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The Voice Of Reason

Have You Really Prepared Yourself Mentally For What Lies Ahead?

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Have you considered logically what the best case / worst case scenarios are for this season?

Best:-

We win both our games, QPR are indeed handed a punishment which drops them out of 1st place and City are promoted as Champions, with both money and time to spend it wisely.

City then are regularly beaten, home & away, but we are in the big boys league, playing the best teams, indeed beating a few of them along the way, scraping to 17th place this time next year.

How did you cope last time, I could have been quite unpleasant to Worthington, it brings different emotions, small fish big pond etc.

Worst:-

City lose in the playoffs and therefore will be in Championship next season, allbeit with crushed expectations and feeling a tad deflated. Around Sept we will start playing well again and be challenging for playoffs, probably having a little cup run.

I may have oversimplified a touch, what do you think?

If you, like me, think that this weekend seems enormous, wishing Watford & Middlesborough et all to win their respective games, just remember that every cloud has a silver lining and every silver lining has a cloud.

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I almost posted something along these lines myself, it does bother me a little, yes it was fantastic last time we played in the premier league, seeing all the top players week in week out & just for the record I think we are better equipped for it this time around & if promoted I think we would survive. My fears are more for the failure to get promotion, this will bring the doom & gloom merchants out of the woodwork for sure. I think that the championship will be even more competitive next season, we may suffer with teams being a little more aware of our style of play etc. My biggest concern would be holding on to our best players & our manager, who despite refusing to publicly look toward the premier league inwardly must be preparing for the challenges, PL is very ambious, he may feel that his stock can get no higher than it is at the moment, he will be in demand. Good time to cash in?

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City are clearly then beaten regularly home and away?

You obviously don''t know your football son, or don fully appreciate the talents of Lambert.

Trust me, we will get promoted and we will take some scalps next season and finish comfortably away from the bottom 3.

The difference between our last Championship winning team Is that were a better team overall. Before we were just strong defensively and had Huckerby.

I guarantee we''ll do better than QPR I they go up.

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Not really giving it much thought really, what''ll happen will happen, we have very little control over it.

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Mmm, I remember letting in an average of 2 goals per game with your strong defence. Difficult to win too much in the Prem like that.

I believe in Lambert & McNally, best thing to happen at City for my 45 years, however because it''s changed so quickly and dramatically from what it was, I still err on the side of caution regarding the strength of the Prem.

I do still think we will beat Portsmouth comfortably.

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Yes but Morty and grantroeder have prepared themselves with the "what will be, will be" defence and that is fine also, probably the best way. So don''t kid yourselves you two that you haven''t ;-)

How else can you prepare yourself for joy or grief? Only by anticipating it and practising it in your mind and then when "whatever will be" happens you won''t experience even the tiniest fraction of the real raw joy or hurt!

Tell yourself that playing in the Championship isn''t so bad, the football is better and we''d miss our old enemy the binners. Maybe.

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[quote user="itstheruddyfuture"]Yes but Morty and grantroeder have prepared themselves with the "what will be, will be" defence and that is fine also, probably the best way. So don''t kid yourselves you two that you haven''t ;-)

How else can you prepare yourself for joy or grief? Only by anticipating it and practising it in your mind and then when "whatever will be" happens you won''t experience even the tiniest fraction of the real raw joy or hurt!

Tell yourself that playing in the Championship isn''t so bad, the football is better and we''d miss our old enemy the binners. Maybe.[/quote]Yes but it didn''t really need much thought.Where we are now is beyond my wildest dreams, and if it ends with us staying in the Championship I''ll still be there, week in, week out. And also if it does end with us not getting promoted this time, there will be no drama, players demanding transfers etc, we''ll just pick up where we left off this season.The Prem is a double edged sword, and only time will tell if the Norwich fish is big enough to swim in it. If it wasn''t for the massive financial gulf, I''d almost rather stay where we are!

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Morty, I agree and I know you realise that I am not knocking that thought process, just giving it a gentle mock because it is a thought process and you HAVE prepared yourself in your own way!

We all want the sheer pleasure of winning promotion though because that is our nature and we can''t run from that.

I''m sure most people have heard of the 5 stages of grief and we can''t fight that either, it is very real and although some might move through some stages more quickly, everyone will experience every stage.

I''m with you really. "What will be, will be" - until it really hurts lol.

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[quote user="itstheruddyfuture"]Morty, I agree and I know you realise that I am not knocking that thought process, just giving it a gentle mock because it is a thought process and you HAVE prepared yourself in your own way!

We all want the sheer pleasure of winning promotion though because that is our nature and we can''t run from that.

I''m sure most people have heard of the 5 stages of grief and we can''t fight that either, it is very real and although some might move through some stages more quickly, everyone will experience every stage.

I''m with you really. "What will be, will be" - until it really hurts lol.[/quote]Yes, resignation is a mental preparation for the worst that may happen I guess. I seriously believe the season has been a resounding success already though.I''m going to miss the Coventry game as will be working away, so at least my grief will be semi private!

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If we resign ourselves to contemplate too deeply the worst that might happen, we are in danger of forgetting that things are different now with Sir Paul and players who continually run through walls for the fans.

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I''m sure this kind of dilemma applies to every team that gets promoted to the Premier League from now on - so what to do?

For me the big shame would be to never see the likes of Wessi, Holt, Jackson, Crofts etc in the Premier League in City shirts, but I''m sure we''ll get there.

Most promoted teams in the Premier League seem to have a strong start (apart from Derby!) so I''m confident if we go up that we''d hold our own against the bottom half of the league and pick up the obligitory home wins against a Spurs or a Man United. Surely we''ve got more going for us than one of  Wigan, West Ham, Blackburn or Wolves who''ve had miserable seasons.

Lambert''s a wheeler dealer on the transfer market and even if we fail to go up, how confident would we be next season that a top six finish would be on the cards? This season has proved what can be achieved so try not to worry about the next seven days.... if we go up we can survive, if we don''t go up, there''s a hell of a chance we could be there or there abouts next season

OTBC

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I hear what you are saying and with almost everything in life it''s a double edge sword effect, yes if/when we go up it will be hard next season, recent history tells us that, with our own fortunes and that of others like Hull, Blackpool and so on but surely its better to have dreams and aspirations to reach the top in sport (or any other walk of life)..

I will never forget the hard season we had in the Prem last time but two fixtures in particular will always live long in my memory, Middlesbrough at home and Man Utd at home, fantastic games that made the slog worth it.coupled with the chance to remind my Man Ure supporting friends that last time we played we beat them!!!!

Bring on the Premier League, we are ready for the fight... In Lambert we trust :)

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Watching our team this season actually surprised me how far we''ve come on technically, and how far Championship football has evolved. What I mean is, it appears of a much higher level skill wise than what it was a few seasons ago, and I''ve had to pinch myself at some of the fast fluid one touch passing and creativity we''ve shown this season, i''d actually be watching a game thinking, ALL these boys should be playing in the Premier League because their ability looks too comfortable for the Championship. I remember watching us destroy the scum first time round and then watching Wolves v West Brom or something, and thinking ''THAT''S meant to be of a higher level of football?! Give me a break!''. They looked awful, and we''ll beat sides like that should we get promoted, I''m sure of that.

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I really can''t believe the majority of what has been posted on this thread... talk about LITTLE OLD NORWICH MENTALITY STRIKES AGAIN!!!"We will not win many games next season if we get promoted" and "We have little control over what will happen to our club" have some people not learnt anything over the last few years???I am confident that should we win promotion that we are quite capable of going on and challenging for a place in the top 10 of the Premiership and even possible European qualification.  It doesn''t all boil down to money!!!  Lambert has built a team from nothing to win Division One and then built on that squad to challenge for automatic promotion to the Premiership in one season when the majority of our fans would''ve settled for mid-table obscurity in the Championship.  Why do so many believe that we do not have what it takes to take things one step futher and challenge all but the top four or five teams in the Premiership in our first couple of seasons up there (if we are to go on and clinch promotion)?Lambert seems to think that "the crowd play a MASSIVE part" in success on the pitch - with our support and good management from the top of the club down, what is stopping us from challenging right at the very top except for that little bit of additional finance?  Stoke City seem to have done ok for themselves and I would say that we have the potential to go a fair bit further than they have, wouldn''t you???I would rather have our backing, with McNally and Lambert effectively running our club than another £5 million or so in the transfer kitty any day of the week.  We will do well if we are promoted in my opinion and will hold our own against all but the very best clubs in the Premiership (and may even take a few points that we are unexpecting off a fair few of them too).There isn''t as big a difference between the Premiership and the rest of the Football League as the media have led people to believe!

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I applaud your optomism and unwavering faith Smudger. I also agree with your assessment of Lambert & McNally being key men in our recent success.

However, to say that we will challenge all but the top 6 in the Prem would not really sit under the heading ''logical''.

Best position if we were in Prem next year? Poss between 12th and 17th.

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How about we just prepare ourselves mentally for what lies ahead..... like the next two games!!!How about we stay focused on finishing this season first, then we can prepare properly for the coming season, wherever that may be?Besides, preparing yourself MENTALLY will have little to do in helping

each of us deal with the flood of EMOTION that will overcome us as the season comes to a close. How about we embrace the result naked of all safely prepared and tepid possibilities and allow ourselves to experience the EMOTION of the result head-on?In truth either result will prompt the same response:Winning promotion = Lots of beerMissing promotion = Lots of beerThe only difference will be the taste of the beer.

And to discuss how we''ll preform in the Premier league next season, NOW!,  is simply foolish. Let''s keep our eyes on the prize!!!

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[quote user="The Voice Of Reason"]I applaud your optomism and unwavering faith Smudger. I also agree with your assessment of Lambert & McNally being key men in our recent success.

However, to say that we will challenge all but the top 6 in the Prem would not really sit under the heading ''logical''.

Best position if we were in Prem next year? Poss between 12th and 17th.[/quote]Oh right... you mean like anything other than mid-table obscurity or just missing out on the play-offs were the best that we could''ve possibly hoped for this season???

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Just sobering up from last night''s events and yet again last night the 12th man (the crowd) almost sucked the ball in to Pompeys net (or certainly gave Simeon a MASSIVE helping hand).  Never under-estimate how big this club can potentially be and the effect our OUTSTANDING SUPPORT has on what actually occurs on the pitch.... WHAT A NIGHT!!!Well I am still confident that a top 10 slot will be ours next season and I may even put a sneaky little bet on for us to gain a Europa League slot!How many more think we still have a bit more in the locker than just looking to survive a relegation scrap next season???

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[quote user="Smudger"]How many more think we still have a bit more in the locker than just looking to survive a relegation scrap next season???[/quote]Me. And by a good distance. This genius we have in charge is capable of much, much more. I can see us starting like Blackpool and keeping it going all season too.

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Agree with my friends Smudger and Andy. There''s no point in setting our sites anywhere except to win the next game and see where it takes us. Setting our sites to get enough points to avoid relegation or to finish mid-table is defeatist. You never stand still in football so never aim to do so. Standing still means other clubs pass you and you go backwards at a rate of knots. Aiming just to stay in the Championship saw us relegated to League One.

 

So we always aim to win the next game regardless. Then we''ll see where we get. Maybe this time next year aiming to win the next game will be to win the league, or to qualify for Europe or to finish in the top half or even to avoid relegation. Let''s just hope us fans keep our nerve however it pans out.

 

 

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I think Lambert and Co, have performed exceptionally well as a manager and staff of our football team.....What he and they have achieved in two seasons, is absolutely downright unbelievable and incredible.

 

I personally with all honesty, applaud all those connected to NCFC, from those in the board-room and the staff and players - including those ''back-roomers'' employed by NCFC in whatever their role.....But not forgetting and most of all, the most loyal and fantastic fans..... who''s unwavering support both home and away is to be commended and applauded.

 

The true test of Lambert and all those mentioned in the above, will be the Premiership.....It''s going to be tough, real tough. I am under no illusions that it will be a stiff challenge. Not just for the squad, but for all and everyone. I''m sure the squad will give it their all - as they have done for the previous two seasons. We achieved double promotions with unwavering pride, professionalism, loyalty, integrity, respect, dignity.....and pure strength.

 

I''m certain we will take all those qualities into the Premiership.....and we''ll do it together, as one......OTBC! 

 

 

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