RvWs 4 year contract

Great to see that the debate has carried on and evolved somewhat from the merely fanciful postings of myself and LDC.Money isnt the only factor that a club needs to utilise on. It''s WHAT you do with it.Liverpool spent £100m last summer where as we spent about £10 million or so.Maybe when the bubble bursts we will be in a great position to take advantage.Fascinating [Y]

Ricardo me ol'' treacle a few things...a) the population of Norfolk will grow. b) Things change. Scum *used* to have a decent team, they dont now.

The facts are that Bowkett and McNally have both said that after 2 years of Premier league football the board will look to expand Carrow Road to 35,000 seats.http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/mcnally_norwich_city_are_staying_put_at_carrow_road_1_815559The 3 years quote came from the supporters forum that I attended late last year.I think for the near future we can be extremely satisfied with being a constant premier league fixture.

[quote user="London Canary"]Maybe we are just little old Norwich.[/quote]It''s quotes like this that will continue to hold the club back.It''s all about supporter mentality.

[quote user="morty"]Norwich City will never be a fashionable club, a club that is marketable around the world like a Man Utd or a Liverpool.It will be a well supported club, supported by its local population, a club with principals and values, and I am happy with this.I would love the ambition desired by some in this thread to become a reality, I really would, but it takes more than an ambitious manager and some good old team spirit these days, it takes cold, hard cash, its as simple as that.So we have a ceiling, mainly limited by our crowd size, which is limited by our local population and catchment area. Also by our "fashionability" which means that even if we did have the money, could we attract global superstars to our lovely county?Lets face it, we are all optimistic, or we wouldn''t bother turning up every week! [/quote]It''s all relative though isnt it? I dont think anyone would think that we could ever be on the level of Man Utd or Liverpool in terms of global support and indeed support.The two mentioned clubs havent always been giants of the world game. I can see the day when despite having a 35,000 seater stadium there will still be demand for more tickets for home games.

[quote user="PurpleCanary"] Shaker Maker, you and lDC are vying for the title of Optimist of the Year! A rough Wiki estimate is that the population of East Anglia (ie, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambs) is around 2.1m. But the scenario you paint, of being THE team in a region, strikes me as highly unlikely. We are not Barcelona, and East Anglia is not Catalonia.   A cold dose of statistics. Even when we had a 40,000-plus stadium our highest ever average attendance was 27,000. Of course I would expect that to rise by several thousand if we got a 35,000-seat stadium and continued, generally, to be successful. But the comparison I was making was with the income generated for the big clubs by crowds of 60,000 and more. I cannot, cannot, cannot ever see that happening for us. [/quote]The thing is though Purple, I dont feel like I''m being overly optimistic.If we were to become a good, solid, attractive football playing premier league squad then when the young kiddies develop a football fascination who will be the club that immediately springs to their little minds?Not the team constantly finishing mid table in the second tier failing to sell out a 30,000 seater ground ...No. It will be the team with the lovely yellow and green shirts playing in front of 35,000 people who host Manchester United, Manchester City, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea once a season. Maybe throw Liverpool in for good measure [;)]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Shaker Maker"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]Even if we returned to an economic age we would still be hamstrung by a lack of support. There are simply not enough Norwich City fans to generate the income to enable us to compete with the mega-clubs. That even the most optimistic fans - and directors - are talking only about a 35,000-seat stadium tells its own story.  That said, we are in a happy position IF the financial bubble bursts. Unlike some other clubs, the essentials at Norwich City, thanks to Watling, South, Chase and Smith and Jones, are solid. We own the ground. We own the training ground. Neither is in need of any massive tarting up. We are in a position (luckily, since we have to) to pay off our debts. We have a solid core of suppprt, although one worry is that the new regime may be taking that too much for granted. [/quote]Purple, I am delighted that you have graced this thread. I consider you to be one of the best posters on this board.However I feel that I have to take issue with one of your points. Our supporter base is huge- not on the 45k+ level but I would have absolutely no worries that we could sell out a 35,000 seater stadium. Maybe even a couple of thousand more?  [/quote]   You sweet-talking devil, you!!!   To be clear I wasn''t saying we couldn''t fill a 35,00-seat stadium. Although, along with David Cuffley, I am dubious about the club''s business plan, which is that we would fill it for every game. Ie, for Wigan or WBA at 3pm on a Saturday or for Southampton or Newcastle at 8pm on a Monday. The point I was making is that the mega-clubs have stadia of 60,000 or more, because they can fill them, and need to fill them, for financial reasons. We are simply nowhere near that, and I doubt we ever will be, unless the fish of the North Sea turn into people. In terms of generating income there is a limit beyond which we cannot rise, and it is way below the limit for the mega-clubs. [/quote]What is the population of East Anglia would you say?I include the whole of East Anglia because if things pan out like I hope they will do, the Blue filth (2nd biggest club in East Anglia) will not stand a chance in the level of supporter stakes. They can have their 16/17 thousand hardcore supporters where as Carrow Road could benefit from Lambert''s Legacy.We are a massive club and the levels of support are sometimes under-estimated (I could be wrong). If we maintain these levels of success and have a few years of 6th/7th placings our support could grow and grow.  Of course saying all this, we could go down next season encouraging PL to leave and we could be up *creek...Speculate to accumulate as someone once said [Y]

We''ve given the big boys massive scares this year.I''ve come away from Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge this season feeling disappointed that we havent won the games!Maybe we''ve been let down by our ''lack of ability'' (in comparison to the top 5) in those games but they at least give us hope that with team building over a 2-3 period we can get a lot closer to them.I can guarantee that Paul Lambert has the ambition to drive this club on to new highs.Why would he want to leave?

[quote user="PurpleCanary"]Even if we returned to an economic age we would still be hamstrung by a lack of support. There are simply not enough Norwich City fans to generate the income to enable us to compete with the mega-clubs. That even the most optimistic fans - and directors - are talking only about a 35,000-seat stadium tells its own story.  That said, we are in a happy position IF the financial bubble bursts. Unlike some other clubs, the essentials at Norwich City, thanks to Watling, South, Chase and Smith and Jones, are solid. We own the ground. We own the training ground. Neither is in need of any massive tarting up. We are in a position (luckily, since we have to) to pay off our debts. We have a solid core of suppprt, although one worry is that the new regime may be taking that too much for granted. [/quote]Purple, I am delighted that you have graced this thread. I consider you to be one of the best posters on this board.However I feel that I have to take issue with one of your points. Our supporter base is huge- not on the 45k+ level but I would have absolutely no worries that we could sell out a 35,000 seater stadium. Maybe even a couple of thousand more?  

Bit of a reality check there Ricardo, this thread has long needed one! One thing I will say though, Delia will not be around forever. Such is life. A huge number of ''hinvestors'' could take us over. We could have billions, never mind millions pumped into the club.Coupled with the fact that they *could* be Norwich City supporters like us. The truth is out there.

Is Michael Oliver the moron who sent Holty off for absolutely no reason at Reading FC last year?

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Shaker Maker"]To back up Mr Brownstone, Mr McNally said at aforementioned supporters forum that the clubs catchment area for supporters is massive.McNally claimed that getting 35,000 bums on seats would not be an issue:- we have an away end of (approx) 2,500 which leaves around 24,500 seats for the home support. Now going on the basis that a stadium of 35,000 would see the away end bump of slightly to 3,000 we would be looking at 32,000 seats for the home fans (minus about 1,000 for segregation). Increase the season ticket holders to 25/26,000 would not be an issue and the greater capacity would give the non season ticket holder element of our support a better chance for tickets.Win/win all round. [/quote]I don''t think the increase would be as obvious as you may think. If I thought I could turn up and Saturday with my lads and get 3 seats together then I would, currently I renew my season tickets because that is the only way I can ensure I can see games when I''m not working.Its all about supply and demand, at the minute demand outstrip supply, with a 35k stadium it no longer will.[/quote]I see what you''re saying and I agree to an extent. It does sometimes feel that people get season tickets to guarantee seats. A bigger stadium would mean that availabilty would increase. A good thing I''m sure we''ll all agree? My brother doesnt go to many home games (away games are different as we''re group 3ers) because he simply cannot get tickets.Someone like him would go to a lot more home games if he could get tickets more easily.We wont know whether we''ll be able to sell more tickets until the expanison.Exciting times.

To back up Mr Brownstone, Mr McNally said at aforementioned supporters forum that the clubs catchment area for supporters is massive.McNally claimed that getting 35,000 bums on seats would not be an issue:- we have an away end of (approx) 2,500 which leaves around 24,500 seats for the home support. Now going on the basis that a stadium of 35,000 would see the away end bump of slightly to 3,000 we would be looking at 32,000 seats for the home fans (minus about 1,000 for segregation). Increase the season ticket holders to 25/26,000 would not be an issue and the greater capacity would give the non season ticket holder element of our support a better chance for tickets.Win/win all round.

This is turning into a great debate.LDC your point about ''aiming for the top'' is a fascinating one.What do you consider the ''top'' to be?

Well if you look at Lambert''s career here we''ve done ''revenge'' well.Colchester- check. Beat them 5-0 in the return fixture.Leeds- check. Overhauled the cocky lot, won League 1 at a canter and then proceeded to nick their best players. The scum-check. After the gloating we had to suffer from their mockney crew when we went down to the third tier we shoved their words back down their throats.Fulham is next. Bring it on.

Smashing post LDC, i completely agree.I said in an earlier post on this thread that money will hold us back. While that could be the case hard work and passion to do well can have it''s on rewards.If we constantly aim for ''comfortable mid table'' obscurity we could start to move backwards - by standing still as it were.7 years ago we watched those dreadful scenes as the Cottagers *snigger* battered us by 6 goals to nil to relegate us back to the championship. In 4 days about 2,000 of us will be heading back there to witness a redemption. Paul Lambert seems to do revenge well. Col Utd felt the full force of our boys after the infamous 7-1. After years of taunting from the Blue filth we came back from the third tier to teach them a lesson on two occasions. Fulham are next. The point I''m trying to make is that when the afore mentioned incidents occured nobody thought that we''d go back to the levels that we are now. I see absolutely no reason at all why we cant become East Anglia''s top dogs for many many years to come. Without the ''history'' of the scum... but I''d rather have a great team now. [;)]

Anybody bought theirs yet?

Paul Lambert might be incredibly happy here and might see us as a club with loads of potential.Whilst I agree that the big club ''lure'' could tempt PL away I dont think it''s always the case.I saw Hucks tweeting a few days ago, somebody had asked him about whether there was any truth in the rumour that he had turned down Liverpool. He confirmed yes.Now Hucks might be a one off but it might be the case that Lambo has fallen in love with the club, the area and the fans (except those moaning ninnies).To quote the Barclay he may have [8] ''picked his team and he fell in love and he just cant seem to get enough''.We can but hope. He could become a legend here, if he isnt already.

A lot will depend on what happens this summer. We''ve still to see Ryan Bennett but I doubt PL would spend £3million on a player if he didnt rate him- one for next season.Howson has slotted in incredibly well - I''ve only been to two games that he''s played: Stoke and Wolves and I have been impressed both times. There are players who need to have their futures clarified but that will be sorted when we secure safety. I''m sure that PL has plans in place for the summer. Promises to be a good''un [Y]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]Liverpool need to do what United have done in years, and what Aresenal are starting to realise.... invest in youth.Liverpool have always been a team of marquee signings, big name foreign stars and more... football has moved on and money doesnt buy Success...Manchester united are the most succesful club in the land... go through the side in recent and there has been Evans, Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Beckham, Butt, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Welbeck, many more we can name.Arsenals decline has been halted by the introduction of Wilshere, Ramsay, Gibbs, Wenger has finally seen how to bring in success....Liverpool and Chelsea are waning stars,... big clubs with money invested in youth development, only to spend countless more on Egos etc....Kenny Dalglish has recently stated he wont be throwing in young players and ruining them... one look at Manchester uniteds Trophy cabinet since 1992 indicates Kenny Dalglish is a fool... Chelski rely on an aging side, Terry, Drogba, Lampard, Cole, Czech... how many more years?and yet Abramovic will spend countless millions on "peak" players who are now at their best and about to wane.... Whilst Alex Ferguson laughs all the way to yet another trophy..... [/quote] I think Mancini might have something to say about that Jas [;)]I know that PL is credited with the revival of NCFC but as he often says ''it''s not about me''.  I think we''re beginning to see a plan for the future being put into place so that when PL does eventually leave, as sad and as gutted we''ll all be, I''m a lot more confident about the future without PL and I dont see any reason why a new manager couldnt achieve the same or even take us up a level.With the upgrade of our academy to ''grade 1'', the ambition to improve the capacity of FCR and the desire to make NCFC a self sustainable club i.e one that isnt dependent on a ''sugar daddy'' or ''sugar mummy'' if you include Delia, the future is looking good.The final position this season and surviving/doing the same next season could be crucial.

I''ve voted for Foxy.

I''ve not got mine with me but I did think it looked a little odd when it arrived in the post. My Spurs ticket is massive however! Half of the ticket was folded over in the envelope!

You''ve mentioned the issue of future football finances City 1st, would you mind answering a burning question I have please?I started this thread with the fragile future of football in mind.How do you see City coping with a financial implosion in the world game? I would feel extremely confident (assuming we keep the same board and management staff) that although it would be tough to begin with that we would emerge from the disaster (nobody knows whats going to happen as has been established) as better off than those dependent on sugar daddys. It says an awful lot that despite giving us £12 million (although some dispute this [;)]) Delia bless her has had her input dwarfed by 2 seasons (this season and next) in the premier league.

[quote user="lappinitup"]I nearly missed this old Queens thread......[/quote] [:D]I wonder what ''my Spurs'' will make of Bly...assuming he turns up of course... silly me [;)]

[quote user="morty"]A top ten club with the odd cup run. There is only so far Lambert''s magic can take us, the days when a club of our stature (By this I mean relative wealth) can finish anywhere near the top 4 have gone. You only have to look at the likes of Everton as an example, they have had Premiership money and great crowds for years, coupled with a manager I rate highly, and yet they still underachieve in the eyes of a lot of their fans.The cups will be our glory until the big money backers get bored of their Premier league toys and take their money elsewhere, and the playing field is slightly more level.[/quote]That is a very interesting point you make [Y]The footballing authorities have been banging on about their desire to make football ''financially fair''. I wont waste my breath waiting for that to happen... BUT if it were to happen I think McNally''s aim of Norwich City becoming a self-sustainable club would mean that we could take advantage of others who might suffer.I''ve not got enough knowledge about footballing economics (I''ll wait for Purple to turn up) so I cant go into this in enough detail sadly but surely the likes of Manchester City and Chelski (sugar daddy) and United with their eye watering levels of debt are simply not sustainable football- and more importantly now, business model.I seem to recall a programme presented by Lord Sugar on the beeb where he said ''if football was to come into existence today we wouldnt have as many clubs as we do now''. If the relevant authorities stick to their words, we could be ready to pounce.I wait with baited breath.