this league is tons better than 4,5 years ago!!!

[lucky green trainers 0]

ok - so its a tight league, and any team can beat any other on their day - but the standard of the champs has improved in the past few years imo.colchester reminded me of teams from 6 years ago or so - who used to come to carra rd, and the expectation was we''d beat em, and mostly we did, they would huff and puff - then run outa steam, and we''d do em by the 2nd half.  the champs was littered with ordinary sides, and our big gate still counted then, so we had a squad with genuine top 6 ambition.  now - you can see, many sides have invested and strengthened, and this season we''ve not seen any easy peasy games down carra rd, until yesterday.  without genuine investment in our weakest squad since 1902 next season, its hard to imagine we''ll be reaching for the top 6 (we''re just an ordinary side now and thats the truth) - and sides coming to FCR will do so with hope of getting points.  we''ll need a good spend just to stay in this division!!!

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

I would have to disagree there, I would suggest that it isn''t a reflection on how the division is stronger than it was 4 years ago but how much poorer we are surely !!. If you compare the side we had 4 years ago to the one we have now it just shows how this club has been bit by bit dismantled leaving the bunch of ordinary players we have left. In my opinion this is the worst division I can ever remember, whoever goes up will do so with a lowest ever points total, non of the top four could even win this weekend ! The football league should seriously consider not sending anyone into the premier league next season so as not to embarrass anyone - Stoke would make Derby look a good side.

[The Voice of the Thorpe Area 0]

No, disagree entirely.

Let''s make no mistake here- this league is so tight because the top teams are just as average as the middle teams. I''d bet anything that the likes of us, Burnley, Cardiff and QPR could beat the Stokes and Bristols on many occasions, if given the chance.

This is at best an average league, with average sides like Stoke who play the type of football which would give them a smaller points tally that Derby in the Premiership.

[Arthur Whittle 0]

I believe we will beat Bristol City next week. I also believe that at the moment, bar Hull we could beat any top 10 team.

[lucky green trainers 0]

an average league i hear you cry!!!  light years away from the prem!!!  of course, but the prem is now the best league in europe (and the world???)  - and so naturally there will be a huge gap between it and the champs.  i bet any punter on here, that there is more quality players in the champs this year than ever before.  why - cos there are probably more current internationals, or players with international experience, than ever before???my point is, that NCFC''s squad has less quality than before, while generally other teams have strengthened around us.  think for mo boys - there are 3 champs teams in the FA semi''s??? we''ve dumped more prem teams out than ever before???  or was cardiffs away display to boro a figment of my imagination???am i wrong???

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Arthur Whittle"]I believe we will beat Bristol City next week. I also believe that at the moment, bar Hull we could beat any top 10 team.[/quote]Blimey arthur, first it was ricky, then wiz and now you are making positive noises this weekend. What are you all drinking ?   [*-)]

Altogether now........

                               On the ball shity nevamine th danger (hic)

                               Steddy on dumdedum (hic)

                               HURRAH we mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

                               zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[:D][:D]

 

[peartreeproductions 0]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"]ok - so its a tight league, and any team can beat any other on their day - but the standard of the champs has improved in the past few years imo.

colchester reminded me of teams from 6 years ago or so - who used to come to carra rd, and the expectation was we''d beat em, and mostly we did, they would huff and puff - then run outa steam, and we''d do em by the 2nd half.  the champs was littered with ordinary sides, and our big gate still counted then, so we had a squad with genuine top 6 ambition. 

now - you can see, many sides have invested and strengthened, and this season we''ve not seen any easy peasy games down carra rd, until yesterday. 

without genuine investment in our weakest squad since 1902 next season, its hard to imagine we''ll be reaching for the top 6 (we''re just an ordinary side now and thats the truth) - and sides coming to FCR will do so with hope of getting points. 

we''ll need a good spend just to stay in this division!!!




[/quote]

 

Nah, you only have to look at the spread of points across the league, the constant changes at the top and the amount of teams that ''could'' end up in relagation to realise that the standard this season is truly ordinary.

Horrible horrible football a lot of the time.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="peartreeproductions"]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"]ok - so its a tight league, and any team can beat any other on their day - but the standard of the champs has improved in the past few years imo.colchester reminded me of teams from 6 years ago or so - who used to come to carra rd, and the expectation was we''d beat em, and mostly we did, they would huff and puff - then run outa steam, and we''d do em by the 2nd half.  the champs was littered with ordinary sides, and our big gate still counted then, so we had a squad with genuine top 6 ambition.  now - you can see, many sides have invested and strengthened, and this season we''ve not seen any easy peasy games down carra rd, until yesterday.  without genuine investment in our weakest squad since 1902 next season, its hard to imagine we''ll be reaching for the top 6 (we''re just an ordinary side now and thats the truth) - and sides coming to FCR will do so with hope of getting points.  we''ll need a good spend just to stay in this division!!!

[/quote]

 

Nah, you only have to look at the spread of points across the league, the constant changes at the top and the amount of teams that ''could'' end up in relagation to realise that the standard this season is truly ordinary.

Horrible horrible football a lot of the time.

[/quote]i agree the workmanlike displays of hull, bristol city and stoke ain''t pretty, but its effective - cos their stamina busting displays stop other teams playing, while eventually they grind you down and squeak a win.boothroyd isn''t a fool - i''ve much repsect for him and malky - getting watford up with next to no money was a great acheivement.  he''s chosen to go ultra-direct, which is shameful for the purists, but in the real english footy world - its all about athleticism primarily, allied with desire and skill.  is adie wrong???  doubt it, they look good to go up, probably as champions imo.  so, unless you''re 6 foot  now forget it.  as young gibbs has shown us - skill without brawn is a non-starter in this league, unless you can run 6km plus in a match!!!don''t get me wrong, i don''t like it this way, but its proving to be effective and successful this year - and probably in seasons to come unfortunately. 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Well I agree with you Lucky!

Just because the league is unpredictable does not mean its a poor league. I believe it''s not only a very competitive league but also the standard has improved dramatically over the last 5/6 seasons. 6 years ago we were in the Play Off Final. Take a look at our team that day, and that of Birmingham. Take a look at the other top 6 teams. Millwall were in the other Play Off Semi. Manchester City comfortably won the league that season because they had so much more quality throughout their side than the rest. With players like Berkovic, Bernarbia, Wright-Phillips, Pearce, Goater, Wanchope and Huckerby they were comfortably the best side in the league and possibly the best Championship side for a good while. But the rest of the league was not that great and we got to the Play Off Final with players like Rivers, Easton, Mulryne and McVeigh playing significant parts. The acid test for me is that many of these players have failed to compete at the top end of the Championship as it’s become stronger and many have had to find a level further down the Football League. We tend to treat this division as the old second division and I believe it''s wrong. I don''t think the Premier League is anything like the old First Division. The only similarity is there is still promotion and relegation. But thereafter Premiership is not the old First Division, a lot of the best players in the world play for the top four and nice as that is for the TV audiences it’s left the rest of the division with nothing to play for except to retain their status. In fact, for a club like Everton to finish fourth would be an achievement comparable to winning the title in years past.

We just had another Grand Slam Sunday. The fixtures were allocated back in the summer but it could be worked out back then who the top four would be for Sky Sports Easter Sunday Bonanza. Who would have predicted Stoke, Bristol City, Hull and Watford for the Championships version. The fact that a side with the quality of Charlton find themseleves in 10th place is testament to the leagues strength and not it''s weakness.

 

[Graham Humphrey 13]

Nutty, that is a great post and I totally agree. I get fed up when people say it''s a poor league basically because Stoke and Bristol City are top, it''s just lazy and disrespectful. I wonder what they would say if a team like Watford or West Brom were running away with it?

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]

Nutty, that is a great post and I totally agree. I get fed up when people say it''s a poor league basically because Stoke and Bristol City are top, it''s just lazy and disrespectful. I wonder what they would say if a team like Watford or West Brom were running away with it?

[/quote]agreed, well researched post nutty...

[Mello Yello 2,277]

Remember the bitchin'' an'' snipin'' from Warnock and Pardew - when we were top of the Championship and remained there after beating the Suffark Neighhhhhhhh-bores?

Was the league more competitive and we were there on merit ?......Or, were we just fortunate to win the league?

 

[Barclay_Boy 0]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

I would have to disagree there, I would suggest that it isn''t a reflection on how the division is stronger than it was 4 years ago but how much poorer we are surely !!. If you compare the side we had 4 years ago to the one we have now it just shows how this club has been bit by bit dismantled leaving the bunch of ordinary players we have left. In my opinion this is the worst division I can ever remember, whoever goes up will do so with a lowest ever points total, non of the top four could even win this weekend ! The football league should seriously consider not sending anyone into the premier league next season so as not to embarrass anyone - Stoke would make Derby look a good side.

[/quote]

Agree with you mate, football in this country is now seeing the results of the policy of giving 99% of the cash to the Prem and I can see Stoke being the first team to go all season in the Prem without a win. If this were to happen then the next step I can see the powers that be taking is to either reduce the number of promotion places or possibly scrapping promotion altogether.

 

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]

Nutty, that is a great post and I totally agree. I get fed up when people say it''s a poor league basically because Stoke and Bristol City are top, it''s just lazy and disrespectful. I wonder what they would say if a team like Watford or West Brom were running away with it?

[/quote]I agree - i mentioned in another post recently that looking back on the dark days of the second half of the nineties, i''m still astonished how we ever managed to avoid doing a Swindon or a Bradford and free falling through the leagues. Those teams today would have been relegated by Christmas.The reason the league is so tight is because we''re all playing on a pretty even field, unlike the Premiership where you have the uber-rich fighting their own league at the top and the paupers doing the same at the bottom. We have teams in the Champ with the parachute payments, who themselves are servicing huge wage bills from the premiership, but so far few have actually been able to make that advantage count (see us, saints, charlton, palace).

[Syteanric 1]

i agree!

it was only 6 years ago Easton, Abbey, Libbra, Mulryne and Neilsen took us to Cardiff.... where are they now? they were shocking players at the end of their time here (mullers let himself go somewhat its fair to say)... says alot about the division from back then...

jas :)

[king canary 7,577]

It is a poor league because teams like Stoke can prosper. They dont on paper have better players than us, just bigger. Watching us play Stoke was one of the most depressing 90 minutes of my life, and it was nothing to do with Norwich''s performance.

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="Barclay_Boy"][quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

I would have to disagree there, I would suggest that it isn''t a reflection on how the division is stronger than it was 4 years ago but how much poorer we are surely !!. If you compare the side we had 4 years ago to the one we have now it just shows how this club has been bit by bit dismantled leaving the bunch of ordinary players we have left. In my opinion this is the worst division I can ever remember, whoever goes up will do so with a lowest ever points total, non of the top four could even win this weekend ! The football league should seriously consider not sending anyone into the premier league next season so as not to embarrass anyone - Stoke would make Derby look a good side.

[/quote]

Agree with you mate, football in this country is now seeing the results of the policy of giving 99% of the cash to the Prem and I can see Stoke being the first team to go all season in the Prem without a win. If this were to happen then the next step I can see the powers that be taking is to either reduce the number of promotion places or possibly scrapping promotion altogether.

 [/quote]

Not neccessarily - for stoke read Bolton. Extremely effective and just plain unpleasant to play against. Long throws, long balls, big players. they''ve got a bit of quality in players like sidibe and lawrence in attack and shawcross and cort at the back. a few shrewd purchases in the summer and if they go up they''ll be ready made to take over from where Bolton left off. No-one likes it, but Allardyce proved it can work.