Norwich City

[boundngag]

Well, I have to say I would be surprised if the Gills were relegated this season now, but you know more about them than I do. Do you know the Gills fans don't like Peter Taylor? I thought he was quite good for Gillingham. It seems to me that Gillingham have trouble attracting managers that I would rate more highly. It's not like it's the back of beyond or anything. It's a club with a large catchment area for fans and therefore potential. It's not like it's Wales, were the main sport is Rugby Union, or Yorkshire where it's Rugby League. It's like football managers don't think people in Kent follow football for some reason. Bizarre.

[fawcett]

Norwich looking for a miracle!!

I have got tickets for their last Home game against Arsenal as I fear it will be the last for them in the Premiership!

Despite sacking Chris Hughton their decline continues!

John, I think Gillingham will be ok and stay up.

[John]

Fingers crossed for Norwich Fawcett. I hope they manage it.

The Gills are safe. 5 points clear with only one game to go. It's been a struggle this season. Leyton orient, who went up with us last season, are in the playoffs! Funny old game...

[fawcett]

Now there's a funny thing !

Our little cat went missing yesterday and so I was doing "house to house". One of the houses I visited that our garden backs onto is in an exclusive Private road and normally has the electric gates closed but they were open.
I was with my 14 year old son and we rung the doorbell.

I had noticed a black Range Rover Sport on the drive with NL plates but thought nothing of it at the time.
The tall lean young guy who answered the door spoke with an accent and was very polite.
When he briefly went back inside my son said "dad that's Ricky Van Wolfswinkel go on ask him"

On his return I did and it was!

Our Cat turned out to be shut in one of his neighbours houses and had wrecked the place! I await the bill!

[John]

Excellent story Fawcett! You should have gotten his autograph!

[boundngag]

Unfortunately Arsenal beat Norwich today. Sorry about that. I'm quite surprised by Norwich this season. I thought it would be close last season, but this season they seemed to have a better squad and I thought Chris Hughton was a good manager, so Norwich may well have finished lower mid table kind of area. But no. Having said that, I though Fulham would be ok as well! That was a bit odd though, because when Jol always seemed to look pretty unhappy, even at the start of the season and pretty much his whole team underperformed most of the time. Still, maybe Norwich can invest wisely and then come 'Bouncing Back'! AHA!

[fawcett]

Norwich 0 Arsenal 2

I was at the match on Sunday and it was a strange atmosphere. The crowd were quiet and any support seemed to be drowned out by the very vocal Arsenal fans singing about going to Wembley!!
At the end , the Norwich players did a lap and I stopped and clapped them waving at Player of the year, Robert Snodgrass. Some young boys were crying.
I really don't know what happened this season although Chris Hughton clearly made some bad decisions on buying players and putting the same predictable squad out time and time again.
It's not all bad though. The tickets will cost me less rather than the £50 (adult) each to see any of the top teams, the new Manager (any predicitions ?) less salary and signings like the £8m Van Wolfswinkel wont happen !
Norwich will lose out on the £2m sky deal however.
It took Norwich 6 years to get back up last time rejoining in 2011, I wish them well.

[boundngag]

I think Snodgrass is a good player, Norwich may get some bids for him. I'm surprised by what's happened with Van Wolfswinkel. He seemed like a good player before he joined Norwich, then his confidence seemed to evaporate immediately and never came back! I kept expecting him to improve, but it never happened.

On the plus side, I think the new Premier League T.V deal has kicked in now and so the three relegated clubs will have considerably more income than any previously relegated teams. It should help, but then look at QPR this season. They may go up through the play offs still, but with their squad and budget, they should have walked it. Having said that, I do think Harry Redknapp is a very overrated manager. Hopefully, it wont take Norwich so long to get promoted again this time.

Manager-wise, Malky Mackay seems to be linked to Norwich a lot, having played for you before. He did a pretty good job at Cardiff before the owner got rid of him for little reason. Steve Clarke would be a good bet, too. I think he did a very good job at West Brom and should not have been sacked.

[fawcett]

Norwich move up to second in the Championship!

Norwich seem to be doing well so far under Neil Adams and his new players complement the existing squad.
Have only been to one home game so far this season, tickets were cheaper and it was entertaining football....who needs the Premiership ???

[John]

Very true Fawcett, often footy from the lower leagues is much better than the premier League stuff

[boundngag]

The Championship seems very competitive, Clubs go down with huge parachute payments and don't come straight back up. Good managers can make a difference. Sean Dyche took Burnley up with what was, I think, the smallest transfer budget in the division. Nigel Pearson took Leicester up, albeit with a bigger budget, made good signings and already Leicester look a good bet to stay up. Look how Millwall have improved since Ian Holloway took over. Ipswich have improved each season since Mick McCarthy took over. Wolves, in their first season back in the championship, are 7th. Norwich are 4th and look a good bet to bounce straight back up. I would agree with you, the championship does look more entertaining, unpredictable and competitive than the premier league at present. A bigger bang for your buck. I wish premier league teams would notice this and reduce their ticket prices. Especially Arsenal!

[fawcett]

football ticket prices

. Norwich are 4th and look a good bet to bounce straight back up. I would agree with you, the championship does look more entertaining, unpredictable and competitive than the premier league at present. A bigger bang for your buck. I wish premier league teams would notice this and reduce their ticket prices. Especially Arsenal![/QUOTE]

An example of this was when I went to the Bolton match last Saturday.
Tickets were only £25 for adults, half what I paid when Norwich were in the Premiership !!!
Norwich won 2.1 !

[boundngag]

. Norwich are 4th and look a good bet to bounce straight back up. I would agree with you, the championship does look more entertaining, unpredictable and competitive than the premier league at present. A bigger bang for your buck. I wish premier league teams would notice this and reduce their ticket prices. Especially Arsenal!

An example of this was when I went to the Bolton match last Saturday.
Tickets were only £25 for adults, half what I paid when Norwich were in the Premiership !!!
Norwich won 2.1 ![/QUOTE]

That sounds like good value! Looking at the championship table, 1st place - 23rd place are covered by 16 points. I don't think that would ever happen in the premier league! Do you think if Norwich get promoted, the prices will double again?

[fawcett]

That sounds like good value! Looking at the championship table, 1st place - 23rd place are covered by 16 points. I don't think that would ever happen in the premier league! Do you think if Norwich get promoted, the prices will double again?[/QUOTE]

Yes I do, although on their current form they look unlikely to bounce back up !
Neil Adams faces some challenges this season.

[boundngag]

That sounds like good value! Looking at the championship table, 1st place - 23rd place are covered by 16 points. I don't think that would ever happen in the premier league! Do you think if Norwich get promoted, the prices will double again?

Yes I do, although on their current form they look unlikely to bounce back up !
Neil Adams faces some challenges this season.[/QUOTE]

I think it will be tough for Norwich. It's hard for teams that get relegated from the Premier League! Although they don't look likely to struggle as much as Wigan, Bolton and Fulham have this season. The season before last, Wolves got relegated from the championship after being relegated from the premier league. It's hard to go back up, unless you have stacks of money, like QPR. They nearly blew it last season. Although, to be fair, their manager is the criminally overrated Harry Redknapp!