Al Yellow

Oh well looks like you lot missed the boat ........ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7107705.stm The Celtic cup is to be played from February and features Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It''s likely to be played every other year ...... Don''t forget to tune in it''ll be great with or without England but it would be nice if we could see all the teams from these islands involved ......  

I think you may be on thin ice legally. Even if you can find a way round the EU legislation giving the right to work in any memebr state I would suggest you may as well tear up the Act of Union, lets put it this way there is no such thing as an English passport ....... whilst your aim is honourable, the world has moved on I suggest the real villans are excess money in the game and the lack of pride in playing for your national team that english players you could argue have demonstrated ....... A lack of English players at top clubs is at the root of the problem but that is not the fault of foreign players , it''s the TV money, the FA and the top England internationals ...... merely my humble opinion from the outside ....  

Ran for many many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Home_Championship this is the wikipedia entry link for the history of the competition    

The various FA''s would earn a decent amount of cash from any tournament, much need in all cases but even more so for the english FA who must be facing a massive loss after failing to qualify ...... I don''t see how a genuine competition of local derbies honestly competed, reinforcing the genuine idea of representing and taking pride in your country leaves anyone facing humiliation. If players are seen to throw themselves body and soul into a performance, put themselves on the line, then you can''t question them. If not, then yes that''s a fair point. I''m saying perhaps a home nations championship will be a chance to add that extra passion, pride, drive, spice. It makes sense for all the home nations ......  

Unless the various home FAs get together and arrange a home nations tournament....... It makes sense the English FA need the cash and it''s a good competitive tournament experience for the Celtic nations. Perhaps invite the Republic along too and call it the British Isles cup or Britain and Ireland cup? As a Scotland fan living down here I know the intense rivalry and passion between the nations. This tournament could be great ...... Get posting on message boards, get writing to the various FA''s, get the tabloids involved ...... This makes sense ....... Plus for all the England fans do you really want your over paid ''stars'' sitting on the beach counting their cash or would you rather they rediscover the passion and pride which should be international football? The rugby 6 nations is full of pride, passion and committment, a football 5 nations could be too.

We won''t be relegated through a defeat to a team clear at the top and likely to stay there, or thereabouts, for the rest of the year. We''ll stay up and get back to our recent position of mid table mediocrity by getting results against teams from 11th down.  

The simple reality is this. This club needs a cash injection in order to get to the stage of genuinely competing for promotion. To change the business model you need anough cash to buy a majority of shares, you need to take on the debt servicing (bearing in mind the shortfall following the loss of parachute payments). You also need enough cash to splash on player investments to put us even into a top half of the championship position. This takes seriously deep pockets. Remember there are no guarantees you''ll get your money back on players at resale. There are no guarantees on cashflows, think gate receipts (full houses at the moment - which way are those sales going), TV revenues (minimal), merchandising. Now let''s think about our hypothetical investor. He or she is rational, or should be given the fact they have made sufficent cash in business to be in a position to think about buying a football club, how are they going to make money from buying the club? Yes you have future TV revenue if you get into the prem but the reality is that you have to blow that on players and salaries to stay there and keep the cash flowing. The real reason for clubs getting bought up is that they can sell future overseas tv rights seperately and they can shift serious units of merchandising. Big in the US, big in China that''s the trade they''re doing. Our club isn''t in that league. Our investor can cherry pick from anywhere in the lower part of the prem, anywhere in the championship looking for a club to get secure cashflows from and try and create value by suggesting they can break to the next level eg upper Prem, prem middle, staying up in the prem ...... Once this value is created maybe they can then sell out to someone with even bigger pockets. There are a limited number of seats at the big table. There is a limited period of time before the owners up there stop inviting paupers to sit at the table for a meal or two. The premiership will shut iteld off or a more limited euopean super league will be created. Clubs like ours are two far away to be worth a gamble on making it before the door slams shut. The few investors about would rather look at a Charlton, a west Brom that sort of thing, better odds This leaves us with local investors who want a play thing (throw money at with no guarantees) or a continuation with the struggle to break even. We are simply victims of fottball being the worst run industry on the planet. Investment in football is, in my humble opinion, a mugs game and you need very rich mugs at that ........ I think a number of factors count against the club in attracting the investment needed to turn things around and I just can''t see a white knight(s) with a deranged look in their eyes riding over the horizon .... depressing as it seems ......  

Grant had the guts to face up to his personal responsibility for the clubs current predicament. I have enormous respect for the guy for that. Whilst the traditional view always seems to be that the buck stops with the manager I''d like to think the Board and the playing staff are taking a long hard look at themselves this morning. Grant is currently the only one I have respect for. The rest of you should face up to your own personal failures and admit to them ....... Only then can you all move forward with a clean slate from the fans ...... Good luck Peter Grant.  

A total of three posts? This message board should hang it''s many heads in shame.  

I''d like to say how sorry I am to see Chris Sutton forced to retire through an eye injury when he may have fancied another season or two. He was a great servant for my two clubs, Norwich and Celtic, and I''d like to wish him well with whatever he looks to do next. Well done Chris, you''re a legend.  

It''s time for football as a whole, from the premiership to the conference, to be run on a sound financial basis. It is the worst run industry in UK PLC.  

Dion and our fixture list have just got me worried  

It is entirely up to him which international set-up he wishes to go for, he will have been aware of the teams he qualifies for ....... Perhaps he views it less cynically than which squad will be easier to get into ....... but then again england, no goals in umpteen matches and floundering and Scotland heading the group, mmmmm!!!!!! ...... It''s all about who you identify with, personally as the son of a Glaswegian I''ve always supported Scotland and would have wanted to play for them if I''d been a sportsman ...... Good luck to the young lad either way ......

Just texted a mate who''s a season ticket holder at love street and asked his opinion, his response:       ''Well he''s not too quick, can''t really tackle, does nay score many, can''t take it past anyone BUT can cross a ball. I think we''ve done ok out of the deal''. I merely post this for information, it''s one persons view but he know''s his football. At least once we see Lappin play it will help answer the question of the relative level between the top flight in Scotland and the second tier in england. I went to two St. Mirren games last year (their first division championship season) and saw decent passing football and committment from the team.    

Well I guess at least we get 50% of the gate receipts, which at circa £60 per person, plus the tv money. May be some compensation for any embaressment caused.   Magic of the cup in the modern game? Watching the chelsea forest game yesterday I kept seeing an advertising hoarding which read "chelseafc.money.com" ...... Summed up the modern game rather neatly to me ..... With increased prize money in the Premiership starting soon they may as well melt down the FA cup and sell it for scrap ....... or perhaps just stick the top 8 premiership teams only in the cup.  

Wizard et al The situation is simple. If you think this club can be run better get out there and put a consortium together. Raise the funds and approach the board with your proposals. Let the rational shareholders deceide if your business ideas stack up and see if your investors will write you a cheque. Delia put her money where her mouth is. She put that capital at risk and built a club on sound financial grounds. A viable business not some plaything for a bored oligarch. We came close after the ITV digital to seeing numerous clubs go to the wall including ours. The lessons were there, football must be run as a business. I would love to see us splash the cash and bring in a host of stars to get us up to the Premier and keep us there but I wouldn''t like to do that at the risk of the club going bust. If anyone out there can do better they should put forward their serious proposals .....  

Best get it all off your chest in the next week or so as anti-age discrimination legislation comes into effect on October 1st. Now about that old addage ''If you''re old enough you''re good enough'' ....... oh hang on have I got that right?!!  

Let me start by saying I was firmly in the Out camp last season. I felt we needed to shake things up an rebuild the squad over the summer. The board, however, chose to hang onto Worthy and that is their perrogative they after all own a controlling stake and it''s their money that''s at stake. This season I started out very worried about the size of our squad and as the transfer window got closer and closer the fears grew. Our squad clearly lacks the depth it needs. I find it hard to blame Worthy for this. The board sets the budget for the manager. We also have to contend with the geographical problem (don''t shoot me for this but the reality is every player has to up sticks and move house, leaving family, friends, taking the kids out of school to come and play for us - other clubs may mean an extra 20 minutes in the car from their existing homes - we have to contend with this fact). The result was we went into September with an underweight squad and our only option to improve this situation is the loan market, which is far from ideal. A major problem I had with Worthy was the style of play. Last season I didn''t feel entertained from my visits to Carrow road. This year the matches I''ve seen (and I''m not a season ticket holder so I haven''t seen every match - please don''t play the ''true fan'' game because I''m not interested) we''ve played decent football. I''ve come away entertained, excited and feeling like the long journey has been worthwhile. I want to see Norwich play the ball on the deck, have wide men with pace and an ability to pick out a pass. This is what I''ve enjoyed since I''ve been going to watch Norwich since the mid ''80s. Yes the results matter but so does the style. In this way Worthy, with the aid of Hunter, has answered my main problem with him. So do I say Worthy in or out? Now I''ve suprised myself with my answer, I think Worhy is as good a man as any to lead us through until the transfer window opens again. This is his squad picked to play his new system. We''ve had good results amongst the recent disasters. Given the size of our squad and the fact that we are into the season now we have to stick with what we have and hope to be in a decent enough position come december and hopefully the arrival of the cavalry. The real issue lies with the board. And there we must ask a number of questions: Firstly what is the financial situation of the club? What are the ambitions of this club? Are the two mutually compatable? Has Worthington been given a fair crack of the whip over the summer or has he been set up to fail? What happens come December? The problem we have is if he goes then we need to get a new manager. Without being able to answer these questions it''s very difficult top know the liekly calibre of any replacement. We may have to prepare for the idea that perhaps the real villan here isn''t Mr Worthington at all. Give him until mid November and then we deceide because there isn''t much that can be done now anyway ......  

Great to see the team play so well. Passing football, two wide men, shape to the team, pace, control. It''s the style of play I love to see us play. Not a single player had a bad match and they looked like they really enjoyed themselves. Good atmosphere too. Well done to the players, management and fans, lets keep this up. Fantstatic!  

Strangely I''m quite looking forward to the game tonight given the misery being peddled. I''m not a fan of Worthy by a long way but the board made their decision to keep him in the hot seat for the start of the season. So far we''ve lost one game but, according to most reports (I wasn''t there, I''m sorry) we played some decent passing football in the Norwich style of old. If we play like that I''ll be happy and entertained. I think a win would be fantastic and steady the nerves of the fans which are all a bit frayed. Lets give all this I''m a better fan than you lark a rest it''s a bit ridiculous. I consider myself a fairly medicocre fan, I expect to see maybe ten home games a season and a handful of away games. To do so I''ll spend a fair amount of cash and time travelling but that is a choice we all make. I don''t naturally think that if someone has been to every game they have more right to an opinion than me but I am prepared to listen. I''ll be there tonight, I''m looking forward to it, and will be cheering the team on. I''ll be making my judgements come late September when I''ll have seen a few performances.  

  Herb, touch of the little englanders about your comment. Scottish football doesn''t deserve your scorn. I saw more passing quality football in my two visits to watch St. Mirren (who ended up champions of the Scottish first division last year) than I did at Carrow Road last year. Celtic are a massive club and Sutton was a massive player for them. I''d be overjoyed to see Chris back on a ''pay as you play contract''. He can play just about anywhere on the park, and has the experience to back up his class. I was at the first match when he moved up from the back and I''s just love to see him finish his career properly in a yellow shirt.  

Before I clicked on the link I was worried it was going to be a picture of a couple of people crammed into a photo booth at Norwich station.  

It''s Friday afternoon so it must be time for ''I''m a better fan than you'' ........  

[quote user="Sons of Boadicea"] I am really worried about this post, when things were really bad, worse than they are now, the fans left in their droves. Pre the Play Off Final the club struggled to attract crowds of 15,000, so Dicky I would have to disagree with your statement, what I would say there is a hard core of around 15,000 fans who will support the club through thick and thin (and I am one of those 15,000). The club has traded heavily on the post Cardiff and post Promotion euphoria, making bold claims about the future direction of the club (Onwards and upwards, European football 5 seasons etc), I believe the club has not really managed the expectations of the fans all that well, and that last season a few chickens came home to roost.  [/quote] I think Sons of Boadicea has grasped the subtlety of it here. The point is there is no generic supporter, the fan base is made up of individuals who are a blend of supporter and a comsumer of an entertainment product. People will vote with their feet if they feel the product is not worthy (no pun intended) of the cash and time they are spending on it. Each person will have different level of fan elasticity but it is there. It is not that long ago that I watched games at Carrow road amongst a hardy 12,000 or so fellow sufferers. We should not take for granted a 20k + crowd. The very fact that fans are voicing their opinions so fervantly on these and other boards shows the depth of feeling this support consumption battle within so many fans generates. People feel so strongly for their club but hate to be short changed. For my part I want to see the club suceed but that has to be as a viable business as well as on the field. This is a difficult balancing act, in the main, because the overall football industry is so badly run. The board back the manager and I hope they are committing the transfer budget they have identified as sustainable and not holding the vcash back for a possible change in management later in the season. In the meantime the fans have every right to ask questions and debate the issues, we have a stake in this club emotionally but also remember how many of us are shareholders in the club. We have every right to question and anyone who suggests otherwise is illiberal.  

Supporters yes, but also customers of Norwich City football club. These customers are unhappy with the product on offer. Now I for one am reserving judgement until I''ve seen how the squad performs over the first handfull of games but I defend the right of these customers of NCFC to voice their opinions, Blind support is a little niot Stalinist for my liking but each to their own .....