ManchesterCanary

...at full time Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves informing Ivanovic he would miss the final thanks to picking up a yellow card...nice!I didnt know whether to laugh (confess I did)...or cry for the fella: he looked shell shocked (judge for yourself here): http://whatculture.com/sport/barcelona-v-chelsea-watch-geoff-shreeves-break-ivanovics-heart.phpTell us about witnessing your own verbal faux pas. My own contribution is a week after a job interview once my boss said "You should''nt have turned down that job offer last week...we have to make you redundant" I swear he had a smile on his face.

Good article, thanks; I have been impressed with Neville''s analysis this season...

Tevez''s general demeanor and ''golf swing'' celebration is a real piss take. MC fans have too quickly forgotten that his selfish golf sojourn to Argentina will probably be the primary reason they fail to win the title. I salute their manager and the team performance but have contempt for him. I hope he goes to another country to wallow in own arrogance and self importance...

Anyone would expect the current top 8 to be above city. But...that makes us Top of the 2nd tier...incredible...hats off to the management team, the players and the support!

I acknowledge we are doing much better than expected in the Premier but do people believe the overall standard is dropping?I note Athletic Bilbao are in a similar position to us in La Liga yet they looked fantastic against Man Utd home and away and played them off the park with skill and speed.I think the current top four in the Premier are good but even they would struggle to get in the top 4 in La Liga. There is not really that much to choose between the rest in the Premier League, including us. Wigan outplayed Chelsea at times yesterday and are a good footballing side yet look where they are.Anyone have ideas where it is going wrong for the Premier League? Some of the games (i.e. Stoke v Wolves) are dross.On a positive note I am sure NCFC can progress next year but its such a thin line between success and failure in this league cos everyone but the top 4 are similar.

A proper footballer...http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17598979

Facts...he aint good enough and he''s sullen

Am I the only person who cringes at OTBC...its unique because its shite and nobody else wants it. I also hate the choice of music before the game and after each goal...there, said it!

Agree with Jas...most chants are just way past their sell by date including OTBC. We should have more originality and take a leaf from some of the European Cup teams that play in this country. Most English chants sound so tame these days; we need more that intimidate opposition teams and fans alike.

Good article on a good blog site...http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kevin-graham/grant-holt-the-hard-yards_b_1386562.html?ref=uk-sport

I too expressed concerns at this tactic last year, we will give too many goals away this year if we persist. Legend, you say ''in theory'' this works but it does not unfortunately work in practise because we simply do not have the players in defence skilled enough to play this passing game across the back; they look as nervous as hell when they are doing it. Not only that but premier teams are wise to this tactic and will just refuse to be drawn in, allowing the supporters and then the team to lose patience, leading to the inevitable mistakes. Also, as you rightly point out we do not have the right movement in midfield. Maybe its work in progress, but they need to get it right quickly!

Unusually for a footballer, its a very interesting read...

I agree with WSC...he is going to be that good...

Why keep him until the end of August? Even with the best ethics and intentions surely he will have one eye if not both on recruiting for his new club...

Yellow Hammer that is priceless...

I actually thought city played well yesterday and did not get any good fortune. Holty was off target with a clear header and their keeper was on good form to deny some good shots; on another day we would have got a result there. My only real complaint is the slow to medium pace of our passing at times. Too many times yesterday we gave away possession due to the ball being played too slowly; against a good team this lost possession will inevitably cost us. There were times yesterday the ball was almost rolled from player to player over 10 to 20 yards with the receiver stood waiting for the ball, especially in the middle of the pitch, where the opposition can nip in and take possession and counter from a dangerous position. The players have good movement, take up good triangular positions and have good formation and intelligence to open up the opposition midfield and defence, only to waste this by losing the ball because of a sloppy, slow paced pass. Its almost Arsenal in its style (but at a slower pace of course). Wes, Pacheco and Lansbury are snappy passes of the ball, hence they are the ones that really make the chances. If the rest of the midfield and attack can master it I believe we would have an excellent team and stand out in this division (and get automatic promotion) rather than being just a very good team with about eight others.

I remember it well, I was eighteen at the time and though I had become used to hooliganism and violence as a weekly occurrence this was something else! There were thousands of City fans there and the Pompey fans were right up for it with battles in the pubs before and after the game and the police inexplicably letting the Pompey fans into the city end at half time (I watched them open the gates). It was a battle for all of half time and then some in the 2nd half, even being caught by the Anglian TV cameras and shown on the Sunday afternoon). It did not spoil a great result though! I hope its the same this time without the violence...

Am I the only one who hardly understands a word of that...

I disagree with most posts, I thought the ref had a reasonable game, particularly up to the Holt incident, letting the teams play. Sure he got the sending off wrong but it was a tough call in real time and he was unfortunately influenced by a cheating Harte who looked as if he had been hit on the shin by a 4x2. Should he be influenced by that? Of course not but he is young and only human. The penalty was the right call and was flagged by the Linesman anyway. Lambert never regained his usual composure in the 2nd half and the ref had no choice to send him to the stands after it was reported by the fourth official. The extra added time was also as a result of Lambert''s indiscipline, fortunately Reading did not get the winner. Sure the sending off was a bad time but the players obviously did not regain composure during half-time and we lost it in the 2nd half not because of the ref but due to our poor shape. The players came out undisciplined in formation and looked like rabbits in the headlights. We are not the first team to go down to 10 men and we should still have had the professionalism and guile to maintain control of the game. Our midfield played so far too deep it was ridiculous, basically midfield was non-existent. If we had kept our shape and used Martin/Jackson well I believe we could have defended an average team quite easily and possibly nicked another goal. The only difference from the 1st half should have been that we had one up front instead of two. As a result we allowed Reading to create wave after wave of attacks from midfield with the inevitable result. It was a good point gained in the end (glass half full) but should have been three and we played well enough in the 1st half to suggest we can make the play-offs. I really hope the manager, team and supporters do not make a big issue of the ref this week but just put it behind them and move on. 

I met him once in Manchester and he was well up his own arse. He was derogatory about Norwich saying ''you escaped the place too then''. He looked miffed when I defended the city and the clunb. There were a few Premier players there and him and Alan Smith (another Leeds scummer then) were the only two that were rude. I have no time for him, complete w**ker!

Good viewing, the norwich support looks brilliant

Its very true, I was involved (no screaming liberals please, it was a lifetime ago and sadly part of the culture then). The Millwall fans lured us to the furniture van near the old gas tank on riverside and sure enough the shotgun appeared. I have never seen people move so fast! Also the fight at half time on the bank and by the bar outside the barclay is the worst I have ever seen, literally hundreds were involved. It was mayhem but the the Millwall fan got a lot more than they bargained for. Anyone else remember it?

Ha Ha Ha ha ha ha ha ...oh how I laugh Roberto Mancini I heard too....LMAO As Durham said on the Radio...This is Ipswich Town! Get Real! Have not laughed so much for ages...delusions of grandeur

Born Norwich, based in Hale next to Manchester airport (greetings all you fellow Manchester Canaries)

...there are some great supporters on this forum...sadly the majority are getting depressingly familiar...moan moan moan...