bigbear

I used to work as a steward in the N&P Executive box area.  If you go around there on a match day, you will find about half of them are city fans, a quarter are just there for a freebie and the other quarter are away fans.  Just go there and cheer on Norwich, make as much noise as possible to annoy everyone.  On the way out however, make sure you go to the toilet 1st where you then put on some different clothes and put on a wooly hat and pull a scarf up over the bottom half of your face (like you might if you wanted to do a robbery!)

things like that are great to hear.  A few years back, I worked as a steward in the N&P Executive box area.  One match, a man collapsed with a heart attack.  3 or 4 stewards were there immediately to try to help, they gave him mouth to mouth and everything else they could until the paramedics appeared. They then still continued to help until the man was taken to hospital.  The only time we heard what had happened to the man was when Leon Blackburn (stadium operations manager recently laid off), pretty much court marshalled the stewards involved for too many of them leaving their posts to help.  He didn''t actually say it to the persons involved directly but through the section head steward.  The Section Head was then told that the man had later, unfortunately died in hospital.  The section head refused to reprimand anyone involved and along with the person directly below him proceeded to tell Mr Blackburn, that if he didn''t apologise in person or at least in a written apology, then they would resign.  Leon Blackburn being the usual cocky arrogant man that he is, took their ID badges there and then. The stewards sometimes get a hard time, but unfortunately they are told what to do, and are expected to follow orders.  Some of them are jobs worths though as some of you already know.  But in principal, they are there to help in the welfare of the crowd following health and safety protocol.  So when you have a go at them for making you sit down, spare a thought, that one day the stewards may have to help you. 

any idea why lappin is still at the club?  Roeder catagorically stated that he has no future here and has no chance of getting 1st team football.  Yet, we pay his wages every week. I agree with you though and believe that he is a pretty decent squad player.  Can play anywhere on the left and can play centre back and centre mid also. He can take a decent set piece too. Not a fantastic player by any stretch of the imagination, but how many of the players we have at the moment can we say that about anyway?!!

without a paddle

I heard this today.  Yet again, I don''t know exactly how accurate it is, but anyway.  From what I can gather, Sibierski''s wages are rather extreme to say the least.  Apparently, he is being paid £25k a week by us and £10k a week by Wigan.  If that is true then the amount we will have spent on him is ridiculous.  He has til after Christmas before his loan deal runs out.  If what they say is true and nowadays you have to pay teams (sometimes a hefty amount) cash to take a player on loan.  From his wages and also the signing fee, then it could easily end up totalling somewhere in the region of £500k for a loan player who has been dreadful.  Couldn''t and shouldn''t this money have been spent wiser by actually bringing in someone who would actually want to play for us and put in some effort, and would god forbid, still be with us at the end of the season without having to go back to his parent club. Are we not meant to be being prudent?  How can that be when we have wasted so much money on loans.  After Christmas, when the 3 month loans have gone back, what are we going to do?  If Roeder is still in charge, the only thing would be to get more loans in.  Maybe we could loan in a ball-boy or 2.  I saw a bit on youtube where a ball-boy was retrieving a ball and threw it hard into an opposition players knackers.  Myabe that could work, if our ball boys did that to all the other team during the game.

Roeder, saying to the press that "I was right", about the substitutions, etc on Saturday.  To be honest, I don''t think he was "right" at all.  I didn''t boo, as I never do, to a Norwich player or team, but the Croft-Bell sub wasn''t the one which made me angry.  It was the Hoolahan sub.  It should have happened at half time or sooner.  He had a terrible game, and yet the only reason he took him, seems just to be down to fitness.  How many times did he get the ball and then give it away again.  Whenever we had a quick break, they gave the ball to him, he went forward 5 yards, then turned backwards, then forwards again, then back again, and then forwards again.  He makes some great donut shapes on the pitch!  By the time he has done that, the entire opposition squad are in position and the move breaks down.  When he did try to get forward, his pass was then pathetic.  Sometimes wehen we did have a decent attack, Bertrand was looking for him on the left hand side, and he would be stranded on the other side of the pitch, does he know where his position is meant to be?  That was the reason why I didn''t think Bertrand had a particularly good game, with a few mis-placed passes at the back, but without a player out there to help him, it was either to put the ball back inside, or to hoof it.  To be fair to him, he had a half decent game against Wolves, but then everyone did.  I would personally be telling Hoolahan, to start bucking his ideas, or I would instantly ship him out.  He works a lot harder than he did at the start of the season, but his all round contribution is dreadful.  Whenever I moan on here about a specific individual, I still hold out the hope that he will turn it around.  I hopehe does become the fan favourite that Roeder said he would be, but I can''t see it at the moment.

to be honest, from what i have noticed, Stefanovic has been the main culprit, if any of putting the high ball through.  When we have ripped teams apart this season it has 95% of the time been from slick 1 ans 2 touch passing in and around the box and not a high ball.  Sibierski in my opinion should be winning more than he has done, but it seems like it isn''t his game.  The high ball in the area to have a go at goal seems to be the only high balls he wants.  thats what we need to do, a high ball should only be used for us when all other options at that time have been exhausted. 

but to be fair, sheff utd controlled the majority of the game and missed quite a few chances.  the offside goal, looked onside to me, but seeing their faces when it was dissallowed was a great moment and one of the only great moments of a terrible season. We need to beware them tomorrow, they will be looking for revenge!

I personally believe that we have a good keeper in Marshall.  In front of him, Bertrand, Stefanovic and Kennedy are all very good as well.  Not quite so good on the right hand side we have Omazusi or Otsemabor.  If our back line up is so good, why haven''t we kept a clean sheet this season?  Fozzy and Clingan are defensive midfielders, and Russell and Pattison wquite often get back to help.  So it isn''t down to lack of numbers.  Just seems to be a mixture of bad luck and the odd bad mistake.  That needs to change, especially as 5 times out of 6 we have let the 1st goal in, and none of those times have we won the game, where on the other hand, the 1 time we go a goal up, we win the match.

Are Norwich going to be an away team this year?  So far in the 3 away games, we have created many chances in each game.  Coventry we created enough chances to win 5 matches.  Cardiff was slightly different where we didn''t play quite so well, but still had chances and managed to score goals.  Plymouth, we had all the play, all the chances and scored a couple. At home in the 1st 3 games.  Blackpool, we were terrible and created 2 chances in 1st half and 1 in 2nd.  Brum, we played great keep ball football and had so much possession but couldn''t create anything and in the end our goal was very scrappy.  QPR, played poorly, had 1 real chance in 1st half which was blocked (had a few long range and feeble efforts as well), and then in 2nd we Fozzy had a good freekick saved and then couldn''t create anything again even though we were camped in their half for most of it. Is there a reason behind this?  Maybe the players are feeling too much pressure at home and worried the fans may get on their back (which we sometimes have a tendency to do), when away from home, they usually sing and support them all through the games. 

Marshall - 4  He was 3 feet away from his right hand post, and somehow the ball went between them.  For the way the player shaped up to take it, there was only one place he could put it to score and he put it there, Hoolahan actually noticed discussions between QPR players and told Marshall that it was going to be hit along the floor! Omazusi - 3 Got forward with Croft in second half, which is the only positive thing.  His defending, positioning is substandard, yet Roeder is in love with him, and is one of the 1st names on the team sheet.  With Croft in 2nd half, got forward as I said, but never wanted the ball and when he did he had to offload asap. Kennedy - 7 Pity he might be injured, I like him and  think he could be a good signing if we manage to make it permanent, though a Scotland call-up could put his price up a bit too far for us.  A couple of sloppy moments in 1st half but was more composed than Stef.  Doesn''t look like he will win a header in opposition penalty area, let alone score. Stefanovic - 6 Somehow man of match, looked rattled by Blackstock and hardly won a header against him all game.  Other general play was fine though though not awe inspiring, especially from offensive set plays but looks more threatening than Kennedy with them. Bertrand -7 My personal man of match, didn''t stop trying and got into some very good crossing positions at the end, but unfortunately none paid off.  Didn''t let much get past him defensively and was always eager to help on left hand side going forward.  A vewry good engine.  A great little back flick into Ladesma''s side when he dived and was laying on floor! Hoolahan - 4 I really don''t like him, he promised so much with what everyone has said and for the 6th league match running, has done nothing.  Didn''t get involved in 1st half, when he did get the ball, he gave it away.  In 2nd half, he showed a few neat moves and nice touches, then got subbed during his best spell of game. Fozzy - 5 I didn''t think he was as terrible as others, he always wanted the ball, just a pity that whenever he got it, he passed it sideways or backwards.  He got into many shooting positions outside the box and not once did he shoot.  He never got into box to help forwards either.  He got stuck in as he usually does.  He really isn''t good enough for us and is a squad player at best.  One of the worst thing Roeder has ever done was make him captain.  You never know, he might prove us all wrong. Russell - 4 After a bit of a scuffed effort on goal in 1st half, the only thing I remember him doing was going up front for a bit, and then that was it again.  Got a few tackles in, but thats what we expect form him.  A pity, because I''ve always liked him. Pattison - 5 After some brilliant games of late, a poor showing.  A couple of poor efforts at goal in 1st half, and that shot his confidence to pieces.  He got into some great shoting positions in 2nd half, but preferred to play it wide instead, every single time, but then didn''t get in area to help out.  Got a few tackles in, saw a bit of the ball, but nothing penetrating. Lupoli - 4 I believe he got taken off because of his arguments with the linesman and referee.  Every time he has been booked this season so far has been for dissent.  If he spent more time thinking about the game, than diving and having a go at referees, he would be a better player.  Didn''t do anything of note apart from hassle defenders which is one of the main parts of his game. Sibierski - 4 Had a great shot brilliantly charged down in 1st half.  Before and after that, he did absolutely nothing.  Couldn''t win a header but fair play to the back 4 of QPR who were excellent.  He didn''t link up with anyone around him and was caught offside a couple too many times. ------------------------ Croft - 6 Worked very hard, and almost single handedly raised the tempo of the game.  Pity about some of his crosses, but then a lack of bodies getting into the box, hardly helped matters. Cureton - 5 As per usual, he has the enthusiasm, but can''t do it.  Maybe it''s his confidence, I don''t know. Grounds - 5 Looks very confident, but almost got himself into trouble a couple of times with wayward passing.  Looks like he could be quite a decent player in the future. ------------------------- Roeder - 5 Obviously he can''t do much about the players not performing.  Lupoli sub I believe was forced, just to stop him being sent off, Kennedy was forced due to injury.  When Cureton cameon, I thought Komora should have been given a go.  He si very slightly taller than Cureton but he is a fair bit quicker.  Could have brought a different dimension to our stagnant attack.  I bet he and Harry wish he never came here now.  He came, expecting games, and has got next to nothing, especially at home, where his only run out was in the 89th minute against Blackpool. Referee - 3 The sending off was a certainty, and anything else would have got him the sack.  The player even walked off the pitch until Dowie told him to go back on, to then see the ref raise the red.  He let Ladesma get away with dive after dive and gave a freekick every time.  Missed elbows on Russell and Cureton.  Was right with the re-taken freekicks though (but shouldn''t have been a freekick in 1st place), a handball by Pattison and then Fozzy encroaching nearly half way to the ball, then having the gall to moan about it.  The linesmen didn''t help matters and seemed wrongly placed when it came to giving offsides.     

I for 1 would love to see them again, at least I wouldn''t be restricted to sitting 4 rows from the front of the Barclay lower as there was no one moving further back in the movers and shakers so I had to settle with what I had, where we have some fat steward who keeps telling us sit down every 5 seconds while leaving the rest of blocks D and E to stand as they like (rant over). Anyways, the 1st match I remember when I was standing in the Barclay, I can''t remember how old I was but I was with my brother and mum (must have been quite young to be seen with her at footy!).  It was Nottingham Forest in a midweek game.  We stood about half way back in front of one of those metal barriers (bad idea).  Norwich scored with a Sherwood freekick quite early, and there was a surge and we all got crushed against the barrier.  A steward spotted us and moved us to the front.  Norwich then went on to played off the park and let in 6 goals before we got a late consolation.  Roy Keane scored twice if anyone is interested.  It was quite a scary moment when the crush happened, especially as my brother and I were young.  My mum didn''t know what it would be like and gave in to us asking to go in there, she obviously never expected it to happen like that, and we never went away from the front ever again.  Then it became all seating. What I''m saying is, if it''s regulated properly, like young kids, etc, not being allowed into the main area, then I''m all for it.  One of my friends went to a game in Italy, and they had thick perspex partitions between each row, there was a seat, which could be folded back to allow people to stand or sit as they please.  Something like that could be done to allow for good atmosphere, but without the crush.  Just an idea. In our country, I can''t see it coming back in high level games, such as Premier League or the Championship, purely because of how hot our government is on health and safety, in comparison to other countries.  Knowing our government, to go into a standing area, we would end up having to have a hi-viz jacket and a hard hat!! 

We have 2 very hard games coming up, ones where after the Blackpool game, I looked at in dread.  Now however, I see them as games where we can show the division how good we really are.  Unfortunately when we get the chance to do that, we usually fall flat on our faces!  QPR have spent a fair bit of money and obviously have plenty of it to burn, but they are not the whole package yet, early in the season, even though they have made a good start is a good time to get them,while they are still finding their feet, just like we are to a degree, but being the home team, hopefully we will take the game to them and finish victorious.  I''m more worried about Sheff U though, last year we managed to beat them at home, but that was after they missed some glorious chances, had the lions share of pocession and had a (what looked a perfectly good goal) goal dissallowed for offside.  They will want revenge, but I believe we are stronger, so its down to see if they have improved enough also.  They are obviously riding pretty high in the league, but if we have aspirations of challenging for promotion, then these two teams are teams we need to get positive results against, especially at home. We need to make Carrow Rd a fortress again, with help along the way from good away results.  As per usual, this season, the teams who do the best will be the most consistent, especially winning home games. Playing pretty passing football is great to watch, but it also seems out team can muck it in when they have to.  I just hope they don''t go overboard with it all like they did last season, how many red cards did we end up with again by the end of the year? 

I know that the game was a few days ago now, but, about the penalty incident.  I can''t remember who the ref was, but there was a poster on here, who stated that that particular ref wouldn''t give us a pen and then went on to give 2 bits of evidence from previous games where he has denied us stonewall pens.  The red card was a certainty, and he couldn''t really get away with that, but how come he won''t give us a penalty? I also assume that its a possibility that in another game involving us (if he has refereed another city game) he hasn''t had to make that sort of decision or he has actually given us a pen.  But overall, he sounds like a particular binner ref who seems to ref Norwich games and does strange things, maybe they are friends!

according to people in the know at the club, helguson didn''t mind at all coming to Norwich, it was his wife who scuppered it.  She didn''t want to move down this way