I'm going to be awake for a while, so I'm going to have a stab at this.
1. Norwich are the cheapest team to make the top 3 in PL history. How did Walker achieve that?
Walker inherited a team which had just lost its star player, Robert Fleck, but had a core of players - Gunn, Culverhouse, Bowen, Butterworth, Crook, Goss, Fox - who'd been together for years and managed two top five finishes and two FA Cup semi-finals in the preceding six years.
Walker had worked behind the scenes with these players and had a strong understanding of the tweaks needed to redirect a squad that had lost its way under the generally shrewd and successful Dave Stringer. He persuaded Mark Robins to join Norwich rather than Dynamo Dresden, and Robins immediately struck up an effective partnership with the bigger, stronger Chris Sutton - a product of a youth system developed by Ronnie Brooks over a 20-year period.
Bryan Gunn and others said that Walker and Deehan's training methods greatly enhanced the players' abilities (someone else might elaborate on this) and they established great self-belief in a side hotly tipped for relegation - the team's ability to win games from a losing position was one of its greatest strengths.
2. Of our signings as a premier league club, who made the biggest impact and why?
As stated above, Mark Robins helped turn a side that narrowly avoided relegation in May 1992 into one that nearly won the Premier League, before injury curtailed his form the following season.
During the second spell in 2004-2005, the highest-impact signing was Dean Ashton - a brilliantly gifted striker who provided the goals that City had been lacking. Norwich smashed their transfer record to sign him and he was instrumental in the run of four home wins that nearly kept us up.
3. During our periods as a premier league side did we spend enough on the playing squad to realistically compete at the top level?
The problem in 1994-1995, when we were first relegated, wasn't so much that we didn't spend enough, but that we didn't spend wisely. John Deehan, taking over from Mike Walker, lost Ruel Fox and Chris Sutton and found that the core of the side which had so many good moments from 1987 to 1994 - Culverhouse, Butterworth, Crook, Goss - were either lost to the team, or lost form.
He got less than half of the money received from the sales of Sutton, Fox, Robins, Ekoku and Culverhouse, but his signings were hit-and-miss: for every Jon Newsome there was a Mike Sheron, the highly-rated forward signed from Man City who struggled for goals.
In 2004-2005, absolutely not - until it was too late. Nigel Worthington joked at the start of the season that he'd need "£35 million" to keep City up: he kept the team in touch with 17th place on much, much less but wasn't able to break the bank until signing Ashton in mid-season.
He didn't make the most of the players he did sign, though, and had he played Youssef Safri and Thomas Helveg (in particular) more often then we might have found the single away win/two more points needed to scrape into 17th place.
Posted By: Ottosson Foxtrot on September 20th 2010 at 01:18:49
Message Thread
- A request (NCFC) - littlenorwich, Sep 20, 00:50:51
- Interesting questions (NCFC) - JoeyDeacon, Sep 20, 13:42:26
- many thanks to everyone so far, have to point out though I am not a binner (NCFC) - samcd84, Sep 20, 10:05:05
- Wrong username fail (n/m) (NCFC) - Charles21, Sep 20, 10:53:06
- I think it was meant (n/m) (NCFC) - pants, Sep 20, 11:03:50
- not trying to keep it a massive secret, but yes it was a mistake (n/m) (NCFC) - samcd84, Sep 20, 11:27:33
- oh, I thought you were defending yourself from being called scummer. Always a cheap shot (n/m) (NCFC) - pants, Sep 20, 11:53:35
- not trying to keep it a massive secret, but yes it was a mistake (n/m) (NCFC) - samcd84, Sep 20, 11:27:33
- I think it was meant (n/m) (NCFC) - pants, Sep 20, 11:03:50
- Wrong username fail (n/m) (NCFC) - Charles21, Sep 20, 10:53:06
- Good luck with your project. Proceeds to St John Ambulance? (n/m) (NCFC) - Buckscanary, Sep 20, 08:14:32
- Is that in anyway related to the "City 'til I die" book? (NCFC) - Al NCFC4life, Sep 20, 08:04:58
- Inexpensive, not cheap. (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Sep 20, 07:50:57
- Try Sir Bobby (n/m) (NCFC) - TheHoolahanElement, Sep 20, 07:35:39
- My advice is to try and contact players/managers of that era. (NCFC) - usacanary, Sep 20, 05:40:11
- I'm going to be awake for a while, so I'm going to have a stab at this. (NCFC) - Ottosson Foxtrot, Sep 20, 01:18:49
- This ^^^^^ is wehat i would say but better put in a lot less words. (NCFC) - megson, Sep 20, 10:04:15
- true, and uefa cup qualification was an honour, teams rest players in it these days (n/m) (NCFC) - samcd84, Sep 20, 10:12:40
- test (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Sep 22, 11:17:39
- true, and uefa cup qualification was an honour, teams rest players in it these days (n/m) (NCFC) - samcd84, Sep 20, 10:12:40
- This ^^^^^ is wehat i would say but better put in a lot less words. (NCFC) - megson, Sep 20, 10:04:15
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