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Dean Coneys boots

the gift horse has bolted...

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My main feeling is one of frustration. This was all so avoidable. How have the promotions of recent seasons been so totally wasted? They should have been used as a base on which to build, as Southampton, Palace and others have done. Instead, all too predictably, we looked a gift horse in the mouth and now return, tail between the legs, to where we started....mid table champ

I continue to lay blame at the feet of the board. These points have all been rehearsed but still cry out for an answer.

1. Why did they invest so little last time we went up and show zero ambition? That cost us. End of.

2. Why Ed Balls. We have spiralled only one way since he arrived?

3. What happened to Bowkett? Since he left....

4. Why did they fail to strengthen a defence which for three seasons looked poor? Why keep on expecting different results with same tools?

5. Why did they allow such shoddy use of resources to buy lots of players in one position leaving us short in others. Disjointed doesnt come close

6. Why did we wait so long when it was clear Alex was failing, and now dither also?

7. Why are they only dealing with transfer issues now when our incoming has been shoddy for years?

And so we come to the end of the road for this era. We will shift many on, lack resources to bring better in, turn again to unproven punts, and - I reckon- settle into this division wondering what might have been.

This board is stale. It has passed its sell by date. It builds on a local model in a global era. Until it goes I expect we shall go backwards. Knowing when to let go is as important as when to take charge. And that was a LONG time ago for Smith and Co....

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Or maybe it''s all part of supporting Norwich City.  Get used to it, no clubs of our resources establish themselves at the top for long, but we have still had more success than many clubs have in the last eight years.  Gone from a basket case of a club with no money - to providing four of the best seasons ever.  2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014 - and a resultant change of fortune and a multi-million pound squad.  We have problems like all clubs have, but really, despite the poor season this season, we are still in a strong positon to compete.  Youth policy and refreshing the squad will be the way forwards now the desperation to get back to the PL at all costs has failed.  Onwards to a better future.  It''s the only way.  The alternative is to get a rich owner in - and that offers no guarantees.

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I suspect the truth is somewhere between those two stools.

It is hard for a club of our stature to establish itself in the top tier and its almost certain that many of the others so often quoted (Southampton, Swansea, Stoke, Place) will one day fall through the trapdoor.

That''s why, when the opportunities come, they have to be grabbed with both hands because it may be years before they arrive again. That means taking risks (spending on wages, changing manager, blooding the youth) in order to give us the best possible chance of breaking through. If it fails then you''ve done all you can do and a period of wound licking is ahead before you try again. Its the feeling that, once again, we haven''t taken those risks.

This is when looking back for a while is important - learning from our failures to prevent us making the same mistakes when the chance comes round again.

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1) When Norwich were promoted after the Play-Off final the club clearly said they had maintained a Premier League budget in the Championship to obtain promotion. Norwich ''invested'' so little as the club were already spending what the then deemed to be the maximum. Due to money arriving throughout the season, the club could spend in January - Ed Balls pushed for this approach which meant disagreements with McNally.

2) Norwich were on a downward trajectory before Balls turned up - as stated in 1) he pushed for Norwich to spend more in January which meant Naismith, Klose and Pinto were all signed, granted they haven''t really worked out but he isn''t in charge of identifying targets. Balls has also pushed the restructure which will hopefully be a turning point for the club.

3) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ No really sure it matters.

4) Norwich signed 2 new defenders (a 50% overhaul of the defence) in Jan 2015 - this was the attempt to address that long problem. For a while it look like it had worked, then Klose got injured.

5) Recruitment and long term planning have been the biggest problem at Norwich since Lambert left. Hopefully Webber will resolve this.

6) The structure at Norwich was entirely centred around the manager, removing him and all his team would be a massive change which would more than likely be counter-productive. I don''t think the club are ''dithering'' at the moment. They have clearly stated they want to get in the SD, which has happened, and then allow him to appoint the HC - this is the correct approach. In reality the club should not have sacked AN until after Webber was in place but that situation was untenable.

7) The club have based the recruitment structure around the manager for years and years. When this works it works well - Lambert had his own team which identified the players that fit his tactics and personality. When Lambert left he took that structure with him. Hughton brought in his own people and had to start all over again. When Hughton left the club attempted to restructure a little with Adams (the Footballing Board) but AN wanted this to go when he came in and their power was undermined. AN also brought in his own people which has lead to huge amounts of chopping and changing over the years.

You mentioned Southampton as a club who have kicked on, this is mainly due to them employing a structure, which Norwich are now adopting, back when they were in League One. Saint''s managers are only consulted on transfers and never lead the player search - which is done by Les Reed (it is also worth that Southampton spent more money when they were in the Championship than Norwich who were in the Premier League at the time. We all know about Norwich being loaded with debt when they were promoted) . Norwich were always tripping over their own feet a little and thinking no further ahead than the end of the season. An attempt to go more long term was made at the beginning of Hughton''s 2nd season when Fer, van Wolfswinkel, Olsson, et al were signed. Norwich were praised highly for their transfers at the time, with several newspapers at the time saying they had the ''best transfer window'' in the Premier League. Unfortunately the signings did not work out, most crucially RVW, and the rest is history.

Football is full of quirks of fate - the same could have happened to Southampton with their signings but they have always managed to improve their squad - while this is largely down to skill there is also an element of luck.

For every promoted team that does kick on, there are always more who don''t.

Webber''s appointment could be the beginning of something good for Norwich - if he can bring to Norfolk the same success he was such a large part of at Huddersfield then we are laughing. It may take time though and the worst thing that can happen is fans jumping on his back after a few dud results or transfers.

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DCB, you provide two examples of teams who have been promoted and managed to stay there. There are also plenty of teams that have been promoted and failed to build on it. There is only room for 20 teams in the EPL, several of them are so established and well-financed that it is is highly unlikely they will slide through the trapdoor. Between those at the top and the relegation places at the bottom there are only a [very] limited number of spaces available in which promoted teams can become ''established''. Even teams with far longer periods of Premier League income than us have struggled to stay there. Why are we ''expected'' to establish ourselves any more successfully than they have?

Your rather glib description of our predicament as being "oh so avoidable" to me highlights unrealistic expectations or a detachment from reality. I would suggest the two teams you present as evidence represent the exception rather than the rule. Many teams have tried and failed; why is your expectation that we would be any different?

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[quote user="Chip20"]DCB, you provide two examples of teams who have been promoted and managed to stay there. There are also plenty of teams that have been promoted and failed to build on it. There is only room for 20 teams in the EPL, several of them are so established and well-financed that it is is highly unlikely they will slide through the trapdoor. Between those at the top and the relegation places at the bottom there are only a [very] limited number of spaces available in which promoted teams can become ''established''. Even teams with far longer periods of Premier League income than us have struggled to stay there. Why are we ''expected'' to establish ourselves any more successfully than they have?

Your rather glib description of our predicament as being "oh so avoidable" to me highlights unrealistic expectations or a detachment from reality. I would suggest the two teams you present as evidence represent the exception rather than the rule. Many teams have tried and failed; why is your expectation that we would be any different?[/quote]

The poster and myself think we never tried to stay in the premiership, no ambition was shown after Wembley.

We could have signed Dwight Gayle in the 3no transfer windows before he signed for Newcastle.

Again we didnt try

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[quote user="simmo_2"][quote user="Chip20"]DCB, you provide two examples of teams who have been promoted and managed to stay there. There are also plenty of teams that have been promoted and failed to build on it. There is only room for 20 teams in the EPL, several of them are so established and well-financed that it is is highly unlikely they will slide through the trapdoor. Between those at the top and the relegation places at the bottom there are only a [very] limited number of spaces available in which promoted teams can become ''established''. Even teams with far longer periods of Premier League income than us have struggled to stay there. Why are we ''expected'' to establish ourselves any more successfully than they have?

Your rather glib description of our predicament as being "oh so avoidable" to me highlights unrealistic expectations or a detachment from reality. I would suggest the two teams you present as evidence represent the exception rather than the rule. Many teams have tried and failed; why is your expectation that we would be any different?[/quote]

The poster and myself think we never tried to stay in the premiership, no ambition was shown after Wembley.

We could have signed Dwight Gayle in the 3no transfer windows before he signed for Newcastle.

Again we didnt try[/quote]Didn''t we reach an agreement with Palace to sign Gayle but they backed out because they couldn''t get the replacement they wanted?

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I see it that we are at the very end of Lambert''s legacy.

He drove this club out of the gutter to a mid table Premier League position. We never replaced him adequately.

Hughton sucked away our offensive dynamism and was kept on for far too long (we were poor after his first Christmas in charge onwards). Adams was a crazy appointment. Neil''s bullish self belief sparked momentum in a talented squad but once the swagger faded he lost his impact and, like Hughton, was kept on far too long.

The crunch point for me was failing to attract a higher calibre replacement after Lambert left. The clinging on to CH and AN was also fatal.

Overall, I''m quite philosophical though. We''ve come to the end of an 8 year adventure with plenty of good memories. I''m eager to strap myself in for the next ride ... even if that entails a lengthy rebuilding period.

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Webber''s appointment is at least an attempt to bring in continuity and a long term strategy. It might be too little, too late. But only time will tell. We still have one more season of parachute payments left, which is some small advantage over some clubs. But it doesn''t help that this season is left floundering while we await a new manager. This sense of limbo and aimlessness will only fuel discontent from supporters impatient for positive change. Incidentally, terrific summary from Bethnal Yellow and Green further upthread.

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