A question for footie fans

[geordiecolin]

No No No - we can't have this West Ham - overpaid, over hyped led by a clueless manager

Anyone up but West Ham

Alas, the great unwashed were promoted weeks back. I know certain members of Easington Colliery band who have black n' white tendancies. I bet they're still trying to wash the muck off after doing that "victory" parade a week or so ago. Oh well 6 points in the bag already methinks...

 

[Chunky]

....actually, not really. I'll remember it as the year the mighty CFC finally won some Silver!!!!

(Still it was a pity to see Norwich go down)

Thanks for that Pat!!

Just one thing have I lost something in translation does 'won' in American English mean the same in proper English as bought?

ie I went to the shops and won some groceries!!!

 

[IYOUNG]

In the cold light of day whilst it is natural for supporters of relegated teams to be dissapointed, lets be hoinest here all of the bottom three have been pretty hopeless this year haven't they?

Yeah ok a few decent results near the end but Norwich for example without these would have been hopelessly adrift wouldn't they.

No one cvan really complain about the out come can they

Good to see another Merseyside lose last night lets hope the same happens on May 25th in Instanbul

 

[Chunky]

In the cold light of day whilst it is natural for supporters of relegated teams to be dissapointed, lets be hoinest here all of the bottom three have been pretty hopeless this year haven't they?

Yeah ok a few decent results near the end but Norwich for example without these would have been hopelessly adrift wouldn't they.

No one cvan really complain about the out come can they

Good to see another Merseyside lose last night lets hope the same happens on May 25th in Instanbul

I have not complained about the outcome. Norwich went down beacuse over the whole season they simply were not good enough.

I for one am a patriot and although I do not support Liverpool, wish to see an English club win the European Cup.

 

[IYOUNG]

I have not complained about the outcome. Norwich went down beacuse over the whole season they simply were not good enough.

I for one am a patriot and although I do not support Liverpool, wish to see an English club win the European Cup.

Agreed the table never lies

Have the bottom 3 been particularly weak this year or is it just me?

 

[Chunky]

Agreed the table never lies

Have the bottom 3 been particularly weak this year or is it just me?

Yes, you have been particuarly weak recently!!!!

 

[IYOUNG]

Yes, you have been particuarly weak recently!!!!

Ha Ha very good - a rather thin response to mask the real issue of Norwich's failings at premiership level

 

[Chunky]

Ha Ha very good - a rather thin response to mask the real issue of Norwich's failings at premiership level

Not at all, I admitted that we were not good enough. I may love my team, but I am not blind to the realities of it all. I honestly feel that we will be back this time next year, however even stronger financially.

You should know that in 1993 Norwich finished 3rd in the original Premiership, but fell from grace very rapidly and were only 24 hours from going out of business and players were sold without the managers knowledge just to balance the books.

The Youth Academy was scrapped to save money and nobody to this day knows where the money went.

In 2001 we only just avoided relegation to the 2nd Division.

So you are right we were not good enough, this year but under the circumstances as to where my team was 10 years ago, I am proud of their achievement in developing a squad that could even get us to the Premiership.

 

[IYOUNG]

Not at all, I admitted that we were not good enough. I may love my team, but I am not blind to the realities of it all. I honestly feel that we will be back this time next year, however even stronger financially.

You should know that in 1993 Norwich finished 3rd in the original Premiership, but fell from grace very rapidly and were only 24 hours from going out of business and players were sold without the managers knowledge just to balance the books.

The Youth Academy was scrapped to save money and nobody to this day knows where the money went.

In 2001 we only just avoided relegation to the 2nd Division.

So you are right we were not good enough, this year but under the circumstances as to where my team was 10 years ago, I am proud of their achievement in developing a squad that could even get us to the Premiership.

I'm not questioning for one minute your ''proudness'' of your team, I just posed a general question whether the 3 promoted teams were especially weak this year

Your defence is clearly better than Norwich's this year!

I actually think it will do Southampton good to have some time in the Championship for example (as anside what a dreadful lot those Portsmouth fans were turning up to support WBA against their own team) and as for Palace well a good manager and centre forward but not much else.

It will be interesting to see how many of the players that got their respective team relegated now jump ship

 

[Chris Sanders]

Dean Ashton...........Carrow Road Legend

I am pleased to unveil the rumour I've heard that Dean Ashton may soon become a Citizen of the Mancunian variety... Fantastic for us...

I feel sorry for Norwich though...

 

[Chunky]

I am pleased to unveil the rumour I've heard that Dean Ashton may soon become a Citizen of the Mancunian variety... Fantastic for us...

I feel sorry for Norwich though...

You and every other mid table premiership side!!!

 

[Chris Sanders]

mid table

I prefer to refer to us as top half, lets face it we deserved 6th or 7th, If Kav had left earlier then maybe we'd have got it...

The rumour is we are selling someone, dunno who yet and switching McManamans wages to Ashton... :tup

 

[Chunky]

I prefer to refer to us as top half, lets face it we deserved 6th or 7th, If Kav had left earlier then maybe we'd have got it...

The rumour is we are selling someone, dunno who yet and switching McManamans wages to Ashton... :tup

Fair point, I have no problems with Man City being top half. Would not mind wagering (5p e/w) that you will be the top side in Manchester next season.

As for Deano, my feeling is that we would look to double our money on him at least as we dont have to sell anybody but even at £ 7-8 million compared to Drogba for £ 25m I know who I would rather have!

I still believe if he goes it will be January if we are not looking good for a return to the Prem.

 

[Chris Sanders]

Fair point, I have no problems with Man City being top half. Would not mind wagering (5p e/w) that you will be the top side in Manchester next season.

As for Deano, my feeling is that we would look to double our money on him at least as we dont have to sell anybody but even at £ 7-8 million compared to Drogba for £ 25m I know who I would rather have!

I still believe if he goes it will be January if we are not looking good for a return to the Prem.

Personally, although I would love to see him at City, we have Bradley Wright-Phillips, so it'd be nice to see him remain there for at least a season, get Norwich back in the top-flight...

And we are the only side in Manchester... We'll be on the tail of that Salford scum soon enough...

 

[Will the Sec]

No No No - we can't have this West Ham - overpaid, over hyped led by a clueless manager

Anyone up but West Ham

Far as I know only Repka and maybe Hutchinson are still on contracts that were "Premiership level" (for want of a better phrase) so I would dispute overpaid.

I don't however dispute the other two items.

I would ask, though, whether or not it was you who said I should give Pardew time to gel the team. I said no. Was I right?

But leave the Hammers alone, please? It's bad enough having life long allegiance to a side and having them in the doldrums without other people slagging them off. We are quite capable of that without any help from elsewhere.

 

[Owen S]

I actually think it will do Southampton good to have some time in the Championship for example (as anside what a dreadful lot those Portsmouth fans were turning up to support WBA against their own team) and as for Palace well a good manager and centre forward but not much else.

It will be interesting to see how many of the players that got their respective team relegated now jump ship

Well, I think each of the teams at the bottom were pretty poor, including West Brom. Then again, they also each had a few good players: West Brom - Richardson and Gera, Norwich - Ashton and Green, Palace - Johnson and Routledge(?), Southampton (my club) - Niemi and Crouch (and Phillips as well, but Redknapp kept preferring to start with Camara). Perhaps it was that the background levels of the squads was worse than in previous years? Other than in Southampton's case, where we had several injuries and several key players' form has been just awful all season, you can perhaps explain it by an overall decrease in the quality needed to get into the Premiership. Is that really the case though? I'm not sure, though I hope it will be next season.

We are well prepared for the Championship, given the halving of salaries, but this does increase the danger of more players leaving if they can't renegotiate. Having said that, we have one of the best groups of trainees in the country (the U18s won 17 games in a row at the start of the season and lost to Ipswich in the FA youth cup final). Several were expected to get a few games in the first team this season but were kept out because the management didn't want to throw them into a "relegation dogfight". With hindsight, perhaps that was a mistake, but hindight is a wonderful thing.

Next season, I'm not going to make any assumptions, but depending on the scale of the summer exodus I expect we will probably challenge for the play-offs with a mixture of a few experienced journeymen who haven't been pruned from the squad, a few good players who have chosen to stay with the team and fight, along with quite a lot of 16 to 20 year olds.

With their attacking style, I think Norwich will do well again in the Championship. Palace will do OK, but will most likely end up mid-table if they lose Johnson and a few others. I think West Brom will struggle again in the Premiership next season, particularly since it seems several clubs are already looking at taking Zoltan Gera.

 

[IYOUNG]

Well, I think each of the teams at the bottom were pretty poor, including West Brom. Then again, they also each had a few good players: West Brom - Richardson and Gera, Norwich - Ashton and Green, Palace - Johnson and Routledge(?), Southampton (my club) - Niemi and Crouch (and Phillips as well, but Redknapp kept preferring to start with Camara). Perhaps it was that the background levels of the squads was worse than in previous years? Other than in Southampton's case, where we had several injuries and several key players' form has been just awful all season, you can perhaps explain it by an overall decrease in the quality needed to get into the Premiership. Is that really the case though? I'm not sure, though I hope it will be next season.

We are well prepared for the Championship, given the halving of salaries, but this does increase the danger of more players leaving if they can't renegotiate. Having said that, we have one of the best groups of trainees in the country (the U18s won 17 games in a row at the start of the season and lost to Ipswich in the FA youth cup final). Several were expected to get a few games in the first team this season but were kept out because the management didn't want to throw them into a "relegation dogfight". With hindsight, perhaps that was a mistake, but hindight is a wonderful thing.

Next season, I'm not going to make any assumptions, but depending on the scale of the summer exodus I expect we will probably challenge for the play-offs with a mixture of a few experienced journeymen who haven't been pruned from the squad, a few good players who have chosen to stay with the team and fight, along with quite a lot of 16 to 20 year olds.

With their attacking style, I think Norwich will do well again in the Championship. Palace will do OK, but will most likely end up mid-table if they lose Johnson and a few others. I think West Brom will struggle again in the Premiership next season, particularly since it seems several clubs are already looking at taking Zoltan Gera.

Some good points raised there. I was certainly impressed with Paul Smith the goalkeeper did especially well the games he played. Peter Crouch also doesn't get the credit he deserves (ok England call now but as a last resort)

Getting the balance right in the championship is crucial, i'm convinced it pays to get rid of a few of the older statesman who only want the premiership. get the youngsters in early (witha tad of experience to help ) and see how you get on.

I actually think both Palace and to a lesser extent Norwich will find it hard to get back up. I think it more likely that Leicester, Wolves and maybe even Leeds will feature more next year.

 

[Owen S]

Some good points raised there. I was certainly impressed with Paul Smith the goalkeeper did especially well the games he played. Peter Crouch also doesn't get the credit he deserves (ok England call now but as a last resort)

I'm not so sure. He is a good player and our second best player (the best being Niemi), but this season has been one in a long line of building the team around our best (outfield) player. For years, that was Matt Le Tissier, then it became Beattie, with crosses from Bridge and Fernandes. This season we ended up either punting long balls or having Phillips and/or Camara run at defences to give Crouch time to get into position and the midfield time to run forward from saving the defensive from their latest mishap. Beattie has looked average at best at Everton this season, when he hasn't been injured, and I suspect that the effect would be worse for Crouch.

Getting the balance right in the championship is crucial, i'm convinced it pays to get rid of a few of the older statesman who only want the premiership. get the youngsters in early (witha tad of experience to help ) and see how you get on.

Indeed. That's where our 50% pay cut comes in, just as long as it's allied with a few careful renegotiations back to Premiership level, particularly for Michael Svensson, assuming he ever gets fit again.

 

[Will the Sec]

I hope you Norwich fans are happy now!

 

[IYOUNG]

I hope you Norwich fans are happy now!

Hey Will,

Well I must confess how pleasantly surprised I was at West Ham last night, they played some good stuff and were clearly better than Ipswich. Two good goals especially the second one, a cracking pass from Harewood and a an excellent finish from Zamora.

Play like that at Cardiff and the premiership will return.

Ian