Location Location Location

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

I just don''t accept what many are spouting on about on this forum.

I accept that our location will put some players off, but not all. 

Is there not a percentage of players that prefer living in a more rural area relatively close to the coast (no more Peter Thorne''s however)?

Some people seem to use the excuse that because of our location players don''t want to come to us.  Implying that every decent or half decent player that doesn''t sign, does so because of our location.  We are not second third or any choice whatsoever for some players because of our location according to some.

I have to raise eyebrows at this train of thought.  What do such board worshipping people think when we sign someone of note?  Earnshaw, Huckerby?  Why did they come?  Would they not have said no because of our location?

People on here who use the location claptrap extensively do so only to defend the board.  He didn''t sign because of our location, ballsocks!!!  You only say this, because you either have some ''interest'' in the board, don''t know what?  or believe the Carrow Road PR spin that they churn out and happily wear those ''Grant Delia CR Spin'' rose tinted spectacles.

We offered £2.5m for this striker , offered a good salary, did everything to persuade him to come, but he didn''t sign because of our location.  Well done board for trying.  But at least we signed that striker from Bognor Regis.  Honestly, can you people not see the wood from the trees.

Location is a factor but nowhere near to the extent that some churn out.  You can''t just use the location excuse for year after year of drastically disappointing forays into the transfer market.

Does the following not come into it?:-

We had no real intention of signing x, just used as a smokescreen?

The board, manager, chairman etc are useless at negotiating?

Our scouts are hopeless?

We weren''t prepared to offer a half decent salary?

The player was put off by our lack of ambition?

etc, etc, etc.

So come the end of the summer transfer window if we sign nobody of any real note, the board worshippers will be happily sitting wearing those spectacles saying, the club could have done no more, we offered millions, great salares, but not one of them would come because of our location.

If we did sign 3, 4 or 5 players of note, highly unlikely, but possible, what would they say then.  I suspect they would forget the location rubarb in an instant and say, see I told you we were interested and had put in decent bids.

You see they have both angles covered.  Exactly what they accuse the ''negative moaners'' on here of doing.  Pot calling the kettle?

When will you rose tinted spectacle wearing CR zombies finally wake up.  Will you still be spouting the location nonesense if we are languishing near the bottom of League One? 

Guten Abend

[nutty nigel 7,534]

I agree the location excuse is used too often when trying to explain why we haven''t signed certain players.

It''s also worked for us on two occasions recently. Our location is a big factor of having Huckerby here for so long and also our location is why Chadwick was exclusively available to us.

Times have changed and nowadays it seems to me that players and their agents get to choose clubs more than clubs choosing players. Clubs can agree fees but if the club that agreed the fee isn''t the players first choice he may hold out for his preferred location. Players are like you and I. They have families and a player based in certain parts of the country can have a choice of many clubs without uprooting their families. If we were competing with other clubs to sign a player from Scotland or Plymouth we would have a level playing field when trying to sell the club. But if we are competing with Wolves for a player from Aston Villa our location would put us at a disadvantage.

There''s also a large number of players each season on long term loans. Our location certainly counts against us in the loan market.

Overall I guess the location does count against us but not as much as some would have us believe.

 

[renegade tootsie 0]

But on the other side of this, a lot of players linked with us, or having joined and left, have said they did not like it here.  You have to remember that football is a young mans game (!) and young men want action.  Norfolk does not, and will not unless it builds a reputation as a footballing destination have the same pull as other places.  Most footballers come frmn big cities, to them we are talked about as a backwater.  Inner city boys will run their fast cars up the motorways for ten years, but why would you, in their shoes, take a fifty mile route through Kings Lynn, and along the A47 to earn the same money?

To use your examples.  Huckerby was in his late twenties and had a family.  It was HIS PARTNER who was enchanted with Norfolk.  The reason he stayed was that she wanted to stay, and bring up their kids here. She could see it was a great family environment.

Earnshaw was in no mans land.  We offered him a way out with a big money move, and if he had not had the injury last season would have used us as a spring board as he obviously intended. 

To underestimate our exclusion from the ''mainstrean'' of football is a dangerous game. 

Answer this.  If we moved Norwich 100 miles west do think we would have as much trouble signing young players?

 

[quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]

I just don''t accept what many are spouting on about on this forum.

I accept that our location will put some players off, but not all. 

Is there not a percentage of players that prefer living in a more rural area relatively close to the coast (no more Peter Thorne''s however)?

Some people seem to use the excuse that because of our location players don''t want to come to us.  Implying that every decent or half decent player that doesn''t sign, does so because of our location.  We are not second third or any choice whatsoever for some players because of our location according to some.

I have to raise eyebrows at this train of thought.  What do such board worshipping people think when we sign someone of note?  Earnshaw, Huckerby?  Why did they come?  Would they not have said no because of our location?

People on here who use the location claptrap extensively do so only to defend the board.  He didn''t sign because of our location, ballsocks!!!  You only say this, because you either have some ''interest'' in the board, don''t know what?  or believe the Carrow Road PR spin that they churn out and happily wear those ''Grant Delia CR Spin'' rose tinted spectacles.

We offered £2.5m for this striker , offered a good salary, did everything to persuade him to come, but he didn''t sign because of our location.  Well done board for trying.  But at least we signed that striker from Bognor Regis.  Honestly, can you people not see the wood from the trees.

Location is a factor but nowhere near to the extent that some churn out.  You can''t just use the location excuse for year after year of drastically disappointing forays into the transfer market.

Does the following not come into it?:-

We had no real intention of signing x, just used as a smokescreen?

The board, manager, chairman etc are useless at negotiating?

Our scouts are hopeless?

We weren''t prepared to offer a half decent salary?

The player was put off by our lack of ambition?

etc, etc, etc.

So come the end of the summer transfer window if we sign nobody of any real note, the board worshippers will be happily sitting wearing those spectacles saying, the club could have done no more, we offered millions, great salares, but not one of them would come because of our location.

If we did sign 3, 4 or 5 players of note, highly unlikely, but possible, what would they say then.  I suspect they would forget the location rubarb in an instant and say, see I told you we were interested and had put in decent bids.

You see they have both angles covered.  Exactly what they accuse the ''negative moaners'' on here of doing.  Pot calling the kettle?

When will you rose tinted spectacle wearing CR zombies finally wake up.  Will you still be spouting the location nonesense if we are languishing near the bottom of League One? 

Guten Abend

[/quote]

[Grando 260]

I tend to agree. Location is probably a factor in some cases (player''s with young families etc), but it also seems a covenient smokescreen for other factors - the key one being that we haven''t offered enough money. The board and manager can continue to go on about location being the reason, but without being privvy to the exact financial arrangements we''ll never know...

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Very, very true Norfolkbroadslim. An excellent post.

However, when you add an unproven, no-name manager; Auntie Delia; a feeble prem campaign; a 16th Chump finish; & 12 years of relative failure on the field, it does make the location somewhat of a harder sell - particularly if you''re not very clever. 

But then again if Jack-the-lad prefers Scunthorpe or Wigan or Glasgow to Norwich, then maybe we''re better off without him, wouldn''t you say? I mean Scunthorpe!

OTBC

 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

Having moved away from Norfolk ...I have to say I DO think location is a bigger factor than some suggest. You really do not appreciate how different Norwich is (and it is more than just geography) until you no longer live there. Don''t get me wrong It is a fab place. But it is slightly insular (which is actually its charm).

Add to that that the roads into Norfolk are DREADFUL. My parents live in Sheringham and the drive up there can take hours...

Perhaps its fair to say that Norwich seems further away  from outside looking in than the other way around. 

You have to remember that you already know and love the City - it is home. Prospective players do not. And if you are in your twenties- the perception is that it is a slow paced place for holidays and retirement. Or worse still a farming centre for inbreeding. Now that is  not fair or acurate but it nevertheless remains the wideheld perception.

You ask why Earnie and Hucks came? Simple- Earny was desperately unhappy - Hucks is a family man and happy to live in a pleasant place. And good for him.

Players will come here- but I do think the area counts against us when weighing up between clubs. So we either need to be the only bidders...or else hope for family men!

 

[Old Shuck 183]

Our location IS a factor, unquestionably. But it is not, as has been pointed out, the be all and the end all...

One other factor that is raised many times is that the club does not demonstrate the requisite ambition that the player in question might be attracted to.

I assume that the possibility of selling Earnie is going to affect how some potential signings see us-they (and their agent) say yes they''re interested, we have some good players that they are looking forward to teaming up with, a Sharp or an Eastwood says "...yes, looking forward to playing alongside Robert Earnshaw..."

"...well, it could be that Robert Earnshaw is leaving the club..."

OK, he''s a known player, a goalscorer, why is he leaving? Do you need the money? Does he think he needs to move on to achieve more in the game-not least play in the Premiership? You want to sign ME, but, at the same time, you''re looking to sell one of your best players, I thought I''d be playing with players like him...? Well, now hang on a minute...

Does the club lack ambition? Or are we simply unable, for whatever reasons, to visibly demonstrate it -whatever it is?-or, is the current regime happy -and I have often thought this- for the club to subsist as a mid to higher positioned CCC club, a fairly big fish in a reasonably familiar pool, rather than having to swim with the expensive sharks in the ocean next door?

Jamie Cureton has said he wants to leave Colchester because they "lack ambition" -I assume he means that his fast receding chances of playing in the Prem won''t be achieved with them, does that mean he looks up at a club like us as being a step forward from Colchester, where-as a player like Sharp or Eastwood, both at relatively humble clubs themselves at the moment, still see us as a step down, even though we are, I would think, a bigger and more likely to be successful club than Southend or Scunny ever will be?

Players preceptions of what is a good club to join and what isn''t obviously has a lot to do with it, so what are we to do-presumably we can persuade Cureton that we are the club to join, and we have already presuaded Otsomober and, we hope, in time, Marshall-so what have we done to get them that stops us getting an Eastwood?

Is it how the players perceive or rate themselves? Or the influence of their agents, families and/or friends? Or what they think they want to achieve and how ambitious they are? Questions a''plenty, would welcome your thoughts....

 

 

[Mr.Carrow 376]

Norwich had the fastest rising house prices in the country last year so i think the word is out that its a great place to live. I agree that for an early twenties singleton the location issue is a factor but there are plenty of players married and looking to settle down who im sure would see Norfolk as ideal.

[BBFF 0]

Quality players tend to go to clubs with real ambition....that''s why we cant get any and if a player improves when he''s here its bye bye Norwich. After the very well used NCPLC quote "Poor little Norwich" the boards next favourite quote......"Everyone has a price" or should that read "Everyone''s for sale"? That shows real ambition......NOT.

 

FOOTBALL MUST COME FIRST

[can u sit down please 0]

[quote user="Old Shuck"]

Our location IS a factor, unquestionably. But it is not, as has been pointed out, the be all and the end all...

One other factor that is raised many times is that the club does not demonstrate the requisite ambition that the player in question might be attracted to.

I assume that the possibility of selling Earnie is going to affect how some potential signings see us-they (and their agent) say yes they''re interested, we have some good players that they are looking forward to teaming up with, a Sharp or an Eastwood says "...yes, looking forward to playing alongside Robert Earnshaw..."

"...well, it could be that Robert Earnshaw is leaving the club..."

OK, he''s a known player, a goalscorer, why is he leaving? Do you need the money? Does he think he needs to move on to achieve more in the game-not least play in the Premiership? You want to sign ME, but, at the same time, you''re looking to sell one of your best players, I thought I''d be playing with players like him...? Well, now hang on a minute...

Does the club lack ambition? Or are we simply unable, for whatever reasons, to visibly demonstrate it -whatever it is?-or, is the current regime happy -and I have often thought this- for the club to subsist as a mid to higher positioned CCC club, a fairly big fish in a reasonably familiar pool, rather than having to swim with the expensive sharks in the ocean next door?

Jamie Cureton has said he wants to leave Colchester because they "lack ambition" -I assume he means that his fast receding chances of playing in the Prem won''t be achieved with them, does that mean he looks up at a club like us as being a step forward from Colchester, where-as a player like Sharp or Eastwood, both at relatively humble clubs themselves at the moment, still see us as a step down, even though we are, I would think, a bigger and more likely to be successful club than Southend or Scunny ever will be?

Players preceptions of what is a good club to join and what isn''t obviously has a lot to do with it, so what are we to do-presumably we can persuade Cureton that we are the club to join, and we have already presuaded Otsomober and, we hope, in time, Marshall-so what have we done to get them that stops us getting an Eastwood?

Is it how the players perceive or rate themselves? Or the influence of their agents, families and/or friends? Or what they think they want to achieve and how ambitious they are? Questions a''plenty, would welcome your thoughts....

 

 

[/quote]

Shuck.....everything you say makes sense and is right. Not only on this thread but many others. keep up the good work mate!

[Branston Pickle 3,657]

Some maybe have overplayed the location thing, but it is definitely a factor for some people.  A friend of mine had a chance to move from Surrey to a higher paid job, including relocation expenses, in either Norwich or Ipswich, but wouldn''t go as and I quote ''there is nothing there'' - the location aspect was almost the only reason they didn''t go.

There are probably several reasons why players do or don''t want to go to a club, but we do have to face facts that Norfolk does have a bit of a reputation for being a remote quiet backwater.  Whether it is true or not is a moot point, but as a 20 year old this might affect their choice, for an older player with a family perhaps the decision might be different.

I don''t actually recall anyone having turning us down based on our location, though - it has often seemed the opposite, in that if they get as far as coming to the Fine City to see what it has to offer, it has worked the other way.

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote user="vicar in green and yellow"]

Having moved away from Norfolk ...I have to say I DO think location is a bigger factor than some suggest. You really do not appreciate how different Norwich is (and it is more than just geography) until you no longer live there. Don''t get me wrong It is a fab place. But it is slightly insular (which is actually its charm).

Add to that that the roads into Norfolk are DREADFUL. My parents live in Sheringham and the drive up there can take hours...

Perhaps its fair to say that Norwich seems further away  from outside looking in than the other way around. 

You have to remember that you already know and love the City - it is home. Prospective players do not. And if you are in your twenties- the perception is that it is a slow paced place for holidays and retirement. Or worse still a farming centre for inbreeding. Now that is  not fair or acurate but it nevertheless remains the wideheld perception.

You ask why Earnie and Hucks came? Simple- Earny was desperately unhappy - Hucks is a family man and happy to live in a pleasant place. And good for him.

Players will come here- but I do think the area counts against us when weighing up between clubs. So we either need to be the only bidders...or else hope for family men!

 

[/quote]Have to agree entirely with the Vicar here.  As a young man in his twenties who has lived in Norwich and now moved away, there really is a big difference in perception from without Norfolk than within.  Most people I''ve spoken to have only heard of Norwich, very few have actually visited other than family holidays when they were younger.  It''s looked upon as a nice place, but somewhere to retire to rather than live out their youth.  And that''s pretty much how I see it really.  Norwich is an amazing city, with so much charm and beauty in such a small area.  But it is also insular and, for a young man with a taste for the wider world, very very small.This reminds me of Greeno''s "a city the size of a town with a village mentality" comments: there was uproar from some about this, and yet all I could think was how right he was! And I''ll point out, for the record, that his comments were in comparison to London, so neither he nor I are actually disrespecting Norwich in any way.As has been said, this is certainly not the be all and end all of the matter for someone pondering a move here, but it does put us at an immediate disadvantage in the minds of some of the younger, single players.  Wolves don''t have to "sell" Birmingham as a city, West Ham don''t have to "sell" London.  Norwich City, however, do have to "sell" Norwich.  Some will buy it, some won''t, such is life.  If someone is put off by Norwich, consider it their loss and look forward to the signings who want to be here! [:D]

[......and Smith must score. 1,343]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"][quote user="vicar in green and yellow"]

Having moved away from Norfolk ...I have to say I DO think location is a bigger factor than some suggest. You really do not appreciate how different Norwich is (and it is more than just geography) until you no longer live there. Don''t get me wrong It is a fab place. But it is slightly insular (which is actually its charm).

Add to that that the roads into Norfolk are DREADFUL. My parents live in Sheringham and the drive up there can take hours...

Perhaps its fair to say that Norwich seems further away  from outside looking in than the other way around. 

You have to remember that you already know and love the City - it is home. Prospective players do not. And if you are in your twenties- the perception is that it is a slow paced place for holidays and retirement. Or worse still a farming centre for inbreeding. Now that is  not fair or acurate but it nevertheless remains the wideheld perception.

You ask why Earnie and Hucks came? Simple- Earny was desperately unhappy - Hucks is a family man and happy to live in a pleasant place. And good for him.

Players will come here- but I do think the area counts against us when weighing up between clubs. So we either need to be the only bidders...or else hope for family men!

 

[/quote]

Have to agree entirely with the Vicar here.  As a young man in his twenties who has lived in Norwich and now moved away, there really is a big difference in perception from without Norfolk than within.  Most people I''ve spoken to have only heard of Norwich, very few have actually visited other than family holidays when they were younger.  It''s looked upon as a nice place, but somewhere to retire to rather than live out their youth.  And that''s pretty much how I see it really.  Norwich is an amazing city, with so much charm and beauty in such a small area.  But it is also insular and, for a young man with a taste for the wider world, very very small.

This reminds me of Greeno''s "a city the size of a town with a village mentality" comments: there was uproar from some about this, and yet all I could think was how right he was! And I''ll point out, for the record, that his comments were in comparison to London, so neither he nor I are actually disrespecting Norwich in any way.

As has been said, this is certainly not the be all and end all of the matter for someone pondering a move here, but it does put us at an immediate disadvantage in the minds of some of the younger, single players.  Wolves don''t have to "sell" Birmingham as a city, West Ham don''t have to "sell" London.  Norwich City, however, do have to "sell" Norwich.  Some will buy it, some won''t, such is life.  If someone is put off by Norwich, consider it their loss and look forward to the signings who want to be here! [:D]

[/quote]

Spot on VIGAY - ever thought of wearing yellow and green instead ? - and EM.

When I left Norwich in 1975 the outsiders perception of Norfolk was one of a barren flat land populated by smock-wearing farmers who all lived in semi-derelict hovels and spoke in an alien tongue ( thank you Bernard Matthews ). More true then than now as Norwich has become somewhat of a cosmopolitan place - at least by 1970''s standards - with all manner of strange regional accents spoken by those seeking a bit of peace and tranquillity away from the rat race in the major cities. In fact Norwich frequently features in '' Best Places to Live '' tables, not only those exclusively using British locations, but sometimes European cities too. It does have a lot going for it make no mistake.

That said, it must have more appeal to people of my generation simply because of the more leisurely way of life. People of my age no longer have quite the same urge to '' hit the town '' on a regular basis, and, whilst it''s true that nightlife in Norwich compares very well to any place of a similar size, it''s not the sort name to turn the heads of most unattached young professional footballers with a wads of cash and a fast car to parade. The A.47 is, in the main, a bit of a joke as a trunk road and people do like motorways which puts NCFC, and indeed our friends at Portman Road, at a disadvantage. But for a family oriented player with young children East Anglia does take a lot of beating.

It is interesting to note that when prospective signings visit the area for the '' hard sell '' the first port of call is invariably the excellent Colney training ground, no doubt the thought being that '' we''ll show him the best bit first '' . I remember reading a Dean Ashton interview which mentioned that a Craig Fleming guided tour of Colney was his first taste of Norfolk and he was that impressed he knew then that he would sign for the Club. Whether or not he was that impressed with the area otherwise wasn''t mentioned but he must have sampled the nightlife at some point as I believe he met his girlfriend in one of the city''s nightclubs.

The charm of Norfolk is enhanced by it''s inaccessibility and we have to accept that it does have limited appeal to certain people who are used to a racier lifestyle or can''t face endless hours stuck in their car behind ten foot wide tractors.

 I know which I prefer......

 

 

 

[renegade tootsie 0]

The fastest rising in the country last year?  Did it?  Could you back that up at all, because I thought London outstripped us?

The reason house prices are high around here (although still low comparitavely compared to a lot of other regions) is because other than the millions of rubbish new-build city apartments that nobody wants to spend £150k on, there are nowhere near enough 2 and 3 bed family homes being built, even for the developing local population, let alone people moving from other areas.

I know a lot of Londerners through work, and they almost as a single voice, perceive Norfolk as a backwater, and that must also certainly apply to footballers as well.  If we were not considered a backwater, we would get bigger name players, simple as.  The evidence is there that players continually choose other similar size or smaller clubs over us because of the geographical location.

 

 

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Norwich had the fastest rising house prices in the country last year so i think the word is out that its a great place to live. I agree that for an early twenties singleton the location issue is a factor but there are plenty of players married and looking to settle down who im sure would see Norfolk as ideal.[/quote]