Hairy Canary

Tough one to predict for all sorts of reasons for me. Burnley have not lost away yet this season and are playing not bad. I''m going for a draw, probably no goals.

For most of our home games we have dominated posession, even though at times we have not been particularly threatening. If we control the ball for long periods in the oposition half we are much more likely to be able to take advantage of the mistakes that all teams make. So far the same can''t be said away from home (except maybe Leeds) and we have struggled. Many of the teams who are successful away from home are so because they are strong in defence and quick on the counter. We are neither of these things.   

Hi Dan I''ve got a DAB radio. I''m afraid it works pretty much in the same way as a normal radio as far as picking up signals is concerned. For instance you can''t pick up local staions like Radio Norfolk unless you happen to be near Norfolk, so I don''t think DAB will be your answer.  

Well said Nav Man. No way did Haydn suggest swearing should be banned, his post has been completely twisted, I''d have been kicked out of every match I''ve ever attended if that was the case! The main reason I sit in the Barclay in the first place is for the passion and the banter. The thing is this pratt he talks about is just way over the top. What he like to do is wait for a quiet moment and then bellow out a stream of F''s and C''s, often aimed at our own players. He likes to be centre of attention, its nothing to do with the passion of the game, oten its when theres a stop in play! I bet virtually eveyone who goes regularly to games knows what to expect, joins in when they want to and enjoys it. Having said that there has to be a point when it becomes a pain in the arse to the people around him and is unacceptable.   

Interesting Haydn. I also sit in the upper Barclay near the front and have to put up with a drunken oaf behaving just the way you describe. I sit a couple of blocks away from the Jarrold Stand about 4 rows from the front with the loudmouth a couple of rows behind me. If you are talking about the same area we could well be putting up with the same idiot. The thing is he really is an exception. There are plenty of expletives around me, I use my fare share myself, but nothing to compare to this pillock. A couple of women who have sat next to my daughter for the last 3 years have given up their season tickets this time because of this person. They asked the stewards to do something about this guy and they duely spoke to him. His language came down to the normal football crowd standard for the rest of the game but then reverted to type after that.

I guess he might be expecting that a loosing team could resort to a desparate long ball style in the last 10 minutes and that Flem is better at dealing with that than Colin. Also in Iwan''s book he often refers to Worthington bringing him on for a couple of minutes at the end of games so he could get his apparence / win bonus. You could say that the same thing is happening with Earnie and McKenzie this season as well.  

Well sign me up for one! I am by and large a WO after last season but have always supported the team. I know it exercises peoples minds to a huge extent but come on you lot, it can be so boring! The main driving force on this board has moved from discussing NCFC to trying to get one over a poster on the oposite side of this particular fence. It''s the same intransigent factions going over the same ground with the same opinions, just regurgitating the same points in a slightly different way. Over and over and over again. Please give it a rest, its a new season with a new start with new things to talk about. At the end of the day surely we must all be STTers?  

What we are missing is a target man, not a goalscorer. Earnie does that bit! The disappointmnet with Thorne last year was that he seldom seamed to provide the flicks and passes that Earnie could make anything of. IMO Suttons great strength has never been his goalscoring but he has always been an intelegent player. I remember his first game for Birmingham where MOTD choose to highlight his contribution: terrific passes, dummies and bringing other players into the game. He did not score. For me there is just no comparison. On last years evidence Thorne did not produce, hopefully this year things will be different, but I for one can''t see it happening.  

BlahBlah Blah wrote: As for other business, do you want to have a club to whinge about in 20 years ?  No ?  Ok then, let''s spend 20 million on getting some premiership dropouts, never mind that we can get them on loan without a huge transfer fee or non-sequential used bills to agents, and almost get in the Premiership like many others.  Then we can accrue even hooodge-er debts, and we can spend the rest of our time before liquidation in league 1, watching Chris Sutton on his zimmer trying to catch kids half his age, while our creditors make like piranhas on the company shares so that we can have a repayment holiday.  Lads and dads anyone ?  If you want that, It''s down the A140.   Thats the trouble with you Blah x3 everything is so black and white. If you don''t agree with someones post out comes this extreme nonsense taking things to the nth degree as if there was no grey area in between. I dont see anyone advocating spending 20 million or wanting to watch Chris Sutton on a zimmer frame. Instead of just simply taking the club line every, and I mean every, time why not have a view of your own based on thought? You are no better than the posters you disagree with who cant give Worthington credit for anything.   

No, No. Never. I can''t believe I''m reading some of this! Chase was an absolute disaster for the club. At the banks instruction he sold our best players from under the managers feet at rediculous prices because we were are the point of liquidation (not administration!). All this from a situation where the club were bringing in more money than it ever had before. Even with all it''s faults this board is nothing like as self-centred, poorly managed or hated as Robert Chase.  Either some of you guys are too young to remember that terrible time or you are so blinkered against the current regime that you can''t think straight.

[quote user="Yellow Rages"][quote user="Hairy Canary"] I know Paul seems to get under some peoples skin now and again but surely its not just Worthy Outers who are concerned about the lack of signings. Ask Huckerby. [/quote] HC...... Yes he does get under peoples skin and no it isn''t just Worthy outers who are concerned by the lack of signings. What gave you the impression it was? [/quote] Spot the Duke of Norfolk with big red letters!!!

I agree with you Mr Blah!!!

I know Paul seems to get under some peoples skin now and again but surely its not just Worthy Outers who are concerned about the lack of signings. Ask Huckerby.

I think thats pretty much right Saint. The board are having to budget for next year now. After all any players we sign now, and many we already have, will have their wages paid for out of next years income. How long are Etuhu''s and Hughes contracts for example? With that in mind it is obvious that if we do not go up we are going to have a massively reduced income streem next year. The parascute money will be gone and season tickets are likely to reduce. It''s no good buying players now and then finding we can''t afford them next year, then we really would be in the do-do. I have a horrible feeling that if we don''t go up it will be good-bye to the better players next year. The board gave Worthington his chance last year and he spent it on loans and average runners. Many of the contracts handed out were surprisingly long ones and now we are stuck unless we off-load. My guess is he''s been told, you bought this lot now make the best of it because next year will be hard enough as it is. 

Top post JC. Agreed with every word. Out limited squad size was a liability last year and it''s even smaller this time.  

I''ve read the posts on here for ages but have only recently put a toe in the water as far as posting is concerned. Compared with other NCFC forums this is by miles the most entertaining one. I don''t mind all the spleen venting over Worthington, it''s the main topic after all! I always enjoy Mook and Mellow Yellow who often make me laugh (believe me with my job that takes some doing!) and Saint is always interesting and reasonable, although I tend not to agree with all of what he says. Paul Rankin, what can you say? Often he starts fine and then ends up going on a random, yet repetative, rant. I always feel like responding to his posts which can''t be bad. But for taking the biscuit it''s got to be Blah x3. Please Mr Blah try and be a bit more accomodating. Whatever the club says or does you agree with, surely you have an oppinion of your own? Also, try and understand that when other posters are critical it is bourne out of concern for the club they want to succeed: they can''t sit silent and watch things going in what they feel is the wrong direction.    

I first thought you were having a joke, some sort of irony! Henderson is a good lad, he works really hard and want''s to do well but no way is he under-rated. Quite the oposite, he has been given far more chances than his performamnces warent, as oposed to other players such as Jarvis and Mcveigh who should have been used more. I do have sympathy for him playing out of position but if we had had a decent right sided player I don''t think we would have seen much of him at all. I see him being of the standard of Forbes or Easton and will have a career at a lower level but nothing more.

I think thats a fair point Mr Ulf. For me the best transfer policy is definitely evolution not revolution. We have had far too much of the later in the last couple of years. The trouble is that the squad is so unbalanced and has glearing weeknesses because of the wholesale changes and poor buys of the last close season that it''s going to take a lot of sorting. The other worry I have is that our squad doesn''t seem to fit any particular formation. We either don''t have a good enough hold-up man for some sytems or too week a midfield / wide right for others.  .  

I find this all a little strange. Presumably the manager has a prefered formation for the majority of the matches (obviously it might change to suit different senarios and teams) and has therefore been gradually tayloring the squad to suit over the 5 years he has been in charge. This would explain why we haven''t played with an out and out right sided player because Worthington prefers to keep things tight across the midle. IMO we have played a long ball 4-4-2 style for a few years now and had success with it partly because of the big man little man combination up front (several combinations come to mind). The reason why it suddenly looks so awful is because we are trying to play it with two guys up front who can''t head the ball! So why does it now all seem so difficult. The fact that we are suggesting all sorts of systems and finding that the players we have don''t seem to fit any of them is a huge issue. Either Worthington has adopted a different style and has yet to get the players in to fit or he has bought very poorly over the last couple of years and ended up with a dijointed mess. I know which one I believe.    

I''m afraid no. A good proportion of the first 11 is good enough, if they play to their full portential, but the squad has nowhere near enough strength in depth. I can''t see us coping with injuries, suspensions, lack of form or a woeful centre midfield with the squad we have. Sad but no, no chance.    

I know this thread has turned out to be a little frivilous but I''m afraid it does begin to explain why there are two oposing poles over the current situation. Of course Worthington hasn''t plumbed the depths of some, but there is no getting away from the fact that he (and others such as Mr Skipper) have caused offence. You say that you were amazed that anyone took offence at the "true fans" statement. Well my father (who has supported City for over 50 years!) and I were offended and angry; which took some doing as I have never felt like that towards any other manager of the club. I stayed behind after the game by the way. To imply that my father was no longer a true fan because he felt Worthington had messed up a golden oportunity for the club last season and therefore decided not to "celebrate" was ill advised and thoughtless at the very least. The point is this. I haven''t ever abused Worthington yet I felt he was having an underhand dig at people, like me, who feel he should go. It''s not the way to correct the undercurrent of bad feeling. He needed to be building bridges not taking side swipes. I have no doubt at all that comments like "I don''t care what the supporters think" after an inept away performance (forgive me if I can''t remember the exact one, there were several to choose from after all) have contributed towards a lack of respect towards the manager from some supporters. Unfortunately the situation has festered to a considerable degree. We desperately need a good start to the season otherwise the animosity will return. Professional people have to rise above the onlookers and bear in mind the impact and ramifications of what they say.       

I''ve got really mixed feelings - excitement and trepidation. I''m always excited before a new season and this one is no different, after all football is better than no football! This is a fresh start; maybe some of the youngsters will get a chance and do well, injurys might not be so prominant allowing a more settled team and better form. On The Other Hand! The trouble is this year I am really worried about whats in store. If we get the same level of poor management; no youngsters, negative formations, hoofball and players played of possition, then things are going to be grim again. For me the crux of how we will do is down to confidence (like always). If we get off to a poor start, the players will become nervous, the supporters will grumble and it will be hard work. For me the club has missed a trick. The manager should have gone because of the terrible waste of the oportunity the club had last year. It would have given a message that the club was having a fresh start with new ideas and everyone having to prove themselves afresh to the new leader. That chance has gone and we need to get behind what we have, for now. But as I say, "trepidation".    

Hi Herb I sit in the upper Barclay in block D and the atmosphere is fine, you certainly wont get moaned at for singing and lambasting! The banter from the lower Barclay comes upwards and helps start off singing and stuff and really helps. Good friendly bunch near me too. End of last season was really mank but I guess you could say that about anywhere in the ground!