cliffoa

    On Sky Sports News last night I heard the reporter say, ‘Norwich 5, Barnet 2, a strong performance from Norwich there’, and I thought, he must have been watching the Everton game.  I never thought I’d go to a game where my team scored five goals, yet at the end I’d feel like asking for half my money back.     I’m still trying to work out how we managed to snatch frustration from the jaws of exhilaration, and turn what should have been a night of positives into a negative.   Here was a chance to put Norwich City all over the back pages by running up a scoreline that would have gone down in the history books.  It would have really put Norwich on the map, left the dressing room on a massive high and the fans feeling ten feet tall.   Whatever Grant said to the team at half time, or during the short break at 5-0, something flicked a switch in the heads of the players, turning our game from a masterclass of counter-attacking football into a clueless, shambolic excuse for a pub team.     No wonder Peter Grant got stuck into the players after the game. Words fail to do justice to how bad we were for the last 60 minutes. We made Andy Hughes seem like Pele.  Though one has to wonder whether Grant’s half-time emphasis on ‘keeping a clean’ sheet, helped send them back into their shells.   To be fair to Barnet, they never let their heads drop.  They kept at it for 90 minutes and thoroughly deserved their two goals, having played us off the park for long spells of the match, and completely dominated the second half.      Yet even in those breath-taking first 30 minutes when we had to keep pinching ourselves at the scoreline, Norwich weren’t exactly dominating the game. In fact at times we looked positively shaky. Barnet took the game to us, and could have scored a brace of goals themselves.   At 5-0 they must have been thinking, ‘how did we deserve that?’    The scoreline flattered us, and we were made to look better than we were by their awful defence.  Which made it all the more inexcusable that for the remaining 60 minutes, we didn’t even try to put their back four under pressure. After 30 minutes their defence was there for the taking. So did we pile on the pressure? No, we went for a clean sheet, and the Barnet defence might as well have gone down the pub in the 2nd half.   Every football fan in the country knows that the best form of defence is attack.  When Norwich are going at teams, we are difficult to live with.  Yet there seems to be a mentality that as soon as we get in front, we go into our shell and try to shut up shop. This hands momentum back to the opposition, gives them fresh heart, puts them on the front foot and us on the back foot, with the inevitable result that sooner or later we concede goals. How many times have we seen hit happen?   Why is it that when teams are playing a style of attacking football that has put them in front, they think the best way to finish off a team is to stop attacking and start playing a completely different, negative style of fooball?     If you are playing in the other team’s half, it’s pretty difficult for them to score.  But if you stop doing that and let them play in your half, and every time you get the ball you boot it back to them, you don’t need to be Einstein to work out you’re going to concede more goals than you score.    Whatever they put into the heads of Brazilians when they are born, I wish they could bottle it up and sell it over here. You never see the Brazilians play with fear or try to close out games. Two goals up, they go for the third. Five goals up, they go for the sixth. Even if they do concede goals, so what? They’d rather win 7-3 than 1-0. It’s no coincidence they’re the most successful, attractive football nation in the history of the game.   Football matches are won and lost on the pitch, and in players’ heads.  Whatever Peter Grant is saying to the current squad of players, either his tactics are flawed or the players are not following instructions, and he needs to do something about it.   I am convinced he is a manager who has what it takes, one of the best we’ve had in years. I like the way he talks, the style of football he says he is striving for, and the ambition he has for our football club. But talk is cheap, and if the players he buys and picks week in week out continue to turn in the sort of rubbish I witnessed last night... well, you know the rest. And yes, I know we won 5-2, though to say it was against the run of play wouldn''t exactly be an unfair description.  Grant has put on record that winning alone is not enough, that he wants the team playing the traditional norwich style of flowing offensive football the fans here demand.  amen to that.   Solutions? 1. Docherty needs some serious competition at centre back, obviously, to sharpen him up again. 2. Hopefully, when Brelier and Hucks and the chelsea boy Smith are fit, we’ll have a much stronger midfield, and we won’t see much more of fotheringham. 3. Put Fotheringham in the subs and only put him on the bench in an injury crisis.  He reminds me of Jim Brennan, forever hiding, playing nothing passes, giving the ball away. Okay, he scored against Barnet, but Robert Green could have scored against Barnet. Can anyone remember him kicking the ball in the whole of the second half? He just goes missing. It''s like a big black hole in the midfield, which could be filled by a player who makes a real difference.  Now I know how spurs fans feel about jenas. 4. Get some serious kicking lessons for David Marshall, before Championship teams realise it’s his achilles and make us pay. I think he’s a better all round goalie than greeno, so hopefully if he can iron out this one flaw he’ll be the absolute dogs, and will save us 20 points a season.   That’s about it really.  Come on you yellows.

Who the hell do you think you are ''Death''? Telling the moderators to ''close'' the threads or ''lump them together'' so you don''t have to read them.  Have you ever considered that most people are posting/replying to those threads, and debating the Sutton issue, because that''s the issue they''re interested in?  It''s called democracy.  For the record most people seem to view the Sutton issue as another example of Worthless''s screwed up management skills in microcosm., that''s why they''re so vexed about it.  They''re just as excited/concerned about the start of the season as you seem to be, the main difference being that they realise we''re about to start it with more or less the same failed squad and manager who screwed up so badly last year, and they''re desperate for someone of Sutton''s experience and qualities to be brought in to strengthen the squad and give us a fighting chance this season. If you don''t fancy coming back to the site for a while, fine. Better for everyone if you go off into a corner and talk to yourself.

It''s not a case of bruised egos blahblah. It''s a case of caring about your club and the style of football they''re playing. If you''re happy with the crap worthy''s team was serving up last season, fine, but I and a lot of the fans thought it was dreadful. We can either sit on our hands say nothing, or speak out in the hope that eventually, when the board finally get the message that this manager is now hated by a majority of fans, has split the club from top to bottom, and is taking our team nowhere fast, they bow to the inevitable and get rid of him. As to who they''d replace him with, personally I don''t much care. I think the boot man could do a better job. Frankly I think Worthy is Norwich''s Sven, and it might take a while to get rid of him, however the results go. He''s got himself well in with the board, even though his tactical, motivational, and player selection/buying skills have frankly been laughable over the last two seasons. He''s bought some right rubbish, made terrible team selections, and when things have been going wrong he''s looked about as clueless as Sven standing impotent on the touchlines.  I think if we lose at Leeds and go a goal down against Preston, the fans could start calling for his head as early as the second game.  However as you quite rightly point out, it''s the board who will make the decision, and it''s their egos and reputation that are at stake here  more than the fans.  To keep him on over the close season then bow to pressure and dump him after a handful of games will seem like they don''t know what they''re doing. So if I was a betting man I''d say he''s got at least until November early December, even if results go badly from the off. If  they are going to dump  him, they need to do so before the season is completely irretrievable, so the new guy that comes in has time to turn it round. Like a lot of fans I''m in complete turmoil, because on the one hand I''d do anything to see the back of Worthy, because I think he''s a joke as a manager and he''s not very bright (you''ve only got to listen to his village idiot, rent-a-footballing-cliche, post-match comments), but on the other hand I naturally want us to win games and do well.  So it''s a case of que sera sera, and I await the new season with a mixture of excitement and a heavy heart. Same failed squad and tactics and manager from last year. And in the business I work in, they have a saying, if you keep doing the same things, you''ll get the same result. [&]

steadfastness and balls

Get real Joe. Man of the match Gallacher says it all. Without him QPR would have been four goals out of sight before we''d even scored.  Worthy has to be one of the jammiest managers going. For 80 minutes we were dreadful. We made a struggling QPR side look like they knew what they were doing. Clueless in midfield, impotent upfront. It was only flashes of individual skill from hucks and ernie, and a bit of luck, and a handful of world class saves from our keeper that nicked us that game, not any great tactical or motivational gambit of Worthless''s. QPR fans must be going home wondering how they threw that one away. So much for Worthy ''getting it back together again''. In fact before our first lucky goal went in I''ve never seen our players looking so demotivated and dejected all season. Heads were dropping, players were hiding. What Robinson is doing in a yellow shirt completely defeats me. He''s been a disgrace every time I''ve seen him. Every time he gets it he can''t wait to squirt it away somewhere, usually sideways or backwards. At least Damo and Holty occasionally had the balls to try and take it forward, or do something creative with it. At times I felt sorry today for Worthy, he looked forlorn on the touchline, as though he hadn''t got a friend in the ground. Ditto for poor old happy clapper. I don''t agree with booing players as I don''t think it does anyone any good. Why Worthy subbed Spillane and put the happy clapper at right back is a mystery that perhaps only he can answer. The clapper is only any good playing as defensive midfielder in front of the back four, where if he loses it there''s someone behind him, and if he goes forward and falls over it, it should''t do too much damage. At full back he was a disaster waiting to happen. Anyone who''s watched him all season could have told Worthy that. The only bright spot today, for me, was Gallagher, who I thought was superb. His reaction saves are better than Greeno, and he commands his area better. However, he did show a disturbing tendency to feeding the ball out to defenders rather than hoofing it aimlessly upfield, so I confidendly expect him to be replaced by Greeno at the earliest opportunity. To be  honest, joe, like a lot of norwich fans around me today, the victory left a bit of a hollow taste in the mouth, because at 80 minutes, Worthy was as good as gone. The board have ears and eyes, they could see the atmosphere in the ground was as flat as a pancake.  The only song I heard for the first 80 minutes (apart from the  QPR fans) was ''We want Worthy out, we want Worthy out''.  And if QPR had stuck their several good chances away, or hadn''t played into our hands by trying to sit on their lead for the last 20 minutes, and descending into the Norwich style of hoofball, I firmly believe we may well have been looking at a press conference after the game, at which it was announced Worthy was departing the club.  Or very soon after. So like a lot of fans, I was delighted with the bit of luck we had, and the spirit the players showed to turn it round at the death, but I was gutted that once again, Worthy seemed to escape his fate by the skin of his teeth. Whether we win or lose our remaining games, it should be clear to everyone at the club that a vast majority of supporters, while they still love their team and cheer every goal, have completely lost faith with Worthy. So much so that many of them now hate his guts, and despise the style of football he''s got our club playing.  When that many fans hate the manager, it can''t be good for the club going forward. He can stay here for another 10 years but he''ll never win those fans back.  If the club had any balls they''d do the decent thing, put him out his misery and bring in someone new with fresh ideas and a more modern approach to football - tactics, training and motivation. Worthy''s style of management is like a throwback to the 1960s. Worthy has done okay for norwich but he''s taken us as far as he can. And if you think today''s performance showed the style of football and the level of skill that''s going to get us back into the premiership, I think you are sadly deluding yourself.  Norwich used to be renowned around the country for playing flowing passing attacking football with wide men on both sides, and skillful players who could take men on and get past them.  Worthy has not only destroyed that heritage, he seems to go out of  his way to stamp on it, whenever Macca or Hucks ignite a flicker of skill from the ashes.  I don''t know about you Joe, but I go to football matches to be entertained, not watch a machine. It wouldn''t be so bad if it was a well-oiled machine, but Worthy''s machine has been running like a clapped out wreck all season, and no matter how many spare parts he brings in, it seems to run worse than ever. When you speak to fans up and down the country they no longer associate us with that exciting free-flowing attacking football that won us so many plaudits. They think we''re playing rubbish, and the imbecilic, unoriginal, cliched mumblings of our manager in the press and on TV are turning us into a bit of a laughing stock. While Arsenal have the professor and Chelsea have the chosen one, we''re lumbered with the village idiot. Sorry if that sounds a bit personal, but every time I hear him speak, I find the banality of what he has to say quite terrifying, for a man in his position. To put it bluntly, I don''t think the man is over-burdened with intelligence. He''s been a lucky manager, who landed at a family club where he''s been given ample backing and more than his fare share of money. The amount of cash he''s had compared to a lot of championship managers has managed to buy him a few extra seasons and flattered him as a manager. But even when we went up to the premiership, I lost count of the number of games we scraped home by the odd goal, usually in the dying minutes, during our championship season. We went up to the premiership despite him, not because of him. And he was found out there good and proper. Worthy had as much opportunity and finances as Paul Jewell or Alan Pardew, but he picked the wrong players and played far too cautiously, so we came down because of him. In a manner that perhaps only Sunderland have managed to eclipse. Today wasn''t a new dawn Joe, it merely postponed the inevitable, though hopefully not for too long. LIke you, I want us all to be behind the manager, and I want Norwich to be playing attractive, flowing passing football and winning matches and going places. But I don''t think it''s ever going to be with this manager. The sooner he goes the better. Thanks Worthy, but you''ve done all the good you can here. Do the decent thing and walk.      

note the messianic halo of light around his head

Has anyone noticed the picture of worthless that''s started appearing in the graphic at the top of the ncfc homepage? He''s got this really strange expression on his face.  Presuming he/they selected the image, tho I can''t imagine what emotion they hoped it conveyed.  Click on the link below to see it. if it''s not there first time, just hit refresh a few times and it will appear. The graphic rotates, sometimes it shows delia, sometimes saffri, and sometimes some children, then worthless. Scary. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home  

Managers usually fall into well-known categories - ''professors'' like Wenger and Mourhino, or ''hair-dryers'' like Barry Fry and Mike Basset. Then there''s the ''professorial hair-dryer'' combo of Fergie.  But most Premier and Championship managers have one thing in common, they all seem quite eloquent and intelligent when interviewed. You can see them put their brain into gear and think about the question before they answer. I was wondering if we should invent a whole new sub-genre of manager, called the ''walking cliche'', for someone who can''t talk in real sentences, only in a strange coded vocabulary of pure football cliches. You know the kind of thing. "Football is a game where you have to concentrate for 90 minutes." Or, "If you give the ball away you''re going to get punished."  And, "We have to walk tall, stick together, stand up and be counted." The sort of utterance where you don''t actually have to think before you speak, which is a great way of hiding the fact that you''re really really thick, and shouldn''t be employed as a farm-hand. Here are some of the highlights from this weekend''s post match interview.  "You can take a horse to water, but you can''t force it to drink." "If you haven''t got the ball you can''t play football." "We now  have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get back to work." I only wish I''d started archiving these earlier in the season. There''s probably enough for a small book. Anyone remember any belters from previous games? Also posted on NCFC boards.

Take your point, Russ, but don''t think it invalidates mine.  The best italian sides like juve and inter and ac have always had some quality strikers upfront, people like Del Piero, with that bit of (dare I say it, Huck''s like) magic that can unlock the notoriously stingy eyetie defences.  Fair enough they''ve had their share of European success, but no more than Spanish or German or English clubs. Most of the other italian clubs play football like chess. Don''t know about you, but watching chess is like watching paint dry. Give me a bit of passion any day. You can''t say watching arsenal or chelsea or most of our premiership clubs (save Bolton) resembles a volleyball game. Though you can say that about Norwich, where for a large part of our season, with a non-existent midfield, our main tactic has been passing it back to Greeno to boot upfield. Which is why the fans hero-worship Hucks and Mcveigh who offer the only real alternative to route 1.

Beg to differ NimChimpskee, the principles are the same whether it''s the fifth minute or the eighty fifth minute. The best form of defence is attack. And the best place to lose the ball (if there is such a thing) is in the opposition''s penalty area. It''s not like he was diddling around on the edge of our box or anything. If Hucks''s mazy run had ended in a goal the game would have been wrapped up. Isn''t that the object?  We all know what can happen when teams sit back and try to defend a lead. Worthless is the Sven of Championship football. We should have a bit more West Ham about us and try and kill games off. That''s what Hucks was trying to do.

Couldn''t agree with you more Yellow Rider.  You only have to look at what''s happened at newcastle. Same set of players, different team. They haven''t even appointed a new manager yet, but they''re already on a roll since Souness left. Once a manager loses it, it rarely comes back. Worthless lost it half way through last season, and all I''ve heard are hollow words since then. So on that basis, ''no-one'' might be a very shrewd replacement for him. 

Re Worthless''s ''Roy of the Rovers'' comments about Hucks, when will managers wake up and realise that ''neat and tidy'' safety first football will never win anything, least of all the supporters? There''s a reason Brazil have always been the best team in the world, because skill is celebrated and nurtured.  In this country it''s coached out of the players, by morons like Worthless. You see the lads coming through the academy, watch them when they''re young and they''ve got some delightful touches, but by the time they get near the first team, it''s all been coached out of them. There''s a reason Huckerby and McVeigh are the fans favourites , because they''re our only two players who possess that little bit of magic that can unlock teams that Worthless''s brand of ''neat and tidy'' crap can never break down.   I watch Soccer a.m. on sat mornings and the ''showboat'' section is one of the highlights, where they showcase all those sublime bits of magic from the footballing week. That''s what I go to see on a saturday, not Hughes shinning it to Etuhu, playing it back to Lemming, playing it sideways to Doc, sliding it back to Greeno, to hoof it upfield. Look at how Wigan and West Ham have played this season, attractive attacking football taking it to the opposition. Contrast that with Worthless''s cautious brand of safety first rubbish last year, which more or less doomed us to relegation from September. I''m sure somebody will have a go at me for  criticising worthless after two back to back wins.  But let''s get a couple of things straight.  Firstly, they weren''t won by any great tactics of worthless''s. For long periods of the brighton and derby games we looked pretty clueless, and in fact 10 man brighton gave us the runaround for a lot of the second half, and it was only them chasing the game with 10 men that led to our late two-on-one breakaways and the flattering 3-0 scoreline. Secondly, Brighton and Derby were the two poorest teams I''ve seen down here all season, so I hardly think we should get carried away.  The real test is to come against the likes of palace, stoke, preston, leeds, sheffield, preston. The one bright spot for me on saturday, and against Brighton, was the form of huckerby. He seems back to fitness and full of confidence again, giving the fans what they want. And he was the difference between the two sides. Just like McVeigh has been in other matches. Typically, the brainless manager has now told Hucks to cut out the Roy of the Rovers stuff in case he loses the ball. Like we''re so much better when we''re playing safety-first football. I mean, that''s worked wonders all season hasn''t it. Yeah right. When Huckerby went on his mazy run down the left, did a one-two, cut inside, dig a couple of drag backs, getting the biggest round of applause of the day, Worthless''s comments were. ''I was not happy about that. I''ve told him I don''t want to see that sort of thing again.'' Give me strength. It''s those bits of magic that people go to see, not a machine. It wouldn''t be so bad if it was a well-oiled machine like Chelsea that ground out results. But Norwich''s machine, built around Worthless''s brand of motivation and tactics, has been running like a clapped out fiesta all season, and soon as someone does something special that makes it work better, the fool tells them to cut it out. What a jerk. When the manager comes out with comments like that it makes me feel, even if we ground out a 1-0 win in every remaining game of the season, I''d still like to see the back of him. The guy is so negative and old-fashioned in his thinking. He has to go. Roll on the March 2 meeting at St Andrew''s Hall.      

For anyone who missed it, here''s Ottosson Foxtrot''s posting on the ''Wrath of the Barclay'' website after the Reading game. Make sure you''ve got a box of hankies. Let''s hope Delia and the board are reading. It''s genius, and all true. This could well turn out to be ''posting of the year''. All hail Ottosson Foxtrot FWIW, the Foxtrot Report (Warning: DON''T read if you played for NCFC last night). ROBERT GREEN: 5. Made one or two decent saves, and closed the Reading forwards down well on a couple of occasions. Couldn''t be blamed for any of the goals (at least, he wasn''t primarily at fault) but he might have dived for some of them. JURGEN COLIN: 4. Crap, but he got forward more, meaning he was crap in more than one area of the pitch. ADAM DRURY: 5. Not particularly good. But got no protection from our "mid-field". Which apparently we had. GARY DOHERTY: 4. There''s been much talk of what a solid, commendable centre-back the Doc has become this season. Sadly, having not managed a match between Brighton (where he wasn''t particularly good) and last night, I haven''t seen it. What we got last night was the Doc of old - manhandling centre-forwards who completely destroyed him (he should have been sent off at twice), being caught out of position, slow and muddled, the Doc had a nightmare. Still our best defender on the night, though. CRAIG FLEMING: 4. Fleming reminds me of a much-loved family pet with a terminal illness that its owner refuses to have put out of its misery. The only thing I can say about him last night is at least he''s captain again, which gives me hope that the Clappy Clown is not undroppable. SIMON ''NORFOLK MAKELELE'' CHARLTON: 2. Simon Charlton is the Norfolk Makelele in much the same way as I''m the Surrey Arnold Schwarzenegger. Makelele is fast, intelligent, committed, has great positional sense, bags of energy and won the Champions League with Real Madrid. Simon Charlton is fat, bald, slow and fat. He once played for Huddersfield Town. Who on earth told Worthington that this man could be a central midfielder? The same man who called up saying he had Matty Johnson, a hard-working right-midfield grafter from Burnley, perhaps. Has Aly Dia''s agent been seen in Norfolk? DICKSON ETUHU: 6. Not bad at all - broke into the box a fair bit, looked pacey and alert, and even took the ball of an opposition player once or twice (I forget what that''s called). If this is part of an upward curve, he should definitely be in the team alongside Safri, as part of a 4-4-2. (More on this in a bit). ANDY HUGHES: 3. The last great Tactical Revolution in the global game was Total Football, invented by Rinus Michels in Holland in the early 1970s. Demanding players of enormous intelligence and technical skill, with the ball (nearly) always played to feet, it required constant movement from each player as one player would vacate a position to be replaced by another. Attackers had to be able to defend, and defenders to attack; above all, midfielders had to be complete players, able to perform in every position. Tactically, nothing happened for thirty years or so, until Andy Hughes invented (perhaps unwittingly) Total Horses**t, a tactic he perfected against his former club, who pointed and laughed quite a bit. Completely inept - yes! - in every position, Hughes proved himself incapable of tackling, passing, playing within even the most basic of systems, shooting, crossing (save for one half-decent ball for Hendo - more later), marking or even running. A performance of such staggering incompetence that the only time I can say I''ve seen it matched was at Fulham, but at least Francis and Bentley had the excuse that they weren''t trying. Total Horses**t. I''d have got angrier about his typically patronising post-match clapping but I was watching his hands to see if they''d miss each other. DARREN HUCKERBY: 4. Got into the game slightly more in the second half, but completely ineffectual. Reading had him licked. PAUL MCVEIGH: 7. Otto''s Star Man. Looked lively, interested and dangerous, so Nige subbed him. Nice one. PETER THORNE: 3. His own meaningful contribution was to fall over in front of a decent-looking McVeigh long shot, meaning that not only were his own attempts at goal entirely pathetic, but he stopped players who are less slow, old, unfit and just f**king crap from doing any better. There must be a way we can terminate this man''s contract, surely? And that of the idiot who thought he''d be better than Svensson? SUBS: JONATAN JOHANSSON: 6. Looked promising, should''ve scored. IAN HENDERSON: 4. Let''s get this straight - I HATE Hendo-bashers. Especially those who boo him. But last night didn''t help his cause. Missed an absurdly easy chance from Hughes'' cross (which might also have made Hughes look slightly less s**t), virtually fell over having a shot at the end. Poor lad. JASON JARRETT: 5. Gone from ''laughable'' to ''poor'' since returning from Home Park. One day he may make ''mediocre''. But I''m not holding my breath. NIGEL WORTHINGTON: -4,000,003. The system was a joke (4-3-3 against a team was pacey wingers! ) Charlton-Etuhu-Hughes. Thorne. Taking McVeigh off. The players didn''t look like they knew what they were supposed to be doing at all. Just appalling. I''d have given him -4,000,004, but he''s just signed Robert Earnshaw, who''s a player I like. The Norwich fans were practically silent throughout (not that I blame them), the bar ran out of hot-dogs on the coldest night I''ve ever spent in a football ground, and the Reading PA constantly going ''Bring it on!'' was just embarrassing. On the plus side, the Reading fans were great - all the ones I met were very friendly, apologised profusely for Hughes, were happy to talk about NCFC (and what''s gone wrong) and had a good sense of humour. They had some good chants, too - ''Ooh, John Oster'' and ''If Murty scores, we''re on the pitch''. See you all soon for the annual nightmare that is Selhurst Park. If I can face it. City Till I Die Worthy Til I Cry Posted on Wrath of Barlay Website By: Ottosson Foxtrot on February 1st 2006 at 11:16:42

I agree wholeheartedly. If I was a player I''d be well hacked off by some of Worthy''s selections.  Here''s a post I just put on the NCFC message board. Same old same old. ...you get to feel so impotent writing these messages, because you know that Worthington and the board must be deaf dumb and blind, based on their buys, their tactics, their substitutions, and the performances so far. They can''t see and they won''t listen. Worthy is starting to make me feel sick to my stomach with frustration, in the way that Sven does at England level. He can turn 11 good players into a park side that look like they''ve never played together, and couldn''t motivate their way out of a wet paper bag. After every game he trots out the same stuff - footballing cliche after cliche - that makes him and the club look stupid. He''s got this old-fashioned moral code where if anyone steps out of line or shows a spark of invididuality, they''re out the club, even if the team suffers because of it. He thinks he''s Alex Ferguson but he''s more like Ron Manager. Every fan who''s gone to a Norwich game over the last two seasons can see Fleming has lost it. Granted he makes the occasional saving tackle, but often it was caused by his own incompetence or failure to bring any sort of organisation to the defence which he is supposed to be the leader of. He just whinges and moans and points the finger at everyone else. Worthy presumably keeps playing him for his ''experience'' quote unquote, but I actually think he''s the most unsettingling influence in the team, and brings instability rather than stability to the core of the defence. He''s also TOO SMALL! How thick does Worthy have to be to work out that a centre back needs to be well over six foot these days. Worthy''s tried Charlton with Fleming (don''t laugh, it actually happened). He''s tried Doherty with Fleming. He''s tried everybody with Fleming, with different permutations of full backs. But the one thing he can''t see, even though it''s there plain as day, is that Fleming has been the common denominator in all our shambolic defensive displays. Yet he''s the first name on the team sheet. And it makes me want to scream every bit as much as when Sven plays Owen and Beckham match after match, even when they''re out of form or unfit, and he drops better players, or plays them out of position, just to accommodate his favourites. Don''t get me wrong. Flem is a great guy, and has been a great servant to the club over the years. He comes across well when interviewed on telly, and his comments are twice as intelligent as Worthy, who sounds like a cabbage by comparison. But Flem has lost it as a player. It''s obvious Malky was the glue that held their partnership together, and since he went Flem has looked all at sea. Old, slow, charging around, he reminds me of Gary Holt on a bad day. He''s a hoofer, a panicker, long past his sell-by date. Shackell, by comparison, was the one shining hope to come out of the defence last season. He''s not the finished article yet, but he''s big and strong and fast and good in the air and he''s got youth on his side. The icing on the cake was, he''s a local lad who''s come through the academy. The sort of player the club should be building their future round. Okay, he''s human and makes the odd mistake, but with Calamity Flem playing alongside him, is it any wonder? That''s why I had mixed emotions on Monday when I heard Calum Davenport had signed. At first my heart leapt and I thought, YES! At last Worthy has woken up, and the prospect of two young, strong, tall centre backs, commanding in the air and able to play the ball out of defence, made me think we had a chance to push for the play offs after Christmas. But then my heart sank as I realised that it would probably be Shackell who''d be dropped rather than Fleming, as incomprehensible as that decision would be to any fan who had watched Shack''s performances since he got in the first team last year. What''s the poin

Couldn''t agree more. If Shackell doesn''t start against Coventry and he''s not injured, you have to ask what criteria Worthy uses to pick the team.  On most people''s reckoning Shacks was probably our best player in the second half of last season, one of the few who didn''t look out of his depth. By contrast Fleming is a donkey, no finesse, always rushing up strikers a** and getting turned. When he gets the ball he looks terrified, and either hoofs it or gives someone a hospital ball in his haste to be rid of it.  Frankly he''s an embarrassment to the team, and I agree if he''s the first name on the team sheet this year we''ll ship an extra 20 goals because of him, sowing seeds of discord in the team.  Doherty isn''t a world beater but he''s not really been given a decent run, and will need time to settle in at the middle of the defence.  He''s more intelligent than Flem, more agile, and a real threat in the air in the opposition box for corners, which shouldn''t be underestimated.  He could nick us half a dozen goals a season, like Malky used to.  How come every fan you seem to talk to thinks Doherty and Shackell should be the two centre backs, but Worthy keeps persisting out of misguided loyalty, which will cost the club dear. It''s so frustrating when you see Donkey Flem trot out onto the pitch, and a genuine talent like Shackell on the bench, it makes you want to bang your head against the wall in frustration.   And don''t get me started on Henderson.