Terrible Article

[Tetteys Jig 830]

http://www.sportinglybetter.com/2015/07/relegation-betting-norwich-lack-quality/

Don''t think ive ever read anything as bad as this preview before!

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

It''s not that bad, though doesn''t exactly spend much time looking for ''positives''. There is definitely something in the fact that we had a prolonged season - but the rest of the PL sides were only complete one week before us this season; at the end of the day it is down to the players to prove the doubters wrong.

IMO it is far too early to be considering anything much about likely finishing positions for anyone - using Bournemouth''s signing of Mings or Watford looking to sign various foreigners as signs of strength is a little bit daft - it is simply too early to know just what we or they will end up with come kick-off on 8th August. Indeed, you could easily argue that our squad was better than both the other promoted sides - which it certainly was - so may need less of a major overhaul. Though we clearly need to strengthen a number of areas.

One thing I''m intrigued about is the ''overhauls going on at Palace, Newcastle and Villa'' - none of which have yet done anything of note and Villa appear to be set to lose their main/only current goal threat! It is amazing how you can back your opinion up, you don''t really need anything behind it.

[Miss Bum Bum 0]

This team got relegated we haven''t strengthened so sure we must be relegation favourites

[morty 0]

I don''t think Norwich City will ever be "fashionable" with certain groups of journos / pundits, regardless of what we do.

[Sebastian Asspong 0]

Who cares about our record last time! We have a new manager, a better manager with a better style of play. I didn''t see them mentioning we still haven''t lost away under Alex Neil. And There is still 5 weeks before the start of the season. I like the way he says Bournemouth have already spent 8m on Mings so Norwich need to act fast!

[Indy 3,283]

It''s another persons view without Grenn & Yellow tinted glasses. In all reality we do have team of players at the lower end of the Premiership and need to add quality to give us the best fighting chance!

Mullumbu is a good signing but we need three quality defenders and another creative midfielder and even then it will be a long hard battle.

Those who have us in 14th or higher finish will be very disappointed IMO, anything above 17th will be a huge success for us.

Looks like we don''t have the money of Watford or Bournemouth, so the overhaul will be limited. Must admit it''s going to be exciting to see how we set up with one up top, but if we go too negative this squad has already been relegated by playing a park the bus mentality under Hughtons, so we know they are out capable of grinding out results. Hopefully Neil will give every game a go and if we lose at least we lose with pride.

I don''t see it a bad article at all we will be fighting relegation all season.

[morty 0]

I also think that we will spend some money, but as usual, we just go about our business quietly and efficiently.

[Indy 3,283]

I don''t think you need to spend huge amounts just have a great scouting network with good youth development, Southampton have been superb at this over the past 5 years.

Agree with you Morty deals will be done with undisclosed fees and behind the media hype.

[ellis206 0]

[quote user="Indy"]I don''t think you need to spend huge amounts just have a great scouting network with good youth development, Southampton have been superb at this over the past 5 years. Agree with you Morty deals will be done with undisclosed fees and behind the media hype.[/quote]

 

That''s such a myth about Southampton, they have spent huge amounts of money, albeit they received a lot of money as well.

Pretty sure in their first season back in the Premier league they were rocking a £40m+ strike force....

[hogesar 9,618]

I stopped reading after 4 words "Goals from Neil Redmond"...

[The Walking Man 13]

That article is pretty woeful. If you''re going to harp back to 2 seasons ago, why not 3? A lot of our players were doing fine the in the premiership. Youssouf Mulumbu more suited to the Championship? This the same guy that has only played one season in the Championship 5 years ago!?

And Neil Redmond... lol!

[ZLF 271]

[quote user="Canary Dogg"]This team got relegated we haven''t strengthened so sure we must be relegation favourites[/quote]

Some truth in these jested words - it was not JUST due to Hughton, RvW & Fer that last skulked out of the bottom of the prem.

Its easy to make a case for all the promoted teams going straight back down so cant take much interest in a writer sharing his opinion to get paid.

Plenty of time to strengthen yet though.

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

In the past I too have thought that the team gaining promotion via the play-offs is at a disadvantage, due to a longer season/shorter break, but I think it is different for us this year.

I think that those last three games have given us more momentum going into the new season, and really unified the team. The performance at Wembley was such a complete one it was a step up from any other game last season - it was like watching a Premiership team.

So tired and lame article for me.

[Indy_Bones 441]

Utterly $hite article, full of holes and inconsistencies, clearly from someone who''s never actually watched ANY of our games this season and is simply drawing BS conclusions from very limited data.I had to chuckle at the line "the side may find wanting on their travels when they face the division

heavyweights of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal", well no $hit sherlock, pretty much EVERY team in the bloody league will struggle in those games!Just awful writing.

[Stone 0]

Articles like this are a waste time.

I do remember one season when we were seen to have invested wisely and were touted to remain well clear of relegation...

...that was of course the year we were relegated after our supposedly impressive signings failed to deliver.

I think this season will be more akin to our season under Lambert in the Premier League. We will be far more reliant on attitude, team spirit and Alex Neil''s meticulous game preparation than any big name signings.

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="hogesar"]I stopped reading after 4 words "Goals from Neil Redmond"...[/quote]

this

[Horse Renoir 1]

Mings wouldn''t get in our side, Watford have a vastly inferior team to us still. As has been noted many times if we had Alex Neil from the start we would have almost certainly won the league.

I get why ''experts'' might think we''d struggle, but I can''t for the life of me figure out why anyone would rate the other two promoted teams as stronger than us.

We also picked up 10 points from a possible 12 against those two last year.

We wern''t far off surviving last time under Hughton with a shocking selection of strikers.

Alex Neil is not going to relegate us next year ffs, it sounds ridiculous even typing it!

[morty 0]

[quote user="Ricky Spanish"]Mings wouldn''t get in our side, Watford have a vastly inferior team to us still. As has been noted many times if we had Alex Neil from the start we would have almost certainly won the league.

I get why ''experts'' might think we''d struggle, but I can''t for the life of me figure out why anyone would rate the other two promoted teams as stronger than us.

We also picked up 10 points from a possible 12 against those two last year.

We wern''t far off surviving last time under Hughton with a shocking selection of strikers.

Alex Neil is not going to relegate us next year ffs, it sounds ridiculous even typing it![/quote]I think the main reason is potential spending power.Its well known that we don''t have a rich owner.

[Indy 3,283]

Just to point out, both Watford & Bournemouth were better than us last season as positions don''t lie over the season, they have bigger spending power and Southampton have not spent anywhere near their sales over the past 5 seasons!

[Horse Renoir 1]

I''m not having that at all Indy. We were so disorganized, one paced and naive under Adams. I love the guy personally, but tactically he was extremely poor and half of our season was spent meandering about, trying desperatly to gain some consistancy. If we had a decent manger all season we''d have blown those two away.

Adams was brilliant at stabilising the club in a difficult period but he wasn''t ready for the managers job at Norwich City yet and it cost us badly.

If Watfrod''s next manager doesn''t turn out to be the next Koeman/Rogers and if Bournemouth don''t make 5/6 inspired signings we''ll finish above those two comfortably next year.

Regardless of any of this, like I said. Alex Neil is not going to send us down next year. I''ve never entered a first PL season with such a lack of trepidation before. We''ll be fine next year, sod what misinformed, opinion-less drones like the writer of that article think

[Indy 3,283]

That''s not true, we started the season like an express train then we almost got complacent thinking by just turning up the players would win. Didn''t help that Bassong threw his toys out the pram with his appointment and was pushed out until Neil came in.

Let''s take the season over, we finished third and that means Bournemouth and Watford are better than us! Like it or not that''s fact.

I can''t say how Neil will do as Houghtons first season was excellent, that ended well didn''t it? Including ten game unbeaten run beating Man U & Arsenal.

Time will tell but I don''t see our squad as anything but a bottom 6 side with little to choose between us, Bournemouth, Leicester, Watford, Villa & Palace. Newcastle & Sundeland have spending power with the attraction of being bigger clubs for players.

Perm three from six for me next season.

[Horse Renoir 1]

I get where you''re coming from but I disagree completely. I was one of those few at the time who noticed huge gaps in Adams'' team even after we grinded a few results out. How we just threw men forwards instead of remaining balanced and used clever movement to create chances and gaps in the opposition defence.

I maintain that we were lucky in those first few games, tactically we were all over the place but our greater quality shone through. The goals came from deflections and individual skill. Once fatigue leveled us out we were found extremely wanting until Neil came in. I''m favouriting this thread. I''ll bump it in May when we finish above those two.

Over the course of the season their two clubs did better than ours (with stupidly rich owners and no relegation hangover) But our first team is miles ahead of both of them and a few decent additions will virtually guarentee safety for us whereas I think those two will be in trouble all year

I remember laughing at everyone wetting themselves over QPR''s big name signings that I didnt rate a few years ago, I look forward to being proven right again

[93vintage 16]

The article referred to, although containing elements of truth, looks more like a sponsored piece on behalf of the betting industry than a reasonable assessment of the odds. We might be the weakest of the promoted sides on paper, but last season

we learned quickly and managed to narrow a rather large gap after Alex Neil took the reigns.Without the benefit of time we remain some way behind Bournemouth, and are still spooked by the ghosts of Hughton and Adams. But AN seems to be a good exorcist and skilled at carrying out running repairs.The good news is that most of the premiership from about 8th down aren''t fluid and instinctive passing sides, several are bloated from dining at the top table and drunk on past tales of survival. Quite a few teams are perennial strugglers not really making any progress, and few improve enough to be able to achieve consistent safety.We should be okay given that we have a really good team spirit unsullied by bad apples or expensive mercenaries. I expect us to ruffle a few feathers similar to the Lambert season,

whereby we gatecrash and surprise other more safety-minded sides. It''s our manager who will keep us up.On the subject of betting, at odds of 10/11 and 5/6 maybe someone on Nutty''s betting thread might want to stick a few quid on us and Bournemouth staying up? In my estimation the chances are high that at least one will stay up, and not bad for a double win. MK Dons to finish in the top half of the Championship at 15/8 looks good too.

[Highland Canary 76]

Without a new starting striker and a major defensive overhaul, we lack the quality for a 17th place finish. I can''t see any other candidates beyond the newly promoted teams and Leicester making up the three relegated teams come May.

[Herman 9,717]

I wish you had have mentioned that before I put my bet on Highland.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="Canary Dogg"]This team got relegated we haven''t strengthened so sure we must be relegation favourites[/quote]

Arguable perhaps but I think we are stronger.

Strikers - Jerome, Grabban, Hooper and Lafferty if RVW goes. That Vs, Elmander, Hooper and RVW. I know which I''d pick.

Midfield - We lost Surman, Fox, Pilkington, Fer and Snodgrass. We have gained O''Neil, Molumbu, Dorrans, Voo and another years worth of experience for Redmond.

The reality is that compared to other teams, in those departments we are much better in terms of depth than the other promoted teams.

We can afford to spend on quality rather than quantity. Calling relegation favourites right now is crazy considering most teams have only just started making signings.

[93vintage 16]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]Without a new starting striker and a major defensive overhaul, we lack the quality for a 17th place finish. I can''t see any other candidates beyond the newly promoted teams and Leicester making up the three relegated teams come May.[/quote]Ownership of West Brom and Villa could change this season, and hence possibly cause disruption. West Ham will have new a manager who might change style and struggle to maintain Allardyce''s levels of success. There are question marks over how long Sunderland''s manager will last and the same could be said of a former Boro manager in charge at Newcastle.With the above in mind, plus a surprise team nobody expects to do poorly (Stoke or Palace?), I wouldn''t think it''s just 4 teams who''re at risk of the drop.

[True Grit 26]

Totally agree with all in that article. Unless we change the ethos, philosophy and values of the club we''re cannon fodder. PL teams see carrow road as a giant soft-play-area, this has to change.