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Hugill will never score enough to get a team promoted,Sargent well I am yet to be convinced he is even a footballer let alone a prolific scorer, as for Idah we will all grow very old waiting for him to come good .

I started watching football way back when expectations were lower, sense of entitlement was reserved to the top teams, defeat was accepted as something that some seasons would come along as often as victory. Basically, the point of attending games was to enjoy the experience. And we all seemed to enjoy the ups and downs. The downs made the ups all the sweeter. Now, social media seems to set a mood which dictates that anything less than consistent winning is a reason to turn on the club we support. Not just Norwich - many other clubs are far, far worse. And it's always a loud minority of social media that succeeds in setting the agenda, increasingly feeding into other influencers such as the press, radio and TV. Who is setting this agenda? we have no idea at all but it is no exaggeration to say that some individuals appear to be on the psychopathic spectrum. Cruel, no conscience, destructive, untruthful. Anyone discovering football for the first time is likely to be indoctrinated with a spirit of criticism and blame because, statistically, about 4 teams in each division will succeed and that vast majority will 'fail'. It's unhealthy; it will get worse not better; it targets players and managers; and it erodes the pleasure that many of us still get from attending games. I have bought a season ticket this season for the first time ever. Football will be a great break from life's real unpleasant challenges, not an extension of them.

Don't forget Essex Canary, he's looking for an exit!

Twitter says affecting phone lines as well. We probably bought some injured ticketing software off Glastonbury

Balanced view from our friend down the road of the coming season and possible end of season positions.

Liz Truss still hasn't mentioned her beaver reintroduction yet...disappointing. 🤣 Apples

The awesome Cavell Healthcare are supporting us again this season and just sent across a fantastically generous donation to our presentation pot. We are so lucky to be supported by such a wonderful company who make a huge difference to the Norfolk Community. Thanks so much Cavell, not just for the donation and support but also for what you do helping those in need.🙏💛💚 https://www.cavellhealthcare.co.uk/

I believe he is going to be a star player for us this season, the championship defenders are going to hate the fact that he will be at them for a full 90 mins of the game, he just never stops running 😀

ITMA.

Liked him in the Foo Fighters

So was Farke, and then even more so after a season in the CHAMPIONSHIP. Just shows there's an awful lot of inpatient, glory hunting fans that don't actually look at the whole picture.

This photo just gone up showing them trying to sort it out.....

People who voted for a hard border with France now complain there is a hard border with France! France has also invested €863m in updating Calais. An investment completed in time. As Herman posted yesterday we eschewed making similar investment. France desperately wants tourism (and the trade). The French also like to come to the UK but now face difficulties. As for stamping of passports it was the UK that asked for this I read - further, it provides evidence for the 90 days in any 180 day allowance for UK citizen stays on Europe as part of Brexit legislation.

Again, over half of Labour's MPs are women. It's under 30% for the Tories. On top of that, Labour had three deputy leaders of the party as women. Harman didn't go for the main job when it was available and when she was a caretaker leader. Corbyn won the next one by a landslide and seemed to bring a lot of new, more traditionally left-wing members with him. Then he had a leadership challenge and won handsomely. (Oh, and there were two women out of the four in that battle, namely Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper). Then, when Starmer handsomely won the position after Corbyn resigned, four out of the five in there were women (Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, and Emily Thornberry). The notion that Labour has a gender issue, considering the proportion of lady MPs in their ranks, looks off to put it mildly.

Or alternatively the reason time is being taken is that both sides are keen to get a deal sorted out properly. What ought to worry you, Jim, is that the only person who has liked your post is komakino - the one ‘fan’ whose hatred of Smith and Jones is greater than your perpetual negativism.

This is why I didn't think my opinion would be widely held. McLean has been a regular starter, when fit, in each of the last two Championship campaigns and we've won the league both times, yet he still gets regularly written off as a player who isn't good enough for a promotion push.

And yes, I'm at danger of cries of hypocrisy because I absolutely slated his signing, and I still think it was a ridiculous signing (along with Tsoliz) because we needed players that were 'ready' for the top tier and he appeared to be a square peg for a round hole. But when he got injured last season I felt we really missed him, he's still really young, works his socks off and this is a completely different level of football. I can't help but think back at how important Stiepermann was to our Championship promotion and how much of a nightmare he was for some Championship defenders to cope with, but then how out of his depth he so clearly was at Premier League level where his glaring weaknesses were pretty similar to those that saw with Sargent. No fricking idea whether he'll do well this season or not, but he works his socks off and deserves his chance, appears to be up for staying rather than being a mercenary like Lees-Melou and f*cking off in a hump about the 40% pay cut. I think we should cut him some slack, his performances improved before his injury, he covers a lot of ground, gets stuck in, he's never going to be a world beater but he's probably exactly the type of player you need 20 games into a Championship season away to some sh*thole on a Tuesday night when its minus 2 degrees. USA, USA, USA!

Very reliant on Pukki. Farkeball well suited to Championship. Prem lite football not special in the Championship. Though a better version of it might keep you up a year. Buendia a rare gem. No obvious difference-makers now. Buendia plus Pukki gold dust. Everybody else looked and felt better as a consequence. At least somebody will play the Skipp role this year. That facilitates everything else. Squad is deep, though not special. Asking players to ‘go again’ when they know - deep in their hearts - that the premier goal that they are asked to chase won’t include them next time is a tough sell… We have proved we come up top level short. Most have proved they are not good enough. A massive overhaul is not financially viable. Better players than others have are nice, though weapons remain key. It’s all on Pukki really. Smith has quite a tough job - and he’s a bit of a mercenary journeyman (which is football normal). Farke somehow wasn’t and we knew it. So did the players. The club failed at the top level. The recruitment failed at the top level. The finances failed at the top level. So what does Smith now sell them differently that sticks? A disappointing 8th. Or anything up to 1st if Pukki stays (fit and not-just-world-cup keen). I’ll pay £5 to Rays Funds for every place Norwich finish above that… @nutty nigel 👍🏽✨ Parma

Already posted on not one but two threads on here.

Christ on a bike just give it a feckin rest !

I hope we never leave Carrow Road, a new City stand would make the stadium look quirky but gorgeous.

Another quid for the pot if you do wolfie as part of my pledge.

One on one, predator for sure. But the neomorph swarm would win against a hunter band. Not sure predators have ever been seen together in great numbers

If Sargent is the answer , what the hell was the question?

There'll be plenty of dopey doggies who listen to the whistle. On another related point (general British idiocy), why do all these silly pr*cks insist on going away on the first days of the summer holidays...you've got six weeks you know? 🤔🤣 Apples

Big fan of this. All kits should feature some form of data viz https://twitter.com/phildelves/status/1551499899325267969

Assuming Cantwell plays centrally I think he's one of our two first choice wide players. Better than everybody's favourite Cuban anyway, probably ahead of Sinani and the youngsters too.

Probably our 4th choice striker...and probably our 4th choice wide player too Unfortunately , I dont see him standing out at championship level, if we were in league one , I suspect he'd blend into those surroundings too If we got a bid of half we were conned into paying for him, I'd be inclined to cut our losses

Don’t worry about it, it’s cancelled out by our own supporters hexes who are willing us to finish mid table or skirting relegation 😁

The appointment of Smith was questionable from Day One for an awful lot of fans not just Pinkun posters.

But my point was never about individual players and Hoggy didn't identify a 'smaller number that are better than ours' (not a criticism Hoggy, just responding to Sweary's statement)... I get the feeling on this forum that too many fans think we will walk into the play-offs at least and that expectation will come back to bite us on the backside when and if we don't because the pressure that will come to bear on these players could make the situation very troubling. These players haven't done enough in my view to warrant the expectation, they were rank bad last year. Lets hope they do step up. I think I argued my point a lot differently, one its difficult to compare us to others, what evidence do we have (except for blind bias) that our players are better given what they produced last season, plus the fact that this lot were carried to the previous promotion by Emi, Skipp and Teemu in a very different playing philosophy.... but moreso, there are other issues I argued, confidence, belief, (important things our players are unlikely to have at present) Smith has that to contend with and resolve.... its also a team game about selecting the right players and in positions / formations that work, ideally with identity where we are currently in transition it seems and don't have one.... further we have a group of players used to playing Farkeball, can they adapt quickly to Smith's approach since we haven't made significant changes to the personnel. Farke had over a year until his philosophy started producing results. Right now, Smith hasn't got a functioning central midfield or it seems central defence.... the spine of the team. Do we have the right creativity to feed Pukki? I am not sure we have unless Cantwell can supply it. Have we got the pace required to be unpredictable and worry opponents, again not sure.... we don't have that if we select Cantwell, Sargent, Sinani and Dowell regularly, they all seem very similar and are in most fans picks for selection next week. On paper thats fine but a Rowe or Springett or Hernandez would make sense since they offer something different, they can go by players, get them turned and worried. .....see, even you are determining October as a guide, this expectation, is it really fair on Smith and the players? I'm not sure myself how they will respond but we have no option but to give them time. Part of that reasoning is why I would include more youngsters and sign other options to develop at the expense of McLean, Dowell, Gibson, Sargent, Hugill so we can try to produce a squad of players who could offer something if and when we do get promoted.

Rubbish, at Brentford the manager before him got to the playoffs and the manager after him got to the playoffs then promotion. so its perfectly reasonable to expect to be vying for promotion! You say you can live with it but it appears you really don't like people pointing out he isn't a great manager.

Doesn’t he know that since we lost to Celtic and Hibs we have the worst manager ever?

Yes, I also read this. It seems Murdoch is abandoning the tangerine w4nk maggot now. Like you say, once Fox News turns against him the writing will surely be on the wall for him.

Sargent does at least work his socks off every week, that's enough to be worthy of a decent chance at making it here. That's my stance. He's likeable, I want him to succeed.

Wouldn’t it though? Under PR they would have probably gained several seats. If a referendum was their price to support a minority Tory administration, it seems entirely possible that Cameron would have gone for it as he was confident Remain would win the actual referendum that he initiated. And if we are going to start listing broken manifesto promises, we are going to be here for a long time...

Let's get him through October first.

We should not be aiming for anything less than top 2. Failure to achieve that will throw the entire model of the club into question because it shows we can’t just go up and down and take the money while remaining stronger than other teams at this level.

I'd do it quickly before Cambridge starts a new thread for it instead 🤣

All of the players mentioned may be potential alternatives for Pukki (although i actually have the most doubts about Idah) but none of them are replacements for Pukki. They will require the team formation and approach to be changed. For that reason, I'd still like us to get a striker in the similar style to Pukki who can be used as a sub for a tiring Pukki and will eventually be his successor (I cant see any of our current crop being anywhere near good enough to be our main striker -ever!)

Well covered in striker positions ? I would say we only have one player who can be counted on to put the ball in the net. We are long overdue a decent striker signing.

Critically, the one you can't remember was, unsurprisingly, a DM to replace Skipp. I personally feel that a starting 11 such as this... Krul, Aarons, Dimi, Hanley, St Juste, Andrich, McLean/Rupp, Rashica, Dowell, Idah/Onel (assuming he would have stayed without the other additions), Pukki ...would categorically have made a better fist of it that what we managed. Survival would not have been guaranteed, but I think we'd have been getting 34 points as a minimum. And crucially, that we made more of a fight of it would have kept Farke in his job, which would mean I'd be far more confident of bouncing back this season with him at the helm than with Smith.

Yes - wherever you enter the 'EU' you'll get your passport stamped now that we're a third country. I hinted at that with my earlier comment on Italian and Swedish stamps. Simply entering the EU wherever isn't as straightforward as it used to be so join the queue and don't complain. Obviously for the Brexiteers they have to always automatically blame somebody else and simply by reason of geography it's the French. That said I'm sure both sides of channel will be a little better prepared next weekend.

You sounds so much like a snowflake sometimes Buho . If you can't see that , correctly used , Social media has its uses. Just like Guns.😇 I believe that if you give people enough rope, they'll hang themselves. Trump has.

He'll get his in the mopping up of irrelevant minor shareholders. Or maybe they'll realise that there's a man who , despite his rather miniscule 0.16% , is the real power broker in English football and offer him and his descendants a seat in the board....and of course, the plane.😇

Twatter is a cancer on not just football but humanity as a whole to be honest

Well, I think he's right, for a change. There does seem to be far more of a negative reaction to yesterday's defeat than there was a positive reaction to the Marseille win. It seems that many have hit the panic button already.

It’s time we said **** to this 3pm blackout nonsense and put all games on the TV.

I fail to understand either if the points you’re making here. *If* Labour had won while Milliband was leader and *if* Starmer leads them to victory, they would have been/will be on a par with two state school educated PMs. So the difference is purely that the Tories have won elections. But like the point you appear to be trying to score about the sex of Tory leaders, this hides the fact that the numbers of MPs and party members who were state educated will be far higher in Labour. So what does it prove?