Along Come Norwich - Stuart Webber interview.

[Gaffer]

The problem is some fans take doing things 'the Norwich way' to unreasonable extremes and start booing 0-0 draws at home in the Premier League. Or they start moaning because 30 minutes into a game in the Championship the score isn't 3-2. If we insist on doing things 'the Norwich way' we become predictable. We should all accept that sometimes it's going to be hard to break teams down and those times are when the team needs the fans' support to push them onto a win, even if it's a scrappy 1-0 win. Having a go at the players certainly isn't going to inspire them on to a win.

We could play football 'the right way' like Blackpool and end up in League 2 in a few seasons and I think a lot of our fans would prefer that, but I'd prefer to see us fight for points even if we have to do it the ugly way to get us promoted.

 

[morty]

I think I see "The Norwich way" as the ownership structure more than the playing style. The football style I want is "successful" 

 

[morty]

I´d go along with that morty, but in today´s climate, I seriously fear that the ´best we can be´,  is what we have been seeing for the past decade or so - yo-yoing, and with each passing season, the chance of that ever changing or becoming something better, diminishes.

I have no problem with yoyoing though. Though, I have to admit, if we do have another crack at the Premiership I hope we do a better job, as it did get a bit soul destroying travelling away knowing full well you were going to get beat. The key is making the most we have of the resources we possess, which is exactly why Webber is here. And I am glad that he recognises that there needs to be a better connect between the academy and the first team, because it is a huge asset to us, and I think we'll see a lot of young talent heading to the first team in the next few years.

I think there are exciting times ahead.

 

[Canaryboy]

I think I see "The Norwich way" as the ownership structure more than the playing style. The football style I want is "successful" 

It was Warnock wasn't it who told that story about his Norwich interview? An old man from our board (unsure who) asked him whether his style of football would be satisfactory to Norwich fans, to which he replied "What, winning?". The board were all stoney faced, he didn't get the job  :lol:  

 

[OldRobert]

I think I see "The Norwich way" as the ownership structure more than the playing style. The football style I want is "successful" 

Morty, I'm interested in your definition of 'successful', and no, I'm not being sarcastic.  We're probably always going to find it difficult to establish ourselves in the PL, so is success yo-yoing as rbf is suggesting, or do you think there is an alternative?

 

[morty]

Morty, I'm interested in your definition of 'successful', and no, I'm not being sarcastic.  We're probably always going to find it difficult to establish ourselves in the PL, so is success yo-yoing as rbf is suggesting, or do you think there is an alternative?

I would define success as making the absolute best of what we have, given our current ownership model. Its patently obvious there will be a ceiling purely based on financial clout, but I think if we are a lot smarter about how we spend our money and manage the resources we have, especially the academy, then we can establish in the Premiership.

But every single part of Norwich City has to achieve its maximum for us to continue punching above our weight. We have a fantastic set up, we own our ground and training facilities, we have little, or no debt, we have a solid fanbase and good revenue stream from our season ticket holders and off field stuff such as catering, we have a great academy, but most of all, love em or hate em, we have owners that care passionately about our club.

I think the reason that fans feel so aggrieved about relegation isn't just about the fact we were relegated, but the fact that the off the field business, specifically recruitment didn't do itself justice, and had we been a bit more streetwise we'd still be in the Premiership. Webber summed it up when he said "How can we have so many number 10's, yet we don't even have a recognised left back?"

You can trace the origins of poor dealing right back to Ricky Van. He wasn't the type of striker we needed and I think we basically bought him as an investment, which seriously cost us that season. Then we couldn't shift him, so the decision continued to hurt us. Lafferty is another example.

I think if we can crack 3 years up, we'll stay up.

 

[OldRobert]

I would define success as making the absolute best of what we have, given our current ownership model. Its patently obvious there will be a ceiling purely based on financial clout, but I think if we are a lot smarter about how we spend our money and manage the resources we have, especially the academy, then we can establish in the Premiership.

But every single part of Norwich City has to achieve its maximum for us to continue punching above our weight. We have a fantastic set up, we own our ground and training facilities, we have little, or no debt, we have a solid fanbase and good revenue stream from our season ticket holders and off field stuff such as catering, we have a great academy, but most of all, love em or hate em, we have owners that care passionately about our club.

I think the reason that fans feel so aggrieved about relegation isn't just about the fact we were relegated, but the fact that the off the field business, specifically recruitment didn't do itself justice, and had we been a bit more streetwise we'd still be in the Premiership. Webber summed it up when he said "How can we have so many number 10's, yet we don't even have a recognised left back?"

You can trace the origins of poor dealing right back to Ricky Van. He wasn't the type of striker we needed and I think we basically bought him as an investment, which seriously cost us that season. Then we couldn't shift him, so the decision continued to hurt us. Lafferty is another example.

I think if we can crack 3 years up, we'll stay up.

Sensible opinion imo, and an alternative to yo-yoing which would get tedious.

It will be interesting to see if Webber thinks that the Academy has been run, to date, to the best of it's ability, and if so, what we can expect from it.  If not what he intends to do to bring it up to speed.

As for Colney, is it as bad as was said a few months back.  Was it by McNally I forget, that it was in such poor shape that players could be put off coming here, and that it needed considerable monies spent on it to bring it up to standard.  Does Webber agree, if so what does the club intend to do about it if anything?  Can we afford to do anything?

I agree totally with you regarding the fans and recruitment, which almost without exception has been abysmal.  Only took  Webber about 5 mins. to suss out the excess of no 10's and no owned LB's, let alone Lafferty and RvW to name a couple.

The owners question, personally, I can just about live with, if they get in (as they have) football people to run the club.  That's just my view!

I also think your final sentence is the crux, otherwise we're 1p5wich Mk 2 imho.

 

[morty]

I don't think theres anything wrong with a bit of yoyoing, as long as we progress eventually. West Brom did it successfully before eventually establishing themselves. The important part of that is having a continuity such as Webber so it can all be managed properly, as opposed to a boom/bust philosophy where you are basically completely rebuilding each time you go down.

And I actually like it, at least you are always fighting for something, rather than just aiming not to be relegated from a league that you will never win.

 

[rbf]

I would define success as making the absolute best of what we have, given our current ownership model. Its patently obvious there will be a ceiling purely based on financial clout, but I think if we are a lot smarter about how we spend our money and manage the resources we have, especially the academy, then we can establish in the Premiership.

But every single part of Norwich City has to achieve its maximum for us to continue punching above our weight. We have a fantastic set up, we own our ground and training facilities, we have little, or no debt, we have a solid fanbase and good revenue stream from our season ticket holders and off field stuff such as catering, we have a great academy, but most of all, love em or hate em, we have owners that care passionately about our club.

I think the reason that fans feel so aggrieved about relegation isn't just about the fact we were relegated, but the fact that the off the field business, specifically recruitment didn't do itself justice, and had we been a bit more streetwise we'd still be in the Premiership. Webber summed it up when he said "How can we have so many number 10's, yet we don't even have a recognised left back?"

You can trace the origins of poor dealing right back to Ricky Van. He wasn't the type of striker we needed and I think we basically bought him as an investment, which seriously cost us that season. Then we couldn't shift him, so the decision continued to hurt us. Lafferty is another example.

I think if we can crack 3 years up, we'll stay up.

I, like you morty, see nothing wrong with yo-yoing, but I ´m afraid I don´t quite share your optimism that it eventually will pay. It certainly hasn´t paid up to now, and that with various managers, various plans and strategies etc etc. I´m not even sure one can put a particular number of years on it, and say that x-number will do it, 3, in my eyes, is far too short to feel safe. Whether Webber will be the dose of magic that has been missing for the last decade or so remains to be seen , but I´ll see it first before I´ll believe it.

 

[morty]

Starting from a solid base, as we will be hopefully next season, my thinking around the three years is that is when you tend to see real quality being bought (assuming you have someone who knows how to spend your money)

We saw it happen at sides like Palace and Stoke who like us, don't have huge budgets. Also after three seasons it gives signing players a little more confidence in you. I'm not saying anyone is safe after three years though, you have to maintain a forward momentum and keep adding quality, again Stoke being a good example.

I'm hoping our new structure will lend itself better for longer term planning.

 

[Fenway Frank]

This is the issue for me. Ask a Stoke or West Brom fan what they have to look forward to every season, I'd rather be a yoyo club, it's more exciting