yellow hammer

We will not be outclassed in the Premiership. Top-half PL finish next year

I think you''re spot on, there

I''m so looking forward to seeing Grant in the PL and causing havoc among some of the prima donnas. He will be up and at them with no fear of the big names, leading from the front and a great example to the younger lads around him.

You have to remember that the ball being in the back of the net six times counts as an awful lot of possession for Scunny.

I remember when he played in the ''boring'' Arsenal team of the seventies.

My tickets arrived this morning, Nutty! I got a block of 25 because mine is a 7,000 mile round trip

[quote user="City1st"]Its former Bury manager Alan Knill Wonder what effect that will have on Saturdays game ?[/quote] I expect the effect will be knill

It is interesting to note, as Purple has done, how clubs have been affected by industrial decline. It prompted another question in my mind and that is, is industrial decline affecting the ability of the fan to afford to go to games, or is it the effect on the owners of clubs? I suppose the answer to this could be found out if you were to examine the proportion of a club''s income derived from the fans, against that input by the owners, then correlate this with attendances. Does anyone know of any studies in this area? It would be useful up until the arrival of TV money, which as PC says, changes the paradigm once again. Living in the Far East, I am totally amazed by just how big is English football outside of the UK. It commands massive support and I think that the future will see an increasing focus by clubs on the non-local fans. It will upset the traditional supporter, I know, because football at it''s roots is a tribal game and we support Norwich because we are Norwich and Norfolk people and the club is a part of us. But I think the potential to make huge amounts of money from overseas fans will provide too much of a temptation for most clubs and the future will see a growing debate on whether football belongs to the traditional fan or the global fan. Successful teams in the future will tap into the global market but it will upset the local fan in the process.

I wouldn''t underestimate the effect on Lansbury of playing and training alongside Grant Holt every day. Holty is an old skool centre forward, come up through the hard way and is totally respected as captain by his team mates. The kind of player that young footballers can look up to. When Bentley was here I don''t think we had a player as inspirational as Grant Holt is today. Wasn''t Adam Drury our captain at the time? As a model professional Adam is a great role model but I don''t think he had the leadership qualities that Holt has. If you follow the twitter chat between Henri Lansbury and Grant Holt, you can see the big man has got the young Arsenal lad firmly under his Canary wing.

To the tune of Agadoo Pach-e-coo-roo-roo, he wears Canary on his chest Pach-e-coo-roo-roo, he knows Norwich are the best To the left, to the right, jump up and down and to City Come and cross it to the centre, sing with a Lambert melody Pach-e-coo-roo-roo, he''s a Spanish armada Pach-e-coo-roo-roo, he knows Norwich are much ''arder To the left, to the right, jump up and down and knock it in Paul Lambert is a legend and we always gonna win

Thank you Rudolph, always a good read from you. This week''s results seem to indicate that that the pressure is beginning to be felt on the top teams. It''s not just us having a few slip ups, but at least we are getting points from draws and not actually losing. Two automatic promotion places are still up for grabs and as we enter the final straight of the season any two of seven teams are still within a realistic shot at the top. We''ve been on the shoulder of the leaders for most of the season, breathing down their necks all along the way. One last effort could see us in the top two as the finishing post looms ahead.

... and other thing. I''m really envious that you guys can get together for a beer... but one day I will, first round on me...

Beau asked for some feedback on what we thought of the role of NCISA, which is a subject that I commented on a while back shortly after the changeover of the chairman. I said then that I thought NCISA would always be judged in the light of what it did in the past, to which Beau added a similar phrase of NCISA being "shackled to the past". If my earlier comments led anyone to thinking that NCISA''s previous conduct was a "shackle" then I would apologise here if I created this impression. My post said that NCISA was set up as a pressure group with a specific objective of getting Chase out of office, and the momentum from that kept it going for several years after. As a pressure group, I think it has been very effective and served a useful purpose. But as I said to Beau, I think that there is no longer any need for a pressure group (some of you may say there never was, but it''s like talking about the water that flowed under the bridge a long time ago). Maybe it''s time to wind up NCISA, say thank you guys for your time and effort and a job well done. If people think there should a supporters social group or travel club, then drop the NCISA and start some anew. Yes, it will most likely be the same people getting involved but it wouldn''t be held to account for history. On another note, I was quite taken aback by some of the heat generated on this thread, and yes there is an NCISA current involved in it, partly. I ducked out of the thread very early on as name-calling is not where I personally want to go. Nutty Nigel, to illustrate a point, is one of my favourite posters and I find that on many occasions I''m agreeing with the facts that Nutty presents (in truth, if something is a fact by definition is is unarguable) and am in agreement with his analysis up to around 95% of his argument. Then often on that last five per cent I find my opinion goes off in completely the opposite direction to that of Nutty''s. I end up with a completely different conclusion. (Not always!) It''s a bit weird when I can agree with so much but end up at the opposite end of the spectrum. So I think the last 5% is down to me have different life experiences to Nutty and so seeing things in a different perspective. And that leads me to the conclusion that the difference in so many arguements that we have on this message board can be down to us having only a limited amount of facts at our disposal and an awful lot of seeing things through our own perspective. Another poster I respect, amongst many of you guys, is Mr. Carrow, who''s posts are often at the other end of the opinion pole from Nutty. Well I enjoy both of these posters because they both present a lot of facts to support their arguments and both come with an honesty in their opinions. As a result I can respect both of them even when they are holding different points of view, and not necessarily mine. So stay cool, guys! And while I''m rambling on, just to say I also enjoy the wit and banter. There''s a place for humour too, some of it is first-rate. That''s all I want to say, now I''ve got to go and walk the dogs. YH

Agree with every word you write, Shack. Liverpool smacks of desperation, as though this is the last throw of the dice for them. I posted a couple of years back that I though Liverpool would implode and end up doing a Leed''s. Then then went out and signed Torres and blew my prediction out of the water, lol. However, Torres kept them out of a hole and I doubt lightning won''t strike twice in the same place. So I put my prediction back onto the front burner and say that Liverpool will be in mighty big trouble, sooner rather than later, especially once the Daglish honeymoon is over. As for Norwich, their actions seem totally cool, calm and collected. The management has a vision and a plan and they''re working towards it. Over the past eighteen months the players we''ve signed have met with a lukewarm reception on this message board. But I notice that a few weeks in, the players are getting much more praise and even comments such as ''immense'', ''towering performance'' and ''MoM today''. It can only mean that the Lambert magic is working and the coaching team that we have are really doing their stuff. No need for hysteria on the Pinkun, just calm determination will see us through. YH

Chase was mentioned in the House of Lords. There is an entry in Hansard (3rd Jul 2002) from Lord Addington, quote: ''The amount of hurt that seems to come out when people do not feel that those in charge of their sporting club are putting enough into it is a flip side to the actual misbehaviour of those at the top. I come from Norwich. We had a man called Robert Chase in charge of our football team who was hounded out of that position. "Chase out" became a chant that rang throughout the city. He was running it as a professional organisation to make money and it was seen as not the thing to do. He was expected to pump money in to ensure that the team remained at the top, but he did not.''

Nutty Nigel wrote: "Now one of the things from last years AGM was that McNally went out of the way to say how high our catering income was compared to other clubs. He said our catering income had been 20m while comparable Premier League clubs were only 6m. Ricardo reported it on here so I must have heard it and understood it right. But some on here indirectly accused McNally of spinning the figures and including ticket money in the catering figures. Others claimed that income didn''t mean profit. In fact many of the usual suspects were trying any argument to discredit what McNally had said. I believe Tangie also had quite strong views on this." A slip of the keyboard, Nutty, old chum? Surely income doesn''t mean profit? Income less expenses=profit? I think opening up two, new academy centres will have a major long-term positive impact on the club. And the PUPs have really got their work cut out now... Fantastic news all round, long may it continue. YH

Give a Champion''s League berth to the FA Cup winners instead of the Premiership 4th place, and every team will try to win the FA Cup. It would re-ignite the competition and once a decade throw up a surprise winner.

C''mon folks, if PL had gone to McNally and said he''s leaving us for Burnley, I think McN would have burst out laughing. And Paul would have joined in, too. The whole idea of Burnley, Burnely for G''s sake, is beyond ridiculousness! Now, Villa, on the other hand......

[quote user="Webbo118"][quote user="Depraved"]yes but he''s admitting it [/quote] I have it form a very reliable source that the second of our three targets is none other than Chris Eagles. I am sworn to secrecy and not able to give any details of the source, other than to say it has been the source of a lot of accurate information in the past. [/quote] sworn to secrecy - long, cold day in East Runton is it!

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]Sorry, but this whole mess was conjoured by Burnley, gullible, trigger-happy media, and the relentless internet rumour-mill. Burnley announced last night that they''d made an approach for Lambert, presumably in a bid to unsettle him or to put a rocket up the arse of other candidates. NCFC responded immediately by stating that the approach had been rejected. We all know Lambert and McNally are not ones to prat about - that, as far as they were concerned, was that. There was no need for endless speculation to the contrary - they had made their statement, loud and clear, and that was all they needed to say on the matter. In the meantime, with a game fast approaching Lambert, as always, preferred to concentrate on that (see his recent comments about Sky''s disruptive media intrusion in the build-up to the Watford game for his thoughts on such things). That should have been the end of it, but instead we had endless tweets and forum messages and other social media claiming they had the inside scoop. We had Radio Norfolk claiming that a story was brewing, when clearly they knew nothing. All that was missing was a post from Pete informing us that there would be a special edition of the EDP released tomorrow morning... All the while, Lambert''s probably sat there wondering what the hell all the fuss was about and finally, after some consultation with NCFC''s media department, decided enough was enough, and to take time out from his vital pre-match preparations to nip this thing in the bud once and for all. You lot come up with all the stories and conspiracy theories you like, but most of you probably know, deep-down, that this is the most likely and most rational and logical explanation for today''s events. So should we go 4-4-2 tomorrow and give McNamee a good run-out, or stick with the trusty diamond and help get Wes back to full-fitness, alongside some youth and reserve talent? [/quote] --- --- --- The trouble, for starters, is that the club''s statement, though loud, was anything but clear. Indeed the way this was handled was an object lesson in how NOT to do things. Far from putting the issue to bed, by talking about fighting "tooth and nail" it made it look as if the club still had a real battle on its hands to keep Lambert. Indeed the wording suggested it knew it was going to end up losing. It was actually the kind of rather desperate statement a lower league club might make when it knew deep down it was bound to have its manager tempted away to a higher-division club. It also said the club was committed to Lambert. Nothing about Lambert being committed to the club. Then Lambert''s press conference statement was ambiguous in the extreme. He said the club had made a statement and that he was "happy with that". Happy just that the club had made a statement or happy in the sense he agreed with it? Not at all clear. And he said nothing about committing himself to Norwich. He could have ended the speculation there and then, by saying that, but didn''t. Whether he THOUGHT that was what he was doing is possible. He is a football manager, not a professor of semantics. But he is also a football manager who has been around the block, and a football manager with PR experts at the club (who may or may not have been consulted here) to advise him on what to say. In these circumstances there is a very simple and time-honoured way of killing such a story, by committing yourself to a club. That he didn''t do. Indeed it seemed to be the last thing he wanted to talk about. The net result, putting those two statements together, was that it looked as if the issue was at the very least far from settled. Now I have no time for posters who make up "facts" and "sources", which plainly happened here. What they were doing was filling the vacuum created by the club. So even sensible posters on this site were baffled and worried. Worries that were only assuaged by the second Lambert statement, which DID commit himself to Norwich. Which should not have been necessary, but had been made so by the lousy PR earlier in the day. PR so lousy that I find it hard to believe it was being directed by the press office. Of course, there is, as some posters have suggested, a possible explanation. That the issue WAS far from settled. That there was a serious chance of Lambert going, and he used that he negotiate a better contract or more transfer money, or a jacuzzi in the manager''s bathroom. In that case much of the above doesn''t apply. But if not, if this was a non-story, then it really was not well-handled by whoever at the club handled it. [/quote] To my mind that "we will fight tooth and nail" was not directed at just Burnley, but at all the other clubs who must be looking at what PL is achieving here. There''s going to be a lot of comings and goings in the managerial merry-go-round in the next few weeks, and I think the aim is to kill off all approaches for PL, not just this one. Continued speculation won''t be a good thing for the club.

A reminder of the days when pinkun could get 35 pages on a topic. Where has everyone gone?

I have 100%, complete and total faith in Paul Lambert.

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]What a difference a year and a half plus a new board make.... Fantastic signing and another young player with resale value if he carries on as he has been so far. Still, let`s not get carried away- we mustn`t do a Gretna.....[/quote] LOL!

My order is in!

"Hucks Meets Nigel Worthington" is one of the most candid football interviews I''ve ever read and I would like to commend Darren for the great piece. I submitted eight great questions to Hucks and he didn''t use any of them, so he''s a better footballer than journalist. *wink*. To be perfectly fair, the main points of interest for me were covered in other questions, and much light has be cast on the controversial events of recent years. I always had a bee in my bonnet about Iwan and Malky being shown the door, and it''s been good to read Nigel''s reasoning behind these two decisions. For those that follow Iwan on Twitter, you''ll know he''s been griping at that decision, making the point that Worthington brought in players older than himself. The big fellah obviously felt he had a part to play in the Premiership, but considering, with hindsight, how it didn''t work out for Iwan after Norwich, Worthy probably called it right. With Malky, I felt he had a stronger case to stay, I did a little googling and as Nutty Nigel posted on another thread, Malky was with us at the beginning of the season. In fact, I found an article in the Guardian three days before the first game against Crystal Palace where the interviewer was describing Mackay as our captain and they were discussing the season ahead. Eventually Malky was transferred one month after the beginning of the Premiership season, and reading Worthington''s comments in Huck''s interview, to me it comes over as Worthy releasing Mackay, rather than Malky engineering a move. If this was the case, I think it was a mistake by Nigel because with Iwan going as well, the soul of our promotion-winning team was lost. Perhaps on pure footballing technical performance Worthy feels justified for the decision, but a football team is also bonded by a team spirit and I think we were lacking that throughout our Premiership season. Anyway, it''s now a footnote in our history and the club, the players, the fans should all move on. Big thanks to Hucks for giving us an insight we would otherwise not have. Now to really stir it up on the pinkun, Mr. Huckerby, why not interview Andrew and Sharon what''s-their-names, or even that nice Mr. Cullum.