I loved John Bond he was flamboyance personified and I have some very fond memories of the classic Derby matches from that period between Bondy and our Bobby!
Why do people take things so bloody personally. I'm with Irdan, stop bellyaching, its only a discussion forum.
I recall very well when Mike Walker brought his newly acquired Everton "dogs of war" to Carrow Road just after he took over. We won 3 - 0, but more importantly, 'Civvy' Culverhouse scored one of his only goals for the club - happy days!
I remember that match very well, I also remember at the end of the game, Mike Walker shook the hand of every City player as they came off the field!
not really wonky - you haven't covered yourself in glory throughout the thread - quite a bizarre read all in all. people have opinions and are more than happy to give them to you - if you don't like it, don't start a thread - (which, if i am being completely honest, read like a hahahaqpr thread to me - rather than a genuine point of discussion). nothing wrong with it, i enjoy harassing them as much as the next man, but lets not dress it up to have been your finest work. i dare say you are showing your age with the headslaps. bit unnecessary really chap.
It's carrabuh being a bit of an idiot. What people don't seem to be taking in is I'm going to an extent rather extreme to make a point, not that I actually mean it!
My order would be: Mike Walker (because he produced the club's greatest successes, including Europe), Ken Brown & David Stringer for the way they built successful squads for Walker to take further), Paul Lambert (for successive promotions & survival in the PL), John Bond (for doing as much as he could will little money for players), Ron Saunders for achieving survival in the early years at the top - the comparison with Pulis is apt though!)
for me it was always stringer. he was the one who produced the team which walker then got the credit for. we were probably everyone's 'second favourite team' because of the superb passing football we used to play under his guidance. he signed some fantastic players for very small fees and we were always threatening to win silverware at the end of the season, be it in the league or the cup. ken brown was before my time (i started going in 88) but i imagine people will say stringer inherited his team etc. i can't comment on that as i wasn't there! lambert for me is 2nd only to stringer. i didn't rate walker as a manager - don't get me wrong, he did an unbelievable job, i just feel it was more down to stringer than him and he, like lambert, couldn't wait to bugger off. lambert however, produced miracles that don't happen very often and produced some of the most exciting football i've ever seen at carrow road. stringer just nicks it because he challenged for honours and the football was so beautiful
For me it has to be Bond for the joy he brought to being a Norwich supporter, Brown for the league Cup, Lambert for saving the Club and Stringer/Walker (Stringer's team but Walker didn't screw it up and Munich is stilla cherished memory).
How come Warky is the only one to mention Ken Brown. Two promotions to the old 1st Division with a 5th place finish and a League Cup victory at Wembley! All the others get so much credit but I firmly believe that if Mel Machin had stayed with him we would have won even more honours. I'm not saying he's the best ever but I put him above Lambert.
The FA Cup tie that Villa has on Saturday conjures up a potential twist of the knife. A resurgent Ip5w1ch might just get a result that represents a mental tipping point for PL. We shall see!
as it was before my time, how much of stringer's reign was down to the foundations brown laid down in your opinion?
I think that question doesn't do justice to the continuous development of the club over a lengthy period starting with Saunders, then Bond, then Brown, then Stringer and finally Walker. (And don't forget the chairmen -- including the much maligned Chase -- who provided the stability and financial backing which made that development possible.) Each successive manager owed much to his predecessor, and each (until Walker) built further. I say "until Walker" because, while he reaped the rewards, it was by making the most of what Dave Stringer built and in that sense represented the end of the era. It was also the end of the previous era of stability in the financial structure of English football before the founding of the Premier League turned everything upside down.
