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It is simple - if this method was not giving Bielsa and his team a decent advantage in preparation for match day and paying dividends, then Bielsa would have ditched it years ago.

It will inevitably come to an end at some stage but probably not this year.

My view is that the players were never just "mid-table" players. Pukki, Buendia, Leitner to name three are brilliant players. Add to that Vrancic, who has a sublime touch and a great left foot (of which there was evidence last season), the ability of Tettey, the experience of Krul who has done it at the top level, the technique and desire of Stiepermann and Zimmermann, Klose, the young lads who have been brilliant.....Rhodes who is a proven top striker in this division.... Whatever happens this season, we have an excellent group of quality players. Credit to webber and Farke for that of course, but they are excellent. Add to that the expertise of the coaches and we see why we are doing so well. It is not just down to one thing - it is the complete package and is the only way we can compete - be clever in the transfer market, have a good coaching set up and have a togetherness that is hard to match anywhere else. That is the formula we will always need to keep an advantage over the many who have much more money than us. We have it right at the moment, long may it continue.

Oh no, condolences. Could you not find anything with taste?

We saw 22 fouls against us yesterday, but five from us. Two possible red cards not given. This is by no means unusual and seems to be becoming a standard approach by opposing teams, up there with pressing us very high. A few more injuries could derail our season. What can we do to combat this? Is there any point Farke highlighting this to the officials before the game? Do they take any notice?

This was surely one of them ? City win convincingly in front of the cameras. Leeds lost. Sheff Utd lost. Scum lost. Now where did i put my Lotto ticket ? 😜

Let's go back, Lambert before Norwich, nothing. Lambert since Norwich, not a great deal more. Yes, he achieved great things here and has dined out on it ever since. His antics after the Villa game weren't exactly classy and comments like 'them lot up the road ' when talking to his new adoring fans, leaves a sour taste. Ultimately, he doesn't care about us, we were just a means to an end for him, the only one that matters is Paul Lambert. Be nice, show some respect, even applaud if you're that way inclined but he moved on a long time ago, maybe time for us to do the same.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-46282758/cherno-samba-the-football-prodigy-who-made-it-in-a-video-game

Thankfully, even if we all sold our souls so we beat Leeds and Sheff Utd but lost to Ipswich, Ipswich would still find a way to lose to us. They are truly that bad

I would think watching the opposition's final training session before each game ensured a greater advantage for them than being present at their opposition's last game legitimately, the week before. We will never know the exact extent but lets be honest here, if we 'only' knew the tactic on set pieces (offensive and defensive) the other team were implementing for each of our games, the impact would be huge. I agree with Til 1010 on this. It stinks of a full management level of knowledge this was happening at Leeds and they deserve all the condemnation they are receiving. Lets hope their bad run continues without the extra advantage they once had.

Other than the Birmingham game - which must have put fear into the hearts of all our remaining opponents - our biggest recent result was not losing at WBA. Not because we got a point but because they didn't get three. So given the construct of the question then the answer must be Ipswich as all that means is we get no points, Ipswich getting three is irrelevant to us. In the other two games however if we lose it automatically means we also lose our relative position against them. So as much as it pains me to say it - Ipswich.

I'm starting to believe too. If results are positive over the next few weeks, I might just count me chickens and stick the bubbly in the fridge in a state of readiness. The work ethic, the spirit in the squad, the ability to ride through the recent unavailability of key players, the 'buy-in' from the players into the playing philosophy and the altered attitude of opposition coaches' attempts to stop us all point to (dare I utter it?) automatic promotion. Of course the wheels might come off, but at the moment there are so many positives. Flying young full-backs who can also defend, keeper finding his form, ball-playing centre-backs, disciplined holding midfielders, players who can pick a key pass, patient & probing transfer from midfield to the danger areas, threat from attacking set-pieces, committed players, apparent superior fitness levels, late goals, ability to come from behind, effective substitutions, like-for-like changes when enforced, (almost!) no red cards, forwards who can actually rattle the onion-bag, young 'up & comings' breaking through, planned & methodical recruitment, balancing of the books upstairs, morale in the stands... One slightly worrying recent development seems to be the (unavoidable?) injury attritional rate along with the opposition kicking lumps out of our key players, e.g. Leitner, Buendia, Aarons. If we lose the likes of Krul, Aarons, Lewis, Klose, Zimm, Leitner, Tettey, Buendia, Stiepermann, Pukki etc, (that's pretty much the entire first 11!), we are of course weakened but it's a testament to Webber & co that the squad has genuine depth and ability. Every squad is in the same boat I suppose re: injuries, but the next few games should give a strong indication of how things will look in May. And "for sure" Herr Farke is well aware of that! Bring it on!

Whilst it will be well understood that we need to concentrate on our own results, I've just had a look at the fixtures coming up next month and it could be a good opportunity to create some kind of a gap between second and third as many of the top 6 are playing against each other. Leeds Norwich (H) Boro (A) Swansea (H) QPR (A) Bolton (H) Norwich: Leeds (A) Scum (H) Preston (A) Bolton (A) Bristol (H) Sheffield United Bolton (H) Villa (A) Boro (H) Reading (H) West Brom (A) West Brom Boro (H) Stoke (A) Forest (H) Villa (A) QPR (H) Sheffield United (H) Boro West Brom (A) Leeds (H) Sheff U (A) Blackburn (A) QPR (H) Derby Preston (A) Hull (H) Ipswich (A) Wigan (H) Millwall (H) Forest (A) Us and Derby arguably have the most favourable fixtures, whilst West Brom certainly have the hardest, albeit they have a game in hand. Points will be dropped and a strong run of results will set us up nicely for the run-in.

Just started listening to the Twilight Sad- quite enjoying them so far.

Something to warm the hearts of City fans on a winters afternoon, and to select your favourite three 1. Johnson 2. Holt - 1st at CR 3. Jacob Murphy

Ricky delivered us cat one academy and passed further audits to keep it. No mean feat considering what we've found out since. He also had loads of influence on the youngsters who came through the academy. Jacob Murphy confirmed this when he was sold to Newcastle.

And some folk were worried that Norfolk would struggle to attract the young cosmopolitan footballers.

The little blue pen sounds like the ideal place to keep the Ipswich fans in 3 weeks time.

Agree entirely with splendid. If he gets some goals for Reading against our rivals and helps send the other club down, that’s a win win as it puts him firmly in the shop window as well. Personally, I’d be happy if we still paid his full wages as we’re paying them at the moment and its achieving nothing.

Onels declaration of love for Argos is hilarious to be fair, worth reading several times 😂

A proper Norwich fan would never pick Ipswich. Under any circumstances.

I completely agree the fouling is a symptom of playing well, but some posters seem to be saying “oh well, at least it shows how good we are”. That’s not good enough IMHO, we need to do what we can to stop it or we could end up seeing a nasty injury. It nearly happened on Friday. Should the crowd get on the ref’s back the moment he lets something go? Should Farke have a word before each game? Should one player (captain presumably) make a point each time to the ref? Or just leave it and watch it continue?

It is getting worse as we're a bit lightweight and doing well by playing decent football. The hatchet men are out for us. If you think that Friday night was bad then last Saturday at the Hawthorne was worse. The ref did sod all about it there, and at Blackburn a few weeks ago. I think we're still seen as little old Norwich who don't protest to much. A strong leader in the pack might help, to get in the refs face a bit more.

This bizarre new style of article is clickbait at its very worst- no suggestion that we have even the remotest interest, just that we should. What a crock of ****.

Boro could be well off the pace after those games. They don't score enough as it is.

I think it is more a case of needing to pick up points when 'you should' ie against lower based teams - as we will have to play most at some point A win and a draw gainst Leeds/Sheff Utd should set us up for three easier games though Preston's win at QPR would suggest they are no pushover and i suspect that now Bolton appear to be getting on top of their financial difficulties they will be a stronger force than of late And much depends pon injuries Hopefully we will have Klose, Leitner and Tettey back - but what would happen were we to lose, say, Pukki, or another regular or two ? Either way it has been a cracking season so far with a good few twists and turns to come before we can fire up the open top bus 😉

I see us as the best footballing side in the Championship and the most entertaining since 1993. Anything else is a bonus.

yes. it has been noticeable that no one team has broken clear by a large margin as is often the case in fact up to this Xmas the top spot regularly swapped between various teams and as yesterdays results (and our four before) show no team is safe from a stumble or two so all to play for as we head towards the final lap

Heart says - Leeds. Head says - Ipswich. But it doesn’t mattter as we won’t be losing any of them.

I would think a few hearty choruses of "There's only one Paul Lambert" should do the trick? 😉

Speculating on possible points totals/requirements doesn't suggest games being played simultaneously

Becoming a big fan of the new country rock that is a bit more soulful. This band is touring the UK. Sold out at Bristol the nearest to me but it means an overnight stop which won't be possible anyway. If you like them there are plenty of vids on YouTube.

I'd still rate oliveira above Srbeny..unlikely I know but maybe it he is here in Feb he will be integrated back...but very unlikely I know.