STEVE GEDGE A vital decision takes place this week which could affect Norwich City's whole season.According to Peter Grant, this is a factor which "can play a massive part in cranking up the atmosphere".

STEVE GEDGE

A vital decision takes place this week which could affect Norwich City's whole season.

According to Peter Grant, this is a factor which "can play a massive part in cranking up the atmosphere".

Still confused? Well it's something that Preston manager Paul Simpson admits causes "depression" and hasn't helped his side's winless start to the season which has yielded just one goal in five matches.

Yes, it's the music the team runs out to before a game.

Now time was, I'm sure, when City players used to emerge to one of their own top recordings such as "Something To Shout About".

It might have been purely on grounds of taste, but that eventually fell by the wayside, being replaced by various other tracks until we got to the late 90s to be confronted by M People's Moving On Up.

It's not only that it wasn't what you could call "cutting edge" but it just wasn't particularly accurate as, such was the lack of the Canaries' promotion drive, they frequently looked more like moving on down.

So, now we are confronted by a new range of selections to replace Queen's One Vision.

And while the choice might not be great, at least they've elected to go by criteria other than just the song title alone.

Otherwise, in view of the fairly dire last two seasons, Owen Paul's My Favourite Waste Of Time, or Useless by Depeche Mode should have surely been worthy of serious consideration.

But why is it so important? Well back to Deepdale boss Simpson and his views on Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley.

(I could be wrong, but I seem to remember there was another song played before the game against the Canaries last month - sounding like it was performed by not only a pub singer but also most of the inhabitants of his local. With a chorus that I recall as being something like "P N E; P N E; We love you P N E," On The Ball, City it wasn't.)

He wants North End officials to now find something else, admitting: "I don't know whose idea this song is at the start because it seems to put everyone in a bit of a depression.

"When we play that song just before the game the whole place seems to go quiet.

"You need a buzz when the players come running out. We have got to get this place buzzing.

"I believe we have some cheerleaders who start things off, but I don't ever see them.

"We have to do whatever we can to get things rocking."

Norwich officials have elected for a fans' vote, run in conjunction with Radio Broadland, but given that a high-ranking Carrow Road person has a love of pre-1990s music, there must be a bit of envy that chart star Calvin Harris, whose hits have included Acceptable In The Eighties, is a supporter of Queen Of The South rather than the Canaries. (Of course, they could have always approached Norwich-born and Taverham-raised Cathy Dennis, I suppose.)

As a result, the half-time announcer at the Dumfries club approached Harris to ask him to come up with a new anthem.

"We need to try and get something more up tempo," said Alex Wilson. "You want to get the crowd to clap along."

After this approach Harris admittted he was working on "a big, happy, hardcore global piece of work" for the Scottish First Division outfit, but subsequently insisted that while the approach had taken place he had actually been joking about the style of music involved.

It's hard to imagine anything remotely "happy hardcore" ever being played over the Carrow Road public address system, so what of the choices we are offered?

Well, a Scottish option was inevitable, but do Messrs Grant, Duffy, Gunn, Lappin, Fotheringham, Marshall, Murray etc etc ever really psyche themselves up to The Proclaimers' 500 Miles? It's hard to imagine that's the case. Still, it could have been worse -they might have chosen something by Deacon Blue.

Queen's We Will Rock You and Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor show no imagination and one day The Fratellis' Chelsea Dagger will surely become just as ubiquitous - quite apart from the fact it should be ruled out for being the goal celebration music at Portman Road.

Which just leaves Club Foot by Kasabian and The Ramones' Blitzkreig Bop - both perfectly good tracks in their own right, but, no, it's more than just the music that counts now. So one gets chosen on the grounds of "being in the film 'Goal' plus plenty of video games", while the other "featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3".

Personally, being a frequent 2.59pm arrival at Carrow Road, I could live with either.

However, I have spent recent weeks musing over what could be a more slightly off-beat choice.

The first week of the season left me thinking about the possibility of City Sickness by Nottingham melancholics Tindersticks, but after further consideration I came up with the album track Probably The Best Investment I Ever Made by The Farmers Boys.

This succeeds on three grounds: local links with a Norfolk band; it's an apt title in that it reflects my optimism that I might yet get more for my season-ticket outlay than being able to celebrate Jamie Cureton's double against Southampton; and, since it was released in 1983, it should find favour in at least one stretch of the Carrow Road corridors of power.