A way forward

[Saint Canary 0]

It has been discussed on here many times as to whether City can ever be a force in the Premier League, challenge for cups etc etc with most posters being resigned to the fact that unless we get an exceptional group of youngsters from the academy, it won’t happen.

However there is another way and it’s pretty obvious and done in many countries in Europe except England.  Watching Marseille last night they had lots of talented African players in their side and this is fairly standard in French football.  Lyon for example have become the top side in France mainly from buying cheap African and South American players early in their careers. 

So, for me it seems fairly obvious that City need to tap into the gold mine that is Africa and America and to do this they need to be innovative.  I’m sure a lot of you are thinking that African and South American players don’t seem to settle in this country and this idea is a waste of time but this is where the innovation from City comes.  Lots of people seem to feel that these players fail to adapt to the English game but that’s just rubbish.  How do Brazilians manage to adapt so well to the defensive style’s of Italian teams but not to the more open English game? 

Tim Vickery wrote a fantastic article on the BBC website months back about how poor English clubs are at treating these players and pointed out that clubs in France and Spain do everything they can to help settle them in.  They find them a house, move their family, they try and have several players from the same country on the books so there is no exclusion.  There is a whole host of things these clubs do for these players before they even think about throwing them in the team.  Most English clubs expect you just to turn up and get on with it.

What City need to do is try and emulate the methods used in Europe and get some talent in on the cheap, make these players at home, settle them in and become the first  club in England to really make full use of this resource of players.  There are more Essien’s and Eto’s out there no doubt and if we could find them, who knows where we could go?

Never going to happen I suppose but I can dream.

 

[Temp the Revelator 0]

I think you make a good point here Saint, but this should apply to players being signed domestically too - I have just made the same point on another thread about the upheaval of moving out to Norfolk - it is still, sadly, viewed as an isolated part of the country that many people her in Cheshire would never want to move to.  Maybe the club could be doing more to help players settle in?  Often a player makes the move thinking it is right for them only to find their family don''t settle - and I don''t just mean Norwich; David Unsworth saga, anyone?  Obviously there is also the flip side of this when someone like Hux makes the move, but I think this is a valid point.

[Saint Canary 0]

True Temps, I always thought Jonson could have done with a little more time last year instead of being thrown in at the deep end.

[YankeeCanary 0]

Saint, you make some good points which I agree with as far as being more open to recruiting opportunities. If we restrict ourselves to a narrower base it does not mean we will fail to succeed on occasions. It will likely mean, however, that we will be less successful over the longer term.

Although this next comment will be seen as JUST another attack on Nigel Worthington, it is not. In the same context of being open- minded on recruitment, one has to be open-minded as to how a football club is managed and coached. It is not healthy, in my opinion, for a club such as Norwich to persevere with any manager for a long period of time. Here''s why. Norwich has always been, and likely always will be ( at least in the next decade or two ), a club that is careful and relatively conservative in its approach to most things for reasons that most of us understand. Whether this is good or not can be debated but, I believe, it is a fact. It is more difficult when you have such a football club to generate excitement within the club, administration and players. Such a club needs change in management just to "stir the pot" if things become a little stale. Our most successful period in the clubs history was the 20+ seasons from the early 70''s, when we primarily enjoyed and sustained top flight football for Norwich for the first time in our history. We were relegated a couple of times during that period but had the ability to bounce back right away. Yet, during that 20+ years, we had at least seven managers.

Nigel Worthington has enjoyed a longer tenure than the average of the managers during our greatest period. Yet the fans have not witnessed the type of football alluded to above. Neither does Nigel appear to be the the most open-minded individual as it relates to youth policy or finding a way to draw out and nurture individual talents. Some may disagree with this but, for me, if the unthinkable happens and Nigel were given a further five years to manage the fortunes of Norwich City, then the most likely historic assessment of his reign would be abject disappointment for the fans.

Some have pointed out before that other managers with long tenure seem to have no difficulties. Alec Ferguson, for example. Different situation I believe. Managers at clubs like this have enough scope and turnover in coaching staff as well as talented player injection/turnover that the pot is continuously stirred.

It is time for change at Norwich. Those that deny this are unable to draw a line in the sand because that is not an easy task when your head is immersed in the same substance.

[Garth Crooks is a 0]

A very good point - however, there are some issues

1) African countries used to form part of the French colonies and hence many of the African players already speak French

2) There would be an issue with Work Permits

I think that your suggestion is great though and what Norwich needs to do is follow the Ajax route. This would involve having feeder clubs in Africa and South America (brasil and Argentina). This would allow youngsters to learn English and adjust to the "english" mentality.

As for the Work Permit situation, this would require links again with other European clubs (based in Portugal and Belgium) where these players would not need work permits and in a couple of years could move to the UK.

However, I 100% agree with the fact that Nigel is uninnovative and there would be a need to bring in a new manager to implement this.

 

[Beaker 0]

two words - dickson etuhu

 

say no more

[macdougalls perm 0]

You make a very good point St Canary despite the fact that has been observed that it works better in France because of the language thing. And JLC, not sure its fair to dismiss an entire continent on the basis of one player. 

[Beaker 0]

"You make a very good point St Canary despite the fact that has been observed that it works better in France because of the language thing. And JLC, not sure its fair to dismiss an entire continent on the basis of one player"

 

lol that tickled me for some reason, well put my friend! lol

[Saint Canary 0]

Well done to those of you who wanted to engage in in a non worthy in/out debate.

P.s Etuhu has a British passport :oP