Compared to last time

[ryan1992 0]

I''ve just been looking at the table after 8 games last time we were in the PL. We were 2nd from bottom, and had 5 points. What a difference! Even though we are only just over 1/5th of the season through, we have succeeded my expectations ten-fold. The lads are doing us proud, and I firmly believe we will be in this League for many years. Here''s the table 8 games in last time: (makes this season so far seem soooo good!) http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/LeagueTable/0,,10355~20041002,00.html

[dhickl 0]

wow,

2004/5

P8   W0

 

2011/2

P8 W3

 

Big difference.  Some people say that is is just the confidence from being promoted, however when we went up last time it was as Champions, so you would expect more confidence.

 

The thing that has impressed me so far is Lambert''s ability to change tactics both before the game for the opponent, and during the game.

[grantroederdisaster 0]

Compared to last time -

 

We look like a team who know what they are doing and have been carefully picked to do such a job by a great manager!

 

We''ve got the home and away wins of our back early on which will help immensely. Last time we didn''t win away all season and didn''t at home 12/13 games into the season!

 

I think the likes of Bennett, Pilkington, Morison, Johnson, Naughten will prove more useful for then the likes of Helveg, Jonsson, Bentley, Charlton were in 2004/05!

[Gerry Harrison 2]

Interesting that the bottom three after 8 games in 2004-05 were the teams that went down.

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

That is interesting thanks for posting :)

I also agree that the lads have far exceeded my expectations. Not only do we look comfortable in this league we are winning games too.

Onwards and Upwards! OTBC!

[ZLF 271]

Its certainly a different and better situation this time;   PL has definitely gelled his new team far better than Worthy did,  and has identified a winning formula earlier.   We look like a prem team this time,  are holding our own and just need to see this through for the remaining 30 games.   And I know we can.

Overall I would say that there has been a dropping off of quality in the prem,  last time it felt like 4 distinct tiers with 5/6 relegation candidates,  now there are 10+ clubs of similar capability that could get relegated - which is excellent news for us.   I do also think that the 2011 Manures are not as good as the 2004 Arsenal or Manure overall.

That is not to decry what PL or the team  are achieving,  but it does mean that we will be able to survive this year.   

COYY!

 

[AndyJR 0]

we are better.

[star_manic 0]

[quote user="grantroederdisaster"]

Compared to last time -

 

We look like a team who know what they are doing and have been carefully picked to do such a job by a great manager!

 

We''ve got the home and away wins of our back early on which will help immensely. Last time we didn''t win away all season and didn''t at home 12/13 games into the season!

 

I think the likes of Bennett, Pilkington, Morison, Johnson, Naughten will prove more useful for then the likes of Helveg, Jonsson, Bentley, Charlton were in 2004/05!..............can anyone remember a better player recruitment at the start of the season than those players mentioned here. any and all could/will be canary legends in the not too distant future. even our best teams of the past had weak areas, but there does not seem to be a weakness in our squad at all. russ martin could end up as the new steve bruce, but that would mean trying to recruit naughton on a permanent deal.[/quote]

[Bill 1,788]

"Some people say that is is just the confidence from being promoted"

If they do them they have an exceedingly limited intellect

mr roeder chap summed it up perfectly -

"We look like a team who know what they are doing and have been carefully picked to do such a job by a great manager!!

[Rock The Boat 1,326]

I would put our success down to the fact that even before we finished our Championship season PL had already decided how we were going to approach the Premiership, and then went out to buy the best players to fit into the system he thought would be effective (Pilkington and Bennett in particular, and no out-and-out striker).

This shows a manager who is both intelligent, pro-active and knows clearly what he wants to do. I think he commincates this to the players so that everyone is aware of their role in the team and know what is expected of them. It make for a very tight playing unit, and one that is learning to defend well and moves forward from the back line in a very controlled manner. PL has defintely got the players to play as a team, which is why we are much better than last time around. Remember 2004 when we started with Docherty up front as our striker? You just can''t see such things happening this time around. De Laert maybe our Helveg but PL has pulled him out of harm''s way much quicker than NW did. End result, we''re much better than last time we went up.

If there''s just one concern, it''s if we get unlucky with a spate of injuries to key players. Every game is a hard physical game these days and it is almost inevitable that some players will pick up knocks to keep them out of the team. We have that problem at CB right now but fortunately Russell Martin has proved very effective in moving over from his right-back position.  If we were to lose say Morison and Hoolahan  in the next couple of games, or Johnson and Fox from midfield, the replacements might struggle to maintain thevery high performance levels that we are currently acheiving.

Looking on the bright side, I think we''re doing extremely well, and who outside of Norfolk, would have predicted us to be sitting very comfortably in the top half of the table at this stage of the season?

And that leads me onto one final point. I don''t think we really need to be overly concerned about PL moving on in the short term. He''s obviously building a team here from a long term plan,so why would he chuck it all in to start afresh atsome other club whenthere are around 10-12 Premiership clubs that are not so far about from each other in performance terms? And PL does not yet have the experience to attract the big four, which is where he may eventually end up, as right now he would be a huge gamble for a club like Arsenal or Liverpool to contemplate. I think he would want to see his team building come to fruition at Norwich as he knows that in McNally he has an ally on the board who understands what PL is trying to acheive and a Chairman in Bowkett who is the enabler, making it possible for PL to see his plans through to execution.

In short, we''re a world away from the last time we went up to the Premiership.