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I will never take a perverse pleasure in a player getting a serious injury. Especially something as soul and career destroying as an ACL injury. Good luck to Sears in his recovery and hopefully he’s back playing again as soon as possible.

Well, he started it...

It was a foul, but hardly deserving of anything other than a free kick. He was making a driving run and slightly over run the ball. How on earth is 9 months out poetic justice? Very unfortunate. Hope he gets over this and still can have a relatively lengthy playing career ahead of him. From a purely selfish perspective, I just don't get why people are in such a hurry to see Ipswich go down. Surely, it's in our interests that all teams lower down the table pick up points over our rivals. I suppose there are people on here hoping Derby beat them on Wednesday. If things don't pick up, Ipswich will be down with around 4 games to go. They really need to be picking up 3 or 4 wins asap, somehow. That could prove to be in our interests. Their last 2 games are against Sheff U and Leeds. With nothing to play for, you could see a situation like that at Everton the other night, if we are fighting it out with Leeds and Sheff U for top two. I would rather them be celebrating an amazing relegation escape than celebrating their defeats to our rivals costing us. Let the relegation dog fight go right to the wire, however unlikely that will be. I'm kind of relieved the derby is now out of the way. We've got the 3 points. I'm in the minority but I find all the gloating over Ipswich's plight boring. Fortunately we aren't Sheff U, who play 10 derbies - Rotherham, Leeds, Derby, Notts F, and, of course, Sheff W.

Quite right Jim. It's the one thing he hasn't learnt from his German experience....how to be a modern manager. I was pleased at the time he had come from the O'Neil mould (and a Clough lineage). But nowadays you need more to have an edge (even a marginal one as Webber has alluded to). You need your analytics, your stats, your thorough research and ergo, your game plan forms. Of course you have your style you build too. Lambert in saying he hadn't seen us or know much about us was counter-productive. For sure, Gill might have advised. But it wasn't like other teams coming to try and squash our supply lines and nearly doing it. The Lambert story and this latest chapter makes for a kind of Greek tragedy. Coming into the players tunnel yesterday as he arrived, he looked stressed and his face was taut. No relaxation at all pointing to a fragile inner confidence perhaps? But not the self-assurance I used to love to see when he was with us. These moments of showing such brittleness is not good to see in anyone, let alone a former successful NCFC manager. His legacy is there, part of history. His team will long be remembered by us all. Grant Holt, Wes, Russ Martin have stayed loyal. Even other ex-players watch us. But yesterday, Lambert possibly cemented his personal legacy with us. Joining Town was an odd choice it must be said. It feels a deliberate act somehow. He is such a defended personality and he needs conflict in his life to provide the reason to put up his defence. It's his modus operandi. It's Shakespearean too. As a spectacle it's hubris personified.

Anybody know why we have a daily limit? Is there a cost to Archant? Does it affect the running of the forum? I was in such a good mood yesterday I ran out of them quickly. Such a good mood in fact that you could've posted a picture of Bernard Manning wearing crotchless panties and I'd have liked it. Actually, thinking about it...🤢... that's a weird example to give. Nurse! The screens!

All a great shame but it takes a special kind of idiot to $hit on his own legend.

Amazing that they can investigate this handbag spat but not the Mings thuggery.

Just brilliant!

This is the end game for Lambert. Ipswich is his last chance. He knows that they are down. 5 years ago he would have walked already. He's not because he can't. He's hoping to rebuild the squad and himself there. To do that, he needs time, to have time, he needs the Ipswich fans behind him. The Norwich legacy will cast doubt so what do you do... you go on the "us against the world" mentally with the fans. You pay for coaches. You go on a battle cry. You finally destroy your legacy at your rivals so that it's not a chain around your neck. For me, part of that scuffle was to show the Ipswich fans what side he's on. It buys him more time so that he can turn that club around in League One and then jump at the first chance of better things... and he will jump... or give up.

Nobody entered their technical area and nobody ran 30 yards to get someone booked. He knows his behaviour was abhorrent, but he'd rather blatantly lie than admit fault. What has happened to that bloke?

Unfortunately if they do it will be very difficult to prove anything - as they're so good at losing games anyway who can actually tell if they throw a game?

On behalf of nearly everyone who has ever played competitive Sports,............at any level , I wish Freddie Sears , and any other injured player, a speedy recovery. A true sportsperson would never wish a career threatening injury on another. There will always be idiots, in all walks of life, who will not agree with the above sentiment. For them, we should feel disdain.

How did that go Paul?

Total waste. Now they've got Lambert he could do his Canute act and just say: "I'm not having that water coming into my technical area." and the jobs a good'un. NB Lambert's a total Canute.

Really? He had a funny way of doing that when he returned with Villa. The man has no class. Bowkett was 100% right about him. We can still appreciate what he did here as manager without accepting his behaviour here since.

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👹😉

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/02/05/ivanka-vacuuming-art-exhibit-draws-ire-eric-trump/2779007002/

Dear Mr Lambert. As a long term supporter of NCFC I’ve held you in high regard for your work and time that you gave us . You helped us through hard times and gave us some of our best years in a wonderful rise back up to the promised land. i overlooked your leaving to Villa and the way we parted . I’m sure McNally could be hard to work with and for what ever personal reasons you wanted to move on. in moving to our biggest rivals I still held you in high regard but unfortunately over the last few days your comments have been hard to take. We did thank you for your work, we idolised you even though you chose to move on . But today you crossed the line. Your actions today have over shadowed the great work you did. to admit you would do the same again , as a professional manager, shows you find it hard to control your emotions. Teams need a manager to be beside the pitch and not in the stands.

Hope these come out ok

Möller, Riedle, Sammer, Chapuisat, Sousa, and Kohler called... They said 'Du warst scheiße!'

Quite sad really.

Well if that was coded respect it would take Bletchley Park to break it.

Clear to see, one a gentleman, successful and respected throughout the game, who deserves the recognition that he received. The other, a sad shadow of a man who had the opportunity to achieve great things and let it slip through his fingers, and has become bitter and twisted as a result.

Mentioned this in another thread, birthday cards sent to Portman Rd to celebrate 10 years without a win in the Derby. Just imagine, 10,000 cards, it'd be on the News.

Ha ha, bring it on (please)! The journo who tried to emulate Duncan's efforts, in last week's EDP, has a lot to learn.............😉

Whilst I wouldn't celebrate a footballer's injury I have no sympathy for Town or their supporters ... it has been a genuine pleasure watching their results come in each week. For me it will make our promotion sweeter (if it happens) if they get relegated too. The fortunes of our respective clubs goes in cycles. Enjoy it whilst the sun shines and we can gloat, ridicule and rub salt into the wounds ... that's part of being a football supporter and it won't last forever!

A few years ago, I was running late trying to get to Millwall away. I didn't know where the "New Den" was. As I was walking towards an area where I thought the ground was, I saw an angry looking skin head man walking towards me with the full outfit (Harrington jacket, rolled up drainpipe jeans, DMs) and with tattoos on his neck and face. I thought right the best way to deal with him is attack so I asked him where the ground was. I put on a thick London accent and said "Alright mate, do you know where the New Den is?". He said "Yeah it's up there turn right. Which end do you want?" I wasn't going to say "Away end". I said "I don't know, an end I can get a ticket. Cheers mate". 🙂

Sorry Orly, I was only wishi...guessing that picture might be out there. Will a snap of the obese, ignorant, racist Bernie scoffing something whilst sitting around in his underpants do?

The FA had a clause that said they could intervene under ‘exceptional circumstances’ and they did then. They then reviewed that clause and removed it as it open a Pandora’s Box over what is an ‘exceptional circumstance’. I believe that stepped in the as there was a threat of a law suit which would have opened a can of worms also. The Thatcher incident was very clearly down with intent as well.

Indeed....if the angle of collision was slightly different , it could just as easily have been Trybull who was out for 9 months. What would everyone have been saying about Sears then??......Ipswich were out of control which was little wonder given the example their classless , disgrace of a manager set them

Quite agree Nutty but in the case of Mings the ref did not see it so no retrospective action to be taken apparently. Looks like yesterday our ref was watching the dugouts and not the game maybe ? 🤔

I had this feeling too. I actually felt a large amount of sadness for Ipswich as a club and its fans. Rivalries only really work when the two teams are relatively equal and the two sides look a long time way apart right now. I do hope they can turn their situation around next season and I would one day love to see the East Anglian Derby return to being a top flight fixture.

http://viz.co.uk/category/up-the-****-corner/

Just written this elsewhere, but might be worthy of a thread, given what the commentator said on sky sports about him being embarrassing. People need to look at a replay - the ipswich player walked past him and stood on his foot. He tried to push him off and went down, appealing to the ref. Standing on a player's foot with the blades they have on is no joke. Look at a replay!

When you think he got his injury by fouling our man, it is poetic justice.

The stark fact for Ippo fans is that we really did not have to play at all well to beat them 3-0, it is as simple as that.......

I don't get all this w!lly waving, 'I'm a bigger fan than you ' nonsense. Just because I can't bring myself to hate him doesn't devalue me as a supporter. We've played the game, it's over, Preston up next. Good job Farke isn't getting all distracted by the soap opera going on at Portman Rd.

They had a game to disrupt us and target some of our more gifted players, and it worked in a sense that they fouled Vrancic and Bueinda constantly. With a stronger ref that would have been dealt with early on and I suspect we would have then dominated the game and scored perhaps more. Credit to them though. They are as individuals very short on footballing skill apart from the odd player, but as a team they stuck to the task and limited us to 3 goals (as silly as that sounds). At no point did I feel we were going to lose or even draw that match, but it was certainly the poorest I have seen City play for a while and was due to being dragged down to their level at times. Plus the need to just get the job done. The atmosphere was okay but the midday kick off can kill it for all unfortunately. We have great vocal support but the main banks are in the Snakepit and blocks D and E Barclay which are separated. So often there are two songs being sung, but when it comes together it is loud and boisterous. If their support had turned up and were not vocal I would have been worried (for them). I was not particularly impressed with the away fans. Or their struggling manager.

Well, in the derby yesterday, he was fine, probably because he had very little to do !

We're top, the only Team that can hinder our chances is ourselves.

I'm more than willing to accept your opinion! Definitely a bit sub-par today, for whatever reason.

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.

I guess it’s just ingrained caution from many years of watching city. But the team have done it again and put us doubters to shame. preston will be no pushovers so we can’t ease off. but we’ve got to be favourites for auto promotion now 😀

I thought the fracas was a classic ' hold me back, hold me back'. The Norwich guy with the beard could have wrung him out like a pair of trousers on the Ganges. I have always given him credit for those great seasons, but today I thought he was pathetic, and certainly a man in decline, and deep down, he probably knows it.

Tettey and McLean for me

They won't turn as much as a 42 point gap will they though? After next weekend, with 45 points left on the table, all those private bets about who is going to finish higher this season can be cashed in - before mid-February!

More disappointing was that awful lazy flick towards Pukki

Incredible to think we sold the Murphys for 20 mil+ combined, and picked this guy up for next to nothing (was it less than 2 mil?) Fantastic player, really has it all and refreshingly combative for such a creative player.

Like this by the reports.