Essjayess

Last season right thru, i stayed with my relegation and 33 points for City, so was pretty much on the button. From July have said this season City are heading for 8th to 12th, with around 65 points, 70 at a push, i will not change my opinion.Im usually pretty close so, those who thought, or still think, we are going to be top 6, or even top 2, sorry but nope. But also, a few talk of league 1, which is silly. Maybe one of these seasons, we will have a manager who will finally see that years of Whittaker, Turner, Bassong, Martin etc have been the one continuing issue of City not doing as good as they should. More likely, old age will come come to these players, and retirement from football, before we have a manager who can see the real obvious glaring fact of our downfalls in so many games.

[quote user="Move Klose"]I think the first 11 fixtures have been quite favourable so far. Are next 11 games we have to play Brighton, Brentford, Villa (new manager), Huddersfield, Derby(new manager) which could turn out a lot trickier. But you can only beat what''s put in front of you and that''s currently what we are doing for 75% of the time.[/quote]Dont quite see that MK, for instance our last 4 away games were at Birmingham, Forest, Newcastle and Wolves, all of whom  could be argued as  being pretty decent on their own turf, we had Sheff. Wednesday to who were / are one of the fancied teams. Truth is the old cliche, there are very few easy games in this division, just look yesterday at the Rotherham vs Newcastle match, Toon winning it but Rotherham playing so good and being rather unlucky not to get points from it. Any team on any given day can beat the opposition, regardless of their current standing in the division.Its 46 games, id argue the next 11 are no more / less tricky than the previous 11, City can be beaten in any of them or can win any of them.

Of course you make correct views on our defence Ricardo, but it is what it is, its been this way for a few seasons and its not going to change. Main thing is though, in this division, despite  nearly everyone, me included, being disapointed not getting enough strikers in, we are scoring goals and winning games, and watching City defend leads keeps the heart pumping healthily!City doing better so far than i expected, also not boring at all watching an AN team in this league, rather have it this way any day of the week compared to the Hughton era, despite our hereditary weaknesses. Such a good win today, well done City.

Champs teams no doubt now know City have an inbred habit of the defence being not much more than Sunday afternoon park strength, not helped by Alex STILL seemingly bewildered when our defence capitulate..all his talking to the lads on matchdays about how the defence should defend is a total waste of time, does he still not realise the Martins, Bassongs, Whittakers of this team have shown this the last 2 or 3 seasons?..they are simply not good enough to defend holding a lead. Alex''s substitutions do not help either.The only chance we have is to continue what we were doing when we did the hard work getting the lead, sometimes at least we may  hold on to the lead. I see a few are hopeful of a positive result at Wolves...i applaud your optimism.Think we will suffer in to many games by teams firing up in the last 15-20 mins of games, hence why i stick to my 8th to 12th as a realistic position this season. Having said that, margins are small, a few extra points could see us top 6 and play offs again. Plus, 19 scored and 14 conceded in 10 games is preferable to the dismal low score draws and boredom and half empty stadium of some un named cousins south of here.

I see Alex said its a great time to be playing Newcastle, hes right.  Regardless what the team selection is, regardless even of the result, we will remain in the top two. At season start i think every fan of every club were looking to see when the Toon away fixture would be, knowing its the most difficult fixture to face, although having lost at home twice before end of September gives all clubs hope.But for City, Newcastle away has always been a very messy fixture result wise, even more so after last season, will be glad its out the way after tonight. Result could well hinge on Rafa''s team selection as much as AN''s, as his rotation policy seems to give more than a few unexpected results.

Always loved the idea of adding a 2nd tier to the existing stand, i heard many times City high ups say not only the cost , but the disruption, would be a big issue. As for disruption, if well thought out and planned, it could be built in a time frame with only a small handful of home games being affected. Only need to see that at Anfield right now to see its possible. as soon as last season was ended work began and, with the added help of a pre arranged fixture list, Liverpool are playing a bare minimum of home games in the first few months of this season.If Liverpool can organise such a working schedule to expand home seating, then why cant we?

Was a really excellent set up goal all around between Olly and Naismith and i thought a good well taken goal.  No idea what percentage of luck / fluke was involved with the end product, who cares, good intelligent play was involved in it being a goal. "You make your own luck" is an old adage often referred to in football games, its a good plus point to have.

Not hiding his disapointment is a good thing, and of course any player will more often feel diapointed if they get dropped, they are only human. Honest interview, Naismith is a good professional, he will want to give 100% everytime he gets the chance to play.I see some posters in this topic as usual falling into the age old trap of comparing how  good a player should be in relation to how much a club pays to sign him. This is such nonsense, how much a club pays  to sign a player has bog all to do with the player, or the fans for that matter.Naismith so far in my opinion has been far from rubbish, but certainly underwhelming, but that can be said for much of the team in quite a few matches so far, as the manager to for his team selections and subs etc. Having said that, after two slightly wonky but nonetheless home wins weve seen two excellent wins at Forest and Everton, things feel much improved now, including of course fans reactions. Trick for City now is to keep the recent upturn as a normal week by week happening , keeping the Brum away type happening as a rare occasional thing. Im sure Naismith will play his part to, hope he and his family get settled here and enjoy being part of a happy and successful season for City.

Its 8 games in for all teams, cannot see how anyone can say any team is on target for any position when the seasons barely begun. What we have is 17 points from 8 games, which  nobody can moan about, its a decent start, but far to early to draw any conclusions. My pre season predict was 8th to 12th, and i always stick to  that, even if it means diddly.City have a squad to get auto promotion, or top six, but way to early to know if they will. Most matches so far we have crawled over the line with a result in very unconvincing manners, against what seems to be weaker Champs sides. Also had one dire performance at Brum, so reminiscent of last season. Yesterday thou, the team played how we know they can play, but also, like  the Brum game, just one game, but where we showed the class to come back to take the points. Credit to AN also for doing most things right on the day.Next 3 games will be a stern test, Burton at home far from easy, then trips to Newcastle and Wolves. Newcastle have shown they have the ability to cake walk this division, but suffer from Rafa''s insistence to rotate his squad, as he did at Liverpool, so can have some strange results, shown by the QPR / Wolves results. Anyway,  after the Brum game, its been 3 wins, 9 points, cant ask for more and the way we beat Forest  was more like the City we want to see. OTBC

Really cannot predict a score for this, but if we get a hiding, then with Newcastle away the next one, could be a bad run of away defeats. Its not so much ive lack of confidence in the players, but Alexs inability to field the right guys and / or right formation. Would love to see Thompson get a go, or at least on the bench, but apart from the Murphys Alex has not yet given the young uns a chance. Really think tomorrow and Newcastle could define our away  form this season one way or another.

8th to 12th finish, thats what i expect, said at that start of June, if that happens i will be satisfied, anything higher will be very pleased, anything lower will be disapointed.Guys are right in saying next few weeks will be a truer measure of our season. Games such as away to Forest and Newcastle will tell us if Birmingham away was just an occasional lapse or one that will become to regular.Still to early to really get a sense of the season, who after 7 games would have predicted Barnsley to score 18 goals and Derby just 1?

AN mentioned in his after match reaction about the fitness of his players, citing players getting more fit and stronger  the more regular they play, but that the half time forced him into 2 changes as Pinto / Tettey were lost, hence  quite a few in the 2nd half were players who have recently had injuries and only just got back in the team so their fitness lvls  suffered by the end. Ok, if thats Alexs answer i guess we have to go with it. Feel for Jerome, as most of us knew weeks ago, with failure to get in more strike options, added to the way Alex likes a one man up front style forever and ever, Cam Jam is indeed running himself to a standstill.

[quote user="king canary"]Ticks all the boxes for a Norwich cult hero. Foreign Gives his all Seems to have embraced the club fully Unpredictable[/quote]Absolutely agree, soon as we got relegated was not long before he came out and declared his desire to go nowhere else. For the 2 or 3 mill we paid for him (somewhere around that much anyway) an absolute steal. Some guys just always seem destined to be a Canary legend, think Ivo will be one of them. Exciting beyond words, and thats a  thing our squad our squad is sorely lacking the past year, but much of thats down to Alex  imo.At least Alex plays Pinto in his right position, unlike a few others  in our matchday teams.

Think will be pretty much the team that was playing after Brady got injured, maybe with Pritchard starting this time and Wes coming on 2nd half. Slight to zero chance of Olly on bench, think he will likely be  on bench  at Forest. No chance of seeing Brady or Olsson, so Russ for LB with Bassong and Whitts on bench.

A win, 3 points, but seen nothing yet after 6 games to convince me we are or will be a top6 side come end season, never mind top 2. Each match that passes convinces me we are  headed for 8th to 12th finish. Will not knock Martin today, he was as decent in the LB position as he usually is in the CB position, make of that what you will. As many negatives as positives from todays game, 3 points yes, but other occasions a display like this and we will get hammered, so i still wait to be convinced we have what it takes to trouble the top positions come end season.

Seems as usual a few questionable to look at from that squad, main one being where is Canos? Right that Whitts and Naisy are dropped from squad, their form has been awful. Oliveira we already gathered would not be in the squad. Martin in ahead of Benno...thats just Alex reverting to type, what we have come to expect.2 CBs on the bench?..ok....As City fans i guess we are just disapointed that our new signings are not in the first 11, wonder if we will ever see Canos, Pritchard and Olly starting a game together? Anyway, City have another home game on Tuesday, so i dont know if Alex is factoring that in his thoughts, time will tell.

Indy, if you look at it, we basically got Pritchard and Oliveira in for the same amount we would have paid for McCormack, and looking ahead, and im talking into next season as well as this one, that could well turn out to be a much better thing to have happened for City. Ive been mentioning the fact since January that next summer a  big amount of City players will be out of contract and irrespective of which division we will be headed for, its then that the likes of Lafferty, Turner etc, much of the deadwood, will leave City, This will give the likes of Pritchard, Maddison, some of the younger guys, even more chance to be  higher up the pecking order for getting game time.Alex spoke well, he clearly said every club can always be stronger, he and the club did try hard to get 1 or 2 players out but that deals fall thru. Yes it was a fail that a 2nd striker was not  attained, but as he said, the windows shut, the squad is still a strong one, and they should be up for it. Apart from the lack of a 2nd striker, which cannot be ignored, i am more than pleased with the new signings, but now the focus shifts to the pitch, and seeing if indeed the players  show fight and grit, but biggest thing to me, can Alex get things right himself, i.e right formations, clever substitutions, players in the right positions etc, for me thats the biggest question needing answering if City are to do well this season.

Nobody knows exactly but i imagine NCFC pretty much broke even, give or take a million or two in either direction. Just thinking on the McCormack saga, presumably if Villa hadnt come, we would have had to find in the region of 12-14 mill for him plus his wages. Instead we got Pritchard and Oliveira, combines transfer fee of about 13 million plus 2 wages, seems to me those 2 signings pretty much equate with the amount we would have spent for McCormack. After that is was clearly said end of window that only way we couldave got another striker in was first to get rid of 1 or 2 existing players.So that seems the likely scenario for January also, only way to get another striker in will be 1 or 2 outgoings first, and if we want a expensive striker, someone like Naismith, Klose or Brady will have to go.

One thing from the Presser you could gaurantee as sure as Summer turns to Autumn, thats Nelson would not quite be ready for a start. That has happened to just about every new signing  since Alex took over, always those few weeks delay before we actually see them in action. Its probably Alexs most consistent and predictable theme since hes been our manager.Also now we know there will be no Chamakh, so we go with what we got....at least until January.

See a few dreamers in the latter section of this post wanting NCFC to get established in the Prem, even to go into Europe..that is laughable. First, established in the Prem...how many of the clubs in the Prem right now can truly be called established?..depends how many seasons you need to be classed as established,,1?...5?....10?...I would imagine if you said even 10 continuos seasons as established, the actual amount who have done that right now are small and you are looking at the Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool type of clubs.The mid table Prem sides such as Stoke, Southampton, Swansea etc are doing a good fist at  trying to, but even they are not yet truly established. City belong to a good number of clubs classed as yo-yo such as Burnley, Hull, QPR, Wolves etc, and with Delia and hubby that is the best we can ever hope for, i argue that is the best we can ever hope for even with a mega rich owner, as to become a Liverpool or Arsenal is never going to happen.Delia and hubby are doing fine keeping City run financially well, i would not want to see them sell up. To be honest, i dont mind what division we are in at any given moment, two  biggest things for me are club runs well, yes to that, and footballs exciting....well...last 12 months that has been lost, so either Alex refinds the excitement factor or we get another manager in plz.

If the first requirement of a Chief Exec at any English football club was to win a popularity contest held by the fans, then there would be 92 permanent vacancies at English clubs. You lot are just nuts and this Topic is pretty daft. I neither like him or dislike him as i personally dont know the guy, all i am interested in is what kind of job he does for City, based on what we are allowed to know.After the window there were clamours from the fans to get some reaction from the club about the thought of failings  that had happened in the fans eyes. The local media took this up, and Jez Moxey responded. The questions asked were put to him up front, he gave his answers. I listened to it all, and thought Jez answered in an honest, straight forward, easy to understand manner.As a chief exec, ive been impressed with his straight to it answers, he has the absolute best interests at heart for NCFC as a club and how they stand in this day and age. I may or may not like some of the things his job may force him to act upon  now and in future, but then im just a fan, but so far hes come across as approachable, with a straight forward no nonsense way of  doing things.

Lets not mince words, the squad we have and the players we have got in are very capable indeed of finishing in the top two, but the actuality of doing that will be far from easy. So much has been spurted out on these forums about the unhappiness of Klose, the useless and want away Naisy, the underwhelming Brady and on and on....well none of that matters, what does is if Alex can refind the drive to fire his team up, he now knows this division is going to be tough, tougher than last time, but all thats needed is a couple of good  wins and wins convincingly, and even the players soon galvanise and feelgood factors kick in.Alex is the manager, what he does in his role in the coming weeks will stamp what will happen rest of the season. If he can rekindle his first 6 months influence, no doubt, we can get auto promotion, But failings means 8th to 12th.

Well if hes hobbled off the pitch after a nasty challenge then it doesnt sound good for either WBA or us, thats always been his problem, hes just prone to injuries. In case he was merely having a run out for them, still see no reason why hes not coming back here next week  for City to actually assess his  condition etc. Those who thought he could not do a job for City were way off the mark. Anyway, unless Pulis signs him up over the weekend, no reason why we cant be our player, but as Moxey said, just a case of assessing him first.

Ah the 60s and 70s..Go to the match on a Saturday afternoon, rush home to local newsagents, get the newly printed Pink Un, then sit down to tea while perusing the match report, football scores, flick thru the inside pages to find  your local Anglian Combination team, pick up other snippets of information, see who had scored the goals in big bold letters...So, wus gorn on ere then? We all amateur psychologists now?  Lets leave Mr. Klose to do his thing on the pitch shall we? My my, how times have changed....

yellowfever, just take a look in the Champs right now at clubs with rich owners, who can invest easily in new players more than City can...Newcastle, Villa, Sheff. Wednesday,  Wolves, Derby..thats 5, theres likely 1 or 2 more ive forgotten. Point is, despite there riches, only 3 clubs can get promoted, meaning even with  untold riches some clubs are staying in this division, their fans will whine all the more pointing out even  with lots of money they are no higher up the rung.In previous seasons clubs  got new owners, many from abroad, like at Cardiff, Blackburn etc and its not improved anything at all, and the trend will continue more, simply more and more clubs bringing  in richer owners with more dosh to spend, but the divisions dont change. its still 3 up 3 down, 20 at the top table. My view is, like it or not, it will become harder to get into the Prem with or without bigger investment, so what do you prefer, the existing model, knowing our Board do a good job at keeping our club sufficient, plus knowing all we have, the ground etc etc, is owned by NCFC, and by local owners we can trust, even to have a good old whine at, or to unknown foreign  buyers, who could leave this club in an actual bigger  mess?