WELL DONE THE BOARD

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

I mean it, getting that sort of money for Ashton was amazing business. Charlton paid 2.5 for Bent, and look at what he has done, the guy is different class.

Spending the money will be problematic and it might be best suited to spend it in the summer as this season is dead and buried and we will pay inflated prices. Worthy needs to break with tradition and play the youngsters and start the rebuilding for next season. Spilline, Rossi and Ryan Jarvis and Hendo, and really analyse if players like Hendo and Jarvis snr can cut the mustard at this level. Ryan Jarvis has a big few months and it would be a crying shame for his obvious talent to be wasted. Does Worthy remember the Liverpool home game you know that team that won the champions league. Jarvis had twenty minutes at best and look what he did.

 

I am far from happy at how this season has turned out, and there are things that dont quite add up, and the majority of the signings have far from convinced me as Worthys talent spotting team. I am concerned that the money will be wasted and our chance to get back to top flight spurned.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Good post Dizzy

It shows how a cash strapped club like Town have had to sell good players cheap out of despiration while our Board have been in a position to say NO and thus claim a large fee.

[still holding out for new heroes 0]

yep well done for blowing our ''only chance of promotion'' (worthys words) and a possible 30 million quid...

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

I think even with Aston as a canary this season was a waste. Ashton hasn''t had his heart and mind on the job, apart from Southampton at home how many times did you walk away from Carow Road thinkng that Ashton had earned his money.

[We need a Manager 0]

Yep who needs class players when you can have the likes of Peter Thorne upfront . Well done the no ambition Board.

[no1canary 0]

on this situation, yes the board and co have done well. ashton left norwich no choice but to sell. he basically put in an unofficial transfer request. he was that desperate to get away that he waived off 150k! dont sound like a player that we should be looking to place our ambitions on as far as this season goes. great fee for someone who doesn''t want to play for us.

[MadDan 0]

Yep, as usual in the absence of reasoned argument the old empty headed cliches will do.

No explanation as to why our third world neighbours have had to let their brightest prospect go for less than the profit we made on Ashton.

No explanation as to why Ashton was here in the first place either

Just the usual petulant bleat.

[We need a Manager 0]

None more empty headed than those that think the Board and Manager are doing a good job .

[ZLF 335]

A good deal for Ashton who clearly wanted to go when Citeh offered just £300k less in the autumn.

But where would have been in the league without Deanos goals?   Lisbie on loan longer as Leon failed to spark and worthy looked for someone, anyone other than WLY to save his season?  Its a thought not worth considerig to be honest.

[Al Yellow 0]

I posted this a few days ago but it slipped down the board rather sharpish with the volumes going through. Please excuse the vanity of reposting it but I feel the points are valid here in discussing the success or failure of the boards policies in the transfer market. I believe we have struck a good deal in selling Ashton in the circumstances but the reasons we got to this pont are much more telling. Hopefully MadDan will find more than empty headed cliches here but who knows ......

 

I think we need to divorce the sale of Ashton from the longer term general malaise the club is suffering.

 

Firstly the Ashton trade is a decent bit of business. A tidy profit made on a player who arguably has gone backwards since he dropped out of the Premiership and has shown a worrying vunerability to injury - seeing him walk about you sometimes find it hard to believe he''s only 22, he moves like an old man. He wanted away and we made a decent return. Time to invest and look for the next return.

 

Now I''m sure the charge will be we''ve gained £3 to £4mio (after sell ons and with the appearance bonus fees) but missed out on £20mio in promotion. I think we can say that our great run in December merely masked the fact that we were always going to come up short this season. Automatic promotion was out of reach after our woeful first month of the season and the failure to put in place a midfield for the season before the transfer window slammed down on our fingers. After that you''re into the lottery of trying to sneak into the playoffs and that elusive lucky break that takes you up. I think it would have been a gamble to keep a disgruntled Ashton on the books in the slim hope we can a) make the playoffs and b) fight our way past the other three teams in their (a big game Fulhamesque choke would await us in a final). At that point we become distressed sellers of an already devalued asset. Take the profit and run.

 

So that''s all well and good, a profit made and a chance to rebuild. My major problem is this, though, how did we get to this point where it made sense for us to throw in the towel - admit we''ve messed up our best chance to get back out of this league (the right way) - and take the money.

 

The charges can be laid against the board, the management team and the players themselves. This malaise dates back to our attitude to the Premiership promotion season. I have always advocated that a club must be run as a viable business and live within it''s means. As such I cannot complain at the money we spent. However my first complaint is the timing of the spend. We knew before that season started that we needs a goal getter to make the difference. Ashton was signed in the window, we played catchup and amazingly made it to the last game of the season with our fate in our own hands. So our first question is who failed here? Has the board made the funds available to late or has the manager not seen the need to strengthen? Our second charge goes against the management team and the players. At the Fulham game and for periods up until question the fans have felt a general sense of apathy and this has led to many a rumour. I find it very difficult to understand how the team failed to be up for the Fulham game and a small part of me is bitter about that. As I say I think that has continued into this season. Our third charge lies at the feet of the board, we went into the Premiership season with this attitude we''re just out to enjoy the season, it''s great for little old Norwich. Contrast this with the approach of Wigan and West Ham and the quiet dignity of Sunderland this season. We put ourselves on the backfoot before we started.

 

And so we fast forward to season ''05 - ''06, favourites for promotion boasting a fiersom strikeforce which promised goals, goals, goals. Of course the fact that you need a team with a structure to it to create those chances seemed to pass our management by (and the bookies, but at least that cheers us up). Again the window closes and our transfer dealings appear poor, the whole Morrison saga now looks laughable given the issues in midfield, especially the width. Again we question the budget for players and the quality of management. Results go against us the manager is under pressure, the board are faced with a decision. The Carrow Road axe remains in Bobby Chases old filing cabinet in some dusty corner. A rare hint of ambition or at worst commercial acumin is demonstrated by the board by putting Ashton on a longer contract, nobody believes he''ll be around in 12 months. We continue to be forced (partly due to the ridiculous transfer window) to bring in loan players which can be costly and leads to a disjointed team with frequent changes, not helped of course by injuries. During this period the tactics and stlye of play fail to meet the demands of the fans.

 

It''s now been 23 days since the transfer window opened. The right hand side problem still exists and our star striker has gone. Tactically we are poor, the shape isn''t right. Ambition has been thrown out of the window over the last year and a half and we are reaping the rewards, mid table medicocrity. The board should have had the guts to ditch the manager when it was clear the season was off to a bad start they failed. Funds should have been made available in one hit last year to give us the best chance of staying up. We should have learnt from our mistakes but instead they have been repeated this year and again we are playing catchup. Sadly I fear the mood of the fans could become infectious and spread to the players we already suspect that there have been problems there in the recent past. I think a new broom is needed, a day zero with a new manager, we start a fresh. The board could also do with a decent PR company too.