Mike Abram

[quote user="cityangel"][quote user="Mr Brownstone"] David McNally just tweeted this about the article on the clubs statement about Kevan Platt''s departure that has appeared on the Pink'' Un site: "The article suggests that he was treated shabbily. In the circumstances, our statement was wholly appropriate".[/quote]   Think he is reffering to David Cuffleys article which I assume is in the EEN or EDP today ??  His latest tweet says ''''Wholly inaccurate piece today from D Cuffley. No dispute between club and Kevan.'''' [/quote]Something about this doesn''t quite add up. First NcNally is tweeting there was no dispute between club and Kevan. Fine. So, why then did the club only put out a two line statement about a guy who worked at the club for 30 years? And then say it was completely appropriate "in the circumstances"? And react so defensively when Cuffley criticised the club for not paying greater tribute?To me, David Cuffley''s article didn''t imply that the club had treated Platt shabbily, other than it could have made a greater tribute to someone who had worked hard for the club for 30 years. If there was no dispute between the club as McNally says (and we have to believe) why couldn''t they have made that tribute?There is obviously more to this sudden departure than has been said publicly, and McNally''s statement that the Club''s statement was wholly appropriate might be completely on the mark, but I find NcNally''s tweets criticising David Cuffley rather bemusing to say the least.

I agree with the original poster - this definitely seems to be a case of the board trying to win over the fans again by making it seem to us that we should all be saying "gee, thanks" for signing these two fine players. Can you really imagine Dejan sitting down with the pr guy at Norwich and saying: "We want to be playing Premiership football again as soon as possible and I would like to do that with Delia Smith''s Norwich City." It''s just not natural to say that. If "Delia Smith" wasn''t inserted into that quote I''m a Dutchman. How many times have you heard John Terry say "Abramovitch''s Chelsea" for example. Or Ferguson say Glazers'' Manchester United. It just doesn''t happen.

Ched!

i''d be interested too..mikeabram@msn.com

[quote user="buddhaboy"]21 yr old south african left midfielder, will play in the centre, not bad, but then not prem quality. [/quote] I''d settle for Championship quality at the moment...[:''(]

Yes, it''s six-nil.

Brilliant post!!

I think the Doncaster interview raises a number of interesting questions regarding Earnie''s transfer:  "There were certainly no plans to sell Earnie and Dickson. However, we did strongly suspect that Earnie would go, particularly as he had a buy-out clause which operated throughout the month of June and we knew of his burning desire to play in the Premier League. That said, from first offer to actual transfer, the process took a matter of hours." and "In actual fact, we did contact a number of other clubs who had in the past expressed an interest in Earnie or who we thought might have an interest in him. No-one other than Derby was willing to pay anywhere near £3.5m." 1) Did the buy-out clause only operate in June (ie if we got into July without selling him, it would be null and void? And therefore any buyer would have to pay the real market value (probably nearer £5m)? 2) When did Norwich contact other clubs? We are told the transfer took only a matter of hours to complete - were we touting him around before then (and did that undermine point 1) or only in those few hours? I thought this was interesting too: When we have to agree buy-out clauses these are always structured in a way that incentivises the player and his agent to keep the clauses confidential. If players and agents choose not to do so, for whatever reason, this will actually be contrary to their best interests in most cases. What incentives did Earnie have for not blabbing about the clause? I can''t see how it wasn''t in his best interests (unless there was a substantial financial penalty - but how would Norwich prove that). Surely if he wanted to go to Derby (ie Premiership), and knew he had a clause for June only, it would be in his interests to tell Derby about it? Otherwise his dream move to the Premiership might have been off if clubs had to "gamble" £5m on him?    

The only thing against that is only two of the seven outs were regulars last year (Earnie & Etuhu), plus two bit parts at best (McVeigh and Colin), whereas I would hope Cureton, Smith (once fit), Otsembor, Brellier, Marshall, Russell (who actually makes eight in) & Strihavka will all be fairly regular members of the team / bench. I would think probably five of those will play regularly (injuires permitting). I think we have increased the overall depth of the squad, although I do worry about losing Earnie and the lack of cover in central defence. I would love to see us sign a decent CB permanently or on loan for the season before next week, but other than that I think we haven''t had too bad a close season.  

[quote user="baldyboy"]i have just returned from a trip to germany where i visited the olympic stadium. it was fantastic to be there even though it is no longer a footy stadium.  it is now a concert venue but everything is in place still.  just to sit in the seats and relive that great night when we beat bayern was awesome, my lads and me loved it.  we also saw bayerns new ground too, now that is fantastic.[/quote] I was lucky enough to be in Munich that night - definitely the best football match I have ever been to. I also was lucky enough to go Germany v Sweden in Munich last year at the World Cup, and before the match we went to Olympic park to sample the pre-match atmosphere, and it definitely brought back some good memories! You''re right, the Allianz Arena is simply amazing - hopefully I''ll get to compare it with Wembley at the end of this season!   

He signed for Blackburn yesterday...

Surely this was a fishing exercise?

I was in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney...but concentrated on wearing my England cricket tops rather than the yellow and green. Too much possibility of being mistaken for an Australian for my liking... At least we won this morning - never know we might yet salvage just a tiny ounce of pride after the debacle of the Ashes series  (although I''m not holding my breath....)

Anyone think Matt Spring was the player Doomcaster talked about in his column? The one who had agreed to join but backed out because his wife was heavily pregnant and didn''t want to move at this "important period in their lives". If not who is this mystery player? [WLY = the little less-loved Paul McVeigh]

There doesn''t seem too much doubt to me that Huckerby and Earnshaw were Worthington men. You only had to look at their performances on Sunday - they seemed just about the only two trying, plus what Worthington said about Hucks afterwards, and how Earnshaw reacted after the goal / game / yesterday at the Wales press conferences. So am I the only one worried that these two might suddenly decide somewhere else is a better place to be in January? Whoever comes in must get both men''s respect. And that definitely means no Robson or Keegan...