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Pabs

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Posts posted by Pabs

  1. Posted

    Seriously? This is a joke! I have bought the Sun religiously the last few days to make sure I get my four tokens, and now the club have 20 TICKETS at this price for away fans?

    In the paper, it gives the home club number, I wonder if we can phone barnsley direct and get a pair of tickets from them instead in the away end.

    If not, this really is a scam! I have spent £1.20 on the sun the last 4 days and gone inot my shop specially for it!

  4. Posted

    Lambert hinted at the end of his interview that he had "one or two targets and would be trying" but "wouldn''t worry too much" if nothing came of it, mentioning the fact Surman would be back soon.

    Maybe he has given up on it for now. I would love to see Bennett arrive, only if we manage to get someone who can stick the ball in the net! Maybe he could play up front...?

  5. Posted

    You deserved it.

    So glad Leyton Orient and Crawley got the two biggest away draws possible, couldn''t have worked out better for you.

    You never know, you have already beaten two decent passing teams away from home. If Arsenal play like they did today, you have a chance.

    Good luck Orient.

  6. Posted

    QPR - 4 points gained

    Sheffield Utd - 6 points gained

    Middlesbrough - 4 points gained

    Let''s look at the positives here. For Christ''s sake, we are 2ND in the Championship, only 5 points off the top.

    If we had been 5 points off the PlayOffs at this stage of the season, I would have been pretty happy I think.

    Yes, there are one or two things we could improve on but look at our position/team/squad compared to 1 year ago, or 18 months ago, or 2 years ago. Considering we haven''t spent vast amounts of money we are doing brilliantly.

    Keep it up Lambert & the boys.

  8. Posted

    I would go 4-4-2 (diamond

    Ruddy

    R Martin, Nelson, Barnett, Drury

                   Crofts

    K Smith               Lappin

                Hoolahan

     

    Holt            C  Martin

    Subs - Rudd, Whitbread, Jackson, Wilbraham, Gill, Johnson, McNamee.

     

     

  9. Posted

    Right...RANT starting.

    The O.P is clearly either blind or deluded!  People don''t actually realise Chris Martin''s workrate - yesterday I saw him tackle back on at least 5 or 6 occasions and help out defensively as well as producing an excpetional 1st half performance!

    As it was, he was superb in the first half, he linked up really well with Hoolahan and Holt and got on the end of many of Wilbraham''s flicks.  He basically made the goal by ghosting through the QPR defence too.  Okay, so in the second half his finishing let him down, but usually his finishing is extremely sharp!

    Can everyone get of Chris'' back?  He is an academy product through OUR youth system who has played over 100 games for us now and scored almost 40 goals - an excellent record for someone of his age.  For me, he is our best youth poduct (outfield) since Bellamy.

    For the original poster - why don''t you go to a game and actually watch how much input he has - at the end of the game yesterday he could barely walk as he had put so much in!

    RANT OVER.

  11. Posted

    So - at the halfway stage (roughly) the Championship is beginning to take a little more shape, but there are always one or two teams who sink and one or two who rise from the ashes to mount a challenge...

    Automatic Promotion contenders:

    QPR - Obvious contenders; 7 points ahead with the ability to spend in January.  Also have one of the league''s most talented players in Taarabt and whatever you say about him,  a great manager in Warnock. 

    Cardiff - Probably have the best first XI on paper in the league, but have found a few cracks lately.  Bellamy doesn''t seem to have had the influence he could have done, but if they keep Bothroyd and get the early season form back they will be sniffing around the top 2.

    Leeds - Shame, but think they have the resources to keep contending up there - they have the ''name'' to attract new players in January and score loads of goals.  They also have a poor defence which needs to be addressed, but playoffs/automatic contenders

    Nottingham Forest - They will rise from where they have been and for me might just sneak 2nd place.  I would prefer to have the points, but they are so good at home.  They have a brilliant set of strikers and Billy Davies knows how to get a team up.

    Play Off contenders

    Norwich - Well, we are only a point off automatic promotion - and it is probably because I don''t like getting carried away - but I still think PlayOffs are our best hope!  We will have to see how January sales go, but we certainly have the basis of a play-of squad.  Certainly, if we can keep our away form up then I am sure our home form will improve and see us through.

    Swansea - For me, don''t score enough goals for automatic promo but a good passing team and also do very well at home.  Think they could sneak play-offs but no better.  They desperately need a good striker!

    Reading - Outsiders for the play-offs.  They have been fairly consistent but they are not much to fear.  They have a good basis of a side with Harte, Hunt, Long etc but seem to draw too many.

    Burnley - I can see them getting a good new manager in who will turn them around and make them Play-Off contenders.  Have a decent squad still.

    Hull - Another team I see signs of improvement in.  They are unbeaten in 8 under Pearson, and are signing Fryatt and Aaron McLean who I think will get goals.  They will have to go on a fabulous run but I can see them pushing up.

    Leicester - Could be the big surprise team in the second half of the season. Apparantly, Sven has some money to spend and if he does so wisely by getting good Champ players, not mega-stars, they could see themselves nearer the top.

    Who will fall away?

    Coventry - They are crap.

    Derby - Ditto

    Watford - Great season so far but not a good enough squad and may have to sell

    Millwall - Having a good season but inconsistent

     

  13. Posted

    I know he has had his critics in the past, but I think Chris Lakey is an excellent sports writer on this website and for the EDP.  He has an interesting style of journalism, and I also enjoyed the Q&A webchat that he did last week.

    Does anyone know whether he actually supports NCFC?  Obviously he leans towards them in his articles, but I get the sense he may not be because he isn''t overly bias and almost reports ''from a distance'' at times - I think this also makes his writing stronger.

    Keep up the good work Lakey and the Pinkun website - my first port of call every day on the web!

  15. Posted

    I agree and concur with many of the comments here.  I have a few personal favourites to share with people from 2010:

    The comeback at Walsall back in January to win 2-1 after their ''striker'' had said we feared them because apparantly we wanted the original fixture postponed.

    The comeback against Southend where Oli scored twice in the last minutes.

    Funnily enough, the last minute free-kick by Chris Martin to get the equaliser at home to MK Dons, which pretty much secured our promotion.

    For me, though the best have to be:

    Going mental and hugging some lady with a tash when Chris Martin stuck in the diving header at home to Leeds

    Going mental and falling on the pitch in 90+2 minutes away at Scunthorpe after Holt''s winner

    The pure elation at beating the Scum 4-1

    Also - I don''t know why but the 3-3 draw away at Reading sticks in my mind too.  What a superb performance, despite everything contriving against us.  We scored 3 goals away in one half; previous Norwich teams would have lost the game but we stuck at it and got a point. I was also very drunk watching that one.

    Out of interest, does anyone know our exact win/draw/loss plus for/against record is in the calendar year?  Must be pretty stunning

    Cheers OTBC.

     

  16. Posted

    I know I will get shouted down from all angles, but I am not Barnett''s biggest fan.  I am glad we have signed him as he has looked good in some games, but he can appear quite clumsy and leaves big gaps between him and Ward OR they both get drawn towards the first ball.

    It is a developing partnership, but they need to work on some aspects.  I would like to see Nelson maybe keep his place if Barnett gets a longer suspension just for that extra experience.

  17. Posted

    I am sure this could have been mentioned on here before but there is a real similarity in signings made by Lambert - namely that they are almost all in the same age bracket (23 - 26).  I know this seems a strange thing to mention as if you''re good enough, it doesn''t matter how old you are.

    For me though, signing the players at this age is an advantage.  They are young enough to still be hungry to succeed, but also experienced enough to deal with defeats and problems. 

    Crofts, Fox, Ward, Barnett, Jackson, Johnson, R Martin, Ruddy, McNamee, Surman.

    They are all in this age bracket (I think) and also have something to prove at this level.  Either it is the highest level they have played, or they have been in the PL but need to prove themselves again at this level to make the step back up.  What this results in is good spirits, and probably a togetherness.  There doesn''t appear to be any egos in the team.  Fox, I think, despite a slow start is proving a real bargain now.

    Just one more point too - Holt has been getting a lot of praise lately, and rightly so, but I would just like to praise up Chris Martin again.  If you look over the last season or so, he has had many challenges to his place in the first XI (Maric (haha), McDonald, Johnson, Elliott, Jackson, Daley) but has pretty much seen all of them off and retained his place.  It can''t be easy having that pressure, but I think he is a really important player.  People say his attitude isn''t great - I am sure it must be for him to have the spirit to see off all these challenges for his place in the team.  Technically, one of our best players and a good finisher.  If we manage to sign another forward in January, I have no doubts Martin will still do his best to keep his place.

    All round, things are ticking along nicely.  In fact, this is the best we have had it since 2003/04.  I don''t want to get carried away, but this season seems fairly similar to that one in many ways.

  18. Posted

    When I saw that Crofts had scored 7 goals in 50 appearances for a strugging League One team, from defensive midfield, as well as the fact he was captain, I didn''t expect him to struggle...

    However, I take your point. Russell was a very important player for us last year (in Lg 1 he is a class act). But he has gone to a struggling team and hasn''t really made the step back up. If we had kept him, I imagine he would be in contention to start games still.

  19. Posted

    Now, this is not an over-reaction because we have been playing brilliantly lately and I am absolutely delighted with our club''s progress...and I think Lambert is the best thing since, well, ever...

    But I am a bit surprised that he doesn''t make substitutions earlier at times. The game on Saturday was crying out for some width (from McNamee) after about 55/60 minutes and he didnt come on until almost injury time.

    I know you could have the argument that at 0-0 in a tight game you shouldn''t change things too much but a weapon like McNamee on the bench could have really opened things up.

    Never mind - as I say I am hugely delighted at our progress this season. Think the defeat is just a blip and we will still go to Coventry (with Holt) in good spirits. OTBC

  20. Posted

    Some may see this as a kick in the teeth for Jackson, but I really think we should play a 4-5-1 on Saturday, with Hoolahan and Lansbury just in behind C Martin (both central but driting wide) something like this:

    Ruddy

    R Martin Ward Barnett Lappin

    K Smith Crofts Fox

    Lansbury Hoolahan

    C Martin

    I know we are at home and playing 1 up front isn''t ideal - but look how solid, yet attacking that team actually is. Lansbury and Hoolahan would be so free, knowing they have 3 more defensive looking midfielders behind them (Crofts could still bomb up and down)

    I would start with this, and bring on Jackson/McNamee if it doesn''t go to plan.

    Thoughts?
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