I'm not saying it's easy or something

I often think success is particularly difficult BECAUSE we're Norwich. What do I mean by that? Imagine if the club had appointed someone like Warnock. Would we have tolerated him? I doubt it. We'd surely not have liked him.

Even someone like Bruce Rioch - who I think did a damn good job in horrendous circumstances - was slagged off to kingdom come by many fans, some of whom then rejoiced as we "got our Norwich back" by appointing Bryan f**king Hamilton.

I became a Norwich fan relatively near the end of a hugely successful 20 year period in the club's history. I loved that we were different; that at a time of hooliganism and the long ball, we were a family club, with an all-seater stadium even before Hillsborough, which played continental-style, passing football. Or at least tried to, anyway.

But that 'difference' then became our Achilles heel. Stat: between 1988/9 and 1999/2000, for TWELVE SEASONS IN A ROW, Norwich City accumulated fewer points in the second half of the season than the first half. This wasn't a big deal as long as we were in the top flight; but it became a very, very big deal as the club's status declined; even dwindled.

Why did it happen? Because we're soft. Incorrigibly soft. Almost proudly soft at times. When the going gets tough, Norwich start sleeping. Yes, there have been exceptions: Archie Macaulay, Ron Saunders and Paul Lambert mainly. But was Saunders loved? Respected, hugely - but loved? In contrast, John Bond, Ken Brown, Dave Stringer and Mike Walker - all of whom played 'the Norwich way' - were adored: Uncle Ken and the Silver Fox especially.

Heck: the morning Martin O'Neill left - the morning that, deep down, we all realised we'd be stuck in this poxy division for the best part of a decade - many players actually CELEBRATED. Because he'd been demanding; he'd rattled cages... and they didn't like it.

Meanwhile, the fans had spent most of his short time here moaning about the style of play; a bit like a section of Wrathers have dismissed Lambert's achievements with us as a 'fluke', and moaned about his style at times; a bit like Worthington was never really loved either. Only respected as long as he was taking us forwards.

What's the net result of all this? The board are as representative of their fanbase as almost any I can think of in England; so they, like us, have peculiarly set ideas about what Norwich City should or shouldn't be.

Chris Hughton probably wasn't appointed as much for his record as for what a decent chap he was: good ambassador for the club, nice manners, wears a blazer well, that sort of thing. And Neil Adams? Another nice guy, with the added benefit of 'bleeding green and yellow'. Never mind the complete lack of experience, Neil: here's the job!

But to have a novice learning on the job at a time when we literally can't afford to fail - because if we do, we'll be stuck back here for years and years - is a complete dereliction of duty absolutely typical of us. The fans think Adams will play 'the Norwich way', have always had affection for him anyway, so they support him: but there's nothing of substance to base that support on.

And the players? They'll know that too. Why would a novice inspire them? What does he add to this club that we don't already have? How does he excite them, motivate them, make them feel like they'll go places in their careers under him, in the manner that Lambert did? He can't. He doesn't have the experience or, in my view, the edge to do so.

So on we drift. There's no real shape to our play; there's certainly no zip or edge to it. But that's us as a club. No zip, no edge, just niceness and softness and incredible loyalty and not an awful lot to show for it. I don't say all this because I'm a miserable arsehole or something; it's only football, after all. I say it because it makes me sad.

All that progress; all that apparently learning to finally get ruthless, and get a real edge about us as a club? It's gone. We're just back to being that nice club which other managers mouth platitudes about after we've just failed to beat them; that nice club which treats its players extremely well but is nowhere near demanding enough in what we expect of them; that nice club whose fans applaud the team off the pitch, win or lose; that nice club probably set fair for another decade in this miserable, God-forsaken league.

Many fans probably don't realise this - but time is already starting to run out. If we didn't learn this from what happened after 1995 and 2005, we clearly never will.

Posted By: thebigfeller on October 25th 2014 at 21:39:58

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