Ark

Wiz, To begin with I couldn''t stand your threads but, taking a step back, I realise that they''re quite possibly the most amusing and entertaining part of this message board. I don''t think I''ve never come across anyone else that so wholly embodies the fickleness of the average football fan. Thank you!!!

[quote user="DumbleDelia is Magic"]I''d love the FA, Government, whoever to do a survey amongst fans.  I think they''d find a lot of people wanted terracing back in parts of grounds[/quote] The Football Fans'' Census carried out a survey 2 years ago and yes, the vast majority of fans were in favour of fans having the option to stand. Check out the executive summary here... http://www.footballfanscensus.com/reports/Sample_Safe.pdf (they''re also in the process of carrying out a second survey I believe) Regarding the stewards, they''re just doing their job... The club were threatened last season by the FA with a reduction in ground capacity for failing to force fans to sit down in parts of the Lower Barclay. The club responded by talking with the "offending" supporters, and in the end Neil Doncaster gave his backing in principle to supporters'' groups calling for changes in legislation. For those interested, there is an active campaign is called "Stand Up Sit Down", suggesting the solution of having specific areas of all-seater grounds where all fans stand up for the duration of the game - citing that it is more dangerous for fans to constantly stand up and sit back down than for them to simply stand in front of their seats all the way through. Anyway, see the site below for more info... http://www.standupsitdown.co.uk/

Agreed, but for me I think it has something more to do with our unexpected success of two seasons ago. In the darkest days of the last ten seasons where hopes were shattered on a daily basis and managers changed at least once a year, I would tend to invest much more of my soul in the success and failure of the team on the pitch... hoping that maybe, finally we might scrape through the play-offs. However, beyond all of our wildest expectations, they strolled to the championship and suddenly there was a complete release from stress of it all which seemingly has yet to wear off. I suppose it''s a bit like Nick Hornby''s central character in Fever Pitch where once Arsenal finally win the title after 18 years in the wilderness he feels once-and-for-all liberated from the painful highs and lows of the game.

"Trundle? Nooooooo!!! My mum can run faster than him" Sounds like he''s aptly named at least!

Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts into words so eloquently, and I must say that I agree with you whole-heartedly. I have mostly steered clear of this board in the last couple of weeks since I don''t think I fit into either of the polarised pro/anti-Worthy groups. For one thing I don''t feel qualified to have such a strong opinion since I only get to a few live games. One thing I do know is that the Board don''t want us to get relegated, so I trust them to decide if and when the time comes that Worthy can''t turn things around. They have done well both for the club and fans, and have taken a good long-term view in the past five years and I will happily put my trust in them for now.

[quote]WRONG I am only 18 and paid £390 for my season ticket. I have every right to boo if i feel that the 11 players on the pitch, who are being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a year are not ...[/quote] Sorry, but I have to pick you up on this... On the one hand it''s unrealistic to expect a win every week, yet it IS realistic to expect 150% from every player. Now, the first of those is extremely unlikely, granted, but the other is physically impossible. I get your point though. I think that booing during the game is simply counter-productive, and booing individual players is cruel, but it is fair that fans should be able to express their views after the game. We shell out money to be entertained, and if our entertainers don''t even try to put on a show then we have a right to show our dissappointment.

Nice post. I think what you also touch on at the end there is that even if it is time for Worthy to step down, it doesn''t take away from the things that he HAS achieved. For instance, the unhappy ending to Walker''s second spell in charge doesn''t take away from the fans'' appreciation of what he did for the club.So, let''s not make this personal against Worthy. He''s been a good manager, but he''s fallen into an untennable position (if the in-fighting is indeed as bad as Trent Canary has been told).

Would be amusing to see it with Ipswich having a former Canary at the helm. But I honestly think we''d more likely see Joe Royle sacked at Portman Road and replaced by his predecessor than Burley taking the job at Norwich (even assuming Worthington did leave). I''m sure the board would try tho - it''s not as if they were averse to taking on Hamilton...

Logically, 2-0. And no.

Hear, hear Eddie.I''ve been steering clear of even reading this board for the second half of this week for the depressingly negative atmosphere that seems to have decended and the growing personal attacks by the increasingly vociferous Worthy-Out brigade.For the record, I think that unless there is a clear action plan for a post-Worthy Carrow Road, sacking the manager can only have a negative effect. And whilst the team continue to hover in a mid-table position and the dressing room remains on his side, the least the manager deserves is a chance to show what he can do once he has a fully fit squad again.But anyhow, that wasn''t really what this post was about.Perhaps when they are challenged by others, Dicky and AT should just re-post some of their more in-depth comments on why Worthy should stay that they have left previously.

And maybe the fact that we haven''t yet gone on such a losing streak is simply testament to the fact that Worthy doesn''t need replacing.

[quote]Ramadan for next 3 weeks, unlikely to be at his best, maybe a blessing in disguise, particularly if Jarrett can show a remarkabe turnound in form?[/quote] I noticed that too... and I imagine he''ll be raring to go 110% once it''s over. It''s amazing how much energy you can find once you have the novelty of being able to eat and drink during the day after fasting for 30 days (I speak from experience)... It''s like the feeling of a Sunday morning lie-in after working for a fortnight straight!

Just read the England line-up for tonight on BBC Sport and couldn''t help but think of the "Old King Cole" song... "Robinson, Young, Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher, Wright-Phillips, Lampard, King, Cole, Owen, Rooney."

[quote]Stripes *surely this should be in the just not football section......*[/quote] Fair point AJ, I forgot that there were other boards. Just thought it would be nice to have something to keep the conspiracy theorists on here off the scent until Saturday - especially after reading the posts lambasting Worthy for letting Safri play for his country!

[quote]1st Wiz[/quote] Hey, this is almost working... Beard

Something to do ''til the football returns (not sure it''ll work on non-realtime forum, but worth a try). I''ll start with... Bananas

Assuming POTS is "player of the season", isn''t that more than a little premature? It''s not even xmas yet! However, I must agree that Safri has been excellent. Doc good also, but don''t forget that the presence of Callum has had more than a little influence on his resurgence.

It struck me that perhaps it had something to do with the Charlton approach... Spend one third on players, another third on facilities and keep the final chunk for a rainy day (ie. softening the blow of potential relegation)... Sounds much more to my likeing than Ipswich/Bradford/Leeds/Sheff Wed approach of spend the money now, face the consequences/screw over your fans later!

I guess maybe if we''d let Ashton go to a big team in the summer he would have come in for consideration too. To be honest, I found the move to Liverpool bizzare enough in itself (at least with Champions League victory considered), but to coutenance his place in the starting lineup for England in a crucial qualifier without a goal to his name this season is a bit of an ask for any sane man. Don''t get me wrong here, Crouch did a great job for us in the First Division, but with his run at Southampton last season aside, he has failed to make the step up to the top level. If you want the size up front, go for Heskey. He has his detractors, but I''d rate him as better than Crouch in every category other than height, and he''s scored this season to boot! Plus he''s played with Owen and formed a successful partnership on numerous occasions.

Just been browsing BBC Sport and found this quote from Alan Shearer: "Peter has not scored for Liverpool yet this season but by all accounts he has done very well." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4312694.stm Worthy and the Norwich board made a judgement decision not to sign Crouch last season in favour of Dean Ashton. Crouch has done little or nothing to prove them wrong, yet he''s expected to start in a crucial qualifier for his country on Saturday. Did I miss something??

I guess it might have just been the circumstances... FA Cup final was just a grand day out for the Millwall fans, I somehow doubt that any of them expected to see a competitive match! From what I remember, Millwall could have been the team we faced in the playoff final. I''ve got a feeling we wouldn''t have seen quite such a pleasant side of them that day. Call me cynical, but I was more than a little relieved that Birmingham knocked them out!

But what could we argue about on this message board? I seriously think it could become a hotbed for constructive discussion... Or even worse, with our voice taken from us, cynical and disillusioned at the team and the game in general we might find ourselves driven to brutal acts of terrorism (the natural conclusion, of course)... Remember when they changed the pass-back rule??

Clearly a good run of results on the pitch will no longer be enough for the "worthy out" brigade. How can this evil trogladite rebuild his reputation in the eyes of these fans? I say maybe we could lock him in the stocks on Gentleman''s Walk and hand out free rotten fruit to the general public. Any ideas?

Beating Ipswich at Portman Road? Hmmm.... If I''m 100% honest I can think of worse things.

[quote]Don''t let him take penalties[/quote] One of my contacts inside Carrow Road tells me that he was struck directly on the "cerebalum penaltoid", the part of the brain responsible for aiming balls at targets from 12 yards.