Norwich City: 3 Reasons for Canaries Fans to Be Optimistic for Next Season

With preseason training about to get underway, Premier League players up and down the land will once again be dusting off their boots and preparing themselves for another grueling season of top-flight football.

Norwich City come into the campaign on the back of a superb end to last season, after they put to bed any relegation fears with a couple of inspired displays to ensure that belief is high going into 2013-14.

The club will be optimistic of building on an 11th-placed finish in Chris Hughton's first season in charge, with the top 10 now firmly in their sights.

Here are three reasons why Canaries fans should be looking forward to the big kickoff in August.

For much of last season, it was a very anxious period for Norwich City fans and players alike, as the club flirted dangerously with relegation.

However, the Canaries pulled it together just at the time when it was needed the most to record tremendous back-to-back victories over West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City in the closing weeks of the season and propel themselves to an 11th-placed finish.

Now, Norwich supporters will be fully aware that this was conceivably a campaign that could have had a very different ending, but whatever spin anyone tries to put on it, the history books will show that Chris Hughton's men finished the season a comfortable eight points above the bottom three. 

What's more, the club managed to cement 11th place in the final standings, meaning that they finished one position higher than the previous year.

Whichever way you look at it, managing to better your league position year on year is the hallmark of a club that is going in the right direction, and Norwich City have managed to propel themselves higher and higher up the football pyramid for the last four years in succession now.

The challenge now is to attempt to break into the top 10, and with the addition of some quality signings, there's no reason why such a goal can't be achieved. 

Norwich City fans could be forgiven for pinching themselves when they assess the quality of the stars that have been linked with the club so far this summer.

Of course, some of the mooted deals will inevitably fizzle out without anything coming to fruition, but even the fact that established international footballers are being seriously associated with moves to Carrow Road shows just how far the club have come.

Despite only being four years ago, the days in which the likes of Simon Whaley and Owain Tudur Jones were the star summer arrivals in Norfolk seem like a distant memory, and Norwich City seem determined to ensure that they don't ever return to those times. 

After already securing the signing of Ricky van Wolfswinkel, ambitious swoops for PSV's Ola Toivonen (Sky Sports) and FC Twente's Leroy Fer (according to BBC Sport's Richard Askam) have come to light recently—with transfer fees being branded about that Canaries fans could only dream about in the past. 

Admittedly, convincing such players that their futures lie at Carrow Road may well prove to be an almighty stumbling block, with the aforementioned Toivonen not exactly bursting with enthusiasm about a move to Norwich when questioned about his future (Sky Sports) after Sweden's recent clash with the Faroe Islands. 

However, you get the feeling that if the club can somehow convince a player like Toivonen to commit to the Canaries, then more quality players may follow suit, because ambition is a very attractive trait.

It's great to know that Norwich City have managed to get themselves into such a strong financial position without the assistance of a wealthy owner, and theirs is a story that should give hope to other clubs who have aspirations to be a success in the Premier League.  

Norwich City's FA Youth Cup triumph last season should give renewed hope for the future, and it is certainly a night that will live long in the memory.

The Canaries Under 18's defied the odds by taking on, and defeating, the best that their fellow youth teams from around the country had to offer to lift the cup.

What's more, the fact that more than 20,000 fans turned up for the home leg at Carrow Road against Chelsea, and a staggering 3,000 traveled down to West London for the return fixture, shows just how united the club are from top to bottom.

The young Canaries look like a team that are bustling with talent, with the likes of the Murphy twins, Cameron McGeehan and Harry Toffolo (to name just a few) looking more than comfortable on the big stage.

It may be a tough ask for such players to break into the first team next season, but they appear to be ready to at least make the step up to senior football on loan at another club, and if they impress, opportunities in Chris Hughton's squad may not be a million miles away.

At last, the academy system at Norwich finally appears to be bearing fruit, after several dry years on the production line previously.

With the club also securing Category One Academy status, the club has a brilliant platform to produce more young talent in the coming seasons and to ensure that Norwich City are in very safe hands for years to come. 

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