Prudence with Ambition?

[mystic megson 0]

This season''s catchy little slogan says it all.  Prudence first, ambition a poor second.   Last season we had such a small squad, compared with the rest of the Premiership, that survival until the last day was nothing short of a miracle.  You''d think lessons would have been learned, but believe it or not we''ve now got the smallest squad in the Championship: 23 players, compared to 28 at Reading, Watford and Wolves, 31 at Crystal Palace and 38(!) at Sheffield United. 

It''s obvious that we need at least five more permanent signings, and now that the transfer window has come into play it will take at least another season to catch up, even if the commitment is there.  Numbers won''t guarantee success, of course, but as things stand it doesn''t look as if the club even wants to compete.  In a nutshell, we''re stuffed.  Is it any wonder that the team looks so demoralised?  

Not sure whose fault this is, but I agree with those who think the board have got off rather lightly so far.  The manager, players and fans have all had their share of criticism, so how come the board remains squeaky clean?  Ambition with Prudence, you muppets!

I''m sorry to say we''re back in the Robert Chase era, only with a better quality of bull****.  Why is this?  It could be a Norwich thing - big village, footballing backwater, big fish in small pond.  We get easily lulled into complacency and inward-looking when things go wrong.  Neil Doncaster, Roger Munby, Michael, Delia & Co - you''re asleep at the wheel.

 

[The Lucky Nine 0]

Hi Clare,

Funny we should both sign up to this board on the same day!  That is if you are the same Clare who used to travel with the Capital Canaries.

I have to agree exactly with what you have said on your post.  I have been thinking long and hard about how we can show the club that we as fans are not happy.  I have never wanted to slag off our board, but after years and years of hard work getting the ground full they are in danger of wreaking all that work in a couple of weeks! 

I was at the shareholders meeting and was hoping to see a bit more angst from our fans but it never happened and the board take all the objections far to personally. 

Having not missed more than 4 games home and away each season for the last 8 years, I have for the first time in years found myself no longer going away, as what you get is not value for my hard earned money.  Me and many of my friends who have lived and breathed City all our lives (I have been supporting this club for over 20 years now) just can not face going away at the moment and these are the sorts of people that NCFC should be getting very concerned about, as once you get out of the habit of supporting your team, fans many not come back! 

Some have called me fickle for my actions, but I was there when we lost 4-0 to Wolves, I was at Stockport when the fuel protests were on and I saw us lose to Preston in the last minute on a cold Tuesday night.  I have done my time watching poor football and I thought we had turned the corner. 

NCFC its time to act before serious support is lost!

 

[Tim Dawson 0]

Two excellent posts, the problems can certainly be attributed to such a small squad as when a handful of injuries occur players are being picked and there is no competition for places, i too had noticed when reading programmes home or away that everyone elses squad seemed to be between 5 and 10 players bigger than our own.

 Certainly this season as we lost 9 players and gained only 6 , and the size of last yrs squad was small, there should have been at least 10 - 12 new players signed to give strength in depth and to push for immediate promotion back to the premiership, so do we blame the board or players greed, lets face it how many times have we lost out on a player because we try to get them on the cheap or dither about as someone else steps in, Cmon Delia, either replace Worthy or give him ample cash to go and buy in january!

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Agree entirely Paulo - the board should be deeply concerned at the way hard core fans are now truning their backs on away games and becoming deeply disillusioned with the way the board is handling (or more precisely not handling) this situation.

I know of 15-20 people who would ordinarily have gone last saturday and who chose not to as they can''t face it. As you know I had not missed a league game for two years and have only missed a handful over the last 5 or 6 years until Saturday but I am glad I did not go and I will now miss more so long as Worthington remains our manager. We still somehow manage to have a decent day out for some away trips but for a long time now the football has been woeful and I for one am fed up with it. Without sounding arrogant (and not turning this into some kind of who is the best fan debate) if people like us are no longer going because we have become so disillusioned then the board should be very, very concerned as like you say were were amongst the 200 or so that used to be there in the dark days at hellholes like Tranmere and Burnley for evening games.

[Moanin Riverender 0]

Clare,good post.Limiting squad size is nothing new to this board.When Bruce Rioch resigned(because his ambitions were not matched by the board !)it was revealed that he was asked to cut the playing staff to 19 professionals and even disband the reserve team !

[gazzathegreat 0]

hi to Clare and Paul

Welcome to the board, have to say you both start with valid and well constructed posts, and you won''t find me disagreeing with you. 

Paul, I feel for you, and understand your feelings regarding away trips, I went to away matches for a number of seasons in the late 90s and saw some awful stuff, and have witnessed Watford, Stoke and Luton this year.  Sadly have now got a Saturday job over the Christmas period and can''t say I am crying over the prospect of missing too much.

I have to agree with you on the board''s complacency and their total lack of understanding the groundswell of opinions which are out there.  I have chatted to many people over the past few weeks, and will tonight at the reserve match and I can''t find anyone who isn''t in despair or just wishing for something to happen.  I have to say I could see all this coming a long time ago, but that doesn''t make it any easier, it is just I maybe further down the grieving process line than others and dangerously near the apathy mark, but I can''t do that and am starting to feel angry again!

I can''t see how anyone can call you fickle, but there you are.  

Clare, you are scaring me with your likening this to Chase, I don''t think it is that bad, but they are surely inward thinking and although I do genuinely believe they want the best for the club, I don''t think they really know what that is.  Keeping Worthy isn''t going to make things better and handing him some cash in the January sales is just wasting our precious resources.  I can''t see them sacking him now, and I think he will resign (or the old mutual consent thing) might happen, if he truly feels like he did after the Wolves game for any long period of time. 

[The Lucky Nine 0]

Thanks to all that responded.  I also attended the reserve game this evening and had a long chat with those that I travel with, all of who would normally only miss 4 or 5 away games a season and all of us are not planning to go to many in the run up to christmas.  Probably the time when the club could most do with our support as we are away from Carrow Road so much!  But we all feel that 19 defeats in 23 away trips is simply unacceptable! 

On reflection I think that the only time that our board are going to understand the true level of unhappiness is when the season ticket renewal forms go out in the early part of next year! 

I would never want to see the club cash starved, but I wonder if this is the only way that people at the top will realise that we the fans are sick of watching such poor performances from a team that should be giving so much more!

Oh, and the reserves lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace, who looked like a team that knew how to attack!

[charlies dad 0]

Good points, well made. Dont mess with Clare!

[ob1 0]

Actually that was the slogan of end of the Championship season - before we entered the Premiership.

[Moanin Riverender 0]

You''re right ob1.The slogan for the Premiership was ''Prudence with NO ambition''.The slogan for this season is ''Prudence with Relegation''.

[charlies dad 0]

Prudence with Relegation. 2 years running.

[mystic megson 0]

Grateful thanks to all who responded, thought I was the only one feeling like this.  Especially to the respondent who thought it was time for everyone to admit that mistakes have been made, draw a line and move on.  No-one''s going to come out of this mess smelling of roses - players, fans, management or board.

It depends what you mean by honesty, doesn''t it?  Is it honest for the board to raise our expectations, then criticise the fans for being unrealistic?  I don''t think it was unrealistic or unreasonable for the fans to expect the club to take advantage of the parachute money to strengthen the squad for a renewed challenge, a la Charlton.  That clearly didn''t happen.  They didn''t actually lie, they just didn''t tell the truth.  At least with Chase you knew what you were dealing with.   

 

 

[Fat Barman 0]

Let''s not spoil the thread with bad sloganeering (if there''s such a word). Clare''s raised some valid points and some of the earlier respondents added more, aswell as the worrying trend of some of the clubs staunchest supporters deciding to miss games.

I think we''re getting somewhere when we can discuss without sniping at each other. Surely there''s some validity in most of the arguments here once you extract the extremist points of view?

The Board appear to have tied Worthy''s hands during the August transfer window - possibly with the idea that permanent signings would easily be augmented by loans. That is now proving to have been disastrous - clubs AND players prefer cut and dried deals rather than the ephemeral quality of a short-term loan, we don''t seem to be able to attract the players required to help raise our game.

Worthy and the coaching staff seem bereft of new ideas - however willingly they try on the training pitch. Why not look to see if there''s somebody who could come and assist (short, or long term) by bringing a fresh perspective on training and tactics. You''d get the benefits of a new face (or a returning old on? Ian Crook?) whilst keeping the stability of the existing set-up which the players appear to appreciate. I''m sure (IMHO) that Worthy & Co wouldn''t take offence if this was broached in the right manner.

The players just aren''t trying - or at least they''re not convincing us that they''re trying! Effort will only take you so far but, for a team allegedly built around a strong work ethic, recent displays don''t even attempt to show any guts, desire, or remorse at their failures. The real leaders in the squad need to prove themselves NOW. Motivate their mates, drive them on to greater efforts, get them believing in their own abilities again.

It''s a four-way deal at our football club and only one area, the fans, have really given it their all this season. We question, cajole, protest but ultimately SUPPORT with all our hearts at every game. It''s time the other three matched us. Nothing will be gained by scapegoating any one part of the group, or individuals within those parts, but they must ALL recognise their shortcomings and be open to ideas and criticism so they can improve.

It''s not much of a plan, but it''s the only one I can see which could be acceptable to most (and, importantly, the Board). Rick Waghorn raised the question of Micheal, Delia, and Worthy''s ethics and morals in running our club. It was an angle I hadn''t considered, that their strong personal beliefs might influence the ''business'' they run. The course of action I''ve proposed would fit with their moral core, if that''s what has them stagnating in the current mess.

Try not to drop off reading this, I''d welcome your comments.

[The Lucky Nine 0]

Fat Barman, I agree with your points raised (oh and by the way I signed up for this site as people seem to be able to have a reasonable chat with snipping and being part of the "in" crowd, unlike some sites, which I still read, but rarely bother to post on these days.  I hope this remains the same).

I like your point about maybe bringing someone else in to help, but I am not sure if Worthy would go for this, as it may be seen as undermining him, or that he has failed.  Its a good idea all the same!

With most unsure about how the loan market would work this year, plus the fact that most clubs are running with smaller squads this season it was always going hard to use this to our advantage again this year.  Yes it worked well for us in the Championship season, but I never felt we could match that this season. 

Your spot on about the other 3/4''s of the football club, they need to start listening, take criticism and lean from their mistakes, if we are to make anything of this season. 

As for Rick''s peice in the paper last night - best I don''t comment on that as I like this website and I normally like what Rick writes.