Jim Smith

We were clearly a class above but once again we''re not able to find a way to win a game we needed to and really should have done. Several Norwich sides in recent years I think would have gone on to win that game having equalised but we just don''t seem to have the character/belief amongst this group to lay siege to a team and force late winners. I was disappointed again with the managers reading of the game and inability to influence it with his subs. I still struggle to think of a single example of him making a change to the system or personnel during the match that has gained us points. I thought it was crying out for Naismith to some off for about 10 minutes before their goal as we started to struggle a bit and needed to retain possession better but he never makes the change until we concede.

Could we play Naismith, Wes and Pritchard as the three behind Jerome. I would like to see that, think the three of them interchanging would be a right handful.

[quote user="westcoastcanary"]@Essjayess[Y] Fact is, AN ticks the majority of boxes implicit in any such job specification, which I guess is why he enjoys continued support from the board. The main problem IMO is his refusal (in ron obvious''s words) to "pay more than lip service to defence". As I''ve said on other threads, believing that handing the opposition scoring opportunities is the acceptable cost of "expansive" football is hardly a recipe for taking the club forward. [/quote] What boxes does AN tick aside from the non specific claim that he''s a "talented young manager." Can someone please tell me what those talents actually are because they are certainly not tactical awareness, game management, man management or having an eye for a good value signing? Some of the above posts smack of the infernal "but who else is there" line which is defeatist and not a reason not to sack a failing manager.

We have a better team than Reading, Leeds or Shef Wednesday and its a bit of a joke that we are playing catch up. I certainly wouldn''t fear any of them if we do manage to sneak into the playoffs. But they have all been better than us at grinding out results, particularly away from home so whilst we have a glimmer of hope that''s all it is. I would prefer to keep both Leeds and Wednesday within touching distance so perhaps a draw would be the best result for us. I think they both have to play Reading and perhaps also Newcastle in the not to distant future so there will be plenty of weekends where teams take points off each other. we simply cannot afford any more Burton type slip ups though.

Depends on what the notice period/termination provisions were really Nutty. Either way its galling that someone can be monumentally cr*p at their job and get a multi million payout for failure. Not exclusive to Neil/Norwich by any means but a sad indictment of modern football. As also is someone like Mark Clattenburg becoming some sort of celebrity and being snapped up by Saudi Arabia on a megabucks deal. Very sad.

True Nutty although the clear inference from the story was that we lengthened his notice period to compensate for the fact that his wages had been reduced on relegation. I would be interested to know from someone with more knowledge of company law matters than myself whether shareholders can in any way compel disclosure of new contracts given to key employees such as the manager. I guess not unless you have enough votes!

@Nutty No i''m not maoning about those goals v Forest Nutty. I enjoyed those goals very much. I was merely making the point that they were moments of individual excellence rather than indicative of great team play or cohesion. They set up a deserved victory but then we will win most weeks if we stick two in the top corner from 30 yards in the first 20 minutes. The game was effectively over after Wes scored.

Its the one quality he has that I admire Morty, the way he has managed to hang on in there and keep his job. That''s it though.

@Morty I''ve consistently posted that I think we have the players to challenge for the top two. I''ve consistently posted recently that I think we can still make the playoffs. I''ve even posted recently giving Neil credit for his determination and for perhaps learning some lessons and being more consistent in his decision making in recent times. I will say it again. Those on here who believe that we have good players at present who are capable of doing/performing a lot better are not the negative posters on here.

Not at all. I''ve actually got back into enjoying the last few games I''ve been too a lot more because I concluded that getting wound up about Neil and the board was ruining my enjoyment of games. I''m reconciled to the fact he is not getting sacked and determined not to allow my frustration at the club and board to stop me enjoying my football. Does not mean we cannot comment on issues on here though both positively and critically. Its actually quite amusing that posters on here who actually rate most of our players and think they are capable of performing so much better or who want or demand better performances are lambasted as "negative" posters yet many who say we have poor players, "deadwood" or "are a mid table team" are seen as positive. Ironic really.

I''ve said before I accept they are not changing it now. I''ve accepted he''s here until the end of the season. Does not mean I can''t continue to comment on here that I want him gone nor that I don''t hope we miraculously still manage to make the playoffs. I still believe we are capable of doing so despite the manager although Saturday''s result has obviously made the task a lot harder.

I believe it yes. I believe it for a number of reasons, namely that I had heard the same information from another source previously (although not that it was an amended contract post relegation), that national newspapers do not (contrary to popular belief) publish stories like that on their back page unless they have some evidence, that the club has not denied it, refuted it or taken any action against said paper and that I was again told recently that the potential financial cost was a key reason that Neil was not replaced during our bad run.

Physicality? Murphy roughed him up earlier in the season yes but most of the other occasions he has been found wanting its been nothing to do with physicality. He just doesn''t mark people. Massively overrated player. as much as people try and hype him up he was a Wolfsberg reserve not a "champions league" defender. On his day he can look class but this season he''s been appalling.

Well it was interesting that the Club did not come out and refute or deny the Sun story published a few weeks ago by Wyett which as I recall suggested a 2 year notice period.

[quote user="JF"]Accept the fact that he is here for the season, they are not going to back him through that bad run and sack him now. In the summer if we miss out on the play offs then he should be shown the door[/quote] I agree they are not going to sack him now, especially as I have heard from a source that I trust that the decision not to sack was primarily driven by financial considerations. That worries me because many on here assume they may sack him in the summer if we don''t make the playoffs but the situation may be little different then in terms of those same financial considerations. Personally, I would rather they had sacked him, take the financial hit and not spent millions on Wildschutt but recruited a winger for a more modest outlay.

@Trevo Hockey''s Beard I agree to a large extent but i would query the assertion that we are trying to play premiership football in the championship. Maybe a bit at the back at times when a good bit of old fashioned non nonsense defending is called for but I think one of our problems has been not having enough confidence in our own ability to play our own game (whatever that may be - I''m not sure anyone really knows or remembers). Neil now seems to think that scrapping at this level involves going route one to Jerome and sacrificing ball retention but we should really be backing ourselves to go to places like Burton and give them the runaround.

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Jim Smith"][quote user="FCC"]We don''t look like a top six side - and the players don''t look like they have the stomach for a scrap, or the togetherness needed. Perhaps too many looking to leave in the summer anyway? After last season I''m not sure Alex won''t offer to go in the summer again - and I honestly don''t know if we should let him or not. Somehow he needs to start finding some players with the desire and strength of character he has.[/quote] If he offers to leave we should be all over that offer like a rash. He is useless. He won''t offer to leave again though as the idiots have given him a contract with a rudiculous payoff. Indeed it appears they may have done so in response to his last "offer to leave" such is their delusion/naivity.[/quote]Jim, when did Neil offer (genuinely or otherwise) to leave? That has passed me by.[/quote] Sorry purple I was using the turn of phrase from the original post. I took it to be a reference to Neil publically considering his future post relegation from the prem, not him actually offering to step down.

This will be my lowest season for years due to family commitments. I will probably manage 4 or 5 away games. From 1994-99 I did around 10-12 a season, between 1999 and 2010 I probably did 20 plus aways per season (with a few seasons where I barely missed a game) and since then the number has been decreasing year on year as the kids have arrived/grown up. I''d therefore probably put my overall figure around the 330 mark with an average of 12 per season over the years. I used to travel regularly with guys who will have done 2 or 3 times that.

The Forest result made no difference to my view and nor will the Ipswich result save that to say that if he manages to preside over our first defeat to that lot for years then it will mark another new low in this dreadful season. If you actually look at the Forest game and the Newcastle game they really sum up things. Three early goals against Forest, primarily due to individual brilliance rather than any particularly cohesive team play. We have that in our locker and because of it we will regularly win games. Even Pritchard''s second half efforts were solo efforts. In between we had enough of a cushion to hold them at bay for once but they still had a free header from which they should have scored and scored from a one on one with the keeper whilst down to 10 men as a result of a throughbsll which caught out the central defence. The Newcastle game/result was another mixed bag. I was proud of the effort and commitment from the players but the defending, especially first half, was at times horrifically bad and we ended up playing like a lower league side in a cup tie against a team we were the equal of last season, simply hoofing it up to the tireless Jerome who chased down lost causes. Derby had two one on ones where they could and should have scored, one of which would have levelled it before they went down to ten men. Even during our better recent run, the poor defending and giving gilt edged chances to the opposition has still been present. Sooner or later it catches up with you.

Does playing in the championship mean you can''t mark players from crosses or cut out basic through balls along the ground? Which of the 6 players who started on Saturday who were in our promotion team of two years ago are not suited to the championship? Or is it Pritchard who was in the championship team of the season the same year? Or mam mountain Dijks who looks like he was born to play in the championship? If it were true it would still be down to Neil as he has assembled the squad but it''s utter nonsense. The truth is we struggle because our defence is a disorganised shambles, we have no style of play, no organisation, no identity as a side and a rubbish manager who the players don''t really rate/like. If our main tactic of having better players than the opposition fails then we have nothing to fall back on other than hoofing it to Jerome and we have a squad rammed with attaching midfield players who are individually decent but we''re not really needed at the time we bought them and who we struggle to accommodate in our side. Why even Archant are allowing Neil to spread this narrative to again pass the buck (he started drip feeding it during our bad run) is beyond me.

[quote user="FCC"]We don''t look like a top six side - and the players don''t look like they have the stomach for a scrap, or the togetherness needed. Perhaps too many looking to leave in the summer anyway? After last season I''m not sure Alex won''t offer to go in the summer again - and I honestly don''t know if we should let him or not. Somehow he needs to start finding some players with the desire and strength of character he has.[/quote] If he offers to leave we should be all over that offer like a rash. He is useless. He won''t offer to leave again though as the idiots have given him a contract with a rudiculous payoff. Indeed it appears they may have done so in response to his last "offer to leave" such is their delusion/naivity.

Changing tack slightly but why when Josh Murphy came in against Forest and did more than his brother has in about two months (not meant to be a dig at Jacob but it''s the truth) in that game has he been ditched to the bench for the two following games?

I''m not saying Warnock would be right for us (we should be playing a pass and move type of game) but look at his record last season with Rotherham and this season with Cardiff. Top notch and with nothing like the resources Neil has.

Given the resources he has had at his disposal I actually don''t think he''s done any better than those three did. Perhaps he would have fared better managing a load of crap players as it would have been more like his Scottish experience and the players he played alongside.

Ps ask yourself what are the strengths of this team and what really is our style of play? We may look down on them but there are teams in this league who win games because they play to their strengths, are either hugely organised or wok their socks off or both. Or perhaps are excellent at set pieces. We don''t seem to fall into any category other than we have a few individuals who on their day the other teams can''t really cope with and who regularly turn it on at Carrie Road. Other than sending them out and hoping that quality gets us through what is the plan? I don''t think our manager/coaches add anything at all to the equation as opposed to say a Warnock who seems to forge teams that perform well above the sum of their parts.