The Misery of The Messiah....

[K Lo 221]

With regards to the most exciting season ever.For me, 92/93. Actually, I think you can extend that back to around ''87 and onto ''94. In those seasons I think we finished 5th, 4th & 3rd in the top division. Norwich beat Bayern Munich away. They had an FA Cup Semi Final (in unfortuantely dreadful circumstances). We would regularly beat Man U, Liverpool (last day of the Kop !), had regular punch-ups with Arsenal as well as beating them sometimes and wouldn''t think anything of beating Spurs or Chelsea.

[John 0]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Branston Pickle"]Actually, Ricardo, I know what you''re saying but I''d personally go for 1984/5 - 1986/7 if I were going for my favourite three-year spell, under Ken Brown - 84 was my first full season going and included trip to see us win a Wembley final; we got relegated but then won the title and subsequently had our best ever top flight finish.[/quote]Those years were enjoyable enough but for sheer excitement they pale into insignificance when compared with those countless last minute drama''s of the Lambert years. We went from our lowest point and worst home defeat in 50 years to Premier League riches. From a crippling debt to the promise of a debt free future. In a lifetime of supporting NCFC, I''ve never seen anything like it and never expect to see it''s like again.I''m sorry but although his departure left a bitter taste, I can''t bring myself to find any joy in his current predicament.PL will always retain a God like status in my eyes and his unique place in our history can never be downgraded but what came after.[/quote]All the little sub-plots. Of course we had the Colchester debacle, losing to a joint record scoreline at home to our seasons'' rivals (so low was that low point in our clubs history), appointing their manager a week later, and going on the magnificent journey that we did. Remember when we first started hitting our stride and had our fixture away against (the table toppers and major favourites at the time) Leeds? We gave a spirited account of ourselves at Elland Road, with the game at 1-1 deep into injury time, only for a rare Forster miskick in the final seconds to place the ball at Leeds'' top scorer Beckford''s feet and plant the ball in the net. And remember how Chris Martin headed the ball in the net at Carrow Road in the 90th minute to win us the game 1-0 in the home leg?Remember the last day of our Championship relegation season under Gunn, losing 4-2 at the Valley to condemn us with certainty to 3rd tier football for the first time in half century. And then, under Lambert, going to the Valley the season after to win automatic promotion, with our ''Battle at the Alamo'' type performance, and our Lord Nelson netting the winner?Remember how Holt was unjustly sent off (a decision so blatantly wrong, the often obdurate FA were compelled to overturn it) away at Reading, with Norwich up 3-1? Without our captains'' tireless strength and presence up front we struggled to keep the ball out of our half, ending up in a 3-3 draw, a bitter result to digest for Norwich fans far and wide. And then the return leg at home, when we found ourselves at 1-1 deep into injury time. The ball got hit into the crowd, fell into the lap of Chief Executive David McNally, who threw it to Lambert, then over to Russell Martin, setting up the passage of play that led to Holt, as the last man of a pack of players stretching for the ball, smashing it into the net to make it 2-1 with the last meaningful kick of the game. A goal that came all the way from the top of the club in more ways than one.There''s so many more stories, often revolving around the idea of Norwich emancipating itself from the role of the victim with stories of revenge and an unprecedented rise in the leagues, but i don''t have the endurance to ramble on any further...I''ve never been one to believe in things such as fate, loathe to the idea even, but our time under Lambert brought me closer to the idea than anything else in my life has. His reign had a mesmiring narrative to it that plays out better than any Hollywood fiction in my mind (*speaking as a Norwich fan).