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I’m not going to preach ala Lakey, but we didn’t spend huge sums in the summer, but those who we did go after and didn’t sign weren’t exactly enamoured with coming here. As our learning from Naismith he never wanted to come here and we had to pay way over the odds for absolutely no improvement to our squad by adding him! We kept a very good talented set of youngsters only 8 games into their premiership experience and we’ve lost key players to injury. Even with a full squad it was always going to be a battle to avoid going down, we’re still in that battle. Unlike some on here the realists knew a top 10 was never going to happen and for the delude few who said anything is possible and we could finish higher than top 10, reality bites. Time to just accept, we don’t have to like it, as ambitious people shouldn’t be satisfied but push for better, but everyone really needs to acknowledge we’re a bottom six club at best and hope we can find enough points to finish above three other teams. Ranting about not spending won’t help now, the hope is that another Godfrey and Cantwell can step forward to take their chance, Idah & Famewo might be the next two! Off the back of a great season last year, we’re now financially more sound, we have filled the under 23 with lots more quality for the future, our training facility is far better now and the short term future is solid, be thankful and enjoy the season.

I'm not sure us getting relegated would be a 'failure' - failure indicates we've performed below expectation but if anyone 'expected' to stay up as a minimum prerequisite this season then I think they've failed to listen to what the club have said and how we were approaching this season.

I am disgusted at this weekends events against Nakamba. Why can't we all just enjoy a game without bringing race into it.

It's actually laughable when people come on here at a bad time and all they can do is lambast the owners. Haven't you got anything original to say?? We have had the best year ever and we are still in the early stages of this season. Get lost if you really are that fickle, or if you are just Ipsh*t supprters on the troll......get a life.

This is still my favourite... On 31/07/2018 at 18:42, Big Vince said: It is generally accepted that the Canary Board were mightily impressed with that Huddersfield Town display at Carrow Road two years'' ago. Considering how Norwich were EPL the year before, how could they be played off the park with such high intensity by a club like Huddersfield? This was a fair question for the Board to ponder. However, having done their pondering they reached entirely the wrong conclusion. They concluded that it was a little known boy behind the scenes who was the inspiration behind Huddersfield. That boy, as we all know now, is the boy Webber. How wrong they were! The beauty of hindsight is that the Suffolk Socialists can once again be proved to be no good. It is obvious now that Huddersfield''s success has been due to the money put in by the boy Hoyte and the philosophy and methods of the boy Wagner. Webber did not pull off any masterstroke in finding Wagner. Going to Dortmund to hire your coaches is not the magic formula for success in football. Webber simply got lucky. Wagner''s methods and Farke''s methods are completely different. Where Wagner has worked, Farke has failed. But for some reason, that night under the lights at Carrow Road unleashed a chain of events that saw the end of the role of chief executive and the identification of Stuart Webber as the new Messiah who was going to wave all kinds of magic wands in a newly created role of sporting director. The Canary public and Archant bought into all the hype and so last season kicked off with the Webberlution as the latest buzz word. The misplaced feel-good factor quickly evaporated as we were served up some of the direst football in living memory. There were murmurings in some quarters that even Lol Morgan was better than Farke. Pre-season has shown that Farke has not changed his spots at all and we now go into another season employing the same methods as before, but somehow expecting a different outcome. Maybe Huddersfield knew something we didn''t, as surely they would have fought nail and tooth to keep this messianic figure that we fell for line, hook and stinker. Of course I would never in a million years expect this Board to learn any lessons, but for the record, they are: 1. Don''t make assumptions about other teams'' success. 2. It is not a foregone conclusion that Borussia Dortmund football club is littered with all the jewels for success in the Championship.

I thought plan B was going to be 3 at the back with wing backs as DF suggested in pre season. Unfortunately you need 3 fit centre backs for that

I treat staying up this season as an absolutely massive bonus. If we don't we're in a great position to challenge again to come back up. I still think we stand a very good chance of staying up but the injuries have made it a little more difficult this early in the season. However, our points tally isn't much different to what I thought we'd have at this stage of the season, they've just not necessarily come from the fixtures I thought they would!

oh woe is us we must accept our 'ever so umble' place in life or perhaps, we have a squad of players who have not played at this level and a manager and coaching set up likewise however they have shown over the past couple of years that they can not only learn but develop this isn't a failing squad where defeat seems to be the accepted format either we will continue to battle and continue to learn, so for those who watch the games rather than simply look at the results take heart is my suggestion at the moment we might not be as good a some first expected, but we are nowhere near as bad as some on here would have.... or wish

You mean to say that there are people out there who believe that businesses should be operating beyond their means of operational revenue? And how long before that collapses in on itself?

Sigh, this bollox starts earlier every season.

Oh dear - the (Republican majority) US Senate has just rebutted that assertion ... i.e that of "Russia helping me to get elected" https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/08/intelligence-committee-russia-trump-report-040736 https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume1.pdf Links : Commentary from Politico, and center right oriented website, and the Official Senate Report.

Hoggo ,I think it helps those with a humourless disposition if you either insert a smiley 'joke' face, or pm them an a hour or two earlier to warn them that humour is on its way and to open their mind to it. Insert Smiley joke face here.

Surely the model is Ajax, they bring most of their Players through the youth system, plus wise experienced acquisitions, such as tadic. The CF for AZ alkmaar that held man u the other day was a ajax player on loan, Ajax consistently sell a couple of their top players every year yet still sit at the top of their ( admittedly weak) league and regularly qualify for European football ....sometimes they do well there too. Sure they are a bigger Club than us and attract more sponsorship, there again, we have prem/ championship tv money, but the principle remains the same, a top academy, a uniform playing style throughout the Club and a board that is totally focused on building all aspects of the Club.....in the long term. I am also mildly jealous of the Cruyff Arena, some atmosphere in there with its raking ,steep stands and when the roof is closed it's the loudest stadium I've ever been in.

This season has been a roller coaster. Meaning it’s easy to praise (Man City) and moan (Villa) in equal measure. Maybe it’s time to admit the good and the bad and ask where to go from here? My three positives and negatives: positive: 1) fabulous manager who fosters attractive football and when it works- wow! 2) a sense of togetherness in squad and some cracking youth signed 3) a canny operator in Webber - even if we do go down this year he has saved the cash for us to mount a decent come back negatives: 1) we lack physicality. This is main reason we found palace and villa harder than Man City. Lower sides with massive athletes bully us off the ball 2) lack of CB signing. Hindsight is 20/20 but Hanley should have been released and a decent CB signed. We would be mid table I believe 3) tactics - we lack a plan B and it shows. When our way isn’t working we look bereft of ideas. this is very worrying as teams have sussed us a bit

Because the club and the owners aren't the same thing?

Jim - you are right, I generalised as I think what followed was foretold by the poor Premier league signings - we had no plan, threw money at the issue and just kept piling mistake on top of mistake to try and get out of it. However, I stand by the point that this year is required to fix that damage and lay the ground work for 'hopefully' a far more stable and better run future. If we sty up this year then great, if we don't we go down with either a really good squad or very sale-able assets and a solid base to add to, but this year is a bit of a punt either way. Just spending money now in the hope of staying up could undo the good work of the last two years.

Farke has generally brought players into the squad at the right time, particularly younger players. Even in the first season where people wanted rid of him he'd proven that by identifying Lewis, and making Maddison the main man. There seems to be more of a clamouring for Roberts based on nothing more than he has a bit of pace. The worst bit is when people say "well he couldnt do any worse" which is quite patently not true.

You can tell me stuff Webber says etc is a nonsense but he's proven himself, and in particular proven people like you wrong. There is no assumption we would get promoted again but we would be in a position to do so. I also disagree that 'all our talented youngsters' will be off. Some might, but like I say if we get relegated I doubt they'll have all proven themselves at this level.

Roberts is being integrated more often recently, but Farke has made it clear that he favours players who already 'get' the intricacies of the system we're trying to play. Having played for Man City and Celtic who are dominant in their leagues, it's probably taken Roberts longer to get to grips with the demands of Farke's system. And let's not forget that we'd definitely have been using Onel for exactly that, but he was another unfortunate victim of the injury crisis. As well as Vrancic, who moves the ball forward more incisively in the final third than Leitner. We have been utterly stitched by these injuries, we've been hugely unlucky.

Its a bit misleading though to say that the "expensive deadwood" was all due to us being in the premier league. The fact is we made two poor signings last time we were up in Jarvis and Naismith. Signing up Jarvis on a permanent , long term deal whilst injured was just idiotic in anyone's book. As was agreeing to the contract we did for Naismith which actually played in a position where we had Wes and wasn't really a priority. I think Naismith and Jarvis were more signs of McNally losing the plot at the time than precedents for never spending decent money on premier league signings ever again which seems to have become the mantra for many who advocate not attempting to stay in the premier league. Other than that Klose has overall proven been a good signing for us. Maddison certainly was. We actually caused as much damage by bizarrely giving Russell Martin, Alex Neil, Jerome and various others new contracts after we got relegated and allowing Neil to sign players such as Wildshutt. Not to mention the farce that was Jez Moxey. The amount of money we p**sed up the wall paying people off for decisions made after that relegation must be staggering. If you sign the right players in the right age brackets then in most cases they will retain their value or at least the bulk of their value even if you get relegated. Look at the type of players Bournemouth and Palace go out and sign.

It is only a failure if you need a stick to beat the club with. At the beginning of the season it was made extremely clear that we did not have the resources to spend lots of money, that promotion had come earlier than expected, that winning the Championship was like conquering Everest and that staying in the Premiership would be like having to climb Everest again. As I have said elsewhere I intend to enjoy this season, I am not getting carried away with wins, I am not getting down about defeats. I am happy with the direction the club is going in terms of the head coach, the way we play, the youngsters we have etc. As I have also said elsewhere three teams will be relegated this season which means that a team that has spent money will get relegated.

Don't understand all the fuss about Kate, she's just an average looking gal who should eat a bit more, in Bill's photo she looks like a head sicking out of a coat thats still on its hanger.

This is a year to repair the damage that was done last time we pent to try and stay up. It has taken three years to clear the very expensive deadwood (and aging players) off the wage bill and as a result the 'riches' received on promotion have not been available to invest in this year's squad. This is just a fat of life and gnashing of teeth and wailing about it doesn't change that. This year was always going to be a struggle and any future year will be a struggle for any team looking to stay in this division without a billionaire owner but I would rather accept that reality and enjoy the highs and lows than complain and moan about it. If we go down we are well stocked to come back but we are also stable enough to operate at Championship level without the risk of going the same way as Bolton or Portsmouth or the many other clubs that have been crippled by overspending.

Srebeny is such a nothing player, bit of a waste of a squad space at this point.

Leicester owned by a billionaire did indeed win the premier league, helped in no small part by all the top sides having their worst seasons in living memory. I just think people we getting well ahead of themselves talking about top ten finishes when week in week out I am told "palace are a good side we shouldn't expect to beat them" or ditto with Burnley or no doubt next week Bournemouth. It was pretty obvious when you looked at the league this year that it was a struggle to pick out the 3 sides we would definitely finish above. Its a strong league this year in terms of the strength of the teams outside the "big 6". There is no one obvious relegation fodder team. Which is not to say that I don't accept that we still cannot finish above a few and survive if the injuries clear up a bit. We are far from out of it yet but we are going to have to pull out some more unexpected results.

Why has Big Vince made a second account?

Leitner acts as the quarterback of the side, and will constantly roam from CM to offer a short option to feet which he will then turn over quickly. It's a vital part of making the way we play a success and being very good at it is why he was meant to be such a big deal before he lost his way (I am however not defending his performance against Villa, they were all crap) Kenny McLean is more of a box-to-box midfielder but with a definite preference for facing forwards than back- and when Mo was injured for a large part of last year, he was the one that became the CM 'creator'. The essential facts of the two playing together are that one will wander off wide to dictate play and one will spur forward the second we look like we have a break on; that leaves a lot of room for PL attackers to work in and Farke could scream until he's blau in the face, they won't sit in front of the defence naturally or effectively for a whole game. We all know what the fix is here. We can only afford one of these players to start, alongside one of Amadou, Tettey or Trybull so they can take territorial responsibility for the middle of the pitch- we also know at the moment we don't have that option due to the silly injury crisis. It's going to come down to whether or not those players come back in time to stop the bleed before it becomes terminal.

I stop taking posts seriously when the poster starts to compare football with “any other business”

The same people saying our model can't compete in the Premier League are the same people who were saying we'd never have a prayer of getting promoted from the Championship with our model, and that we were likely to be relegated to League One due to our lack of investment. Three weeks ago we beat the champions of England with ten players out injured. We've got four super-talented young British players in our squad who cost us £250k in total (Godfrey's fee to York). We're one point from safety with 30 matches to go, and a bunch of players to come back from injury. I only hope that Farke sticks to the principles that have got us to where we are, rather than having a crisis of confidence like Alex Neil did after we shipped six at Newcastle. As the song goes, "what a great team to support". And support them we must. OTBC.

Is this for real? This rabbit hole again? Good Lord, give me strength. Moan and complain all you want. You’re free to do so. End of the day, it’s not your business. Please explain what you actually believe gives you the right to tell someone else how to run THEIR business? Oh wait, you’re a FAN - supposedly - and you give your hard earned money to the club for tickets or subscription, or replica kits...whatever. Next. You’re as stupid as someone who chooses to eat at a restaurant time and time again, where you don’t like the owners. Why do you come back? Oh wait...bitchswitch fans are stupid like that. The level of stupidity you have demonstrated shows you have no chance in seeing how arrogant you are. if you don’t like it, go buy or build your own club.