Morph

cusdp, "I know for a fact that players are frustrated and want the shackles taken off to express themselves, rather than playing in fear and keeping it tight. " That''s a telling point for me. From what we see the players have been told to restrain their attacking intent. Too many games have been there for the taking, but it''s all been a protect what we have. Will he let them loose on Sunday? The game cries out for a "Your destiny is in your own hands, go out and win the game" mentality. I''m not convinced a point will be enough - though Wigan did look poor defensively last night.

Nutty, do you concur that the change in emphasis has made the "watch" a dull affair? The attacking threat from City has been stifled in preference to defensive solidity. There''s no "bust-a-gut" running from the centre midfield pair trying to get into the box to support the wide players. As Webbo points out the ball into the box has been to one player, no-one falling up for any knock downs or clearances.

Nutty, sorry but I''m partly with unique on this one. Last season does have relevance to the discussion. The players that are common to both seasons - the Pilks et al, played without fear of mistakes under Lambert. Those same players seem to have been given a more rigid framework to play in under Hughton, I would say, to their detriment. Under Lambert the philosophy appears to have been go out and attack, your opponents score 2, you go score 3. Under Hughton it seems to be more a case of go out and make sure you don''t concede focusing on our defensive strength. Unfortunately, you don''t win a game 0-0. So when Hughton''s team concedes his plan appears to fall apart. With Swanseas win last night you can already envisage the mindset for Sunday. Play for the draw, rather than risk getting the win that would guarantee safety,

Would have liked to see the midfield knock the ball beyond him and the Sunderland defence to give him something to run on to. Won a lot of knocks today, with surprisingly people running beyond him - most notably Bennett.

He was very poor in the game against Juventus last night. And even the more appealing Kris Commons (my view from his performance in the first leg against Juve) looked very ordinary. From what I saw in the first leg and in flashes last night Kris Commons could play the Wes role just off the main striker. Though if he, like Hooper, was trying to put himself in the shop window last night, he failed.

pete_norw, auction your signed ball off on ebay. I''d be interested in giving it a look.

I don''t quite understand. Someone correct my illusions on this one. But the Spurs game the side were more up and at ''em. There was movement, there was slick passing. There was belief. Where the hell was that today? And why should that only occur at home? And that was against Spurs, not a team rooted to the foot of the table.

BW, the £20M spent by QPR has made no difference to how ordinary they looked today. We a little less fear and respect from City the game would have been over by half time. They stood off us throughout the first half and yet City were unable to capitalise.

I''m sorry did I watch a different game today? It''s no wonder Holt is struggling to get involved there''s no one running off of him. The two wide midfield players don''t get beyond him and Hoolahan is trying so hard to get things going he''s all over the pitch not contributing to anything. That game was there for the taking in the first half and it was like City had no clue. And yes, I am a City fan, before the usual crowd deride me with the label "binner". The number of times that our fall back had possession of the ball and were looking for movement ahead of them. There wasn''t any. From 60 minutes the game was begging for a change in midfield. Swap one of the holding players or God forbid tell Johnson to get forward more but don''t get them to continually sit. A dropped 2 points from where I was sitting.

Actually I think it''s more than just the poor passing. There''s too much respect given to the other teams - that must come from Hughton. It''s also in a lot of the comments from people on here about Mr Nice Guy Hughton. City are in the Premier League by right. On their day they should be a match for any team, but the team seems to have been given this belief that they have to play like "gentlemen" and respect the opposition. Well b-u-g-g-e-r that, get in their faces guys, that''s what you''re paid to do! The games against Arsenal and Man U, City were in their faces the whole match, closing down, pressing, harrying the player on the ball. The games against Liverpool none of that was in evidence. As they always say give a good player time to play and he''ll play. City were like that against Liverpool and rightly deserved the hiding they got.

Apologies if posted by anyone else. From the BBC sports site: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21126539[/url] I know there have already been comments about Curtis Davies as a potential bolster to our backline.

Don''t you just hate those automated word strippers. Try this version courtesy of bitly. [link]http://bit.ly/RfM56U[/link]

Post this link that was sent round my office on here. Sound familiar here... [link]http://blog.samuellevy.com/post/26-i-might-be-an-arsehole-but-at-least-im-not-wrong.html[/link]

Played central midfield throughout the majority of my playing time, though have played in goal, up front or in the back-line. Gorleston Grammar U-14s, U-16s, U-18s (scored 5 in my first game for the U-14s when I eventually got into the side). Fleggburgh U-18s (most notable game a 26-0 thrashing at the hands of Attleborough featuring a young winger by the name of John Fashanu). Potter Heigham Reserves (drew against a Norwich Prison side in one of the Anglian cup rounds only to have to return to the prison again for the replay). Ludham. Bath University 3rd XI (returned home one Christmas to play with a colleague in a Norwich league side featuring Martin Peters). Middlecroft FC (down in Gosport). Lee-on-Solent BL. Other most notable memory is that the City side of the 70s used to come and train in the grounds of the private school where I lived (Duncan Hall, Scratby). So the likes of Keelan, Foggo, Stringer, Forbes et al training there pre-season.

Have to ask how did Naughton perform today? On Wednesday I thought he was awful a liability to have in the left back position.

Very solid performance in what turned out to be a very open game. That third goal finally allowed City to see the game out. Ole football!

Hope the title says it all. That said Blackpool showed this season that you can''t get by on scoring alone, having dropped too many points even though they score 2 or more goals in the games. Trying to look through the stats for this season PL and nothing immediately stands out as the cause for a teams demise. Obviously winning is important. CS FTS GS GA Blackpool 6 8 55 78 West Bromwich Albion 2 9 56 71 West Ham United 5 13 43 70 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 10 46 66 Wigan Athletic 7 13 40 61 Aston Villa 7 9 48 59 Blackburn Rovers 8 10 46 59 Birmingham 9 11 37 58 Newcastle United 9 10 56 57 Bolton Wanderers 5 11 52 56 Sunderland 13 12 45 56 Stoke City 9 13 46 48 Tottenham Hotspur 8 8 55 46 Everton 9 9 51 45 Liverpool 14 7 59 44 Arsenal 13 6 72 43 Fulham 14 9 49 43 Manchester United 15 5 78 37 Chelsea 15 9 69 33 Manchester City 18 9 60 33 CS - clean sheet, FTS - failed to score

Would you want another season on-loan or want the chance of taking part in the Premier League adventure, even if it means you see time on the bench or bit-part status in the team?

Yeehah!! Come on ye Canaries!!! In Scottish exile but loving every second of it!!

Jim, according to this article:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1302263/Cardiff-City-survive-fourth-winding-order-paying-1-3m-tax-bill.htmlCardiff managed to pay off a big chunk of the debt to HMRC.So maybe Bellas could be seen in a Bluebirds shirt this season.

The plot thickens.From the Guardian: Craig Bellamy banned by Manchester Cityhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/15/craig-bellamy-manchester-city

Maybe the club should register itself as a registered charity and get some extra money that way

Met all the players in the early 70''s side as they used to come and train in the grounds of Duncan Hall School in Scratby. That includes the likes of Keelan, Forbes, Stringer, Foggo, Paddon, Bone et al.Also played alongside Martin Peters in a local Norwich league match when home for Christmas in the early 80''s.Played against John Fashanu when he was playing for Attleborough U18s. He was a winger at the time. Their side hammered us 26-0.

Purple, thanks for that plain english guide to the ins and out of the shareholdings. As you say, someone could have quietly been acquiring shares for minority shareholders up to total 29% holding in NCFC Plc. Beyond that 29% the mandatory offer has to be made to all shareholders according to the takeover and mergers rules.[quote user="PurpleCanary"] And, as mentioned earlier, because NCFC is not a listed company, any such takeover would almost certainly not be not be achieved by someone getting to 30 per cent of the shareholding and making a bid for the rest.[/quote]Does that mean that there is no way to find who has the major shareholdings then?

Anyone know where we can find out what the current major shareholdings are?