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Dull and grey in Norwich today but no wind so ideal for football. It started tipping it down when i left for the match so I was rather damp on arrival. Someone asked me during the week if I was looking forward to the Derby and seemed surprised when I said no. Thats the problem with being brought up at a time of Ipswich superiority that despite a decade of dominance still rankles deep down. The flag waving and pre match razzmatazz raised my spirits a bit but I was still nervous as a kitten as the visitors kicked off towards the Barclay. There was a bit of head tennis in our left back position but we soon came away down the right with Aarons who had made 50 yards before crossing low to Hernadez who had his shot blocked away to Vrancic who bravely nodded it back for the Cuban winger to hammer home with his second bite at the cherry. A great start and for a while it was all one way traffic with Vrancic having another couple of efforts. Ipswich gradually grew into the game as we began to loose our usual assured passing touch. It got a bit physical and Mr Banks tended very much on the side of leniency as Buendia and Vrancic were both singled out for treatment. Town were certainly giving it a good go although there was little to trouble Krul in truth. Judge thumped one into the side netting and a couple of corners were scrambled clear but they didnt look particularly dangerous. It got a bit scrappy as we approached the half and both Sears and Vrancic had to be subbed due to knocks. As Tetty came on just before the break, Aarons was scythed down and there was a right old ruck on the sidelines. Lambert got himself involved and although it was only handbags and the best of three rounds it was no surprise when he got a red card. I couldnt help a wry smile😁. The image of him being ushered gesticulating furiously down the tunnel will live long in the memory. There were at least three minutes of added time left but Mr Banks probably did the right thing by whistling a bit early. When things had cooled down a shade I stood looking down at the pitch and suddenly remembered a Derby game from over 60 years ago. In my minds eye I could see Peter Gordon scoring down there in the River End. I stood under the old Pinkun scoreboard that afternoon with a crowd of over 30k. We won 3 2, a rare event in those days. The half time fracas must have had some effect because it was all Town for the opening quarter. Judge was only a yard wide with a low shot and we had to withstand a fair old ariel bombardment as a few corners and free kicks came in. They probably only have their pride to play for now but I give them credit for having a go. It was certainly a full blooded contest and I remained on edge until Pukki finally settled my nerves by latching onto Buendias defence splitting pass before rifling a low short across Bialkowski to put clear daylight between the teams. There was a bit more huffing and puffing from Town but i never really felt that they made anything amounting to a clear cut chance. Pukki might have wrapped it up on 75 minutes but the flag was up as he turned Zimmermans flick on into the net but we didnt have to wasit long for the coup de grace. With ten minutes left it was Buendia again causing panic with a run forward and a pass that Pukki tucked under the advancing keeper to round off the victory. Rhodes came on for the dying moments as a sea of yellow and green sang danced and sang their way to the top of the league and put a further nail in Towns coffin. There was another round of handbags at five paces just before the end as Buendia was dumped but Mr Banks again resisted the red card and probably it was the right thing to do. So thats ten full years of dominance and its something that will go a long way to soothe the pain so often felt in my youthful supporting days. Some may miss the Old Farm Derby but I am more than happy to give it a miss as long as we stay well above them for years to come. MOM? Trybull, Zimmerman, Godfrey, take your pick.👍 Sorry for the delay, hardware failure👹😉

How did that go Paul?

Thought they fought well and had some good posession, but that is all. I suppose that is as good as their fans expected, but it shows the reality of their position. Not good enough. Not sure Lambert is the right man for the job, even in his interview after the match he started talking about his achievements in the past and how that wasn't going to change.......mind you, that fits in quite well with the way Ipswich fans see themselves.....living on past glories.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Planet Clutch where the local currency is straws.

Zimbo MOTM

Also I loved seeing Zimmermann shouting at Emi to not get himself sent off. Really stepped up with the armband.

Farke's wink in all that melee was classic.

I think Paul Lambert has taken Paul Lambert as far as Paul Lambert can go...

need a gif of Farke's wink ASAP

I can't speak highly enough of him. Ability in abundance, Attitude in abundance. Heart in abundance.

Must say I appreciate Krul's goalkicking tactics. Provided the time to recalculate pi to a few million places, file my tax returns, write yet another pro-Trump editorial for the Wall Street Journal, and carry on with translating the Saga of Gilgamesh from the original Akkadian into Serbo-Croat.

Pretty sure that there is an unknown rule where by if you’ve won a trophy in the past and a season ticket holder is old enough to factually remember it, then that club is exempt from falling lower than league 1. I believe under those circumstances that, that clubs fans can also use it as a free hit in defence of any current criticism coming there way.

Sie sprang in die Luft und blieb stecken

A simply wonderful player. He was probably our best player in the latter part of last season and once he got back into the team this season he's just got better and better. They went after him because they know how f*cking good he is.

Never in doubt. If you can’t appreciate how high we’re flying this season, and still feel apprehension, then god help you! WE ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE. RECOGNISE THAT! OTBC!

All the reasons that contributed to him getting on the hall of fame for us won't be changed by the job he's done since. If anything I'd say his more recent work puts him first in line for a statue...

I think they have all the right reasons to be proud. They managed to hold out for more than 80 seconds without conceding a goal, which is far longer than most of them probably expected.

When we scored after 80 seconds, I thought they held out longer than I expected.

Agreed, all the ignorant football experts on here who slated our lower tier German imports last season should now realise they ought to leave footballing decisions to those with football intelligence.

Hope it's a speedy recovery buddy.

Its like being in a successful marriage, cheating, and then expecting your ex to be thankful

It’s not like he did anything particularly wrong in the way he left Norwich. He was offered another job, at a bigger club, and went for it. I bare him no ill will for doing so - especially as he said he felt he’d taken the club as far as he could. Ultimately his move didn’t work out, but that is football. If I was going tomorrow I’d applaud Lambert. Norwich were in real trouble before he came in and under his management the club completely turned itself around. The League One promotion is one thing, which as he admits wasn’t the hardest thing to achieve, but getting the club into the Prem and keeping it there is a miracle and is the foundation everything else is built on right now. Without that promotion Norwich might not have a Cat One academy anymore, without that promotion there would have been no Maddison, without that promotion the good things happening now wouldn’t be. He turned Norwich from being a club knocking around in the mid-table of the Championship to being a club player that can compete at the top of the table. Yeah, he left - but that’s fooball and his achievements should not be forgotten. It is strange that he’s never really been given that applause that most successful returning managers and players get.

Where do you start with this guy? Our young defenders are deservedly getting plenty of plaudits, but Buendia’s consistency of performance has been excellent. He must be Norwich’s most fouled player this season, but (apart from late on today, maybe) just gets up and gets on with it. Creativity, drive, assists, work-rate, the odd goal, tackling, confidence - he doesn’t seem to have a weakness. Possibly adapted to English football quicker than any other foreign player that has signed for Norwich City? Does he bring a smile to the face of any other City supporter whenever he plays?

As the title describes, I think we should remove Lambert of his hall of fame position. Yes, he did what he did for us, but after his near arrest today and obvious total lack of respect for Norwich City, what right has this man got to remain as one of us, engraved in history. None as far as I'm concerned.

I'm a bit worried about all the expectations of a thumping win that are being expressed by some on here. I shan't be counting any chickens until they are all safely in the coop.👍🐓 nothing worse than egg on your face😉🐣

A lot of talk about Lambert in the scuffle but Matt Gill was just as bad utter disgrace of a man and if I catch him in the city he will get both barrels

Well I had to look. There are tons of folk saying how proud they are! The lowest points total for them for years, potentially a new record to be set in the championship and you're proud? Losing 3-0 away against your most bitter rivals? And you're proud? Yet, from what I've just watched, Krul had two pea rollers to collect from shots on target. And if the ref had have been stronger there were two red card offences by your players (ignoring the antics of your own teams manager, who hardly led by example). I guess they look odds-on for league 1 now. Glad to see the back of them.

I think today may just have been when blind delusion met grim reality...smack bang in the face. They were better than I expected, but even that doesn't say much about them. Utterly toothless up front. And apart from one shot there really wasn't anything that anyone City fan might regard as us being a bit lucky. In fact they seemed to be using a ploy that involved shots trundling along at the pace you might see at some village fete 'bowling for a pig' attraction. If you can be ar sed a visit to twtd is a mixture of amusement and pity, but does give the chance to play 'Binman Bingo'. Simply cross off the following as you find them. Glorious history They'll never be us Form is temporary, class is forever No trophies It shouldn't take you long, probably about as long as we took to score today, as these tired old bleats get dragged out every time we are mentioned on twtd. So heaven help te rest of L1 when these rustic halfwits turn up, boring the ar se off them with long forgotten sepia tinted stories.

never forget he tackled a man with his head that's commitment

Absolutely brilliant player. I've loved every second I've seen from him this season. Emi Buendia, from Argentina He came to Norwich from sunny Spain He's 5 foot 7, he's football heaven Please don't take our Emi away.

A quick look at their fixtures show today as probably their last big day out, crowd and atmosphere wise. They have already been to Villa, leeds, Boro and Forrest with only the Blunts after us regarding decent support. This could well be their last decent crowd they witness for many a year. So lets give them something to remember what a support should be, as they continue their downward spiral. Sing, shout and cheer loudly. I will be Send them off in style OTBC

Lambert left for Aston Villa in 2012 and the Scot reiterated ahead of his latest return he feels his achievements have not been fully appreciated. “It might feel different if I had gone back to Norwich and people were like, ‘How are you doing Paul?’ Ever since I went back there has been nothing,” he said. “I gave Norwich everything. For three years. I was tired, I needed a break. Seriously? Is he for real? We worshipped the ground 'The Messiah' walked on. Does he really not understand that when you leave a club the way he did the fans feel betrayed? Our idolism of him. Our complete faith. The fact he could do no wrong in our eyes. All meant absolutely nothing to him when another club came calling. Did the Villa fans worship you Paul? Has any club you've been at since loved you the way we did? At Norwich you were seen as a winner. You gave all that up. And Im not sure what for. You reap what you sow

I was disappointed with his reaction as well because the overaction/diving is IMO the worst feature of the modern game. But I must also confess to having some sympathy, especially this season where we have regularly seen some incredibly poor referees. It shouldn't have to come to this but when you see players like Stipermann and Buendia (plus Vrancic on this occasion) being consistently fouled and the refs taking little to no action then the temptation to ham it up must be extreme. Of course we want games to flow but the way most Championship refs go about it is IMO all wrong - far better is (if the foul/dive warrants it) produce a yellow card or two early on. This either stamps it out for the game or imposes greater punishment when you have a team who specifically and consistently target an opponent and are allowed to get away with it for most of the game. Tough tackling is a part of the game which we all enjoy, but the cynical targeting of a dangerous opponent (and diving) is not and should not be tolerated. If refs aren't capable of doing it, which in the Championship anyway they are clearly aren't, then VAR seems to be the only possible answer.

He is so good with his feet - better than both Wes and Madders you could argue. The ball just seems to stick to his foot, left or right. His little flicks and eye for a pass are absolutely key for us in the final third. Last season we really missed that final ball. He is emotionally charged though - which is both a good and a bad thing. He can sometimes get a little stroppy and melodramatic, which I'd like to see him mature on a little bit. Take nothing away from him though. Absolutely brilliant.

I think he is very clever and maybe even took the opportunity to engineer the incident. Ever since he rocked up at Portaloo Road, it's been about PR. Bringing in ex-players, paying for away travel etc. Being sent off today did many things for him; i) Endeared himself further to the farmhands - going down fighting and all that sh1te ii) Detracted from the fact that he has not improved this team one iota and it was showing today iii) Allowed him to distance himself from the second half performance and result Maybe I am giving him too much credit and he is just an arrogant n o b jockey but, no there is no need to strip him of his HOF entry.

He's like Andy Carroll with far less talent and equally **** hairstyle. Considering I have always thought Carroll is a useless heap of ****, it takes some doing to give me rise to call him a poundland Andy Carroll. But I will. He's a poundland Andy Carroll.

For those who defended Lambert before the game - he gets the reaction he deserves. What a tool.

He was my man of the match today. Absolutely immense.

I suppose its better than your manager telling you to eff off

Farke Wink

Best moment of the first half and probably of the whole season is Farke's wink!

It must have been close, clearly late and deliberate. Maybe the ruckus on the benches saved Nolan. The longer it's been since Lambert was here, the more he's slowly morphing into a Gammon. In my head, I can hear him complaining about immigrants from here.

It's what we've all been waiting for, what we've all been talking about and it's finally arrived, whatever occurs over the ninety minutes, the twists and turns, the old rivalries and ultimately the result. Keep safe everyone, from both sides of the divide, enjoy the day, we don't know when we'll play each other again so make the most of what still remains a great event in the area.

Saying he felt he'd taken the club as far as he could may be true, but is quite compatible with being true for less than admirable reasons -- like running away from the even more challenging task ahead of him in the following season. Nor does the Burnley episode exactly fit with this particular spin regarding his departure. Furthermore, if getting us into the Prem and keeping us there was "a miracle", so was Hughton's keeping us there for a second season in the face of all the challenges Lambert preferred to opt out of, and Hughton's achievement was no less crucial in the chain of events which made all the subsequent positive developments, like the Cat One academy, possible.

I still think we'll 'manage ' the game. Like Brum and Leeds last week, get an early lead and kill the game. At 2-0 we're probably safe, they don't have the quality to turn it around and while the crowd might want more, we've got Preston in a few days.... That said, I'd like a repeat of Scunthorpe, a hat trick for Pukki, bring him off for Rhodes, who also gets 3.

The reason why Lambert has, on the whole, been poorly received upon his returns to FCR is down to his behaviour upon his return. If I recall, his first return was the 4-1 League Cup QF defeat in which he was overly animated on the touchline. In what was a clear 'show' for the benefit of our board, I remember with 5 minutes to go Lambert high fiving every single person in the Villa dugout. That was the moment where I lost respect because he was clearly overegging the win to wind up the board/the fans. If he had shown respect to the fans on his return he would always have got a good reception but he chose not to. It probably didn't help that he kept coming to FCR and winning either. In fact, when he went to Wolves and they came here and lost, 3-1 I think to an Alex Neil side, I quite clearly remember after he was walking back from the away fans across the pitch that there was polite applause from the Barclay, which he acknowledged with a wave. He conveniently ignores that in his recent interviews on the subject which is again disappointing. I think most of us would have liked to have given him a great reception for what he did here but unfortunately his behaviour has tainted the relationship with the fans. His move to 1p5wich is the last straw toward any reconciliation.

The man’s ego is unbelievable. It’s a two way street, he showed his appreciation for our club when he through his little tantrums, pretending he was going to leave for Burnley, then walking out as he did for the mighty villa. things might have been different, Paul - how’s it going by the way - if you showed a little respect from your side, although I’m not sure you could ever be that way, as the chip on your shoulder grows by the day it seems. im sure, beyond football you’re a decent bloke, but you come across as a thoroughly horrible little man. Quite why you’d want people to think of you like that is anyone’s guess. Anyway, thank you for giving your all for us for three years you little demigod you.

The vultures are hovering again......over Carrow Road..... .....and bloated seagulls are circling over Portman Road......emptying their bowels........