3rd May 2009

A date Norwich fans will never forget, I certainly won’t. Sat at home, listening to Bryan Gunns’ Norwich fall over and lose 4-2 to Charlton to confirm their relegation to League 1. A sad sad day.

But look now, just over 2 years down the line and Norwich City sit 12th in the Premier League, without doubt one of the best leagues in the footballing world. And of course, being one of the new teams to the league, the usual “straight back down again” vibe fills the air among the less optimistic fans, and more so in rivals and football pundits. This air of pessimism fills me with anticipation for many reasons, but primarily because it means there is absolutely no pressure on the team, anything above the bottom 3 will be seen as a fantastic achievement.

So should we be content with finishing 17th in the greatest league in the world? On one hand, yes, we should, it would be a fantastic achievement, but there are several reasons why we shouldn’t be shocked if the team achieve a lot more, and here’s why….

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great

Paul Lambert has moulded a team, a group of people who are working together, all with the same goals and ambitions. And primarily, a team of players who trust their manager, and (based on the past 2 seasons) give nothing less than 100% to him. And that, is priceless.  The new additions seem to have gelled well too, which is always a risk when introducing new members to a team.

 Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything

Under Paul Lambert, Norwich have never lost back-to-back games in the same season. A defeat is followed by a win, or a draw. Heads don’t drop, the team just seem to realise what went wrong and work to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The winning mentality is there, and it looks like it’s here to stay.

But quite honestly I can’t help being a passionate football supporter. If that’s my sin, I’m guilty – Delia Smith

I’ve had a season ticket for years now, on-and-off whilst I was living away, but I’ve been there for the highs and lows of Norwich’s history over the past 15 years or so. I remember when we dropped down to the Championship all those years ago, the Robert Chase era, Bruce Rioch, Brian Hamilton, Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder.

I’ve seen them all. The one thing that sticks in my memory most is the attendances though……I remember when 17,000 was considered a good turn out for a home game, when getting a ticket was easy. But more recently, the past 4 years I’d say, the fans have been exceptional, supporting Norwich through thick and thin. League 1 was a low point on paper, but from a footballing side, it was the most exciting season I’ve ever witnessed. And I wasn’t alone, 26,000 other fans were there for it too. And last season, it was pretty much impossible to get a ticket for a game.

These fans aren’t “glory hunters”…..Glory Hunters don’t support League 1 teams, or Championship teams to be fair. These fans are people who appreciate good passionate football, football played with skill and optimism. Football that has seen the team win back-to-back promotions and end up in the top flight of English Football. Who wouldn’t want to spend their Saturdays experiencing that?

Fans, passion, excellent team spirit….the perfect recipe for Premiership survival. Personally I can not wait for the season to kick off, and you know, if I’m reading this blog in 9 months time and Norwich have been relegated, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be proud, and could turn around and say “We went down, but we went down fighting”.

But that won’t be the case, right?