Are their genuinely happy Norwich fans?

[nutty nigel 7,506]

[quote user="Le Juge"]"but what is the reason you go to games if you do not enjoy it?"

I have been asking myself the same question this season, and that is the best answer I can give.[/quote]

 

That''s no answer Juggy. It''s your thread so you must have some idea!

 

How long have you not enjoyed it for?

 

 

[Surfer 1,547]

Even granting that I am disconnected by distance from the atmosphere of a game, it''s nonetheless become almost a chore to watch Norwich. Almost every other team seems to have more passion and attacking intent and quality about them than us.

The biggest frustration is this league, and our team especially, seems to have a safety first attitude, a function of too scared to fall off the gravy train?

If we can survive this season, hopefully McNally and co can fill in the remaining gaps in the squad to make us stronger as a team and that''ll allow whomever the manager is at that time to show some more attacking intent and defensive steel.

[Juggy 0]

"That comment was meant for houston canary, as you well know"

Was it? Let''s revisit it then.....

"The sooner they restrict this forum to actual Norwich fans, who live in Britain, the better" - Morty

Heil Morty!

[morty 0]

I feel genuinely sorry for you that you cant actually see how much of a bell end you are actually being.

[nutty nigel 7,506]

[quote user="Surfer"]Even granting that I am disconnected by distance from the atmosphere of a game, it''s nonetheless become almost a chore to watch Norwich. Almost every other team seems to have more passion and attacking intent and quality about them than us.

The biggest frustration is this league, and our team especially, seems to have a safety first attitude, a function of too scared to fall off the gravy train?

If we can survive this season, hopefully McNally and co can fill in the remaining gaps in the squad to make us stronger as a team and that''ll allow whomever the manager is at that time to show some more attacking intent and defensive steel.[/quote]

 

I think maybe it''s a chore for you. And those of us who go to games probably forget that. My season ticket is worth every penny regardless of results and performances. Great games and wins are like cherries on the top. On tv and on streams the experience starts with kick off and ends with the final whistle. Very different kettle of fish.

 

Going to football is about much more than performances and results. That''s why in years past attendences fluctuated between when we were doing well and poorly. Years ago I used to see myself as one of the 10,000 or so hardcore who always went regardless. That doesn''t happen now because of the amount of season ticket holders many of whom wouldn''t have been among that hardcore years ago.

 

 

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Surfer"]it''s nonetheless become almost a chore to watch Norwich. [/quote]

I''ve been to the three of the last four home games, Hull, ManCity and Spurs.  They were not a chore - in fact the Spurs game was one of the best games I''ve been to for atmosphere in the ground.   A chore it may be sometimes, but not at the moment.  The Villa game was disappointing, but until Benteke took over proceedings, we were doing ok.  

Before I''m labelled a "happy" fan, I would add that you have to take the rough with the smooth as a fan.  We could still be struggling for finances and stuck near the bottom of the championship or worse, as we once were.  We are now in the top league - we should appreciate what is trying to be achieved at the club, however difficult it gets.  Happy I''m not, but I''m not unhappy either.  It is was it is.  No-one is forcing us to go to matches or follow the club. 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

"The sooner they restrict this forum to actual Norwich fans, who live in Britain, the better" - Morty

Mort,i''ve gained many minutes of pleasure reading your slightly pedantic, hair splitting,your ''can you back your opinion with facts'' posts. Jeez, i was almost a fan of Morty the Merciless, cutting to the nub of the matter. .... but to alienate those in foreign climes is a tad much. This message board is one of very few ways us emigres can discuss our club.

But otherwise, keep up the good work.

[morty 0]

[quote user="wcorkcanary"]"The sooner they restrict this forum to actual Norwich fans, who live in Britain, the better" - Morty

Mort,i''ve gained many minutes of pleasure reading your slightly pedantic, hair splitting,your ''can you back your opinion with facts'' posts. Jeez, i was almost a fan of Morty the Merciless, cutting to the nub of the matter. .... but to alienate those in foreign climes is a tad much. This message board is one of very few ways us emigres can discuss our club.

But otherwise, keep up the good work.[/quote]

Cheers fella.

[Juggy 0]

"I feel genuinely sorry for you that you cant actually see how much of a bell end you are actually being"

Are you a 16 year old girl from Croydon by any chance?

[Juggy 0]

"I feel genuinely sorry for you that you cant actually see how much of a bell end you are actually being"

Are you a 16 year old girl from Croydon by any chance?

[6088m canary 0]

I think someone actually hit the nail on the head earlier.We have assembled a "decent" squad, spent a lot of money for a club of our size and we have gone backwards.Some transfers come off and some don''t, however i''d say that we have a better squad than Cardiff, Palace, Hull, equal to West Brom (who made a massive mistake not replacing lukaku), west ham, and perhaps Fulham (ageing squad).  Down at the bottom its all much of a muchness as seen by how tight tenth to twentieth is.....however, we should be doing much better than we are and with the quality of personnel we have we should be playing much better football.So i think the main word i''d use is frustration.There is that niggling feeling that with a better motivator,coach or manager we would do better. And yes, of course its a risk!!That doesnt make it enjoyable....its all gone stale for whatever reason.We have a shockingly bad GD....and to send a side out 4-1 down at half-time with no obvious attempt to get back into the game (and try to keep a clean sheet 2nd half) is not what football is about.Im sure no City fan would begrudge us losing 6 or 7-2 from that position if at least we took the game to them or looked like we wanted to.The fans need something to get them going. the players need the fans to get them going.  Perhaps a vicious circle but grinding out 1-0 wins will only work so long....eventually much like big sams bolton, we will go down trying to play that way, and it will be a long time till we get back up again 

[Dubai Mark 0]

I clearly missed the thread mentioned, but all I will say is that sometimes I actually do wish I couldnt access this board anyway.......but, like many, despite how repetitive and devisive some of the posts are, I am strangely drawn to it a couple of times each day. 

Just picking up on another connected comment, I fully agree that watching the games live either on tv or a stream just doesnt come close to the overall match day experience, it in fact often makes me less happy with the team performance at times as I can''t get the bigger picture, the one I was getting for for something like 40 years before relocating. I miss the live matches so much and that''s why I try to get to at least a couple of games each season, even if it means manipulating holiday dates or the occasional business trip.

In respect to the style of football, which does of course add to how happy fans are, earlier in the season before injuries we were certainly starting to play a nicer style, things were shaping up/evolving nicely, and over recent matches with the team settled again performances have been more enterprising/offensive again, and other than that 15 minutes of madness at Villa Park.......what I cannot understand is why people fail to recognise that, and just seem to get hung-up on distractions like how badly Wes is being treated.

[lake district canary 4,531]

I know exactly how you feel DM. Going to the occasional game does restore your perspective. This board is a bit like Canary Call at times with the doom and gloom.  I''ve managed four matches at CR this season. Each one has been competitive, we have either won or drawn all of those four and the atmosphere has got better as the season has gone on. Apart from a spell in November when it was hard to take the beatings we had, its not been that bad overall, with positives to be taken from most matches.

Injuries have been a real problem and have shown there is still room for strengthening the squad. What many fail to take into account is that opposition teams have potent players that can win a match just like Benteke did the other day.   Sometimes there is nothing you can do other than accept a defeat and move on.  We still have enough to be able to stay in this division and regroup and try and improve for next season. I too wish this board would reflect a more balanced view of the real situation, but its too easy for the bad news brigade to dominate the agenda.   

It was noticeable how quiet it was on here after the Spurs game.  One or two more goals and another positive result or two will keep the end of the world placard holders away.......

[crabbycanary 2]

We need to sponsor you to come to games LDC. You''re our lucky charm!

Any takers........?

[The Great Drinkell 50]

I only go to the home games and can hand on heart enjoyed all of them.

I can fully understand the away fans not enjoying it though. I have watch on TV a few away games and probably with the exception of the Wet Spam game have not seen the effort and commitment that I would want to see if I''d paid my money.

I still believe our home form will just keep us up.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

On the whole, i''m happy. We''re still able to windmill our proverbial premiership cocks in the faces of jealous and bitter Leeds and Wolves fans. There are embarassing defeats a plenty to go with the nervy close wins. Ultimately though, it''s still about staying up.

I''m not going to lie, i''m sometimes frustrated with our squad not fulfilling it''s expected potential and can''t pin now whether it''s the tactics or the players failings or more likely a bit of both. I''m happy with the defence i guess, as for every 7 goals conceded to Man City, there''s usually a gutsy clean sheet pulled out of the same amount of games.

Regarding Ruddy, he''s the best keeper we''ve had in my lifetime of supporting and we''ve had some pretty good ones. He will only get better. Olsson has been fantastic, Martin has been bargain of the century and Bassong despite sometimes having errors and fitness issues is quite easily the best defender we''ve had in years and we''d be sorry to see him go. The other centre backs are all promising and even having the likes of Garrido as back up stand us in good stead.

While we don''t have £20m to spend on a player, there will always be shortcomings but it does frustrate me how we can''t score goals after being treated to a couple of years under lambert of seeing them fly in. It''s almost like Hughton is his own worst enemy when he can mastermind great team performances like the Man City or Spurs game only to capitulate to the likes of Villa or stagnate versus the likes of Cardiff.

The next three at home will all be nervy affairs and sods law, we''ll lose them and then stay up courtesy of a 1-0 win versus United!

Then a few players can get their fitmess back and we can put Leroy on the phone to his mates like Memphis Depay and Ricky on the blower to Diego Capel and get some more exciting options to try out.

The big gap is that number 10 role. We can''t quite decide what to do there. Elmander has been the biggest flop of all our signings and I only hope Howson''s return can provide a boost there.

[Fleckys Flip-Flop 0]

It really doesn''t take too much to remember when we were playing similarly unadventurous football in the lower reaches of the championship. I''ve seen much worse football at Carrow Road, against much worse opposition. Right now, we are a Premier League club. As long as that stays the same I will be happy!

[Google Bot 3,255]

I''m really happy with the state of the club, i remember going down into league one and had genuine fears on whether we could survive as a club if we weren''t to get out first season.

Then, over that summer common sense kicked in and got positive for the season ahead.

Then the colchester game came - and bang! That really got me down again.

So, in terms of the club, definitely happy, i think the board are doing a great job too of navigating that fine line of success, failure and pride.

However, this is just business, financial, boardroom happiness… On the field, where my heart is, where the passion should be - i''m totally numb, i''ve nearly completely gone off football for the first time in my life. I very rarely feel that excitement, pre-match nerve feeling on saturday mornings. It almost feels like i have a football depression or something, it''s really odd as i''ve lived for Saturday.

I series link MOTD every week, yet i now find myself watching it on fast forward - i used to sit and watch that, and the football league show. No more.

Under lambert i couldn''t get enough, i was subscribing to canaries player to get inside interviews, highlights from the games etc. I just feel that i have no affinity with the team or players like before, players i love are left on the bench and we just seem to lack that character from previous seasons.

And i blame it on one man, and we all know his name. And his famous sidekick!

(No.. Not Gary Lineker!)

[ROBFLECK 132]

Skijumptoes, you echo exactly the way I feel....! I just don''t feel exited about football anymore atm...

[morty 0]

"Windmill our premiership cocks"

That did make me chuckle jimmy.

[mrs miggins 0]

This how I feel at home games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_l06v8vto

[MancCanary 0]

[quote user="6088m canary"]I think someone actually hit the nail on the head earlier.We have assembled a "decent" squad, spent a lot of money for a club of our size and we have gone backwards.Some transfers come off and some don''t, however i''d say that we have a better squad than Cardiff, Palace, Hull, equal to West Brom (who made a massive mistake not replacing lukaku), west ham, and perhaps Fulham (ageing squad).  Down at the bottom its all much of a muchness as seen by how tight tenth to twentieth is.....however, we should be doing much better than we are and with the quality of personnel we have we should be playing much better football.So i think the main word i''d use is frustration.There is that niggling feeling that with a better motivator,coach or manager we would do better. And yes, of course its a risk!!That doesnt make it enjoyable....its all gone stale for whatever reason.We have a shockingly bad GD....and to send a side out 4-1 down at half-time with no obvious attempt to get back into the game (and try to keep a clean sheet 2nd half) is not what football is about.Im sure no City fan would begrudge us losing 6 or 7-2 from that position if at least we took the game to them or looked like we wanted to.The fans need something to get them going. the players need the fans to get them going.  Perhaps a vicious circle but grinding out 1-0 wins will only work so long....eventually much like big sams bolton, we will go down trying to play that way, and it will be a long time till we get back up again [/quote]

I agree with this. I''m not as happy as I could be with this season, due to us performing under what I think are realistic expectations.

It''s the feeling and the knowledge that if we were just a *little* bit better, we''d be up there in 9th or 10th - because with the bottom half so tight, it wouldn''t take much more to make us comfortably ahead of the pack up there.

[Warren Hill 0]

I can empathise with a lot of the points being made, but it is worth trying to put a bit of perspective to it all.

 

In my time going to football I''ve seen us win at Wembley, get relegated, get promoted, finish top 6 in the top flight, finish top 3 in the top flight, get relegated, get promoted, get relegated, get relegated again, get promoted and promoted again and stay in the top flight for 3 seasons and counting.

 

During that period the club have sold my favourite player on umpteen occasions, looked like they were completely skint a couple of times, changed chairmen, sacked managers, played some great stuff and played some of the worst football I''ve had the misfortune to pay and see - and no, I''m not talking about this season.

 

Has it always been the buoyant jubilance of the three Lambert seasons? No. Even when we qualified for Europe many just took it as being the natural order of things as we''d had a few decent years, two FA Cup semis and three top 6 finishes, the attendances in our "glory years" around the 15-16,000 mark reflect that.

 

Have I always enjoyed it? Yes. Getting relegated is horrible but I still enjoyed supporting the fight, the buzz of getting three points that mean so much, somebody else mentioned that football is so much more than the results, it''s about the whole experience, whether that be meeting up with the same faces at home or travelling en masse with your mates away. At Aston Villa on Sunday, we got stuffed but I still enjoyed the day, the company was still good, the football was ok for the first 20 minutes too. It was clear though that there were plenty there not enjoying anything about their day.

 

Maybe for some their NCFC supporting has run it''s course. We don''t win more than we lose, we''re in a season-on-season scrap to stay in the division, it''s not going to be pretty most of the time, for me, beating teams like Spurs and hard fought draws against Man City make the odd thumping slightly easier to take, but then, if you''ve followed City away for more than the last 3 or 4 years, you''ll be well versed in taking a hiding. There have been whole seasons without an away win, indeed, having visited the best part of 50 away grounds, I''m hard pressed to think of many where we have a winning record when I''ve been in attendance.

 

This isn''t a blind acceptance that people should always settle for what they''ve got, that''s ridiculous and the club ARE striving for improvement, hence the record investment, however, that investment is about half what newly promoted Cardiff have (allegedly) spent and despite our finances being healthy, we aren''t bankrolled like others, in that respect the uphill battle we face get''s a bit steeper.

 

Personally speaking, the League One season was the most boring in football terms I can remember, enjoyable for the different teams and fans as much as the football. Rolling teams over week in, week out, it''s as close as I''m ever likely to come to supporting Man United and to be honest, they can keep it. I''m much happier seeing us compete at the top table, fighting every week rather than that.

 

Maybe the more disgruntled fans are right and I''ve simply become immune to it through longevity of service but if you can''t enjoy us being in the top flight watching internationsl footballers play for our beloved club then I don''t really know what to say. It''s unlikely to get too much better than this in the forseeable future and this certainly beats a lot of what I''ve watched before, we were a long while in the wilderness and while I''ll always enjoy following City, I have to admit that I''m in no hurry to swap watching Fer for De Waard or Snodgrass for Fotheringham again.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]On the whole, i''m happy. We''re still able to windmill our proverbial premiership cocks in the faces of jealous and bitter Leeds and Wolves fans. There are embarassing defeats a plenty to go with the nervy close wins. Ultimately though, it''s still about staying up.

I''m not going to lie, i''m sometimes frustrated with our squad not fulfilling it''s expected potential and can''t pin now whether it''s the tactics or the players failings or more likely a bit of both. I''m happy with the defence i guess, as for every 7 goals conceded to Man City, there''s usually a gutsy clean sheet pulled out of the same amount of games.

Regarding Ruddy, he''s the best keeper we''ve had in my lifetime of supporting and we''ve had some pretty good ones. He will only get better. Olsson has been fantastic, Martin has been bargain of the century and Bassong despite sometimes having errors and fitness issues is quite easily the best defender we''ve had in years and we''d be sorry to see him go. The other centre backs are all promising and even having the likes of Garrido as back up stand us in good stead.

While we don''t have £20m to spend on a player, there will always be shortcomings but it does frustrate me how we can''t score goals after being treated to a couple of years under lambert of seeing them fly in. It''s almost like Hughton is his own worst enemy when he can mastermind great team performances like the Man City or Spurs game only to capitulate to the likes of Villa or stagnate versus the likes of Cardiff.

The next three at home will all be nervy affairs and sods law, we''ll lose them and then stay up courtesy of a 1-0 win versus United!

Then a few players can get their fitmess back and we can put Leroy on the phone to his mates like Memphis Depay and Ricky on the blower to Diego Capel and get some more exciting options to try out.

The big gap is that number 10 role. We can''t quite decide what to do there. Elmander has been the biggest flop of all our signings and I only hope Howson''s return can provide a boost there.[/quote]^^^ [Y] [Y] ^^^

[morty 0]

Good stuff Warren[Y]

[LostTheFaith 0]

Warren Hill Wrote

I can empathise with a lot of the points being made, but it is worth trying to put a bit of perspective to it all.

In my time going to football I''ve seen us win at Wembley, get relegated, get promoted, finish top 6 in the top flight, finish top 3 in the top flight, get relegated, get promoted, get relegated, get relegated again, get promoted and promoted again and stay in the top flight for 3 seasons and counting.

During that period the club have sold my favourite player on umpteen occasions, looked like they were completely skint a couple of times, changed chairmen, sacked managers, played some great stuff and played some of the worst football I''ve had the misfortune to pay and see - and no, I''m not talking about this season.

Has it always been the buoyant jubilance of the three Lambert seasons? No. Even when we qualified for Europe many just took it as being the natural order of things as we''d had a few decent years, two FA Cup semis and three top 6 finishes, the attendances in our "glory years" around the 15-16,000 mark reflect that.

Have I always enjoyed it? Yes. Getting relegated is horrible but I still enjoyed supporting the fight, the buzz of getting three points that mean so much, somebody else mentioned that football is so much more than the results, it''s about the whole experience, whether that be meeting up with the same faces at home or travelling en masse with your mates away. At Aston Villa on Sunday, we got stuffed but I still enjoyed the day, the company was still good, the football was ok for the first 20 minutes too. It was clear though that there were plenty there not enjoying anything about their day.

Maybe for some their NCFC supporting has run it''s course. We don''t win more than we lose, we''re in a season-on-season scrap to stay in the division, it''s not going to be pretty most of the time, for me, beating teams like Spurs and hard fought draws against Man City make the odd thumping slightly easier to take, but then, if you''ve followed City away for more than the last 3 or 4 years, you''ll be well versed in taking a hiding. There have been whole seasons without an away win, indeed, having visited the best part of 50 away grounds, I''m hard pressed to think of many where we have a winning record when I''ve been in attendance.

This isn''t a blind acceptance that people should always settle for what they''ve got, that''s ridiculous and the club ARE striving for improvement, hence the record investment, however, that investment is about half what newly promoted Cardiff have (allegedly) spent and despite our finances being healthy, we aren''t bankrolled like others, in that respect the uphill battle we face get''s a bit steeper.

Personally speaking, the League One season was the most boring in football terms I can remember, enjoyable for the different teams and fans as much as the football. Rolling teams over week in, week out, it''s as close as I''m ever likely to come to supporting Man United and to be honest, they can keep it. I''m much happier seeing us compete at the top table, fighting every week rather than that.

Maybe the more disgruntled fans are right and I''ve simply become immune to it through longevity of service but if you can''t enjoy us being in the top flight watching internationsl footballers play for our beloved club then I don''t really know what to say. It''s unlikely to get too much better than this in the forseeable future and this certainly beats a lot of what I''ve watched before, we were a long while in the wilderness and while I''ll always enjoy following City, I have to admit that I''m in no hurry to swap watching Fer for De Waard or Snodgrass for Fotheringham again.

Thanks Warren, exactly as I feel.

It is exciting to be a Norwich supporter knowing that on our day we could beat anybody! Or be beaten by anybody!

[ron obvious 1,495]

Brilliant post Warren. Well written & perfectly expresses the attitude of a grown up supporter.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

While I echo the sentiments of those who feel that the club is in a good position, I do feel that a lot of the joy has been sucked out of our football under Hughton. It''s frustrating when we have spent so much money on players, most of whom are excellent acquisitions, that there doesn''t seem to be any overall improvement in our performances.

We are not alone in failing to get any consistency, playing poorly away from home and scrapping out ugly victories when necessary, and if that''s enough to keep us up this season then I''ll take it.

I was talking to a friend in the pub on Sunday and he said he''d rather have the excitement of being in the Championship, pushing for promotion and being genuinely competitive rather than just clinging on for dear life, but I couldn''t disagree more. I want us to be in the top flight, rubbing shoulders with some of the best players in the world. I want us to be on Match of the Day every week, being written off and trash-talked by lazy pundits. I want us to take the occasional trouncing like the 7-0 against Man City. I accept the odd no-show against a lesser club at home.

However, what I want as much as any of this is entertainment. I want to see fire in the belly, confident players setting the tempo of the match and pressing the opposition high up the park (against the so-called ''lesser'' teams, at least). I want to see intricate build-up play in the final third, rather than endless stroking around in our own half and then trying to feed wingers who can''t cross so they can try to deliver to a lone striker who can''t win much in the air.

It just seems to me that we''re stagnating in terms of style; players are struggling for form, there is little variety in tactics and formations, and sooner or later that is going to cost us. If we are going to go down (as we invariably will sooner or later), I want us to go down with a sound footballing philosophy based on our own attributes, not desperately trying to nullify our opponents and hit them on the break.

As to whether I''m happy or not, I''d say that on balance I am; but if we do go down this season, I won''t be able to help wondering what might have been if we''d have changed manager before Christmas and given the new man an opportunity to invest a little in January. Of course it might not have worked, and we''ll never know, but if we do get relegated it will feel a little bit like we''ve waved the white flag and surrendered our position at the top table.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

Thank you Warren Hill - my feelings too about following City.  I think the lowest points for me have been (1) losing badly to the scum (glad we haven''t played them for years tbh) of which the worst was when Gunny mis-kicked and the ball rolled into the empty net behind him (2) every time we have been relegated  (3) when we sold Chris Sutton and then Jon Newsome.

 

People who say they''d rather be in the Championship "pushing for promotion" need a reality check. When we were relegated from the Prem in ''95, the club shop sold T-shirts saying "on loan to Division 1 for one season only".  That was pretty embarrassing - we didn''t even get in the playoffs for nearly ten years.  As for "pushing for promotion" it''s equally likely we''d be in another relegation scrap.  Just look at where teams relegated in the last 2 seasons from the Prem are now.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"].

As to whether I''m happy or not, I''d say that on balance I am; but if we do go down this season, I won''t be able to help wondering what might have been if we''d have changed manager before Christmas and given the new man an opportunity to invest a little in January. Of course it might not have worked, and we''ll never know, but if we do get relegated it will feel a little bit like we''ve waved the white flag and surrendered our position at the top table.[/quote]That is certainly my view FTW, and that of a lot of friends and family I talk to re NCFC. Of course I''m happy that the club is now on a sound financial footing. That we have a club to support, and one that has never faced the ignominy of Administration , unlike one from 40m down the A140 . I''m happy that we are now in a position that we can attract International players to Carrow Rd.But I''m really not happy with the current situation with the team, not least because I really feel we are selling ourselves short. This squad could and should be capable of so much more. Of course I''m not suggesting that we should be knocking on the same sort of doors as Man Utd, or even Everton or Spurs. But I do believe that this club should be in the position where it is not constantly looking over its shoulder, relying as it does on dull , ground out, nil nil draws and nailbitingly narrow wins, very occasionally against a ''scalp''.  Others have pointed out the dichotomy as regards style and results. Sure you can often have either attractive football or successful football. If you are Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool or Barcelona you can have both. But it sticks in the throat that, under this manager we have neither. That''s why I agree with FTW, that if we do go down in May, we are not left wondering if things would have been different if we''d tried a change of direction in December, or even last summer.