Ayrton Twigge

At this moment, Leon deserves more games. He has been close to scoring for the last two games, harries defenders, wins a reasonable share of headers, and creates openings. Bearing in mind he has only had 2 premiership starts, in my book he has done well. So I would play him. Its any from McVeigh, Bentley and Jonson for the other two forward midfield spots - as things currently stand McVeigh coming off the bench is a good option to have.

Whilst I''m in the Fleming/Charlton camp, Saturday''s match is a tricky one. WBA are one of the small number of teams in the Premiership who use target men - especially from set pieces. A lack of central height is an issue as far as I''m concerned. Not sure myself what the solution is - so far it hasn''t been a real problem for us - but I would definitely have Doherty on the bench, at least, in case we struggle to manage and need to bring him on.

The responses on this thread broadly fall into four camps. 1) Why don''t you get on with watching the game if you''re a "proper" supporter rather than what''s going on around you. Answer - of course we''re watching the game 100%, no distractions. Point is, there''s another "proper" city fan out there who could also like to be watching the game but is denied cos an away supporter has that place. Note, many "proper" supporters don''t have a season ticket for a variety of reasons. 2) Its a free world, and providing they dont make trouble, then why not. Answer - same as before - its still denying a true home fan a seat when demand far outstrips. 3) A season ticket holder who can''t make it passes it onto his friend/colleague/relation who supports the other side. Answer - Sad that a season ticket holder - a real supporter - chooses to deny a fellow true supporter an option of a place rather than the opposition. 4) And the other posters are already enlightened and see the justification in "sharing" spare tickets with other home supporters.  

Aren''t I clever, I see your point. There are two threads with an = sign in them. 1.2 million = 2.4 million and a similar one James = Green. Boy, you must be short of other stimulation!!

Jimmmmmmmmmmmmm Magilton. Whose gonna push his wheelchair? But Westlake and Bowditch - why not. Not going to happen though. They''re on long term deals on low wages. What would Ip**** gain by selling them.

Forgot to raise this after the weekend - but once again, there were Portsmouth fans in the Jarrold stand. Two guys were sitting several seats away from me - not with their colours on - but quite clearly from the leaping up and down for their goals - and the stone cold silence for ours - they stuck out like the proverbial sore thumbs. I''m sure I saw pockets of similar behaviour throughout the stand. Where do these tickets come from?

By my reckoning we''ll have over £2m, when you include the unspent August kitty, unused wages on new players and saved wages on recent departures. Plus - when we approach the January window, the Board need to take a view on investment v return, just as they did last year. If we are still there or there abouts - then an additional investment may be wise to preserve our status and maintain premiership income. So - perhapps we could be talking £3 - 3.5m. Then we need to invest the majority on two class players rather than fourteen journeymen - one up froint and one in the middle. Again, last year it all went on Hux - and the rest is history. The type of striker. The successful teams in this division have a mobile, powerful striker. Not a Roberts, Crouch, Hartson style centre forward. Someone who can make runs, turn quickly, drift out wide - rather than standing in the middle. If you like - Mackenzie style but with more quality. The other need is a playmaker in the middle. We lack that. Portsmouth had it with Quasie - the guy was orchestrating everything. Now with £2 to £3m, plus loan options, we should be able to do it. Anyone we buy must be seen as a medium/longer term addition, capable of staying and helping us back up should we go down. Loanees can be used for short term purposes without leaving a legacy. I''m sure Nige''s doing so - but now''s the time to find these players, put these deals to bed, not the middle of January.

I believe Safri is an ideal swap for Holt - similar players, but Safri has the better pass. Is he any less committed? No. Has he the ability to go from box to box? Unknown - but looks to me that he can. If I had any quibble, it would be his disciplinary record - its not good. Already he has a few yellows this year - sadly, those I have seen were all marginal - nothing malicious.

Agree with your views on Brennan - where is he. He''s strong defensively, can operate left midfield, gets forward - and has a great shot. Interested in your point about the standard of football. Like you, I was happy enough on Div 1 fayre, especially when we were winning. But haven bitten into the Premiership apple, boy it tastes good. Its not just the football quality, its all the hype and interest that surrounds it. Lots of media attention increases the interest no end and widens the circle to the peripheral or occaisional football follower. All of a sudden, Norwich are far more widely known, players names recognised,  etc etc. Yesterday I was in a pub at lunchtime and saw some of the Coventry-Ipswich game. Forgetting for the moment it was Ipswich, I have to say it was pretty dire. The football quality was poor - but the overall package was way below that we''ve now become used to. Frankly, if football were a person, then this was definitely John Major - grey and boring. Nigel and the boys must be feeling the same as us. The Board too, I hope. Lets make sure we don''t return pronto.

Bananamaman. You are right in that other players haven''t always performed - and indeed there was quite a strong lobby against Bentley a few weeks back. I thnk the point is - that Holt seems consistently off his game - and is his game as appropriate in this division as it was before anyway. The others you''ve named have had their off-days - but they''ve also had some good on-days, particularly Edworthy, who is keeping out the Danish captain for heavens sake. But Edworthy knows that the first sloip he''ll be out. Bentley knows it because its happened. Doherty knows it - he''s out now. How come Holt continues to make it in the team. What sort of team are we without him. Better maybe. At least we should try it. we tried Mckenzie on Saturday and it was a huge success. I haven''t witnessed the anti Holt moaning where I sit - and I wouldn''t either - but its the key dicsussion topic now that we''ve dealt with Bentley and the diamond.

I have long been an admirer of Gary Holt and found myself concentrating on watching his performance yesterday because of the recent speculation. I have to say that whilst his game improved after our first goal, he seemed to me to be positionally poor, defensively weak and not deserving of the moniker - three lungs - looked no more energetic than anyone else to me. Sadly, I do think this league is a step too far for him.

For some reason I found myself scrutinising GH more than anyone else today - a bit like when the camera tracks a single player rather than following the play. I saw someone well out of their depth in the first half - although he came back into it after our first goal. He was chasing shadows much of the time, was positionally weak, - and surprisingly, could not be called three lungs. I didn''t see anymore enrgy from him than anyone else.  

Sounds to me like a 2001 vintage song They''ve rubbed out the word Ipswich and substituted the word Norwich. Bloody cheek.

I see some negativism creeping in. Surely this is a can''t lose situation for us. Whatever the outcome. Carling Cup matches are notorious for untypical performances - this weeks outturns are just another example. The motivators are different from the league. Otherwise Arsenal would be winning everything - and they don''t. So I see no reason why we shouldn''t get a win. And if we don''t, then the money was useful and we concentrate on the league.

Hey, you may even get her vacant seat as she''ll be up north. Careful you don''t slip on the pie wrappers!!.    

Last nights attendance should be decoupled from the actual team performance - I doubt if a wonderful - or awful game would really make much difference to attendance potential.  The fact is there are thousands and thousands of would be supporters who currently can''t get a ticket. Its a Premier League thing. Football is becoming more and more mainstream. And this region is prospering. Last year in a lower division 23000 ish full houses could easily have been 30000 in a larger stadium. Indeed, at Poorman Rd, near 30000 attendances were achieved from within a catchment area that is less than in Norwich. Personally, I believe 35000 is realistic but on the basis of Premier League membership. But the key point is, I think, Div 1 (old terms) would deliver 30000 attendances I would say unless we dropped into the lower reaches - and that ain''t gonna happen.

Interesting to see that the city stand roof looks flat from this angle. I presume that a top tier isn''t an overcomplicated bit of engineering.

Great thread - the best for ages. I could easily side with almost any of the replies because they''re equally valid. I can say this. The game against Portsmouth is the acid test.

Can''t fault it - but tough on Eddy. Agree with you about Bentley - last chance of a starting spot unless....

Didn''t I say that there are lies, damm lies and statistics!!

As Ayrton Twigge is my alter ego it seemed only right to select an appropriate heroic image - and I have chosen Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer, a hero of mine, for whom the phrase "never mind the danger" could have been equally apt. Now I need to sort a signature.

Whilst we sit in 17th place after a taxing start, the following links show that our underlying performance has been good. http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/vtophalf.html http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/failtosc.html http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/congt1.html

Generally agree with this. Two fast mobile strikers will work better in this league than slow, lumbering old style forwards. The forwards doing well these days are the likes of Defoe, Bellamy, Henry (doesn''t use his height), Angell and so on. Even England use small forwards. The big guys - well they''re not generally effective are they? Heskey. Fergussen. Some exceptions of course - Beattie. Modern day centre backs of calibre will just eat them up. If there''s speedy support coming through behind them from midfield then its a potent option. And we have Bentley, Jonssen - even Francis who can do that. Nige - give it a go.

Can''t agree with that Rik. They''re reasons why Drury should be a prefect rather than a captain. Even leading the team out should be a matter of extreme chest swelling pride for the captain - and determination by the rest of the team to play their gutts out for him. By your own admission you have relegated even that to a symbolic action followed by a bit of coin tossing. I fear, however, you''re dead right on the reasons why Drury is captain. Its been bestowed as a token to his professionalism. And I don''t think thats enough - you can recognise that in other ways.

Great site, worth bookmarking. Interesting to see both Charlton and Fleming mentioned in the top 100. What does Greeno have to do to get in there - he''s got to be better than Hislop who''s in at 84.