Now our manager, so I will be fully behind him and the team hopefully through a number of successful campaigns or until it becomes clear he is not taking us forward. I'd also take a draw at wolves, but between pre-season and that game I want to see some positive intent and a goal or two would be nice! Bah!
General Sir, at least you have made an honest statement of your opinion. Nothing wrong with that. To your credit you have stated you will stand behind NA until proven he is not fit for purpose, so like me you have reserved judgment, let's hope he goes on to be not only a successful manager for us but prove our doubts unfounded. If you can unite behind NA with your opinion and others of a similar mind follow suit then as the saying goes: United we stand, divided we fall . . . and I don't believe any Norwich fan wants us to falter.
Hear, hear!!!! I can't understand why fans aren't prepared to at least give the new management team a chance to prove themselves.
very pleased for ricky martin. he's done a great job at the club, helped them reach high standards at academy level. some will see this as a 'small-time' appointment but had we just hired someone with his record from another club we'd all be getting very excited. can't say i know much about simmonds but i guess mcnally knows him well. would have loved to see park from celtic (rumoured at one point) to come in but simmonds record at fulham overall has been very good and he's helped find some real gems. a few bad eggs too of course, but that's inevitable. overall, i'm happier now than i was when adams was initially unveiled. i still have strong reservations about his credentials to be in charge, as i'm sure most people probably do, but we'll see how we get on. need a quick start though, else the natives will become very restless, very quickly.
I can hear some fans/posters sharpening their knives as we await 10th Aug. If we pick up fewer than 8 points during Aug, then ..........
Personally I trust this set up quite a lot for a few important reasons: - McNally is a man I trust, he's steered us excellently on the business side not just in financial terms. The general marketing of the club has improved dramatically under his stewardship, the deal with Errea has produces excellent kits which sell incredibly well every year (people complain they're being squeezed by the club but it when that new shirt comes out we all seem to find were £45 lighter), the clubs presence on twitter and youtube are excellent and professional and have improved very quickly, there are deals with global events companies and the like which are dedicated on building our brand, unfortunately the website it still awful but i believe thats to do with a contract issue. Hughton was the first man McNally brought in who he had no previous knowledge of, he looked the right man at the time too but it didn't work out, this board is full of people McNally knows, he knows there work, he knows what they are capable because he has worked with all of them before. I Don't believe that this is sentimental of him he's brought in people he know can do a job, not one he thinks can, which was his previous failing. - Adams is a clever man and seemingly has taken the job on with very little ego, the thing that has most impressed me was the appointment of Joe Royal, a proper heavy weight, along with an admit ion that he doesn't know every thing and that why joe is here. His lack of experience was a point that needed addressing and instead of trying to say that we shouldn't worry because he knows what he's doing, he's admitted there are areas that he's not sure what to do and has remedied it with a consultant and a well balances set of coaches. He also seems to understand what the fans want to see from the football team, which will be easier to deliver in this league too, and expresses his ideas well. - Lastly the set up seems designed to let adams play to his strengths within coaching with more experienced people taking on other roles, this is true in the football exec board and in the coaching set up, gary holt looks to have been brought in to be bad cop, whilst I'm sure Adams can give a decent blocking I'm guessing that he will be looking to do tactics and inspirational motivation (the carrot) and Holt acting as the disciplinarian (the stick). This set up might not work, however its not new to the world of football and isn't even the most radical setup going the people in each of the roles seem well suited for there individual part of the puzzle, much of the criticism of adams has been with the idea that he's the whole machine when the reality is he's a cog. I think the experiment, which is what this is, is exciting with the potential to work very well and I'm willing to give it a chance before ill see it condemned.
