Jump to content

Jonncfc

Members
  • Content Count

    267
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by Jonncfc

  1. You''re denying the realities of being a passionate and involved football supporter. What do you think should happen? A gentle round of insincere applause for another inept performance? An outburst of unquestioning cheering from the masses, North Korea style? Or genuine reaction from those who have a right to express their concern at the Club''s current (lack of) direction.
  2. [quote user="Dorset Canary"] For all we know Alex, Delia & Co may well have sat around the table and concluded that the failing players aren''t really good enough but will give their experience one more season to get back in the Prem. Then end of this season start a clear out saving some experience to blend with youth and drop to a 3 year plan to return to the top flight with the youngsters who will by then be more experienced.[/quote] That said, for all we know they probably (hopefully) have decided nothing of the sort. Adopting a 3-year plan to get back when we currently have an allegedly strong squad and the parachute payments would be unambitious and defeatist in the extreme.
  3. The Championship has always been a competitive league. However, as we are allegedly one of those with a strong squad full of Premier League and international experience, and as we have had the benefit of a season Premier League income and now the parachute money, we really should be competing far more effectively. Many who go to matches every week, home and away, and witness first hand the consistent underperformance, do not share your apparent willingness to accept mediocrity.
  4. Getting back to the original point, though, and casting aside the question of whether LDC was simply voicing a firmly held conviction or was being deliberately obtuse, I suppose it comes down to what supporters can and should reasonably expect. Looking at the medium term, we''re pretty much as we were 20 years ago apart from the fact that we are, seemingly, in a more sustainable position financially. Sure, we''ve had the peaks and troughs of promotions and relegations and there have been some seasons of genuine excitement (Lambert years and Wembley 2 seasons ago) but by and large we''ve probably not progressed much as a club, if at all. Going back further, though, we''re clearly not performing to the level we did from 1972 to 1994: Wembley 3 times, Milk Cup win, finishing 5th, 4th and 3rd, 2 FA Cup semis, qualifying for Europe 4 times (in reality only once due to the ban). That said, we were, perhaps, not in the best state financially and we all know how it ended. Nevertheless, the Club has clearly fallen back from those heights and, on the pitch, has become consistently mediocre. Probably for many who go week in, week out, what concerns them most is the apparent acceptance of that mediocrity and underperformance by those in positions of authority. Clubs of a similar size have shown that it is entirely possible to consolidate their position in the Prem and to actually compete with realistic chances of finishing in the top half and possibly getting in to Europe. We do not seem to show the same level of ambition and that is what drives the underlying frustration. So, for the long-term good of the Club, what is better? Politely applauding in an insincere way another appalling performance or letting the team, manager and Board know that the current situation simply isn''t acceptable? For many, if they''re being true to themselves, it has to be the latter.
  5. [quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]I accept 3pts is 3pts ni matter who you get them off but I was quite shocked when I noticed it especially in relegation seasons in the past we have always got some wins against the top sides. On a plus note the stats at least give confidence that we will not go down[/quote] Hope you''re right, YC, although the current form table suggests otherwise and unless the tide turns pretty quickly it won''t be long before we''re looking a bit more anxiously at the bottom 3.
  6. Not sure that Hodgson would necessarily be as bad a choice as you suggest. Unlike pretty much all of our appointments over the last 10 or so years he does, at least, have a track record of managing with a degree of success at high levels. I think, more to the point, he''d be highly unlikely to want to come here anyway and I doubt that we''d be willing to pay the wages that a manager of that level would expect.
  7. Who knows? We have 3 tough games coming up: Reading away, Brentford away and Derby at home. Although it''s possible we might turn things around and put together a good run, picking up points from all of these, the current form table suggests that this is highly unlikely. We could well find ourselves firmly in the bottom half by 2nd January and nicely positioned for a concerted push for the bottom 3 places by the end of the season.
  8. Actually, at nearly the mid-point of the season it''s a very telling statistic. If you can''t beat, or even draw, with the teams who are In the top half then you really can''t be considered a serious promotion challenger. We''re in free-fall, 15 points off second and beginning to lose touch with the play-off places. The league table doesn''t lie. It''s been a year and a half of failure and the Board, surely, must recognise that.
  9. To answer the question "What do you think''s changed", the answer, sadly, seems to be "nothing". With hindsight you can probably attribute the good run followed by promotion via the play-offs to short-term new manager "bounce". Last season can surely only be seen as a complete failure (you''d have to be an extreme optimist to see relegation as anything else) and this season risks becoming an absolute disaster. An apparently strong squad regularly not producing the sum of its parts with the coaching and management staff seemingly unable to reverse the downward spiral. Surely this can''t be allowed to continue much longer.
  10. [quote user="Creative Midfielder"]I don''t have any problem with people shouting or booing if that is what they really think but I have to agree that for several years now the ''support'', in the true sense of the word, at Carrow Road has been absolutely pathetic. I don''t get to all the games and probably see about a 50/50 mix of home and away, and am always struck nowadays by how quiet Carrow Road is, whichever way things are going. The crowd, in general, seems completely passive - they certainly do absolutely nothing to ''support'' the team when things aren''t going well, and get mildly excited when things are going well. Its probably my age talking but it didn''t used to be like that, and it also used to be a lot of fun![/quote] Many reasons for this.. The change from standing on the terraces to sitting in grandstands has meant that the average supporter has become less of an active participant and more of a dispassionate observer. Also the demographic of average supporters has certainly changed over the last 30 or so years, not least because of the cost of a ticket, and that has resulted in a less volatile and more "family friendly" atmosphere. Safer, yes, but far less exciting. Ah, nostalgia''s not what it used to be.
  11. [quote user="lake district canary"]Today has gone. So on to the next one. Beat Stoke by 5. Leap frog them, reduce our GD to -17.Stoke''s GD goes up to -19.A performance like against ManCity and Spurs should do it - with the deserved goals added of course. [/quote] Or then again, perhaps another shambles of a performance and another game nearer to our inevitable relegation.
  12. Ruddy, without a doubt. Two absolutely superb saves, the second of which in the final minute of injury time was almost beyond belief. Great performance and great result.
  13. For the first time I can remember I didn''t receive a fixture list with my season ticket.  Did anyone get one?  Got lots of stuff advertising credit cards etc but no fixture list.  I know the dates will all be subject to change due to television coverage etc but still good to have a handy wallet-sized thingy to keep up to date with who we''re due to play next.  Harumph.
  14. Don''t quite understand this.  Unless I''m missing something blatantly obvious (wouldn''t be the first time), this is a bit of a ridiculous argument. Yes, it would be good for the future fan-base of the Club if occasional/casual/new supporters could get in to watch matches from time to time and that''s exactly what they have been able to do for virtually every match for many years.  Tickets have gone on general sale for all but the handful of "big" games and they have also been available for every match on "buy back" for those deciding on a whim to turn up and queue.  Equally, the consistently healthy season ticket sales allow the Club to have a far more predictable income and thereby to be far more credible in its business dealings.  I really don''t understand how such good season ticket sales could be considered as anything other than a good thing, but then again some people with very bizarre chips on their shoulders seem either unable to move forwards from the 1970s or consider it all as some sort of right wing policy designed to disenfranchise the working class.It seems to me that the balance is absolutely right.  Outstanding level of support as shown through consistently impressive season ticket sales whilst there is still the facility for occasional supporters to come to matches if they wish by getting tickets when they go on general sale or via the "buy back" scheme.  So why the argument? 
  15. [quote user="Gerry Harrison"]If Swansea fail to win today, we will not finish any lower than third, so at least we''ll know the dates of our possible play off games. Come on Millwall![/quote]Not necessarily.  I read somewhere that the dates would be switched depending on where Nottingham Forest finish although I''ve no idea why that should make a difference.
  16. It''s a bank holiday and there will probably be major hold-ups on the motorways so not surpised they''re leaving early.
  17. We did that last season away at Orient and ended up losing.  Let''s not tempt fate by having a "promotion party" when we haven''t actually been promoted! 
  18. [quote user="BedfordCanary"]Seeing as pompey is our last away game of the season, and probably are most important away game of the season, are people dressing up in fancy dress? Lets create a carnival atmopshere in our end and spur the lads on to victory, and show the viewers on skysports how blooming good our fans our! Also, what pub are most heading to for pre-match drinks?[/quote]This match is much much too important to turn it into some sort of end of season "carnival atmosphere" fancy dress party.  We need 100% focus and passion both on and off the pitch for the full 97 minutes.  Keep it real, keep it yellow and green!  Hopefully you can have your "carnival atmosphere a couple of weeks later in front of City Hall but at the moment there is far too much to play for.  Nothing to celebrate yet and let''s not tempt fate by putting on silly pirate costumes!
  19. I think it works well even if it is a bit contrived.But, I do wish everyone would actually sing all of the last line before launching-in to "City...City... etc" at the end.  "Hurrah, we''ve scored a goal" never gets further than "Hurrah, we''ve scored".  Is this because everyone is in too much of a hurry or is it because many of those singing it don''t know the words?
  20. A bit contrived but so what?  It works and it generates a good old noise.  The only bit I''d whinge about (and it''s the same every time we sing OTBC) is that everyone is in such a hurry to finish the song that we never complete the last line properly - whatever happened to "... a goal"?
  21. In 40 years of supporting City through thick and thin there''s been plenty of thin and really not very much thick at all.  Winning the third division (assuming we do) might not sound much compared with beating Bayern Munich but, hey, let''s make the most of it.  We might not win anything else for a very long time and life is short!
  22. Although I was standing towards the back at our end at the 1985 Wembley final I remember being surpised when I later saw the televised highlights at the number of Sunderland supporters that had managed to get in to our end as there seemed to be a large number of them massed in the middle at the front.  I was reminded of this when watching the 25th anniversary DVD and wondered how quite that many of them managed to get tickets for our end. 
  23. Losing at Carlisle was probably the best thing that could have happened. Gave us a timely kick up the backside and made sure complacency didn''t set in.
  24. David James for Liverpool at Carrow Road quite a few years ago.  We had a corner and Chris Sutton was putting himself about a bit.  Ball came over and James went up and caught it but didn''t much like the close attention from Sutton although the ref seemed quite happy.  James got a bit upset and decided to kick Sutton in the shin which, sadly for him, was witnessed by all in the ground including the ref who promtly gave us a penalty from which we scored.  We went on to win the match. 
  25. Frankly who cares?  If people want to boo then they will boo.  If they want to cheer then they will cheer.  There were 23,500 there yesterday and anyone who thinks that a unanimous response to anything from that number is deluding themselves.  Just because someone expresses an opinion that doesn''t fit with your own doesn''t maen they''re not entitled to express it.  We do, allegedly, live in a democracy!
×
×
  • Create New...