Rhiadd

Even the most optimistic supporter harboured the same secret knowledge that every fan shared regarding this new season. The best players in this league were always going to be more successful against our best players than their predecessors last season. The managers and tactics this season were always going to be more difficult to succeed against than was the case a year ago. The learning curve was always going to be steeper. For me the great enjoyment this campaign is going to be watching how the entire organisation learns the lessons that are necessary for success. Time and patience is required. No, for me, nothing has changed. The glass is very much half full.

I remember it well. Travelled to every game with my father, my uncles and cousins. Even the mothers were interested by the later rounds and it became a family affair at White Hart Lane. I was very small and can remember those huge crowds surging forward and as they did so, the small fry were lifted up and off their feet. We stood under the old clock in the corner at Carrow Road. I remember it all, the itchy green and yellow scarf, the ribbon bedecked rattles (I still have mine), the whingers and moaners who saw nothing but doom and gloom, (one or two still around I see as I page through this site on a regular basis). I have travelled almost continuosly since those days but where ever I have lived on this planet I have never lost the love of the game and in particular the absolute joy of those times. I listen to the game commentary so easily today but in years past the earliest you could get results in far away corners, was the newspaper on Monday mornings. Always a tingle of joy when we won and a dull thud in the belly when we lost. Much has changed, and those memories are one of the easiest ways to put some perspective on the vast wages, massive egos and arrogance that today often seem to pervade "the beautiful game".

Hello Andy: Could you send me the link too when you have a moment. Will be watching in Canada. Thank you

Here''s one. Watching from a tiny town on Georgian Bay.

Bobby Brennan must have smiled watching Hoolahan today.

It would, But of course that is not all he has done is it? As we all remember he did have a little success as the club''s manager. Somewhat more than others any way.

Just a suggestion.

No dream team. Simply three who will know the players, the form, the dressing room and the fans...well. They will provide time which will perhaps allow the decision on the next manager to be a little more successful then past efforts.

    A time for calm and circumspection.   Dave Stringer assisted by Bryan Gunn and Neil Adams for the rest of the season while everybody draws a deep breath.  

An emergency re-organization. A trio of football heads until the end of the season. Dave Stringer as the field bench boss. Bryan Gunn and Neil Adams on the phones and at Colney. Recall the young players. Roeder assigned to scouting talent. His arrogance will finally be useful and he will re-sign at little or no cost to the club.

Arrogance - stubborness - pride - insecurity and intolerance. What a dreadful combination. Was this all hidden in the initial interviews or does the board really not have any clue at all. Lupoli played as a last resort - I can''t wait to hear the post match comments.

Manage the Manager. Unfortunately it has been obvious from very early on in Glenn Roeder''s tenure that he is an autocratic and arrogant man who at least in public does not seem interested at all in the opinion of others. Usually these are not the first things you look for in a leader. They do however make for a fine dictator. It began with Huckerby. Forget footballing skill for a moment-Roeder needed to get rid of a player who maintained great fan loyalty and was much more than a ''favourite player''. He was a rival for focus and opinion, so out he went. That was a clear warning of what was to come. The gutting of the club - players, staff and infrastructure is as much a sign of huge insecurity as it is objective management. If good results follow, fine, put up with the rough edges. If they do not call it what it is - poor decision making, a lack of managerial wisdom and on the pitch, catastrophic team tactics.Obviously, the financial problems of the club do not allow for much change - except perhaps one. The management must manage the manager. Hire on a short term contract ( to the end of the season) an executive in charge of football operations, Someone who is tough and adept. Direct Mr. Roeder to follow certain guidelines. Radical certainly but it happens enough  in North Americam sports business to prove it''s effectiveness.  If Mr. Roeder does not like it, he can resign at no additional cost to the club! The solution to what is happening on the pitch clearly lies with the circumstances and individuals found off it. Reduce Mr. Roeder''s ability to control every facet of Norwich City Football Club. The board could and should do it but they lack pure footballing acumen. What does Mr. Roeder do well? Let him do that and nothing more. Manage the manager.

Unfortunately is has been obvious from very early on in Glenn Roeder''s tenure that he is an autocratic and arrogant man who at least in public does not seem interested at all in the opinion of others. Usually these are not the first things you look for in a leader. They do however make for a fine dictator. It began with Huckerby. Forget footballing skill for a moment-Roeder needed to get rid of a player who maintained great fan loyalty and was much more than a ''favourite player''. He was a rival for focus and opinion, so out he went. That was a clear warning of what was to come. The gutting of the club - players, staff and infrastructure is as much a sign of huge insecurity as it is objective management. If good results follow, fine, put up with the rough edges. If they do not call it what it is - poor decision making, a lack of managerial wisdom and on the pitch, catastrophic team tactics.Obviously, the financial problems of the club do not allow for much change - except perhaps one. The management must manage the manager. Hire on a short term contract ( to the end of the season) an executive in charge of football operations, Someone who is tough and adept. Direct Mr. Roeder to follow certain guidelines. Radical certainly but it happens enough  in North Americam sports business to prove it''s effectiveness.  If Mr. Roeder does not like it, he can resign at no additional cost to the club! The solution to what is happening on the pitch clearly lies with the circumstances and individuals found off it. Reduce Mr. Roeder''s ability to control every facet of Norwich City Football Club. The board could and should do it but they lack pure footballing acumen. What does Mr. Roeder do well? Let him do that and nothing more. Manage the manager.

As a small boy standing on the old open terraces of Carrow Road with my Father one of my most vivid memories is of four team officials parading around the pitch with a blanket stretched between them into which the crowd threw whatever they could afford. Yes, the team was that hard up. The next year 1959, we had the cup run. Since then, wherever I have lived in the world, first thing on Monday mornings I would check the local paper for Norwich City results. Now I listen on-line. Lots of changes in some ways and in others, none at all. We still sell our best players, we still struggle for money, we still howl about a lack of ambition. Today it is very much a rich person''s game. A truly rich person''s game. While Delia Smith and the Turners may be very well off indeed compared to most of us, they cannot afford to really compete at a high level and cannot afford to fund rampant ambition. It requires the Peter Cullum''s of the world, like it or not. Without some entity that can afford to fund their hobby at a very high level we are like the majority of football fans - left to enjoy a few highs and seemingly a great many more lows. These things however do seem to mix together well and are completely addictive. I shall continue to hope we attract a Peter Cullum, sign a striker who can actually score, train Mr. Roeder to be a great deal less arrogantly autocratic and stop ordering the ball to be passed endlessly sideways, return to the Premiership as less than a doormat and in general win everything there is to win. If none of that happens, I shall be content with Bly''s goal against Tottenham, the three in the snow against Manchester United, the crush of forty thousand plus singing their hearts out  during the Sheffield triumph and the deep sadness when listening at school to the Luton replay on the once and only treat of a radio in the classroom. It''s a funny old game.