Morph

I don''t think there''s anything racist about the photo. The squad rows appear to ordered according to height. I have to say they could have done a better job of avoiding the reflection in the glass above the squad. Reads Norwich City backwards. Hope that isn''t a sign of things to come...........................

Here''s a wild thought. Given all the shenanigans going on over a transfer to Everton of Cardiff''s Earnshaw, would that be a big surprise to folks if Earnshaw came into Carrow Road as the new number 9. A welshman for a welshman in the #9 shirt? Fantasy perhaps?

FYI, lifted from the message board for Norwich on www.bbc.co.uk/sport. Looks to be posted by a Pompey fan. "Primus Interview Russell Anderson - 147th post - 24 Jul 2004 18:20 Linvoy Primus has just been interviewed on our local station after playing in the friendly against Torquay. He said that a definite decision will be made on his future on Monday but after hearing the interview I will be amazed if he doesn''t stay with us. He said he had a meeting with our chairman on Friday evening and said he liked what he heard from the chairman and the chairman liked what he heard from Linvoy. It seems that he is asking Pompey for a year extra on his contract and has asked for (but not demanded) an increase in salary. He intimated that he didn''t want to leave Portsmouth but had to consider the Norwich offer for the sake of his family. It seems that as well as the supporters both the manager and chairman want him to stay and my feeling of the guy is that he is not your typical ''money grabber'' and will be satisfy with a few improvements to his contract even though it still won''t match what you have offered. If I am wrong and he signs for you, you can be assurred that you will have got a ''gem'' and, I for one, will wish him the best of luck!"

Phil, You want to sign a player whose major action of note is the spitting on the Celtic fan in the European meeting between Celtic and Liverpool. Highly overrated. Lazy. And probably on fat wages to boot. Leave him alone.

Does anybody know where Igor Stepanovs has ended up? He showed he was more than a half decent centre half in Euro2004 with his performances for Latvia, but he''s no longer with Arsenal. So where did he go? Should he be a target for the Yellas?

I''m beginning to believe that Eriksson can''t take England beyond the quarter finals of any major competition. You can''t go one up and then hope to hold on to a game against quality opposition. It happened against Brazil in WC 2002, then against France in Euro 2004 and finally against Portugal in Euro 2004. Both the France and Portugal games were games that England should have won if the manager and team had been prepared to go at the opposition. Contrast these games with some of the games Erikssons England sides have performed in: England 5 Germany 1, England 2 Turkey 0. He has the same nucleus of those sides to: England vs Germany Seaman Cole Ferdinand Campbell Neville Beckham Gerrard Scholes Barmby Owen Heskey England vs Turkey James Bridge Campbell Ferdinand Neville Beckham Scholes Butt Gerrard Rooney Owen So why does the team and manager freeze when they get to the knockout stages of major tournaments. It''s like Eriksson has drunk too much Italian water and can''t conceive of conceding a goal even when his side are capable of scoring two.

Your comments about the story in the Express might explain this post on the tribalfootball site. http://www.tribalfootball.com/june/englsnews9010604.html Maybe Crouch is on his way back. Why don''t we also put in a bid for right back Edwards at the same time?

More stuff from up here...... Talking to a Dundee Utd fan the other evening about City targetting Scottish International keeper Gallacher and his comment was that he couldn''t see Gallacher going to a club where he would not be first choice. He is by all accounts set to leave Dundee Utd but it''s not clear to where. With Green clearly continuing to figure as top dog in between the sticks it does seem unlikely that Gallacher would want to come down to sit on the bench, unless there''s something happening to Greeno that we don''t know about.....

Nothing more on the Ross rumour that was in the Daily Record. Saw him in the last game of the season against Dunfermline and he didn''t look anything special. In fact he came off midway through the second half. Mind you he has international experience and he is young.

Speaking to a Hibs fan on Sunday night about one of the people that City have been rumoured to be chasing, Scott Brown. Brown is a Scotland U-21 international who plays in midfield off the front two or wide right. A speedy player whose big downside appears to be his disciplinary problems, although by all accounts he has calmed down a good bit. Hails from Hill of Beath (Cowdenbeath) - one of the less salubrious areas of Fife. The other thing is that Dunfermline striker Stevie Crawford is out of contract with the Pars. A Scottish full international who is of the Mackenzie mould of striker. A potential target if the Canaries are looking to bolster their front line. As for fanciful targets what about Henrik Larsson now that his contract is up at Celtic?

Lehmann''s replacement perhaps? Anyone know why Greeno got called into the England XI for the testimonial and not Walker, Robinson or James? Could it be a chance for Wenger to assess a new keeper for the Gooners?

I''ve seen a number of posts in the forum that include posts to other sites/articles, in fact I''ve posted a few myself. You can make them active links by including them inside a little HTML and then you posted link can be clicked on by other readers. So to post a link to the Canaries home site you would type in: < a href="http://www.canaries.co.uk/">Canaries Home Page removing the initial space character between the "

Soccernet has a page that lists the players that have been released by their clubs now that the season has ended. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=252775&cc=5739 There are a few possible candidates here for bolstering the City squad. Muzzy Izzett from Leicester Sylvain Wiltord from Arsenal Steve Howey from Bolton (ex-Newcastle centre-half - is it?)

The reason I brought Briggs up was due to other threads about who to buy and where to buy. Briggs offers City cover at the right back position and I guess potentially on the right side of midfield. The fact that Edworthy has had such a good season would explain why he''s not seen playing time. Which brings me on to another player who''s not seen much playing time this season - Abbey. With all the talk of other signings for the striking role what are the chances of Abbey staying for next season or is he somebody that looks like going the way of Crichton, Easton and so forth?

What''s happened to Keith Briggs? He hasn''t left the club has he? Is he another player that has fallen from favour in the same way that Mark Rivers has?

Given this is a rumours note thread. These are all rumours posted on the tribalfootball site concerning City signings. Norwich return on for Villa striker Crouch http://www.tribalfootball.com/may/englsnews2100504.html Norwich favourites from Evrton for Birmingham''s Hughes http://www.tribalfootball.com/may/englinews7100504.html Norwich seek Portsmouth talks for Todorov http://www.tribalfootball.com/may/englinews5100504.html The last one surprises me most of all given the rumours already running around about Crouch and Bentley. Why do they need another striker? That said most of the rumours appear to come for a large format Sunday paper more famous for the Beckham scandals.

Here''s a couple of names to throw into the mix, one of which has been mentioned elsewhere in the forum. Stephen Caldwell (centre half @ Newcastle) - spent much of the season at Leeds on loan and has now returned to Newcastle. Struggled to get into the Newcastle side with Woodgate now there as top pick alongside Bramble. Maybe we can get him on loan? Michael Bridges (striker @ Newcastle) - struggled with injuries but is now back in contention at Newcastle. However, looks like he''s getting nothing other than bench picks. Maybe he could be picked up on loan. Chris Baird (fullback @ Southampton) - out of contract at end of season and has been at Watford (anyone see him?). Although has offer of new contract hasn''t had time to discuss it with new management. Nick Barmby (midfield @ Leeds) - thought this one might generate some angst. With Leeds going down maybe he would consider a move back to a Premiership side. Might be a bit old though.

Looks like the normal suspects are after him as well - West Brom. http://www.tribalfootball.com/may/englinews9070504.html

Keown - why would we want to buy another aging (38 in July) defender? Sure he''s got Premiership experience but are there no younger defenders out there that are worth getting hold of. Parlour - a bit younger with Premiership experience but he''s still 31 in July. Where are all the 20 something players we should be looking at? Petit - a 34 year old in September. He may have the experience but do we really want to fill the squad with 30 somethings? Pennant - yeah. Young eager and wanting to create an impression in order to get into his home squad. If we can get him on a season long loan then go for it. Bentley - again a young player who is eager to create a good impression. Why not get him in for a season long loan. There was a post that noted his performance against Pompey was nothing special, but wasn''t that the sort of comment that was raised against Svensson when he first started? I still believe our biggest need is at the back. Fleming and Mackay have a good understanding but can they stand the pace of the speedier Premiership forwards. That''s why I''d argue against Keown. I''d say look for a Matthew Upson sort of player.

Some food for thought here...... http://www.football-rumours.com/dodgyarchives.html NOTE: the top part of the page states that these are transfer rumours that have been sent in. Actually if you follow some of the other links to rumours there some are quite eye opening. For example, "Robert Green has been touted as the replacement for Lehman of Arsenal. With the young England keeper being brought to give competition for the position. (Rumour likelihood 40%) Fat Brian"

Readers here might want to check out the picture galleries that are available on the Capital Canaries site which is over at: http://www.capitalcanaries.com/ They have a set of pictures from the Preston game as well as pictures from the Watford game.

Found this when searching for news on Bentley. http://www.tribalfootball.com/may/englinews040504.html

Remember the rumours that were about concerning Parma and City linking up to form some sort of partnership. Now with Parma in deep financial do-dos, that looks unlikely to ever happen. However, is a partnership with another club a sensible option for City at this point? About teaming up with old City player and former manager Martin O''Neill and forming a relationship with Celtic?

Found this link this morning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/sport/norwich_city/gallery_20040501/home_match_gallery.shtml

How about big Iwan as a replacement? I guess the only downside is that he wants to keep playing. Alternatively, bring in Ian Crook as chief youth boss and have Iwan as his assistant.