Tumbleweed

Although Rivers is improving I reckon Adams for sheer reliability and he could play a whole match, not just three quarters of it. His delivery was superb, I used to get a buzz of excitement seeing him in space on the right, he''d look up and you could bank on it being there or thereabouts. Rivers just does not have that dependability. The other thing that stood out for me was Eadie. We just don''t have an equivalent and haven''t had for a few years now. He was so fast and dangerous that you felt that he could breach even the tightest defence at some stage. Paul McV is doing well, but he isn''t the same sort of player. I thought at one stage Llewellyn might blossom into an Eadie type figure but it never happened. Also, Malky vs Jackson- at his best Jacko was great and had more pace. But Malky at his best is a tower and dominates the centre like Jacko never did. On balance I would go for Malky from those tow. Other positions seem more clear cut, though a bit unfair on Sutch to compare him with a true left footer. I reckon the old team would win, it has more bite going forward and looks pretty equal at the back. Would be interested in seeing a Hamilton era side now- I reckon we''d all be horrified to see the rubbish in some of those sides

Looks like a good signing to me, when Rivers gets back and we swing some decent crosses in he''ll be there or thereabouts. Shame, but Nedergaard would have thrived on having someone like Crouch to cross the ball to. I just hope he''s not used as an excuse for a long ball game. Other concern would be if he bangs in a few goals, his price may well rocket out of reach for a permanent deal. By the way, what happened to Healy- he just drifted out of view when the loan ran out.

I have three golden rules when expecting NCFC results. They are that we always lose when: 1. The game is on TV (when did we last win a live game?) 2. We take a larger than usual following 3. The opposition has been on a long losing run Any of these spell disaster to me, but I''ve no idea why!!!

More frustrating because we know that we can play the ball on the ground and do well. Evidence? Reading away and Southampton away last season spring immediately to mind, two games when we kept the ball on the deck and looked confident and dangerous. OK we lost to Soton but not until the last 15 minutes and only because of a defensive mix up. Reading were thumped and could have lost 0-5, not a high ball all evening. Most of our other away performances last season were pretty poor and I can''t remember any others where we played to feet. Frustration No.2: Phil Mulryne. Why pump high balls when you have someone who is capable of delivering those killer passes? But how often does he do it? If the ball is going over his head, take him off and play two ball winners. Otherwise play to his, and the team''s, strengths.

Seems to me in answer to the original question it becomes quite simple. In view of responses above it appears that: Success= Play Offs Failure= Not in play offs So let''s see where we are in May. Anything 7th or below and Nigel should move aside. So now we can give him support until then, he''s an ambitious chap and he knows he will have to deliver something soon, even if only to further his own career.

I would tend to agree with Tacklebury. While I liked him he always seemed to be more "potential" than "actual". He did very well with McVeigh in the run in last year but even then he wasn''t the prolific scorer we need. We have several who, given the chance to play in most games, can score a dozen or so goals, but our real need is for a Mr Deadly in the mould of Deehan, Drinkell, Sutton, Bellamy. Neilsen has missed a couple of very good chances already this season, both of which would have had a material impact on the result. I wish him all the best, and it is a shame to see a good player go, but looking at what else we have I don''t think it will have much effect on our fortunes this season.

Good to see someone with ambition Vlad, I agree with your sentiments. I still think that it would be exceptional to get a top two spot as we would need probably 10 points more than in any season since relegation. My real fear is that just a couple of injuries could stuff us up as has happened before, and realistically we will get injuries (heaven forbid McVeigh, Green or Drury). So I tempered my ambition on that basis and I personally think NW will have done well to get there. Failure? I guess bottom half would be a very poor showing and a backward step (managers very rarely claw their way back up once the league position starts slipping), so poor would be worse than last year but not bottom half (ie 9th to 13th). But is it "acceptable" to finish 7th or 8th? Difficult to say, I would be disappointed, but as you say anyone can beat anyone so just a couple of bad bounces, penalties, own goals etc could make all the difference................ I''m hoping for a win on Saturday, so that shows I have a madly optimistic streak too........!!

On the old Pinkun board we got loads of posts urging the departure of NW. We got some saying that he''s done well since the dark days of Hamilton. I sway this way and that (it often depends on my mood at 4.50pm each Sat) So why don''t we agree what would be failure (resign now), poor (give him one more year to improve) acceptable (jury still out), good (extend contract by one year) and exceptional (instant 5 year contract extension). I reckon: Failure: Relegation or narrow escape up to 6 points Poor: bottom half Acceptable: Top half, outside play offs. Good: Play offs Exceptional: Promotion (auto or via Cardiff). At least then we can all be vociferous in agreeing what happens to him in May next year.