John

We''ve thrown in the towel too many times when it counted, whether it was against an Aston Villa team rooted at the bottom of the table, a Palace side with no wins in 14 and a dreadful home record, or today. In addition midtable teams such as Bournemouth, Swansea, Watford, Stoke and Southampton simply found it too easy to cast as aside at times.Combine all that with plain bad fortune, against the likes of Liverpool at home or Newcastle away, and you have a perfect recipe for relegation.It''s early days to call it but i can''t help shrug off the niggling feeling that it just wasn''t meant to be.Today''s the day i have one eye looking beyond the horizon and another campaign in the Championship. In the event of relegation i honestly hope Alex Neil could ride the undoubted stream of * he''d likely have coming his way and continue building at the helm of the club.

Would our board have even thought to appoint Alex Neil during the summer in 2014? I highly doubt it.

Seems we''re managing a few good spells we don''t seem to be causing much of a threat against a vulnerable defence.I''m slightly fearful of the efffects of the possible effects of losing Bassong, Tettey and Grabban at once. Could that be our spine?And i simply have no faith in Cuellar at the back. Already been not all that more than a few inches away from giving a penalty. ... Fears allayed somewhat, c''mon Howson!

[quote user="John"]To be fair what Purple is saying is perfectly reasonable. Should it be that we are by most, if not by all accounts, charging among the highest prices for tickets in the Championship (whether it be away, casual or season tickets) would unlikely be a surprise to any Norwich fan (club itself included) i imagine; and that this would garner bad press wouldn''t be a surprise to anyone either. However that the press would be in furore about it doesn''t necessarily mean that Norwich fans will share that sentiment and get hyped up and start a series of protests lambasting the club for extorting it''s fanbase. As per the Hughton saga, outside of the staff at the club we''re -for the most part- among the most qualified people in the country to speak current on issues concerning Norwich City directly, and i imagine i''m not among the few who support Norwich City that can understand the club''s position on the matter, and where a protest couldn''t be further from my mind.I find myself agreeing with both morty and PC, yet i wouldn''t say i''m sufferring from any cognitive dissonance (on this issue at least).[/quote]Sorry i''d probably better placed to say ''fans in general'' in the context of the debate, the tone of the OP (should we take it for granted he''s a City fan) has thrown me.

To be fair what Purple is saying is perfectly reasonable. Should it be that we are by most, if not by all accounts, charging among the highest prices for tickets in the Championship (whether it be away, casual or season tickets) would unlikely be a surprise to any Norwich fan (club itself included) i imagine; and that this would garner bad press wouldn''t be a surprise to anyone either. However that the press would be in furore about it doesn''t necessarily mean that Norwich fans will share that sentiment and get hyped up and start a series of protests lambasting the club for extorting it''s fanbase. As per the Hughton saga, outside of the staff at the club we''re -for the most part- among the most qualified people in the country to speak current on issues concerning Norwich City directly, and i imagine i''m not among the few who support Norwich City that can understand the club''s position on the matter, and where a protest couldn''t be further from my mind.I find myself agreeing with both morty and PC, yet i wouldn''t say i''m sufferring from any cognitive dissonance (on this issue at least).

£40 for a second tier match is certainly excessive, but i''m taking morty''s side here. Truth is, Norwich City FC is the only Championship club to fill a 20,000+ seater week-in week-out, showing the demand for what''s on supply, and at it''s stated price, is there.I think the issue of ticket prices comes second to stadium expansion for a club like ours with a whole host of loyal fans on season ticket waiting lists (not forgetting those who don''t bother, only due to the long and indeterminable amount of time it takes to finally get to the front of the queue). But then it''s also hard to blame the club for not doing so (i.e. expanding) without a brief look at our fairly recent history and all the dire trouble our last expansion got us into. As such most intelligent Norwich fans are likely to prefer the board bide it''s time until it can make a practical, low risk attempt at it.Only when expansion comes about do i think we can rightly look to the club to reduce ticket prices and so make league football in Norfolk all the more accessible, and thus build the foundations for further generations across demographic barriers to join in (no doubt such high prices do ultimately limit us in the long term).Perhaps if a nation wide protest demanding the Football League sanction some rules, or caps, on ticket prices altogether gathers steam it might rouse a few fans in Norfolk to wade in. But the way i see it is that Norwich are among those Football League clubs with the least incentive to alter prices at the moment.

As Darel Russell described his attmpts at "tippy tappy" football at the back and his showing off to Troy Deeney last night, i couldn''t help wince and sigh thinking to myself ''typical''. Alongside the ''gun pose'' incident on twitter and his aledged ''throwing the rattle out the pram'' fiasco during Adams'' reign, he seems to me quite plainly vain, immature and outright dumb.Mind it''s a condition shared among a great many of talented footballers these days; in this sense Bassong is far from unique among a group of exceptional athletes who show signs of unmistakeable narcissism and lack of intelligence (thanks to living a life with as complicated a routine as that of a hampster in a cage adorned with a state of the art wheel). As such i fail to take Bassong''s case specifically to heart or else i then find myself loathing the nature of the modern game as a whole.Since he''s a talented footballer, and i must indulge my passion for Norwich City, i''d have to say let him play so long as he can be considered an asset and set him adrift when he''s of no longer use. Right now, under Alex Neil''s strict discipline, i suggest he''s showing sufficient signs of improvement and will continue to play for at least a good while now.

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"]Very few will probably admit it now.     [/quote]I wouldn''t use the word "admit" nutty as that implies some kind of guilt! He was the obvious choice in the summer, as the directors decided. I don''t know enough about Wigan to understand why he is doing so badly. It may be the textgate furore that erupted some time after he effectively turned us down has unsettled him. Or perhaps, bearing in mind Rosler''s failure, there are some deep-seated problems at Wigan. He might have been a roaring success here. It all emphasies the point, which sometimes gets forgotten, that picking a manager is not a science, with predictable results. At the level from which we get to select, every choice is to a greater or lesser extent a gamble.[/quote]It''s a science all right, however just like the theory of phlogiston was once the science for fire and reined up until the late 18th century, it''s a rather poor one at the moment (and looks to be so for the forseeable future).

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Branston Pickle"]Actually, Ricardo, I know what you''re saying but I''d personally go for 1984/5 - 1986/7 if I were going for my favourite three-year spell, under Ken Brown - 84 was my first full season going and included trip to see us win a Wembley final; we got relegated but then won the title and subsequently had our best ever top flight finish.[/quote]Those years were enjoyable enough but for sheer excitement they pale into insignificance when compared with those countless last minute drama''s of the Lambert years. We went from our lowest point and worst home defeat in 50 years to Premier League riches. From a crippling debt to the promise of a debt free future. In a lifetime of supporting NCFC, I''ve never seen anything like it and never expect to see it''s like again.I''m sorry but although his departure left a bitter taste, I can''t bring myself to find any joy in his current predicament.PL will always retain a God like status in my eyes and his unique place in our history can never be downgraded but what came after.[/quote]All the little sub-plots. Of course we had the Colchester debacle, losing to a joint record scoreline at home to our seasons'' rivals (so low was that low point in our clubs history), appointing their manager a week later, and going on the magnificent journey that we did. Remember when we first started hitting our stride and had our fixture away against (the table toppers and major favourites at the time) Leeds? We gave a spirited account of ourselves at Elland Road, with the game at 1-1 deep into injury time, only for a rare Forster miskick in the final seconds to place the ball at Leeds'' top scorer Beckford''s feet and plant the ball in the net. And remember how Chris Martin headed the ball in the net at Carrow Road in the 90th minute to win us the game 1-0 in the home leg?Remember the last day of our Championship relegation season under Gunn, losing 4-2 at the Valley to condemn us with certainty to 3rd tier football for the first time in half century. And then, under Lambert, going to the Valley the season after to win automatic promotion, with our ''Battle at the Alamo'' type performance, and our Lord Nelson netting the winner?Remember how Holt was unjustly sent off (a decision so blatantly wrong, the often obdurate FA were compelled to overturn it) away at Reading, with Norwich up 3-1? Without our captains'' tireless strength and presence up front we struggled to keep the ball out of our half, ending up in a 3-3 draw, a bitter result to digest for Norwich fans far and wide. And then the return leg at home, when we found ourselves at 1-1 deep into injury time. The ball got hit into the crowd, fell into the lap of Chief Executive David McNally, who threw it to Lambert, then over to Russell Martin, setting up the passage of play that led to Holt, as the last man of a pack of players stretching for the ball, smashing it into the net to make it 2-1 with the last meaningful kick of the game. A goal that came all the way from the top of the club in more ways than one.There''s so many more stories, often revolving around the idea of Norwich emancipating itself from the role of the victim with stories of revenge and an unprecedented rise in the leagues, but i don''t have the endurance to ramble on any further...I''ve never been one to believe in things such as fate, loathe to the idea even, but our time under Lambert brought me closer to the idea than anything else in my life has. His reign had a mesmiring narrative to it that plays out better than any Hollywood fiction in my mind (*speaking as a Norwich fan).

For the purpose of throwing caution to wind on the Garrido front, he''s easily done for pace. For most this season we''ve been exposed with ease by pacey counter attacks, and i don''t feel Garrido is the answer to that problem in particular. He''s certainly got a lot of quality to offer the side, but we''d be better off being mindful of his weaknesses before we throw him in willy-nilly.He''s a bit more tactically aware than Olsson, so is perhaps less likely to find himself exposed defensively, but that doesn''t mean he''s any sort of ''Drury'' (against Wolves, it was him - effectively as a substitute for Olsson after his sending off - who let Van Le Parra''s cross come in to Edwards, losing us the game 1-0 when we could have quite feasibly grinded out a draw).Oh the things i''d be willing to do so that we could have an in form Drury in the side at the moment... I''d even dare to dream of the automatics.

[quote user="Rivvo"]Didn''t Daley have to suffer and recover from a horrendous leg injury though?[/quote]Yes it seems you''re right, a thigh injury. Have to admit, i had completely forgotten that detail.I wonder what Daley would have done had he not suffered such a horrendus injury? I guess we only need sit back and watch. [;)]

Showed some promise against Arsenal last season, here''s hoping it wasn''t a false dawn.Feel as if he''s going down a similar route as to that of Luke Daley (who incidentally also made his mark against Arsenal, albeit against their reserves).

Having a decent and dedicated left winger has actually been a problem that''s gone without solving for over half a decade at this club in my opinion, i.e. since Huckerby, but for Pilkington''s intermittent time spent there.Lambert''s insistence on a narrow system for much of his tenure obscured the true length of this search. I think this position deserves a sizeable bulk of the club''s resources being thrown at it, but our transfer window activity has unfortunately left us desperately short in this particular department.As with regard to a right back it''s quite obvious Whittaker would need selling for that to even be a possibility. I''d say though it''s equally obvious that that won''t be happening.

Not that the system catered to it, but we tried this (Redmond upfront in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 on/off ball) for a fair while under Hughton, especially towards the tail end of last season. It started not long after (none other than) Sterling helped Liverpool give Manchester United a right nightmare in their fixture against them in such a position (at Old Trafford, i think, though can''t remember the score either). Aftewards there was a big cry among the fans for Redmond to take up the role. The Redmond did as much after the manager put him there, but i distinctly remember it not working.Though if i''m being honest strikers of any shape and form never did, and were never going to, profit from Hughton''s tactics.

Comes under the tag ''can''t defend'', but the same hopeless vulnerability on the recieving end of a counter attack too.Mind we at least controlled games in the middle of the park under Adams. The pendulum swing we saw in that regard today presents a very new problem.