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Chunky Norwich

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Everything posted by Chunky Norwich

  1. Ha ha! Thanks for taking it with the light-heartedness with which it was meant!
  2. I don''t really post on here that often because of the amount of (what used to be!) immediate attacks so I feel it may be hypocritical to do the same. However I can''t help but notice that whilst First Wiz spends a long rant about how useless Peter Grant is, his ''sign-off'' sentence (is that a ''signature''? I''m so computer illiterate!) is ''Peter Grant and Norwich City - A match made in heaven''. I''m not one to question your logic or say that you''re wrong for thinking one thing or the other, but can you explain why you have two contrasting points of view in one post?
  3. As far as I''m aware (and could be completely wrong) he is on a rolling contract which means it always has 365 days to run. Right now it runs out on the 26th September 2007 but tomorrow morning it will run out on the 27th September and so on. This means that if he is sacked, he is always entitled to a year''s-worth of compensation. This means that while we won''t have to pay him half of a five-year contract (for instance), it can never simply be left to run out. He will always have a year. I''ve no idea what wages he''s on but the oft-quoted amount on message boards is that he''s on about a million a year. If this is the case then when or if the board decided to sack him then he''d be entitled to his full million. Apologies if this is completely untrue.
  4. ...so why not go down to the pub and watch it? You can still ''see'' the game and it would send the board and/or players a clear message of what Carrow Road would look like half-empty. The club itself would NOT be losing money because I assume that most of us are season-ticket holders and the club also gets the money from Sky which is designed to cushion the blow of a small percentage of supporters not bothering to turn up anyway. People want to make a point. The next game is on the telly and easily watched away from the ground (and the club won''t suffer financially). Surely a point worth considering?
  5. ...I''m never ceased to be amazed at how quickly and accurately Wikipedia is updated. Can anyone else name a better website? (Apart from the Pink ''Un obviously)
  6. Hmmm. Well, I suppose I''ll respond to my critics then. Chicken - I have no idea where you got the idea that I expected or even wanted Worthington to prance about at half-time like a mascot to ''entertain'' the fans. I don''t think that''s a managers job either and would be pretty weirded out if it did happen. Just because I don''t like him having pops at the fans, it doesn''t mean I expect him to personally meet and greet every supporter at the ground on a match-day Ralph Wright - I am not a ''gutless hypocrite''. By saying that I wouldn''t be a Worthington supporter for quite a long time (I forget the exact words) I''m actually sticking to my principles. If I suddenly changed my mind now and said I love him after the performance of 2 games (one of which we lost) then that would make me a hypocrite. I''m assuming you looked at the wording I used and thought I was setting some sort of deadline by which to change my mind. What I meant was that I''ve lost my respect for him indefinitely. Like I said, if we suddenly won the Championship, then won the Premiership, League Cup and FA Cup in our first return season, then went on to reclaim all those honours plus the Champions League in 2008/09 then I''d probably have to admit that Worthington isn''t too bad a manager. Frankly though that''s never going to happen! You can never be certain of anything in football though so if Worthington suddenly got his act together on the pitch. with his signings and with his respect to the fans then, after a prolonged and consistent time, I may reconsider. I don''t think this makes me a ''hypocrite'' just because I''d have changed my mind because Worthington addressed the problems that made me dislike him in the first place. But of course it suits your belittling of me. I''m also getting really sick and tired of this whole ''If you don''t stick with Worthington then you''re not a proper supporter and should clear off''. Why? Have you applauded and supported every single player to pull on the yellow and green? If I didn''t appreciate Fernando Derveld, did that make me a bad ''fan'' as well? Or Steve Walsh? Or Bryan Hamilton? And before you say I boo and jeer the players and Worthington, I don''t. I want Worthington gone because I care so much about Norwich City. I can''t understand why most of the KTF (for want of a better phrase) don''t seem to understand that. I was talking to some Ipswich boys the other day who said that they thought our squad looked fairly good but that we had an atrocious manager so we wouldn''t go up. Herb - To my mind ''respect'' can be won but it can also be lost. I would also nearly always use the word respect to mean how I view the person''s character and personality. For example Bellamy is a good footballer but I don''t respect him as a person. I cannot remember every single comment Worthington has made that has riled me but I can remember: There was one game nearly immediately after he was appointed where he criticised the supporters for not making enough noise or something during home games. He then had to apologise after loads of letters and complaints were put to the club When we got promoted I was at the Norwich reserves vs Brentford reserves (just jumping on the bandwagon in time eh Ralph!) and he came out to address the fans. Almost the first thing he said was something along the lines of up yours to all the fans who had wanted a bigger name when he was appointed as manager. (A 3-and-a-half year grudge fulfilled) Obviously the ''true fans'' comment Getting his new contract for the club by publicly flirting with the Sheffield Wednesday job. Where was his respect for the board who took a gamble on him The ''one on the chin'' comments And lots more besides. To be honest I feel like I''ve been typing for ages and can''t really be bothered any more. I still get the impression that Worthington does feel that he is bigger than Norwich City Football Club and has forced out a few players he just did not get on with for personality reasons and not footballing ones. I do not think I suffer from delusions of grandeur but, again, personal attacks belittle my reasoning don''t they. Mate.
  7. I am a Worthy-Outer still and will probably be for a long time but I have always wanted the best for NCFC (I have always said to my friends that I''m not a Worthington supporter but will always be a Norwich supporter). I genuinely would love it if Norwich won the Championship by a country-mile this season even if it meant Worthington sticking two fingers up at everyone during the lap of honour. However. Worthington has blown it with me in terms of ever having any respect for him. I think he always comes across as fairly arrogant and quite cavaliar in his attitude towards the fans from almost his first day in the job and he finally blew it at the end of last season. I won''t go into a massive tirade pointing out his pros and cons because it''s been done a hundred times before and wouldn''t really be a proper answer to your question. In a hypothetical world, suppose Norwich got promoted and then made a decent hash of it next year in the Premiership, I would have to admit Worthington wasn''t as bad a manager as I thought but would still dislike him personally. But it''s all hypothetical anyway.
  8. To be perfectly honest, my main concern with the transfer front at the minute is not that we may not have much money but that Worthington''s top two (and only two by the sounds of things) transfer targets were Rob ''journeyman'' Hulse and Steve ''who?'' Howard! I''m actually quite happy that the seeming financial impositions are there because I don''t really think these players were even needed. Obviously I''d take them on a free in a hypothetical world but we have soooo many other gaps to fill in the team first. Basically everything bar the goalkeeper! I''m sort-of lost for words really.
  9. Apologies if this has already been brought up many times before (or even once!) by why is there this seeming insistence on looking at nothing but strikers to add to the squad? Howard, Hulse, McCleod etc. Surely this is the one area where we DON''T need improving - and I''m speaking in relative terms here. Our current squad, and I will admit I''m omitting lots of the youngsters because I don''t really know where their proper playing position is (i.e. Rossi Jarvis, Michael Spillane etc though they are all untested anyway), consists of: 3 goalkeepers; one injured, one untested 1 left-back 2 right-backs; one always injured 3 centre-backs 1 right-midfielder; IF Hughes counts 1 left-midfielder; IF Huckerby counts 3 central midfielders 6 strikers (Not including Huckerby) If you were playing Championship Manager and looked at that squad, surely the last place you would start desperately adding to would be the strike force. Especially considering that most of the players in the threadbare positions are of questionable quality anyway. What happens if Drury gets injured? Presumably Shackell could act as cover but then we lose all cover for the centre-backs. Without sounding too pessimistic, I dread to think what would happen to our campaign if even one of Safri, Earnshaw or Huckerby were out for a prolonged period. I am sorry if I appear to be casting grumbles and doubts before the season kicks off but......  
  10. Ok ok this isn''t a pro- or anti-Worthington post in terms of him getting the boot so please can no-one bother replying with a Keep The Faith/I''m not a loyal supporter message. Recently I''ve noticed that seemingly all the WOs and KTFs, whichever their stance, have always maintained that Worthington is an honest, decent and nice bloke. However I must say that I don''t agree with this in the slightest. I think from the very start Worthington has been having the occasional pop at the fans from as early as criticising the noise levels way back when he first got the job. I was also at Carrow Rd to see the City Reserves vs Brentford Reserves when Palace beat Sunderland and we won promotion. I think one of the very first things Worthington said when he addressed the crowd was a sort-of "up yours" at anyone who''d ever doubted him. There are many other examples post games and in general as well but none of them spring to mind as this exact time.    He also used the press to get a new contract when the Sheffield Wednesday job came up a couple of years ago so I don''t think he''s particularly loyal to Norwich either. The board seem to love him to bits but if a better club or a better offer came in for him, do you think he''d reject it to stay with us (and I mean BEFORE the Worthy Out protests naturally). Finally he has a habit of completely freezing out players with whom he falls out. Obviously no player player is bigger than the club but then surely the same applies to the manager? The Briggs, Libbras, Rivers, Llwellyens (sp?!) and Jonsons of the world have all come a-cropper. I would assume everyone will say "well they were rubbish" but he did buy most of them in the first place and his handling of McVeigh and Huckerby in the press, and just two recent examples, indicates to me that he really isn''t that nice.    Just to reiterate, this message is NOT a debate about whether we should sack him or not but just an open question about the perception of whether Worthington really is a good bloke deep down. I''m not so sure and never have been. Thoughts?
  11. I can safely say that the Foxtrot report is, without a doubt, the funniest thing I''ve ever read on these boards. Was almost worth getting soundly beaten just to read that!
  12. Oh wow! Can I say a big thanks to all the nice replies - very flattering! Obviously I''m not at all opposed to people disagreeing with one another (in fact that''s part of the joy of football) or me but, like I said, years ago the official site got really bogged down with very personal abuse and people prattling on about minibusses all the bloody time! In response to the guy who was asking about Worthy''s five-year-plan (sorry that I can''t remember your name) I would say a big well done to Worthington up to this year. He ''came in'' - I still must reiterate that he was Assistant Manager to the Blarneymeister - and cleared out a lot of dead wood (er which he sanctioned to sign). He then did a really good job but with the money and good luck on the injury front. It doesn''t take a genius to work out that if you''re winning games with players out of position or negative tactics, then it papers over the cracks nicely. I don''t think this is being fickle, it''s just common sense. I also don''t expect to win games all the time; I was watching games week-in and week-out when we were really awful. If we''ve gone out, put in a lot of effort and simply lost to a better side then that''s absolutely fine but it''s the lack of passion, lack of communication and playing with too many square pegs in round holes. At one game this season HALF our outfield players were loanees (Davenport, Etuhu, Robinson, Wright and Marney) but I forget which one and against Preston we had almost half the squad playing out of position, although aruguable in some cases. Fulham to me was a glorious example of our lack of motivation which was not the case when Worthington ''arrived'' and the players all started playing better (then some rewarded for it by being booted out of the club). In my very humble opinion, Worthington is a good coach and does well on the training field but is a hopeless manager at a tactical and money-spending level (and develops mysterious and long-lasting grudges). Over the Summer we were favourites to go back up and we didn''t really buy anyone decent, just a bunch of cloggers. Dave Jones goes to Cardiff who have no money and are overwhelming favourites to go down and gets in Koumas, Mulryne, Kevin Cooper, Purse and quite a few other decent players. Why couldn''t we? I always remember seeing an interview with Mike Newell quite a while ago and he said that football management was fairly easy; all you do is pass the ball well and attack and you''ll give anyone a game. It hasn''t surprised me in the least that Luton are doing well. There appears to be a very negative and defeatist attitude at this club (Fulham away again). In my ideal situation, Worthington should not be ''fired'' but kept on as a coach, because I think we could still use his coaching skills and it would be a nice thank you, and someone new brought in as manager who will play attacking, passing football and make intelligent and ambitious transfers. Hope this helps and once again thanks for all the nice comments!
  13. Hello there. Long time reader of these message boards (and I mean years!) but I''ve never really felt the inclination to post on them, mainly because I used to post on the Canaries message board a long time ago but it all got bogged down by personal abuse and schoolchildren. However all the talk flying around between the KTFers and the ''Worthless'' brigade has been really interesting and I can no longer resist putting my thoughts in. And my thoughts are that Worthington is not the greatest manager this club has ever had and has never been that great even in his heyday. I''m sure all the KTFers are thinking me mad and rubbing their hands with glee at shooting me down but here are a few points: 1) When Worthington took over he transformed us from relegation battlers to Play-Off finalists. This is true but don''t forget that Worthington took over from Hamilton who is probably the most inept manager in the game and could probably relegate Arsenal if he became manager tomorrow. And what was the name of the Assistant Manager all the way through Hamilton''s relegation battling time? 2) Worthington was very lucky on the injury front. Walker and Rioch''s times were both constantly blighted by all the best players at the club being injured. I remember in Rioch''s second season, Bellamy, Eadie, O'' Neill and Mulryne (who at that time was held in the same regard as Safri is now) were out for basically the entire season. Worthington has never really had any bad injuries to contend with - and I mean very important players out for a very long time. 3) Worthington actually inherited a fairly good team. If you look at the side that got us into the Play-Offs, Roberts, Green, Mackay, Kenton, McVeigh, Mulryne, Holt and Fleming were already at the club to the best of my knowledge. Not sure about Drury. The players Worthington added were mostly bit-parters (with the exception of Neilsen who promptly became awful the second we properly signed him) which leads me to the next point... 4) Worthington in his first proper season had a phenomenal amount of money to spend by Norwich standards thanks to ITV Digital. I''m probably not spot-on but I''m sure he spent close to £2m on Libbra, Emblem, Rivers, Easton and Chrichton in the Summer alone. No-one else has ever that those resources and Rioch left the club due to lack of funds. 5) Yes we got into the Play-offs which I still look on with a lot of happiness but remember that we sneaked in on the last day of the season having scored one more goal all campaign than Burnley. I take my hat off for winning the First Division RIP but I think it has more to do with Huckerby, McKenzie and Svensson blasting our way through. Yes Worthy bought them but if his one season of attacking, fluent, passing football worked a charm, why not persist with it rather than sticking to defensive workhorse players now? 6) Far too defensive. Our back line stands on the 6-yard line, the midfield four stands on the 18-yard line and the strikers lurk wide on the wings. I still maintain we sat off far too much against Birmingham in the Play-Off Final and was probably the least surprising goal I''ve ever seen us concede. Sutch for McVeigh anyone? Our full-backs are the defend, defend, defend kind who rarely leave their own half and our wingers are normally very defensive converted central midfielders or full-backs like Marney, Brennan, Hughes, Bentley (to a certain extent), Easton and even Holt. Huckerby I would rather have upfront. 7) Worthington signs a lot of players who he then never really plays and has blazing rows or personal problems with. Keith Briggs, Mark Rivers, Marc Libbra all spring to mind. Safri only really started playing over half-way through last season as another example. And if the KTFers say "Well he was right not to play them because they were rubbish", who signed them? What happened to Mackay, Forbes etc? 8) The whole playing players out of position thing. We need a new right midfielder? Simple. We buy a striker and convert him to a winger. Or stick a left back in central midfield. Or play a central midfielder as a rightback. Why can''t we buy a right midfielder? Recent sides at Carrow Road; Preston got Sedgwick from Rotherham and Burnley bought Elliot from Bournemouth, both for a pittance, and they looked all right. Plenty more to say (I''ve had it bottled up for a while) but I''ve already gone on for far too long. Cheers for getting this far and I''d appreciate some nice non-name-calling responses. Oh and I''m still Norwich through and through and will be to the day I die.
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