sxcanaree

Sorry but there are many bright sides from yesterdays match - if we were offered the opportunity of having fate in our own hands on the last day of the season we would have grabbed it from day one - six weeks ago we were 250-1 against staying up - yesterday was worse than a cup match as anything other than a victory was likely to end in relegation - for that reason alone our suicidal attack at all costs philosophy was the right one - even at 1-0 down we could not afford to sit back and hope to nick a draw - we would still have been relegated. Bright sides. I was in the Fulham end of the Ground and the massed ranks in the away end were simply magnificent throughout the game. At Kick off I remarked to my group that the fulham fans were nervous and we were having a party. The chants of "five nil and you still don''t sing" and the fact that near the end of the game I think the Fulham fans sang "we love you Norwich" was great. The Premiership needs us more than we need them. whilst there are some clubs where naturally the attendance has been lower we have had on average 200 more fans at every away ground than each clubs average attendance - bearing in mind we had no local derby nor major rivalry are the most remote club in the country with the worst transport infrastructure and were "little old Norwich" this is fantastic. We have played exciting adventurous football all season - we would have stayed up if we had not had the nightmare injuries from December to March. Despite the appalling treatment of the game and more especially the fans on MOTD yesterdays finish to a season is unlikely to be repeated in the future - next Season Pompey, Fulham and Wigan will be targeted to be three of the four - (South Coast and remote, unfashionable and small gound, and who?" We have Delia and a unique club to support - sure we will have to go to Hull and back to get promoted next season but the players that stay will believe we can do it - I am sure a sizeable re-promotion bonus will be on the table as that will be in the business plan. I''d rather watch open honest football games than cynical 1-0 survival tactics we will not change and if the premiership doesn''t it will die.City til I die!

Whatever the result tomorrow lets make sure that the News clips, Sky and MOTD see the fans happy and proud of a fantastic rollercoaster year of football. - Be unhappy and gutted inside if we go down, but no tears or sitting moping about what might have been...as the song says "no regrets, no tears goodbye..." but as Arnie says "We''ll be back..."  The last few games have shown that when we have our best players playing we are actually quite a good premiership side - If only we hadn''t had the long period when so many of them were injured and dropped to bottom. Lets face it despite all the criticism of Delia''s half time pep talk against Man City nobody has criticised or denied that we are the best "fussball" supporters in the world so for one more time COME ON LETS BEHAVIN YOU.....

Just been chewing the fat over on this - have got a corporate box this Sunday  - (it will be the one with yellow and green flags on the outside!). Received the info today and it states no "denim, trainers or away colours." From this I get the feeling that it is Ok to turn up in a full Fulham kit (including boots and shin pads) but not in a Norwich "away" shirt. Which is fine as i understand we are now using the home kit....Are Fulham saying that their fans are so unruly that they cannot control even their corporate supporters?  Seriously though are there any lawyers on this board (or law students) because I believe that in its purest sense the banning of away colours will be an infringement of my human rights and sectarian discrimination....Any thoughts? I am willing to take this up with Fulham but as the box arises out of a trading relationship I need to be sure of my facts! OTBC

Doesn''t he know that London is only two hours away from Norwich, and Yarmouth is even closer!

Lets stop whingeing about this and be proud - there are no prizes for chopping lumps out of the opposition nor for breaking legs - there are for being fair and playing the game properly. We have always had a tradition of playing the game fairly and even if we go down at the end of this season our reputation will be enhanced because of the sense of fair play in our team. Our reputation started in 1985 where just after the Luton Milwall riots the commentators said "Football needs something good to brighten its tarnished image" and Norwich and Sunderland fans between them produced a day to do this which is still remembered. We enhanced it still further when playing in Europe Des Lynham''s comment on the Sports review of the year "we all went in to Europe with Norwich" i.e. We delivered performances that the Country was able to be proud of.  An anorak will correct me if I''m wrong but I think that we won the fair play trophy the last time we were in the Premiership - only then it didn''t have the same potential for European qualification. No Norwich players do not surround the ref nor do we fall over in the penalty box - and neutral supporters praise us for that - Delia says (and nobody contradicts her) that we have the best supporters in the world - and we do support the "best" team - One that plays with a spirit of sportsmanship and comradeship that has been engendered for years - its not an accident that all of the players from the Bayern Munich game were found easily and so many ex-players are kicking around Norfolk. This is our reputation and our brand - it is priceless. Would you seriously surrender all this for another Season of Premiership boredom and a pot of gold? I wouldn''t. OTBC

I agree - I am bored with sitting at home on a Saturday with nothing to look forward to.  I live and work in London but am a Season ticket holder. I made a conscious decision not to go to away games this season for cost reasons but have sneaked in a couple of the London games. In 2004 could not go to the Bolton game for personal reasons but have attended all other home games and despite not being a subscriber to Sky managed to see the Manure, Newcastle, and Man City games on TV all in all I saw 13 games "live" out of 20. With Sky moving the Man City game to a weeknight where its a bugger to get back to London after the game, a long standing committment which prevents me from attending the Manure game and the Newcastle game having been moved to a night where I am unavailable to attend my potential for  2005 is an amazing 7 games in 4 and a half months! I am becoming a part time fan... At least next season there will be games on Saturdays - thats what they are there for! OTBC  

This is the one area where we have been at our "weakest" whenever there is a crunching tackle or a bit of argy bargy our players are the sportsmen who turn the other cheek and simply walk away. I am totally p****ed off with Referees "big club" bias - sure we benefitted last year but it is inherently wrong - the ref is paid to be impartial. We had the same discipline last year yet offenders against us were punished for their misdemeanors but not this year. Take Saturday for example - Why wasn''t Johnson sent off or booked for his attack on Huckerby? Probably because Hucks told the ref it was all part and parcel of the game... Equally and having heard it several times on the box when we were drawing "for 7 minutes" and just about matching Chelski none of their players fell down injured yet as soon as they had restored the lead they fell over again and again! This includes when they had two players "injured" one of whom strolled up to lay down on the pitch before being treated...yet when a Norwich player was injured the ref escorted him to the touchline for treatment so as not disrupt the game.... On balance I''d rather not play with this lot any more....

Only scan read "article" in its entirety as annoyed that most of fleet street now lost the plot on this issue however thought that final line beneath "article" was actually libellous as the "article" claimed that "Martin Samuel was talking to Delia Smith" and therefore implied that the views expressed were Delias own. Will be complaining once I''ve settled down as at present would write a verbose reply which finishes off with a string of expletives. Revenge needs to be served cold! OTBC

Lets get real here - I missed this live as was in a pub where the picture/sound was off at half time but it was reported on my local radio at 6 am. Without Delias comments it would have been "Man City edged closer to a UEFA cup place owing to a 3-2 win" with it it was "Norwich failed to respond to Delia''s rallying cry" Football is about passion and publicity - Delia showed her passion for the club and the fans (incidentally the answer was "we''re in the bar") despite "being tired and emotional" - she was tired and emotional last year when she talked about "the icing on the icing" - Who hasn''t said something that they regret later. Delias only problem was that instead of the usual boring analysis at half time Sky decided to broadcast her message to the world live and the world keep repeating it back at her! I do not think that Delia was saying there was not enough noise (not being there I do not know the volume etc) but more lets have more - perhaps she should have said it to the River End/City Stand rather than the Barclay/Snakepit but thats where the Journo was. With regard to publicity there''s no such thing as bad publicity - If you cannot back up the club when challenged by anyone today then stuff you! - If we had taken the chances we had and won the game the headlines would have been Delias rallying cry stuns the troops into action and the Man City/Ips**** fans would be on the back foot wishing that their chairman was as passionate. In the long run it will do us good - look forward to Delia being the next advocate of Jacobs Creek in the future! Keep it up Delia.

Barracuda Bar on Houndsditch are showing the game...massive screen.... but lousy beer Was there for the away fixture only about 10 people in the pub so uninterrupted view.  

Yeah but.... As Southampton up until the last Couple of Seasons have always been 17th in the final table they have the necessary down and dirty tricks to stay up irrespective of who they are playing - normally they creep out of the relegation zone on the last day of the Season with an "unlikely" win - they are playing Manure that day so the stage is set for this already. I think that of the current bottom four two will hit form as we have all improved - all four have four points out of the last twelve leaving the mini league unchanged for over a Month but the gap with 15 and 16 is shrinking - lets think the unthinkable and say that two of the four escape relegation For two to escape we need someone else in the pot. So who would that be? Adding Blackburn in the mix is a problem as they have an "interesting" run in and could ultimately decide all of our fates. The bottom four all have to play Chelski, Arse, Manure and Blackburn. whilst the first three will probably result in nil points for all of us Blackburns frailty could give rise to one or other side gaining an advantage - as we''re first out of the traps we need to succeed. Based on current position in the league Blackburn play every club below 14th in their run in hence I think they will not be drawn in. If Fulham are added then we will have major problems since we do not want a final day dogfight on our hands. Birmingham - Believe the signings in the transfer window will see them maintain a safe level. Pompey - possibly, Injuries and complacency may creep in - of the bottom four they have Southampton and WBA to play and have only achieved 4 points so far this year. - Whilst they have beaten Manure at home the balance of their victories have been against the "weaker" sides - they may struggle (even with a run in of mainly mid table clashes). Newcastle/Villa/Man City...yeah right! I''m making no predictions but expect the fat lady to be very fat by the time she sings!    

"5 points in 5 days to the 2 worst teams in the Prem" Sorry, Definition of worst includes the lowest - appreciate that you cannot lose to yourselves - if we and Chrystal Palarse are honest we would accept "marginally better teams" You my friend are still the worst. Twice 2-1 and you stuffed it up - it seems the nirvana of actually scoring more than 2 goals in a match seems to be totally beyond you this season. Lets see how this fascination unwinds - after all to prove you are class you have 5 of the top 6 still to play and 7 in the top 9. It will be fun! OTBC

Couldn''t get to the meeting as live far far away As this thread is already on the bottom of page 1 only 10 hours after posting and the subject is important can this post/subject be "pinned" so that it receives wide attention?   By the way how was my Pie and Pint?  

The booing was for the removal of Jonson - He has been outstanding this Month - Everyone was expecting Mulryne to be substituted that is why there was a brief chant in his favour as he was sitting down and the cheers for Holts arrival when Mulryne eventually departured.... But I do agree that it was we wot did it - the team was disheveled and disorgansed until OTBC rang out then it all changed.

But there is a problem if you buy a DVD and you only have a video player to play it on! In that case your DVD is redundant (their life isn''t actually as much as its cracked up to be, some of the early ones are suffering from metal fatigue already)  While you are saving up for your DVD player you can build a collection of "bargain" videos that you can play and you will not worry about once you swap over. but I would steer clear of betamax! OTBC

Just to add insult to Injury the London evening standard reported this last night.....and said that those stuck were a mixture of "shoppers and Chelsea fans"!!!! perhaps it was Brian woolnough writing it?

I too missed Saturdays game... First home game all season I had to listen to the action on the Internet and watch the BBC "final score" programme with the sound off turning it up just to hear the Norwich bits... Then as the Missus was not yet home I put on BBCi (I do not have or want Sky!) to listen to the debrief of the games where they had Jonathan Pearce talking about the game from the Ground and you could see that he had been mightily impressed by the atmosphere at the ground to the extent that he spent time talking of the pride and passion of the club as a whole. Only hope I don''t have to miss another game for the next win!

Bye Bye Baggies then   - Almost certainly confirmed to be in that position with one game still to play!!! One down, Blackburn and Chrystal Palarse to go!   OTBC

Please can someone read what the club are saying in their comments - it is not that the club is skint simply that they have to manage within the rules. - In the prospectus for the first share issue the club intimated that they had a three to five year goal of getting promoted to the premiership - and guaranteed a bonus payment on the preference shares if they achieved this by June 2007. In 2003 the Annual report stated that whilst the "dividends had been provided on the preference shares...these would not become payable until the company has generated sufficient realised reserves" - ie until they have some cash they were not paying the 4% interest on the preference shares and  we are budgeting to pay out in three years time... The problem is that they achieved Promotion in two seasons which causes as much of a problem as actually not achieving the target - they now not only have the cash to pay the deferred dividend and the standard dividend for 2004 but also the bonus is now payable. A nice problem but a problem nonetheless! The club is simply a victim of their own success and should not be criticised for this, they now have the cash and whether we want it or not are paying it to us - they are also acting prudently in advising anyone who wants to cash in their B shares that they have the right so to do until 1/10. The club don''t want you to do it but you have the right to sell. What this thread should be about is "Is anyone selling and why?!" I''m not selling mine. Is anyone selling theirs? OTBC P.S. I''m thinking of donating the cash dividend to the supporters trust to buy shares and grow the fans ownership in the club....          

As I think you will find has everyone else - Strachan on Match of the Day "Fabulous Huckerby" - My local Ips***t loving Radio station (Essex!) reporting the back page of todays Sun as "Green''s a Giant" and the best one from yesterday in the preview ofthe match in the Sunday Express something along the lines of "gives Nigel Worthington another chance to showcase the talents of his First division champions" This is the paper that were calling the baggies and palarse as "sorry" and "poor" in their match reports!    

I was (un)fortunate enough to be in a box today - "No football Shirts allowed" "you''re with Spurs fans so shut up" (fairs fair we''d expect the same of any away fans in with us at FCR but we were behind tinted glass)*- from the relayed sound in the box not only were we the loudest we were the clearest...Best two I agree were the "England''s Number two" and "what the f was that" chant where the Spurs fans could only respond with "who the f are you?" not very clever! Great day out nontheless - not many fingernails left but I think if we carry on giving as vocal away support it can only lift the team...Anfield will be the test. OTBC *You may have noticed our box we were the ones wearing green and yellow football shirts in the front with the First Division Champions banner on the wall!          

My missus is such an anti fan that she takes great delight in any defeat or even a draw - she''s been fairly quiet last season but no doubt her barbs are being sharpened for the new season. I live in South Essex where the route to Norwich is crap and the trains torturous and up until recently I could only afford the odd game (5 or so a Season home and away) so have avidly listened to the Radio for most games. (I can get Radio Norfolk before the sun goes down and the atmospherics kick in and I miss the last ten minutes in Winter its a nightmare and evening kick offs are impossible....) Luckily she who must be obeyed is out two Saturdays in four so I am not confined to the study/bedroom to listen to the commentary however whenever she is in the same room as me we always seem to throw away a decent lead...I still blame her for the fact that in the last Season we were relegated we were beating West Ham 2-0 with fifteen minutes to go - She came home, moaned at the poor reception on the Radio - we concede a goal, The atmospherics start to kick in and Radio France or Belgium starts to bleed over the commentary she moans still louder - another goal conceded. I reluctantly decide to switch to teletext to keep her quiet - as I slowly turn the stereo off we concede a third....3-2! Still I have gotten my own back by becoming a shareholder (twice) and now am proud owner of a Season ticket...which she does not know about! And this is with full knowledge that the Joys of travel on the A140 are about to be enhanced by the 50 mph speed limit and the Trains will not be running through the Ips*** tunnel until mid September! Oh what fun I can look forward to!

Yes that was a happy day - a hot Summers afternoon - listening to Roy Waller (whatever happened to him!) commentating on the game on the Car Radio as cannot get Radio Norfolk in the house in South Essex. Severe depression as we are losing with 20 minutes to go and trudge indoors to "see" the last 20 mins on Teletext...Fantastic. As Rush says the laconic comment from Mike Walker of "see what you can do?" was oft repeated as was the other comment from the media - "Arsenal were so bad that the cardboard cut out fans in the South Bank got up to leave with ten minutes to go!" Set us up for a memorable season. I too wish Mark all the best in the future - he is the one player whose career I have monitored since departure and always checked for his teams results. Any thoughts on a similar thanks message board on here? We have to remember of course that in the 2002/3 Seson he scored one last crucial goal - for Rotherham against the binmen - thus ensuring that they did not qualify for the playoffs that Season. I was in Squares at the time and the place erupted to a choruses of "only one Mark Robins" and "walking in a Robins wonderland" made the loss against Wolves just about palatable.

At the Station on the way to work today noticed an Arse*ole fan wearing a T-shirt with something like "We wOn the league at white-hart lane"...perhaps this is their take on "Top of the League since Portman Road"! Incidentally earlier in the Season I had the misfortune to travel home one evening in a train full of Ars*ole supporters after one of their victories in the Champions League....Whilst almost to a man they were extremely sullen and morose (they had won I checked!) I did notice that the quality of the replica kit was way superior to ours - ie cotton rather than nylon...Do you think that we will now get premier league replica shirts! Hopefully we will never get to the point that we are saddened by a 2-0 victory! OTBC N.B. The O in wOn was their O2 logo

So at least Leeds will be continuing the tradition in the Coca Cola League next Season! Or did you mean Sheffield? (there aren''t any other teams that are referred to with their title as "united" are there?) Sorry for early post - just off to crewe!