Today, 08:09 PM #1 kiwiqpr How will Norwich, Swansea and QPR fare and in year two? How will Norwich, Swansea and QPR fare and in year two? Posted on Thursday, 26th July 2012 by Andrew Masters Few people would have felt comfortable betting on the survival of any one of the newly-promoted clubs at the start of last yearâs campaign, let alone all three. Yet, for only the second time in the history of the Premier League all three former Championship teams managed to avoid the drop. Now, the question becomes will the survivors follow the lead set by the other set of three to accomplish the feat back in 2001-02 (Fulham, Blackburn, Bolton) and enjoy an extended stay in the top flight? Or will year 2 mean a dose of reality for the upstarts and a trip back through the trapdoor to the Championship? Q.P.R. seems to be in the best position for prolonged success despite barely escaping the bottom three last season, thanks to the deep pockets of its new Malysian majority owner. On the field, a promising side is bolstered by the additions of Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Nelsen while full seasons from Bobby Zamora, Shaun Wright Phillips and Djibril Cisse should see Rangers improve on their dismal goal difference (worst among all the clubs who stayed up). But most importantly for long-term survival is whatâs happening off the field. Q.P.R. has money to spend. I donât think Park will be the last signing of the off-season for Rangers and with a board thatâs sights are set on Champions League football I expect London will have to get used to another top-flight regular. Swansea makes for a tougher call. The Swans have done well to deal with the loss of bright young gaffer Brendan Rodgers to Anfield by snapping up the well-respected Michael Laudrup, and as a result may hold on to some of their better players. Even if some of their players do exit prior to the season Swansea should look to Stoke, another recently promoted success story, for a survival outline. Stick to what you do best. Rodgers had the Welsh side playing some of the prettiest football around last year utilizing âthe English Xaviâ Leon Britton to perfection in the center whilst getting the most of players with something to prove like Danny Graham and Joe Allen. Swansea proved it is the system as much as the players that drives positive results and they would do well to remember that again this season despite the change in the backroom. I donât think Swansea will reach the heights of last seasonâs campaign but a top-10 finish is definitely not out of the question. Norwich City may have the toughest task ahead in 2012-13. Paul Lambert was obviously a talented manager to squeeze a 47 point season out of a squad whoâs biggest name player was plying his trade for Shrewsbury Town as recently as 2009. For Chris Hughton matching or surpassing this number will be a big ask. John Ruddy, Grant Holt, and Anthony Pilkington led the way to a surprising 12th place finish but many of the Canaries wins were due to their opponent underestimating them. Clubs donât get this same luxury of surprise in year two. Teams will be ready for Norwichâs direct style of play and Hughton may not be able to get off to a hot start like last season while he works out the tactical kinks. If Norwich City is to sustain itself in the vicious Premier League it needs to invest this summer or risk another decade back in lower league football. Read more at http://thisisfutbol.com/2012/07/blog...FM9EgZoExg7.99
Haha, that's just funny!! A few points to pick up on: 1) We have an expansive game plan, we play direct when we need to but generally like to play on the floor with quick short passing. 2) Yes, Lambert and Culverhouse were key to our success over the last few years but ultimately, the players did it. The likes of Howson, Bennett etc. joined later in the campaign and I would say, made us a far better team. 3) no way you can say we won games purely because teams underestimated us....that is ridiculous. 4) I would argue that Snodgrass and Butterfield are considerable investments and if Turner joins, gives us a central defensive partnership I would say is better than QPR and possibly Swansea. I can't be bothered to go through all the flaws in the arguments presented and it's pretty clear QPR staying up was the agenda in this article. Boring and lazy comments if you ask me. QPR have approx 28 players of which what, 20 are 30+...? Seems like a crazy business model to me. Couldn't care less what people write about us, they wrote us off last year and we did fine... Yes, it will be tough but that's life, come what may I say.
lots of misguided information in that report clearly, whoever wrote it is watching these teams from afar - i do find it staggering that people think that us losing our manager means disaster yet swansea losing theirs means a bright new dawn. as far as i'm concerned, i think all three will survive again. qpr have improved, though not to the level that some seem to think, swansea have acquired a decent manager but he has not managed in this country before so we shall have to see how he copes. also, they may well lose one or two more players which would be a shame, especially to liverpool after their supposed agreement. meanwhile, norwich have appointed a good manager too, one who is similar in style to lambert so i wonder how this is a problem. his signings have been straight out of the lambert handbook so i do find it odd when people talk as if we are doomed, solely down to a change of gaffer. i think we'll all be bottom half, but all between 11th and 17th again.
Agree. Tempting to just say; 'We'll see", but can't avoid being a little irritated by an article which seems to have been written by someone who has no idea (or interest in) who either we or Swansea have signed; or our style of play. Ah well; 'we'll see', and it is truly hard to feel more than a little irritated.
I don't want this is develop into an argument, and I have seen this article beforehand(was posted on here a couple of days ago) but it shows a complete ignorance to the football of all 3 clubs Norwich will finish highest of the 3, because we're norwich.
Laughing at this. No problem that people still have no clue about our club because it plays into our hands. We won all 4 games against Swansea and QPR last season, was that down to being "taken lightly"? Morons
Quick question for kiwiqpr. Putting your 'reporting' hat on one side for a minute, and forming an opinion - which three clubs do you personally see as most likely to suffer relegation next May?
The article is just a joke ill informed, ignorant and clearly designed to fan the flames between our two sets of fans on Not606 once again. Best just ignored & I'm with Gorleston Girl, lets wait & see shall we?
yes, i think it was the 'all their opponents taking them lightly' insult which is the most embarrassing part of this whole piece to be honest. that and the last bit where it says we'll spend the next decade in the championship! bitter
I don't think any of us underestimate how hard it will be this year - the three promoted sides are arguably stronger than those which went down, QPR have brought a lot of players (not all good signings though imo) and we and the Swans have new managers - I think that, in fact, will work to both our teams advantage rather than be seen as a negative. Hughton will bring new ideas, new approaches and a different perspective to a settled squad with a strong team ethic which will only get stronger by the additions he is bringing in (Snoddy, Buttercup, Turner and hopefully another one or two). I think that some of the more established sides may slip a bit this year (Stoke, Fulham, Sunderland) and with Wigan and Albion looking slightly weaker than last year it will be any of perhaps 10 teams who could duke it out to stay up and that includes the Villains .....
The article seems to suggest that big names will mean that QPR do well, but these players with the exception perhaps of Park are over rated, overpaid and past it. Poor article really and I thought Allen was Welsh!
A really good read! I especially enjoyed the bit about bolstering a promising squad with a full season from SWP! Champions league looks a certainty for QPR while we will be relegated because teams won't underestimate us like last season.
not the most balanced article in the world is it? whilst most of us norwich fans would naturally react when we are touted as expected to have the toughest time out the 3 teams, (a) it's the lazy thing to do given we have less money to spend (but probably no less than Swansea) and have a wage structure and (b) i think most journalists would wait until all have finished their transfer business to form a view.
Certainly is a bizarre article QPR have not got a defence sorted out yet! Until that is addressed I would think their future is in the balance. Swansea - depends on what players they lose perhaps and who they can get in to score more goals. Until that is addressed I would think their future is in the balance. Norwich - We could also perhaps get more recruits in the defensive department. Until that is addressed I would think our future is in the balance. A far more balance appraisal and it only took 3 lines
I actually think the intentions of this OP are good. Unfortunately I cant help but feel he's used MOTD to make his assessment of Norwich - which I dont think is the best of ideas.
QPR will end up somewhere between 1st and 20th. Swansea will end up somewhere between 1st and 20th. Norwich will end up somewhere between 1st and 20th.
obviously written by someone who thinks football is played on FIFA12, buy the big names you will be alright, what a load of tosh. dont know how we will do next year but am confident we will give a good account and if it all comes undone and we go down well we will still have a club with sound finances and not be subject to a millionaire playboy throwing his toys out of the pram running off and leaving us in piles of debt
