It's a conspiracy by the board!!!

Alex Harvey-Jones · January 10, 2007

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

hogesar · January 10, 2007

Too long for me to read, but i got the Well well well bit read..

I agree with some and disagree with some. Its generally the scenario for me.

Cluck · January 10, 2007

Heartfelt post Alex.....and pretty much how many of us feel these days.........[Y]

Moanin Riverender · January 10, 2007

That''s one shiny nail smacked firmly on the head,great post Alex.

ricky knight · January 10, 2007

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

[/quote]

you heathen how dear you questions the court of queen Delia off with his head.

shyster · January 10, 2007

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

[/quote]

Nobody wants to believe it, but it seems you have the scenario down to a tee, Alex, and what a rotten outline of events it''s turning out to be, YET AGAIN. [:$]

Grant stated that he wanted four January signings and from todays activity it already looks as though two of ''em via the Scottish keeper on loan & Chris Brown are done deals - with the earlier signing of Chadwick, that leaves one more player to purchase or loan, and let''s pray that, that one is a bloody good central midfielder - we needn''t worry about defence ''cause Grant reckons we''re solid in that area. [:''(]

Although Chris Brown doesn''t make great reading, none of us really know much about him

Branston Pickle · January 10, 2007

[quote user="Cluck"]Heartfelt post Alex.....and pretty much how many of us feel these days.........[Y][/quote]

Maybe, but it is still slightly wrong imo - we have currently signed Chadwick, and are now closely linked with Marshall - both extremely good and capable of playing in the Prem. The jury is out on Brown but we should give him a chance if he signs. If we sign them that is 3 new players of which 2 I can''t complain about.

For me the all pervasing negativity that some people seem to feel about the club is extremely sad. The game is littered with clubs in our situation (played in the Prem and now struggling to get a consistent performance together) - Leicester, Sheff Wed, Binners, Wolves, Sunderland, Palace, Leeds, QPR, Forest - just off the top of my head. I don''t know what the answer is, but not all of those clubs are badly run or whatever, and I don''t think ours is either.

Rudolph Hucker · January 10, 2007

I...................say, Alex....ding bloody dong........what a bottom spanker of a post and living up to your moniker by giving it both barrells chum. Jolly well said!

Canary Poirot · January 10, 2007

Alex Harvey Jones

While I understand your frustrations, we shouldn''t get too angry at not signing a ''big name player'' or any player with a reputation for that matter in January. almost without question if we did, we would be paying over the odds for them. why? Because the supply of such players is so low, that any club with recent investment will be bidding for them, looking for that all elusive ''last piece of the jigsaw'' that a dozen or so Championship sides are looking for.

Personally I''d much rather we bought players no one had ever heard of, young hungry players who want to go out and prove to everyone they can make it as a professional. They''d cost less money, and they might turn out to have the ambition and commitment which we see so lacking in aspects of the current squad. When we bought Crook, Bown and Culverhouse, Townsend, Linighan, Polston, Phelen, Rosario, and Steve Bruce all those years ago for next to nothing when none had reputations, were people outraged? The club must again focus on what worked in the past, and try and replicate that formula. I can''t see how people can knock Brown without ever seeing him play - he doesn''t have a name, or a great record. So what I say! Did any of the players I''ve listed above have names before signing for us?! And it doesn''t matter if Brown isn''t a prolific goalscorer, Svensson never was, and nor was Robert Rosario - but both did excellent jobs for the team. Brown is to be a target man - and if he can win his fair share of headers, hold the ball up and move off the ball, then he''ll be a useful player.

As for the selling of Earnshaw - nothing is cut and dried - but every player does have their price, and I wouldn''t begruge the club selling him for £5.5M. If he does go though, I would want to see all of that money reinvested back into squad building before the start of August - otherwise things could start to look a bit bleak. And if he goes before the end of January, and no replacement comes in , then by god it will be a relegation dog fight, but I think we''ll get the 15 points we need to survive, Dublin and Huckerby have enough quality to see us home.

GJD · January 11, 2007

Answer to your points, but I do share some of your worries.

1 – How do you know what we have bid for any players and whether there is any lack of ambition at NCFC? Inside knowledge or speculation on your part?

2- If we keep making mention of players we want to sign and then sign none of them or comparable players how does that help the board of NCFC in the long run with the fans?

3- I can’t remember seeing Delia saying anything public about flurry of transfer activity. If she has then please point me out the relevant article by her? I doubt she vets everything coming out of NCFC.

4 – I think every player has always had his price. Does not matter what club you are at even Chelsea I would say. It’s called cashing in on assets and hopefully investing in the long term future if the board are clever.

5 – I have little knowledge of all our mentioned potential players we have been linked with, or little do I care in some respects. I hope and trust that our club scouts are up to the task to decide on who might improve in the team. I can think of many a player that came here before with no great reputation and improved our team in the long term. Whoever comes in I hope we give them time and the chance to prove themselves.

In Dubious Battle · January 11, 2007

In answer to your points1. Do you actually believe our board sit around a big table with peter grant thinking up schemes & plans as to how they can fool the fans? because if you do then i would suggest you are perhaps a little bit paranoid. Could it be possible that our board share the same ambition that you clearly do and are going after the bigger named targets for precisly those reasons but are getting outbid by clubs with more money or by clubs who are prepared to take risks with the financial state of their clubs? Not to mention the fact that we are 17th in the league is it any wonder Stephan Pearsen wnet to Derby who are 2nd? and several premiership clubs are after Vine, how do you suggest we compete with that?2. I don''t know if earnshaw will be sold or not, i tend to think not unlike ashton he has shown no intent to leave, but i will reserve my judgement until 31st Jan. I will be disapointed if earnshaw was to be sold but how disapointed would depend on 2 things firstly did the player want to leave? i see little point in keeping a player who wants to be somewhere else, and secondly who we brought in to replace him, you say we sold ashton too late to bring in reinforcements well where do you think earnshaw came from? Do you actually know the money from the cotteriel deal has been eroded away or is that just a guess? and regarding why pearson & vine are not here see above. If you were a truely top notch player would you come to a club in the wrong half of the championship?

Chunky Canary · January 11, 2007

Good post Alex and one that I completely agree with.

the shark · January 11, 2007

we did the same in the summer offering half of clubs values on there players. they (the board think fans are brainless )i don''t know the details but nearly 20 mill in dept is the sign of things can only get worse.

allways travelling · January 11, 2007

[quote user="shyster"][quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

[/quote]

Nobody wants to believe it, but it seems you have the scenario down to a tee, Alex, and what a rotten outline of events it''s turning out to be, YET AGAIN. [:$]

Grant stated that he wanted four January signings and from todays activity it already looks as though two of ''em via the Scottish keeper on loan & Chris Brown are done deals - with the earlier signing of Chadwick, that leaves one more player to purchase or loan, and let''s pray that, that one is a bloody good central midfielder - we needn''t worry about defence ''cause Grant reckons we''re solid in that area. [:''(]

Although Chris Brown doesn''t make great reading, none of us really know much about him

[/quote]You will be suprised this lad is decent and cheap well done granty.

Cluck · January 11, 2007

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]In answer to your points

1. Do you actually believe our board sit around a big table with peter grant thinking up schemes & plans as to how they can fool the fans? because if you do then i would suggest you are perhaps a little bit paranoid. Could it be possible that our board share the same ambition that you clearly do and are going after the bigger named targets for precisly those reasons but are getting outbid by clubs with more money or by clubs who are prepared to take risks with the financial state of their clubs? Not to mention the fact that we are 17th in the league is it any wonder Stephan Pearsen wnet to Derby who are 2nd? and several premiership clubs are after Vine, how do you suggest we compete with that?

2. I don''t know if earnshaw will be sold or not, i tend to think not unlike ashton he has shown no intent to leave, but i will reserve my judgement until 31st Jan. I will be disapointed if earnshaw was to be sold but how disapointed would depend on 2 things firstly did the player want to leave? i see little point in keeping a player who wants to be somewhere else, and secondly who we brought in to replace him, you say we sold ashton too late to bring in reinforcements well where do you think earnshaw came from?
Do you actually know the money from the cotteriel deal has been eroded away or is that just a guess? and regarding why pearson & vine are not here see above.

If you were a truely top notch player would you come to a club in the wrong half of the championship?

[/quote]

Good God.....I suppose you think Saddam was innocent too.......What is wrong with some people that they cannot bear to face the facts and instead throw up umpteen excuses for the ongoing ineptitude at CR?

As your final sentence reveals....who got us into the state where no decent players want to come here?

In Dubious Battle · January 11, 2007

[quote user="Cluck"]

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]In answer to your points1. Do you actually believe our board sit around a big table with peter grant thinking up schemes & plans as to how they can fool the fans? because if you do then i would suggest you are perhaps a little bit paranoid. Could it be possible that our board share the same ambition that you clearly do and are going after the bigger named targets for precisly those reasons but are getting outbid by clubs with more money or by clubs who are prepared to take risks with the financial state of their clubs? Not to mention the fact that we are 17th in the league is it any wonder Stephan Pearsen wnet to Derby who are 2nd? and several premiership clubs are after Vine, how do you suggest we compete with that?2. I don''t know if earnshaw will be sold or not, i tend to think not unlike ashton he has shown no intent to leave, but i will reserve my judgement until 31st Jan. I will be disapointed if earnshaw was to be sold but how disapointed would depend on 2 things firstly did the player want to leave? i see little point in keeping a player who wants to be somewhere else, and secondly who we brought in to replace him, you say we sold ashton too late to bring in reinforcements well where do you think earnshaw came from? Do you actually know the money from the cotteriel deal has been eroded away or is that just a guess? and regarding why pearson & vine are not here see above. If you were a truely top notch player would you come to a club in the wrong half of the championship?[/quote]

Good God.....I suppose you think Saddam was innocent too.......What is wrong with some people that they cannot bear to face the facts and instead throw up umpteen excuses for the ongoing ineptitude at CR?

As your final sentence reveals....who got us into the state where no decent players want to come here?

[/quote]I appreciate the fact that you disagree with my views but you state this without backing it up with any real arguement. If you disagree so strongly you should be able to explain why?Our league is littered with teams as is league 1 who have been relegated from the top flight and then struggled i.e ipswich, leeds, forest, s.wed, c.palace, wba, leicester, s''oton, coventry, derby, bradford, wolves, barnsley etc do these all have inept boards too? It is far too simplistic to put a clubs failings down to one issue it is generally a combination of different factors. The board have made mistakes and are not blameless for us being where we are but to say it''s solely down to them and is even some sort of conspiracy is frankly bordering on insanity.

Christov · January 11, 2007

I didn''t read past the first line.

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. [/quote]

Obviously forgotten about Earny and Ashton. We''re only 11 days in give it a resat.

Unlucky Fried Kitten · January 11, 2007

Excellent post, Alex. I do so hope you are wrong in your appraisal of the boards aims, but sadly I think you may well have hit the nail solidly on the head. If we continue to buy other people''s mediocre cast-offs, there is only one possible outcome eventually and that is relegation.

Syteanric · January 11, 2007

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

[/quote]

Great points Alex!

Hello to the angels goes on to say:

[quote]In answer to your points

1. Do you actually believe our board sit around a big table with peter grant thinking up schemes & plans as to how they can fool the fans? because if you do then i would suggest you are perhaps a little bit paranoid. Could it be possible that our board share the same ambition that you clearly do and are going after the bigger named targets for precisly those reasons but are getting outbid by clubs with more money or by clubs who are prepared to take risks with the financial state of their clubs? Not to mention the fact that we are 17th in the league is it any wonder Stephan Pearsen wnet to Derby who are 2nd? and several premiership clubs are after Vine, how do you suggest we compete with that?

2. I don''t know if earnshaw will be sold or not, i tend to think not unlike ashton he has shown no intent to leave, but i will reserve my judgement until 31st Jan. I will be disapointed if earnshaw was to be sold but how disapointed would depend on 2 things firstly did the player want to leave? i see little point in keeping a player who wants to be somewhere else, and secondly who we brought in to replace him, you say we sold ashton too late to bring in reinforcements well where do you think earnshaw came from?
Do you actually know the money from the cotteriel deal has been eroded away or is that just a guess? and regarding why pearson & vine are not here see above.

If you were a truely top notch player would you come to a club in the wrong half of the championship?
[/quote]

First of all in reference to the above. we were mid table when Earnshaw signed for us where we not? andf as u say "if u were a truly top notch player etc" well Earnshaw has proven that with a little bit of guts and sticking to your guns that yes, it is possible to attract talent as long as the infrastructure is there. The fact that robert Earnsahw , to date, is still here indicates that (by your reckoning) he isnt a top notch player or he wants to be here.

He may or may not have his own reasons for this, perhaps he feels he wont be as effective ina team full of stars who might keep him on the bench (or possibly the resveres) week after week. Perhaps he likes it here, wants to settle down, i dont know if he has a family but im sure he wants the best foor them and if they like it here then he''s happy.

back to Alex''s post.. and he is right.. why do we have to say "everyone has a price" why cant we say "no one is going anywhere" cant Grant puit a recorded message on his answer phone saying "if ur calling about Earnshaw hang up now!"

Delia goes on about a "flurry of transfer activity" and shes right! 91 other teams in this country are busy hiring and firing, buying and selling.. thats the flurry... she didnt say "expect a flurry at Carrow Road" did she?

if Earnshaw is sold i fully expect panic buys! Remember Graeme Stuart? Grant is now saying "2 or 3" players instead of 4 or 5. the money for Cotterill seems to have dried up with no explanation from the club.

in the summer we sold Green and McKenzie for good money and none of that was re invested into the squad we now sit precariously placed.

If the signing of Brown is what we are to expect from Carrow road in the future then im afraid to say it we wont be playing championship football much longer.

This club is now financially worse off under Delia than it was under Chase, under Delia we have sat at 24th position in this division, we never did under Chase.

Robert chase is hated by the fans, Delia is loved by many??? why? she didnt save the club, her and her boards financial Mismanagement have led to us to increase our debt by 3 times the amount it was under chase, the Land Chase purchased has been sold off and yet we still return a loss... surely harvesting this land for our own profits were what was needed?

Im afraid to say that Norwich city will ALWAYS be a selling club. Reeves, Fashanu, Woods, Bruce, Gordon, Fleck, Sutton, Bellamy, Eadie, Ashton, Green.. we have to accept it. it wont ever change because its the clubs "way"

the only chance we might have of turning this around is if someone, somehwere at the club, says "we are a big club" not "little Norwich" happily plugging away with smiling faces week after week, losing every game but the fans still sing because we constantly punch above our weight!

in the 70''s and 80''s we''d beat the likes of Arsenal, Man utd, Liverpool and Everton weekly! the biggest teams in England (and the world some might argue) were coming to Carrow Road and ebing undone.. not because we were a little team, because were AS GOOD AS them!.

its the "little Norwich" mentality that cost us the Premiership title, our place in the prem twice, a host of top players and looks set to cost us our championship place too... A "little" club usually plays in the bottom 2 divisions.. looks like Delias getting her wish then.

Smith Out! and before anyone starts about "contacting a mythical investor" who contacted Aldo Spinelli, Delia Smith and Harry Serrius when Chases shares were available? no one! they saw the opportunity and they had to fight each other to take it! Delia will go if we go down.. and i for one wont be disappointed

jas :)

In Dubious Battle · January 11, 2007

[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]

Well well well - here we are again - January transfer window and once again no decent signing for Norwich. Linked with a few decent players, interested in a few decent players but that''s as far as it''s gone. Yes we may have submitted an offer for Pearson but it hasn''t come off. Now we''re left with the possibility of signing Chris Brown when apparently we were linked with Rowan Vine. I am beginning to believe that we the fans are being taken for mugs by the board with one of two scenarios now going to happen:

1] The club is linking themselves with quality players but with no real intention of bidding sufficient money to sign them or with no real hope of attracting the players to Norwich because there is no money and no real ambition at NCFC. However the board know that if no rumours of decent players appear then the fans will be in uproar. Therefore to appear ambitious, Grant is claiming interest in players the fans would love to see at he club while actually working on the ''real'' transfers behind the smoke screen - transfers of the likes of Brown who can''t make the Sunderland team. Then the board can claim that we tried hard to attract decent players but we couldn''t afford them because we won''t pay inflated transfer fees or they didn''t want to come with reasons beyond our control. Thus it is hoped we accept the second rate signings as panic buys!!

Already we''ve seen claims of a ''flurry of transfer activity'' from Delia and a claim of bringing in ''4 or 5 new players'' by Grant reduced to excuses and PG stating that he hopes to have the ''2 or 3'' he wanted in place by the end of January. The sad thing is we''ve seen it all before. I''m fed up of excuses - I don''t want to hear them. I''m fed up of being taken for a ride, of being spun bull sh*t by the manager and the board and our constant lack of willingness to pay money to sign decent players!!! No one of real note will join in january or scenario two will occur...........

2] Amongst all of the rubbish about Grant wanting Earnie at the club he is actually likely to be sold. The board are alerting attention to him by claiming everyone has a price - hint hint!!! If we really didn''t want to sell we would adopt the same stance that Preston did with Nugent and Sheff Utd. We are not forced to sell. Why not say hands off he''s not for sale. Is that so hard to do?? The club has eroded the money that was there in the summer to sign Cotterill and actually before anyone decent can be brought in, Earnie needs to be sold. Hence why Pearson and Vine are not here and Brown has been bought! It''s the Ashton saga once more where Earnie will be sold near the end of the window with no time left to spend the money on re-inforcements. I''m no longer prepared to believe anything that comes out of the club. Only once Feb 1st arrives will I believe anything when there is hard evidence.

I''m fed up of being taken for a mug and our lack of activity in the transfer market. Brown will get us no-where. Grant - shut up with your excuses - you''re paid to manage the signings so get on with it without moaning - we don''t care! I would like to bet we don''t sign a truly top notch player in the window unless Earnie is sold and even then we will probably be left with funds and no time to spend them! Same old same old....

[/quote]

Great points Alex!

Hello to the angels goes on to say:

[quote]In answer to your points1. Do you actually believe our board sit around a big table with peter grant thinking up schemes & plans as to how they can fool the fans? because if you do then i would suggest you are perhaps a little bit paranoid. Could it be possible that our board share the same ambition that you clearly do and are going after the bigger named targets for precisly those reasons but are getting outbid by clubs with more money or by clubs who are prepared to take risks with the financial state of their clubs? Not to mention the fact that we are 17th in the league is it any wonder Stephan Pearsen wnet to Derby who are 2nd? and several premiership clubs are after Vine, how do you suggest we compete with that?2. I don''t know if earnshaw will be sold or not, i tend to think not unlike ashton he has shown no intent to leave, but i will reserve my judgement until 31st Jan. I will be disapointed if earnshaw was to be sold but how disapointed would depend on 2 things firstly did the player want to leave? i see little point in keeping a player who wants to be somewhere else, and secondly who we brought in to replace him, you say we sold ashton too late to bring in reinforcements well where do you think earnshaw came from? Do you actually know the money from the cotteriel deal has been eroded away or is that just a guess? and regarding why pearson & vine are not here see above. If you were a truely top notch player would you come to a club in the wrong half of the championship?[/quote]