The Voice of the Thorpe Area

As requested Huddy, I have bumped this post.

Okay, it''s hard to pinpoint in our ridiculously rubbish squad who are the worst players- but I think these two win. Cureton''s miss today is the catalyst for his major short-comings as a striker, as I think I put it so elequently on Canary Call today- my nan really could have scored that, and she really does have arthiritis in her legs. The guys a complete donkey. Forget the rubbish that he ''has norwich in his bloody'' ''gives 100%''- he is useless. Oh for an Adrian Coote. As for Fotheringham, to be fair of late he hasn''t been as bad as he can be. But that''s just it- his best is still awful. And he''s the skipper. As I said last week, we''re down and out. Even when we were bottom by 5 points last year, I thought we''d stay up. Not now though. Defensively we look weak, vulnarable and suspect to conceding a goal. In midfield, well, apart from Hoolahan we look completely void of ideas. Up front? There might as well not be an up front. And the really worrying thing is that we''ll probably be watching the same rubbish for many more years- just in a lower league. God help us.

[quote user="First Wizard"]Did City NOT stipulate that Bell can''t play against us so soon after his transfer to them, and if not, why not?[/quote] Because that would be illegal. You can only do that in loan cases.

None of this adds up. Back in 2004, the club took a punt- Huckeby, Crouch, McKenzie and Svensson. Wonderful ambition by a club with no sugar daddy, no major streams of income. The result- promotion. But somehow, after the riches of the premiership, the parachute payments, the big money transfers OUT of the club- we are less well-off than where we were to start with. The board have forgotten how our success was built- by taking a ''calculated gamble'' as it was put at the time. Heads must roll

Oh yes it is

...it''s now a case of when. Yep, the sad plight of NCFC is almost complete- relegation to the third tier. Unlike the past few years, I can''t see an escape route. In the Premiership we had Ashton and Huckerby, then Dion, Huckerby and Evans, now we have, well no-one really. Strange thing is, we easily deserved 3 points today against a suprisingly poor Burnley. But we need results, not performances, and for me, the boos and anguish that met Marshall and Fotheringham was totally deserved: We''ve all had enough. Fotheringham embodies everything about NCFC at the moment- his hearts in the right place (aka Delia, Gunn), but he''s just not competant enough to save us (aka Delia, Gunn). Marshall on the other hand, is costing us vital points at the moment with mistake after mistake. That dispicable ex-manager (you know, the one with the same likability factor that Stalin had), said it was a time for new heroes a few months ago. This is what will effectively send us down-we don''t have any. Croft has the odd game but rarely produces the final product, and Hoolahan is always stripped of the chance to be a hero in the last 10 minutes of every single bloody game (why I don''t know). Cureton (yes, good finish today), generally speaking has the same impact on a game as an umprella in an atomic blast. Clingan''s a decent player on his day, as is Doherty. And that''s it. And for those who listened to Canary Call today. That man who claimed he hoped for administration- to start over, for a clean-sweep from the top down (albeit from a far lower base). As little as a year ago, we''d have laughed at this madman''s insanity. Today, I don''t think I was the only person who thought he was speaking sense.

I''ve got it on video!

[quote user="CT the Jarrold king"]21. Grt rid of Darren Huckerby [/quote] See point 15.!

Don''t invest effectively when you at long last reach the Premiership. Buying a £3m striker in the winter is too late. Spend proper money. Lose very, very heavily on the last day of the season to avoid staying up. Don''t invest effectively after relegation, even with parachute payments. Buy Peter Thorne and Andy Hughes. Allow a manager who has quite clearly last a) the dressing room, and b) the plot, to remain in charge, even when it''s blatantly obvious that things aren''t going well. Don''t invest effectively in season 2 after relegation, with parachute payments. Go down the food chain of strikers: Ashton-Earnshaw-Cureton. Go down the food chain of midfielders: Francis-Etuhu-Russell. Go down the food chain of defenders: Mackay-Doherty-Grounds. Sign loan players, plenty of loan players. At least 10 a day. Use the exuse that you have no money, even though once the wages of these players have been paid, you could have won promotion by investing some of that in transfer fees. Appoint somebody who couldn''t run a cake stall, never mind a football team. This person MUST have a degree in directing planes onto runways, and suffer from cannotsignnonscottishplayersia. Do not re-invest after selling top players for top money. Turn down a decent £20m investment offer from a local man, just after claiming that all the new investment is ''lovely''. Allow Blackpool, Plymouth, Burnley, Swansea, Cardiff...etc to leapfrog you in the league standings, despite them having average attendances of 205, and NCFC of 25,000 for 5 seasons running. Employ an arrogant, useless, unlikeable and inept man to actually have any human contact at all with players or supporters. Release a club legend, who, despite not being as good as he once was, would still walk into the side almost a year later. Don''t invest in any strikers, although you''ve known for god knows how long that you need one. Sell one half of the disaterous defensive partnership for the past 3 years for £1m, but then loan him back to ''tighten up the defence''. Keep playing Jamie Cureton, the guy whose heart is in the right place, but who couldn''t hit Mike Ashley''s backside with an inflatable banjo. Keep playing Mark Fotheringham, Darel Russell, Ryan Bertrand, and all the other useless plebs, after they''ve show the same ability to win matches as the BNP have to win votes. Appoint a trio of much loved club legends to manage the club in it''s hour of need, who have no necessary experience, when several credible alternatives were available.    

[quote user="Lambo"]Funny how we start selling more tickets when the team''s doing well, where were they when we were struggling? (No offense to some fans that can''t make every game for travel/family/financial reasons)[/quote] Agreed very much so, although I do believe that we are still struggling!

Now on ESPN Classic on sky 442 is Tottenham vs Leicester City from 2003/04, the synopsis reads: Spurs defender Gary Doherty guarenteed entertainment. The ''Ginger Pele'' played more like Norma Wisdom that Norman Hunter here.   Very harsh on the Doc!

He is absolutely dreadful. Those who hate the loan system- JC is the reason why we the likes of Killeen, Gow, etc.

We''re going up

Are we happy? No, of course not. We''re relying on loans, we''re in another relegation scrap, and we''re happy that we drew at Doncaster! But realistically, this transfer window was actually the best we could have expected- and at least we''ve kept Crofty!

[quote user="hoodace76"][quote user="The Voice of the Thorpe Area"] Just confirmed on the BBC that Alan Gow has signed on loan until the end of the season. Good business again, shame it''s 6 months late in this case... [/quote] BBC Wolves would not take a risk on Gow after a medical revealed a "bio-mechanical" problem. Doesn''t this worry anyone??? [/quote] I''m not too worried, it didn''t stop him playing for Blackpool

Just confirmed on the BBC that Alan Gow has signed on loan until the end of the season. Good business again, shame it''s 6 months late in this case...

David Bell''s transfer to Coventry will prove to be good business for us, if the money from the sale is fully re-invested in the playing squad, and I''m not talking about loanee''s wages. For starters, I didn''t actually think we was any good. Sure, he put in the odd half-decent cross, but he had no pace, no ability to take on and beat his man, and most importantly, we have better midfield players in the squad than him. If the money raised is used to buy a forward (or a defender) in the last few days of the window, then it could be a decent bit of business for us... OTBC

He can still see the cricket ball, but I''d be very suprised to see him playing professionally again. From what I''ve heard, he''s looking to do his coaching badges soon.

[quote user="TheCanaryFan"] I am praying  like a monk for Sibierski. [A] [/quote] I suggest you change religion!

Green Drury, Mackay, Fleming, Helveg Huckerby, Holt, Clingan, Bentley Crouch, Ashton Alternatively of course... Gallagher Gibbs, Charlton, Colin Stuart, Robinson, Easton, Fotheringham Hartson, Strihavka, Benjamin

Very nearly agreed with your post right up until the Worthington bit. Sorry, but if you think that over his tenure, NW was not a good appointment, then you need a swift visit to Hellesdon Hospital.

On the signing of player X for actual legal tender... ''We''ve decided to splash the cash on X. It''sgoing against our usual policy of swapping players in exchange for a signed Delia cook book, and Carl Moore didn''t ivest any money in this transfer.''

Maybe you are the one with the short memory. Boothroyd, only a few months after taking over at Watford, who were widely expected to struggle that season, did they win in the play-off final and get promoted. After the past 4 years of utter dross, I don''t care if we play total football or hoof-ball, as long as we start winning matches!

Of all the times to suggest a protest...are you insane? Have you been in a coma for the past 2 weeks? We all need to pull together, otherwise we''ll be playing Cheltenham and Hereford next season.

With all the rumours doing the rounds, plus tonights'' suprising news about Worthington, it is time that the board come clean with us all about what''s happening at the club. We need telling: Who paid for Roeder to get sacked (Carl Moore?). Who will take charge on saturday. What was the approach for NW for? Temporary manager? Permenant manager? Or was it just to interview? Should we expect a qucik appointment (hopefully so)? Or will it take weeks, as it did with the appointment of Peter Grant? This club is in a dire situation. We now need proper leadership from the top of the club. Sacking the Roeder was only half the battle in the board''s bid for credibility. If no leadership is found in the coming days, and no decisive (or correct) decisions with regards to management, we will go down.