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AndyJR

The old "Are Norwich too nice" question.

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Saw this report from a Birmingham fan, thought it might be worth sharing.  The obsession with Norwich being ''too nice'' I thought had gone ages ago, but those looking from the outside in evidently still think it.  Oh well........

 

My Report (for those interested)

Ron (IP Logged) August 31, 2008 12:17PM

If you read the below, please click on this link: [www.singingtheblues.co.uk]

Norwich City 1 Blues 1

Blues surrendered their 100% league record and had to settle for just a single point from their trip to Carrow Road. Blues had led through Seb Larsson''s header, but less than a minute into the second half Darel Russell equalised for Norwich, and that was the way the game ended.

For Blues, Martin Taylor came back in for Stephen Kelly at the heart of defence (Kelly was absent from the bench again - for someone who never missed a minute of football last season, he''s missed a lot of football this season - I''m not sure if he was injured, or if he''s off somewhere else). Kemy Agustien kept his place alongside Lee Carsley in midfield, despite a (by all accounts) wretched debut at Southampton in the Carling Cup. On the flanks were Larsson and Quincy, with James McFadden and Kevin Phillips paired up front.

There''s something I''ve always disliked about Norwich City - they''re just too nice to be considered a proper football club. Plus Norwich is at the arse end of nowhere, and the motorway runs out 100 miles before you get there. The club though is run by a celebrity chef, and a female one at that. The fans'' anthem is ''On The Ball City!'', which includes reference to having "a little scrimmage" and "hurrah! we''ve scored a goal!". All the fans are just smiley and all the rest of it. You have a grudging respect for fans of the likes of Stoke, Hull, Burnley, etc who create an intimidating atmosphere and all the rest of it, but Norwich fans just smile politely and say "Well done, old chap". Following the 2002 play-off final, had Blues lost, Cardiff would probably have had to brace itself for a riot. Norwich fans just waved their yellow and green flags and commented on what a lovely day it had been. Yellow and green - they''re not even proper colours. And they''re nicknamed "The Canaries", for God''s sake! Even at their local rivals Ipswich (who are about 45 miles away, so even that doesn''t count), there can be a little bit of an atmosphere, on occasions. A trip to Portman Road is like a trip to Galatasaray, in comparison with a trip to Carrow Road, which is more like a trip to the Nature Centre, where you look at everything and say, "Awww... isn''t that lovely??" I just don''t think there''s a place in the upper echelons on English football for nice clubs. I mean, any opposition club whose fans cheer Martin Taylor...

Their football has tended to mirror that too. In the early 1990s, when the rest of football was crap, Norwich somehow started to challenge for the title and things like that. Jeremy Goss scored a goal to beat Bayern Munich, and messrs Bowen, Culverhouse, Fleck and Gunn were household names. They''ve always played pretty, nice football, but it''s always been fairly harmless. They were a bit like that against Blues. Plenty of possession, some neat touches, but never too threatening.

Don''t get me wrong, Norwich did well, and Blues will probably be happy with their point, in hindsight. Norwich started as most teams will at home against Blues - at a high tempo, and forcing Blues onto the back foot. Blues had to deal with it at Southampton, and had to do so again here - and as I say, they''ll have to do so probably another 21 times this season. Home teams, whoever they are, are always going to have a bit of pressure.

Norwich have some neat and tidy players in forward and wide positions, and so the likes of Arturo Lupoli, Wes Hoolahan and Matty Pattison (a good, young product of Newcastle''s Academy) are always likely to cause you problems, and they did. Pattison showed up David Murphy''s worrying inability to defend, and to get caught on his heels backtracking so that anyone with pace can "do him" down the outside, whilst Hoolahan terrorised Stuart Parnaby and drifted inside to link up with the forwards with great effect, illustrating why clubs like Atletico Madrid and Napoli were linked to him when he was at Livingston. It was all fairly toothless from Norwich though - a few crosses flew across the face of goal, and they won a few corners, but Maik Taylor wasn''t really tested. In front of him, the defence looked dodgy, with the full-backs tested, as above, and Liam Ridgewell slicing clearances 30 foot in the air, but not away from danger, as only he can. Martin Taylor held it together a little bit, however.

The similarities to the Southampton league game continued as Norwich, 30 minutes in, began to run out of ideas a little, and Blues began to get a foothold in the game. There were a few nice moves from Blues, but the final ball was often just not quite there. Phillips couldn''t really get into the game, and Quincy never really got much service.

Then, just like Southampton away (again), there was a goal from a set-piece, just before half-time. This time it went in Blues'' favour, however. McFadden had cut in from the right and been pulled down towards the corner of the penalty area - a position that favoured his left foot. It was a bit of a tight angle to shoot, but McFadden drilled a cross/shot across the face of goal, and Larsson met it with his head at the near post to divert it into the corner. Blues went into half-time 1-0 up, but barely deserved it. It was cruel on Norwich.

Still, Blues being Blues, it didn''t take Norwich long to get level. Marcus Bent replaced Quincy at half-time (again, not sure why, but I presume there was a knock), meaning McFadden moved wide left with Bent down the middle. Before Bent had had chance to touch the ball, however, Norwich had equalised. A Blues move broke down on the right, with Parnaby playing Agustien into trouble. He got caught out, Norwich broke and Russell scored.

This really opened the second half up, and it was pretty frantic and end-to-end, but again, there wasn''t a host of chances. Agustien was eventually replaced by Gary McSheffrey, but he''ll have been much happier with his league debut than his full debut in the cup. He didn''t look fantastic, by any stretch, but he showed glimpses of being a good box-to-box midfielder. His first pass went astray, but within 30 seconds he''d won a proper tackle, got up and laid the ball off to a team-mate. He didn''t look to have a "killer pass", but involed himself in play fairly well, got stuck in, and on two occasions made good runs in behind the forwards, but on one the ball never found him, and on the other he was harshly flagged offside. As I say, it was nothing sensational, but having heard reports of his Southampton display, I was concerned, and he looked ok.

The best two chances of the second half - until the last few minutes - were both off-target Norwich headers from Jamie Cureton and Dejan Stefanovic. Then, in the last five minutes, Blues really and truly should have won it.

Firstly, following a Blues corner, Bent superbly chested down for McSheffrey (though it seemed that a lot of the travelling support were loath to give Bent an ounce of credit for anything), and McSheffrey, who recently has displayed all the confidence of Paul Francis Gadd at a Vigilante Convention, managed to loop the ball over the bar from about five yards with just David Marshall to beat.

Then, moments later, Blues broke well and McSheffrey managed to do something well and teed up Phillips. I felt that he should have shot first time - we''ve all seen him do it - but he took a touch, and by that point Marshall had closed him down and saved well. Marshall, by the way, looked a top, top goalkeeper.

They were the best two chances of the game, in fairness, and Blues failed to take either of them. Had they done so, they''d have probably earned themselves three points that they didn''t deserve, but that''s what ruthless teams who win league titles do, and that has to be Blues'' aim this season. How many times have we seen Manchester United struggle, but then just take one or two chances and win the game? Many, many times - quite a few against Blues.

Admittedly, I haven''t seen a great deal of Blues so far this season (but that should change over the coming months), but having talked to and read things by people whose opinion I value, the worrying aspect so far will be that Blues haven''t actually played well yet this season. There doesn''t seem to have been a game where people came away saying "yeah, that was good - played well today". They''re picking up points, sure, but the squad already looks a little stretched, and they won''t keep getting lucky on the road - a team will start well, as Southampton and Norwich have, and will score two or three goals, and Blues won''t be able to come back. Last season, despite relegation, there were signs of Blues playing good football. There''ve been glimpses this season (had a James McFadden reverse pass to David Murphy come off yesterday, he''d have probably scored and it would have capped a wonderful move), but they''ve been few and far between, and with the players that Blues have, I think everyone possibly expected a little more - not so much in terms of results (no one will seriously knock 10 points out of 12, including two tricky away games), but certainly in terms of performances.

Can do better.

 

 

 

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[quote user="AndyJR"]

Saw this report from a Birmingham fan, thought it might be worth sharing.  The obsession with Norwich being ''too nice'' I thought had gone ages ago, but those looking from the outside in evidently still think it.  Oh well........

 

My Report (for those interested)

Ron (IP Logged) August 31, 2008 12:17PM

If you read the below, please click on this link: [www.singingtheblues.co.uk]

Norwich City 1 Blues 1

Blues surrendered their 100% league record and had to settle for just a single point from their trip to Carrow Road. Blues had led through Seb Larsson''s header, but less than a minute into the second half Darel Russell equalised for Norwich, and that was the way the game ended.

For Blues, Martin Taylor came back in for Stephen Kelly at the heart of defence (Kelly was absent from the bench again - for someone who never missed a minute of football last season, he''s missed a lot of football this season - I''m not sure if he was injured, or if he''s off somewhere else). Kemy Agustien kept his place alongside Lee Carsley in midfield, despite a (by all accounts) wretched debut at Southampton in the Carling Cup. On the flanks were Larsson and Quincy, with James McFadden and Kevin Phillips paired up front.

There''s something I''ve always disliked about Norwich City - they''re just too nice to be considered a proper football club. Plus Norwich is at the arse end of nowhere, and the motorway runs out 100 miles before you get there. The club though is run by a celebrity chef, and a female one at that. The fans'' anthem is ''On The Ball City!'', which includes reference to having "a little scrimmage" and "hurrah! we''ve scored a goal!". All the fans are just smiley and all the rest of it. You have a grudging respect for fans of the likes of Stoke, Hull, Burnley, etc who create an intimidating atmosphere and all the rest of it, but Norwich fans just smile politely and say "Well done, old chap". Following the 2002 play-off final, had Blues lost, Cardiff would probably have had to brace itself for a riot. Norwich fans just waved their yellow and green flags and commented on what a lovely day it had been. Yellow and green - they''re not even proper colours. And they''re nicknamed "The Canaries", for God''s sake! Even at their local rivals Ipswich (who are about 45 miles away, so even that doesn''t count), there can be a little bit of an atmosphere, on occasions. A trip to Portman Road is like a trip to Galatasaray, in comparison with a trip to Carrow Road, which is more like a trip to the Nature Centre, where you look at everything and say, "Awww... isn''t that lovely??" I just don''t think there''s a place in the upper echelons on English football for nice clubs. I mean, any opposition club whose fans cheer Martin Taylor...

Their football has tended to mirror that too. In the early 1990s, when the rest of football was crap, Norwich somehow started to challenge for the title and things like that. Jeremy Goss scored a goal to beat Bayern Munich, and messrs Bowen, Culverhouse, Fleck and Gunn were household names. They''ve always played pretty, nice football, but it''s always been fairly harmless. They were a bit like that against Blues. Plenty of possession, some neat touches, but never too threatening.

Don''t get me wrong, Norwich did well, and Blues will probably be happy with their point, in hindsight. Norwich started as most teams will at home against Blues - at a high tempo, and forcing Blues onto the back foot. Blues had to deal with it at Southampton, and had to do so again here - and as I say, they''ll have to do so probably another 21 times this season. Home teams, whoever they are, are always going to have a bit of pressure.

Norwich have some neat and tidy players in forward and wide positions, and so the likes of Arturo Lupoli, Wes Hoolahan and Matty Pattison (a good, young product of Newcastle''s Academy) are always likely to cause you problems, and they did. Pattison showed up David Murphy''s worrying inability to defend, and to get caught on his heels backtracking so that anyone with pace can "do him" down the outside, whilst Hoolahan terrorised Stuart Parnaby and drifted inside to link up with the forwards with great effect, illustrating why clubs like Atletico Madrid and Napoli were linked to him when he was at Livingston. It was all fairly toothless from Norwich though - a few crosses flew across the face of goal, and they won a few corners, but Maik Taylor wasn''t really tested. In front of him, the defence looked dodgy, with the full-backs tested, as above, and Liam Ridgewell slicing clearances 30 foot in the air, but not away from danger, as only he can. Martin Taylor held it together a little bit, however.

The similarities to the Southampton league game continued as Norwich, 30 minutes in, began to run out of ideas a little, and Blues began to get a foothold in the game. There were a few nice moves from Blues, but the final ball was often just not quite there. Phillips couldn''t really get into the game, and Quincy never really got much service.

Then, just like Southampton away (again), there was a goal from a set-piece, just before half-time. This time it went in Blues'' favour, however. McFadden had cut in from the right and been pulled down towards the corner of the penalty area - a position that favoured his left foot. It was a bit of a tight angle to shoot, but McFadden drilled a cross/shot across the face of goal, and Larsson met it with his head at the near post to divert it into the corner. Blues went into half-time 1-0 up, but barely deserved it. It was cruel on Norwich.

Still, Blues being Blues, it didn''t take Norwich long to get level. Marcus Bent replaced Quincy at half-time (again, not sure why, but I presume there was a knock), meaning McFadden moved wide left with Bent down the middle. Before Bent had had chance to touch the ball, however, Norwich had equalised. A Blues move broke down on the right, with Parnaby playing Agustien into trouble. He got caught out, Norwich broke and Russell scored.

This really opened the second half up, and it was pretty frantic and end-to-end, but again, there wasn''t a host of chances. Agustien was eventually replaced by Gary McSheffrey, but he''ll have been much happier with his league debut than his full debut in the cup. He didn''t look fantastic, by any stretch, but he showed glimpses of being a good box-to-box midfielder. His first pass went astray, but within 30 seconds he''d won a proper tackle, got up and laid the ball off to a team-mate. He didn''t look to have a "killer pass", but involed himself in play fairly well, got stuck in, and on two occasions made good runs in behind the forwards, but on one the ball never found him, and on the other he was harshly flagged offside. As I say, it was nothing sensational, but having heard reports of his Southampton display, I was concerned, and he looked ok.

The best two chances of the second half - until the last few minutes - were both off-target Norwich headers from Jamie Cureton and Dejan Stefanovic. Then, in the last five minutes, Blues really and truly should have won it.

Firstly, following a Blues corner, Bent superbly chested down for McSheffrey (though it seemed that a lot of the travelling support were loath to give Bent an ounce of credit for anything), and McSheffrey, who recently has displayed all the confidence of Paul Francis Gadd at a Vigilante Convention, managed to loop the ball over the bar from about five yards with just David Marshall to beat.

Then, moments later, Blues broke well and McSheffrey managed to do something well and teed up Phillips. I felt that he should have shot first time - we''ve all seen him do it - but he took a touch, and by that point Marshall had closed him down and saved well. Marshall, by the way, looked a top, top goalkeeper.

They were the best two chances of the game, in fairness, and Blues failed to take either of them. Had they done so, they''d have probably earned themselves three points that they didn''t deserve, but that''s what ruthless teams who win league titles do, and that has to be Blues'' aim this season. How many times have we seen Manchester United struggle, but then just take one or two chances and win the game? Many, many times - quite a few against Blues.

Admittedly, I haven''t seen a great deal of Blues so far this season (but that should change over the coming months), but having talked to and read things by people whose opinion I value, the worrying aspect so far will be that Blues haven''t actually played well yet this season. There doesn''t seem to have been a game where people came away saying "yeah, that was good - played well today". They''re picking up points, sure, but the squad already looks a little stretched, and they won''t keep getting lucky on the road - a team will start well, as Southampton and Norwich have, and will score two or three goals, and Blues won''t be able to come back. Last season, despite relegation, there were signs of Blues playing good football. There''ve been glimpses this season (had a James McFadden reverse pass to David Murphy come off yesterday, he''d have probably scored and it would have capped a wonderful move), but they''ve been few and far between, and with the players that Blues have, I think everyone possibly expected a little more - not so much in terms of results (no one will seriously knock 10 points out of 12, including two tricky away games), but certainly in terms of performances.

Can do better.

 

 

 
[/quote]We are far to nice but at least we turn up and attempt to get behind our team in a nice way, their fans don''t turn up in big numbers home or away and the ones that did turn up barely made a whimper. We do need to be a bit nastier though, when the teams are read out before kick off we can barely muster a boo any more. We need to make it a lot more intimidating for visiting teams.

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[quote user="AndyJR"]
 You have a grudging respect for fans of the likes of Stoke, Hull, Burnley, etc who create an intimidating atmosphere and all the rest of it, but Norwich fans just smile politely and say "Well done, old chap". Following the 2002 play-off final, had Blues lost, Cardiff would probably have had to brace itself for a riot. Norwich fans just waved their yellow and green flags and commented on what a lovely day it had been.
 
[/quote]The match report is spot on, but this quote is laughable. Stoke''s ground was always half-empty until they got promotion. And I will continue to be pleased that our fans don''t riot when we lose.

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[quote user="AndyJR"]

Saw this report from a Birmingham fan, thought it might be worth sharing.  The obsession with Norwich being ''too nice'' I thought had gone ages ago, but those looking from the outside in evidently still think it.  Oh well.......

 [/quote]Don''t you mean you saw it on wotb and posted it here, like do with quite a few things..

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[quote user="Billabong Willytickle"][quote user="AndyJR"]

Saw this report from a Birmingham fan, thought it might be worth sharing.  The obsession with Norwich being ''too nice'' I thought had gone ages ago, but those looking from the outside in evidently still think it.  Oh well.......

 [/quote]Don''t you mean you saw it on wotb and posted it here, like do with quite a few things..[/quote]Does it matter?  Things are placed on the internet in order to capture as wider audience as possible.

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Bitter Blue scum.   He may have a point on the Delia front but alot of this is probably comes from the fact they were outplayed, outsung and he his belief his team are too good to be turning out at grounds like Carrow Road. 

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They''re owned by a couple of pornographers who are constantly trying to off load the club, they never get good crowds despite thier fantastic motorway infrastructure, a stupid club supported by idiots, lets hope his experience means he never comes back.

 

 

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[quote user="Arthur Whittle"]Be good for the club, with a full house to create a hostile atmosphere, being nicey nice does you no favours.[/quote]There is a full house mostly?! I think that report is a load of old shi*e. How can anyone be proud of the fact that if they''d lost at Cardiff there would have been a riot? Maybe that''s because Birmingham is a post industrial chav infested wasteland. Nothing wrong with some steel on the pitch (and hopefully Roeder is getting rid of the costa del norwich syndrome) but we managed to have a great home record for most of the time Worthy was in charge so the atmostphere obviously wasn''t that nice for away teams. 

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Birmingham have hardly set the footballing world alight over the last 30 years and a woman in Karen Brady has had a significant role in his own club. He may have some valid points about being too nice, but thats because Norfolk is in general a nice place to live. I''m sure we would be a lot more vocal if we came from some crap hole like Birmingham and had nothing else in our lives, the players may also perform a little better if it wasnt as relaxed as a place, not much we can do about this. Of course he may just be sour because we tend to get good results against his team. Even under Grant we beat them.

Still at least we are the number one team in our city, I dont see Norwich United challanging us just yet. I have five words for Birmingham fans ''Aston Villa and West Brom''

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[quote user="AndyJR"]

Norwich have some neat and tidy players in forward and wide positions, and so the likes of Arturo Lupoli, Wes Hoolahan and Matty Pattison (a good, young product of Newcastle''s Academy) are always likely to cause you problems, and they did. Pattison showed up David Murphy''s worrying inability to defend, and to get caught on his heels backtracking so that anyone with pace can "do him" down the outside

[/quote]

[quote user="Arthur Whittle"]

Hate to say it but hes got a point there.

[/quote]

Don''t tell Wiz Arthur [:O]

BTW... Best regards Arthur [Y]

 

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[quote user="SPat"][quote user="Arthur Whittle"]Be good for the club, with a full house to create a hostile atmosphere, being nicey nice does you no favours.[/quote]

There is a full house mostly?!

I[/quote]

i know thats my point and thats what im saying?

With the full houses it would be good if we could use that to our advantage and create a hostile atmosphere.

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Mr Brum has got to be joking right?

The atmosphere was great on Saturday and no thanks to there supporters.

Personally I think these industrial (were) towns are occupied primarily by thickos with massive chips on their shoulders.

His grudging plaudits to our team showed just what a plonker he was.

If they want nasty I can introduce him to one or two of my fenmen friends!!

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What a shame this particular fan didn''t visit this site to gauge opinion, the piece is very well written even if I don''t agree with some of its content.

One thing though he didn''t comment on which as a fan I would have thought he would class as relevant is the way nice old Norwich outsang Birmingham. Not just for a few minutes, but totally. We may not have had their success of late, but god we at least show some pride and passion for our team.

I don''t really relish being associated with Delia and all that goes hand in hand with her celebrity status, but I would rather acknowledge her as a board member than those on the Birmingham board.

The comments re the play off final - are we supposed to be ashamed that we didn''t trash the place just because we lost? We lost the game and said well done to the winners. What is wrong with that? It shows strength and character.

And Brummie (although I love a lot about the place and lots of you do have a great sense of humour) some of us like the fact we don''t live beside a motorway.

The blues may have far more money, more power and be in a higher league position, but from yesterday''s snapshot of their fanbase, I know which one I would rather be part of.

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[quote user="gazzathegreat"]What a shame this particular fan didn''t visit this site to gauge opinion, the piece is very well written even if I don''t agree with some of its content.

One thing though he didn''t comment on which as a fan I would have thought he would class as relevant is the way nice old Norwich outsang Birmingham. Not just for a few minutes, but totally. We may not have had their success of late, but god we at least show some pride and passion for our team.

I don''t really relish being associated with Delia and all that goes hand in hand with her celebrity status, but I would rather acknowledge her as a board member than those on the Birmingham board.

The comments re the play off final - are we supposed to be ashamed that we didn''t trash the place just because we lost? We lost the game and said well done to the winners. What is wrong with that? It shows strength and character.

And Brummie (although I love a lot about the place and lots of you do have a great sense of humour) some of us like the fact we don''t live beside a motorway.

The blues may have far more money, more power and be in a higher league position, but from yesterday''s snapshot of their fanbase, I know which one I would rather be part of.[/quote]Good call Gazza.

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[quote user="AndyJR"]

Saw this report from a Birmingham fan, thought it might be worth sharing.  The obsession with Norwich being ''too nice'' I thought had gone ages ago, but those looking from the outside in evidently still think it.  Oh well........

 

My Report (for those interested)

Ron (IP Logged) August 31, 2008 12:17PM

If you read the below, please click on this link: [www.singingtheblues.co.uk]

Norwich City 1 Blues 1

Blues surrendered their 100% league record and had to settle for just a single point from their trip to Carrow Road. Blues had led through Seb Larsson''s header, but less than a minute into the second half Darel Russell equalised for Norwich, and that was the way the game ended.

For Blues, Martin Taylor came back in for Stephen Kelly at the heart of defence (Kelly was absent from the bench again - for someone who never missed a minute of football last season, he''s missed a lot of football this season - I''m not sure if he was injured, or if he''s off somewhere else). Kemy Agustien kept his place alongside Lee Carsley in midfield, despite a (by all accounts) wretched debut at Southampton in the Carling Cup. On the flanks were Larsson and Quincy, with James McFadden and Kevin Phillips paired up front.

There''s something I''ve always disliked about Norwich City - they''re just too nice to be considered a proper football club. Plus Norwich is at the arse end of nowhere, and the motorway runs out 100 miles before you get there. The club though is run by a celebrity chef, and a female one at that. The fans'' anthem is ''On The Ball City!'', which includes reference to having "a little scrimmage" and "hurrah! we''ve scored a goal!". All the fans are just smiley and all the rest of it. You have a grudging respect for fans of the likes of Stoke, Hull, Burnley, etc who create an intimidating atmosphere and all the rest of it, but Norwich fans just smile politely and say "Well done, old chap". Following the 2002 play-off final, had Blues lost, Cardiff would probably have had to brace itself for a riot. Norwich fans just waved their yellow and green flags and commented on what a lovely day it had been. Yellow and green - they''re not even proper colours. And they''re nicknamed "The Canaries", for God''s sake! Even at their local rivals Ipswich (who are about 45 miles away, so even that doesn''t count), there can be a little bit of an atmosphere, on occasions. A trip to Portman Road is like a trip to Galatasaray, in comparison with a trip to Carrow Road, which is more like a trip to the Nature Centre, where you look at everything and say, "Awww... isn''t that lovely??" I just don''t think there''s a place in the upper echelons on English football for nice clubs. I mean, any opposition club whose fans cheer Martin Taylor...

Their football has tended to mirror that too. In the early 1990s, when the rest of football was crap, Norwich somehow started to challenge for the title and things like that. Jeremy Goss scored a goal to beat Bayern Munich, and messrs Bowen, Culverhouse, Fleck and Gunn were household names. They''ve always played pretty, nice football, but it''s always been fairly harmless. They were a bit like that against Blues. Plenty of possession, some neat touches, but never too threatening.

Don''t get me wrong, Norwich did well, and Blues will probably be happy with their point, in hindsight. Norwich started as most teams will at home against Blues - at a high tempo, and forcing Blues onto the back foot. Blues had to deal with it at Southampton, and had to do so again here - and as I say, they''ll have to do so probably another 21 times this season. Home teams, whoever they are, are always going to have a bit of pressure.

Norwich have some neat and tidy players in forward and wide positions, and so the likes of Arturo Lupoli, Wes Hoolahan and Matty Pattison (a good, young product of Newcastle''s Academy) are always likely to cause you problems, and they did. Pattison showed up David Murphy''s worrying inability to defend, and to get caught on his heels backtracking so that anyone with pace can "do him" down the outside, whilst Hoolahan terrorised Stuart Parnaby and drifted inside to link up with the forwards with great effect, illustrating why clubs like Atletico Madrid and Napoli were linked to him when he was at Livingston. It was all fairly toothless from Norwich though - a few crosses flew across the face of goal, and they won a few corners, but Maik Taylor wasn''t really tested. In front of him, the defence looked dodgy, with the full-backs tested, as above, and Liam Ridgewell slicing clearances 30 foot in the air, but not away from danger, as only he can. Martin Taylor held it together a little bit, however.

The similarities to the Southampton league game continued as Norwich, 30 minutes in, began to run out of ideas a little, and Blues began to get a foothold in the game. There were a few nice moves from Blues, but the final ball was often just not quite there. Phillips couldn''t really get into the game, and Quincy never really got much service.

Then, just like Southampton away (again), there was a goal from a set-piece, just before half-time. This time it went in Blues'' favour, however. McFadden had cut in from the right and been pulled down towards the corner of the penalty area - a position that favoured his left foot. It was a bit of a tight angle to shoot, but McFadden drilled a cross/shot across the face of goal, and Larsson met it with his head at the near post to divert it into the corner. Blues went into half-time 1-0 up, but barely deserved it. It was cruel on Norwich.

Still, Blues being Blues, it didn''t take Norwich long to get level. Marcus Bent replaced Quincy at half-time (again, not sure why, but I presume there was a knock), meaning McFadden moved wide left with Bent down the middle. Before Bent had had chance to touch the ball, however, Norwich had equalised. A Blues move broke down on the right, with Parnaby playing Agustien into trouble. He got caught out, Norwich broke and Russell scored.

This really opened the second half up, and it was pretty frantic and end-to-end, but again, there wasn''t a host of chances. Agustien was eventually replaced by Gary McSheffrey, but he''ll have been much happier with his league debut than his full debut in the cup. He didn''t look fantastic, by any stretch, but he showed glimpses of being a good box-to-box midfielder. His first pass went astray, but within 30 seconds he''d won a proper tackle, got up and laid the ball off to a team-mate. He didn''t look to have a "killer pass", but involed himself in play fairly well, got stuck in, and on two occasions made good runs in behind the forwards, but on one the ball never found him, and on the other he was harshly flagged offside. As I say, it was nothing sensational, but having heard reports of his Southampton display, I was concerned, and he looked ok.

The best two chances of the second half - until the last few minutes - were both off-target Norwich headers from Jamie Cureton and Dejan Stefanovic. Then, in the last five minutes, Blues really and truly should have won it.

Firstly, following a Blues corner, Bent superbly chested down for McSheffrey (though it seemed that a lot of the travelling support were loath to give Bent an ounce of credit for anything), and McSheffrey, who recently has displayed all the confidence of Paul Francis Gadd at a Vigilante Convention, managed to loop the ball over the bar from about five yards with just David Marshall to beat.

Then, moments later, Blues broke well and McSheffrey managed to do something well and teed up Phillips. I felt that he should have shot first time - we''ve all seen him do it - but he took a touch, and by that point Marshall had closed him down and saved well. Marshall, by the way, looked a top, top goalkeeper.

They were the best two chances of the game, in fairness, and Blues failed to take either of them. Had they done so, they''d have probably earned themselves three points that they didn''t deserve, but that''s what ruthless teams who win league titles do, and that has to be Blues'' aim this season. How many times have we seen Manchester United struggle, but then just take one or two chances and win the game? Many, many times - quite a few against Blues.

Admittedly, I haven''t seen a great deal of Blues so far this season (but that should change over the coming months), but having talked to and read things by people whose opinion I value, the worrying aspect so far will be that Blues haven''t actually played well yet this season. There doesn''t seem to have been a game where people came away saying "yeah, that was good - played well today". They''re picking up points, sure, but the squad already looks a little stretched, and they won''t keep getting lucky on the road - a team will start well, as Southampton and Norwich have, and will score two or three goals, and Blues won''t be able to come back. Last season, despite relegation, there were signs of Blues playing good football. There''ve been glimpses this season (had a James McFadden reverse pass to David Murphy come off yesterday, he''d have probably scored and it would have capped a wonderful move), but they''ve been few and far between, and with the players that Blues have, I think everyone possibly expected a little more - not so much in terms of results (no one will seriously knock 10 points out of 12, including two tricky away games), but certainly in terms of performances.

Can do better.

 

 

 
[/quote]Unfortunately you can''t argue with any of this post. The atmosphere at carrow road is far too friendly and accomodating for opposition fans and players alike. Away fans must just looked at fans beside them in the jarrold stand with their heads down, hands under their arses and just laugh. But that''s the way it''s always been here and sadly always will be.

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Although this Brummie is probably very bitter about his side loseing their 100% record on saturday along with his fellow fans getting outsung by the nice fans of Norwich, and also don''t forget he''s more than likely been brought in a dodgy area where kids as young as 13 get pi**ed up on the streets while looking for fights at night.... None the less he has got a point about us being a too nice a club, even the bloody commentator on sentanta sports when we were playing Tottenham a few weeks ago shared the same thoughts that were a nice club by some of his patronizeing comments, he used the word nice more than once when describeing our club and the atmosphere at Carrow Road.

Love it or hate it but that''s just the way we are here at Norwich,  were a family club with one of the least intimidating stadiums in this league, although the atmosphere is sometimes very impressive at Carrow Road it''s never really considered intimidating for the opposition. The only half intimidating part of the ground is probably the snakepit that is filled up by around 100 or so men who like to have a drink or two before games, other than that it''s very friendly, especially in the city and river end where it''s full of old people and familys.

If I had my way we would lose the family club tag and look to get alot more middle aged men in there who aren''t afriad of a little sing song.

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Yes we are too nice. Problem? I like being associated with a friendly family orientated club, if norwich werent like that I wouldnt support them (well I would but not because of that)

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But the fact is that many visiting managers talk about the intimidating atmosphere. Obviously this is mainly when we are playing well.

For those who do not experience away games I can assure you that even the bigger clubs atmosphere can be morgue like.

I will concede however that a Norfolk/Suffolk voice yelling at the top of his voice is drowned out by the Yorkshire/Northern equivalent. Must be something to with the vocal chords and genes.

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Ok (takes deep breath...).

We are to nice, I haver said it many times.  Roeder, Hucks, Dion and Grant all went on record saying the fans and club need to toughen up as well.  Hence my earlier ''saucer of milk'' comment about a large proportion of our fans - to nice, and more likely to roll over to get their belly tickled than demand success.

HOWEVER.....

Writing such s*** as this guy has about not liking us because we are nice (?) and saying about Cardiff rioting just goes to show what pieces of inner-city scum populate these cities.    Birmingham in particular has four clubs all of whom are supported by knuckle-dragging, baseball capped neanderthals. Remember the Wolves play off game ?  Spitting, fights and baseball bats - these are not fans they are SCUM.  And this guy has the gall to say that he does not like Norwich because we dont try to kick someone to death if we lose?

Before the play-off final I had the misfortune to spend the night in a hotel with about 200 Birmingham fans and they are a repulsive bunch of people.  Sneering, ignorant and out for a fight.

You must be so proud of your club and city.  Morons.

 

 

 

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I have the misfortune of living near Brum and I can safely say it''s a sh*t hole. The fact he reckons there would of been a riot if brum lost to us that day is sad and even worse knowing Cardiff like I do (I spent many weekends tehre having both friends and my sister go to Uni there) they would of come off alot worse. As for the fans he holds up as a good image, Stoke fans? Don''t make me laugh I know people who have been in fights in Stoke just for wearing a football shirt on non matchdays. Hull? Not quite as bad as Stoke but hardly likely to win a supporter of the year award.So if Norwich fans have to put up with the label of being "too nice" then so be it. Norwich is a family club which I think''s a good thing. Sure we as fan could be more intimidating at times but at what price? Would you really want a club where people can''t take young children to watch the games? A club where violence in the city is a regular occurance just so we can be more intimidating? I know I don''t.Davo

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Following the 2002 play-off final, had Blues lost, Cardiff would probably have had to brace itself for a riot.

 Im glad he admits it too... their fans are a bunch of tits!

 We drew 1-1 with them in the premiership and walking back to my mates car there were loads of them really peed off saying how if theyd lost theyd of "done us" etc....

i can quite believe it to.. Wolves, Birmingham, Villa... all sloped foreheads and knuckle dragging fans....

Contrast that and i have always found WBA fans to be friendly and welcoming....

jas :)

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[quote user="Arthur Whittle"]Be good for the club, with a full house to create a hostile atmosphere, being nicey nice does you no favours.[/quote]

 

The prat that wrote the article mentioned the likes of Stoke and Burnley having a good atmosphere despite everybody knowing that they couldn''t sell out their grounds last season. The reason why the prat said they have a good atmosphere is because those clubs have an associated hooligan past, similarly Cardiff. The bloke who wrote this was/is probably a hooligan and because we don''t have a major hooligan past we have no atmoshpere...

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Well, there wasn''t too much bonhomie, or a "well done old chap" attitude towards our Brummie rivals in Barclay E Block where I stood. Maybe the writer of this piece couldn''t hear our invective, though; although I''m sure some of his fellow fans did as they seemed to be biting a bit at our constant baiting towards the end of the game. One or two of them stood up and gesticulated angrily in our direction which was quite amusing.

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[quote user="A Load of Squit"]

They''re owned by a couple of pornographers who are constantly trying to off load the club, they never get good crowds despite thier fantastic motorway infrastructure, a stupid club supported by idiots, lets hope his experience means he never comes back.

 

 

[/quote]

Well said, Squit.

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