Jon Moorhouse

The first time I''ve sat in a Norwich end and seen us win since the promotion winning season (although have seen 3 wins from the wrong end in that time)! Oldham hasn''t changed much since last visit when we lost 3-0 at an end of season game - in fact it looks pretty dilapidated - apparently they''re moving to a new ground soon and need to. Not a great first half - started ok first 20 minutes then they finished the strongest. We scored an offside goal from a good McNamee cross and their striker (on loan from Millwall and looked like Don Goodman) bottled a lunge at the far post and really should have scored. 2nd half we were the better side and deservedly scored from a Mcnamee cross from the left that found Grant Holt on the edge of the 6 yard box at the far post and slotted in to the roof of the net. Oldham had a strong finish last 20 or so and Forster had to be at his very best to tip a one on one round his left post. Ratings: Forster 8 - didn''t have a huge amount to do but did what he had to do very well R Martin 7 - solid and untroubled - should have done better with a shot Doc 8 - solid and untroubled at the back Nelson - for blocking, tackling and heading 7 - for passing and distribution 2 was once free in space and managed to slice the ball with the outside of his left foot in to the stand my grandma could pass better and she''s 88 - but she certainly couldn''t head/block/tackle better Rose 7 - did ok Lappin 7 - had a decent game - got stuck in well and won some crunching tackles which surprised me Smith 7 - hustled well and used the ball well Hoolahan 7 - picked up a strain in first half I think - went down unchallenged and was subbed in 2nd half McNamee 7- needs to be a bit more direct, swerved in and out but needed to attack full back a bit more - 2 good crosses though Martin 5 - poor he has rarely impressed me (I don''t see Norwich that often (about 8 games a season)) didn''t challenge for much - wanders around looking like he thinks the game owes him a chance - may be a good finisher but needs to work a lot harder (when we were under the cosh clearance from Forster wasn''t even challenged for nor the subsequent knock back from Doc) Holt 9 - mom work rate immense and good finish Hughes 7 - did well when he came on and defended in midfield well Oli - 7 skillful but looked a bit naive in some of the runs he makes or doesn''t make - good with the ball at his feet Good crowd turnout from us - good noise - didn''t hear a peep from the Oldham fans.

It''s wet up here today but no sign of snow - light snow possible sunday but would be shocked if it is off.

In their defence apparently Bates switched the game to a caregory A game 10 days ago (for Oldham) something he has done a few times in contrary to what was initially issued in programmes etc. So there was an un-official boycott in protest - I work in Bolton and know of 4 people who were going then didn''t because of this - an adult and junior ticket became £42 which is slightly less than it cost me to take my Dad (oap) and 2 children to Southampton on saturday.

Been to Oldham quite a few times and fans have always been very friendly. Taking my 6 year old boys who can now sing the second part of OTBC!

Just to clarify these are tickets to any Oldham game this year - you would have to apply prior to the game for tickets to the Norwich game and it would be subject to it not selling out and tickets would be in the home end. Won''t be much use if the game does sell out - sorry - just trying to drum up more funds.

I''m selling a voucher for 2 tickets to any Oldham game this season to raise funds for the Special Care Baby Unit at Bolton (where my twin boys spent the first few weeks of their lives)- every penny raised goes to the charity. We will be holding a memorabilia auction in June - to co-incide with the world cup - but Bury and Oldham kindly donated tickets - unfortunately they run out before the auction will be held. Full explanation is on the ebay link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2x-Oldham-FC-tickets-to-any-home-match-charity-auction_W0QQitemZ220546792258QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item33599cfb42 I presume the tickets will have to be in the home end but if you don''t mind that it could be a cheap way to get in as I presume full price for 2 tickets will be about £40. Auction runs out on Tuesday afternoon.

So if you were in the last couple of years of your chosen career ahead of retirement and the company you were working for were paying you rather a lot of  money for not doing a great deal - would you move to get paid a lot less and have to work harder? I know I wouldn''t - lack of self respect or not I have my future to think about. Try looking at it from a professional point of view rather than a fans!

It is which is why I am hoping they get to the final - the more games they play the better!

Obviously that is presuming they don''t get to the Paint Pot final which they really are quite likely to.

Spoke to a Blackpool fan today who reckons there is a rumour on one of their fan sites, although I''ve had a quick look and can''t find it, that we are after Ormerod - seem to remember us getting linked with him about 6 years ago. Doesn''t seem particularly likely to me as I wouldn''t thought he''d offer much different to what we already have and certainly wouldn''t be a back up to Holt. Thought I''d share the rumour anyway!

In their defence they did have a few called up: Rui Marques for Angola Paddy Kisnorbo for Australia Alan Martin for Scotland u21 Lubo Michalik for Slovenia Sam Vokes for Wales If we were in the same position with Wes, Hughes and erm.... someone else called up I''m sure we''d want games called off - remember well how peed off we use to be when Eadie, Marshall and O''Neill were called up before U21''s counted. Also I think they''d rather play at the moment as they are on a good run than play it in January when form may have gone and injuries mounted.

Would agree with that - although I really wouldn''t have given Martin and Holt the same score as I thought Holt was much better. Also just a small point but Cody robbed the left back not the right back. Agree with the noise from the Stockport fans towards the end - considering there was so few of them they made some noise. How much were tickets in the away end? It was £17 in the home end - had a feeling they were more for the away end but I might be wrong.

After over 4 years, over £1000 spent at 25+ home and away games I have finally seen Norwich win - although I had to sit in the Stockport end to do it - I also have seem to remember the last time I saw us win I was in the home end at Crewe. To me we played worse than at Leeds but against a team completely lacking in confidence - they seemed clueless when they got into good positions - highlight was a one on one with Forster where their player just ran straight at him. Holts first goal seemed to go through their keepers hands and hit his ear before looping in to the net from 2 yards out. Our penalty was the opposite end to me so was hard to see but their players seemed upset about something. Their goal blatantly deflected off their striker stood in an off-side position and for a while it looked like the ref was going to disallow it but the line-o didn''t seem to want to give it. At this stage they looked capable of snatching a draw and had a strong penalty claim when the ball seemed to hit Askou''s hand - fortunately the ref was unsighted by a player and the same line-o didn''t want to make a decision. Couldn''t be certain from where I was but their players looked pretty unhappy. Then Cody Mc robbed their left back of the ball, sensibly squared the ball and Holt wrapped it up. Drury did pretty well at right back and nearly scored. Doc and Askou were pretty untroubled at the back and solid in the air. Lappin did well at left back. Forster would be a decent keeper if he could learn to kick better. Midfield did well - Smith down the right is solid, Hoolahan ran the show, Gill got stuck in until injury, Russell was ok. Up front Holt was immense - amazed he has not played consistently at a higher level, Martin was quiet today. Subs - Cody did the job he should have done at Leeds by defending from the front and Adyemi (cruelly compared to Carlton Palmer by Stockport fans around me) looked useful. Amusingly there were 10 Ipswich fans in the home end - hope they enjoyed their trip out! 

So is that yes it is all ticket or yes there will be tickets on the night? Just concerned with the postal strikes around that I''ll get the tickets if I order them now + I''ll only be 100% sure I can definitely go at the weekend! Anybody know if there will be tickets on the gate?   Cheers

Does anyone know if Monday is all ticket or can I pay on the night?

I was talking to a Blackpool Season Ticket holder today who reckons there has been speculation on their forum that if Hoolahan plas 2 more games for us it triggers a further payment - I pointed out that we signed Hoolahan for £250,000 by triggering a clause in his contract with them so this seemed unlikely. I''m not sure how many games Wes has played for us but if he is 2 away from say 50 games maybe there is something in this and would go further to explain why they were so keen for Gunn and Lambert to off-load.

442 magazine have an article about a player who is ''European Football''s top conman''. Apparently he uses youtube clips of Kezman to secure a trial. 2 English clubs fell for his con - Swindon who gave hime a trial match and us who he played half a game for against Kirkley and Pakefield where ''his performance was so poor he was hauled off at half-time''. A former agent who fell for his story ''was amazed when Bryan Gunn then called me up to tell me they had a former PSG striker on trial''. It appears slightly worrying at how easily we were fooled and how easy it is to get a trial for the club?!

I see on the main site that you can subscribe to the programme for the season - you then are gven a link to the club shop where there does not appear to be a programme subscription on sale - does anybody subscribe? How much does it cost? How do you do it?   Ta in advance

 Michael Bates wrote: Suprised no mention of Gillanza, or however u spelt it.. Now he was raw talent. Shame he got a terrible injury just when he was on true goalscoring form for us. Anyone remember how mnay goals he got in such little games starting for us?? When he came back Worthington was quick to give him the boot. Great shame :( He scored 2 goals in 15 league appearances. He ended up playing for Darlington a couple of seasons back.   Was responding to this so meant Giallanza not Abbey or Nielsen (look good at Grimsby, fantastic when on loan and then woeful when signed!)

I''m sure I remember him scoring 2 or 3 in a re-arranged league cup game at Blackpool that we won 5-0 in about 2000ish - he looked quite useful that night.

Live in Leigh - so about 30 minutes. To be honest - physically we matched them in the centre of the park - Dumic and Stephens at centre back were immense, but the full backs looked a bit light weight - Francomb and Habergham (although he looked pretty skillful at left back) as did the wingers Dawkin and Davey. We played Johnbull Omergie just in front of the defence and with Adyemi and Smith in front of him we looked fairly solid - and Rudd looked a decent keeper and a very good shot stopper - couldn''t work out if he was a bit crap at kicking at times or very lucky as what appeared to miskick a few that always found a Norwich player in space - if he meant them then he is some player!

Decent match. At times we looked far the better side (start of first and second half) but had faded badly and never looked like scoring. Their goal, free-kick, flew in as if hit by Hot Shot Hamish - came from their right back McArdle who looked fairly useful. Our goal was comical - mis hit shot from 12 yards by Adeyemi that their keeper let inexplicably through his legs - I guess it was such a soft shot that he took his eye off it. We had hit the post and crossbar and they had hit the inside of the post late on. Penalties - Rudd was superb diving away to his left three times to save. He looked a very useful and commanding keeper all night. Cente backs looked good especially Dumic. We played 4-5-1 against their 4-4-2. Kelly played alone up front and did ok. Centre midfield of Omergie, Smith and Adyemi bossed the game at times. Overall a deserved result and it clearly meant a lot to the lads. Crowd of 350 with at least 7 Norwich fans there and a fair few that I would guess were parents. Funniest thing was at full time the managers shook hands and half the crowd got up and left not realising there was extra time!!

Some very good points made in the letter with more than a few areas that have concerned me lately. Not sure on your Maths in : Peter GRANTS reign at Carrow Road saw him take charge of somewhere near 56 games (including cup). His teams won 15, drew 11 and lost 30 games.  Glen ROEDER has been in charge for 55 games (including cup) and his teams have won 15 games, drawn 9 and lost 26 games.  - what happened in the other 5 games if we didn''t win, lose or draw?! Completely agree though that Roeder seems to have a superb ability to undermine players and inspire loss of confidence. Saw Hoolahan a few times at Blackpool and, although he could float in and out of the game, he was usually the best player on the pitch and by far the most creative - he is a mere shadow of that now. Cureton is a decent Championship striker who thrives on confidence - sadly he has none. However what worries me most is where we will be next September - and I don''t mean which division. The loan players are here because we have no money but their presence, in many cases, seems to completely undermine our own players - if I was Drury, Ostemobor, Cureton etc I would not want to be at Norwich next season as it seems clear Roeder does not rate them. In september we will have Marshall, The Doc, Clingan, Bell, Russell, maybe Croft - can''t think of many more who would want to stay or aren''t out of contract. I think I''d rather be useless and playing with our own players, youngsters et al and the odd loan than the current situation of useless with a team stuffed full of players who do not belong to us. 

I''m the real Jonah. Hit me last season when I went to Stoke after which we went on our unbeaten run until I turned up again at Bury to end it - worked out I had spent over £1000 (not including petrol, parking and pies) going to away games at that point since last seeing us win (at Crewe 1st season back in the Championship) last victory before that was also at Crewe promotion season. I have seen us play at 66 different grounds (most quite a few times - based in the North West there are quite a few teams around) and have only seen us win at 6 of those grounds (Crewe is the only one I can count twice for that!!) but these do include Anfield, Goodison and Maine Road. When I miss games I''d normally go to like Barnsley last year and Blackpool we win confirming my hoodoo status! Worryingly I''m off to Barnsley today - sorry! 

Probably already said in many posts and in different ways but my view is: Probably the right decision to let Darren go - I''ve long thought he was a luxury that we weren''t good enough to afford. In the right team I''m sure he could/would still do an excellent job but I the fact that he doesn''t really teack back, rarely contest headers, tackles worse than my mum in a team that was scrapping around and pretty poor elsewhere meant it was always hard to play him in a balanced side. Always felt Drury struggled behind him as you end up, invariably, in a 2 on 1 situation unsure whether to go to the ball or cover the runner as Huck ambles back from his run. Don''t get me wrong Hucks has thrilled and delighted in equal measure when going forward and in the promotion season we had a strong enough midfield to cover him. But when we got to the prem I don''t think we could work out how to play Hucks - do you play 4-4-2 but lose him in midfield or play a 4-3-1-2 floating role? Sadly we never had the sort of quality players alongside him to release him in the free role his talents deserved. I guess players of the callibre of Andy Hughes and Pattison don''t really fit in to the sort of team Huckerby needed. On the whole, and with regret, I think it is the right decision to release him at this time as we are some distance from being good enough to fit him into the team. However the handling of it all is where the club should hang their head in shame. I could understand if we weren''t safe going in to the last game as it may have been too much of a distraction, but to not announce it during the week to give us the opportunity as fans to thank Hucks for the last 5 years is at best shoddy, at worst disgraceful. Hucks deserved twice the send off Dion got - in terms of service to us rather than the game. And Worthington handled the Iwan departure with respect to the player so we both had the opportunity to say good bye and thank. I really don;t understand why it has been so poorly handled - this is not the Norwich way and if it is all down to Roeder then he should hang his head in shame because that is not how you treat a legend of a club. Rant over for now.