I`ve no idea what it`s like where you sit at Carrow Road, so I can only speak for the upper tier of the River End but boy, is there some moaning going on.
I know that we all pay our money and we can all say and do what we like, within reason about any subject at anytime. As long as it isn`t abusive, racial, homophobic, breaking the law etc, we all have a right to an opinion.
However, the level of moaning is starting to affect my own match days and I don`t like it.
Recently I`ve noticed it more than I did before. Was it always happening and I just didn`t notice or is it a new thing? I can`t say exactly.
However, let me explain what`s happening. I sit where I do because it`s the “Family Area” and we`ve had season tickets there specifically since we moved from the South Stand in 2010 when our lad was five and we got him a season ticket for the first time. He`s been going ever since and he`s now 12 and like any good parent, we wanted to try to protect him from the “industrial” language of football.
The Family Area seemed like the ideal solution and I quite like the view that the upper tiers give you of the game. Yes, you`re a bit high up but you do see a unique bird`s eye view of the play.
However, the Family Area has a much higher percentage of older people than it does kids, I`d say.
That`s not a criticism and I`m no spring chicken myself.
Some of the stuff I hear around me has me biting my lip and struggling to not say something. I can see how fans who`ve had a few beers fall out with each other, as I`ve heard happening in the Snake Pit this season.
I know of some actually coming to blows, which is insane.
Anyway, an example of the last couple of games for you.
Against Reading, I heard a constant loud male voice from behind me, looking round I could see a man in his 60`s. He was providing a loud commentary (it`s not too noisy up there) about individual players.
For example, he moaned about Reed, Vrancic (despite a MOTM performance in my opinion), Lewis, Srbeny, pretty much everyone and then continued on to the (late as usual) subs. “Hoolahan?! What`s he going to do?”
He continued on about the general play and style and moaned about the taking of short goal kicks, corners and the possession based game etc.
He kept it up the entire game and it was a tough watch with that commentary.
I didn`t hear him say a single positive thing throughout. Nothing when Vrancic made those defence splitting passes, nothing when we scored from a Maddison corner and were 3-1 up at the break and so it went on.
This guy is about five rows behind me and it seems as though he just wants to make his points so loudly as to court a confrontation. That`s highly unlikely in the Family Area, so he needs to go to the Snake Pit if he wants a fight.
Then we move on to Fulham.
I thought Norwich played okay but were beaten by a very good team, who are currently better at the possession based game than we are. They came down with us in 2014 and haven`t been close to automatic promotion since. It`s taken four years to get to this point.
The “older chap” in front of me is also a moaner and can`t stand or understand the possession based game.
He hates a short goal kick, corner or a sideways pass.
If City aren`t always on the attack, even at the expense of losing the ball with a long hopeful ball he`s not happy. He can`t bear it and just wants to see us kick it long all the time, if his comments are anything to go by.
He would rather we hoof it forward (which turns into a 50/50 ball) than look for a pass that we can keep it. The basics are that if your opponent doesn`t have the ball, he can`t score and this is what the football style of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City is all about.
Pep Guardiola is a young coach and has revolutionised football in the last decade. It`s modern, fresh and exciting to watch. It`s the exact thing that Fulham are doing and that Reading did so well last season. It is however a work in progress at Norwich.
The old boy in front is moaning one minute because we`re moving the ball around midfield without a killer pass and then saying “We should play like Fulham” the next.
It drives me crazy. As I wrote yesterday, Fulham are a good template for how Norwich should be playing completely and we`re not quite there yet. We need the final ball, the incisive pass and clinical finishing that they have and we don`t – yet.
The drive home had me hear “Mervyn” on Canary Call who said we should sack Daniel Farke and employ Mick McCarthy. I suspect the chap in front might like that, as he seems to advocate hoof ball, in fact, thinking about it, maybe he is “Mervyn.”
OTBC
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