Does anyone yearn for simpler times?

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,708]

All this talk of "failed" attempts to sign a striker and being hijacked by other clubs and held to ransom by the selling clubs make me yearn for simpler times.

When all clubs were on a more level footing (financially) where you actually had an outside chance of winning the league or having a good cup run, where we didn''t have this stupid transfer window with its panic buying and artificially inflated prices for average players.

Where FA Cup third round day was the most exciting day of the season, where players and managers showed some sort of loyalty to the club and its fans.

I''m sure some things have changed for the better but I''m starting to think that after the excitement of promotion and avoiding relegation that all we are striving for is to be average (and I don''t mean by lack of ambition from the board.)

Maybe one day the big clubs will feck off and form their own European Super League of their own and the rest of us can maybe begin to complete on a more level playing field again.

Sadly I think I will have a long wait.

[crabbycanary 2]

£££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

GGGGGRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD

overshadows everything these days. We, as ''common'' football fans want our team to have a great/fair contest, and come out on top. Those days are far removed from today''s elite mega-rich, and the £''s cloud the mind and thought processes of people, that we (naively?) want to see loyalty from.

[ron obvious 1,711]

"...Diamond formation? Does anyone really know what that is? I mean, at least you knew where you were with Alf Ramsey''s wingless wonders. You know? 4-4-2, 4-2-4, 4-3-3... 0898 654000, freephone double glazing?...

...Oh, those Brazilians, you know? Circa 1970? Broke the mould. Theory out the window. Free expression of football. Uncategorisable. Is that a word? It is now! You know? Far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Rush goalie. Two at the back, three in the middle, four up front, one''s gone home for his tea. Beans on toast? Possibly, don''t quote me on that. Marvellous...."

[step 0]

Fair point Sparrow...put another way, in todays era would we have a Martin Peters, Martin Oneill, Micky Channon even think about playing for Norwich. We werent the biggest payers but we would have been a damn slight closer to the wages offered by the "big" clubs of those days.

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Spot on, OP. I couldn''t disagree with any of that.

[Cantiaci Canary 610]

Could you imagine in the past that high quality players like Peter Odemwingie would put in transfer requests to their high flying team in desperation to join the bottom of the table side who only have two wins in 23 games? 

Or, a French international striker turning down the chance to play in front of 52,000 people for the bottom of the league side housing 18,000?

 

The game has been distorted to an almost unrecognisable level.

 

Just wait until Prem teams start playing their fixtures in New York, Sydney, Adu Dhabi and Beijing - you will probably only see a few games in England. The fact that American football games are being hosted at Wembley is dirty sign of the way things will go.

[Gordon Bennett 914]

While I love NCFC I must admit I strongly dislike football nowadays, and for me Sky are mainly responsible for the monster it has turned into.

They pumped far too much money into the game and their 24/7 coverage coupled with the internet and particularly social media means the whole thing nowadays is a circus. I''d bet that 80% of the names bandied about and linked to clubs during the transfer window are pure fabrication, and of course encouraged by agents who themselves are vermin within the game.

Of course the massive wages players earn nowadays filter down to us fans through tickets prices so I would answer yes, simpler times would be desirable and would perhaps stop the sport in this country imploding, which it inevitably will if things carry on as they are..

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="Bagpuss"]While I love NCFC I must admit I strongly dislike football nowadays, and for me Sky are mainly responsible for the monster it has turned into.

They pumped far too much money into the game and their 24/7 coverage coupled with the internet and particularly social media means the whole thing nowadays is a circus. I''d bet that 80% of the names bandied about and linked to clubs during the transfer window are pure fabrication, and of course encouraged by agents who themselves are vermin within the game.

Of course the massive wages players earn nowadays filter down to us fans through tickets prices so I would answer yes, simpler times would be desirable and would perhaps stop the sport in this country imploding, which it inevitably will if things carry on as they are..[/quote]

I too love NCFC and also am disillusioned with football as a sport.   Its a hard thing to deal with - I can''t just stop following the club, but am so p**ed off with the way things have gone.   I know quite a few  supporters of several "big" clubs who now have taken another team to follow as well as  their home club.   They still follow their club without going to matches - but actually go to see local non-league teams -  there are lots around.     If I get the opportunity I always go to see Norwich play - but the cost is a major factor and you can understand the disillusionment of fans when they see the cheating going on,   overpaid under performing players and weak officialdom. 

I have no alternative to going to see Norwich - its in the blood - and fortunately, our club is still recogniseable - but...........Norwich United anyone? Kings Lynn?  Wroxham?   I wonder how many ex-regulars at Carrow Rd have left to follow a local team, fed up with the state of modern  "professional" football........................ 

[king canary 8,757]

I find as a fan I now enjoy things much more if I look at it on a ''game by game'' basis. Looking at a bigger, long term picture just gets depressing though- realistically what is the most we can hope for? Finishing 8th and a League Cup victory?