I Think The Problem With Getting Players To Norwich Is...

...not so much the geography any more-although I'm sure that comes into it-as to their perception of the actual City and the club itself...

Think of somewhere like Kings Lynn in the 19th Century-cobbled streets, chickens and cattle running about in the streets, lamp lighters, matchgirls and young boys being sent up chimneys, all work and no play, dank, dull, black and white even, let alone sepia...

...they probably see Norwich as being a bit like that even now-just a big farm with cattle and chickens everywhere, no shops, no pubs, clubs, cinemas, nothing...

And their agents, anxious not to have to do business with such a club -THIS is where I think geography comes into it, with the agents rather than the players- as its off their beaten track, well, they're not going to do an awful lot to shatter the myth! Look at all of the s**t that Hucks agent came out with, desperate for his client not to come here.

The trick is, and this is something the club do go on about, getting the players to come and have a look in the first place. Those we don't get, I would say, a lot of the time, haven't even bothered to come and have a look. They have the image of it being a straw-laden muddy village, whenever they have come here with their clubs, its probably been a long coach journey & they're in and out anyway, so they won't see much.

They probably also think we train on some village playing field somewhere and change in the backroom of the WI Club or something...look at how many, when they DO sign, go on and on about the facilities, its almost like they are in shock, never expecting to find such good facilities for training-each and every time, its mentioned "...the facilities are great...", they are obviously, again, so surprised, they have to mention it!

When that happens, rather than us perhaps signing 1 out of 5 players we want, we might get 3 out of 5. Of course, there will be players who will not want to come here, period-Sharp (and whats happened to him?) always wanted to go to Sheff Utd, whatever we offered, ditto Eastwood and Wolves. But, once we get them to Norwich, opinions change and we become more of a serious option. Thats the challenge.

Posted By: Martin Peters, Sep 17, 11:15:35