I think something's got lost in translation somewhere...

... For which, mea culpa - the more I write, the less I communicate effectively.

No, I don't think "being in the Prem is the be-all and end-all". No, I don't have some massively elevated view of what 'success' looks like for Norwich City either. If any of us were that frantic for success, why would we be Norwich City fans in the first place?

My view on things has been pretty much locked in place since Delia gave THAT interview to The Times almost 2 years ago. It was already apparent that we weren't going up; I had no issue accepting that. It's just that I asked myself the question: "What now?" The answer was - and still is - essentially nothing.

Back when I was throwing chronic wobblies on here every week when Adams was in charge, it wasn't because we were losing or playing badly. It was because we weren't giving ourselves the best chance - or even half a chance - to succeed. And that just felt like a gigantic piss take of everyone really.

But it's worse than that now. Much worse. We had parachute payments back then; we had a squad built for promotion, and just needed a half-decent manager to do the rest. My anger, my frustration, my resignation now is because we have next to no chance of challenging, let alone succeeding, this season, next season, or the one after that... entirely because of who the owners are.

They can't compete, so we can't compete. If we can't compete, then what is the point of us? SeattleSounders has more than a point when asking: if we're not bothered about success and it really is just about the experience of following the club, why we don't just drop to League 2? That's not him being facetious. It's the logical (if extreme, hopefully never to be realised) conclusion.

Very few other clubs in this division - or even Sunderland in the one below - are in that position. Of having next to no chance of even challenging in the years ahead if we don't change ownership. It's a dead end... which is probably why I've seen others compare it to where we were in the late 90s.

One other thing. I've posted on messageboards for decades. And for whatever reason, I've always received emotional, angry, personal responses. That's just me. Nothing in what's been said over the last 24 hours has bothered me; it's harmless, and I've laughed at quite a lot of it. These things always take two (or more than two), and we're all responsible for how we come across online.

For myself, my suspicion's always been that it's less because of anything condescending; more because a) I over-intellectualise/over-think too much (but football's anything but a rational pursuit, so people assume I lack passion); b) I'm very much an 'outsider' and always will be (I'm not from Norwich, I didn't have Norwich-supporting family, I live on the other side of the world nowadays); and c) I've always criticised and been ruthlessly honest about just about anything I love. My family, my country, my religion, my football club. That's pretty unusual - and often results in a mass closing of ranks. It's human nature.

No hard feelings on my part though. Plenty have provided much food for thought, so cheers for that.

Posted By: thebigfeller, Sep 4, 01:45:57