• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Football Writer

My Football Writer Norwich City news… comment… analysis

Norwich City – news, comment and analysis

Find the best betting sites
  • Home
  • About us
  • The Team
  • Archives Index
  • Patreon
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contact us

Why old Stan yearns for a Great Depression to descend and gives us a reason to smile…

18th September 2008 By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment

Please share

Stan grew up watching Norwich in the midst of economic (and social) turmoil.

Back in the 1970s, when the trade unions had some clout, we put up a fight as inflation and oil crises ravaged Tory and Old Labour governments alike.

Then, in the 1980s, as Thatcher trampled over much that was good about Britain, mass unemployment fed recession, brief boom and further recession.

Remember when the Castle Mall first opened? All boarded up and empty units; Prince of Wales Road looked like the a*se-end of Magdalen Street; house prices fell to rock bottom – you could almost buy a North City house outright after a good day on the Cromer slotties.

And in that time, Norwich were a top flight team. A couple of relegations aside, we were among the top 15 teams in the country, playing football the Norwich (via West Ham and Spurs) way. Europe and Wembley; Highbury and Old Trafford; Match of the Day…

So it was, therefore, that as banks crash and a new dark age looms, Stan began to wonder if the old adage he has always applied to pop music – economy bad, pop music good; economy good, pop music hopeless – could be applied to his beloved Canaries.

Now, this is obviously not an exact science, but we footie fans need hope and that must be found any which way possible.

Indeed, Stan's theory looks plausible on first glance. But then, as Stan wandered passed Massies chip shop on his way to The Rosary, he got to thinking.

This recession is looking more like the 1930s; this could well be 'great depression' stuff – where were City then? The answer: we were in the Division Three (South) but got promoted in 1933-34, just as the downturn levelled out.

We then got relegated in the midst of the pre-war rearmament boom. Hmmm – Stan, you may be onto something…

Now, you may be wondering what all this squit has to do with City's latest defeat.

Well, Stan was finding it hard to face writing about our surrender to ten-men QPR. He needed to think that some bizarre theory could work out how we may once more rise from the mire, given that the chumps in the yellow shirts don't seem to be able to do it.

For last night was proof, if it was needed, that we have a long way to go before we get a whiff of mid-table, let alone the play-offs or promotion.

We have, without doubt, got the nucleus of a decent team.

There are some good individual players here, and we try to play football the right way.

At the back, we have an excellent defence – though Stan is praying to Lord Drinkell that Kennedy has not done anything too serious to his ankle.

Beyond that, however, we remain lightweight and often inconsistent. Despite having the bulk of possession from the moment that QPR lost a man, we looked unimaginative, lumpen and physically unable to cope against a well-organised and well-drilled team.

This, in turn, was compounded by Roeder's bizarre decision to (a) take off our two most creative players, and (b) to play Patty in centre midfield when, well, no. Just no, basically.

By the end, Stan had a sinking feeling. As he wandered back to the pub to drown his sorrows, he tried to think of the bigger picture.

A defeat to QPR is not the end of the world or proof that we are bound to struggle all season.

It does, however, show that Sibi is in no way the 'final piece to the jigsaw'. As it stands, we look better than we did when Roeder took over, but not yet good enough to take our place in this division for granted.

And so, as the recession deepens, we will just have to hope that Stan's theory will pan out. Bring on the collapse of capitalism and, you never know, we may just have something to smile about…


Please share

Filed Under: Column, Stanley

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FIND MY FOOTBALL WRITER ON

As featured on NewsNow: Norwich City news” style=

Norwich City News 24/7

#NCFC LATEST

footiespr5687 S.P.R sports stats (Simon) @footiespr5687 ·
6m

Norwich City Vs Burnley FC

Norwich City have won 1 of last 10 at Carrow Road and host a Clarets side 17 points ahead of 3rd place Middlesbrough and on the verge of a swift return to top flight

Prediction = 1-2
@NorwichCityFC @BurnleyOfficial #NCFC #burnleyfc

Reply on Twitter 1621655855027425283 Retweet on Twitter 1621655855027425283 Like on Twitter 1621655855027425283 Twitter 1621655855027425283
jgraver7 James @jgraver7 ·
23m

Nice to see Núñez on here. Still has something different to offer for us from our other options and should get a lot of minutes in the run in. #ncfc

Reply on Twitter 1621651717077991427 Retweet on Twitter 1621651717077991427 Like on Twitter 1621651717077991427 1 Twitter 1621651717077991427
stonesey88 Chris Stones @stonesey88 ·
27m

Even though all we do is take the piss out of each other on a daily basis I just wanna take the chance to wish @JStewart_15 the best tommorow on the tampa bay challenge! If your there support him! The lad deserves the holiday! #ncfc

Reply on Twitter 1621650585387687940 Retweet on Twitter 1621650585387687940 Like on Twitter 1621650585387687940 Twitter 1621650585387687940
huckerbysbarber Huckerbysbarber @huckerbysbarber ·
39m

Love this!! -28 with the windchill this end so you ain’t missing anything. #ncfc enjoy the game @TorontoCanaries

Reply on Twitter 1621647602956615681 Retweet on Twitter 1621647602956615681 Like on Twitter 1621647602956615681 Twitter 1621647602956615681
gldavey73 gary davey @gldavey73 ·
46m

Best night in our history? #NCFC @NorwichCityFC

Reply on Twitter 1621645767545966592 Retweet on Twitter 1621645767545966592 Like on Twitter 1621645767545966592 Twitter 1621645767545966592
Load More...

Copyright © 2023 21VC Ltd | All rights reserved | Not to be reproduced without prior permission.

Disclaimer: The information on this website consists of personal opinions. Whilst we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained on these Web pages is accurate and correct at the time of writing we do not accept any liability whatsover for any loss or damage caused by reliance on this information.

We do not accept any responsibility for information contained in other websites to which this site links. We strongly advise users to check any information before acting or relying on it.

Developed and Hosted by