The Editor very generously offered this correspondent an option when commissioning a festive article.
You can either look back on 2007 or forward to 2008, he said.
I'm hugely grateful for the choice, because you could easily sum up what we've witnessed this year with a few well-chosen and rather disparaging words. It would take someone far brighter and more analytical than me to even begin to contemplate the 900 word diatribe The Boss normally expects.
The kindest thing you could say is that it's been an awful year for Norwich City. Certainly the worst in recent memory. The statistics tell their own dismal story. Up to and including the game against Scunthorpe, it was played 43 league games, won 14, lost 23.
Only the recent arrival of Glenn Roeder has added a belated touch of gloss to those rather sad looking figures. Where would we be without those five victories that has at least given us a fighting chance of remaining in the Championship?
When Peter Grant made his rather inglorious exit following defeat at Loftus Road, you'd have staked very little on City's survival. They were rudderless and rubbish, and facing the very real prospect of playing in English football's third tier for the first time in almost 50 years.
Let's not kid ourselves that we're out of the woods yet. But Roeder has instilled a sense of belief and purpose into City's play, and I now feel a lot more optimistic of the Canaries finishing closer to the middle of the table than the bottom.
I admit that I was ambivalent about the latest managerial appointment at Carrow Road. To me, it smacked of desperation. Here was a man whose best days were behind him.
How wrong could I be? Already in his brief stint, he has proved just the right man at just the right time. He's won the respect of the players and the fans and in a quiet, measured way has created a togetherness on the pitch that Grant was unable to.
No pops at the crowd or public disapproval of individual team members. Instead, thoughtful reflection. He won me over with his immediate assessment of this being a proper football club, and I liked how ? when asked about Huckerby's dismissal against Ipswich ? he said he'd look at the video replay before making any comment.
Sensible sentiments in the immediate aftermath of a local derby that ensured there would be no dramatic headlines of manager berating his player for stupid foul, or hammering referee for failing to appreciate the passionate nature of a Norwich-Ipswich match.
It's so far so good for Roeder, who's ensured a more than satisfactory conclusion to the year. But the preceding nine-and-a-half months were quite dreadful, and leaves Grant vying for the unwanted tag as one of the least effective managers to have operated at Carrow Road.
Like many others, I was hugely encouraged by his summer signings. Sadly, I confused quantity with quality and overall they proved to be disastrous. What did Grant see in David Strihavka? I suspect that was the problem. He surely never did see him play before he came to Carrow Road, and it's looking increasingly likely that none of us will be seeing a great deal of him in the future.
I'd love to see him succeed here and hate the thought of an unhappy, probably lonely footballer hundreds of miles from home. But he appears so ungainly and physically ill-equipped to deal with the English game that the prospects of a change of fortune appear remote.
One of the few success stories of 2007 was Chris Martin. Well, he was impressive in the early part of the year, wasn't he? You suspect that 2008 could be a very big year for him and he clearly has convince Roeder that he has the desire as well as the talent to be a big player for Norwich City.
I heard one rumour that he returned to pre-season training almost a stone overweight. And although that might have been a slight exaggeration, there's no doubt that the Beccles youngster does need the proverbial kick up the pants. In his understated way, Roeder has clearly applied that pressure and now it's down to Martin himself whether his future career is in football.
Albeit in a fairly brief spell, he did look the real deal.When we see so many good, young players making their way into Ipswich's first team, how disappointing it would be if one youthful Canary with genuine talent failed to live up his undoubted potential.
As we go into the New Year, that's my main concern. Where are the young players to make impact in the seasons to come?
I don't envy Ipswich Town their new-found wealth. To my way of thinking there's something very odd about a wealthy benefactor so paranoid about maintaining his anonymity that he doesn't even watch his charges, but I do look across the Waveney in awe at the rich seam of young talent that emerges from their scouting system.
It was only a reserve game, but Town's recent 5-1 demolition of a very experienced Norwich side at Carrow Road should have been a wake up call for everyone associated with the Canaries.
In an ideal world, it would be wonderful to think that a serious investor might be prepared to become involved with Norwich City. For so many clubs it's the only realistic prospect of an escape route to the Premier League.
But as those in high places at Carrow Road keep reminding us, wealthy backers don't grow on trees. So, the growth has to be in other areas.
Roeder has already proved himself an astute assessor of that's required at Norwich. Let's hope he can get the best out of Chris Martin, and let's hope we can unearth more Bellamys, Eadies and Greens.
All those with Norwich City at heart, will be hoping for some encouraging signs like that in 2008. May be the New Year be better than the old one!
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