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The grumbles always return when things are a bit ropey. Nothing unusual in that. I will be highly delighted if things go well but there never has and never will be any guarantee. Enjoy the ups because there will be downs. We are NCFC supporters and it's what we do.

Jesus. Cognitive dissonance caused by the major inconvenience of having to cope with the occasional road closure. "I don't know" At least three of the words of your diatribe are reflective of reality. It amazes me how riled people get about cyclists because they once saw one texting whilst riding or sometimes see them go on the pavement (often to the inconvenience of no one, but some motorists, which the vast majority of cyclists are too, seem to think that because they have to sit in traffic so should cyclists) yet they don't have any issue with cars and their drivers, who actually kill people on a near daily basis, text whilst in control of their vehicle far, far, far more often than cyclists and contribute to the declining quality of air that is linked with increases in all kinds of fatal illnesses. No, best to get hot under the collar because a man on a bike told you to watch out once. I mean, what is the mindset of a person who sees a thread titled "Tour de France" and thinks, "Yes, I'm going to click on that and type out two inane paragraphs about how I hate cycling and cyclists".

I'm planning to watch it instead of Match of the Day every week we get tonked.

Careful, the Flying Dutchman will be after you. Or Lakey, who knows all cyclists are s(um because some lady went at 30mph down a hill, or something like that.

I'm happy with whatever thread keeps traffic on the Forum. There's no compulsion to read threads you have no interest in. I've looked at other Forums and most tolerate a wide range of subjects without any serious dissent.

Pete. Could you put this in the non football section please?

I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying the Tour this year.

We’re spending Zero on transfer fees but have never had a better squad of players to stay up .

Made up incidents can happen as many times as you make up. And the perception is what stops more people cycling and it's peddled by idiotic attitudes that have no basis in reality. Saw a cyclist run a red light light? ALL CYCLISTS ARE A MENACE!!! See a motorist cut someone up? That individual is an idiot. See the difference? I doubt it. And you moan about road closures?! What percentage of road closures are caused by cycling events? It's a figure lower than your analytical ability on a scale of one to ten. So if you're real concern is road closures, look at the main cause of them. It's for roadworks to remedy damage caused predominantly by four-wheeled vehicles. And the second biggest cause if accidents involving four-wheeled vehicles. Any ideas how to prevent road damage caused by vehicles weighing a tonne plus or reduce accidents (including fatalities) on the road? Encourage drivers to cycle more often. How do you encourage that? By changing the culture and investing in infrastructure, but the latter won't be seen as acceptable until strides are made with the former. And publicly peddling nonsensical ideas and fictional anecdotes won't help. And please, don't give me any bullsh*t about how you "do not have time to waste to make up stories". You have the time to click on and read a thread titled Tour de France and talk utter drivel about cycling when you admit you cannot stand the sport anyway. I thought the EU thread was a good magnet to attract all the stupid; looks like LDC wants to spread the stupid even further.

Aarons has agreed a 5 year deal. The club are just doing the announcements one at a time, so I expect we will see Aarons at some point next week. I expect Lewis and Leitner will also have something new in the next couple of weeks.

This is great work wolfo, when the transfer window closes, I'm gonna print off your original and final updated player contract info and hand it to my binner workmate, just to show him how a proper clubs goes about its business.

Best announcement yet, too.

Legend, absolutely love the guy. Earlier in his career, an interviewer asked him: "What would you have been if you weren't a footballer?" His reply: "A virgin." 😄

Sorry to be 'that guy' but this should be in the 'non-football' section.

His podcasts are definitely worth a go if you're a footy fan! Which, presumably applies to at least *most* people on here..

We MUST find a scapegoat. Forum's a joke. Apples

I did Ventoux in 2016. Climbed it the day before with a mate of mine on hire bikes loaded with camping gear and wine. Got the best spot in the race,( just before the barriers) and had Chris Froome running a meter in front of me minus his bike after his famous crash. As it was Bastille day, the French were on pints of Pastis from about 9.30 - amazing atmosphere - the beauty of TDF, you get to watch the elite riders in beautiful locations and a carnival atmosphere for free. I am married with kids - but that is still the best day of my life!!! - don't tell the Mrs!! 🙂

That is fair- I assume Webber and co will stay the course but fans mood may change. I very much doubt we'll see another January like we had under Alex Neil though and I don't think fans would be pushing for it.

It’s just so easy not to be bothered about a non NCFC thread, and not open it if it’s of no interest to you. I don’t understand the upset whatsoever. Sorry.

Frankly I think it’s a shame he’s basically wasted what should have been the prime years of his career, by being a bit of a t i t

By signing El-Ghazi and Mings permanently for the best part of £30m, spending £22m on Wesley to replace Abraham, and also having lost Tuanzebe, they've spent over £50m and are still not as good as they were last year when they finished quite a bit behind us. Then they've spent £20m+ on Targett and Jota to try to catch us up, and that doesn't exactly fill me with dread. We'll see.

Not sure if this has been posted, but the final is on Ch4 as well as Sky on Sunday, from 9 am.

Finally got round to watching, bit disappointing, no players interviews just YouTube clips joined up, very boring inter match commentary, extras are just clips already in the dvd

Well I loved it. Yeah it could have been in high def and included some interviews but all I wanted was the football and commentary. When I watch it back in years to come that's what I will want to see and remember. Great record of a great season. Seems a bit churlish to moan about the peripheral bits and pieces.

Apparently so. They seem like they missed a trick by not putting us in the Cambridge, P'boro and Northampton group. I reckon you'd have had a few hundred strong away following to those fixtures. As it is, not many Norwich folk are going to be up for a midweek, evening trip to Portsmouth, Oxford or Crawley.

'fans' might not but supporters will

I seem to remember McNally writing to Purple, and addressing him as such, in years gone by?

I'm confused. So he HASN'T signed a new contract then? What must Kev, his agent, think of it all?

Time will tell how ours and Villas approach will be looked back on in the future. There is no recipe for survival. Spending over 100m does not instantly mean you are 'doing a Fulham' and will hence be relegated. Equally doubling down on the promoted players and spending little, is no guarantee of survival by any stretch. It will be interesting to compare us with villa next season as both teams are taking extremely opposite approaches at staying up. Regardless of approach - If either team finishes with less than 30 points they will be crucified by the media, pundits and fans alike. Just like Fulham have been. The next batch of promoted teams will then point to them as what to avoid and the cycle will continue.

Wolves also spent £100m odd last season and nobody brings them up. The issue with Fulham wasn't them spending money, it was spending it with zero plans or thoughts to squad cohesion. Villa's signings feel altogether most sensible and focused on filling gaps in their squad. They've arguably overpaid for some but I don't think they'll be the sort of disaster Fulham were.

Oh, the humanity! 🤣 Apples

"You either have rules (or should I say guidelines) or you do not. Flaunt them and you get a free for all which suits nobody." It's becoming the case. It really, really is (to quote Paul Lambert.) I have just scrutinised the first dozen or so postings and six or those were not about football, let alone NCFC. It's ok to say ignore them but when you have to tip toe around a minefield of irrelevance when you have signed in to read about football and news relative to our club it doesn't suit me. Bah humbug!

I believe it's "Suari"

**** it, give them attempted murder. Utter pond water s(um.

I've followed the TdF since the early 90 I've followed the TdF since the late 80s-went to Les Gets in the French Alps in 2000 and saw Richard Virenque whizz by on his way to a stage win at Morzine. The town was buzzing with anticipation from about 7 am even though the race wasn't due to come through for 8 or 9 hours. Then I went to the first and last stages of the 2007 race-the Prologue in London won by Fabian Cancellara and the procession in to Paris. The atmosphere in Paris was amazing, the Champs Elysees was packed about 10 deep on either side but everyone was very friendly. Stage 5 of this year's Tour of Britain is going past my front door but unfortunately I'll be down south that week 🙄

Indeed. I eagerly await the first VAR penalty given against Liverpool at Anfield, or Man United at Old Trafford.

Will Villa be the new Fulham?.....Only if they relocate to in between Putney and Chelsea.....

Yes I've been. Watched the tour on the Galibier and Izoard in 2017. I'm riding the etape du tour in 2 weeks time, and will again watch the tour roll through the alps afterwards. It's a fantastic experience. Personally the mountains are what make it for me, and I don't think I'd get the same feeling stood in Paris. But I haven't done that so can't be sure. But I'd really recommend taking in a mountain stage.

G was good, and sent a bit of a message to his own team, and in particular Bernal. Alaphilippe is a wonderful bike rider to watch, full of panache! It will be interesting to see how he approaches the rest of the race. The GC contenders are becoming wary of him, but I do feel he'll fall away in the high mountains. I thought the camera shots made some stunning pictures yesterday. It was a cracking stage, and continues the exciting start to the race. Most of the GC contenders are in tact, with the exception of Bardet and Nibali who lost significant time.

Agreed. But the test - for the board and for fans - might come in January. I remember last season pundits were saying early on how relaxed and pleasant Neil Warnock was to deal with (I think he is an interesting character but many seem to hate him), in contrast to how he normally behaved. And the explanation for his sunny mood was that he'd assumed Cardiff hadn't a hope of staying up. So no pressure. But come December/January, although Fulham and Huddersfield already looked doomed, Cardiff were only a couple of points from 17th. The result, with this hope of staying up, was that Warnock reverted to his usual stroppy persona, but more significantly Cardiff went and spent money (on Bacuna and poor Sala) they probably hadn't intended to. If we are in that kind of position come January I wonder if fans will want us to stick to the sensible long-term strategy.

Really key to have your best players tied down long term so Webber and co have done a fantastic job on this. Wouldn't shock me if a couple of these contracts had relegation release clauses in them but I'm sure they will be set high enough to make sense. Only contract in the list that concerns me is Hanley- I'd imagine he's on good wages and tied down for a while without being in the first team.

I'm not a car owner since turning 60 and as a keen cyclist doing around 100 miles per week and subsequently my bit for the environment, I'm all for promoting cycling and Tour de France has been one of my favourite events for the past 15 years, and especially in recently years due to our domination with the Sky team, now Ineos. The downside to this year is the loss of Chris Froome to a devastating accident, but at least it gives the other countries more of a chance.

Have to agree with the op to a certain extent. Cricket should be in a non football sub-forum, cycling should be in a non sporting sub-forum and Brexit should be in a sub-forum for those who like being stuck in a time warp.

Did exactly the same !

I hope the finger strain from scrolling past the threads isn't too damaging.

Why is everyone getting at poor old Bill?😀

A bit harsh. Cycling has really cleaned its act up in the last few years. I'd argue the scrutiny it comes under in regard to this subject is heavily unbalanced when compared to other sports, including Football. Man City broke anti-doping rules three times last year, yet there isn't much interest in that. Had that been cycling a media storm would have erupted. Doping in boxing is much more prevalent and far more dangerous. But again, less interest and more tolerated.

I'd rather we won it, and didn't get drawn against them, because they screwed up their group and lost all their games. THAT would be the ultimate humiliation in my eyes.

It's a hell of a risk that they are taking, they have been skirting on the edge since that crazy Dr Tony bought then and if they get relegated having blown a load they could be in some bother. Agree though, they have blown a lot so far and are no better than where they were last season.