my little nagging worry.,.....

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

When Roeder culled on a big scale I was personally impressed at his courage and desire to grab the nettle. BUT.....I also worried (and the fear gets larger the longer the transfers take) that he might discover to his cost just how tough it can be to convince useful players to NCFC these days. (for reasons of geography mainly). Put simply when choosing between two sides they most often wont come. I think he is too proud to do a Grant and settle for dross,....and that might leave us in a terrible catch 22. Now I might be rwong...but as I say- it IS my little nagging worry

[Hog 0]

Agreed, many managers have complained of the task they face when trying to sell Norwich City to new players, I hope Roeder has not bitten off more than he can chew!

[barclay seats 4849 0]

Yes...and when I said the same thing on another thread..............all the sheep starting having a go about being negative ,accused me of being a "keyboard warrior"( I wonder if they attend every home game and about half the  away games, evening games the other end of the country?? ...Sorry I started ranting then !!.........  I just see a real possibility of a problem looming in connection with our lack of playing staff.............so well said

[National express super guard 0]

must admit I had hoped for more action by now, but I''m a firm believer roeder must''ve had people lined up to have let many of the players go. However his insistence on being patient makes me a little insecure. and barclay seats, I go to every game I can, having to work a number of saturdays is a pain, I have seen enough of my team to be able to have an opinion, but on the same note as far as this topic goes I haven''t criticised anyone just offered my thoughts.as neil doncaster would say, keep smiling!!!

[barclay seats 4849 0]

[quote user="National express super guard"]must admit I had hoped for more action by now, but I''m a firm believer roeder must''ve had people lined up to have let many of the players go. However his insistence on being patient makes me a little insecure. and barclay seats, I go to every game I can, having to work a number of saturdays is a pain, I have seen enough of my team to be able to have an opinion, but on the same note as far as this topic goes I haven''t criticised anyone just offered my thoughts.
as neil doncaster would say, keep smiling!!!
[/quote]

[barclay seats 4849 0]

Oh the smiley is at the top of the page ! Well I am smiling nervously !

[Grando 260]

I think it''s time to stop buying into this "peple won''t come to Norwich for geographic reasons" argument. If we pay them enough people will come. Simple as.

Geography''s a good smokescreen for the board to hide behind.

[Houston Canary 0]

I think it''s time to stop buying into this "peple won''t come to Norwich for geographic reasons" argument. - Grando

I agree. It''s not like England is Canada and Norwich is Yellowknife, NWT, thousands of miles away from anywhere else.  Besides, there are plenty of places for footballers to relax in and around the city itself.  And who wants players on the team who are more interested in their social life than in the jobs, anyways?

[Barclay_Boy 0]

[quote user="Grando"]I think it''s time to stop buying into this "peple won''t come to Norwich for geographic reasons" argument. If we pay them enough people will come. Simple as. Geography''s a good smokescreen for the board to hide behind.[/quote]

Agree totally, for example look at the players Middlesboro have been able to persuade to go there over the years. If players are prepared to go to Middlesboro then Norwich must look like the garden of Eden. Norwich is a great place to live, only a couple of hours from London, and the facilities at the club and training ground will compare very favourably with most others in this division in my opinion. The only player to complain about Norwich as a place to live that I am aware of was Keith O''Neil, who was a git anyway.

Bid the right amount, pay the going rate in wages and players will be happy to come here.

[Unlucky Fried Kitten 0]

[quote user="Houston Canary"]

I think it''s time to stop buying into this "peple won''t come to Norwich for geographic reasons" argument. - Grando

I agree. It''s not like England is Canada and Norwich is Yellowknife, NWT, thousands of miles away from anywhere else.  Besides, there are plenty of places for footballers to relax in and around the city itself.  And who wants players on the team who are more interested in their social life than in the jobs, anyways?

[/quote]

The trouble is a lot of foolish English people believe that England is a big country, and let''s face it, rightly or wrongly footballers are not regarded as being amongst this country''s intelligentsia. I have been aware for a long time (since the age of about seven) that it''s not, but I was amazed to discover quite recently that even Argentina is about 11 times the size of Great Britain.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

Norwich is adorable- but it is also hampered by appalling road networks. Having left you do notice the difference and it does seem remote. The minute you hit the Thetford roundabout - it is SLOW SLOW SLOW with hundreds of DOGS (doddery old gits) everwhere.  I could never move back (sadly) as my wifes job is in London and the commute is simply horrendous. A footballer without my emotional ties to the place - would rather go to Middlesborough I think as it is well connected to many other places. That is just my opinion. I think Norwich looks very different from without than within - and I DO think it has hampered signings more often than not. Clinton Morrison choosing palace just for one.

To get a handle on it you might ponder yourself to be a 21yr old footballer - and ask - all things being equal- would you choose Plymouth or Watford?

Now you have a point in saying money can overcome this but that then means we get less value to the pound than better situated teams.

 

[Evil Monkey 52]

Yes, unfortunately our Unlucky Fried Friend is right, England is indeed a big country.  I''ve been very priveleged to see much of it over the years, and Norfolk is indeed a quaint little corner of heaven carved out of that curved bit that everyone forgets is there... some people, however, don''t quite enjoy such idyll lifestyles, or at least like to be amongst the "hustle and bustle" of a big city environment that Norwich doesn''t have.  This, unfortunately, also goes for nightlife - its not just about having somewhere to go and get hammered, its about the richness and variety of things you can do to occupy your evenings; Norwich has many things, unfortunately variety is not one of them where nightlife is concerned.So some people do prefer the urban sprawls of Manchester, Birmingham and (mostly with stupid people, mind) London.  Its all to do with accessibility, and is a constant rant of mine when travelling back to Norfolk: why the hell is it so hard to get in, and even harder to get out of?  The Motorway cuts out at Cambridge, and the main routes in and out (A47, A11 and A14) all abruptly become single carriageways where the ever-increasing traffic - inevitably - bottle-necks and slows everything down.  The two main train lines - Norwich-London Liverpool St and Norwich-Liverpool Lime Street - are unreliable and often heavily over-crowded.  Some people enjoy the quaint "Other World" feel, others find it frustrating.  Norfolk is beautiful and long may it remain so - forget devouring motorways, get the trains sorted and maybe more people will get to realise that, other than viewing it as some pretty little area where Hobbits live.Which brings me onto the problem of its image, which can be problematic.  We know that Norfolk isn''t just full of farm-folk with pitch-forks and pigs under their arms, but many other people out here don''t know that yet.  Those that have actually heard of Norfolk and can just about point in its rough direction on a map know very little of it as a place to live and visit.  People see it as a quaint and pleasant city, not unlike York (only with less tourism), but not as diverse and interesting as, say, Liverpool (I know, I know...).Do these thoughts cross the mind of prospective new players? Well, some of them only use the word "thoughts" as the scientific word for the voices in their head, but you can bet that a good number of them do take into account where they''ve moving to.  Its probably no surprise that a large number of the players we''ve recruited over the years have been good, honest-living family men...Something to ponder, anyways.

[Google Bot 3,272]

Personally, if i was footballer offered a deal to play in a side that hasn''t been finalised i would feel uncomfortable not knowing whether i was going to be a first team player or not.  Do they have agreements in contracts whereby they are guaranteed x amount of games if fit?

Saying that, Roeder still has respect in the game and i think most people know he''s a straight talking guy and if he tells you something it''s cause he means it.

To me geography should not be an issue as these players are not commuting to 9-5 office jobs in London on a daily/weekly basis, most of their travel will be down nice country roads to colney, and of course into the city to a nice health club/fatso''s (Sorry i''m using Iwan as a benchmark there!).  Surely thats a pull in a world thats becoming so disjointed?

[CiderkiddCanary 0]

If it''s good enough for the Royal Family I''m sure some lazy egomaniatic git can move here.

When I become famous you can bet your bottom dollar that I''ll be promoting Norfolk as a beautiful place to go to - not to get loads of people to move here, because I don''t want Norfolk destroyed by chavs. People will recognize Norfolk for what it truely is - a beautiful place.

[yellow blood 0]

The average footballer has the intelligence and brains of Jade Goody and we know where she thought East Angular was!

[Gentleman Jim 0]

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

........... it is SLOW SLOW SLOW with hundreds of DOGS (doddery old gits) everwhere. 

 

[/quote]

A rather unkind and un-vicar type generalisation there Vic, if I may say so, I would have expected a man of the cloth to be above that sort of comment.

However I regularly drive to the centre of London and back, (I manage to drive comfortably at their pace in spite of being a DOG) and do agree the traffic does become slower in Norfolk, but would think it''s more down to single lane carriageways than any particular type of driver.

I don''t believe that it would be a reason for putting off any potential incoming footballer as if they were to sign a three year contract they would, in all probability, move to Norwich anyway so would not need to commute too much.

 

 

[thumb180 0]

Now forgive me if im wrong but we realeased 11 players this summer 1high earner 1 quality oap and 9 useless non 1st teamers who were never any good or ever getting in the side anyway. We have signed apparently got hula hoop to replace hucks we have clingan and prob gow on permanent deals plus whoever else we get and add to that 7 loanees that gr will no doubt get we are already arguably stronger than we were last year plus drury will be back just a thought

[gazzathegreat 0]

Are the slow roads really the reason these alleged players don''t sign? Of course not. Norfolk is not alone in having one lane country roads. Maybe the sticking point with our said targets are the position the club is in (didn''t we only just escape relegation last season) and the pay.

I am sure if Roeder could sell the club as one that is going somewhere better (ie promotion) and the player''s agent can secure a good deal they will sign.

[John Boubepo 0]

The World of top flight football is a small place, every player in the top two leagues knows whats going on at other clubs throughout the country through the player network. Norwich are no doubt seen as a careful little club going nowhere, with an unpopular manager who nobody wants to play for.

[Evil Monkey 52]

I think people have gotten bogged down in the "slow roads"

argument.  Its true what gazza says about many places having

single carriageways, but the point isn''t about the roads alone, but

about location in general.  Norwich is, I''m afraid, pretty much in

the arse-end of nowhere, lets face it! Once you hit Norwich you can

only then get to the coast without having to turn around and go back

the other way.  It is almost literally a dead-end and, as such,

can feel quite isolated at times.  Again, many people like this

about Norwich, but as Vicar has already said, put yourself in the shoes

of a 21 year old football player... being stuck out in the "middle of

nowhere" isn''t that appealing at that age, trust me!  It all

depends, of course, on what the player himself wants from the place

he''s going to be living for the next few years...

[tribes 0]

[quote user="Shazzakidd"]If it''s good enough for the Royal Family I''m sure some lazy egomaniatic git can move here.


When I become famous you can bet your bottom dollar that I''ll be promoting Norfolk as a beautiful place to go to - not to get loads of people to move here, because I don''t want Norfolk destroyed by chavs. People will recognize Norfolk for what it truely is - a beautiful place.
[/quote]Yes Norfolk is a beautiful county but unfortunately so many footballers are so brain dead that they are unable to appreciate it.

[king canary 7,603]

Its also not full of clubs where girls will sleep with you just cos your a footballer (although there are some).

[Temp the Revelator 0]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"]I think people have gotten bogged down in the "slow roads" argument.  Its true what gazza says about many places having single carriageways, but the point isn''t about the roads alone, but about location in general.  Norwich is, I''m afraid, pretty much in the arse-end of nowhere, lets face it! Once you hit Norwich you can only then get to the coast without having to turn around and go back the other way.  It is almost literally a dead-end and, as such, can feel quite isolated at times.  Again, many people like this about Norwich, but as Vicar has already said, put yourself in the shoes of a 21 year old football player... being stuck out in the "middle of nowhere" isn''t that appealing at that age, trust me!  It all depends, of course, on what the player himself wants from the place he''s going to be living for the next few years...
[/quote]

EM, you''re quite right.  I have had this discussion on here many times in the past, but until people have genuinely lived away from Norfolk for a length of time they won''t accept what you''re saying.  Norwich, unfortunately, is still seen as a remote backwater.  As someone else has stated, it is probably no coincidence that most of our successful recent signings have been settled family men.  To a young professional footballer, we are simply not an attractive draw.

[king canary 7,603]

I remember Bentley saying that he enjoyed feeding the cows at the end of his garden when he was here, maybe we could use that to tempt them?

[Grando 260]

Sadly he was feeding them dodgy meat pies and ended up causing the last foot and mouth outbreak!

[Anderz 0]

Years ago and I would have agreed, but now Norwich has an airport that reaches across the UK and beyond, and in my opinion balances up the whole argument of Norwich being a hidden cul-de-sac that is difficult to reach on a good day...

I live in Manchester, and have often looked at getting a aeroplane back for a game, and despite the low ticket prices, have baulked at the air-fare tariffs that take the price back up to an unaffordable amount. However, for a footballer on anything upwards of £5k a week, this is not likely to be an issue, and subsequently, the ''problem'' of transport to and from Norwich is solved.

Just a thought, and a theory that no-one else had pondered. 

[Herb 0]

Agree Anders, but even without the possibility of air travel, the A11 is nowhere near the chore it used to be barring that little stretch before Barton Mills. A11 gets you most places.Theres also a lot more in Norwich than there was a few years ago if retail therapy is your thing (and they''ve got to spend their stupidly high wages on something)