Norwich in tune, QPR and Swansea in disarray.....

[unique 434]

It''s amazing just how many pundits and neutral supporters have Norwich as odds-on favourites for relegation next season, and yet they''re failing to take into account the planned and professional way Norwich City FC have embraced promotion to the Premier League.

Players are leaving Swansea like a sinking ship. Pratley and de Vries gone, Taylor and Rangel possibly to follow. These are not just squad players - all four were an integral part of Swansea''s promotion.

Taarabt has put his cards on the table, and would appear quite happy to further his career elsewhere. If QPR were not a one-man team last year, then they were a two-man team...Taarabt and Kenny. Taarabt''s departure would be close to catastrophic. Warnock''s relationship with his board would suggest that he might well prove to be an early managerial casualty next season, which could only be detrimental to QPR''s survival chances.

So as things stand, Norwich''s preparations so far can only be applauded. They are way ahead of their fellow promoted teams on moral and supporters'' optimism. At this moment in time, I know which of the promoted teams my money would be on to avoid relegation next season.....

[Bill 1,788]

I think ''their failing to take into account'' is more that they haven''t been arsed to check. I agree totally with your points about how we set about getting into the PL and how we have preparing ourselves for the season ahead. I think swansea stumbled into it and are now wondering what to do I can see them struggling. QPR are beholden too a few dodgy ''hinvestors'' whose interests, I would suggest, are not necessarily the same as the interests of a fair number deluded fools in their replica shirts.

Warmock strikes me as a bit of a Moses figure. He can get them to the promised land but that''s as far as he can go. Better off heading back into the Championship to see what he can do with another club.

The chief difference with us,IS the set up at the club. In a few years of supporting the club I have yet to see it ran so professionally and so focused on success. I think that will carry us much further than any so called big name signing.

My advice ''unique'' is to change that " my money would be on " to " is on " before a few more do likewise and the odds begin to shorten. A few careful bets now should pay for next years season ticket.

[Congo Canary 0]

It''s not just that they make us favorites for relegation, it''s the fact that they expect us to do considerably worse than the other promoted teams.

Supposedly Swansea, with their ''free flowing, stylish football'', will see them finish above the three promoted teams, and one man band QPR, will see Taarbat ''take the Premier league by storm''. Sorry, but it''s more likely that he''ll spit his dummy and act like a petulant child, like he did when he was snuffed out of both games with us last year.

Personally, i''m quietly confident and impressed with what we have achieved so far. Another signing from the lower leagues will make me wonder if we are preparing for life should we get relegated, but as with City of old, you never know just who''s just round the corner and there''s always a feeling that we''ll sign someone completely out of the blue.

With the new signings up front, Jackson doesn''t seem to get mentioned too much, but i have a feeling he will only get better after such a terrific end to the season. Onwards and upwards!!

[spencer 1970 207]

I agree too...I''d even add to that the fact that Wayne Routledge was very important to QPR and he doesnt want to go back either AND Borini ended up being very useful for the Jacks (although Danny Graham is a great like for like).

There is one thing i''d ask though. Would the club be at its "best run" if we did score all those last minute goal and finished 16th last year or is it the results that make it so? Not a cutting remark...just a thought its worth putting out there.

[spencer 1970 207]

I agree too...I''d even add to that the fact that Wayne Routledge was very important to QPR and he doesnt want to go back either AND Borini ended up being very useful for the Jacks (although Danny Graham is a great like for like).

There is one thing i''d ask though. Would the club be at its "best run" if we didnt score all those last minute goal and finished 16th last year or is it the results that make it so? Not a cutting remark...just a thought its worth putting out there.

[spencer 1970 207]

I agree too...I''d even add to that the fact that Wayne Routledge was very important to QPR and he doesnt want to go back either AND Borini ended up being very useful for the Jacks (although Danny Graham is a great like for like).

There is one thing i''d ask though. Would the club be at its "best run" if we didnt score all those last minute goal and finished 16th last year or is it the results that make it so? Not a cutting remark...just a thought its worth putting out there.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

When the press and pundits make us favarites to come down it takes the pressure off and further cements squad spirit that will go a long way to keeping out of the bottom 3 next season. I also think Sunderland and Newcastle may have difficult seasons who will score their goals?

[BroadstairsR 0]

We are sure to have a bit of a struggle, it is inevitable. However, there a lot of other sides in that League next season who will struggle as well. One or two and  more will turn out to be weker. Swansea for sure. QPR, maybe as it depends on how Warnock uses the money he has. Wigan, surely, plus those mentioned  above.  

 

Lambert has not put a foot wrong so far. Let''s hope he keeps it up. He is our trump card.

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Very good points and as someone said above (about three times) Borini actually turned down staying at Swansea to head back to Italy. Compare that to Angela and Pacman, both of whom I think have said they''d like to come back here next season.

There''s still a long way to go and QPR might start chucking their cash around but I''m loving the fact that we are already getting things in gear and getting cheaper prices.

Probably best that everyone is ignoring ''Little Old Norwich''. It''s how we got up in the first place

[a1canary 0]

Good post. It''s great how the models we are carefully holding together and building on the stuctures and principles that got us up. While the other two appear to have collapsed and fallen apart as soon as they got over the finish line! It can only be a very good thing that we and only we know what the club and the management are doing and why, in order to build on the progress of the last two years. It completely plays in to our hands for everyone outside of the club to not know about, or buy in to, what we are looking to do and lump us together with all the promoted teams as favourites to go down. Lambert wouldn''t have it any other way. I think his biggest challenge in management (after managing us in the prem!) will be when he goes to a club that everyone expects to win trophies. He has never had to deal with that. His style so far has been to remain unassuming, under-promising and over-delivering. He won''t be able to do that when he''s manager of Man-U!

[BroadstairsR 0]

We have the lessons leant from last time, which was not so long ago, the other  two have not. That said, Warnock should know his way around, but has shown few signs thus far.

 

No playing comparisons with Worthy''s team, that would be difficult, but at managerial and board level we are stronger.

[Panic 0]

I think the club has never been in a healthier position than to be in the Premier League. Great manager, good squad, financially stable, filling the ground every week and the people running it know exactly what they''re doing.

''Last time'' we were a bit overawed by it all, and once we didn''t bounce straight back we discovered changes had to be made - admittedly a further relegation to the third tier forced these changes; but major lessons were learnt.

Personally I think we''ll be fine, and I''m never an optimist. The Premier League is at its weakest for quite some time, and we''ve got all the right tools to stay there.

[ZLF 271]

I am quite happy for the media attention to be on other clubs - it has been for each of the last two seasons and while other high profile clubs have faltered we have simply got on with what is required and gone from strength to strength - let others under-estimate us at our peril

The more other clubs are disjointed the better our chances - this is a league about performances, not who crows loudest.

We know that the club has the best possible platform to succeed next season, united not in name but certainly as an entity from owners to board to management to players to fans.

Bring it on

[BroadstairsR 0]

[quote user="Panic"]I think the club has never been in a healthier position than to be in the Premier League. Great manager, good squad, financially stable, filling the ground every week and the people running it know exactly what they''re doing. ''Last time'' we were a bit overawed by it all, and once we didn''t bounce straight back we discovered changes had to be made - admittedly a further relegation to the third tier forced these changes; but major lessons were learnt. Personally I think we''ll be fine, and I''m never an optimist. The Premier League is at its weakest for quite some time, and we''ve got all the right tools to stay there.[/quote]

 

Yes, I agree with all of that and, despite no Huckerby, I am happier with this team than the last one we went to the PL with. I am not going to criticise Worthy because he gave us a lot of success. However, I was as much part of the "Worthy out" chanters as anybody else. He  made a lot of mistakes in the end, the likes of which I do not think Paul Lambert will make.

 

The attitude and preparation of the Club, promoted largely by a much better board is light years away from last time. I too am optimistic, as I have said before: "We will suvive." 

, .

 

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Norwich City seem to be invisible as far as the football pundits are concerned. The tossers seem to be far more interested in "masssive" clubs such as QPR and Swansea. It''s quite vomit inducing!

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Don''t know where that third S in massive came from!

[Huh?! 0]

Wow, this is the first post in a while that I have read every single comment and took note of all the comments with detail..

Everything you have all said is a great description of how our club will fair come the start of the season. Why a lot of people are saying "Little''ol''Norwich buying lower league players will not work", we are all thinking it can. With the team spirit we have, and the way the club is being run, why can''t we do it? Why can''t we be safe by Easter?

Put it this way, no way am I going to say we are defitnately safe, or we WILL finish in the top half (like last year) but I have every faith in our players, manager and the club itself to succeed and make a statement to all of the press who doubt us. It happened last year, why not again?!

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

We''ve finished first and then second in successive seasons - maybe it will be a third-placed finish this year!

[Norfolk Mustard 94]

[quote user="Panic"]I think the club has never been in a healthier position than to be in the Premier League. Great manager, good squad, financially stable, filling the ground every week and the people running it know exactly what they''re doing. ''Last time'' we were a bit overawed by it all, and once we didn''t bounce straight back we discovered changes had to be made - admittedly a further relegation to the third tier forced these changes; but major lessons were learnt. Personally I think we''ll be fine, and I''m never an optimist. The Premier League is at its weakest for quite some time, and we''ve got all the right tools to stay there.[/quote]

Well it looks like you are an optimist now Mr Panic - well done and welcome to the ''brighter thinking'' group!...

[Militant Canary 0]

Our instant and

crushing demise, as predicted by the alleged experts, represents

everything that is wrong with British football.

First of all, the

so-called experts are predominantly former players of the ''bigger''

clubs and very few of them are renowned for their intelligence. The

only obvious exception I can think of is Ian Dowie, who is not stupid

by any stretch. Incidentally, he is one of the few to say anything

encouraging about us for next season... correlation??

Secondly, our ability

to cut it in the PL is adjudged on simple criteria: money and the

profile of individuals. The prevalent belief is that the top division

in England is the best in the world. The idea that large amounts of

money guarantees quality seems to be the only real basis behind this

view. But with this comes the emphasis on high-profile individuals,

preferably playing for high-profile teams. There is also a preference

for measuring the quality of a player, with the exception of CD and

GK, by their price tag and by the number of goals they score, rather

than vision, skill, work-rate and regardless of how good they

actually are. For this reason, you have people telling you that

Lampard is a world class midfielder (even though he is lazy enough to

only be animated when in front of goal and shoots at every

opportunity- incidentally, I''d like to know how many assists he got

last year) or Ronaldo (played as a winger at ManU, despite the fact

that he can''t cross or track back to save his life) is the best

player in the world.

With Redknapp''s

appointment as England manager- an appointment that approaches with

an inevitability that is as mind-numbing as he is fat and annoying-

we may have to wait for Lampard to die before he is dropped for

England. Of course, I could always shoot him, get it over with. All I

need is a good vantage point.

I digress. The upshot

of this ethos is this: whereas many other teams in the Premiership

are merely a loose collection of individuals, the clubs willing and

probably able to dish out extraordinary amounts of money to bring in

some high-profile signing, we are a team, a unit with balance.

So much of this can

rightly be attributed to Lambert''s time and training in Germany. When

I was garrisoned there, I watched quite a lot of German football. No

matter who you are as a player, the emphasis was always on balance

and team-work. It

may not always work for us, of course. It doesn''t always work for the

Germans, after all. Nonetheless, the idea of balance and team work

makes something more: the LEGION, greater than the some of its parts.

Asinine

gibberish over. Thank you.

p.s.

Of course, I would never shoot and kill Frank Lampard. I was being

silly...

I

could always gently maim him, though. Just a thought.

[barclaybabe 0]

before we get ahead of ourselves, ive been researching the swansea and qpr situation and theres nothing in it. its just stupid people making up rumours. good luck to both teams, they are on equal status as us. we just want our team to feel like we are in the best situation. conjure up better newsfeeds please

[ron obvious 1,495]

Getting worried about some of the attitude here lately.Never forget how quickly hubris is followed by ate.And schadenfreude is never nice ...

[Militant Canary 0]

[quote user="ron obvious"]Getting worried about some of the attitude here lately.Never forget how quickly hubris is followed by ate.And schadenfreude is never nice ...[/quote]I thought that Hubris was followed by Nemesis?

[unique 434]

[quote user="barclaybabe"]before we get ahead of ourselves, ive been researching the swansea and qpr situation and theres nothing in it. its just stupid people making up rumours. good luck to both teams, they are on equal status as us. we just want our team to feel like we are in the best situation. conjure up better newsfeeds please[/quote]

Poor research......poor post.....

[ron obvious 1,495]

[quote user="Militant Canary"][quote user="ron obvious"]Getting worried about some of the attitude here lately.Never forget how quickly hubris is followed by ate.And schadenfreude is never nice ...[/quote]I thought that Hubris was followed by Nemesis?[/quote]Eventually, yes:

koros-hubris-ate-nemesis.