FatMan Fat

Actually, Worthington is now giving us retrospective information.  If Shacks was still unfit because of illness, then why not say so at the outset just as we were told about the other unfit players. There is more to this than meets the eye.........

4. A makeshift central midfield coped for 2/3 of the game. With players to come in we will be a lot stronger and will hold more possession - on Saturday we had less possession than Coventry. I think that is an optimistic claim - all the stats that I have seen said we had only 40% possession, and that was borne out by what I saw at the match. The midfield we played on Saturday just wasn''t good enough and will not be good enough in the future. Despite having Jarrett and Safri to come it clearly highlights the need for Worthington to sign a quality central midfielder now. 

I think that the point is that that if Shacks was left out because of a fallout with Mr W then it would not have been the first time that W has acted in that way. No matter what his Fan Club say, he has a history of dropping players for personal reasons rather than finding another way around the intendant problem. If Shacks was unavailable for selection because he is unfit, then why weren''t we told before the match?? In any case, fitness doesn''t preclude selection it seems with other players - for instance Jarrett. Why put him on the bench if he wasn''t fit??

I''m with Balham Yellow in that neither Doc or Fleming are the players to take us up this year.  It should be Shackell and A.N. Other. The fact is that Flem is past it and Doc is never going to get there. As Evil Monkey said earlier, thats IMHO, so is it okay?

If it is true that Shacks was dropped because of a falling out with Mr W then I have to say that I and several others have been making this point for a long, long time about Mr W. A good manager would find a way around the situation and play his best team rather than jeopardise the result for the benefit of his own ego. Ho, hum....

Unfortunately Doc is one of those players who look "clumsy" and that doesn''t help him - he seems to lose his balance, struggles to get to the ball and doesn''t get it away cleanly. Consequently he looks uncomfortable.  Compare him with, say, Kenton - now there was a player who looked "good" on the ball, who had balance, timing, and just looked comfortable.  The problem isn''t Doc, or Flem, it''s both of them

Anyone who winessed the "journeyman" crap that was served up against Coventry will know that we need to invest in some quality in midfield and at the back. Failure to do so will result in us not gaining promotion - you have been warned

I am afraid YC is right. Flem has been an outstanding player for us in the past, but not last season, and it looks like he could be a liability this season. How he played EVERY match last year is beyond me. We clearly need a class defender to play alongside Shackell with Flem and Doc providing the cover for injuries. Until that happens, along with at least one more quality midfield signing, we will struggle to make an impact this year.

I have yet to see any quotes from Mr W regarding the Coventry debacle but I am dreading to read that he has come out with the same drivel that he would spout last season match after match in which we had been outplayed. Just for once I would like him to be honest and not take the fans for fools. Time will tell whay he has actually said after Coventry but I am dreading it

Spot on..he told his agent where to get off when he wanted to come here and he has very cleary nailed his flag to our mast.  The man is an example to many others!!

What I witnessed this afternoon was verging on depressing A complete lack of quality in midfield plus alack of service to Hucks left us huffing and puffing and playing the game that Coventry wanted us to play. As for the substitutions, I give up.  Why not Brennan on on the left, and move Hucks to the right and keep waht width we did have so that we at least had an opportunity to break them down. Oh, I nearly forgot the masterstroke of bringing a player on with 4 minutes to go

Steady on, YC! Have you been taking some happy pills? If you keep on posting like your last couple we could be singing off the same song sheet and that would really confuse me

In a word, "NO"! We need additional players at centre back, central midfield and possibly right midfield.

It is strange that both are consistently selected and played at International level but both seem to have little impact at senior Club level. I would agree with the other posters who say that they need to go out on loan to see if they can actually cut the mustard..one of those 5 month period loans would do for starters and see how the land lies at the end of December - that way they can be recalled early if we hit a massive injury crisis.

Evidently Paul Jewell wants some variety in the squad as according to Francis, (read his agent), the Wigan squad is full of talented hungry players. Certainly, Francis with his lackadaisical approach doesn''t tie in with the hungry bit, so he will provide an alternative.  Or maybe he meant hungry for money..now that would make sense.

Spot on, Jamie Wright.  There have been no reports of Shackell being unfit or concern about his recovery from illness. Of course it could just be reporter hypothesising but we have all seen how Mr W can behave in the past. Yellow Rider also makes the point that Shackell is not a "young" player, he is 21/22 years old and at an age when many many players play for a full season. I don''t know why I worry about Mr W and his seemingly incomprehensible selections but I do

I think the most worrying aspect of all this is not if he plays Flem but if he doesn''t play Shackell. Our defence was crap last year and the only bright light was the emergence of Shackell both as player and as a leader. If that progress is stiffled this year then I would be very, very, concerned about a certain Mr W

I don''t know if "disaster" is the right word if we fail to go up this year. For sure, if we fail to secure promotion the implications to the Club will be immense. Faced with no more parachutes payments we would have to cut the wage bill which would mean us selling those better players who had not already left from their own choice. Equally, we would not have the money to attract the type of player that would give us a chance of promotion. Accordingly we would again sink into the doldrums of many seasons in the Championship until a set of circumstances saw us once again challenging for promotion, or we fall down to Division 1. It is quite rare for a team to stay in our current league for more than 10 to 12 consecutive seasons. So, if we fail to secure promotion this season it will not be a "disaster" but we better get used to Championship Football and mid-table mediocrity for several seasons thereafter.

There is hope for everyone if YC agrees with me Actually, I would take attitude before everything else but I take your point, YC, on effort before talent. A pertinent question that we should all ask ourselves throughout the day is, "Is MY attitude worth catching?" The trouble with Francis is that his attitude is not worth catching because it stinks, so he has to go. Simple. Have a nice day

After his behaviour on and off the pitch at Fulham he gave up any rights to support from the fans of NCFC. Couple that with the fact that he has been hiding behind his agent and I personally want him to go, and quickly. Hucks had the courage before he came here to tell his agent that he (Hucks) would decide who he played for, not his agent. Francis is a BIG disappointment and he has denigrated himself by accepting a move to Wigan of all places who do not tie in with all the utterances made by his agent. Good riddance to bad rubbish  

Jimbo, I gave up being "staggered" by some of Worthington''s decisions and his lack of action in other areas a long, long, time ago The fact is that he he never replaced Malky (notice that the word is "replaced", not kept) who gave us physical strength and natural leadership at the heart of the defence. Sure Shackell is growing into that role but he should be the apprentice not the master which he is expected to be. Until such time as we do sign a dominant, inspirational, central defender we will always be at risk.

IOf the fee is lower than expected it can only be because Worthington wants him out of Carrow Road - no bad thing if Francis is no longer committed to the cause.

Strange that there is nothing on the NCFC site (yet) or any other site that I have looked at. Ho hum, if the fee is high enough, £2 Million plus, it had to happen.

Some very interesting/worrying posts Who is actually responsible for ensuring motivation and commitment within the team? Who is responsible for setting the required standards? Is it the players, or does the lead come from the management?

Doesn''t look like a moan to me Zipper.....more of a balanced view of how the squad is shaping up and a reasoned expression of doubt about a couple of areas that still need strengthening. In fact, I could hardly have put it better myself