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Mike

Spot on article.... nails it for me

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http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2016/11/24/cold-comfort-from-an-agm-full-of-straight-bats-but-are-there-26000-of-us-who-too-are-part-of-the-problem/

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"I am thoroughly disillusioned with the club right now and have lost all

confidence in the playing staff, the management and the Board""And there seems to be an increasing undercurrent of this within the City

support – a genuine belief that those running the club are taking it in

the wrong direction; an increasing sense of frustration aimed towards

Delia and ‘her cronies’ plus the ‘happy clappers’ who appear intent on

defending and preserving the status quo"
C''mon Highland , Daly, Pete, which one of you is it?

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Alex Neil doing great job at dividing fans and blaming players. Its 22k of perennial season ticket sheep keeping Delia happy lets see how 5 years of Championship dross affects the sheep. Luckily not a sheep but manage to get ticket on general sale every match this season so can pick and choose unlike the Baa boys.

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[quote user="pete"]Alex Neil doing great job at dividing fans and blaming players. Its 22k of perennial season ticket sheep keeping Delia happy lets see how 5 years of Championship dross affects the sheep. Luckily not a sheep but manage to get ticket on general sale every match this season so can pick and choose unlike the Baa boys.[/quote]

So you''re not a sheep but you''ve been to every match this season just like the sheep, aren''t you being devisive?

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[quote user="TCCANARY"][quote user="pete"]Alex Neil doing great job at dividing fans and blaming players. Its 22k of perennial season ticket sheep keeping Delia happy lets see how 5 years of Championship dross affects the sheep. Luckily not a sheep but manage to get ticket on general sale every match this season so can pick and choose unlike the Baa boys.[/quote]So you''re not a sheep but you''ve been to every match this season just like the sheep, aren''t you being devisive?[/quote]He probably boo''s on here and baa''s at the games. [:D]

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I always think it''s bollocks when people start blaming the supporters.

 

If there were protests and a hostile atmosphere at games, they''d be blaming the support for undermining the players/manager and it would be our fault for bad results.  You can''t win.

 

We had a good atmosphere against Watford because we were resigned to relegation by then and a good performance boded well for the next season. 

 

this season, it''s not long since we were top of the league.  We''re on a bad run and the problems were clear even when we were getting the results... but it''s no surprise that people are only gradually coming round to seeing problems at the club.  To say it''s a long run and deep seated issue is dubious when you look at our last 5 years, and look at how many clubs of a similar size there are in the Championship.

 

For me, if they change the manager and get in someone respected, and we get back up to the top 2/3 in the league, then I''ll be just fine with that.  But I''m not holding my breath at the moment.

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Good article.Obviously I respect anyone alses right to have a different opinion on it, though.

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[quote user="Jim the Canary"]I often wonder if the happy clappers are self aware enough to realise how much damage they are doing to the club[/quote]It''s the nappy crappers you should be worried about. [:D]

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Is the OP the infamous Bluemike?

"Spot on" always one of his favourite terms and his language skills were never extensive.

Apparently ITFC are not doing too well nowadays.

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Having now read the article it seems to suggest that although due to our amazing support we will "never be like Ipswich" those supporters are holding us back. The answer seems to be that we need to become more like Ipswich and leave the stadium half empty in order to force change.

But surely that Ipswich example is one to avoid at all costs? Because even if he truly believes stopping our loyal support is the way forward it''s not propelling the binners any where except league one is it?

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[quote user="......and Smith must score."][quote user="nutty nigel"]Blaming and trying to divide the supporters can never be spot on for me.[/quote]Blaming the customers is probably OK as they count for diddly-squat anyway, eh, Nutty ? [;)][/quote]
Well it depends if the binners remaining few thousand are customers or supporters.....

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Yes a good article and thanks for posting it.

Unconditional and unquestioning support is not good and not healthy for any organisation.

Those that believe they are assisting the club with these attitudes are not actually doing it any favours.

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The article doesn''t put the blame of our current plight on the shoulders of supporters. In fact the writer identifies six issues at the beginning of his article that he purports to be problems at the club, and the supporters are not listed among them. What he does infer is that because of the 20,000 season ticket holders, plus the 1,000 odd on the waiting list, paying their money each season the owners do not have a sense of urgency when it comes to arresting a slide. Let''s not forget that not too long ago the current owners managed to take the club from a Premier League side to a team sitting 2nd bottom of League 1 on the brink of administration in the space of 4 short years. In that time attendances stayed pretty much the same even when the team were performing badly, as Norwich fans are a loyal bunch. And I think that the whole tone of the article is basically that the clubs greatest asset, the loyal fan base, is also at times a bit of a hindrance in as much as their continued support of the team is seen by the board as continued support of them. When at the present time, goodwill towards our current owners is at the lowest point it has been since Watling walleted their cash, but that doesn''t mean that the fans who no longer blindly support the boardroom members are going to abandon their support of the team any time soon.

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Well let''s take a look...

Cold comfort from an AGM full of straight bats, but are there 26,000 of us who are part of the problem?

Thu 24 Nov 16 by Steve Cook

Much has been said and written about the club’s current malaise and where the blame lies, and those hoping for a modicum of comfort from last night’s AGM were left underwhelmed. The unrest is no longer bubbling just beneath the surface, the issues manyfold:

- We have players who are unable to perform to their own individual potential – let alone function as a cohesive team.

- A manager whose inexperience is becoming all too exposed, whose words sound increasingly hollow and who last night appeared keen to shift the onus onto his under-performing players.

- A Chief Executive, operating in the shadow of his predecessor, who possesses a CV which only serves to polarise opinion.

- A Chairman whose influence on proceedings is unclear but which appears to be of secondary importance to his public attempts at mastering ballroom dancing.

- Majority shareholders who have stated, and last night reiterated, their intent to maintain their personal dynasty whilst acknowledging that ‘they’ (meaning us) won’t like it, but that ‘they’ (meaning them) don’t care.

- Ricky Martin

Wherever the fingers point, one thing that most people seem to agree on is that this isn’t a mere blip and that our current woes are reflective of deep-rooted issues within the club which don’t bode well for the future.

Earlier this week, I overheard a conversation between two city fans;

“At this rate, we’ll end up like Ipswich.”

“That’ll never happen – we got 26,000 in League One, mate!”

And perhaps therein lies a further part of the problem.

Amidst all the recriminations, maybe we (the supporters) are also an integral part of the current malaise.

And whilst we are quick to turn on the players, the manager (and sometimes each other), maybe we should also turn the mirror on ourselves.

I accept that what follows is a generalisation and I’m not suggesting that we all behave the same or foster the same attitudes – after all, many different views are expressed and debated very eloquently and passionately right here on MyFootballWriter – but like it or not, we are all part of the ‘collective crowd’ which openly embraced the prospect of relegation by creating a party atmosphere as our fate was sealed against Watford.

A collective crowd that dismissed the talk of protests earlier in the season as derisory.

A collective crowd that tends to limit it’s frustrations to a chorus of boos at the final whistle or through cathartic rants on Canary Call, message boards, or social media.

In short, a collective crowd that has become far too tolerant and accepting of mediocrity and failure.

Following the QPR game, I saw a tweet stating “simply not good enough

But what does that mean in real terms? ‘Not good enough’ for what?

What exactly are the ramifications of relegation and our recent abject performances?

A ‘meltdown’ on Twitter? Pointed questions at the AGM? Clappers being hurled onto the pitch?

All of that becomes slightly meaningless because as highlighted above, “we get 26,000 in League One, mate”.

History suggests that no matter how bad it gets, we will still turn up week in and week out in our thousands and Carrow Road will remain at or near capacity for every match.

Granted, it has become a fairly soul-less place that reeks of disengagement and disenchantment, but it’s full nevertheless.

And it’s full because the majority of fans dutifully renew their season tickets each year and the few who decide that enough is enough are quickly replaced by those on the waiting list.

Following their recent interview in The Times – which they conceded came across not wholly as intended – the majority shareholders have been accused of standing in the way of progress due to prudence coupled with a lack of ambition and investment.

But to a degree we are surely complicit in that, because whilst we continue to support the club, by definition we are supporting and inadvertently validating that approach.

In essence, we’re saying it’s acceptable because we’re not prepared to turn our backs.

I’m as guilty as anyone. I am thoroughly disillusioned with the club right now and have lost all confidence in the playing staff, the management and the Board.

And yet I’ll still go to every match.

Why? Because it’s part of my routine – a chance to meet up with family and friends and enjoy (if not the match itself) the wider match day experience.

For well over 30 years I have been going down to Carrow Road with my dad, and these days we have my son with us.

And with three generations of season ticket holders, it would be hypocritical to criticise Delia and Michael for also wanting to ‘keep it in the family’. After all, how can I demand that they handover the reins to someone else and walk away when I am not prepared to walk away myself?

In recent times, we’ve seen a global rise of ‘populism’; a style of politics that seeks to position the people against the perceived establishment.

Election campaigns have found support by tapping into an underlying sense of disillusionment. Campaigns built on the recognition that many have become disenfranchised by the mainstream and are increasingly desperate for change.

Populist movements tend to find support at times when people see the prevailing norms – which are preserved and defended by the existing establishment – as being at odds with their own hopes, fears, and concerns.

And there seems to be an increasing undercurrent of this within the City support – a genuine belief that those running the club are taking it in the wrong direction; an increasing sense of frustration aimed towards Delia and ‘her cronies’ plus the ‘happy clappers’ who appear intent on defending and preserving the status quo.

The problem is that with no election, referendum or ballot boxes available, the only real option is to vote with your feet.

And that’s something that many of us just can’t bring ourselves to do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there we have it. But what the guy fails to say or even consider is that both his solutions have been tried by the binners and both have made matters worse. ie they sold to a millionaire investor and the fans got fed up and voted with their feet. Where has it got them?

MFW is only a bunch of people posting their opinion like this place. Granted they are better wordsmiths but that doesn''t give their views anymore weight than any view on here.

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