With Norwich City creeping towards the finish line for the top six, the age-old debate about Premier League football has returned. 

Everyone wants to see the Canaries pit their wits against the country's very best, but what about the state of the Premier League more broadly, where the rich get richer and it's increasingly hard to survive? 

Do City supporters want to be involved in that? Connor Southwell and Adam Harvey discussed it in the latest edition of our long-running Canaries podcast, sponsored by Colman's of Norwich. 

**

CS: I just wanted to have a quick discussion from something I heard on BBC Radio Norfolk and the Scrimmage plus I've had it a lot where people have come up to me or messaged me or family and said, 'I don't want Norwich to go up anyway'. I think there are two parts to this debate - the competitive part, which I think is a bit of a non-argument because, and we're all football fans, you always want to see your team playing against the very best even if that doesn't end very well because you might get a Man City at home moment which defies all logic and that is a game I will speak about forever. That's partly because it was my first in the job, but the magnitude, the feeling, the David versus Goliath nature of it was incredible. So from a competitive standpoint, I don't think it's a debate. You, or any football fan, whether they support King's Lynn, anyone in the National League - their aspiration is to one day get to the Premier League. I'm less keen to approach it from that angle because if you polled 100 football fans and asked them if they would rather those teams, they would say yes. But what is a debate, and it's something that's been brought to the forefront because of the deal that has been struck between the FA and the Premier League, supposedly without consultation according to the EFL - I think there is a debate to be had about whether you'd want your club to be part of the Premier League. You've got a team that is, probably, going to win its fourth title on the spin with 115 charges against the teams at the bottom getting points deductions for not complying with financial rules that prevent them from spending money to claw down the best in the league. Those who did come up looking likely to come back down immediately. That's not to say the EFL is perfect - they haven't dealt with ownership problems well, the parachute payment debate. I'm keen to approach it in that background. We all like to think that, especially with Norwich and the type of club they are, that it would be different. But it's easy to say that when you're in there. I think about it a lot, but I'm really worried about the state of football and its general direction of travel at the moment. How do you feel about it, Adam?

AH: The gap has been demonstrated more than ever this season when you look at Sheffield United's and Burnley's struggles. Luton have a slight chance. It's become a massive Moneyball at the top. Could Norwich go and compete with those in the Premier League in terms of financials? Definitely not. Then it's about trying to be smart and that's where the Brentfords and the Brightons of the world have come into it - they've done things differently but successfully. That has been in more recent times. If you go back a decade ago to the Norwich side under Paul Lambert, that should never have stayed in the Premier League, but the unity was key. They defied all odds to stay there for three seasons. I don't see that being as plausible now. For Norwich, the driver of being there is the financial gain - less so about the enjoyment for fans. Even those sides in the middle of the league are such a long way from Norwich now. Competitive-wise, there is always a shock in a one-game scenario, but that's harder in a full season. It's up to fans to decide if they want to play the best in the world or not. 

CS: It's everything that comes with being in the Premier League. Everything gets VAR-ed to death, games are being decided electronically and they're not in the EFL, even if sometimes that means decisions like the one Rotherham were victims of against West Brom a couple of weeks ago. Every game is broadcast and you don't know what day of the week you're going to kick off - it is very rarely Saturday, 3pm. Fan welfare isn't thought of and it feels more like a reality show. That is more my point - it's everything associated with the Premier League that I find difficult to get excited about. The competition and facing Kevin de Bruyne or Erling Haaland - bring it on! But the rest feels pretty unpalatable to me compared to the alternative, which is far from perfect. I'm much more excited about a 46-game Championship season compared to a Premier League one - but that's just me. 

AH: The Premier League is such a saturated place to be. If you boil it down to the fans, with respect, you go to somewhere like Old Trafford and there's not a big atmosphere - there is always going to be an element of tourism because of the big names. Let's face it, if you're rocking up to Luton, everyone is rooting for Luton and supports them through and through. They want to see their team compete, but the general feeling around the Premier League is that it needs decisions to go in their favour, like points deductions, VAR, etc, to go your way. 

- Podcast number #586 is now available to watch on YouTube here or listen to here or via your preferred podcast platform