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Glenn Foy

My Thoughts On Norwich City (Nostalgia Warning)

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OK, I shall warn you in advance this is going to be a long message, so be prepared for a long read! Still with me?.............

Let''s start with the plain and simple. I am a Norwich City fan, and I have been all my life. I''m still fairly young, and I had my first season ticket with Norwich in the 1998/1999 season. Whilst I attended every Norwich home game from that season onwards, my most vivid memories stem from around the time when Marc Libbra scored on his debut at home (I remember it as a really good volley, within a minute of coming on) someone will have to correct me on that if I''m wrong.

From my first season in 1998/1999 to the 2003/2004 promotion season I''ll always remember Norwich being an average Division two side, often flirting with relegation, but never being involved in a season long relegation dog-fight. Of course, things changed when Nigel Worthington brought in Darren Huckerby, Peter Crouch and Kevin Harper early on at the start of the 2003/2004 season. I firmly believe if we hadn''t made those signings we would have remained an average Championship (Division 2 side) - I''m sure a lot of people would agree with me. That season, and the following Premiership season, were understandably the best in my short (but my on-going) career following Norwich City.

I will always remember Peter Crouch''s first goals for Norwich, the excitement and anticipation everytime Darren Huckerby received the ball (and then the drama of his awesome display against Cardiff [i think] in which we all thought was his last appearance, before being unveiled on boxing day against Nottingham Forest (and Mathius Svensson secured us a 1-0 win that day), and the subsequential promotion to the Premiership.

This was perhaps the most enjoyable season supporting Norwich City FC. The David Bentley volley against the bar against Manchester United away when we lost 2-1, the 2-2 draw against Newcastle away the following Wednesday, our first home win that season against Bolton 3-2 at home, THAT Safri goal against Newcastle and the infamous 2-0 against Manchester United at home, which ignited the fantastic form we had through to the final game of the season - these all stand out as vivid memories of that season. Although, perhaps not as much as being at Craven Cottage on the final day of the season and watching the 6-0 defeat. And I think that day was the start of the Norwich City rot until the present day. I have so many if''s and but''s of that season, perhaps the most significant in my eyes is having Dean Ashton in the team. I firmly believe if he had been in our team from the start of the Premiership season, we would have stayed up quite comfortably. But that''s history.

And there we were. In the Championship again the following season, and drawing our first 3 games. Such expectation for the season culminating in an 8th place finish. As time progressed the parachute payments faded, our better players left (e.g. Green, Ashton etc) and we were a mediocre Championship side again. Worthy was next to go, after a 5-1 loss at home to Burnley (i think..) and then we had Grant, who got rid of our only midfielder at the time who could pass/wanted the ball, Yousef Safri. We all know how bad the Grant regime was, so the next appointment of Roeder with a proven record of relegating clubs seemed strange. To his credit, no-one can dispute he kept us up, and safe within the Championship. On the final day of that season, i witnessed our 4-1 loss against Sheffield Wednesday (Dion Dublin''s last game for the club; in my eyes he was both our best defender and attacker that season). It also marked the end of Darren Huckerby''s career with Norwich City. He opted to offer Robert Eagles a one-year deal instead of offering Darren Huckerby any deal whatsoever - a moronic decision at best, it makes me angry just typing this..A club legend, who played such a big part in getting us promoted, who openly loved the club and wanted to play for us, who would have accepted a reduced salary, who refused to play for any club in the Championship purely to avoid playing against Norwich City, wasn''t offered any sort of contract renewal. It absolutely disgusts me. The goal he scored against Norwich City in the 4-1 loss against Sheffield Wednesday on his last game for the club shows he still had it, but an arrogant, egotistical cretin called Glen Roeder released him.

Then, there we were, being beaten by Charlton at home in the FA cup, and the end of the road for the worst manager of Norwich City in my time of supporting the club. Bryan Gunn was appointed the job, and a 4-0 win against Barnsley was, ironically, the worst result we could have hoped for. Club legend''s being appointed as managers of clubs often don''t work well, and our inexperienced manager Gunn ultimately got us relegated. And to tell you the truth, I register little blame towards Gunn. He is Norwich City through and through, and this granted, he should never have been offered the job permanently, as the majority of people agree. To be offered the job again for this season is bewildering at the best of times (we all know he was the cheap option), but I don''t want to discuss the ineptitude of the board as this has been in abundance for the past few years.

And this brings us to the current season. A 7-1 hammering at home, and a new manager later, we sit with 3 games played with 1 point out of a possible 9. At the start of the season I said it was vital to get a good start to get the fans on our side, and follow through the excellent form of pre-season. This obviously hasn''t come to fruition and now we are in the bottom 4 of League 1. Norwich City Football Club in the relegation zone of League 1 - with the worst goal difference.

And this is where it gets really serious. I honestly believe this is our last chance. The last time we can call ourselves a big club in a smaller league. A big fish in a small pond. The club that doesn''t deserve to be outside the Premiership, let alone the championship. The scale of the task at hand for Paul Lambert is huge. The truth is we haven''t replaced Nigel Worthington. Don''t get me wrong, he had to go when he did. He was a good manager, but his time at the club had expired. But the simple fact of the matter is that we haven''t replaced him - and Paul Lambert is our last chance. This is the last chance Norwich City FC. The reason I still believe we are a big club is because of our fans. 25,000 people on the opening day of the season at home to Colchester eclipses most attendances in League One, some in the Championship, and some in the Premiership. And that is probably the most heartbreaking aspect of the situation we are in. I know its been said before but it''s true. The fans that pack out the stadiums, give up their rebates, buy the shirts and make the long away trips to the most dull, prosaic and uninspiring teams nationwide.

I believe things can go one of two ways here. We can either: 1) have a good start with Paul Lambert and start climbing the league, increasing confidence, increasing fan confidence, and genuinely challenge for promotion. Or, 2) we can have a bad/indifferent start with PL and remain there or thereabouts where we are now and be in a real, real crisis - where even relegation is possible. I dread to think what will happen to us if no.2 occurs.

On a final note, I really enjoy supporting Norwich city, despite what has happened since our demise from the Premier League. It is so much more genuine that supporting Manchester United or Chelsea like everyone else - I resent these so called ''fans'', of which I know more about their club than they do. But, I believe if option 2 occurs, I''m not sure I''ll be able to enjoy being a Norwich City fan anymore. The little hope that is instilled within me currently will be whittled away, and I''ll start to accept a NCFC side content with surviving relegation in League 1 or even League 2.

I will support NCFC all my life, but I think if Paul Lambert fails, our great club will be in this league (or worse) for a long time to come, and gradually decrease in size to a small fish in a small pond.

In my eyes, this is our last chance saloon. Good luck Paul Lambert, you''ll need it.

 

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Great post.

I agree with pretty much all of it. Especially that this season is make or break. Unfortunately i cant see it coming off as Lambert seems to have no money and a poor squad. It seems strange that originally 8th in the Championship was dissapointing when we are now in a position where getting out of league 1 looks very unlikely.

Also agree about never replacing worthington. The managerial appointments have been shocking and have always fallen short of what was needed.

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To be honest Glenn, having followed Norwich since the early seventies its even more harrowing, you missed the eighties and early nineties mate, which makes where we are now even harder to swallow, lets hope Lambert can make the difference, but for now the jury is out !! Good post tho Glenn

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So our season in which we got relegated from the Prem was a great season, now I see why you defend Doherty!Our season in the Prem in which we was relegated only had one real up and that was Middlesborough at home. These last few years our fans have settled for total and utter tripe and done sod all about it. I guess we have too many people that believe a season in which we get relegated is the best ever!!![:''(]

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I enjoyed reading that, beats the usual tosh that we usually get here!OTBC, come on, we can do it.

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[quote user="Snakepit boys"]So our season in which we got relegated from the Prem was a great season, now I see why you defend Doherty!

Our season in the Prem in which we was relegated only had one real up and that was Middlesborough at home.

These last few years our fans have settled for total and utter tripe and done sod all about it. I guess we have too many people that believe a season in which we get relegated is the best ever!!![:''(]
[/quote]

 

where were you?! lol, literally. loads of good memories at home. Middlesborough, beating man u 2-0, bolton 3-2. safri vs newcastle then scoring the winner last minute. we only went down on the last day, i think we had a great account of ourselves and were unlucky to go down. I don''t agree that that was tripe whatsoever! it was a phenomenal ride that we just missed on on staying up. granted after that the club has been handled badly etc, but the Prem season was by no means, as a whole, poor!

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To be honest , I think we have a half decent squad of players. I think that our biggest problem now is patience and time. We have a new chief in Mcnally and 5 mins into his realm he sacks a legend who has brought in 12 permanent players and brings in Lambert. Whilst im not against Lambert, the problem here lies with Mcnally. What happens if we go the next 10 games without a win , will he blame gunn for bringing in the wrong players or will he resign from his position for bringing in the wrong manager without looking around at the likes of boothroyd, Atkins etc. Lambert has the opportunity to bring in some loansters if he wishes, my feeling is that he won''t and I dont think he is a big enough name in the game to be able to get any either.

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Glenn

Even if we don''t go up this season, which is looking increasingly unlikely as the squad Gunn assembled is looking like it''d more useful in League 2 than League 1, we will still be a big club in this division if we maintain the huge following we have - which we probably will, as it seems a Norwich fan will tolerate no end of dire and inept performances. If we maintain the support, the club maintains very healthy revenue streams. Yes we have a huge debt, but whilst we have big revenue streams, we should be able to outbid virtually all clubs (without a suger daddy backing them) when it comes to offering wages to managers and first team players at this level. Hence it really will be just a matter of time before we get back up, although it could take several seasons, as we have just lumbered ourselves with a load of new players on long contracts who appear incompetent at this level - the folly of appointing Bryan Gunn as manager in the summer. Another shocking Delia Smith decision.

I fully expect Lambert to steer the club to at least a lower mid table finish, and then another massive rebuild of the playing squad in the following summer.

I think we were sold a dummy when we believed the 12 players who were brought in this summer were world beaters at this level. They clearly are nothing of the sort.

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Very good post Glenn and I agree this is the last throw of the dice at least for the current regime. But don''t totally despair. I believe we have a big enough catchment area to ensure this club will eventually fall on its feet - but it may take a few years of rebuilding should we be forced down the administration route (the consequence of Lambert''s failure).

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Ok, nice entertaining read and thanks for the nostalgia warning.  Admittedly, as Tim pointed out, had you been around as long as some of us you would fully realise the depths of our despair at the demise of our once great club.

But I think you are missing the point.  That great club is already dead, it died a few years ago.  In my personal opinion probably about the time Mike Walker left.  Regardless of the passion of the fans, the full houses and the new manager it will never again be THAT club.  The current state of football has ensured that.  Those days of smaller clubs playing great football and beating the giants time after time are long gone.  Why? because the giants are no longer giants, they are behemoths of gargantuan size and, should you defeat one on your best of days another ten will rise from its corpse and become even stronger.  THEY HAVE MONEY!  And that my friend is that. 

One day our prince may come.  One day we may have enough money to buy the best players and reach the heady heights of Europe once more.  But, that will never again be our Norwich City as we remember it.  For the simple reason that in order to get there we will have to become one of them. It is without doubt a sacrifice that we are all willing to make in order to regain some former glory and return us to our "rightful" place in the football hierachy, after all, anything is better than this, but it will only come at the right price.  As assuredly as Notts County''s place in the Premier League is a far, far safer bet than Leeds Utd.

We await the man with the money to show us the way.  The king is dead, long live the king!

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[quote user="Scooby"]

Ok, nice entertaining read and thanks for the nostalgia warning.  Admittedly, as Tim pointed out, had you been around as long as some of us you would fully realise the depths of our despair at the demise of our once great club.

But I think you are missing the point.  That great club is already dead, it died a few years ago.  In my personal opinion probably about the time Mike Walker left.  Regardless of the passion of the fans, the full houses and the new manager it will never again be THAT club.  The current state of football has ensured that.  Those days of smaller clubs playing great football and beating the giants time after time are long gone.  Why? because the giants are no longer giants, they are behemoths of gargantuan size and, should you defeat one on your best of days another ten will rise from its corpse and become even stronger.  THEY HAVE MONEY!  And that my friend is that. 

One day our prince may come.  One day we may have enough money to buy the best players and reach the heady heights of Europe once more.  But, that will never again be our Norwich City as we remember it.  For the simple reason that in order to get there we will have to become one of them. It is without doubt a sacrifice that we are all willing to make in order to regain some former glory and return us to our "rightful" place in the football hierachy, after all, anything is better than this, but it will only come at the right price.  As assuredly as Notts County''s place in the Premier League is a far, far safer bet than Leeds Utd.

We await the man with the money to show us the way.  The king is dead, long live the king!

[/quote]Right on the nail Scooby!

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[quote user="Binky"][quote user="Scooby"]

Ok, nice entertaining read and thanks for the nostalgia warning.  Admittedly, as Tim pointed out, had you been around as long as some of us you would fully realise the depths of our despair at the demise of our once great club.

But I think you are missing the point.  That great club is already dead, it died a few years ago.  In my personal opinion probably about the time Mike Walker left.  Regardless of the passion of the fans, the full houses and the new manager it will never again be THAT club.  The current state of football has ensured that.  Those days of smaller clubs playing great football and beating the giants time after time are long gone.  Why? because the giants are no longer giants, they are behemoths of gargantuan size and, should you defeat one on your best of days another ten will rise from its corpse and become even stronger.  THEY HAVE MONEY!  And that my friend is that. 

One day our prince may come.  One day we may have enough money to buy the best players and reach the heady heights of Europe once more.  But, that will never again be our Norwich City as we remember it.  For the simple reason that in order to get there we will have to become one of them. It is without doubt a sacrifice that we are all willing to make in order to regain some former glory and return us to our "rightful" place in the football hierachy, after all, anything is better than this, but it will only come at the right price.  As assuredly as Notts County''s place in the Premier League is a far, far safer bet than Leeds Utd.

We await the man with the money to show us the way.  The king is dead, long live the king!

[/quote]

Right on the nail Scooby!
[/quote]

I thank you.  (Exits stage left)

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I agree with you to an extent Scooby, but I think that this is the last roll of the dice before the club is dead..

A nice little bump for my heart-felt and emotionally charged original post

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Good post Glenn ... and for us ''oldies'' Scooby has firmly smashed the nail on its head!

I don''t envy Paul Lambert ... but really do wish the guy all the very best. I''m afraid the monstrosity that he has inherited has rather more serious issues than just a ramshackle bunch of players who badly need moulding into a team.

As Scooby says ... the City we all once loved has long ceased to be, and we can only hope that from these ashes emerges a white knight who will facilitate our return to some happier times. It will never be the City of before ... but will hopefully be one of which we can be proud. Sadly ... at this moment in time ... pride is some quaint feeling for those more fortunate.

OTBC

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Well-written OP. We have plenty to be nostalgic about, but I think its a bit of a mistake to dwell on the past. And I don''t see this as a make or break season. What do you mean by that?

Yes, we all want City to go straight back up, and we all consider League One to be beneath us, but with finances being how they are, just a ''steadying of the ship'' will do me for this season.

You are right to emphasize what a big job PL has on his hands. So if we aren''t promoted will he be a failure? Surely the number one priority is just the survival of the club as a going concern. With an apparent new prfessionalism in the boardroom and management, I think we are back on course.

Like you and many others I will support City all the way. City til I die. Or until City dies. But let''s look to the future. Dwelling on past glories just diminishes our appreciation of the present. Let''s try to enjoy life in League One, get behind the team, be patient, and hope that we are on an upward curve.

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Good post ...I like another have been a supporter since the early late 60''s early 70''s seen some ups and downs . Premiership year was great ,,, we actually played some good stuff at times...saw the awesome Gunners at carrow road.....I thought that our first home win though was Southhampton ??? I had given the tickets to my brother in law. he rang me to tell me the score I was gutted !!! So maybe I remember it wrong ?

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Think you nailed it talking about the fact we are yet to truely replace Worthington. And yeh we are quickly running out of options... dare i say excuses at why we suck so bad !Good post !

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