KeelansGlove

Can''t argue, could be the difference this season.

Whilst I have felt that we missed the opportunity to replace Hughton in January we should have taken I can kind of see where the OP is coming from even if I believe his tongue is firmly in his cheek. I have complained all season (and last) that Hughtons cautious style generally works well in game like yesterday but often fails badly against teams that we should be targeting for positive results. I would suggest you will never see a situation where a manager is my culpable than the recent Cardiff & West Ham games. I believe yesterdays result was absolutely massive and could well be the difference between survival and relegation and if it gives us the confidence to go out and get a result on Sunday that would be the icing on the cake. I hope that Hughton can learn and change, he has the rest of the season to show us solid positive football and the fact that if the ball is in the opponents penalty box you cannot concede a goal. Revert to what we have been forced to watch and I would hope not even a dozen more clean sheets should save him. All sides of the debate seem to agree Chris seems like a generally nice guy and has probably been given more leeway because of this. We have to be clear a two season transition has to this point shown very little in terms of consistent improvement in overall performance, I keep my fingers crossed that he has either learned that such negativity will eventually lead to failure or that at long last something has started to move forward.

I agree that we should aspire to be in the highest league we can be competitive in (in footballing terms) I hope we can stay up and improve. I am desperately disappointed that despite the investments made over the last 2 years we are actually further away from this than we were as a newly promoted side. I think the question is a valid one and don''t really understand your problem with it. I have to admit that both the League one season and the 1986 season are very fond memories to me unlike the last 2. As has been said what is best for Norwich city football club is not always what is best for fans of Norwich city football club. If the revenue secured our future for decades to come maybe but most will wash through the club and into the pockets of this decades Andy Townsends and Danny Mills who treat the club with such contempt as to almost deny ever wearing a yellow shirt. And whilst I am not willing to get drawn into the "real" fan debate those attending all games will have had to suffer the boredom of watching a team that rarely troubles the opposition defences.

Yet more tosh from our friend LDC why should I be surprised that the "i''d happily pay double just to be slapped around the face with a wet fish" brigade are happy with the concept of many more years of this. I have said before I do not buy into the fact that NCFC are just one of a number of clubs "battling" for survival that I would be happy to take for as many years as they are on offer. We have a team managed by a man who is scared of his own shadow and has shown this for 2 seasons even coming out and admitting holding onto a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle rather than trying everything to equalize. In the premier League you have to accept that you have to take the rough with the smooth and as a newly promoted team you expect more rough than smooth. Unfortunately any enjoyment of the premier league has been drained away from NCFC fans in a way that only perhaps West Ham fans could appreciate. Fans of almost all other Premier league clubs will be all be able to point to inspiring performances and results (even WHU beat Spurs at WHL 3-0) I would agree the case for a financially secure NCFC in the championship is not one that unduly worries me as beyond clearing the debt the extra revenue has had no real positive impact on my enjoyment of football whatsoever. The only Danger for NCFC or you LDC is that we will be bored to death. May I suggest Carlisle would be a more realistic regular trip ?

I had a season ticket when I was spending 50% of my time in Southampton and only managed to get to just over half the games, but even in league one it was a difficult to get extra tickets. Don''t believe me Nutty ?? If I choose to make a stand and prove a point however futile and pay £100 for the privilege who are you to disbelieve me ? After all the club will get the extra money wont they ? I wasted a few thousand pounds on shares that are just a worthless piece of paper what''s the difference ?

I will renew the ones I have but only after the season (regardless of division) hopefully we will have a new manager on the way. Im happy to spend the extra not renewing t the first deadline to make my point.

Grant Holt is a much better footballer than most give him credit for, yes he is getting on a bit and his limited pace is beginning to wane but i''d have him in our squad in a heartbeat. Even with a bit part im sure his cameos would have accrued us enough points to be more comfortable than we are. If only Elmander was half the player Holty is.

I cannot deny it was a much more attacking lineup than I had imagined, who knows maybe the penny with drop with Hughton at last that if the ball is at the other end of the pitch you cannot concede a goal.

Saturdays game was made for Chris Hughton and we did really well to get a point out of a game most myself included were fearful of a cricket score from. Having a defensive approach to these games has never been a problem in my book it his our inability to change this in games we should and need to win. The teamsheet against Cardiff was frankly laughable there is little doubt they are the worst team in this league (ironically worse now that Malky has gone) and we went there with probably the most defensive team I have ever seen Hughton put out. Yes even this team should have been out of sight by half time but I think there can be little debate that had we started with the team that finished the game we would have won comfortably. I can see us getting a few more clean sheets along the way, I am just not sure I can see us getting the wins we actually need.

Shocking I almost agree with you, although I would suggest we still create very little with Wes in that position and we are no more solid not to mention the fact that''s Wes''s shooting boots have long since gathered dust. Fer scored 2 goals playing in that position :Check Played 2 great passes in to Hooper one that was converted : Check The only downside is he cannot be in two places at once.

Hardly the World Mr Mojo Risin !

Because like many of our players he is a one trick pony. Decide if we want to be able to create, score or tackle. one out of three isn''t enough. We need players who can do at least two as I said.

Dream on Howsons passing is non existing over simple 5yd side to side. I cant comment on his passing In and around the box because ive never seen him do anything but shoot regardless of other options. I''d be amazed if he had an assist to his name in Yellow and green. Box to Box fine attacking midfielder waste of time.

I guess what I was saying was that regardless of which players have been available we have created very little, of course injuries do not help but it would be unlikely that a fully fit squad would change anything as all players have been available at some point.

Well certainly not a long term option but given our current situation I guess that''s no surprise. Hopefully they can concentrate on the player we really need now.

The biggest problem is regardless of the team chosen we cannot create chances. Injuries are an irrelevance as is formation. 442 the rest of the team behind the strikers are terrified of being overrun and give little or no supply to the front 2 and when they do its too slow and laboured. We looked more solid with 5 in midfield but created nothing but pot shots and whichever striker was on the pitch watched the ball whistle over his head. Wes in behind a lone striker is the worst of both worlds the same amount of bite in midfield as 442 and still only one player on the pitch likely to get into the box and shoot. Leroy Fer is without doubt the only complete all round midfielder we have (Tackle, Pass, Shoot) and without another who can manage at least 2 of these to a high standard we will continue to struggle. Get one and our fortunes could change rapidly. For me with the current personnel the first thing I would do is forget 2 wingers Play Wes/Fer (or somebody who can create on one side with license to come inside)and one pacey winger on the other Pilks/Redmond. I suppose Playing Gutierrez will I suppose at least allow us to batter the opposition to death in midfield and play for more 0-0 draws. Give Snodgrass a rest. Hopefully a game or two out might bring back the player he was last season. Nobody can fault his effort but perhaps he is trying a little too hard.

its not working because we have the wrong players/mix of players in midfield. 4-5-1 wasn''t working for exactly the same reason. And if you consider that we have ever if Hughton is to be believed played 4-3-3 that didn''t work either for the same reason. We cannot be effective with so little creativity in the team but we also need to be solid and get players forward and into the box. Fer is the nearest thing we have to an attacking midfielder although I doubt we could allow him to push forward as he is also our best defending midfielder. We could try Wes or Fer out wide (drifting inside) with one winger but Wes behind in 4-5-1 is a disaster would give us no more presence in midfield and nobody to score the goals. The truth is I don''t believe we have the player we need to turn this talented squad into a team.

Without doubt our problems are in midfield. Be it defensively ( I look forward to seeing Tettey shield the back 4 of he did before) or attacking. We create almost nothing, we do not attack as a unit and our build up play couldn''t be any more pedestrian. I honestly do not think we have the player to make this group into a team. We need to push the boat out on either another Leroy Fer (allowing one of them to get forward more) or a creative attacking Midfielder who can play anywhere across the midfield, allowing us to vary the formation but still be creative. This has been the player we have missed since Hughton arrived that would allow us to play his preferred system I just cannot see why it hasn''t been addressed.

Snodgrass has been poor this season by his own standards. I am not saying he should be replaced but seriously think he should be given a rest and try something different.

hardly inspiring.

As I said in my earlier post there are very few clubs scoring so few and conceding so many goals, so I do not believe we are currently competing with the bottom half of the premiership in football terms even if we are in terms of points.

I must admit I am confused. Fair enough my shot term memory is shot but I do normally remember really good chances. Remember Snoddys Long ranger and Rickys attempted turn in front of goal but don''t really remember the keeper or indeed defenders having to work too hard might be my memory though.

Statistics can prove anything, I have been concerned with some of our decision making for most of the season. I would like to see where we are shooting from and why. I can understand that we have struggled to score goals but hope that the management have access to the information to evaluate what happened and coach the players to improve the situation. We need better chances not just more of them, of course some of tis will be trying too hard or forcing a shot when a pass would be a better option but again we have to rely on the management debriefing the players so the situation improves.

Great post and to some degree sums up my frustration both with and for Chris Hughton. I still have no reason to question any of the signings he has made and of course the no1 aim or his job is the preservation of our premier league status. I think if his stewardship is considered a project we must strive for continuing to move in the right direction and sadly much of what we have seen this season must be considered going backwards. I will b the first to admit I did not find the football we played last season inspiring even when it was being effective and obviously there has been less of everything this season. I cannot truthfully imagine a Norwich City board ever replacing a manager that secures our Premier League position and I suppose in truth I wouldn''t really want to regardless of my stance as an "outer". However despite changes in formation and personnel after 18 months Chris Hughton looks no closer to putting together a team that has the ability to be solid and not concede goals whilst dangerous on the break. Our Goals for and against figures this season just cannot be argued with in the context of our competitors. I hope we sign a complete midfielder before the end of the month that may help out on both ends of the pitch and complete a decent squad (perhaps another CB as well) Most of all I hope we stay having shown some semblance of improvement so that we don''t have to ask these questions again. I was happy to accept last season on the basis of stability and transition and as much as I have been unhappy and would have preferred a change this year if I truly believed there would be better times and more importantly exciting football to watch I would be happy to offer more time for the manager. I agree that the time has passed where it would be viable to change the manager before the end of this season, and hope for better times ahead. Chris Hughton has until the end of the season to convince me he can be more than he has been, thereafter surely there can be few to argue he should be given more time. Those that are willing to feed on scraps to retain premiership status I admire you but I cannot contemplate continuing to pay every year for this, I do not accept as a whole any other club (with the possible exception of West Ham) has shown so few reasons to hope for more. I have been a season Ticket Holder for around 30 years and cannot recall being more underwhelmed by a manager, some have been dreadful and many have had terrible squads but I believe in these players and think sometimes if the manager can motivate them they are capable of so much more. Football supporters need to be optimistic, come on Chris give us something to look forward to.

The least he could do was to say that it was an unacceptable performance, that we were second best all night to a team that cant win a raffle.