A fitting conclusion to what has been an amazing season for Norwich FC, the Canaries have been promoted to the Premier League; and, next season, they will be playing in the highest standard of domestic football in the world. It has been an amazing season to follow, to watch (I was at Carrow Road for Norwich’s 4-3 thriller against Leicester) and support as the city that I have now spent 3 years in have now booked their place in the top flight of English football next season.
But, to gauge this achievement properly, we must go back a bit. In the eighties and early nineties, the Canaries were perennial Premier League contenders, and good ones at that. In the early nineties, Norwich were league leaders for most of the 92-93 season and were contenders in the UEFA cup. With players like Efan Ekoku and the lot, Norwich were comparable, by today’s standards, to a team like Arsenal. Good players, good manager (Martin O'Neil got his start at Norwich), brimming with confidence and playing great football, citizens of Norwich would flock to Carrow Road to watch their beloved Canaries play.
But it was not to last. Norwich FC chairman Robert Chase (who is despised by everyone that has lived in Norwich for the last 15 years) started selling the club’s best players. Efan Ekoku to Wimbledon. Soon Norwich was relegated to Division 1 (now known as the Championship). When I arrived in Norwich during the summer of ’95, Norwich were in Division 1, where they remained for each of two years I spent in Norwich.
Since then, the club has lost their reputation of a top flight perennial and gained the reputation of a Division 1 club, changing to a Championship club with the renaming of the leagues, but meaning the same thing. Since the mid-nineties, when I left Norwich, the Canaries have remained in the Championship, but for one season, 2005-2006, where they were promoted to the Premier League, only to be relegated at the end of the season.
Norwich were back into the Championship, but things were still to get worse. Norwich endured a disastrous 2008-2009 season, changing managers three times and finding themselves relegated to the lowly League One, the third tier of English football. This was an embarrassment. Norwich City, formerly a Premier League title contender was now subjected to playing in the third tier of English football. What is worse is that Norwich’s stadium, Carrow Road, stands as one of the best in the Championship, the reason being that it is a Premiership ground, built when Norwich were Premier League heavyweights, but how embarrassing it must have been for City fans to arrive to Carrow Road to watch them play League One football.
But things were to get better. In August, 2009 Scottish manager Paul Lambert was appointed, and, nine months later, Norwich had won the League One title, sealing their return to the Championship. It was a no-nonsense approach to Lambert’s management that had been the difference. Instead of revelling in being league champions, Lambert insisted that they had accomplished nothing, but spare the city’s blushes.
In the 2010-2011, the goal was simply to stay in the Championship, to avoid relegation, and, from there, make a push for the Premier League in the near future, but this was not to be. Norwich played excellent football, staying in the top six the entire season. This is crucial, for the top two teams in the Championship achieve automatic promotion, and the next four enter a play-off for the final ticket to the hallowed Premier League. As I had the privilege of speaking to many City fans, their expectation or goal, after viewing City's impeccable start to the season, was to make the play-off, and whether or not they won promotion, they would be very happy, considering that they had just been promoted from League One last season. But after Monday’s 1-0 win against Portsmouth, City capped an amazing two-year run of form, leaping two divisions into the graces of the bountiful Premier League, the promised land. This is an amazing accomplishment for any football club, players and ownership; but, the most commendations go to Lambert who has simply gotten the best out of his players and, since his takeover, has gotten the results, an incredible two year, two league leap frog of the English football scene. I’m not being biased here, what Lambert has achieved with Norwich FC is the biggest accomplishment of any football club in England of the past two years.
Now it’s time for the reason anyone reads my posts about football, my outlandish, yet discerning, football predictions (In State of the Union, I made 3 predictions and it’s looking like they will all come true). First, next season, City will stay up. The Premier League is Norwich FC’s rightful place, and they will not give up their place without a fight. Lambert is the man to take the club into the Premier League, and keep them there. Second, I back Grant Holt to score at least 10 league goals. Holt was Norwich’s leading scorer in 2008-2009 with 24 goals, but all the critics claimed that he was a League One player and would not score in the Championship. This season, he has bagged 22 and 14 assists. I back him to keep scoring and get at least into double digits, which is an accomplishment for any player. Third, I back Simeon Jackson to be Norwich’s leading scorer next season. With 4 goals in the last two games and a few years younger than Holt, I think next season will be his breakout season, and I back him for 15. Fourth, I want Liverpool loanee Dani Pacheco to stay with City. He is a cunning prospect and someday I expect him to shine for Liverpool, but next season I want him with Norwich. I guess this is not really a prediction, but I think it would be best for both Norwich and Liverpool. And last, after surviving next season, I will be back in Norwich (hopefully getting my master’s degree) and there’s no way Norwich will be going down then. So my last prediction is a bit of a long term one, but Norwich FC will play at least 3 seasons in the top flight, and probably more. Count on it. You heard it here first ... LW
No comments:
Post a Comment