If Chase was in charge.

[Smeg 0]

Very, very good!

[ricardo 7,385]

[quote user="Cluck "][quote user="Old Boy"][quote user="Cluck "]

Smith has brought us times we wished would never come to Carrow Road again.

[/quote]

You were saying that when we took the Championship by storm, were you?

[quote user="Cluck "]

Robert Chase brought us the great times we could not have dared to hope for before he made it happen.

[/quote]

And you were saying that when Robert Chase baled out and left the Club with (for that time) huge debts and little assets?

"Football-minded" - as in having a round PVC head filled with nothing but compressed air. Is that you, Cluck?
[/quote]

Classic brainwashing of the naive OB....

If you consider one Division 2 Championship (which is all the PR spun "Championship is) in ten years is anything to write home about I suggest you and Smith deserve each other. Under previous regimes we have done that and much much more...not forgetting 3rd in the Prem, Cup Finals and Semis... and a memorable trip into Europe. Tagged onto this forgettable Smith inspired Div.2 spectacle...can we add a humiliating and pathetic Premier League season where we became the laughing stock of the nation?

Again the brainwashed opinion on Chase who left the club in no worse state than it is now...and at least we had something special during his time in control. I believe the debt figure is £20+ currently under Smith and her puppets...somewhat more than under Chase and with a hopeless squad on the pitch...a second rate manager and no youth worth their wages.

Short memories lead to irrational logic....and far too many have swallowed what the new "saviour" wanted you to believe...with the help of her resident PR guru Munby of course. Pull off the blinkers and see life as it is instead of accepting what you have been led to believe.

 

[/quote]

I was just wondering where you were hiding during those last fractuous months of the "Chase Era" Cluck?

Far from a "Brainwashed opinion", you seem to have a totally whitewashed opinion of those events. The vast majority of supporters could not wait to see the back of "Big Bob".To give him his due he did indeed make some shrewd investments in property that have been a great benefit in these difficult financial times. However his refusal to invest in players when we really needed it led directly to the departure of Martin O''Neil and the inevitable relegation that followed.

This has been the root of the problem ever since. We lost our Premier League status just at the time the big money was coming into the game and no amount of rewritng history will absolve Robert Chase of the responsibility for that.

 

 

[Chunky 0]

[quote user="Cluck "][quote user="Old Boy"][quote user="Cluck "]

Smith has brought us times we wished would never come to Carrow Road again.

[/quote]

You were saying that when we took the Championship by storm, were you?

[quote user="Cluck "]

Robert Chase brought us the great times we could not have dared to hope for before he made it happen.

[/quote]

And you were saying that when Robert Chase baled out and left the Club with (for that time) huge debts and little assets?

"Football-minded" - as in having a round PVC head filled with nothing but compressed air. Is that you, Cluck?
[/quote]

Classic brainwashing of the naive OB....

If you consider one Division 2 Championship (which is all the PR spun "Championship is) in ten years is anything to write home about I suggest you and Smith deserve each other. Under previous regimes we have done that and much much more...not forgetting 3rd in the Prem, Cup Finals and Semis... and a memorable trip into Europe. Tagged onto this forgettable Smith inspired Div.2 spectacle...can we add a humiliating and pathetic Premier League season where we became the laughing stock of the nation?

Again the brainwashed opinion on Chase who left the club in no worse state than it is now...and at least we had something special during his time in control. I believe the debt figure is £20+ currently under Smith and her puppets...somewhat more than under Chase and with a hopeless squad on the pitch...a second rate manager and no youth worth their wages.

Short memories lead to irrational logic....and far too many have swallowed what the new "saviour" wanted you to believe...with the help of her resident PR guru Munby of course. Pull off the blinkers and see life as it is instead of accepting what you have been led to believe.

 

[/quote]

 

Short memories are what most people seem to have! I do not know the exact figures, but whatever the debt was left by Mr Chase it maybe comparable to todays £20m when factoring in inflation etc.,

Yes we had some Cup Semi-finals 2 to be exact and we had only had one previous to those in 1959. So 3 in 105 years, 2 of those in the space of 3 years and none for 15 years is hardly a dramatic decline in our fortunes.

The ''Smith inspired Diivision 2 spectacle'' you refer to.. well we could also cite the Chase Division 2 spectacle, the Watling Division 2 spectacle, the Watling Division 3 South spectacle. Its all we have ever won!

We all love our club and your passion Cluck et all has to be admired, but please put everything into context. When Chase was Chairman our attendaces were not that fantatstic, our income was not as great as those we were competing against albeit for a brief time. As well as Ambition with Prudence or whatever spin we want put on it. Lets have passion with perspective and realism.

 

[macdougalls perm 0]

Great post, Nutty!

[nolegs 0]

Just remind me why we had those running battles with police on horseback.....Oh yeah,''cos they wouldn''t let us get near enough to Chase to tell him personally what a good job we all thought he was doing.

 

There is an awful lot of historical revisionism on here.

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"][quote user="nutty nigel"]

BlyBlyBabes and Cluck -

Your Tardis is obviously broken so I will invite you to take a trip with me in mine [ap]

Season 84/85 we won the Milk Cup but unfortunately got relegated afterwards. Unfortunately because when we completed our fixtures we were 5th from bottom 8 points clear of Coventry who were in the last relegation place. However Coventry went on to win their last 3 games, all played after the end of the regular season and including a 4-1 victory over Champions Everton a full 2 weeks after the scheduled season was over.

The board of the time (Watling/South) had had unprecedented success over the previous 15 years but this didn''t stop letters to the press demanding their resignation the following summer. Relegation, despite the dubious circumstances, was a bitter pill to swallow. However, the board remained in tact and so did the team. We held on to the likes of  Woods, Bruce, Watson and Deehan and actually added Culverhouse, Drinkell, Phelan and Williams.

It was during this season that Chase got control of the club. It happened because of some "off the pitch arguments" and a clash between Sir Arthur South and Jimmy Jones. I don''t remember the full details but it was something to do with the contract to build the new main stand. Maybe some posters more obsessed with "off the pitch activities" remember the details. Anyway, as I remember it, South and Watling resigned and a new board was elected and the Chase years began. At the time many fans were pleased to see the back of South and Watling believing they had wasted money that could have been spent on the team! But many others were saddened by their departure, remembering the good times they gave us and their forsight in appointing Saunders and then Bond.

Now then, the reason I set my tardis to go back to 1985 was so we can compare the state of the club from when Chase took over to the time he left. There really is no comparison between what he and Jones wrestled away from Sir Arthur South and what he left for the current board. This board and Nigel Worthingtons achievements in getting us promoted were the equivelent of Watling and Ron Saunders back in 1972. Unfortunately their subsequent performance in sustaining that success does not measure up. But don''t try to compare 10 years with Smith against 10 years of Chase because Chase didn''t have to take over the mess which he left.

 

 

 

[/quote]

well said NN!

To be honest when I hear the slagging off of Sharpe - League 1''s top goalscorer, and Ostemobor - League 1''s best right back by the usual suspects  I do wonder why they bother - who do they want us to sign?  LETS HAVE SOME NAMES SMUDGER/CLUCK??  Maybe 7 million for Nugent - Am I right?? 

When rumours of £2 million bids are still going in despite the Turners 2 million loan to offset the deficit caused by the parachute payments and overpaid players like donkey and hooves I find reasons to be positive about the way the club may now be moving.  Despite the fact the board may have made a total balls-up over Worthless and lack of investment in the past.

[/quote]

Please don''t put words in my mouth CJF...

If you have a look through the other threads again then you will see my stance on the Sharp issue...

In short I think he is a good player but not worth £3million and not worth looking at unless we sell Earnshaw.

If we are keping Earnie then I would buy Cureton and put an offer of £1million plus in for either Riordan or Chris Porter... 

We need a target man to play alongside Cureton/Earnshaw...

Eastwood and certainly Sharp are not worth looking at unless Earnshaw is going.... and Sharp ain''t nowhere near the money Scunthorpe want for him anyhow... for god sake he has hardly even played a game at this level!!!

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="nolegs"]

Just remind me why we had those running battles with police on horseback.....Oh yeah,''cos they wouldn''t let us get near enough to Chase to tell him personally what a good job we all thought he was doing.

 

There is an awful lot of historical revisionism on here.

[/quote]

Yep...

Just a shame that we don''t have such a manger here now isn''t it???

Can''t imagine a thousand fans demonstrating week in week out if Granty walks after the transfer window closes because yet again he has only been allowed to bring in a pair of sweaty socks can you???

Even most of the Chase demo''s were a bit of a laughable affair if we are honest weren''t they???

[In Dubious Battle 0]

[quote user="Smudger"]

Even most of the Chase demo''s were a bit of a laughable affair if we are honest weren''t they???

[/quote]

Were you there? i don''t see how you could come out with that statement if yo were, opinion was not divided with chase like it is now he was universally hated.

[nolegs 0]

Even most of the Chase demo''s were a bit of a laughable affair if we are honest weren''t they???

 

 

Nope if I recall correctly they got a tad scary...I don''t think you could have been there.

[Bury Green 0]

As this thread unravels itself it amazes me how once again it is littered with half truths and accusations of revisionism.

During the last days of his tenure the one telling thing that did for Big Bob was the clubs bankers demanding the repayment of the clubs overdraft meaning he had to sell as many players as quickly as he possibly could to stave off the club being wound up. At that time it was quite normal for a business to operate by way of an overdraft which was repayable upon demand, this was how it had always been and of course caught Big Bob out in grand fashion.

Treading carefully around issues of libel, I’ve also had the misfortune of meeting the bloke in charge of corporate recovery for the clubs bankers at that time and as I have mentioned in the past he is one of the singularly most unpleasant and repugnant Binners you will ever have the misfortune of meeting. This man took much pride in boasting about how he had --------d our club over, still what goes around comes around!

Now you can call this revisionism or what ever else you so chose but the idea of Honest Rob being all bad is simply not true and there is no getting away from the fact we enjoyed a golden period under the vast majority of his tenure which has not been repeated by Smith & Jones.

So attendances were lower? Think around the box a little bit on this one, back then it was quite easy to pay cash on the turnstile and who had the pleasure of coming round to collect it? I’ll leave it to your imagination but really it doesn’t take that much working out as to why our attendances seemed surprisingly low at times does it

None the less when push came to shove I was indeed on Carrow Road on the day The Plod turned up on horse back and in the end Bouncing Bob’s departure was long overdue as irrespective of the bank pulling the pug on the club I am equally sure there was any amount of corporate mischief going on that went way beyond a close affinity with fans paying cash on the gate.

A trip to the World Cup finals in America anybody?

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

I don''t suppose any of the usual suspects would like to attempt a comparison of the strategies used under South, Watling - and ultimately the 10 years of Chase - to bring footballing success to this city with the strategies of the last 11 years without being overcome by hatred and the getting of knickers in all kinds of twists.

Go on, surprise us.

In the meantime I''ll just remind us of my original post.

If Chase was in charge.

(a) If Robert Chase was in charge I suspect that we would have sold Earnshaw by now, bought some Spurs reserves, blooded some more great talent from the academy conveyor belt, acquired a strong spine including a commanding centre-half from league 2.......and be well on our way towards re-establishing ourselves in the top tier. (b) As it is we are 16th in the championship with debts of 22 million pounds, fresh out of parachute payments, and with Gallacher and Doherty as the keystones of our defence. (c) And people have the nerve to call us realists negative. What on earth could be more negative than (b) above. I suggest that Andrew Turner invites Robert Chase over for the weekend. OTBC

 

[Mr.Carrow 376]

I agree with Gazza and Nutty on this. Chase epitomised the "little Norwich" mentality and unfortunately some of the Cr*p he spouted is still believed today. "Norwich have a catchment area of 120,000 people", "Norwich are a nursery club for the big clubs", "Norwich will always have to sell to survive", "Norwich can`t hope to compete with bigger clubs". Negative, self-defeating attitudes which still pervade the club today.

The PR is slicker but his basic approach of selling off players for millions, providing a small amount for a replacement and pumping the rest into yet more infrastructure development is still in place today. However i have to say that with £35million in tv revenue in the last three years even Chase would have struggled to screw up quite as royally as the current lot have.

[gazzathegreat 0]

Smudger

I don''t personally know your style of humour, but having police horses charging at me, having to protect my children from them (and I wasn''t alone), just because we wanted to rid the club of a man who was taking it down....fun?  No, it wasn''t fun, nor was boycotting the ground and being spat on by fellow city fans, being bundled into a police van, and being threatened by all and sundry.  It was scary and most of the time it was draining and we thought we weren''t going to achieve our aim.  Fun it was certainly not, losing out on the chance to have a great manager in Martin O''Neill, who left after discovering the lies he had been told by Chase re transfer funds. 

There is no way you can compare today''s board with the arrogance of Chase. He was lucky to be presiding over the club when there was a more level playing field (ie before the money of SkyTV). He also didn''t have to deal with taking on a mountain of debt.

 

[benjamin james 0]

Oh, I am a beginner - is it wrong to post new topics all the time? Are there any other rules I can refer to on this site?

Just one note on Gary Doherty - he is excellent.... on Football Manager 2007. For a game with its reputaion hinged on accuracy, it could not be further wrong with this gentleman. Even if you stick him up front as a striker, he can get you 20+ goals a season. His accuracy from outside the box is outstanding. God, I wish my fiction was a reality.

[Cluck 0]

This anti Chase drivel is hilarious...and yet so many of the usual suspects are blindly behind Smith who in my view has given a fraction of the entertainment for the fans that Chase did.

So ok his tenure ran it''s course just like every other Chairman up and down the land...but when are the apologists going to start realising that Chairman/major shareholder/cop out title eviction time has come round again?

Paint Chase in whatever colours you want but he give me and thousands of others like me some great years and left the club in as good a state as Smith will when she does a bunk and takes her profits...and probably in a higher league too.

Run through the list of great players this club has seen and a mere handful will come from the Smith era. Run through the list of quality managers this club has seen and not one will come from the Smith era. Facts speak for themselves and I just don''t get it why many of you still think you''re better off now than before the cook turned saint.

Brainwashing or sheep mentality.

 

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="benjamin james"]

Oh, I am a beginner - is it wrong to post new topics all the time? Are there any other rules I can refer to on this site?

Just one note on Gary Doherty - he is excellent.... on Football Manager 2007. For a game with its reputaion hinged on accuracy, it could not be further wrong with this gentleman. Even if you stick him up front as a striker, he can get you 20+ goals a season. His accuracy from outside the box is outstanding. God, I wish my fiction was a reality.

[/quote]

you must have a bugged version of the game! Doherty isnt that good! although he did score a 35 yard thunderbolt for me in a 2-2 draw vs Arsenal... put that in ur pipe and Smoke it Wenger!

jas :)

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="nolegs"]

Even most of the Chase demo''s were a bit of a laughable affair if we are honest weren''t they???

 

 

Nope if I recall correctly they got a tad scary...I don''t think you could have been there.

[/quote]

Yeah I was there and on the whole it was like a picnic in the park...  the ''Brown in Chase Out'' demo''s many years earlier were more heated...

As for horses actually hitting anybody... the only horses I saw come close to anybody were those who chose to stand immediately in the horses path on purpose...

Then again I must say that the cops would of been far better off with a sheepdog than a horse!!!  [:P]

[In Dubious Battle 0]

[quote user="Cluck "]

This anti Chase drivel is hilarious...and yet so many of the usual suspects are blindly behind Smith who in my view has given a fraction of the entertainment for the fans that Chase did.

So ok his tenure ran it''s course just like every other Chairman up and down the land...but when are the apologists going to start realising that Chairman/major shareholder/cop out title eviction time has come round again?

Paint Chase in whatever colours you want but he give me and thousands of others like me some great years and left the club in as good a state as Smith will when she does a bunk and takes her profits...and probably in a higher league too.

Run through the list of great players this club has seen and a mere handful will come from the Smith era. Run through the list of quality managers this club has seen and not one will come from the Smith era. Facts speak for themselves and I just don''t get it why many of you still think you''re better off now than before the cook turned saint.

Brainwashing or sheep mentality.

 

[/quote]

I could try and answer some of your many misguided points but instead i''ll just refer you to nutty nigel''s earlier post.....

[Mr_Chimp 0]

Spot on, no need to rise to a binner.

[Cluck 0]

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"][quote user="Cluck "]

This anti Chase drivel is hilarious...and yet so many of the usual suspects are blindly behind Smith who in my view has given a fraction of the entertainment for the fans that Chase did.

So ok his tenure ran it''s course just like every other Chairman up and down the land...but when are the apologists going to start realising that Chairman/major shareholder/cop out title eviction time has come round again?

Paint Chase in whatever colours you want but he give me and thousands of others like me some great years and left the club in as good a state as Smith will when she does a bunk and takes her profits...and probably in a higher league too.

Run through the list of great players this club has seen and a mere handful will come from the Smith era. Run through the list of quality managers this club has seen and not one will come from the Smith era. Facts speak for themselves and I just don''t get it why many of you still think you''re better off now than before the cook turned saint.

Brainwashing or sheep mentality.

 

[/quote]

I could try and answer some of your many misguided points but instead i''ll just refer you to nutty nigel''s earlier post.....

[/quote]

I just pray to God that one day I may become as knowledgeable as you SHITA....although I''m happy to stay a realist rather than an apologist for abject failure.

It again all comes down to opinion and while you are entitled to yours...so am I.  I''ve lived through the Chase and Smith years and know which I prefer....and which will go down in club history as the best years for the paying supporter. If you think what is being dished up now is acceptable then you obviously haven''t lived. These will be seen either as the "wasted" years if we pick up as a club...or the years which led to the decline if we drop further. History isn''t history until we can look back at it all in context....but it sure looks bleak to me.

[Plastic Scouser 0]

This has been a really interesting thread as it covers most of the years that I''ve been a fan of the club and actually understood what''s been going on in the background.I never thought that I would say this, but from a footballing point of view ie as a supporter who wanted success and skill on the pitch, the Chase era wins every time.   It was probably our most successful footballing period without doubt.   The players that emerged from this period are the sort who us older types wistfully wish for in today''s team...But if my head rules my heart, it was also the period in the club''s history where we could have gone from strength to strength IF Mr Chase had been more savvy about the footballing world rather than treating City as his personal fiefdom!   If we''d kicked on after the first Premiership season, we would probably have been a force to be reckoned with - if we''d not been a selling club who knows where we''d be today.  I wish we did have players of the skill of Bruce, Watson, Culverhouse, Bowen, Crook, Gordon, Barham, Fleck, Sutton, Poulson etc...It''s threads like this that make me a little sad that we''re not where, as a club, we should have been [:''(]

[In Dubious Battle 0]

[quote user="Cluck "][quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"][quote user="Cluck "]

This anti Chase drivel is hilarious...and yet so many of the usual suspects are blindly behind Smith who in my view has given a fraction of the entertainment for the fans that Chase did.

So ok his tenure ran it''s course just like every other Chairman up and down the land...but when are the apologists going to start realising that Chairman/major shareholder/cop out title eviction time has come round again?

Paint Chase in whatever colours you want but he give me and thousands of others like me some great years and left the club in as good a state as Smith will when she does a bunk and takes her profits...and probably in a higher league too.

Run through the list of great players this club has seen and a mere handful will come from the Smith era. Run through the list of quality managers this club has seen and not one will come from the Smith era. Facts speak for themselves and I just don''t get it why many of you still think you''re better off now than before the cook turned saint.

Brainwashing or sheep mentality.

 

[/quote]

I could try and answer some of your many misguided points but instead i''ll just refer you to nutty nigel''s earlier post.....

[/quote]

I just pray to God that one day I may become as knowledgeable as you SHITA....although I''m happy to stay a realist rather than an apologist for abject failure.

It again all comes down to opinion and while you are entitled to yours...so am I.  I''ve lived through the Chase and Smith years and know which I prefer....and which will go down in club history as the best years for the paying supporter. If you think what is being dished up now is acceptable then you obviously haven''t lived. These will be seen either as the "wasted" years if we pick up as a club...or the years which led to the decline if we drop further. History isn''t history until we can look back at it all in context....but it sure looks bleak to me.

[/quote]

I would like to suggest that you are in fact very far from being a realist. A realist would be able to see that the situation that we find ourselve''s in is far more complex than a comparison between two rival individuals running of the club! The period between chase leaving and smith coming in has seen more change in proffesional football than the last 50 + years the gap in riches from the rich and poor is growing ever larger whilst player fees and wages continue to steadily rise to not take developments like this into account gives a completely false picture,  in fact i would go as far as saying a direct comparison between the 2 administrations is virtually impossible.

You surely cannot disagree that chase had a much easier job than the current administration, not only have did they had to deal with the massive gap in wealth that''s emerged but they also inherited the ruins that chase left. (see nutty nigel''s earlier post)

I am no apologist for anyone PART of the reason we are where we are is down to our board and thier running of the club but there are other factors and to just ignore them and say it''s all delia''s fault is nonesence and certainly not the talk of a realist. Robert Chase was an imbecile who nearly destroyed this fine club so yes in one sense i''m grateful for what we now have because at least the club is stable but  just like you and every other city fan i expect more than that and have my own reservations about the board.

[Smeg 0]

[quote user="Grando"]If Chris Sutton isn''t here at the start of the season then Robert Chase won''t be either![/quote]

 

Very, very good!

[nutty nigel 7,531]

Bly - I did do a comparison between the strategies of Sir Arthur South''s board and the current board. I pointed out that Sir Arthurs board kept all their top players after their unfortunate relegation and added the quality of Culverhouse, Drinkell, Phelan and Williams. (Although you credit Chase with Culverhouse’s signing). Where as the current board certainly didn’t add quality to a squad that didn’t have the stature of the one that got relegated in 1985.There’s no doubt that the current board don’t compare well. However if you do a comparison between the current boards strategy upon relegation in 2005 and that of Robert Chase in 1995 I think you will see the current lot come out of it quite well. I believe it’s impossible to do the comparison between the Chase years and the Smith years that you asked for because the circumstances were totally different as I pointed out on my earlier post.

Cluck - I defy anybody to paint the Chase years all black as the record books show our best ever history to be during his time. But that’s not the whole story and we both know that. Just like the last two seasons are not the whole story for the current lot. The run to the play-offs in 2002, the Championship in2004 and a lot of that Premiership season were equally as enjoyable as the previous good times for those of us who witnessed both. The whole of the last ten years will not be remembered as wasted but the last two certainly will.

 

[YankeeCanary 0]

....and here we have two individuals, Cluck and Nutty Nigel, the first constantly claiming to be a realist while the second makes no such claim but simply continues to lay out a realistic and objective assessment of what has transpired. If most posters were making a judgement as to which of the two is more credible, nay, I''ll put it to you in an even more specific context, if you were in a jam and wanted to count on a friend to give you counsel and support, which of the two would you choose?  

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Bly - I did do a comparison between the strategies of Sir Arthur South''s board and the current board. I pointed out that Sir Arthurs board kept all their top players after their unfortunate relegation and added the quality of Culverhouse, Drinkell, Phelan and Williams. (Although you credit Chase with Culverhouse’s signing). Where as the current board certainly didn’t add quality to a squad that didn’t have the stature of the one that got relegated in 1985.There’s no doubt that the current board don’t compare well. However if you do a comparison between the current boards strategy upon relegation in 2005 and that of Robert Chase in 1995 I think you will see the current lot come out of it quite well. I believe it’s impossible to do the comparison between the Chase years and the Smith years that you asked for because the circumstances were totally different as I pointed out on my earlier post.

Cluck - I defy anybody to paint the Chase years all black as the record books show our best ever history to be during his time. But that’s not the whole story and we both know that. Just like the last two seasons are not the whole story for the current lot. The run to the play-offs in 2002, the Championship in 2004 and a lot of that Premiership season were equally as enjoyable as the previous good times for those of us who witnessed both. The whole of the last ten years will not be remembered as wasted but the last two certainly will.

[/quote]

Nutty. You are really ace at omitting inconvenient facts in your posts. For example, how would you categorise the years 1996 to 2002 of the 11 that the current owners have been in charge? [I make it 2 - maybe 3 - goodish years out of 11].

And please don''t tell us it was Chase''s fault.

OTBC 

 

[Cluck 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Bly - I did do a comparison between the strategies of Sir Arthur South''s board and the current board. I pointed out that Sir Arthurs board kept all their top players after their unfortunate relegation and added the quality of Culverhouse, Drinkell, Phelan and Williams. (Although you credit Chase with Culverhouse’s signing). Where as the current board certainly didn’t add quality to a squad that didn’t have the stature of the one that got relegated in 1985.There’s no doubt that the current board don’t compare well. However if you do a comparison between the current boards strategy upon relegation in 2005 and that of Robert Chase in 1995 I think you will see the current lot come out of it quite well. I believe it’s impossible to do the comparison between the Chase years and the Smith years that you asked for because the circumstances were totally different as I pointed out on my earlier post.

Cluck - I defy anybody to paint the Chase years all black as the record books show our best ever history to be during his time. But that’s not the whole story and we both know that. Just like the last two seasons are not the whole story for the current lot. The run to the play-offs in 2002, the Championship in2004 and a lot of that Premiership season were equally as enjoyable as the previous good times for those of us who witnessed both. The whole of the last ten years will not be remembered as wasted but the last two certainly will.

 

[/quote]

Well...let''s put it this way. If I were purchasing a product and the quality was not up to scratch...would I feel sympathy for the producer because things were tough out there?...or would I go elsewhere to get my product and say to hell with you until you get your house in order?  The problem here is that we are dealing with a monopoly scenario and Smith has control of the only Norwich City available to us. It''s either buy...or go without...a nice position for Smith and Co. to be in and the only reason they are still in business.

When I buy something...I really don''t care whether the behind the scenes issues are difficult or whether the business is struggling....I just want what I pay good money for. As far as Chase''s era was concerned...I got terrific value for money over several years and had a wonderful time. Odd that now we have the same situation of a "major shareholder" (remember we weren''t going there again) taking us down the river....suddenly everybody is sympathetic and concerned about the off the pitch difficulties. So why was Chase any worse than Smith when things came unstuck for him? Double standards I fear and a hypocritical defence of the indefencible.

It''s easy to chuck stones at Chase...but he was a football man trying to make Norwich something better. Now we have a cook more worried about the catering scenario. When are people going to wake up and ask why we are being concerned about club finances when we have well paid people in there who''s job it is to make sure such things don''t happen?

Cobblers to the whinging and whining from the club and it''s apologists...because what Portsmouth, Reading and Derby et al can do.....so should our lot. Having blown the Premiership kitty already however...don''t hold your breath! Odds on bankrupt Leeds will make it back long before we do...because they are up for it. We ain''t under Smith and there lies the problem we face.

 

 

[alex_ncfc 662]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Cluck - I defy anybody to paint the Chase years all black as the record books show our best ever history to be during his time. But that’s not the whole story and we both know that. Just like the last two seasons are not the whole story for the current lot. The run to the play-offs in 2002, the Championship in2004 and a lot of that Premiership season were equally as enjoyable as the previous good times for those of us who witnessed both. The whole of the last ten years will not be remembered as wasted but the last two certainly will.

 

[/quote]

Are you serious? How was "that" Premiership season anything other than a total shambles and embarrassment? In fact, the fact that everyone calls it "our" or "that" Premiership season says a lot, (hell, even the DVD front cover mentions "a memorable season in the Premiership") kind of stating that we were intruding on the big league and should be happy that we got our chance to play there with the "big boys". God, give me a break. It makes me cringe. The last 10 years under the Smith administration has been nothing dire!

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Bly - I did do a comparison between the strategies of Sir Arthur South''s board and the current board. I pointed out that Sir Arthurs board kept all their top players after their unfortunate relegation and added the quality of Culverhouse, Drinkell, Phelan and Williams. (Although you credit Chase with Culverhouse’s signing). Where as the current board certainly didn’t add quality to a squad that didn’t have the stature of the one that got relegated in 1985.There’s no doubt that the current board don’t compare well. However if you do a comparison between the current boards strategy upon relegation in 2005 and that of Robert Chase in 1995 I think you will see the current lot come out of it quite well. I believe it’s impossible to do the comparison between the Chase years and the Smith years that you asked for because the circumstances were totally different as I pointed out on my earlier post.

Cluck - I defy anybody to paint the Chase years all black as the record books show our best ever history to be during his time. But that’s not the whole story and we both know that. Just like the last two seasons are not the whole story for the current lot. The run to the play-offs in 2002, the Championship in2004 and a lot of that Premiership season were equally as enjoyable as the previous good times for those of us who witnessed both. The whole of the last ten years will not be remembered as wasted but the last two certainly will.

 

[/quote]

Yes NUTTY but it is today that is important, not what we achieved between 2002 and 2005...

A team that those who sit in defence of our board bring up so often... Leeds Utd were in the European Cup during that period were they not?

Didn''t stop them getting rid of Ridsdale though and a fair few managers did it?

Our current board of directors and the football club as a whole has underachieved drastically on the pitch for the last 3 seasons...

A 4th season in a row of underachievement is simply not acceptable!!!

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="YankeeCanary"]....and here we have two individuals, Cluck and Nutty Nigel, the first constantly claiming to be a realist while the second makes no such claim but simply continues to lay out a realistic and objective assessment of what has transpired. If most posters were making a judgement as to which of the two is more credible, nay, I''ll put it to you in an even more specific context, if you were in a jam and wanted to count on a friend to give you counsel and support, which of the two would you choose?  [/quote]

All depends whether you wanted a long-winded drawn out plan that may never come to fruition [S] [8-|] [E] [co] [ip] [W] or a bit of action really I think...

If you wanted somebody to take the bull by the horns and get on with things then my mate Cluck would win hands down every time I''m afraid!!!  [:P] [<:o)] [B]