canary cherub 1 Posted June 5, 2007 [quote user="Putney Canary"][quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"] Its the players who are not performing and not being encouraged to perform consistently enough. [/quote]True Zipper, as far as it goes. But it''s not the root of the problem imo. The underlying culture at Norwich City has become far too risk-free, safe and comfortable - "affordable family football" (ND quote unquote), whatever that is. These qualities are not compatible with ambition and success, because ambition and success involves risk-taking. The board has NOT been pulling in the same direction as the manager and players for some time now. Motivating the team is like trying to drive a car with the brakes on. [/quote]Mystic, at the moment in the Premiership gates over the last few years have been going down, and the average age of those attending has been going up. The traditional fan is being priced out. You won''t see this on TV, Sky will do what they can to mask the truth, but it is happening. The concern is, where is the next generation of fan coming from? Any club that doesn''t provide "affordable family football" is not getting the next generation of fans. The vast majority of people chose allegiance to a club when a young kid. If they can''t get in to see Norwich, they will pick a team off TV and wander around in Chelsea / Man U / Liverpool / Arsenal shirts. Not good for Norwich, is it? Norwich can''t compete with the big 4 clubs at winning fans, without getting them into the ground!It sounds like you are wanting success at the club at any cost, whether it be at risk to the long term viability of the club, at risk to gaining future supporters, at risk of losing the Norfolk club character. Thats just not for me I''m afraid. I love Norwich BECAUSE it represents Norfolk, the county I love. [/quote]Putney, see my post above for my definition of success. Top six of the Championship. Is that overambitious or unrealistic? Please answer this question directly, yes or no.I''ve been supporting Norwich City for over 40 years. The club I knew and now mourn for would NEVER have settled for the "we might not succeed so it''s too dangerous to try" approach. The club HAS lost its Norfolk character Putney, if only you knew it.And get real. The kids who wear their Norwich shirts when they come to Carrow Road also have Chelsea shirts and/or Arsenal and/or Man U and/or Liverpool shirts as well. In 2007 it''s not either/or, it''s both/and. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Putney Canary 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Putney, see my post above for my definition of success. Top six of the Championship. Is that overambitious or unrealistic? Please answer this question directly, yes or no.I''ve been supporting Norwich City for over 40 years. The club I knew and now mourn for would NEVER have settled for the "we might not succeed so it''s too dangerous to try" approach. The club HAS lost its Norfolk character Putney, if only you knew it.And get real. The kids who wear their Norwich shirts when they come to Carrow Road also have Chelsea shirts and/or Arsenal and/or Man U and/or Liverpool shirts as well. In 2007 it''s not either/or, it''s both/and.Direct answer - I agree we absolutely should be challenging top 6 every season. Personally I think the most excitement to be had in football these days is to be a yo-yo club between Premiership and Championship, always gives you something to play for. I don''t believe the club are as unambitious as you suggest. I also think we have the money to spend to prove this during the summer. Time will tell, but if we don''t have 5 new young and exciting players next season I will be angry.There is definately a trend of younger kids supporting a glamour club and not their local team. When they can watch Man U on TV every week, but can''t afford to go and see their local team, its not surprising.I''m personally far less optimistic about the future of our national game. But I think I have banged on about this enough. But I know I''m not the only person worried about the long term future of the game, what will happen after this particular cycle of boom has passed and the bust sets in. I''m glad our board has an eye on that, a lot of clubs don''t and a lot of clubs will really, really struggle when the good times come to an end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.Carrow 376 Posted June 6, 2007 [quote user="Putney Canary"]Agree the squad last season was way too small. I stand by the fact that the 9m player wage bill was large, and counters the argument that our board gave Worthy no money to spend, that figure is (or was) double the average for this division. Worthy had far more money to spend than any other manager in our history. I know nothing about the 6.5m non player wage bill, who is included in that and how it compares with other clubs of our size. I think Worthy was reasonably happy to play the likes of Hendo and WLY on the right. I don''t think he did buy well towards the end, the Cotterill affair shows we *could* have spent more last summer but those funds just never got spent. I do believe that Worthy decided to gamble on a smaller squad size so he could use a larger allocation for wages, I think he believed that the experience of the likes of Thorne, Hughes and Robinson would see us back up.I think we could go around on this forever though!Looking forward to this summer, it looks like Grant has a decent war chest and is looking in the right areas. We MUST sign at minimum another centre back, goalkeeper, centre mid and a left sided player (I prefer Hucks up front). We could also use another right back. There should be money left over from the Ashton and Green sales (I believe it wasn''t full payment at the time) and money from the Turners (or else what was the point getting them in). If we don''t get this, it will be another bad season and then even I will start losing patience...[/quote]Apologies for the belated response......The EDP carried an article recently based on the Delloitte and Touche report into football clubs which stated that Championship clubs had an overall wage bill of £228million and that wages represented 72% of turnover. City had an overall wage bill of about £15million out of a turnover of about £25million which puts us below average in our league. Also bear in mind that the £6.1million profit on transfers is not included in ordinary turnover but treated as "exceptional".On the Cotteril affair, Doncaster said afterwards that we could only afford him if Mckenzie was sold. So rather than being pro-active and getting a replacement in before Mckenzie was transferred we had to leave it to the very last minute,put all our eggs in one basket,and look a bit silly when it didn`t come off. Just about sums up the board`s attitude to squad strengthening in recent times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,535 Posted June 6, 2007 The comparisons between us and Southampton are interesting because, like somebody else said on another thread, I also believe our two clubs are very similar in terms of size and achievement. We also got relegated at the same time and we are both approaching our first season without parachute payments. It''s interesting that where as we are busy trying to sign players to strengthen our team for another season of Championship football Southampton are selling players to stay alive. Their whole strategy seems now to depend on getting the Paul Allen investment and it needs to happen soon.They announce today that they have just sold over 12,500 season tickets for next season and that is more than they sold for 2006/7. They are freezing their "early bird" prices until the start of the season and yet the equivalent season ticket to mine in the Lower Barclay is £100 more expensive!I stand by what I said, somewhere between the policies of the two clubs is a policy I would have liked from us last season, but right now I would rather be us than them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mbncfc 1 Posted July 6, 2007 So, Southampton have signed Saganowski permanently for an undisclosed fee - believed to be around £650k.But, they have lost Bale, as we know. Leon Best has joined Coventry and their Player of the Seaon last year, Chris Baird, looks likely to join Sunderland for £3m.They will be getting to the point where they will need to bring in a couple of players. Will be interesting to see if the money they get in is reinvested or spent on debt repayment (or simply paying wages). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norfolkbroadslim 223 Posted July 6, 2007 A timely reminder for what? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,395 Posted July 6, 2007 [quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]A timely reminder for what? [/quote]Dunno! We''ve all forgot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,535 Posted July 6, 2007 [quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]A timely reminder for what?[/quote]To wear sunscreen.If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they''ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you''ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can''t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you can imagine.Don''t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.Do one thing every day that scares you.Sing.Don''t be reckless with other people''s hearts. Don''t put up with people who are reckless with yours.Floss.Don''t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you''re ahead, sometimes you''re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it''s only with yourself.Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.Stretch.Don''t feel guilty if you don''t know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn''t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don''t know.Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You''ll miss them when they''re gone.Maybe you''ll marry, maybe you won''t. Maybe you''ll have children, maybe you won''t. Maybe you''ll divorce at 40, maybe you''ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don''t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else''s.Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don''t be afraid of it or of what other other people think of it. It''s the greatest instrument you''ll ever own.Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.Read the directions, even if you don''t follow them.Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.Get to know your parents. You never know when they''ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They''re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.Travel.Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And then you do you''ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.Don''t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you''ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.Don''t mess too much with your hair or by the time you''re 40 it will look like 85.Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more that it''s worth.But trust me on the sunscreen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlyBlyBabes 0 Posted July 7, 2007 Nutty. You forgot a couple of important pieces of advice.Support Norwich City.Keep your forum signature up to date.[:)]OTBC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,395 Posted July 7, 2007 Thanks for the advice Nutty. The older I get the more I appreciate it.All very true..........................especially the bit about the Knee''s and the suncream. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
