A good read..............an d very true indeed.

This is a really good article by Kevin Piper. Read it all the way through - the end bit ties a few things up and can only agree with him.....

A little after 3.45 pm on Saturday my mobile burst into life. It was my mate Neil, a good friend who happens to be a lifelong Crystal Palace fan.

He was calling, as promised, with a half-time report from Selhurst Park.

?Palace are two-up. Frankly it could be three or four,? he said. ?What's more, Norwich appear to have forgotten something.?

?What's that?? I asked.

?Their entire midfield!?

Judging by subsequent reports, it wasn't the only department in which the Canaries were found wanting at the weekend.

Neil's full-time analysis was short and sweet. He seemed genuinely embarrassed at the ease of his team's victory, a point underlined by a fellow Palace fan during a post-match local radio phone-in when Norwich were described as the worst team to visit Selhurst Park this season.

It had all been so different just a few hours earlier, with talk of Palace being the ?acid test? of City's play-off credentials. A good result at Selhurst Park and, hey, Cardiff here we come.

I don't know if the club's hierarchy shared that optimism, but it was interesting to note director Barry Skipper's comments about the impending supporters' meeting at St Andrew's Hall: ?I just don't know how we've got to the stage of people calling public meetings,? he told the local press, pointing to the significant upturn in the Canaries' fortunes over the past decade.

He has a point, of course. Norwich City Football Club has come a long, long way since those dark days of the mid-90s. By and large the Canaries are in fantastic shape off the pitch, for which the club's directors and executive team deserve immense credit.

As we know, the problem right now is down to what's happening ON the pitch, and Saturday's capitulation has certainly given plenty of ammunition to those who feel it's high time for change.

The directors appear to remain resolutely behind their man, but there are precious few signs of that faith being repaid anytime soon. The display at Palace was variously described as ?painful, unacceptable and our worst yet?, among other things. The timing of this latest inept no-show was remarkable. How do you go about explaining such a woeful performance, a full 36 games into the season, with a near full-strength squad at the manager's disposal - and the spectre of tonight's public meeting looming large?

I'm not sure what tonight's fans' forum will achieve; events against Stoke this weekend might prove more critical in the overall shape of proceedings.

In the meantime, sandwiched between the two and in stark contrast to tonight's proceedings, there's another gathering of City supporters tomorrow when a veritable galaxy of former Canaries stars meet at Carrow Road for an evening of unashamed nostalgia.

It's the club's latest Hall of Fame reunion, the highlight being the induction of 10 new members, invited to join the original cast of 100 Canary greats.

The guest list includes players from various eras, from Johnny Gavin and Maurice Norman, to Terry Bly, Ollie Burton and Tommy Bryceland.

There'll also be a few of my own boyhood heroes, like Hughie Curran, Kenny Foggo, Graham Paddon, Duncan Forbes and Dave Stringer.

Good old Dave; he's sure to make a point of asking me about my ribs, just as he has ever since he gave me a whack during a charity match a few years ago: ?Sorry, Kev? a perfect accident, mate!?

I bear no grudge. Stringer is one of the club's all-time greats; the original local boy made good, a veteran centre-half who went on to perform wonders as City manager, guiding the Canaries to two FA Cup semi-finals in four seasons and a then club record best-ever finish of fourth in the old First Division.

It came as a big surprise when he resigned after the penultimate game of the 1991-92 season. It had been a relatively difficult campaign and once City were mathematically safe from relegation Stringer announced he was quitting.

When asked why he was going, he said something along the lines of: ?Every manager has his shelf life, and I've reached mine.?

I think it was Winston Churchill who once said words to the effect that in order to understand the future, you should first look into the past. History, in other words, can teach us much about what lies ahead.

What's that got to do with the price of fish? I hear you ask. Well, I'd say history suggests Dave Stringer's timing was spot on. He knew when to get out.

As a result, Norwich fans will forever remember him for all the good work he did as manager, and not the struggle towards the end of his tenure.

I'd go along with that, despite the occasional twinge in the ribs.

Posted By: Wayne Biggins, Mar 3, 16:38:47