It seems perverse that the reason City’s recent relegation hurts so much is because of one of our club’s biggest, most glorious, successes.
Our famous Wembley win injected us all with so much hope. Tasting that success when you support your local team really does mess with your head!
Without question, we have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world but displaying nothing but negativity every time things don’t go our way will not help this great club bounce back.
It’s in our own song lyrics… ‘Never mind the danger’. In other words, remain positive despite adversity.
Norwich City is a big club but the expectation of instant success has inflated way too much in the past few seasons.
Our promotion campaign and Wembley win was of course down to the impact made by Alex Neil, his tactical genius, players who worked tirelessly for him, but, crucially, also a generous slice of luck.
You do indeed earn your own luck, but last season we didn’t get any. Next season we may well see things go our way again.
I believe we are at the start of a very special journey, especially with Alex Neil at the helm. It’s time to get real and understand that it’s a waste of time turning up for a game of football at Carrow Road, while sitting in silence and then moaning afterwards.
Cast your minds back to that strange Watford game on the last day of City’s season. It was like going back in time. More recently, back to the Lambert era when our passion and love for Norwich City shone through so brightly it impacted the players in yellow on the pitch.
You could see it in the players’ body language. That’s what Carrow Road is all about!
Next season will feel like City’s longest season ever. We won’t win every game but, rest assured, under Alex Neil we’ll give it a really good go.
The bonus ball going into our Championship campaign is that things have changed at the top. The staff at Norwich City can now enjoy a club run on purely on yellow and green passion as opposed to fear. This should create a real feel good factor.
Potentially, the change in chief executive will also be an opportunity for City to break the wage budget, invest in – even gamble – on players and get them driving into the Colney gates over the next few months.
Here are five reasons why we should be positive going into the new campaign:
1] We might just keep our prize asset Timm Klose. It’s possible. Especially if Switzerland have a miserable Euro 2016. Let’s not draw attention to him and pray he stays.
2] The Championship is our magician Wes Hoolahan’s preferred hunting ground. With more time on the ball in this league, more strings will be pulled than ever before.
3] In contrast to the multi-billion pound oil money of the Premier League, we have the financial power to compete in the Championship. A healthy handful of new players in our forward and back line will make us – on paper at least – the best team in the league.
4] Relegation almost always equals reaction. Throughout the squad are some players that are past their sell by date. They’ll want to prove that they are still good enough to complete with the big boys.
5] The players that choose to stay and fight for the Canary cause are those that care. They will put everything on the line. I’m certain Alex will show players that aren’t too fussed about next season where the door is.
So, enjoy your summer holidays, remember why you follow your team up and down the country and prepare for battle.
And then let’s sing our hearts out, remain positive and draw on the joy of Wembley and the pain of relegation to propel our football club back to where it belongs.
On The Ball, City!
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisReevo
Chris what was this crucial “generous slice of luck” that allowed us to get promoted at Wembley?
And how on earth do you conclude that “The bonus ball going into our Championship campaign is that things have changed at the top”? We’ve just lost the most successful CEO we’ve had for 20 years or more, and probably the best in our league. And you see that as a bonus?
“The staff at Norwich City can now enjoy a club run on purely on yellow and green passion as opposed to fear.” What fear? Do you mean the playing staff, or the barmen, or the accounts clerks or what? Do you have inside information?
(If you mean playing staff, which is what matters most, unless Neil leaves that won’t change anyway).
Sorry Chris, really don’t understand where you are coming from with some of this.
@1 – Keith B there were plenty of fans at the time who questioned the appointment of Alex Neil, given where he’d come from and limited experience. Whether you consider that to be a calculated gamble, luck or a combination of the two is down to you.
Maybe “bonus ball” are words not to everyone’s liking, yhoweve I do think that our immediate return to the Championship is leaving many fans questioning whether our operational model is sustainable for life in the Premier League or not.
I also believe that the defeat at Newcastle did have a significant impact on how we approached subsequent games and it seemed to have a negative impact on confidence for Alex and the players.
At the end of the day, AN has to shoulder the majority of the blame for your relegation. At least he has admitted that he fell short although having a dig at your departed CEO about recruitment after he left was a cheap shot. Fans are intelligent enough to make up their own minds where problems exist.
I’m also intrigued on what the generous slice of luck was. Yes, Gary there were a number of people questioning the appointment, myself included & that was because I’d never heard of him before. I’m not embarrassed by that as its not my job to recruit talented football managers. McNally did a great job in choosing him (and of course Lambert) and I certainly don’t think that should be dismissed as luck.
4 – Dave H: There’s a school of thought that says Lambert kind of chose himself with that infamous 7-1! I can’t work out the luck part either btw. Boro might have been relatively poor on the day, but we didn’t have to get lucky to beat them imo.
Valiant attempt at rousing the faithful, but at the moment it not surprisingly all feels flat and uncertain, with only the occasional gobbet of ‘news’ being spat out for us to feed on, debate, criticise and/or applaud. All very.. hmmm.
With McNally’s exit and no CEO’s hand on the tiller for a while, the sense is preparations for next season could go badly, but impossible to tell at this time. I don’t think there was a ‘climate of fear’ the players were under last season – just not enough quality in key positions. McNally was smart enough to leave the football side to those with the background.
The only lucky aspect of 2014-15 was maybe Boro turning up late on PO final day and us avoiding Derby in the semis – would have been a much tougher task than the one we ended up with.
Right now it’s hard to be positive, but once the fixtures come out, the mood should lift with the challenges of next season – just not Wolves away on the first day please.