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There is a series of books called "The Inner Game of - - - - -" which got me thinking about the football under Farke. The first book in the series is called "The Inner Game of Tennis" and there are others about skiing, music etc etc. The principle is to do the activity in question in a state of awareness, living in the moment and in a state of relaxed concentration, without trying too hard. Now it sounds wrong at first - surely the main thing is to try hard.....but then surely every footballer worth his salt is going to try hard as a matter of course so "trying hard" is not the main thing that leads to success. What has marked our football out this last season has been the relaxed nature of it - it didn't matter if we got one goal down or two goals down....or even three! We still were able to keep that relaxed concentration and nearly always find a way back into the game. Even the matches we lost could so easily have been different, even the 0-3 against Leeds. The "Inner Game" is something that individuals can pursue - we can all find that when we do an activity we enjoy and get so immersed in it that we almost stop thinking - sportsmen call it being "in the zone" - it is a state of mind. So the goal of a coach is to get all his players "in the zone" at the same time, all the time - something that is very difficult when you have so many personalities and egos. Farke achieves it though - but he goes further with it - he not only includes players, but includes everyone - fans too. It is almost as if 30 odd thousand people are all totally together and in the zone. Klopp does it too - and Guardiola. Brian Clough did it at Forest all those years ago - the secret is getting everyone working in a state of togetherness. Now all teams experience that feeling from time to time, but the really successful ones have it all the time. That is what we have had this season. The players are so focused in what they are doing, they don't get anxious, they don't let the pressure get to them, they don't fret too much when they go behind, they simply focus on each other, stick to the principles of teamwork that they have been instilled with and believe in - and as we have seen, the results have been way above expectation. This is why Farke - and the Dortmund way - works. Paul Lambert imitated it when he was at Norwich, he brought that focused togetherness he learned at Dortmund and it worked for him with us. That he has failed to create it elsewhere is because the bigger clubs he went to had too many egos in and he wasn't able to breakdown those egos. Alex Neil was brilliant to start with as he got everyone working together, but longer term he couldn't control the egos. He even sent Maddison away because he couldn't handle his precocious ego. But look what Farke did with Maddison - he showed trust in him and allowed him to be at his best. Same with the other youngsters who have come through. But Farke goes further - he trusts all his players totally - unless they don't want to or are unable to fit in with the required attitude - the attitude I started talking about at the start of this thread - that attitude of being able to be totally focused on the collective, rather than themselves. Oliveira was the prime example - an individualist in a team of people trying to act as a whole. A likeable guy, a talented player, but just not able to adapt to the mentality required. OK, if you've followed me so far, the "Inner Game" is absolutely integral in the way we play football - relaxed concentration - allowing the mind to be free of non helpful thoughts and being in the zone for 90 minutes or more minutes of a match. It doesn't always work, we all make mistakes, but the underlying principle is there. It works for Klopp and Guadiola - they of course have vast resources to be able to buy the best kind of players that fit their ethic - and what makes our success so remarkable is that it has been done on a relatively small budget. I firmly believe we can do fantastically well as we progress under Farke, that the principles he instills in everyone will see us go a long way to negate the mindsets that exist in the PL - the fear of failure, the tension of so many clubs seem under - the principles he instills transcend all that negativity and I thoroughly recommend the book The Inner Game of Tennis and any of the others in the series - it teaches a way of learning about how to be better at sports that is fascinating in terms of freeing the mind to enable best performance - it applies to individuals, but it is totally clear to me that when you apply those principles across a collective of people as in at a football club - you get something really special. Dortmund is a beacon of this kind of thinking - Farke is applying those principles in much the same way as Klopp is at Liverpool and Wagner did at Huddersfield, although that club didn't follow it through which is why they started to struggle and why Webber left. We won't make that same mistake. The football may be slightly different under these different coaches, but the underlying principles are the same. Football psychology is fascinating - we have witnessed something really special this season and there is no reason why that can not continue next season. The psychology behind our success is to do with the 'inner game' - it stops overthinking in its tracks and enables the sub-conscious mind to take the lead, which in turn allows best performance. Thanks for reading.

Or when he last saw ‘little Alan’

This year we are promoted and short passing is a good thing, last year we didn’t win a lot and short passing was the reason we struggled. Football hey

In the quiet period before the message board heats up again readers might be interested in the following: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/22/jon-mcgregor-made-in-norwich?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Like so many of us that have left the ‘fine city’ (due to career moves), football has certainly kept me connected to the city.

That looks like one of those photo shoots of a guy who lost 12stone standing against a cut out of him before he lost weight.

It was sort of going ok until he started to “ sing”

Sending him out to prove himself fit and if we happen to come down next year an ideal player for a Championship campaign. If we stay up then suspect it’s decision time about moving on, but if he’s under contract he has some value.

JC Penny used to be a big store chain.... Atari used to be a big computer gaming company.... Pan Am used to be a big airline.... ITFC one day will simply used to be.

Maybe we should all get a vote on this, a sort of Leave or Remain type thing, perhaps with publicly voted representatives also having a say, and maybe, or maybe not, the final say. Maybe we could get a second vote on whether we agree with the publicly voted representatives; or not. That way we'll still be in it in 3 years time.

Ah yes I remember that thread. I think it was a classic internet thing of being unable to admit a mistake. I disagreed with quite a lot of what he posted (he did post quite a bit of ****e about how no game under Farke was boring in his first season) but he was a good poster who wasn't afraid to back up his arguments.

If we're honest, there hasn't been a huge amount of competition. 😉

JABBA THE PIZZA HUTT........

You should submit this to the pink un proper. It could do with more insightful opinion pieces like this.

I don’t know much about him to be honest, Hipster - admittedly my research was a bit half ar5ed but from what I can he’s not a defensive midfielder, he operates far more forward than that. We’re certainly being linked with many young DM from the championship at the moment though. Phillips, Harper, etc. Now watch us go and sign some young DM from Argentina’s second division!

Brilliant. Browsing the forum while having a tea break & on seeing this snorted my cup of tea through my nose . . .

Not sure why anyone would think he’d deliver anything but a typically partisan pro-scum answer. Gets a few nibbles and makes some binners feel all warm inside. Unfortunately, the reality of the warmth - a bit like pissing yourself in the snow - is that any initial comfort gained from it is quickly replaced by being even colder. And smelling of ****.

what a fat turd...

Darren Huckerby‏Verified account @hucks6dh6 3m3 minutes ago Darren Huckerby Retweeted talkSPORT Pissed up again! #Ncfc Darren Huckerby added, 0:21 talkSPORTVerified account @talkSPORT "Ipswich are a bigger club than Norwich overall!" "What have Norwich won? The Milk Cup!?" … 0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes

American Rock Singer/Songwriter Steve Perry was definitely a Journey man.......FACT!......

Its fine you all banging on remembering this and that but how many of you remembered my birthday? Seriously though, I would imagine its us ex pats who notice the change more than those of you rooted. Riverside for instance, is very functional, useful and as Norwich always is, very tidy. But to be honest I have seen similar in Bristol, Bracknell, Staines, Maidstone etc. It leaves me with mixed emotions when I visit. Yes it is clearly up to date whereas when I left in 1974, there were plenty of pubs and that was it. If you didn't like the London Steak House you settled for a Chinese meal. And Purdy's (where Mrs KG worked) and the Golden Egg were it. Now Norwich truly is a fine city but I do hope it manages to keep the things that make it unique. And referencing the article, then it really is football that keeps the link so strong. Sad to admit it but apart from one niece and cousins etc I have little family link with Norwich anymore but so much of my life down here in Cornwall which unlike the author, truly is my home, still involves NCFC.

Ipswich can be bigger if they want. We are a BETTER club.

What an utter balloon. He is surely going to pop at any minute.

Talksh!te’s usual tactic of winding people up so they ring or text in, nothing new really. To be fair to Mr Brazil he is usually complimentary about our club and Delia although generally he spouts a fair bit of outdated crap as well as running on about gambling and drinking (yawn).

It’s good to read a thread without any animosity or barbed comments! As a youngster (aged 10 and 11) I would walk to the ground with my brother from the Heartsease Estate. We sometimes arrived before the gates were open but as long as we could buy a packet of Munchies from the vendors who carried trays with a strap around their neck and then claim our place sitting with feet through the railings behind the Barclay goal, we were happy to enjoy the build-up. At the end of the game we would pop over the road (literally) to the British Rail engineering shop where my father would be working hands full of grease and diesel oil. I think the repair shop for the rail engines and coaches was on the site now occupied by Yellow Storage Unit and a tyre replacement bay? We would then walk home, a much tougher walk up the Harvey Lane hill, especially if we had lost!

I have to be honest, I'm quite surprised by this. He isn't a youngster any more at 23, so after his injury problems I thought he'd probably be let go in order to build a career elsewhere as he's unlikely to reach the level of where we want to be. I suppose if he has a good season at Rotherham and we get relegated then he might be brought back into the fold, but the cynic in me thinks that this is just a money-making move. Webber wants him to have a good year at Rotherham so we can then sell him for a few hundred grand next summer.

Now that is a fact ... sigh of relief that we didn't land McCormack !

I have to admit that I was disappointed when we missed out on McCormack, but what a blessing in disguise that was. Imagine Webber's reaction if we had McCormack on the books when he arrived. He would've had a coronary.

Also, never attempt to even suggest that Tim Krul is not really a very good goalkeeper, or the wrath of the messageboard puritans will descend upon thy head, because clearly you can't be a real supporter if you even remotely criticise anyone for anything. And you must be a binner.

Perhaps one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Farke has more than once brought Rhodes on to play as a second striker alongside Pukki when we have been chasing the game. Millwall at home was an example. It often involved taking off a defender (Lewis) and going to our plan B. So the decision may not simply be based on using him as cover for Pukki. Personally I think he gives us worthwhile options but clearly only if the price is right.

CHEESEBOARD!!! 🧀 Now that we are in the Premier League, we need to ensure that we resurrect the CHEESEBOARD at as many games as possible - if nothing else, it will confuse the bejasus out of the opposition supporters and players! It also gives some of the new forum posters the opportunity to question why they have actually joined this forum 🙄

And the door opens a bit more for Nelson to prove his worth... Before I get shot down...I know it’s not going to happen!

it's metres the other is something you put money in

Great OP and very much how I feel as an exile of over 30 years now. But my youngest is four years off Uni, so I'm really looking forward to moving back and getting a season ticket! There's no place like home, especially when it's Norwich!

The crush!! Exactly what it was after big attendances. When everyone flooded out of those huge exit gates Carrow road couldn't really take it. It really felt like if you lifted your feet off the ground you'd be carried along so tightly were we packed 🙃

Yes a lot of people biked to the match back then and several of the terrace house made a few bob looking after bikes on match days. When I was in my teens we lived near to the Plumstead Rd Library and I always biked to the ground. There used to be a safe place at the Barclay End where you could leave your bike for threepence. You would get two numbered wooden tokens, one to hang on your handlebars and one to keep in your pocket and had to hand both back to claim your bike. I used to get right near the back of the Barclay and when the final whistle went, bolt down the steps and get away before the crush. Up over the bridge, along Thorpe Rd, through Wellesley Avenue woods and be home in time for Sports Report.🚴‍♂️😁

McCormack was more than rumours, we almost spent a lot of money on him. Think the last thing I heard about him was being loaned out to an Australian team and playing up front with Usain Bolt.

I have mixed feelings about how the area around Riverside and the Carrow Rd look these days, I am all for change and I agree that the area looks better than when I was a kid (for the first 4 years of my life we lived on King Street opposite what was Reads flour mill), however I do not believe the area looks anything like the developers said it would. In the mid eighties a group of us used to meet in the Rosary Tavern for a pre match beer or three before walking down Riverside Rd to the ground, I remember billboards proclaiming the redevelopment of the area into something akin to a riverside Amsterdam with its narrow tall buildings etc, what we got is starkly different to that. When my parents first moved into King St, the first time there was a home game they found their back garden full of bicycles, and money to pay for the "parking" deposited on the window ledge, word gradually got round that a new family had moved in and despite Dad being happy for people to leave their bikes in the back yard (with no charge) the number of bikes left there dwindled until nobody left their bikes in the back yard, much different times then!. I love the city of Norwich and in the main I embrace the change, but for those of you who may want to reminisce about the Norwich of old, if you have not come across it before the link below takes you to a very good free resource...... http://www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norwich/

How many goals did Pukki score for Celtic? How many Champs standard games had CZ played before he became a CB mainstay? Had we bought Aarons and bunged him straight in we would have been appalled. Did anyone expect Stieperman to be a goalscoring rampaging AM? Had anyone heard of Emi? My point is that neither cost nor past performance at other clubs are pointers to whether someone is right. This team is a no name bugdet buy special cleverly put together. See Sanchez and Pogba as higher level examples of expensive"upgrades" which flopped. For me Rhodes ticks as many boxes as there are: probably cheap, experienced, fits the ethos, happy to be here, will not complain if used as back up and scoes goals when given the chance. Seems pretty low risk to me. Anyone better will cost too much, is risky, and takes budget from other positions needing upgrading.

Yes it was a lively old riverside back then. I remember the grain ships that used to come up to Reads Flour Mill and all the blokes standing ouside covered in white flour.😁 The dutch sailors used to drink in my wifes grandmothers pub. One day they pulled the old girls bloomers off the linen line and ran them up the mast. My grandmother lived at the top of King Street just before you get to Rose Lane. Theres an office building there now. She had a passage that ran down onto Rose Lane and she would often have sheep or cows run up there if someone forgot to fasten the gate. The young uns who dont remember the old wooden stands missed a real treat and I often wonder if they would still crave for standing areas if they had the experiences we had. The times Ive stood in the packed open river end soaking wet top half and dry below the chest. Ive got a picture in my mind of a rainy afternoon and Laurie Sheffield scoring with a header against Northampton I think, but I wouldnt swear on it. Football is about so much more than just the game. I remember little instances of games from sixty years ago but its the feel of it that really stays with you. I can link all the stages of my life through football matches. I guess its something we all do really.

It was nutty and it was (and still is) called the turning basin.

Cheeeeeeseboaaaaaaard

I still maintain if Rhodes is happy to be a 3rd choice option potentially alongside one of our youngsters too, and the price is right for the club, it's almost a no-brainer. Equally, everything Bethnal etc have said is true. I suppose it depends partially on the type of striker we're looking at (hopefully) to compete with Pukki for the number one slot. I don't personally see it happening because Rhodes is at an age where he can likely get one more good contract and I can see lots of championship clubs willing to spend 2m on him plus some decent wages.

This season we had 3 strikers - Pukki and Rhodes were competing for the starting position, Srbeny as 3rd choice. Rhodes was effective to come on late when we needed a goal. Next season I'd definitely like to bring in someone new to compete for the starting position or perhaps a different type of striker who could pose a different problem for defences ? Realistically we're going to have more games when we need a goal late on and so bringing a second striker on late in the game is going to be a necessary option - or sometimes replacing the starting striker with one or two new strikers late on. Rhodes gives you an effective striker who has shown he can be a positive contributor to the squad even when he's getting limited game time. The numbers have got to stack up, but it strikes me that given we could afford him last season, we should be able to afford him next season too, even as 3rd choice.

I can’t believe the number of posters making comments along the lines of “we can do better”! Really? Perhaps they can suggest who is better, in our budget and likely to consider coming here? I agree the chances are we will sign a forward from abroad who we’ve never heard of, but proven strikers at Premier League level are in a shop we can’t afford to buy from. Jordan - at a realistic cost - would be a decent buy. Somewhere between 5-10 goals from him could be enough to help us stay up, and we all know what that is worth.

Dear me, you really do, as I said yesterday, have a “disinclination to admit you’ve got something wrong” even when blatantly so. Falling back on the absurd excuse that you hadn’t investigated what you’d posted and it is somehow unfair of me to have done so.. You claimed Jansson is the current Sweden captain. He is not, and never has been captain as far as competitive matches are concerned. He has only captalned the second string in a few (perhaps only two) friendlies, the latest back in 2018. Granqvist was and is the Swedish captain (as Wiki has it correctly, as it happens, if you had bothered to do even a little research). You claimed Jansson captained Sweden in the World Cup. He did not. You claimed he had captained Sweden in Euro finals. He has never played for Sweden in a Euro finals match, let alone captained the team. All three of the specific claims you made were false. As for the “excuse” that you only consulted Wiki, perhaps you should have taken on board the sarcastic comment from a poster yesterday about the wisdom or otherwise of that: “So now you need to quote Wiki as a standard for accuracy? Marvelous." Oh, hold on. That poster was you. 

Eurovision is basically a reminder that the rest of Europe hates us 😉

i think all shredded cheese should be banned. Make Britain grate again...