Small premier league club?

[Oli 0]

Well we''re not according to this:

http://www.emfootball.co.uk/attend.html

All I ever hear in the media is how we''re such a small club in premier league terms, how MASSIVE the likes of Villa are compared to us, how our level should be Championship.

14th best supported club in the country only limited only by our capacity (13th in the PL). I also read somewhere else a few years ago we have the 17/18th biggest global fanbase in the country. we''re not completely skint either. Yeah maybe we haven''t won anything major back before a lot of our fan base was born, but it''s completely irrelevant now days, I''m sure the scums history is really comforting right now as they''re rotting in lower championship with massive debts a crap squad and a past it manager...

I''m over the whole Lambert thing now and really looking forward to Hughton (most likely) taking over as I believe he is a great manager and exactly what we need right now. But in 2012 are Villa really that much bigger than us? 2 more years of prem football and we will rival their attendances and be in a really solid financial state. I just really don''t understand Lambert''s decision, Their playing budget is roughly the same, they have a weaker team, less support from the board a fickle fanbase etc The only thing they have over us is history and history is so massively important why aren''t the brightest young managers in the game chomping at the bit for the Leeds job, who on history, are a bigger club than both us and Villa...

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,827]

[quote user="Oli"]Well we''re not according to this:

http://www.emfootball.co.uk/attend.html

All I ever hear in the media is how we''re such a small club in premier league terms, how MASSIVE the likes of Villa are compared to us, how our level should be Championship.

14th best supported club in the country only limited only by our capacity (13th in the PL). I also read somewhere else a few years ago we have the 17/18th biggest global fanbase in the country. we''re not completely skint either. Yeah maybe we haven''t won anything major back before a lot of our fan base was born, but it''s completely irrelevant now days, I''m sure the scums history is really comforting right now as they''re rotting in lower championship with massive debts a crap squad and a past it manager...

I''m over the whole Lambert thing now and really looking forward to Hughton (most likely) taking over as I believe he is a great manager and exactly what we need right now. But in 2012 are Villa really that much bigger than us? 2 more years of prem football and we will rival their attendances and be in a really solid financial state. I just really don''t understand Lambert''s decision, Their playing budget is roughly the same, they have a weaker team, less support from the board a fickle fanbase etc The only thing they have over us is history and history is so massively important why aren''t the brightest young managers in the game chomping at the bit for the Leeds job, who on history, are a bigger club than both us and Villa...[/quote]I disagree with the three bolded points.Villa have an average attendance of 35,000 or so and have done for years and I can''t see us increasing Carrow Road to that level in two years. I think Villa will be spending more than us this summer, and I certainly don''t think their team is weaker than ours. Obviously we outperformed them last season but we had one of the best managers in the league and they had one of the worst.Let''s face it- Villa are a definitely a bigger club than us with more potential. Personally, I think we are kidding ourselves if we think otherwise.

[Alan_Grey 0]

Totally agree. Objectivism leads to dignity!

[Oli 0]

I think the plan is to increase to 35''000 with average attendances expected to be about 31-33''000 The difference between that and Villa''s is half that between us and Swansea who most people see as a similar sized club, it''s hardly a massive difference.

as for laying budget, okay nobody really knows but villa aren''t flush with cash and we''ve been quoted as saying about 10 million more than last year so about £25 million which again can''t be that far off Villa''s.

Squad? i''d say we''re 6/10 across the board where as Villa are mixed between 4-7/10 (In Prem terms) But that''s subjective so I take your point.

Ignoring Villa for a bit though. I still fail to see why we''re known as minnows in this league. Certainly compared to the top clubs we are but against the likes of QPR/Wigan/Swansea we''re bigger and comparable to the likes of Fulham/WBA/ Stoke. Also if we do manage to continue progressing in this league (which I believe we certainly would''ve under Lambert) and do manage to improve the stadium we won''t be far of the likes of Villa.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,827]

[quote user="Oli"]I think the plan is to increase to 35''000 with average attendances expected to be about 31-33''000 The difference between that and Villa''s is half that between us and Swansea who most people see as a similar sized club, it''s hardly a massive difference.

as for laying budget, okay nobody really knows but villa aren''t flush with cash and we''ve been quoted as saying about 10 million more than last year so about £25 million which again can''t be that far off Villa''s.

Squad? i''d say we''re 6/10 across the board where as Villa are mixed between 4-7/10 (In Prem terms) But that''s subjective so I take your point.

Ignoring Villa for a bit though. I still fail to see why we''re known as minnows in this league. Certainly compared to the top clubs we are but against the likes of QPR/Wigan/Swansea we''re bigger and comparable to the likes of Fulham/WBA/ Stoke. Also if we do manage to continue progressing in this league (which I believe we certainly would''ve under Lambert) and do manage to improve the stadium we won''t be far of the likes of Villa.[/quote]There is no way we will spend £25m or even close to it this summer. Maybe half.I do agree with your final paragraph though.

[Shankslad 0]

Norwich can be seen as a big club or a small club depending on what you want to compare it with - It''s all relative I suppose - when you look at the football League as a whole Norwich are one of the biggest clubs around.   A premier league side no less.   But when comparing it with the top 5 or so clubs of course it''s a lot smaller but it doesn''t mean it''s a small time club.   Of course to the media hacks who are obsessively based in large industrial, populus cities of London, Birmingham and Manchester their view of it is as a remote countryside football club.   Norfolk is an agracultural county and Norwich is by comparison rather remote - stuck out there miles from nowhere so to speak.   When people drive there they travel for miles along the A11 duel carriageway looking at trees and fields and then whoosh, all of a sudden they''re at Carrow Road.   A couple of turns off the A47 and they''re there.   Inner city dwellers aren''t used to the luxury of such space and fresh air.   In some of the cities and towns the big clubs reside in there''s hardly an empty gap between them

 

I think the rural location of Norwich itself influences peoples ideas about Norwich City Football Club.   Pound for pound and blow for blow Norwich are "bigger" than most clubs because a higher percentage of the population residing within a 25 mile radius of the club go to watch them than the percentage of population surrounding other clubs

 

If Norwich were a small club it wouldn''t regularly be playing host to so many teams who, at various times past and present, have been or are Champions of Europe!

[Norfolk Mustard 94]

Some valid points on here, but why do some of us feel the need to justify anything at all?

In the case of attracting new players or retaining our manager it certainly counts – but does it matter what others fans perceptions of our club are?

 

 

[pete 320]

It shows how big a club Villa are by trying to prevent paying £1m compo for PL.  That is small time a two bob team.  Like to see PL getting Randy L to open his cheque book.

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

I think currently, the major difference between us and Villa is that Villa will spunk between £20,000 & £60,000 a week on wages for a single player.  Where as I would suspect our limit will be £20,000 max.

 

I know Villa have reduced their wage bill, but I can imagine that there are still massive differences between their highest and lowest paid players.  Given, Dunne, Bent & Agbonlahor will be on huge wages in comparison to the likes of Weimann.  With Villa having to rely more and more on youth, if there isn''t the money to increase the wages of the lowest paid players at Villa to give them something approaching parity and assuming that Lambert wants to keep some of the highest paid players, that will be a difficult thing to manage and I can''t see the highest earners accepting wage reductions.

 

Anyway, that''s Villa and that''s their headache and Lambert''s.

 

I am cynical and I would love to see them struggle again next season.  I couldn''t wish Lambert well, and certainly not when he''s managing a rival.

 

One thing that is beyond doubt about Norwich, is that we are a much better prospect than we have been for a long time.

[William Darby 0]

[quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]

I think currently, the major difference between us and Villa is that Villa will spunk between £20,000 & £60,000 a week on wages for a single player.  Where as I would suspect our limit will be £20,000 max.

 

I know Villa have reduced their wage bill, but I can imagine that there are still massive differences between their highest and lowest paid players.  Given, Dunne, Bent & Agbonlahor will be on huge wages in comparison to the likes of Weimann.  With Villa having to rely more and more on youth, if there isn''t the money to increase the wages of the lowest paid players at Villa to give them something approaching parity and assuming that Lambert wants to keep some of the highest paid players, that will be a difficult thing to manage and I can''t see the highest earners accepting wage reductions.

 

Anyway, that''s Villa and that''s their headache and Lambert''s.

 

I am cynical and I would love to see them struggle again next season.  I couldn''t wish Lambert well, and certainly not when he''s managing a rival.

 

One thing that is beyond doubt about Norwich, is that we are a much better prospect than we have been for a long time.

[/quote]I''d love ''Hooton'' to say, ''Why somebody would walk away from this set up is unbelievable, they must be ****ing mental''.  It won''t happen though[:D]

[Ginja 26]

To be honest it''s all relative, in the Premier League we are a relatively small club when take into consideration all our clubs factors, such as finances, league pos, results, squad, fans etc

But I think it''s more realistic to look at it in relation to all clubs in the Top 4 Football Leagues, if we say the likes of Burton Albion and Accrington are among the smallest of clubs and Man Utd & Arsenal are among the biggest of the clubs then where do you think we should sit?

Personally I think we''d sit somewhere in the top half, about 35th out of the 92 clubs. The fact of the matter is though that we are a small premier league club when you consider all the factors.

[kdncfc 27]

I certainly don''t see Birmingham as a bigger club than us, spent a few seasons in the prem since they beat us in the play off final in 2002 but prior to that they were in the lower leagues for many years. They may be from a city of 2 million people but it''s also a city with 3 largish clubs so the support has to be shared round.  We are from a one club city with a population of 367k and a county of almost a million people so are no worse of than them in terms of potential support.

[Dodds 0]

I disagree with a lot of the original post.

However, my main gripe is your last comment about Leeds having a better history than the Villa. I wonder which way you are holding the book? Only Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal have won more than the Villa.

We have won three times the silverware of Leeds United.