Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  

Recommended Posts

Ok, shoot me down in flames if you like, but every year I look at the premiership and hope that a lesser club breaks through and gets into the top six and stays there.   Southampton had a good go last season - but they are bankrolled nowadays.   In the old first division, you used to get the occasional club breaking the mould - the last time it happened was us in 92/93.  

So it is my hope that this season it can be us again to gatecrash the party and get in amongst the top six.  Can it be done? I believe so.

I am certain that the hype surrounding the premier league overeggs these big clubs.  Those clubs and their players are just as subject to the pressure of being in the prem as every other club, its just that the pressure is different at the top than lower down, where from about tenth downwards, people are so wary of dropping down.  So pressure is on every team, regardless of where they are in the league.   If we recognise that, we can use it to our advantage, by playing without fear or pressure ourselves, taking the game to these clubs and getting amongst them. 

We''ve seen that we can beat these clubs, ManU, ManC, Arsenal, Tottenham - if we know that on our day we can beat them, then we should believe that every day can be our day.  That belief  and focus can see us looking up this season rather than down.  Three points are possible in every game we play, regardless of who it''s against, so with the manager we have, the experience the squad has, the potential we have in reserve - lets dare to believe that we can buck the trend.  Stop thinking our players are not good enough. Start thinking they are good enough, because together as a unit and with the belief and focus that AN gives them - top six is possible.  Believe it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Per -- lease, that''s sooo embarrassing LDC.

I always admire your positive attitude in all things NCFC, but that''s stretching it a bit surely?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think you''ve lost the plot entirely. With our squad it''ll take a miracle to finish above the bottom six.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Jesus wept LDC, that''s probably one of the most ridiculous and frankly

nonsensical posts I think I''ve ever seen from you (and there''s been some

real howlers before).We have ZERO chance of finishing top six, either this season, next or probably the 4-5 after that as well.The top six is defined by finances, plain and simple, and unless we suddenly get a billionaire investor looking as us as a new plaything to throw money at, we''re not going to be anywhere near sides like Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and the rest of the big teams...PS - For everyone that''s recently laughed at my transfer suggestions, can you please pick on LDC for this tripe instead [;)]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="BroadstairsR"]Per -- lease, that''s sooo embarrassing LDC.

I always admire your positive attitude in all things NCFC, but that''s stretching it a bit surely?[/quote]

I don''t know.  To me it is like we are brainwashed into thinking it can''t be done.  Money is seen to rule the roost, but the rich clubs have always been rich, yet clubs would come through to break the mould in the past.  It''s about time we had another club up there, instead of the usual parade of  super rich overpaid and often disappointing "big" clubs.    Leicester got it sorted out last season. If they had started with the same mindset at the beginning of the season, that they had near the end, it might have been them.  

I remember the 92/93 season - we didn''t have world beating players, but as a unit and great team play, we were up there the whole season. It hasn''t been done since then by any smaller club - but it can be done, it just needs someone to do it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
We get this guy Juan Quintero. Play him with Hoolahan & Redmond for most of the games. None of these get injured then possible

Not probable but possible

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You do know a few things have changed in the Premiership since 1992, right?

Specifically financially, that ringing any bells at all?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
"I remember the 92/93 season - we didn''t have world beating players, but as a unit and great team play, we were up there the whole season. It hasn''t been done since then by any smaller club - but it can be done, it just needs someone to do it."

You might have just destroyed your own argument there.

Twenty years ago the World, including football, was in a vastly different place.

Any comparisons with things today is romantisising.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
LCD - that season we had Robins, Ekoku, Fox, Phillips, Sutton, Eadie & Lee Power in our attack.

So many attacking options - didn''t know who to leave out !

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Says the man who constantly defended chris hughton 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I find it hard to criticise Lakey. If you cut his left arm off it would bleed yellow, cut the right one off it would bleed green. If you opened his head up a pair of canaries would fly out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="93vintage"]I find it hard to criticise Lakey. If you cut his left arm off it would bleed yellow, cut the right one off it would bleed green. If you opened his head up a pair of canaries would fly out.[/quote]And if you checked up his backside, you just might see Hughton.... [:D]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Whilst I''m not going to sit here and say that we''re going to finish in the top 6 this season, but actually if we stay up for a few seasons then there''s every reason we ''could'' break the top 6, even more so when the new TV deal kicks in.

But take this season, arguably you could say that Stoke/Swansea and Southampton (I take your point about being bankrolled, but they are less so these days) could all realistically be aiming for a top 6 finish. Will they finish in the top 6? Maybe not, but that is now an achievable and realistic goal for those clubs.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Interesting perspective...

The way I see it, it is entirely plausible but very unlikely and a lot would have to happen for us to get into them lofty heights.

We would need to come up with a unique style teams cant deal with like Bolton when they managed it twice. It doesn''t have to be pretty, just effective.

We would need a couple more astute purchases.

Redmond or the Murphys really kicks on like Bolasie last season did and spearheads a charge.

The board remain strong and reject bids for the team and for our manager.

We avoid injuries and fitness issues.

A few other sides have a QpR style crisis meaning we can sail off with consistency.

A big 6 side has a bad year. Like Chelsea when they were busy winning the Champions League and Liverpool a couple of times or Man U under Moyes.

If all that happens then maybe just maybe its possible.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It was hard enough finishing Top 6 in the Championship playing against a load of rubbish for the most part.No chance of repeating that, or getting anywhere near it, in the PL with basically the same squad.I''ll be happy with 18th.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sorry, but it''s just NOT going to happen, MAYBE it was possible 10 years ago (with good investment) but in the current climate there''s just no chance.Just look at the teams that have got top six finishes in the past 5 seasons (and how much they''ve spent in this period):Chelsea - 5 in 5 (spent 416,509,000)Man Utd - 4 in 5 (spent 405,200,000)Arsenal - 5 in 5 (spent 253,625,000)Liverpool - 3 in 5 (spent 349,000,000)Man City - 5 in 5 (spent 385,700,000)Spurs - 5 in 5 (spent 220,450,000)Everton - 2 in 5 (spent 90,800,000)Newcastle - 1 in 5 (spent 123,700,000)The main outliers are Newcastle, Everton and Liverpool (despite their vast expenditure of 349mil!), all of whom have VASTLY greater financial backing than we do, much great attraction to talented players than we do, much bigger grounds than we do and have all been virtually permanently in the prem for pretty much the past 10 years consistently.Interesting to also note is that Man City only had a single top six finish outside of their last 5 years, and their entire success has clearly come from the crazy amount of money thrown at their squad in a short space of time.Now tell me again exactly how we are in ANY position to compete with this, especially when clubs like Liverpool haven''t been able to maintain a top six finish in the past 5 years despite spending close to 7 times what we have over the same period???FFS, the premier league is all about the money, and whilst we''d all like to maintain the notion that a top six finish is acheivable through hard work and good management, the fact is that it''s not true, and unless we had significant investment, it''s nothing more than a crazy pipe dream. It might not be fair, it might not sit well, but that''s the hand we''ve been dealt and no amount of lyrical waxing or sentimental daydreaming is going to change it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Plus LDC you are contradicting yourself. You had your head up Hughton''s ar se for two seasons, defended him to the point of obsession and still do. All this while he employed some of the most negative and pessimistic tactics of any Norwich manager in the recent past. FFS.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
LDC must be on a wind up this time. It''s going to take a herculean

effort to avoid relegation with the current squad. Splash some cash on a

centre back and a forward and we might, just might finish around lower

mid. Top six? Sweet. Jesus.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I truly believe we can get in the top six.    I''m not saying we will, but am saying that it is achievable.  There''s no wind up behind it, just that I would rather aim high, rather than aim low.   If you don''t believe you can do it, you probably won''t.   The players have to believe it, because if they get some good form going and start going up the table, they have to believe they are good enough to stay there.   What stops you from succeeding is not believing you can do it. 

Realistically, we will do well to finish mid table, but psychologically, we would do better to look up the table rather than down. There is no fun or enjoyment to be had looking down it.   It''s like climbing a mountain - if you look down worrying about the drop underneath you all the time, you can''t enjoy the process of climbing it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I remember similar threads a few years ago how we could realistically aim for regular European football, then Lambert was poached and we began our descent into the Chumps.

If AN gets us anywhere near the top six we''ll do well to keep him. But he won''t Lakey and you are either very much on a wind up or you''ve started early.

I just hope we compete, survive and take it from there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I admire optimism, but thinking a top 6 finish is even possible or achievable is just bonkers. Southampton last year just about sums up why, even with all the money they spent, the good results the plaudits fawning over them and the good football they were outside it.

Top half of the bottom 6 is achievable, higher than that is unlikely and top 6 is about as likely as me having an affair with Maria Sharapova.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well, the magic of football is nothing''s impossible, just improbable.
I mean this thread is still full of stupid but hey-ho.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The only reason I am not putting this down as crazy talk is because Bolton managed consecutive top eight finishes from 03/04-06/07. If they can do it, why not us.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="Tetteys Jig"]The only reason I am not putting this down as crazy talk is because Bolton managed consecutive top eight finishes from 03/04-06/07. If they can do it, why not us.[/quote]1. Thats not top 6.2. It was nine years ago.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...