FAO Jayson Blair

Re: your debate with usacanary on past and current gambles: in 02/3, my brother read an interview with Doncaster in which he warned we'd have to make drastic cuts if we weren't promoted by the end of 03/4. A legacy of ITV Digital, basically; and it was always apparent to me that the club concluded it'd be best to maximise our chances of promotion in order to deal with this.

So we gambled in 03/4, in a way I don't think was apparent to many fans or the media, but certainly was to me. Going up bailed us out; and we did so with high quality players. That we failed to sign high quality players between 2005 and 2009 (with the occasional exception) is why I refute we've gambled at any point since; until this season.

Look at the difference in calibre of signings post-Worthington: from Earnie, Croft and Etuhu to Fotheringham, Lappin and Brown is a steep drop by anyone's reckoning. Likewise, I seriously doubt Roeder would've signed so many loans had he seen a realistic alternative: we clearly couldn't afford to pay much out on transfer fees, or make similar signings to those of, say, Summer 2001, which left us all thinking we were on our way at last.

The problem's often been the massive cost of non-football wages: ?10m more to run Norwich than Preston in 07/8 isn't a myth, and left us not seeing the upside of the increased capacity. One thing I'll always be curious about is whether the club thought we could afford to be relegated in '05: we hardly seemed like we were gambling that year to me, but if we were, that renders the behaviour of the club that season - "we're just happy to be here" - completely bizarre.

Now, we're gambling again; and because we've signed real quality for this level, it looks like working, just like in 03/4. There's an absolute ton of clubs who've overstretched themselves far more than us over the last four years though: and the problem is, when they all happen to be your competitors, finding the right balance is far easier said than done.

Posted By: thebigfeller, Jan 8, 01:14:44