Inners, outes and Mick Dennis (latest blog)

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Daniel Brigham on how the lunatic fringes of both the inners and outers have been stirred this week by Mick Dennis. When

you move away from Norwich, there are things you really miss. The view

of the cathedral from Take 5 at night. Elm Hill. The hogroast from the

market. The pub quiz at The Rose. The angry owner of Thai Lanna. The

Playhouse garden in the summer. Mousehold Heath when it snows. People

calling Cafe Nero, Cafe Nearoo.There is one thing you definitely

don''t miss though: Prince of Wales road. By day, genial Norfolk folk go

about their everyday lives with little fuss and disagreement. By night,

these same people head to Prince of Wales, where simmering differences

are fuelled by WKDs and Jagerbombs before it all erupts into a melee of

thrown punches, pulled hair and dropped kebabs. At various points along

the road people will be doing the Nicklas Bendtner dance to taxi

drivers, dropping their trousers and rubbing themselves against the car

(not quite as child-friendly as Gangnam Style but it''s bound to catch

on). How do people fall out so easily?Being a Norwich fan

currently feels like taking a stroll down Prince of Wales at 2am on a

Saturday night. Everywhere you look there is someone ready to disagree

with you, to beat you down for an opposing view, to take an instant

dislike to you just because you think Chris Hughton should either stay

or go.But just as the idiotship of Prince of Wales is only a

minority representation of the good people of Norfolk, the extreme

inners and outers of the Norwich fan base is also a minority.The

problem, however, is that is an incredibly vocal minority – on both

sides of the argument. But it''s infecting the atmosphere. Even the terms

''inners'' and ''outers'' is ridiculous, turning the whole debate into a

surreal soap opera about belly buttons. Now it''s spread into the

media. Mick Dennis''s already infamous piece on My Football Writer was

written as if it was presenting a rational argument and boo sucks to the

rest of you crazies who don''t agree that Hughton is the right man for

the job. There were some clear-headed points made. The problem

is Dennis fell into the extremist inner''s trap of labelling all outers

as expecting Norwich to be cruising along in the top half of the table,

roof down, wind in the hair and cigarette dangling over the door. It''s

the kind of generalisation that is usually prefixed with ''crass'' and

''sweeping''.  It misses the crux of the debate and, in one broad,

irrational, brushstroke he has painted anyone who wants Hughton out as

unrealistic. And if his “good friends” in the press box wonder what on

earth Norwich fans expected this season then they, like Dennis, are

missing the point of our expectations. Rational outers don''t

expect to be pushing for top 10 every season, to be knocking on the door

of Europe. We accept that we''re always likely to struggle; it''s what

happens to clubs of our size. But there''s nothing extreme about

expecting the manager to get the most out of the players – especially

the attacking ones – and that''s the real reason why so many fans have

turned against him: not because of the league position but because

watching Norwich play is unnecessarily turgid.On the other side

of the fence, Dennis was right to say Hughton isn''t clueless – an insult

used by the fanatical outers. If he was then Norwich would have been

relegated last season. This season they would have been stuck in the

bottom three for the most part and Hughton would have been long gone. Then, later on twitter, Dennis went and said something just as fanatical: that he hopes Hughton stays for 10 years. To

say that is to readily accept a decade of beige Hughtonball, where the

set piece is king and substitutions are paupers. Why would anyone want

to willingly put themselves through that? Football is supposed to be

entertainment, to be escapism. It''s not supposed to be double maths on a

Friday afternoon. The remark is as blindly stubborn as calling Hughton

clueless.  The whole argument stinks of a teenage fight (and

that stink tends to be Lynx Africa). It''s similar to cardigan-wearing

Indie-lovers arguing with Beliebers: “Bieber doesn''t even write his own

stuff”; “Ergh don''t talk to me you spotty virgin”.It would be

great if the two extreme camps could accept things aren''t black and

white; that in between the north and south poles there''s a whole other

world out there. But that''s not going to happen. So,

realistically, there''s only one way to sort this out. In the Norwich

tradition of the Kett''s Rebellion, let''s just get the extremists on both

sides to have a massive fight. I don''t want to be seen to encourage

violence or anything but well, let''s make an exception. Instead of

Mousehold Heath, the battleground is Prince of Wales. Instead of guns

and flaming torches, the weapons are WKDs and flaming sambucas. Then,

after getting everything out of their systems during the mass bundle,

everyone can be best mates again. Inners, outers, inbetweeners: we can

all sober up and tell each other we love you, man. We can all group-hug,

share a hog roast from the market and unite in the same, noble cause of

supporting Norwich City. Daniel Brigham is features editor of The Cricketer magazine.You can follow him on twitter: @cricketer_dan

[Kidderminster Exile 0]

Sounds like someone with a brain, wait for the backlash !!!!

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

Well I like outers... But then I like inners too... Who is right or wrong? There''s only one way to find out... FIIIIIGHHHHT!!!

 

Well written. Even though Im not from Norwich and have no idea what any of the references are it still amused me  :)

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="Daniel Brigham"]Then, later on twitter, Dennis went and said something just as fanatical: that he hopes Hughton stays for 10 years. To

say that is to readily accept a decade of beige Hughtonball, where the

set piece is king and substitutions are paupers. Why would anyone want

to willingly put themselves through that? Football is supposed to be

entertainment, to be escapism. It''s not supposed to be double maths on a

Friday afternoon. The remark is as blindly stubborn as calling Hughton

clueless.  It would be

great if the two extreme camps could accept things aren''t black and

white; that in between the north and south poles there''s a whole other

world out there. But that''s not going to happen. [/quote]

There are no lunatic inners.   Most folk who wanted Hughton to stay on have softened their position somewhat in the light of  some of the setbacks we have had this season.  Most of the argument is therefore quite rational questioning of the radicals who want Hughton out regardless of anything.  They don''t respond to any kind of reasoning whatsoever, they resort to abuse and ridicule on a regular basis, basically because they are stuck in their mindset.

As for your description of what a Hughton team at its best can do, I find that you are falling into the same trap as some of the radical outers - in other words you think that what we see now is what we are always going to get.   Now we all know the problems we have had, some of it has been down to squad building, some of it down to injuries, some of it down to confidence, some down to luck, some down to the manager.   But the scenario that I would like to see - and I suspect Mr. Dennis - is where the squad is built up over a period of years, with young players coming through combined with increasingly better quality players being bought.  Hughton''s difficulties will ease as we work through these difficult growing pains and as the squad builds in confidence - and we start scoring and picking up better results. Its not been all bad - and you can point to Hughton''s history at other clubs to show that his teams - once fully functioning - are free scoring and good to watch. 

We have of course first to stay in this league, but as long as we do, I think next season will be totally different  - in a good way.  And if next season, Hughton''s third,  is good then on to the fourth one....fifth........and who knows.   We should all want to see a long term project with continuity at its centre and a building of a long lasting high quality outfit.   With patience we might see that -  and we might see a recognition that actually Hughton is key to that process.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

LDC. As always I admire your optimism. To me it sounds like blind optimism, but we''re never going to agree!

[GenerationA47 864]

This is a fan survey thread, right?

 

I have an ''innie'' and a ''mick dennis''

[GenerationA47 864]

Oh and by the way, Daniel Brigham''s article posted above is jolly good

[Hoolahans Left Foot 0]

WE WILL NEVER PLAY FOOTBALL ANY BETTER THAN WE CURRENTLY DO, SCORE A LOT OF GOALS OR BE MORE PLEASING ON THE EYE WITH CHRIS HUGHTON AS MANAGER.

I know this is hard for some of the ''infers'' to understand but Hughton will never change his outlook as manager. In 18 months it has always been the same turgid, boring football.

If this is the football you enjoy watching then please support him as much as you want.

[morty 0]

And there you go, point illustrated beautifully.[:D]

[Hoolahans Left Foot 0]

Fugg off

[nutty nigel 7,902]

That''s why I take the blog with a pinch of salt. I don''t know anyone except rabid Hughton outers that show that level of bellendary.

 

 

[Mello Yello 2,572]

Got POW Road on a Friday an'' Saturday night down to a T........unfortunately.......

 

 

[ZLF 335]

Excellent article,

And gotta love dawns quizzes at the rose

[Levi Stubbs 0]

Very well written article Daniel!

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,708]

I do like your articles Mr Brigham.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Well that''s very kind wings of a sparrow! Thanks.