Never say 'die'

For Norwich City fans, today's 1-0 defeat by fellow Premier League strugglers Fulham was a huge disappointment.  Billed as a 'must-win' game - as classic 'relegation six-pointer' - it was believed that whoever lost this match would be in serious trouble.

Serious trouble, yes.  But not certain relegation.  The Norwich City FC Facebook page has quickly filled up with comments saying "well, that's that, then - we're definitely going down now!"  I don't know how anyone can be so sure.

Football is inherently unpredictable.  How anyone can say with such cocksure arrogance that relegation is a certainty for Norwich now is beyond me.  After all, while the result at Fulham today doesn't exactly help matters, as things stand we're still not in the Relegation Zone even now.

Plenty of supporters are pointing to 'the Run-In', and the fact that Norwich's last four games are against four of the so-called 'big teams'; many people believe that, although Norwich are currently 17th, Fulham (and maybe even Cardiff, too) can catch us because their final four games are that bit easier.

Even though this ignores the fact that there are no 'easy games' in the Premier League, I am again at a loss to understand how these people can be so certain.  The prevailing attitude seems to be that the possibility of Norwich taking any points at all from their last four fixtures is so unlikely as to be discounted entirely - but the fact is, nothing is impossible, and stranger things have happened in football, over the years.  After all, few people would've given Norwich a hope of beating Spurs earlier this season, or holding Manchester City to a very creditable draw after having been hammered 7-0 the first time around.

Yes, staying is going to be difficult for Norwich, and there is no doubt that the task which now faces us is enormous - but there are so many factors involved in this equation, no one can really know for definite what will happen.  To act as though relegation is already a mathematical certainty is as foolish as to act as if survival is a certainty - and that sort of negativity and despair does nobody any favours.

If the manager, one of his staff, or any of the players came out after today's match and publicly stated that we hadn't got a hope they would be absolutely crucified by the media and the fans - and rightly so!  They would be expected to keep fighting right to the very end, giving everything they have for the club and its supporters.  So why do some people think it is OK for us, as fans, just to give up on our season with four games still left to play?

Let's not be under any delusions as to how tough the remainder of this season will be.  But we can still beat the drop, and there is still everything left to play for - so let's get behind the manager and the team, and give it everything we've got for these last four games!

Ignore my stupid Profile Picture - the points are still valid...!