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Aye, but that''s just one player who didn''t work out...oh and Rob Hulse at WBA I suppose. And Wright with the binners. In fact, what ex-Crewe player ever really made it in the Prem? (That''s a bit harsh, there have been some like Robbie Savage and, er...)

"Keep the faith" does though tend to suggest that faith is all we have. When all else fails... keep the faith. But I really hope things are a little rosier than that and we can go from faith to hope to some sort of expectation as the season progresses. Here''s hoping.

I guess they''ve been doing the underground stuff although I agree, it is going slowly. More to the point, have Taylor Woodrow had to do an archealogical dig, or did that only apply to the South Stand? I notice *they''re* cracking on with no apparent delays!!!

Corn and Cattle? Nah, I''m too busy crunching carrots and sitting on moi tractor. Where do they get this crap? And as for Alan Partidge being the only thing people remember the city for, I guess that just shows that this journo wasn''t reporting on football 10 years ago then. Since most of the lazier ones have always just referred back to our European days as the last thing they can remember about us!

Probably another one who''s worked out the final Prem placings by ranking clubs by transfer fee spend in the last year. And as we all know, that''s an accurate indicator... not.

I was going to say alphabetic order, but its not even that. Basically I think its simple: "Norwich, never heard of any of their players, must be crap". Oh and perhaps they went on the Sky website, saw our squad contains Cooper, Giallanza, Easton, Crichton etc and decided "their squad isn''t good enough". It''d be funny if it wasn''t so tragic!

"What on earth is it about Ian Dowie"... I think its simply that he caught the headlines with Palace''s late surge last season, and based on that one (admittedly fairly impressive) fact, the media predict great things from him. It goes to show how much depth there is(n''t) to their analysis.

One in, one out, doesn''t sound like it makes much difference. I think he''d be a good signing though, if only for his scoring record, and because, again he''s done OK at Charlton. We could end up with a whole team of players whose names end in ''son'' at this rate!

...it was just a rumour.

"You never know about Crystal Palace under Ian Dowie." Can I have Mottson''s job please? Any one of us could write something more insightful than that. The weird thing about these critics is that they seem to know about as much about Norwich as I do about a team that has just been promoted to Serie A. I bet I could spend a couple of hours online and find out enough to write something at least resembling an analysis. Are they really that focussed on the ''big'' teams? In which case, when they get past them, they should just write; "Beyond that I haven''t a clue, and there''s no point in me suggesting where they will finish in the league based on one solitary fact I know about them, or one signing they''ve made that I have never heard of, or simply because all promoted teams automatically go back down."... ..."Er, don''t they? Who stayed up last season then?"

No, not the place or the team, the man. What a great interview in today''s EDP! I like his clear and unambiguous style. All our new players are on divisional pay-related contracts. So definately no going bust if we go down. None of our players are on huge wages. (A gentle nod towards Poorman Road??) He wants continued transparency (another gentle nod southwards??). And they ARE still negotiating with other potential players. I think we''re in safe hands at the moment.

Sounds good. Surely though, Kents is in the Rivers mould - skilled but doesn''t sweat blood for the cause. And so its unlikely Worthy would give him a second look... isn''t it?

Iwan was a legend, and still has a lot to offer, but probably not at Prem level. I think it was best for him to bow out while still a hero, rather than have a torrid season and fade away. I will look out for his results though!

And now Rivers is at it for Crewe!

1. NCFC have never in their history been promoted and then immediately relegated. Our shortest stay in the top league was in the early 70s - 2 seasons. Other than that its always been for longer periods. We''ve been promoted 7 times now since 1920/21. 2. The team winning the 1 division has, in the past 5 seasons, managed to go on and stay up. The last 4 (Fulham, Charlton, Man City and Portsmouth) are all still there! Anyone got any others?

Agree ZLF, Charlton is proven, has looked good in pre-season and has done enough to have a starting place. I think we did face a number of good strikers last year. Perhaps not World class but often touted as being Prem quality... Andy Johnson, Defoe, Earnshaw, Bent, David Johnson... and maybe some others. Okay, granted, not much top quality there.

He had a good game against us at CR last season I remember at RW, and he''s always touted as a big prospect for them. He''s only about 17 though isn''t he? More like one for the future then, surely... if there''s any truth in it.

You''re right about shooting. I sit in the Barclay lower and so many times last season we watched as opposition players advanced towards our box but then saw a wall of defenders and started to pass sideways around the edge of the box. I remember thinking ''if they (the opposition strikers) were any good they''d have unleashed a shot from just outside the box by now'' but they rarely did, and tried to walk it in instead. I fully expect this season to see more shots from the edge of the box, because the better quality players will know they''ve got a chance of scoring where div1 strikers know they''ll only stick it in row Z if they try it!

Its going to be a cracking atmosphere, have no doubt. And I expect at least one rendition of "There''s only one ''H'' in Palace". He he!

The theory''s good, although I dunno whether Worthy will ever drop a fit Holt, he seems to personify what Worthy is after, and perhaps the way we have built our success. To change him would be to shift the way we play. So maybe... it''ll be interesting to see whether, if we have the players for it as we increasingly do, Worthy evolves the style. The weird thing is watching us at home and we look like the away team. Less posession, counter-attacking, stout defending. Other managers consistently said last season (quite rightly at times: Cov, Forest, Sund etc.) that they didn''t deserve to lose the game... but invariably left with no points and scratching their heads. But I think you may be right about a 5 man midfield, at least away from home. Its kind of 4-5-1 when we are defending, 4-3-3 when we have the ball. But maybe the plain old reliable 4-4-2 when we''re at home.

I know, I''ve barely found a single review yet that really understood the nature (or even the players) of our team. We might not stay up, but at least I''d like to read meaningful analysis of why that might be, rather than ill-founded generalisms. With the Archant group being (understandably) so pro-Norwich and supporters all round obviously biased, its hard to find a balanced review. Mind you, it was always like this. Last year was just as bad, there''s just more of it now. Expect lots of crappy Delia puns, lots of misinformed tripe and factual errors (apparently, according to the BBC, Curtis Fleming has a good game for us against Mallorca!). Don''t we just enjoy feeding on this patronising rubbish though!

I also liked: "Of the team that won us the league, five or six of them might hardly get a game. From their point of view it''s probably not that great but that''s football, and you''ve just got to deal with it." Them. So he thinks he''s going to feature then. Which he is, of course! But most players go on and on about not taking their place for granted, even if they are clearly the best choice in that position...!

Surely that''s Jonson.

Obviously Worthy has done a great job, and the team have played very effective football under him in the past few years. The consistency of style suggests the team know what they''re supposed to be doing and they tend to do it. Which is great. Now I''m no football manager but there is one thing that puzzles me, and one thing that I''d like to change. Maybe its not that simple, I dunno. We defend pretty deep - which is good because we don''t concede too many, and rarely get caught out by a player picking the ball up on the half way line and running to goal. But it does mean we have our midfielders quite close to the defence, in order to collect the ball, and consequently a long way from the front two. Or so it seems to me. So I wish the midfield would play further up the field, and they''d then be able to get the ball to the front two more easily and we''d keep posession a bit better. There you go, move over Worthy. Or don''t. Ama

The thing is, having been to the San Siro, I know he''s just flattering us to ingraciate himself. You could almost write the script for a new signing couldn''t you! (Great club, great fans, deserves to be in the Prem, bla bla bla.) Hopefully his performances on the pitch will demonstrate that he''s happy, settled, determined to do well. Just like they did with Hucks. You watch him play and think ''this is a man who''s enjoying his football''.