Hump

Chris Martin had a record behind him of scoring and playing in Reserve games for over three years.Renton is light years away from a Chris Martin 

Rick Waghorn mentions that Smart and Bexfield are in the Squad at the moment,seems a good time to blood them to.

I think rather than put him in the 1st team Squad he needs to play and score goals at Youth and Reserve Level which as yet he has failed to do.I believe that Grant has used him as a Publicity stunt to promote what he is doing for the Youth and it may backfire when the boy actually plays. I have watched all Reserve games this year at Home and cannot remember him even playing let alone standing out. On Saturday Cave -Brown should have come on not Renton,it sends out the wrong message in my opinion. As for how good he is when i see him play i will comment. I think him being Scottish helps but so is Cave Brown so there goes that theory

Is he Scottish

Any stick I can find will do until he shuts up and gets on with the job. Fed up listening to his views on everything and nothing

Great PR opportunity and allows the local clubs to play at Carrow Road and it supplements the Reserve games. Far to sensible idea for Grant to consider and it gives him no publicity?

Seems an option in case of injury,or if we wish to protect a lead.I think Grant is publicity crazy and wants a headline every day.I am becoming bored with the man and his constant desire to make a story. Some of the best managers shut up and get on with the job?

It seems strange that Renton is on the bench as he has done very little to deserve his inclusion apart fron Scottish roots.There are at least a dozen players who deserve ther chance so why is there all this publicity about him. Been away for a couple of weeks have I missed something?  The Manager seems to have an obsession with forwards on the bench when defending is the main problem

Very informative, wonder which of these lads we will see next. I agree with your comments thought I goal was a class finish Keep this up on a regular basis-Excellent 

Welcome to the world of professional sport. If he wants the big money he will have to deal with the grief that comes with it. Had he signed I would be surprised if he had got so much stick, but people percieve he is holding out for more.He has been poorly advised over the whole thing and as I have said before he needs to beware of his own publicity-I wish him all the best but he is entering a very unpleasant business which will spit him out in a second if he does the wrong thing

Does any one know if we are signing any other yougsters from the academy as Pros or will it just be Martin, if we are what will they get offered

Should Martin play if he refuses excellent offer?

If the boy was really Norwich he would have signed. Problem is that he has shown his true colours and they are not yellow as soon as decent club comes in he will go. Money rules and the opportinity to be a pro seems secondary, sad but true.Bad advice from money grabbing agents and the lure of untold wealth,its sad there is more to life you know. HE will sign eventually but he will be seduced by riches and disapper in the coming months   Having watched the boy I reckon the deal exceeds his ability and he is believing his own hype, a path trodden by many in the past which will only end in tears-his!

Seems strange that Peter Grant did not go? 

 City battled out a scrappy draw at a very cold and windy Brisbane Road against a fairly experienced Orient side that included Phil Mulryne and Joel Drogba.City had the majority of the game with Patrick Bexfield and Luke Chadwick very influential in midfield. The main problem was a lack of bite in front of goal where several chances were squandered . On another day City would have won easily but both Smart And Seb Muddell were guilty of missing some easy chances.  Defensively we were ok but Orient had little to offer and against a better side we would have been tested but the majority of the play was in the middle of the park .Luke Chadwick completed the full 90 minutes and looked very good at times although had a tendency to give the ball away too easily. Robert Eagle looked a million miles away from the player who was in Peter Grants thoughts a few weeks ago  and was anonymous for most of the match.Spillane in midfield was very good at times  going forward but played second fiddle to Bexfield for much of the game whose range of passing was one of the highlights of a dour game.Steve Arnold in goal continues to impress and on a difficult day for keepers handled immaculately( is he better than Lewis)?.Bally Smart up front still has searing pace and a couple of the youngsters particularly Miller did not look out of place-Norwich unlucky not to win but could have done with a Chris Martin up front. PeterGrant did not seem to be present which seemed strange as it was an ideal opportunity to look at the fringe players,but the reserve team under Martin rolls on undefeated which is some credit to him after what went before. But one question where was McVeigh,Thorne ,Colin? . Did not see Ryan Jarvis either    PS will any of these boys get a chance when we are safe  

I think we all agree with Peter Thorne we would have liked him to have stayed at Cardiff. The man has been a complete parasite and done nothing for his money.

At last some humour.The reason the service was so poor was Peter Thorne is working there with Nigel Worthington and they did not have any idea how to do there job-nothing changes then. Thought I saw MLJ -any one had any other sightings

I have been to this academy and they have recently given a chance to Bale and sold Walcott. Our Academy plays them regularly and competes very well. We were unfortunate to lose to them in the FA youth cup a couple of years ago. They employed Clive Woodward for a short time before they got rid of him and have quite a few foreign players in their side-Great for our english lads! The difference is they gave Youth a chance and we apart from Martin do not. There are more hidden gems in our Academy just wait and see and hope Grunt gives them a chance too. In my opinion there are three or four players who have the potential to exceed Martins progress but are not as physically ready YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.    

I still think it is worth you having a look at the profiles of the Present Academy Scholars on th FONCY web site as it does show that most of the 1st and 2nd years come from outside the area. It would be interesting to see how long next years New pros have been at the club. 

Dear Jimmy I am pleased that I have put some humour into your life as I believe it is not difficult to entertain simple people. Pleased to see that you accept at last there are loopholes but upset that you called me a berk when I thought we were attempting an adult debate and getting on so well.  I am pleased that you are interested in who I am and would be delighted to answer any questions you may have about Academy football..I accept your apology in advance for calling me names and look forward to keeping you well informed. PS I did the trip from Norwich to Cambridge last night in 1 hour and 5 mins so you were right, although I did stop for a Mc Donalds at Thetford   yours faithfully Bond James Bond

Check out the Academy scholars  on Foncy website and see where they come from. Spillane lives in Cambridge.

Dear Jimmy Thank you for your kind words-from today I am the Oracle. For me to divulge my identity and justify my statements would reveal who I am ,so just trust me on this one.Any club can bend any rule to get around any loophole.     2.3. Clubs must adhere to a one hour travelling time to the Centre for ages Under 9 years to Under 13. For age ranges Under 13 to Under 16, this is increased to 1.5 hours.

Jimmy You are wrong in many of your assumptions about the rule.I don''t know where you got the information from but trust me I know 100%   what is involved and unless you have the same experience I beg to disagree.

Jimmy ,the time is based on actual travelling time within reason and waiting and traffic jams are irrelevant. If you find a player outside the scope of travelling just give the FA a plausible alternative address.Man United was based on travelling time that is how long in the air. PS. It was a sensible reply baased on fact  

I don''t know what car you drive but 90 minutes gets you alittle further than Cambridge which with the new road improvemnets is under the hour, another 30 mins gives you a very large area