He Scored Against The Scum

Mark Bowen was a fantastic player, I''d rather have him here as manager than Worthy (not starting one of those debates, I just really like Bowen) I think he''d probably still be better than a fair few of our players.

You can keep your 6''6", fast and strong, I''d take Bobby Moore any day and he wasn''t any of those.

Doesn''t a football messageboard seem like an odd place for girls to be coming? Isn''t there plenty of other websites you''d prefer?   Some of my cousins children go to the Heartsease and are the same age as you... God it makes me feel old.

Isn''t Jonson technically a striker who''s being played out of position rather than a midfielder? Disgarding him the midfielders we have are all central midfielders, fantastic.

I was under the impression he had trials with us, spurs stole him from us and man utd stole him from them?

I''ve been playing Football Manager 2005 pretty much since it came out as Norwich United (I edited it by putting them in the conference league south) I''m now in the 2009/2010 season and Norwich united are 2nd in League One. Norwich are still in the premiership although they are the new Southampton, practically every season they''ve come 4th from bottom and mostly on the last day of the season, a position they are currently occupying. They''ve gone through about four managers all of whom were terrible, they even offered the job to me (I suppose because I have my favourite club listed as Norwich) an offer I found hard to turn down. Fittingly Ipswich sold all their best players before one season and now they occupy 15th in League One, after I beat them 4-0 at Home. Only players I can think of that are particularly well known that I have is Zoltan Gera (fantastic) Rohan Rickets, Mikele Leighetwood (not entirely sure how to spell that, think its close enough) and a Mr John Sutton who is as much of a legend for me as his brother was really. I also have a player called Stephen O''Donnell who came from Hibs (I think) if he is half the player in real life as he is in the game we need to buy him.

I think Mr Sutch and Mr Llewellyn need to be added in to the team. I''d add Rivers in too but he was actually good just bloody lazy. He''d certainly be in both the lazy XI and the burger eating XI.

I think they are more likely to feel pressure on them because next season we will be expected to win like we did last year and everyone will want to beat us more. I think those are more likely to do us damage next year in the First Division rather than getting used to losing this year.

Out. I''m not just saying it because of where we are in the league I am saying it because of his ability with team selection and use of subs mostly. It took him thirty... THIRTY odd games to give someone everyone in Norwich has known is a great player a chance in a defence that is just terrible, how could Shackell have done any worse? and even when he did finally give him the chance, he dropped the wrong person to play him! He persists in picking Fleming and Holt (don''t get me wrong I love these two but they are simply not good enough anymore) and I have absolutely no idea why! when we have much higher quality people he has bought in just to sit on the bench (Safri and Doherty) If he continues to play Edworthy when Helveg is fully fit then not only does he need to leave but he needs to be shot too! Same goes if he continues to play Stuart has been dreadfull (I was actually quitely happy about getting Stuart in so not criticizing the buy, but will do if he keeps playing him) Against Bolton is just one example I can think of, of his use of subs, brining Doherty on in the last five minutes, why didn''t he do that 10-15 minutes before that, five minutes is not enough time. His ability at using subs has always been terrible, last year included. For that matter his team selection has always been dodgy with his favourites.

I agree, all my friends are being negative about City (the ones who go and the ones who don''t) I''m practically the only one who isn''t having a pop at them and getting worried. They will come good, wether they''ll stay up or not I don''t know but if they carry on the way they can play (for 45 minutes usually, but extend it to a full game) We''ll get a few wins.   Didn''t we all know it was going to be hard? 

I personally back stadium expansion before squad strengthening, buying a player for 1.2 mil and he might get injured, be off-form, fall out with the manager, etc etc. The ground will always be there, always (unless someone sets it on fire... again )   Then again that''s mostly because I am happy with the current squad and for the first time in my history of football I''m not upset with anyone of the players.

Now that a couple of the kids in my family are a bit older and I''m one of the few blokes who likes football in the family, I''ve been selected to take them to a reserve game.  I''d appreciate it if anyone could tell me when and who the next reserve game at Carrow Road is. We did have a list of reserve fixtures but someone has thrown it away.   I know I will get in free because of my season ticket but how old do children get in free upto? I''m taking four, six and nine year olds. Would they all get in free (I assume if they don''t it''d cost a quid or so but just want to know) and what stands are open to go in, is it still the city and barclay or have they opened the south stand to reserves? (I''ve only ever been to a couple of reserve games and only one in the last ten years)   Thanks

[quote]Same old story it seems to be 1 rule for Norwich & 1 rule for everybody else. Even without being biased we have had the following decisions go against us. Lauren should have been sent off on 2 s...[/quote] Yeah all those decisions you mentioned were wrong but we were not being victimized or anything as ridiculous. Referees get things wrong - for everyone, not just Norwich. Admittedly they always seem to get them wrong in favour of Ipswich (They got more penalties last year than I''ve had hot dinners) Then again in my opinion, that challenge Helveg did on Giggs was a red card in my opinion as a proffessional foul even though I did clap it I can''t remember any others but then again the ones that go our way don''t stick out for me.

The difference between Duff/Giggs/Pires and Huckerby, is that when the opposition has the ball they track back and don''t put their hands on their hips and stroll back onside. This makes him a striker, if he ran back to defend he''d be a decent left winger (he didn''t do it last year but we coped without it, but this year we''d be killed) If he was played as a winger (Ie to get crosses in for the ''nod in at the back post'') then he''d have to be right winger as he cant cross with good consistancy with his left, the reason he goes to the left is so he can cut inside and shoot - Like a striker.

I''d rather it was someone like Green Day, Dire Straits, The Kinks, The Beatles, Oasis, Blink182, Jet etc etc (Yes people tell me constantly that I have strange sense to have all those as my favourites) but at least it wasn''t Mcfly. Busted and the rest.

I mean he is lazy when playing left wing, he simply doesn''t track back which a left winger needs to do, especially in the premiership, personally leaving drury with a 2 on 1 against Pires (Or Freddie) and Lauren is not a good thing. Drury is good but a 2 on 1 against Darlington he''d be in serious trouble let alone Premiership. I don''t deny that without him our attacking would be zero and I like him in the left wing role, he''s better getting the ball and running at defenders rather than having to turn but unless he tracks back when we lose the ball he simply can''t play there. If only we could add Leons enthusiasm to chase the ball to Hucks (he''s always reminded me of a little dog chasing the ball around) I''m sort of stumped on what to say to add to my comments. For the first time in my life I don''t know exactly what I would do if I were worthy. No matter what team he plays I won''t be angry or upset. Maybe slightly dissapointed if he sticks with the old favourite Holt but not at all upset, he''s been a great player for us. So it looks like I''m gonna have a few headaches when Championship Manager comes out I am against the Diamond though (away from home is fine but not at home) what''s the point of having doherty if you have no wingers to cross balls and nobody near him to knock it down or lay it off too? Then again we may play it on Saturday and give Portsmouth a good footballing lesson and then I''ll love it or we could get hammered and I can be smug and say "See, I never liked the Diamond!" Worthy is manager, not us and there''s a reason for it. We''re supporters, instead of playing manager and/or critic why not support (unless playing Championship Manager, then you can manage ) I''d like to make a note about Briggs and Malky being better than Helveg and Jonson. I''d like to agree with the idea that the person saying this is completely mad.

I disagree, worthy isn''t there to inspire confidence from the fans, he is there to do as well as he can with the resources he has. He''s not saying we''ll fall to another 3-0 loss, he is simply stating that we are in the premiership now, every week we will be playing against class. Just because we''ve got the big boys out of the way doesn''t mean we should go over the top and expect something stupid like 12-15 points from our next five games. I also disagree about the signings not being very good. Saffri and Charlton aside, both of whom have done well, Ward and Gallagher are in my limited knowledge of them class keepers and worth having because lets face it Green is too good for us and will leave. Doherty I personally think plays fairly decently upfront, he wins... everything in the air, he can hold up the ball and has some  lovely layoff touches, the problem is he has zero support. Helveg is captain of Denmark, who are as good as England (Or thereabouts) so how could you call him a bad signing? Jonson is taking his time to adjust to the football and lifestyle but I personally think he will be a very good player for the club (how old is he?) I will agree with Bentley, to a degree, I think he''s worth having but not worth an automatic place in the starting eleven definitely a squad player though. People complain about Helveg not playing but then the same people complain about not giving last years players a chance in the premiership so the club cant win. Eddy has had a fantastic year and a bit with us and has proven he is premiership quality. I think Helveg could be accomodated somewhere else (He can pass and defend, why not stick him in for Holt?) Norwich greatest strength and greatest weakness at the same time is one man - Huckerby. The man can be a genius, he can terrorize anyone, anyone. He can score a few goals (never prolific) but he can setup so many more, the problem is accomodating him into a team. Playing him upfront he isolates the other striker (like Doherty) so they have no-one to lay it off to (especially considering our midfielders ''support'') and playing him on the wing is worse because he is a lazy bastard (I figure that will get edited or something, sorry but he is - its cleaner than my original phrasing ) and won''t track back, ever. Playing him on the wing against Premiership opposition we''d get ripped to pieces down the opositions right wing. I don''t think we can accomodate him properly, having said that he is our best player so can''t be dropped just very frustrating. This is not directed at anyone specifically and is more of a general statement of the feelings around both the Internet and everyday life that people in Norwich love nothing better than to find fault with their Football team, whatever they do, however they do it they are criticized. A few weeks ago everyone hated saffri now they want him to replace someone they''ve loved for years (and dont get me wrong, I think he''d be better than Holt) People loved Doherty but now think he''s useless. I wonder if its a reason why football is so popular, not because people love the game but because it gives them something they can moan and bitch about. In my opinion, I think Norwich have played well and coped with a horrible start to the fixture list that would frighten Charlton who are a top half side. The only thing I think needs changing is that Holt needs to be dropped along with Bentley and maybe Doherty (but only because I think Leon is a better option, not he hasn''t done well given the circumstances) Now if you''ve read that I''d like to apologise for pointing out what everyone else in the world already has on different occassions, just wanted my say 

I think the only way you could get away with playing Huckerby left wing, is if you played Helver right, and told Francis and Holt (surely our two best central midfielders, cant see safri or mullers getting in, apart from injuries) to cover the left. Even then playing hucks left wing against Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd and the like would be suicide. Although one of our best players I dont like Huckerby up-front, I dislike him having to turn a defender, he is FAR more potent when running at them from the wing. If we could teach him to track back properly (Never gonna happen) it''d be so much better. Plus I want to see Leon start (being my favourite player behind Flem) Against palace and lesser teams I think you can afford: Green Helveg. Flem, Mackay, Drury Bentley, Francis, Holt, Huckerby Mckenzie, Svensson Against middle oppisition its got to be Green Helveg, Flem, Charlton, Drury Bentley, Francis, Holt, Brennan Huckerby/Mckenzie/Svensson (I cant pick between them) and against the top teams Green Eddie, Flem, Charlton, Drury Helveg, Francis, Holt, Brennan Hucks,/Sven/Leon (still cant pick)

Green Culverhouse, Bruce, Flem, Bowen M. O''Neill, Crook, Holt, Eadie Peters, Bellamy Subs: Gunn, Watson, Sutton, Goss, Huckerby I cannot say how much I love Mark Bowen, this man is my god. He is my favourite player ever in the history of football, forget Pele, Eusebio and the rest, I love Mark Bowen so much ;)

Yeah, if all goes wrong stick flem right back, and charlton or Shack at centre back. Not as good going forward I''d imagine but much more solid (For the record I love Flem and voted for him as player of the season)

Lampard, our best midfielder? Really? Don''t get me wrong, his goal and penalty were very good. He is extremely good going forward but their goal (first one) was his fault, well among others (Terry and Becks. Becks for being a lazy git and not bothering to properly close the attacker down and Terry for not attacking the ball OR marking his man, just randomly standing there watching it go over him) However, neither of them would have happened if Lampard hadn''t just passed the ball straight to their player when he wasn''t under much pressure. Lampard has a wicked shot on him and when we are on the attack he is a player worth having but the rest of the time I don''t think he is worthy of the three lions. He gives the ball away far too much and he thinks he is much better than he really is. He''s done it for Chelsea all season, am I the only one who see''s him as a liability when you are in your own half? People only seem to concentrate on his goals and forget the many, many, many times he gives the ball away. I blame Beckham second (behind the ref) for an all around terrible game. Everyone knows he is not as great a player as he is made out to be but he does usually run his heart out. The entire tournament he has been lazy. I''d have rather had Kieran Dyer (Ex-Binner or not, good player) on the right than him. Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell were amazing, Gary Neville was very good too. Can''t blame Owen or Vassel for truely awful service. Even Calamity James didn''t do anything wrong (hey even I''d go and play for England if I was picked) He can''t help not being good enough. I didn''t believe all the hype about Rooney (and still don''t really) Yeah he is a very good player but nowhere near Pele standards, but having said that we missed him badly when he went off (nothing against Vassel, good player, just different type) I feel sorry for Vassel, hope he doesn''t get slated, anyone can miss a penalty. He did some very good runs despite terrible service. I think Ricardo needs a mention for an amazing penalty, the best penalty of the night. I would say good luck to Portugal but I just hate Ronaldo so much that I want them to lose. I''m backing Denmark for the championship.

I think Joe Cole is an absolutely fantastic player but unfortunately the only way we''ll get him is when I''m in bed dreaming (which incidentally I did last night, we beat Arsenal 4-3 after being 3-1 down after taking an early lead. Bentley scored the 4th despite the fact he can''t play against Arsenal next season). Looking through the list of Chelsea players, I can''t see that any of them could be possibilities with an exception maybe to Glen Johnson, even that is pushing it though.

I think this one is true, a guy I used to work with (but still go to the gym with) saw him in Optic last night, with three not so attractive looking women apparently. I''m hoping he was drunk and got it wrong because I personally think it would be a truely awful signing. This is the reason I doubt he''ll be signing for us because I doubt very much Nige would be that stupid. With any luck he it was a completely non-footballing reason for being here, even footballers have reasons to travel (although I wouldn''t be saying that if Mr Crouch was seen in the City) This might be my first post but I know all about the Carl Cort stuff having been reading the forum since relatively early this season.