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Is this any different to your "board are on thin ice" thread?

We can't end up at square one: we had unsustainable spending commitments and were heading for financial ruin. Now that we have balanced the books, brought through lots of young talent, and instilled sensible player contracts, the worst case is that we become a self-sufficient mid-table Championship club. That's infinitely better than our position from 3 years ago.

Surprised by this response. Here's a player who on leaving us went to Wolves, achieving promotion in a side playing great football. He then played regularly for the same side, commonly considered an underrated part of it. He got a move to Leicester making five starts (admittedly, not many) in a side chasing European football. I think there is a habit we might have our judgement clouded by the player he was. I think he's moved on and developed since then. He knows and loves the club. At 30 he would be younger than both Hanley and Klose. For me, Godfrey plays his best when alongside Zimmermann - if Zimbo could be a similarly influential partner for Bennett, it would be a fantastic move.

I think it's insane we've got actual fans thinking selling Godfrey for 20 million is a great deal. At what point he has had a top class, experienced defensive partner next to him for any length of time to learn from? He has all the attributes of a modern day, ball playing central defender, the comparisons with Rio Ferdinand are for more than just having him as his agent, and it's blindingly obvious that a number of very good sides are genuinely interested in him, but apparently he's not good enough for us... I'd argue that in many ways, we're not good enough for him, as we've never given him a top quality partner in the heart of the defence, combined with weak support from the midfield and fullbacks who can often be caught having to rely on their pace to even get back on a counter. Given the right support and better coverage from team mates, Godfrey could easily develop into a regular in the England back line, and play for any of the top 6-8 clubs in not just the Prem, but across Europe as well, but hey, let's rush him out the door and hope that Ryan Bennett will prove to be a stronger option.... Pure madness.

oh dear, out pop the not too bright check this year's accounts in November when they come out and I think you'll find that money was not banked, but used to clear debts, pay wages and pay bonuses from the promotion winning season that we didn't indebt ourselves as Bournemouth did is to be commended. not whined about

Consider the training ground we have now, the Youngsters we have, the depth of competition we have, the value of our players and the financial situation we are in. Where we are now as a business compared with 3 years ago. It will only look silly if the fans are impatient and the club can do nothing about that. The fans bought into this last season, proper fans (not idiots and glory hunters) stick with the club through thick and thin! Time for patience for the next two seasons at least!

I would say that financially we took a far more palatable medicine and refocused on youth development, and it's done us a power of good when we take everything into consideration over the last three years. We had a spell in the 1990s where we were pretty good at bringing youth along, and then it faded away somewhat when we went the tried-and-tested route in the Championship with the corresponding wage bill. The surprise Championship win, garnished with three regulars who were straight out of the youth team, and Cantwell who was almost a regular then, garnered a hell of a lot of goodwill as it came far faster than anyone could have expected. Not to mention, how many Championship-winning sides could say that about their teams nowadays?? I do think people are allowing the poor, indeed dreadful, run of form after the lockdown to overly influence their judgement. Sure, everyone's had the lockdown, but not everyone's had a lockdown and come back with half a defence missing after recovering from injury. For me, the expectations became a bit unrealistic after we went up, then the litany of defensive injuries really wrecked any chance we had. So, apologies to the OP, but I cannot accept this notion that the whole project is on a knife-edge. I maintain this is a side-effect of unrealistic expectations. Although I'll reserve the right to be a shade more critical if we don't get another centre-half in (or indeed if Famewo does not show enough, I strongly suspect Farke's going to do to him what he did with Matthews in that he'll get the pre-season to show what he can do, and if it doesn't look quite like it's going to stick, get someone else in). I'd also say, we look financially in a far better position than many in the Championship - the latest with Sheffield Wednesday should show why. Such prudence could well come back with quicker returns this season than we would expect.

Kevin Muscat I presume?

I'm confused, my Bexiteer friends assured me that the EU was breaking up, that the example sety by Brexit would eagerly be followed. How come satisfaction with the EU in Ireland is now 92%. Don't they know how much better global Britain will be. Or is this because Boris has gifted them Northern Ireland?

I’d be very disappointed if he left because for me he is the one most likely to get to top six level. He has pace, strength and stamina can drive forward, has a rocket of a shot and has a great long pass. I think it would be disingenuous to claim he’s had a great season as, to be honest, it’s not been easy for anyone to shine for us this year. However I firmly believe he has obvious potential to become top class which is why he is so sought after. Unfortunately I can’t see us holding on to him at Championship level so it will be about getting the best deal we can. £20m is well on the low side for me considering what that gets you now.

Absolutely. Most if I remember back had the attitude what will be will be. Most of us were then castigated by that Lakey guy telling us we had the wrong ideas and we should believe we could finish 4th or we weren’t helping the club, building this ridiculous expectation. I still believe however that Lockdown did for us and Watford. Watford I believe would have stayed up, Villa you couldn’t see where their next win was coming from. I still think we would have been relegated but we would have made a real fight of it. The last home game would have seen the players applauded for their efforts. We would all now be looking forward to kick off next week, but ten losses took that away. I just hope that negativity can go away with a good pre season.

It doesn't surprise me that it's being well received because every other signing has been criticised because "y is he not a defendur"

Personally think Godfrey will move on and prove how good he is. Dont get me wrong hes made mistakes and is still raw but put him with the right coach, next to another experienced centre half and he will flourish. Playing in a side where he isnt under pressure to be starting every single match if hes going through a iffy patch. Has all the attributes, speed, power, leader, passing range to be a top centre half.

Next in this series; Is this a watershed moment? How many games will you give Farke? When will we see the 'new' Norwich City? Is having a plan B enough? We wasted the parachute payments. Will the Boards luck run out? When we have a blip will we be able to recover? Have we benefitted from being in the worst Championship for a decade?

Long time away but probably time I stuck my head back in. Clear and obvious answer is "yes". 1st counter point - loans and recalls: If Oxborough and Mair are considered to be in need of experience, probably at lower levels, then I think it is safe to say that they are not considered to be ready for first team football just yet. With that in mind, would we have loaned them out with a recall? Oxborough maybe but Mair? Probably not. Then you have another issue. If you have both of those with a recall, in case the loan doesn't work out etc, or so you can switch loans if a better option comes up to develop them, and you get an injury and want an emergency loan, the likelihood is the league will turn the request down and point to the keepers you have on recall. So then you end up with a keeper you don't think is ready yet. Both scenarios far from ideal. 2nd counter point - get a keeper in now as competition for Krul and you get them bedded into the team, the style of play, knowing the defenders in front of them and the expectation of being a player at NCFC in the current set up. An emergency loan means that they may have a day to try and adapt to the surroundings including other players. We also may not have a lot of choice, it may be a keeper who is out of contract or who is 2nd or 3rd choice somewhere else. 3rd counter point - mainly re Bill. You are hopeful that your third choice is never called into action. Mainly because it means something has happened to both your 1st and 2nd choice keepers, which is not a situation you want to find your team in. Third choice keepers often are older keepers in the last few seasons of their careers or youngsters with very little experience. These days, usually the former. It's why Andy Marshall was at Villa until he was 38ish and at Millwall when 39. And how Robert Green managed to experience winning the Europa League in 2019 aged 39. It's not that they are not good enough, it's that like youngsters, they are unlikely to be able to replicate performances of a high enough standard consistently. You just need them as an emergency back up that you hope you never need. There are no if's, no buts and no maybe's. That is just simply how things are. You have typically two in a match day squad in case of an injury or red card. You have three in a squad to cover that eventuality in the next game when you need one on the bench. Youngsters don't get match day experience without playing.

I'd say teams have a timescale at a club instead of managers but understand what you're trying to say. Running a team is basically constant evolution. I agree that it's going to be exciting, but for me the excitement is going to be in how the new batch of youngsters come along.

Ok. Give us a few days. I'll check to see what is still in good nick and let you know.

Well we'd know exactly wouldn't we, if only the government and our intelligence services hadn't decided to ignore Russian interference into this country's affairs - and then tried to conceal the fact.

oh dear, you don't quite grasp what self-sufficient means it is not survival by funding through player sales it is about remaining competitive without having to run up debts through player purchases that our developing of our own players at low cost will see them move on is a bonus.... not a necessity

Whilst he was criticised heavily whilst with ncfc previously, he may well suit Farke's style of play and ticks the 'experience' box that we are looking to add. Bennett for Godfrey? No Bennett for Klose? I'd probably take that.

Considering the number of games NCFC went without an actual centre back available last season - i will happily take Bennett back... Bennett over Tettey at Centre Back EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!

What's next? Cureton to return?

The suggestion would be that we sign a few short term 'old hands' to have a decent go at promotion, then see where we are in May

good to see someone is keeping us updated on the goings on at poorman road

Bit like faking pictures with David Bowie

Yes, but I think our situation is different. 1) We know that this club has a conveyor belt of talent. Talent does leave and we are well set up for replacing it. 2) A number of these players joined Bournemouth because they were in the Premiership, ours were at the club before and possibly more engrained in the club itself. 3) We haven't lost our manager so we were already working on next season well before the end of this season, that preparation has stalled at Bournemouth without the coaching team in place.

already signed up. I suspect the anti vaxxers think its a hoax anyway so they'll have to tough it out in a non socially distanced world while the rest of us safely get back to normal.

Maybe they've got a 5 year plan and this promotion came a year too early.

Surely the better option for both parties (i.e. club and St holder) is simply to allow an option where you to defer for a season so the club gets to keep the money for cashflow purposes but your season ticket is deferred to the following season. If in the meantime it becomes possible to attend games then the ST holder gets first refusal on their seat for any game sit can be used for for a price that equates to the ST per game price? I.e. those us who have paid now have their season tickets for season 2021-22 secured and paid for but pay £21 per game (or whatever it works out as) for our seat for any games we can go to this season.

Brexit seems to be gifting a lot of stuff to other countries and entities. What we'll get in return is anyone's guess. It's Ironic that the biggest threat to the English nation is English nationalism.

Dear Sir, I think this is a bad idea. Mr P Ipswich.

I'm not sure whether he has the most potential (we'll have to wait and see), but I agree with what you're saying. I think people may be forgetting that he is the only 'yoof' player to be played in the middle of the pitch - his mistakes are going to be more costly. Centre backs peak slightly later than in other positions - he still has 6 years of developing to do. There are not many young centre backs playing regularly in the PL. Only Soyuncu (24, 34apps) and Konsa (22, 25apps) come close to his achievements at such a young age.

Good advice, but perhaps for newcomers have a practice run at changing the inner tube at home, or at least getting the tyre half off and then back again, so it is feasible to switch the inner tube.

Ah but Bill you missed the posting the President's PR team gave to the press - "fake news" in all it's glory.....

Clears throat.🤓

It’ll be interesting to see who Scunthorpe sign!?

I've read enough about the Oxford vaccine that I'd be happy enough to take the hit tomorrow if it meant knocking this way of life on the head. Would rather "take my chances" with that than contacting corona even if it likely wouldn't heavily damage me.

Harrogate 2 Ipswich Town 0 has a nice ring to it, season after next !

Personally I abandon anything that develops into a 'battle thread' as I've called them since the days of 1st Wiz. (Apart from that one thread with the diehard antagonist Leeds fan. I couldn't help myself there!)

I actually think Godfrey has the most potential of all our young players, he has leadership, versatility, strength, pace, an eye for goal, everything. His rise has been rapid from League One to Premier League in three years and while he is still rough round the edges I think he would thrive at a bigger club with better coaching and teammates.

You shouldn't judge people by their hair styles. 😂

To be honest £25m plus would be a good deal for us in my view. He's obviously got a lot of talent, all the right physical attributes along with the passing and dribbling ability. He is the perfect modern day CB for a big team. He is still very young and defenders tend to come into their prime closer to 30. He has the potential to be a £60m plus player in a few years. However, he is definitely replaceable at this current time, still has a lot of issues in his game and needs more experience playing against the best players. Two quality championship defenders could probably be brought in for 10 to 15m.

Honestly, what is it with people imposing labels on one another? Brexiteer, remainer, boomer, millenial, snowflake, leftie, rightie etc etc. If people stopped seeing each other for what's different and trying to put them down for that with stupid nicknames and tried to actually get on with each other, the world would be a much better place.

Sorry but there must have been two Surmans as the one I saw did a decent job for us, he played a lot in our promotion season didn’t he ?

More brexit stupidity No doubt it has escaped what limited thought the average brexiteer has, but the Eurotunnel is a joint venture between the UK and France. Therefore there has to be joint agreement on it's running. Which means an agreed method for resolving any disagreements, Up to now it has had such a method, It works, keeps the tunnel running smoothly and without disruption Sadly that is now threatened by brexiteer stupidity "“It would mean train drivers would have to have two sets of qualifications to drive on the British and French side of the tunnel. It would affect how you operate the tunnel with potential for divergence in the future on everything from signalling, voltage, the radio systems, the signalling system, ventilation, hydraulics. It would be like driving on the left- and right-hand side of the road at the same time,” said a source." https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/30/brexit-european-court-row-puts-eurotunnel-operations-at-risk

I will happily stand corrected but as I understand it Sheffield Wednesday had their ground bought at an inflated price by their owners and then bought back by a holding company for next to nothing that was owned by the club. I also understood Derby and Villa did exactly the same. As I understood it Derby were still awaiting their hearing and Villa were told nothing could be done until they were relegated.

Sheffield Wednesday new away kit

Before the club starts looking at how to operate the ballots, they need to know who can/wants to attend next season. If they ask all ST holders the below, rather than a few members of supporter groups, it might give a better understanding on the general mood. 1. Are you happy to attend Carrow Road during 20/21, and receive your ticket based on a ballot (households entered together)? 2. If you are not comfortable attending in 20/21, are you happy that your payment is kept (and continued payments made if paying via DD) secure your seat for 21/22? If the answer is 'no' to Q2, then they can look at refunds etc, but at least knowing the answers to the above will help work out how many fans they need to try and accommodate across the games with reduced capacity. No point making plans for ST holders to see 1 in 3 or 4, if in fact they can get away with 1 in 2 due to more people deciding not to attend.

'relegation fights' Have we ever fought relegation? 95 - Fell like a stone from a healthy Christmas position. 2004 - had a go, then when it really mattered got thumped 6-0 at Fulham. 2009 - Awful football, and two good hammerings at Ipswich and Charlton when we needed a result. 2014 - Lost 6 of last 7. 2016 Lost 6 of the last 7. 2020 Lost the 10 in a row, scoring 1 goal. We've never shown the stomach for it. Certainly has never been anything to get behind. I get the point regarding promotion, and to counter the abysmal stats above, we do seem to cope with the pressure of getting over the line in a promotion race. But I don't get all the anti-premier league stuff. Seems like sour grapes, or empty words to try and comfort. I want to see Norwich in the EPL every season, regardless of final position. Hopefully one day we can get there and be in a position to make ourselves competitive.

Not sure why some people feel it necessary to revel in the forthcoming misery of any set of opposition fans really, when the majority of supporters of any club are just normal decent people - even that lot down the road. Particularly at a club like Bournemouth where they are real fans, who actually go and watch the football, their failure to fill 800 seats suggests they didn't suffer an influx of Johnny come lately's, or have already shed them, so that's one positive to come out of all of this for them. I suppose Southampton hoovered up all the fickles and armchair graduates a few years before they won promotion. Only set of fans to come on here spouting nonsense this season have been Brighton. I suppose if your projected doomsday scenario did happen and a homeless and bankrupt Bournemouth did go under, you'd suddenly pretend this post never happened and you'd be expressing your deepest sympathy to the distraught fans?