What is the biggest mistake Norwich City ever made?

[chicken 2,624]

20 hours ago, paddycanary said:

Or Koulibaly

Or Alderweireld.

[ec-p 90]

Or Van D yke 

Edited November 6, 2022 by ec-p

[king canary 7,602]

2 hours ago, alex_ncfc said:

Giving Gunn the manager's job just because he'd had every other job at the club was one of the biggest mistakes the club has ever made. It was bad enough him getting the caretaker job, but then in that May 2009 after relegation actually giving him the full time job, don't think I've ever felt as equally underwhelmed, p*ssed off and furious as a Norwich fan. "the guy has zero managerial experience at all and has just got us relegated to the 3rd division, but the job is yours"

The Neil "we scoured Europe looking for potential managers" Adams appointment runs it close.

Yeah I was fuming with both of those appointments but the Adams one somehow felt worse because of all that had come before it.

[KernowCanary 214]

7 hours ago, Badger said:

So last year's loss was not big enough for you? How much would you have wanted us to borrow?

Enough to buy a decent squad able to stay up, last season and the one before that we were a Championship team playing in the wrong league.

[hertfordyellow 460]

1 hour ago, KernowCanary said:

Enough to buy a decent squad able to stay up, last season and the one before that we were a Championship team playing in the wrong league.

How much is that roughly?

[Ulfotto 631]

The biggest mistake is we are inherently too nice. Though this can be seen as strength at times it’s mainly a weakness.

[Badger 2,405]

2 hours ago, KernowCanary said:

Enough to buy a decent squad able to stay up, last season and the one before that we were a Championship team playing in the wrong league.

... and how much is that - to the nearest £50 million? And what would the wage bill be?

One and one final question - where would the money come from?

[kingsway 94]

F**king Martin O Neil about in 1995 when we were looking good to go up and look at what he done at Leicester in the following years!

 

In response to the first poster regarding Daniel Farke! - Get real, Farke was a failure at Premiership level and was obsessed with a style of play that didn't work at that level and had no plan B!

[The Great Mass Debater 1,081]

On 04/11/2022 at 21:53, WD40 said:

Losing that home game against Liverpoolc, Naismith debut, 5-4. Keep the lead there and with wind in our sails and Naismith firing we may have stayed up and invested even more.

Instead we got gut punched by Lallana, season went Pete Tong, Naismith turned on his teammates and was a financial albatross round our necks. 

Naismith was the business in that game. I dont care what anyone else says. Like when we bought Gary Hooper, I thought, now that is quality and why you pay the money. I dont think the Naismith purchase was a poor decision - if he'd have maintained levels of performance like that it would have been money well spent. Im not sure where that Naismith went

[Barham Blitz 652]

1 minute ago, The Great Mass Debater said:

Naismith was the business in that game. I dont care what anyone else says. Like when we bought Gary Hooper, I thought, now that is quality and why you pay the money. I dont think the Naismith purchase was a poor decision - if he'd have maintained levels of performance like that it would have been money well spent. Im not sure where that Naismith went

He never wanted to leave Everton and is very much on record as saying so. We just threw enough money at him to convince him eventually.

I agree that he was excellent in that game but I suspect the opposition is what motivated him there.

[king canary 7,602]

13 minutes ago, The Great Mass Debater said:

Naismith was the business in that game. I dont care what anyone else says. Like when we bought Gary Hooper, I thought, now that is quality and why you pay the money. I dont think the Naismith purchase was a poor decision - if he'd have maintained levels of performance like that it would have been money well spent. Im not sure where that Naismith went

On paper he made sense but as Barham says, he clearly didn't actually want to play here. The other issue was the club seemed to think shorter term with his signing with no thought of what would happen post relegation with his contract. 

[Son Ova Gunn 165]

21 hours ago, Badger said:

... and how much is that - to the nearest £50 million? And what would the wage bill be?

One and one final question - where would the money come from?

1. Net spend of £50m would easily suffice if no mistakes made which is clearly unrealistic but if targets had the main/sole priority of making the team PL ready rather than first consideration being will they sell on for profit then somewhere between £50-80m I would say would have been enough. Someone like Connor probably cost Palace very little.

2. A proper PL tier club owner could ensure this level of funds could be made available.

[hertfordyellow 460]

8 minutes ago, Son Ova Gunn said:

1. Net spend of £50m would easily suffice if no mistakes made which is clearly unrealistic but if targets had the main/sole priority of making the team PL ready rather than first consideration being will they sell on for profit then somewhere between £50-80m I would say would have been enough. Someone like Connor probably cost Palace very little.

2. A proper PL tier club owner could ensure this level of funds could be made available.

A PL tier owner can loan the club that money (you can't just plough money in and meet FFP requirements). It is still debt on the club. What happens if that owner wants that money back or has to regain that loan because of insolvency? Having a rich owner doesn't mean you have the golden ticket, in fact  the Championship / L1 is a graveyard for clubs who had big owners, who introduced debt, got bored and left the club in a worse state.

I'm not saying don't seek investment, but it is nowhere near as straightforward as described.

 

[HazzaJet 252]

On 06/11/2022 at 10:12, littleyellowbirdie said:

He would have been a nightmare who would have destroyed squad morale if hadn't got his way, not to mention that emerging talents would be put off coming to us for fear that we'd hold them back if they started attracting interest from bigger concerns. 

I think you’re right. We had no option but to sell him as he said “I won’t be here next summer”. Had we not let him go I think he would probably have only shown no desire to play, and been similar to what Cantwell was like last season

[Indy 3,297]

I think our next big mistake will be not to get Robins from Covvy before he gets snapped up, doing a sterling job again under immense pressure. His points per game is on par with Smith this season with a far worse squad! Just my opinion……

[littleyellowbirdie 2,541]

On 06/11/2022 at 17:45, king canary said:

Yeah I was fuming with both of those appointments but the Adams one somehow felt worse because of all that had come before it.

The attitude to Adams was grossly unfair in my view after he'd won the FA Youth Cup for the club, just because he failed to keep us up when dumped in as caretaker for four ridiculously difficult matches at the end of the season. Farke was given a fair crack of the whip coming to us as a youth manager. 

He could have done well for us if Bassong hadn't undermined him by behaving like a complete amateur throwing his toys out of the pram on Hughton's behalf at the outset and if fans hadn't been so dismissive before the season had even started. 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Monty13 2,231]

3 hours ago, Son Ova Gunn said:

1. Net spend of £50m would easily suffice if no mistakes made which is clearly unrealistic but if targets had the main/sole priority of making the team PL ready rather than first consideration being will they sell on for profit then somewhere between £50-80m I would say would have been enough. Someone like Connor probably cost Palace very little.

2. A proper PL tier club owner could ensure this level of funds could be made available.

This bit in spades. An obsession with this policy can’t bring success in the PL IMO. It is impossible for the majority of players in the squad to be a former crock, player who’s recently underperformed but might get it back or a youngster with potential.

There needs to be a core of experienced pros who will play almost every week, aren’t learning on the job and who offer leadership and mental strength to those that are.

We were and still are IMO just too unbalanced in this regard. We may get away with it in the championship due to the overall quality we have, but not in the PL.

[Indy 3,297]

4 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The attitude to Adams was grossly unfair in my view after he'd won the FA Youth Cup for the club, just because he failed to keep us up when dumped in as caretaker for four ridiculously difficult matches at the end of the season. Farke was given a fair crack of the whip coming to us as a youth manager. 

He could have done well for us if Bassong hadn't undermined him by behaving like a complete amateur throwing his toys out of the pram on Hughton's behalf at the outset and if fans hadn't been so dismissive before the season had even started. 

 

Indeed. I have a soft spot for Adams, he’s City through and through but also knows his stuff, too many write him off in my opinion.

[Monty13 2,231]

Just now, Indy said:

Indeed. I have a soft spot for Adams, he’s City through and through but also knows his stuff, too many write him off in my opinion.

I think if they’d just appointed him at the start there may have been less grumblings but it wasn’t like he was super unpopular. The whole scouring Europe thing didn’t exactly start his tenure off well though.

I think if he’d been backed that January he may have achieved promotion. Given the result of sacking him though it’s hard to argue against the decision, it was a shame for him though, but I’m glad he’s still here.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,541]

5 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

I think if they’d just appointed him at the start there may have been less grumblings but it wasn’t like he was super unpopular. The whole scouring Europe thing didn’t exactly start his tenure off well though.

I think if he’d been backed that January he may have achieved promotion. Given the result of sacking him though it’s hard to argue against the decision, it was a shame for him though, but I’m glad he’s still here.

He wasn't actually sacked; Adam's resigned, which probably just underlines how the attacks on him must have really hurt. 

[Indy 3,297]

5 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

He wasn't actually sacked; Adam's resigned, which probably just underlines how the attacks on him must have really hurt. 

Yep and I really hope once Webber goes he gets the opportunity to take the seat over.

[Monty13 2,231]

11 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

He wasn't actually sacked; Adam's resigned, which probably just underlines how the attacks on him must have really hurt. 

True, although I don’t think he would have resigned without being pushed. He’s just a more  loyal servant than most.

[king canary 7,602]

30 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The attitude to Adams was grossly unfair in my view after he'd won the FA Youth Cup for the club, just because he failed to keep us up when dumped in as caretaker for four ridiculously difficult matches at the end of the season. Farke was given a fair crack of the whip coming to us as a youth manager. 

He could have done well for us if Bassong hadn't undermined him by behaving like a complete amateur throwing his toys out of the pram on Hughton's behalf at the outset and if fans hadn't been so dismissive before the season had even started. 

 

It wasn't really Adams fault but his appointment was a joke.

Gets 5 games as caretaker in which we show precisely nothing then the club promises to scoure Europe for the best option and it turns out its the guy who just took one point from 15 and is already working here. How convenient ey?

I was at Brentford away and he had the full backing of the fans at that point- lots of 'we've got our Norwich back' chants etc etc. But it was clear the direction we were going in as that season wore on. He was clearly out of his depth and to his credit he realised it. I think he's smart enough to know his own limitations and what he wants from his career, hence the fact he stayed around here rather than trying to carve out a managerial career elsewhere. Fair play to him.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Most of the posts are from the 90s to now. 

Surely there was the odd monumental mistake before then?

Not burning down the whole ground in 1984? Could have had an 60K all seater.

 

[Foxy2600 300]

Not signing Alan Smith when Leeds went down….

[littleyellowbirdie 2,541]

13 minutes ago, king canary said:

It wasn't really Adams fault but his appointment was a joke.

Gets 5 games as caretaker in which we show precisely nothing then the club promises to scoure Europe for the best option and it turns out its the guy who just took one point from 15 and is already working here. How convenient ey?

I was at Brentford away and he had the full backing of the fans at that point- lots of 'we've got our Norwich back' chants etc etc. But it was clear the direction we were going in as that season wore on. He was clearly out of his depth and to his credit he realised it. I think he's smart enough to know his own limitations and what he wants from his career, hence the fact he stayed around here rather than trying to carve out a managerial career elsewhere. Fair play to him.

From my point of view, that was one point more than I expected for those games; it was a nightmare fixture list. To be honest, I think the club was at fault for sacking Hughton at that point, because whoever filled in those games had a thankless task.

[king canary 7,602]

2 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

From my point of view, that was one point more than I expected for those games; it was a nightmare fixture list. To be honest, I think the club was at fault for sacking Hughton at that point, because whoever filled in those games had a thankless task.

Yeah it was a total fudge- they either needed to sack Hughton 5 games earlier or let him have the whole season. The reaction after the West Brom game caused knees to jerk in panic.

[Branston Pickle 3,652]

On 06/11/2022 at 18:21, Ulfotto said:

The biggest mistake is we are inherently too nice. Though this can be seen as strength at times it’s mainly a weakness.

Not if you read/believe some of the stuff from Sheff U and Rotherham fans recently.

[Capt. Pants 4,225]

Difficult one this because if you don't make mistakes you don't learn and grow, and there is no guarantee there would have been linear progress had the event or mistake not happened.

However, bearing in mind what we had been through with Lambert; getting out of League One, straight through the Championship, surviving in the Premier League and who knows possibly becoming an established Premier League, to replace him with Hughton was a disaster and a huge missed opportunity.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Capt. Pants

[shefcanary 2,393]

43 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

Not if you read/believe some of the stuff from Sheff U and Rotherham fans recently.

Too right; some of their fans think we have taken ****housery to a new level! Bizarre...