Bernard Robinsons Paperboy

What a good post! May I just add one or two other observations? I wasn''t at the game last night so these are based on last season. I totally agree with the comments concerning Etuhu, a six foot plus athletic midfielder who totally fails to stamp any authority on a game and gives very few passing options because he doesn''t do the basic "pass and move into space". A player with the ability to disappear in a game. Coaching staff really do need to address the issue of hiding behind players, is this a self- confidence/motivation problem? Hughes, huff and puff, bad career advice? should have chosen another profession? just doesnt seem to have any vision about where to be, where to go and what to do with the ball when he has it. Robinson, two areas of concern for me, firstly, playing first time passes blind, not being sufficiently aware of players around him, own and opposition. Most obvious in the game against Wolves at the end of last season. Also allows attacking players too much room, failing to close down quickly enough in the final third, if he can get back in time. Encouraging that his passing is now more on the floor though. Lastly, Drury, good defender, appalling distribution and frustrating when he makes a good forward run and then loses confidence, either to take the players on or cross the ball. Player watching can be extremely enlightening, especially during poor games, more people need to do this.

Evening Herb I have a rugby style NCFC shirt, not 60''s or 70''s, modelled on the shirt worn in the 30''s.Good for the autumn days when the modern shirts are just not up to it, wind chill factor etc! Came from www.toffs.com. Worth a look

[quote user="Herb"][quote user="silver fox"]Negativity just about sums up our manager I''m afraid.  Unless he has had a change of heart ( and tactics) I just cannot see us pushing for promotion.[/quote] Hopefully you''ll not be bringing your negativity to Carrow Road and will leave the tickets to someone who''ll actually back the team. [/quote] Herb Congratulations on obtaining a Season Ticket after waiting for so long and I admire your optimism. It is my opinion that fans who attend Carrow Road turn up on a match day in an positive mind. I was aked on numerous occasions last season before games "What are they going to do this week?", the answer was win, I go to every game believing that my team will win, ther really is no point going otherwise and I believe that most fans are the same, we go to see a win, the way that we achieve it is another matter, personally I would rank good quality almost as important as the win, different people have different opinions. Note the current debate about the England team. But, and there is always a but, after watching Norwich for over 35 years I can truly say that last season I witnessed some of the worst football that I have ever seen, not just in one off matches either. We were fortunate that towards the end of the season we played badly against teams that were poor and still won. It is extremely difficult to remain positive in those circumstances, when it is so obvious that things at the club are wrong and I am afraid to say that since the end of the season I have seen nothing that leads me to think that things will change. I will be there and I have also purchased another ticket so that my children can go as well. I gues that i fit the Barry Skipper profile of a Norwich fan!(not sure if  like that) I will be there, I will cheer my team, but please understand that the negative reaction of the fans is directly related to the performance on the pitch, we can all be positive, we can all get behind the team, but if they do not perform it is not our fault. Enjoy your season

Best football book for me is "Left foot forward" by Gary Nelson, a few years old now but a real insight into the life of a journeyman footballer, even mentions Mark Barham, so tenuous link there. Worth a read if you can find one

[quote user="Hampshire Yella"] Keith Webb took the coaching of the first team!?!?!? Is this true? If so it is an utter disgrace.  He has never acheived anything in his role as youth coach and reserve coach.  I get more worried the more I here surrounding NCFC.  Perhaps this explains the ball being lumped up to short and talented strikers all season. [/quote] Easter Sunday morning, Worthington and Livermore on one side of the pitch, Webb taking the session, Foley on the other side of the pitch, acting ballboy. A one off, possibly, I for one would never let Webb anywhere near the first team, but it does explain some of the poor football seen toward the end of last season.

Had you visited Colney and watched the training you would have seen that after Christmas Foley was gradually frozen out by Wothington and Dougie Dolittle and that the fist team training was being taken by Keith Webb. Most contributors to this forum recognise that Steve Foley was unfairly treated and made a scapegoat for the failings of others. My personal opinion was "one out, all out" or strengthen the coaching staff, Director of Football or similar. The decision has been made and I will indeed get over it, I only hope that my club can do the same.

I heard at the weekend that it will be someone that most fans will not have heard of but has got a good track record and has worked with some good players/teams. More Munby spin? No idea when the announcement will be made though

Hello ERF, I work for  a Contractor and have previously worked on projects for NCFC 3.2m does seem a little excessive, but bear in mind the following:- It would have been a lot cheaper if the two stands had been designed and built at the same time, nobody seems to have learnt that from when the new Barclay stand was built, only to have the corner infill (now the Snakepit) built afterwards. Instead of only having to join to one stand, they then had to join to two, design could probably been improved, with no visible join between the NU corner and the Jarrold stand. Constructing the stand to a curve is going to cost proportionately more, the nature of most materials used in the stands being fairly inflexible. When the stand was being built there was a lot of construction work being carried out in and around the city, pushing labour prices up to almost ridiculous levels. Finally, there is an underground stream that runs under Carrow Rd, under the Barclay, under the pitch and to the best of my knowledge used to enter the river via the old dyke (now piped) that used to lead to the old Malthouses, which the Fat Controller demolished.This could add considerably to the cost. Remember all the Porta-Loos when the Barclay was being built, that was because the Contractor discovered the underground stream and all the foundations for the floor slab had to be re-designed, which meant that although the terrace units were in place and could be used, there were no facilities under the stand. At 90% capacity it will take about 6 years to recover the capital, longer to allow for interest charges and running costs. Any other queries, will be glad to assist    

[quote user="mystic megson"] [quote user="Bernard Robinsons Paperboy"]What I find especially disappointing about this announcement is Mr Doncasters statement at a business breakfast at Carrow Road at the end of March that Norwich City F.C. are no longer a "selling" club, we are now a "buying" club.[/quote] If he said that about last season, he simply isn''t telling the truth.  [/quote] Agreed What I realised is,that at the level  Doncaster was operating that morning he would say anything that he thought the people present wanted to hear. I was in a slightly uncomfortable position, being a guest of my company chairman and not wishing to embaress them or others around me by starting an arguement. It was quite political, with written questions being submitted to the top table and then being vetted before being put to the likes of Munby, Cullen and Doncaster.These are people capable of putting "spin" on anything and that must be remembered when reacting to any statement that comes out of CR. Personally I would rather a "no comment" than "he''s got a groin strain and I have the X-rays to prove it" As long as I have supported Norwich we have been a club that has had to sell to survive and I can see no difference today.I was fortunate enough to meet Dave Stringer, when he was no longer Manager, but was retained by the club to oversee the Colney development, a true gentleman, he explained that Norwich could attract good young players because they would be given more opportunity of first team play than if they went to Arsenal, Tottenham etc and once on the "big stage", if they were good enough then they would be spotted by the big clubs and get the chance to move on to bigger things. I think we may have lost that, if so it will not benefit the club. The way ahead is through yong players, preferably local. Middlesboro at the end of last season played a game where 10 of the 11 players came from within 30 miles of the town. surely something to aspire to.    

What I find especially disappointing about this announcement is Mr Doncasters statement at a business breakfast at Carrow Road at the end of March that Norwich City F.C. are no longer a "selling" club, we are now a "buying" club.

Afternoon Gentlemen There is a previous post about Roberts, Mackay etc and the leadership that is now missing on the pitch and it is my belief that we lacked strong leadership and desire when we were promoted, we were too content as a club (and I don''t include the fans in that) the Board and Management to settle for "doing a Bolton, Charlton or even West Brom", to go up, accept that we might come back down, spend another season in the Champioship and then return stronger, both on and off the pitch. Compare Watford, ambitious to the level where we could all have a good chuckle at them, Watford aiming for Europe, wake up and smell the coffee.But wait, that target demonstrates that the Manager and Board have belief in the players, no talk of bouncing back up should they get relegated.Good structure too, Assistant manager is Keith Burkinshaw (anyone remember him?) now 70, been in the game for years, managed at a very senior level, won trophies with Tottenham, been mentoring Boothroyd for years, even when he was at Norwich. anyone hear the interview with him on Radio 5 before the play-off final? Lawrenson said it  a few times, we NCFC are too nice.We need to be stronger, stronger leadership from the Board, down through the management and coaching through to the players on the field.In hindsight, a wonderful thing, I think that we were happy to be the little club playing with the big boys without really having the belief that we belonged.  

Gentlemen, please don''t use rumours as a stick to beat the club and its management, firstly, we need to wait and see if Crow goes to Watford and then whether he plays or not and finally if he can score goals at Premiership level. Before you label me as a KTF or WO, I have opinions that bridge both camps, therefore I would prefer, at the moment to have a foot in neither. I am a Season Ticket holder and have been watching Norwich since 1970, only on a regular basis in the last few years since I gave up playing. There are a lot of players released by clubs, most just go down to League 1 or 2 and if they work hard, get the breaks and some even develop later than their peers, then they come back up. Some players play local league and some give up the game. Notable Norwich releases John Fashanu and Dion Dublin, lesser, Jamie Cureton and Adi Akinbyi. Club staff make joint decisions, maybe the final decision comes down to the manager, but the decisions are based on a whole range of factors. Anyone ever see Danny Crow at Colney? What about the attitude that he displayed to the training and to the staff, could that be a factor? Given players of comparable ability, the one that displays the better attitude is more likely to be retained, this happens in all walks of life, not just football. I cannot agree that the decision be labeled as calamitous, a mistake in hindsight, it happens, get over it and move on. It does seem that Worthy makes more than his fair share of mistakes and perhaps he needs to have a "Director of Football" or the equal to assist in decision making as well as a new coach. BTW anyone hear anything about a new first team coach? seems to have gone very quiet, maybe they got to the bottom of the list.    

Dowie to ?

I have been visiting the message board for some time now and have finally decided the time is right to join.In response to your questiom MM Correct, Sir Arthur South was married to the widow of Bob Carter, the father of the current Chairman of R. G. Carter, who couldn''t stand the man. I can assure you that as an ex-employee of RGC, Sir Arthur had no influence over the placing of contracts for construction work at the club.