Carlos Valderrama

ncfc1.  Seeing as you have regularly seen Lappin & Fotheringham play could you please give us a report on what they are like as players.  It would interesting to hear the views of someone who knows what they are talking about. And like you I can''t wait to get back to the glory days of Robert Chase.  In fact I can''t even remember why we protested so much to get rid of him!!!!!!  Like you I quite liked teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, i thoroughly enjoyed selling all our best players.  And finally, we got him out before he could finish the stadium.  I bet Chase Builders would have built a well tasty Jarrold Stand. And I agree, what a pathetic transfer window.  2 new midfielders, 1 new winger, 1 new big striker and a decent goalkeeper; all under 25.  Absolutely atrocious, lets sack grant now.  I mean what is he playing at buying young footballers, before you know he will have rejuvinated the whole squad. Whatever will we do then.   

Too harsh to call me fairweather, I have just had enough of mediocrity.  I have done my stint as a committed fan, now I am going to vote with my feet and my wallet by doing something different.

I like to get away from my other half and kids too, that is why I am going to play golf instead.  But with regards to football at roughly £20.00 a game, I am afraid it is far too expensive and just not entertaining enough.  I would probaby get just as much enjoyment watching Fakenham or Wroxham!!!!!! Don''t agree with the other post though.  Delia has done nothing wrong for this club and I reckon Peter Grant will do well eventually.  Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.  I just can''t be bothered to sit through the worse in order to wait for the better.....

Huckerby in the middle, drifting out wide, pulling centre halfs all over the place.  Good idea, especially when Chadwick returns, instant replacement on left. But, correct me if I am wrong (am sure someone will!!), didn''t huckerby play up front in our promotion season?

First point, Peter Grant is doing OK.  He is not here to make friends, has no room for sentiment (Fleming) and is struggling to get anything from the rubbish he has to work with (McVeigh, Thorne).  He is a rookie manager who clearly wants to succeed.  He may be using NCFC as stepping stone to better things, but he has to succeed here to get a chance somewhere else. He is getting the kids out on loan, I think to see who has got what it takes.  I for one will be interested to see Henderson after his loan spell, he looks like he has some ability and I think just needs a little confidence and some serious 1st team experience.  He is trying to cut the wage bill (I bet Flem earned a bomb).  And he is also trying to bring in younger players (23/24/25). I reckon that the club is going through a transitional stage and that is going to take time.  The killer question is, has everyone got the patience to wait 1,2 possibly 3 years for things to start working. For me personally, I haven''t missed a home game for 5 seasons.  Will I re-new my season ticket, NO I am going to play golf instead....sorry, but my die hard fan attitude has just disappeared, I am bored of watching mediocre football.  I am even starting question whether I like football at all anymore.

Fernando Derveld, truly awful.  Raymond De Waard, now playing pub football in holland.  Shocking My worst ever............. One of the best, Steen Nedergaard.  Oh how we miss him.... And finally..... Best ever loan signing - David Neilson, 7 goals in 7 games Possible worst permanent signing - David Neilson (Can''t be bothered to look up the stats, but awful)

Peter ''you can''t afford me'' Crouch, you can''t afford me but I will bang in a few goals to help with your promotion push, my hold up play will be exceptional and I will give every game my all my all while I am with you.  Quality loan signing.... Dean Marney, played out of position by Worthy, glimpses of quality before serious injury.  Can''t judge him fairly, never know what might have been.  I would have him now though... Harper, average at best!!! We must have been watching different games cause I thought he did well on the right.  My opinion, success. Agree though with JJ, Rehman, Cooper, Lisbie, Hammond, all poor signings and a complete waste of money. Bentley, sorry just don''t know about him.  Maybe the ''have it'' incident ruined what could have been good.

Sort of agree with you......sort of Try looking at it this way.  Marshall, not first choice at Celtic but I would imagine he wants to be.  What better way to force your way into the managers plans than to play a blinder at your loan club.  Lee Hendrie, probably doesn''t want a move to Stoke permanently but by playing exceptionally well puts him in the shop window for a better club. Loan signings can be very effective, but I agree they can be a drain on the resources.  Especially when you get a dud one (Zesh Rehman). 

None of us know what actually goes on behind closed doors.  Why wouldn''t Chris Brown be unfit, MLJ is not injured anymore is he ''fit'' to play, probably no.  Is there a difference between fit to start and fit enough for the bench, YES!!!!! And also, how do you motivate a team of people who are untouchable.  None of them can be sacked, probably can''t be sold (who would have them?) and who all earn thousands already?  It is incredibly difficult, sometimes impossible without change.  We can''t change the entire squad in one transfer window. And finally, before I get off my soap box.  Grant is inexperienced, so what.  He has been a good coach at 2 successful clubs (Reading & West Ham) and a top player for Celtic.  Aidy Boothroyd had no experience when Watford got him, neither did Geraint Williams at Colchester, nor Chris Coleman at Fulham, Mark Hughes (when he got the Wales job, almost took them to their first major finals in years), need I go on......... Peter Grant deserves his chance.  The players have shown what they can be capable of when they bother to turn up.  And Grants comments, however badly we may take them he do have a refreshing honesty.  I like him, I think he will be good for the club in the long term, emphasis on long term.....Rebuilding this lazy poor excuse for a team is gonna take years....

Give Grant a break.  I would imagine that Brown wasn''t fit enough for 90 minutes, thats why he was on the bench. It''s going to take time to get Norwich going again.  I think Grant summed it up perfectly when he said too many players were in the comfort zone.  When I watched saturdays no show I couldn''t help noticing how Huckerby, Drury, Shackell, McVeigh, Safri and Etuhu looked like they couldn''t be bothered.  Lee Croft needs to lose weight and poor old Gallacher just isn''t good enough.  For me only Dublin and Colin looked like they cared. IMO the club needs a complete rebuild, that I am afraid is gonna take years, not weeks. (You can''t really blame the players for not trying.  If I was earning a fortune and couldn''t be sacked or dropped I doubt I would bust a gut either!!!)

Cant buy a decent player... Huckerby, Drury, Croft, Francis, Ashton, Earnshaw.  And only 7 million, only 7 million of her own personal fortune.  Get real will you!! Posts like this are getting boring...really, really boring. Grant IN idiots like you ob1, OUT.... (And by the way, I also go to every home game, and as many away as I can manage every season, and have done for 10 years...)

You are missing the point Mr Carrow, the dis-harmony is being created by fans with unrealistic expectations. And as for buying players, can you tell me when the board has refused to back the manager on a signing.  We wanted Darren Huckerby, we wanted Dean Ashton, we wanted Rob Earnshaw, we wanted Lee Croft, we got them all.  Of course we missed out on Steve Howard, David Coterill and Peter Crouch but that was only because other clubs were prepared to pay over the odds.  I am absolutely sure that if Peter Grant wants a particular player then the board will back him to the hilt to get him.  Norwich have the muscle to compete with anyone in this division finincially, if they want to.  What I like is that they will not be held to ransom and they will only pay a fair price, regardless of circumstance, they show prudence and control the club carefully, it is all too easy in this day and age to do a Leeds. And also bear in mind, we are not a massive club, we do have to sell to survive!!!!!! However much it hurts to see a good player go, the future of NCFC is the most important thing.....I honestly believe that this board really do have the clubs best interests at heart....

We have a 30% stake in the hotel + the contract to supply all catering services, which means if the hotel does well then we do well.  If I do my sums correctly then that = good business sense!!!!!!  That is not to say I like the hotel, I think it looks an absolute bloody eyesore.  I would have prefered to see a little bit of seating in there, a mini snake pit if you will. We received good money for the car park and the flats there look good, why anyone would want to live there though is beyond me. I think the board is doing quite a good job.  That does not make me a head in the sand supporter but a realist.  A realist with a little bit of business sense, a realist who understands that things don''t happen overnight and that the answer does not involve signing lots of players you can''t afford in an attempt to solve a short term issue. It might be 5 years before we see NCFC challenging again, it might only be 1, it might even be as much as 10. Unless of course we can find ourselves an Ambrovich of our own, or even a Bernard Matthew!!!!!! (At least then we could get a few more turkeys for our midfield)

I would probably sign for us, we are a decent club with good facilities.  Also, because I have got a couple of kids I would look at Norfolk as a whole and think what a nice place to bring my kids up.  That is the bigger picture.  We need to target players who are family men with children, not young free and single people who want bright lights and hot women.

Well said Bobert.  Why can''t people understand that the board can''t just throw endless amounts of money at the team, and whos to say that throwing money at the team works anyway. Our overall facilities are gradually improving, we have a nice ground (which we own), we have good training facilities and a youth academy.  We have a controlled and structured debt, which is considerably less than other clubs financial issues. We would all like to see the club doing better, and yes I do get frustrated at the teams performance, and yes I would love to see us sign half a dozen top players.  Any fan who doesn''t want any of this probably isn''t a proper fan. What does get my goat is when I see people planning protests and demanding the board out and writing pathetic little narratives entitled ''If NCFC were a dog...''.  What would be nice is if everyone could step into the real world, then we really would have a good football forum. And finally, it is not all green & yellow tinted glasses with me.  I do have one major gripe with the board..............."Why did we allow Stevie Wonder to design the new corner hotel"

Jas, are you sure you were watching the same Jean Yves as me!!!!  He was truly rubbish. Mind you could probably do job in our current midfield!!!!!!!! Mind you so could my granny........ And as for Rosario, I concede he did have his moments.........I just cant remember many 

West Ham would be good because we know that they have got big money to spend, we really could screw a lot of money from them.  And I agree, take a smaller fee and a couple of their fringe players, not necessarily zamora though, harewood would be better.

Shame its just limited to the 90''s cause I would have put Peter Thorne in every time!!!!!! Good shout for Adrian Coote, what about Robert Rosario, I thought he was crap.  Jean Yves De Blasiis would be good as the holding midfielder.

I believe that Darel Russell wanted to leave because Worthy wouldn''t guarantee him a game in central midfield.  At the time a good strong decision, you can''t have players like that in the squad.  DR wouldn''t apologise or back down so he was sold, good decision. People are quickly forgetting the good things Nigel Worthington did.  He was a good manager for us and took us to places where no one expected to go.  Yes it all turned sour but as they say ''the only guaranteed in football is the sack''.  He certainly lasted longer than most managers. Anyway, with regard to Darel Russell, I would prefer to not have him back.  Returning players never do very well. I suppose that the next post I read will demand that we get Ade Akinbiyi back!!!! Hell while we are at it lets get Cureton, Mills and Johnson back, Camp has gone back to Derby so lets get Andy Marshall in as well.

Is Carlton Cole not in the same league as Harewood/Mullins? I still really fancy the idea of Mark Noble coming in, this is such an unknown quantity nobody can predict what might happen.  There is talk of Pardew taking over at Charlton as the board there are not convinced by Les Reed.  I sense much speculation to come over the next couple of weeks.....

I think quite the opposite.  West Ham have stated (according to BBCi) that they want someone in place before the january transfer window, this indicates to me that they are gonna spend big.  If its Sven, then expect to see Crespo, Beckham and maybe some other big name players join.  If its Curbs, then expect big money bids for Darren Bent among others. Basically the point I am trying to make is that I think it is quite likely that we will go for some of the ''fringe players'', and to be realistic that was all we could hope for anyway. I reckon we should go for Harewood and Mullins.  Both have been made scapegoats for the hammers poor form.  Would certainly show ambition from the norwich board.... Imagine Earnie and Harewood leading the line!!!!! The perfect little and large strike force.....

Does everyone honestly believe that PG said what he said without discussing it with the board first.  The whole club culture needed a kick up the backside to try and eliminate the negativity surrounding the club. Did it work?  Well the atmosphere at leicester was certainly better than it has been for a long time.  Andy Hughes got a good reception, and seemed to grow in confidence as the game went on.  Huckerby worked himself into the floor.  Dion and Shackell were excellent at the back, Jurgen is getting better and better. So do I forgive Peter Grant for his comments.  Yes, in fact I didn''t resent him in the first place.  I like his honesty and his passion.  I applaid his comments about the fans, because to be brutal some of the posters on this forum are pathetic.  The Worthy out brigade have got their wish, still not satisfied they jump on anything they can find, the board (7m personal investment), Carl Robinson, Andy Hughes to name but a few. Get your act together and start supporting the club you love.  Don''t try and put a negative hex on everything....

Arrogance isn''t a bad thing when used in the right context. My advice for tuesday, for everyone.  From the first whistle to full time get up, sing, show passion and back the team to the hilt.  IF after 90 minutes we have witnessed another non-performance then show your displeasure in whatever manner you see fit.  The important thing is to show passion during the game. PG won''t apologise, he is too proud for that.  I for one applaud his stance, he could have chosen his words better agreed, but I am just glad that someone high profile has had the balls to say what a lot of people have been thinking.

Lets be fair to PG, he has inherited a dodgy squad full of misfits and average players.  Lets wait until january when he has a chance to bring in his own players who will work in his own system. Then, maybe we will see a better norwich city.  In the meantime lets take on board his criticism and try and get behind the team.  See if we can help the club get a bit of momentum going into the the busy (and critical) holiday season. I was at the game saturday and I must say that I also thought the atmosphere was rubbish, I also thought that the mass exodus and boo''s was a little bit harsh.  I concede that it wasn''t an inspiring performance from Norwich, but look at the team and look at who was missing. Finally, damn we miss Leon Mackenzie.  His work rate and erratic style of play I thought was a real crowd motivator.  We need a couple of players with his sort of passion.  I think Andy Hughes could be like that, if only the crowd would get off his back and encourage him a little.

Are you really that naive to think that going up means 20-30 million to spend, take the blinkers and listen to people like Neil Doncaster when they tell you the score.  Did you not read the report in the EEN about where the money has gone. And finally, I doubt seriously that old trafford cost 100-150 million to build.  Try trebling that figure and you would have a far more realistic figure. Yellow Fever, I suggest that you take the blinkers and come and join everyone else in the real world.