GJP

I think we''ll be ok. Obviously we''re not safe yet, we''re not until the maths says so. But I don''t see us really struggling. I''ve never once thought we''d go down and it remains that way.

[quote user="silver fox"][quote user="GJP"][quote user="Matt Hudson"] i would go for                      Marshall Colin         Dublin         Shackall         Drury Croft         Etuhu        Safri         Hughes                Martin         Hucks Doherty is totally unrelaible [/quote] Shackell is just as unreliable and doesn''t understand the game as well as the Doc does. Unfortunately as he''s a young(ish) lad and he''s come through the ranks people don''t appear to be able to see what a weak defender he is. [/quote]  Shackell was a very promising defender until he started to play alongside Doherty.  Doherty is a ball follower and has no concept of picking up the runners, hence his last ditch tackles.  Shackell has to spend more time picking up his own players as well as Doherty''s, hence his game has been off recently.  I think the majority of supporters would like to see a Dublin and Shackell pairing at the centre of defence.[/quote] Absolute tosh. Shackell makes numerous poor errors that are absolutely something to do with Gary Doherty, it''s just a case of his own lack of ability. I know City fans like to think Jason Shackell is something special but look at these...Michael Dawson from Notts Forest to Spurs, Joleon Lescott from Wolves to Everton, Calum Davenport from Spurs and now at West Ham. All young centrebacks who''ve made their name at this level and gone on to make big moves. Will any of those big clubs (or similar) pick up Shackell? I can''t see it. One of the main reasons Shackell has done well for himself is because he''s left footed and left sided centrebacks aren''t the most common thing going (see Upsons inflated fee). Say what you want about the Doc but he''s played for Luton, he''s played for Spurs and he''s played for his country. Shackell will struggle to get any further than Norwich. And it has absolutely nothing to do with who he''s playing alongside. He''s just a very average defender who''s been built up to be something he''s not. The way I see it...Norwich need two new strong centrebacks to make us start to look a bit more comfortable/reliable at the back.

[quote user="Matt Hudson"] i would go for                      Marshall Colin         Dublin         Shackall         Drury Croft         Etuhu        Safri         Hughes                Martin         Hucks Doherty is totally unrelaible [/quote] Shackell is just as unreliable and doesn''t understand the game as well as the Doc does. Unfortunately as he''s a young(ish) lad and he''s come through the ranks people don''t appear to be able to see what a weak defender he is.

[quote user="Cobain18"] Oh and by the way if Drogba is hot and cold - how many goals has he scored this season and how many goals has rooney scored? Rooney is a lot more hot and cold than Drogba right now.[/quote] Drogba is a striker and Rooney''s best position is as a linkup player playing in the space between midfield and the forward line. So comparing goal tallies is a bit silly really. Wayne Rooney is a world class player and I bet if you asked Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho or Thierry Henry they''d all say the same

England have the quality but don''t have the manager to make them play. Say that Paul Robinson is first choice keeper...he''s ok, a decent keeper but never what you''d call a great keeper. You''ve then got Gary Neville..you''re not first choice right back for Man Utd and England for pretty much a decade for no reason. Proven quality. And the behind him we''ve got the quite exciting prospect that is Micah Richards. Centrebacks...this is where we are ridiculously strong - Rio, Terry, Woody, King, Carragher, Dawson and maybe even Sol Campbell! Few countries have anywhere near like that many good defenders. Left-backs... Ashley Cole isn''t everyones cup of tea but just think about how well he''s stifled C Ronaldo when the 2 nations have met. Then we''ve got Wayne Bridge and Gareth Barry...who are pretty decent players. But then of course McClaren can ruin it by using Phil Neville as a leftback. Midfielders... we''ve got Steven Gerrard who is pretty much the best all round midfield player in the world. I know people will take offence at such a statement but I don''t know of another midfield player with as much to their game. Then there''s Fat Frank Lampard who''s just the most natural player I''ve ever seen but he''s done well for England in the past. The problem is that Gerrard is a better footballer than Lampard but it''s always seemed like Gerrard is there to compliment Lampard, when really he should be part incharge of midfield. Then there''s Owen Hargreaves who potentially seems to be the man who could make the England midfield work. Provided either Lampard or Gerrard is dropped. You get the impression that playing Hargreaves in the centre with Gerrard would give us the right balance. Michael Carrick....some people think he''s an excellent player and some people think he''s very ordinary. I think he''s a good enough player to have in the squad. Then we''ve got the flair players...Lennon and Joe Cole. Lennons ability to run with the ball and take people on will worry any defender in the world, no matter who they are. And Joe Cole...while not overblessed with pace when he isn''t injured and is in good shape there''s few better players of his type. Around this we''ve got players like Jenas, Dyer, Barton and Downing who are all good squad players. Not to be forgotten...David Beckham, still has something to offer England. Upfront we''ve sorely missed Michael Owen. His record speaks for itself, he''s pure class. Peter Crouch is just too average, he''s scored a few goals for England but he never threatens the better sides. Hopefully Dean Ashton will be able to sustain a long period of fitness and replace Crouch. Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and Andy Johnson are all players that can come off the bench and cause problems. Last but not least...Rooney, him and Ronaldo are probably the 2 best young players at senior level. He''s a constant threat, he can score all sorts of goals and his linkup play is absolutely fantastic. He''s one of the few players around who can combine hard work with outstanding technique. You''d only not think highly of Rooney if you didn''t know anything about football. So this post has become a bit of an essay but I think my point is that England have a number of very very good players that you''d consider first string and then there''s also a lot of good players on the fringes of things. A good manager would be able to find the right balance in midfield, sadly Steve McClaren is not a good manager.  

[quote user="p.g.tips"]there has been cover spillane who in my opinion is good enough also halliday when he was here[/quote] Both of them are absolutely nowhere near this standard of football. Spillane especially is far far too lightweight.

[quote user="Cobain18"] "He''s amongst the top half dozen players in the world." What? nutty nigel there is no chance that rooney is amoungst the top half dozen in the world. he''s young and as a result is sometimes inconsistent. to say rooney is in the top half dozen in the world is naive - ronaldinho, messi, henry, drogba, ronaldo, essien, scholes to name a few are as good if not better than rooney. rooney is nowhere in the top half dozen players in the world!  [/quote] For me the worlds outstanding footballers are Henry, C Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Sammy Eto''o and Wayne Rooney. That''s not me disregarding the other players you''ve mentioned. Paul Scholes is an absolute genius and Messi is wonderfully talented. But make no mistake about it....Wayne Rooney is amongst the very best. It''d be foolish and ignorant to think otherwise.

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]I don''t understand why Halliday hasn''t had more chances at Norwich. We''re short of cover at centre back and he''s always impressed me for the reserves and when he made his debut in the cup!![/quote] Cos he''s miles and miles off that standard. I remember watching him against Palace reserves, they had a couple of bright lads upfront who absolutely murdered him.

Steve McClaren just doesn''t understand the game well enough. I''m sure he''s got a million FA coaching badges but that just doesn''t mean a thing really. His team selection and setup last night showed just how poor his knowledge is. Everyone, apart from him, could see how unbalanced it was and there was no real threat upfront. England have a lot of fantastic players amongst the ranks but yet again we''ve got a muppet incharge who doesn''t know what to do with them. It''s not that we''re short on quality, we have as many quality players as the other major international sides. Infact we''re probably better off than most.

Well I can understand it...it''s because both Craig Short and Andy Todd are very hard players. They battle and they compete and you don''t get any easy ride against them. Unfortunately both Doherty and Shackell are not very strong or tough and really at this level at the moment neither of them have what it takes to make Norwich really reliable at the back.

[quote user="nutty nigel"] Of those only Rooney has got any chance of becoming a "world class" player, and he ain''t one yet!   [/quote] Wayne Rooney is easily what you''d call ''world class'' I''m not one of these people who goes around calling any good player world class but Mr Rooney is definitely that. He''s amongst the top half dozen players in the world.

I think when you know something about football you don''t need to justify yourself because if you speak sense then people who know their football will realise it. FA badges and what not are all very nice but you know something...I''ve passed my driving test but I''m a rubbish driver.

Personally I don''t have much of a problem with foreign players in English teams. At the moment the standard of club football in this country is very high and our national team has a very strong squad. The likes of Rooney, Walcott, Huddlestone and Lennon etc also suggest that we''ve got a lot of high quality young talent on the way. People say too many foreign players will hinder the development of young English players but if they''re good enough then they''ll be ok and force themselves into the team. I think everything is fine the way it is.

I''m 22 years old and the best/most dangerous striker/goalscorer I''ve seen at Norwich is Robert Earnshaw. My pops thinks Earnie is the best goalscorer we''ve had since Ron Davies.

[quote user="Sons of Boadicea"]GJP - I have to say I think Adams is wrong on this one, Etuhu does pull out of tackles, I can only assume he is carrying a knock that he does not want to aggravate and I say this as a fan of Etuhu as I believe that he can be a very good player for us, I just find him so frustrating because he clearly has it in him to be an asset to the side. Like you say he covers an awful lot of the pitch and makes an awful lot of runs into the box which draws players away from Hucks and Croft but then he just seem to switch off and becomes very casual in his play, giving the ball awy, not tracking back, pulling out of tackles and unfortunately that is what people notice about him.[/quote] I don''t see him pull out of tackles because he bottles it but I do see him pull out of tackles because I think he sees it as a better chance of getting control of the ball. Sometimes if an opponent commits himself to going for the ball they''re unlikely to be able to control it if they''re going all in for it. He does definitely switch off a bit too much. The guy  has ability and I''d like to try and stay positive about him.

He definitely needs to improve his crossing and to some extent I think he tries a bit too hard at the moment. It''s not quite going for him. I think he could be in a bit of trouble when Chadwick comes back but I still think that Crofty has the potential to be a very exciting player for City.

[quote user="BarclayMan"] If you thought Thorne did alright against Wolves then you must be easily satisfied. Name me one thing he did that was of any worth to the cause, and i dont mean the occasional header or layoff, as thats the very basics of his job as a striker. He was woefully ineffecitve in front of goal and posed no threat whatsover. Ive not got it in him, he''s just plain and simple not the player he was and just not good enough anymore. Regarding Martin, what I meant was if its a choice between him and Brown to partner Hucks, for me Martin has done more, against Leeds and Wolves he looked sharp and given 90 minutes I think he could make an impact. Brown''s had his chance and not done much with it, so I think its Martins turn. And coming on against tired defences? Your having a laugh now arent ya, there professional athletes, able to perform for 90 mins. I didnt see any tired defenders yesterday or against Wolves, and in fact I do remember a fantastic goal line clearance late in the game against Wolves from a so called ''tired defender''. I never said Martin doesnt have to earn the right to play, just that for me he''s ahead of Brown to start, purely because he''s looked better than him in the last two games. He''s looked sharp, confident and full of self belief, so I believe he has earned the chance to start a game ahead of Brown and be given the chance to show us what he can do over 90 mins. [/quote] I''m not easily satisfied at all - it''s more a case that I don''t go out of my way to find fault. Peter Thorne did alright against Wolves, he wasn''t great but he certainly wasn''t ''diabolical''. To say his performance was diabolical is an absolute farce. Now I think you''re being a touch foolish and naive if you don''t think that lots of players legs get a bit tired towards the end of 90 minutes. I dare say if you asked any player, coach, pundit etc etc they''d tell you that people will get tired legs. That''s why Huckerby often comes to life in the second half when he knows people aren''t quite so fresh and he can have a really good run at them. I think it''d be fairer to judge Chris Brown after he''s had a couple of games with a suitable striker partner alongside him. I doubt Chris Martin would have done a lot had he started as a lone striker yesterday. 

I think Dickson is in that unfortunate position now where many City fans have got it in for him and no matter what he does they''ll never be happy with it. Etuhu is surely the kind of player that could be an assest to Norwich. He''s a big lad and he gets through quite a bit of work. Going back to last nights Canary Call somebody called in and said he pulls out of tackles which Neil very quickly discarded. It''s not true but because that person has already made up their mind about him they''ll blindly find fault. Yesterday I thought he worked fairly hard, his passing wasn''t great but we''ve seen that he can be a really good passer of the ball. He also had a couple of good surges forward into the Leeds final third. Earlier on in the season he was our best performing midfielder and one of our best players overall. Surely he and the coaches just need to find a way to bring his top form out of him all the time. I suppose it can only help if people encourage him rather than wish he didn''t feature for Norwich.

I think it''s interesting that on this thread people seem to be adopting a more...sensible/cautious approach to Lappin. Saying that although he''s played one really good game we''ll need to see more before we can judge. Yet on other places on this forum people are more or less building Chris Martin up to be the next Thierry Henry after a couple of brief appearances and expect him to be in the first team.

[quote user="BarclayMan"]  What a joke, against Wolves Thorne''s performance was pathetic, totally ineffective, he was diabolical.  so for me I think its Brown who has got to earn the right to partner Hucks and it should be Martin and Huckerby to start up front. [/quote] I don''t think it was that bad, me thinks you''ve already got it in for Thorne (and I won''t deny he''s been fairly rubbish for Norwich) but he did do alright against Wolves. To say he was diabolical is ridiculous. And then you say Brown has to earn the right to partner Huckers. But not Martin as clearly coming off the bench a couple of times with fresh legs against tired defences has earned him the right to be a first choice striker. Amazing.

[quote user="jas the barclay king"] Brown is far to clumsy! i know he has only played twice but he seems a poor striker thus far... he went round the kepper and missed when he had an open goal today! worrying! jas :) [/quote] I''m pretty sure he knew he was offside when he missed the open goal. Fair enough he''s not going to be Sammy Eto''o but he''s shown enough to suggest he could prove to be a good signing.

I think you''ve made a lot of good points, Zippers. PG said on the radio after the game that he''s not a cautious manager but starting with 1 man upfront at home against the side bottom of the league isn''t very adventurous.

[quote user="Dan Grant"]for those who attended todays game, how many of you thought martin looked lots better than brown. i thought brown looked clumsy when in possesion and kept tripping over his own feet when he had the ball. but martin looked really sharp, and his passing, abbility to turn defenders and workrate impressed me. good signs for he future providing grant brings him on every week or maybe even gives him a start. [/quote] Well they''re different types of players really. I thought Brown did the best he could today. He won the ball and he used it quite well when he had decent support. He''s not overblessed with pace though so he needs somebody alongside him. Martin looked bright when he came on but because he''s a young player coming through the youth ranks lots of people are going to be inclined to think he''s awesome. Where lots of our young players are concerned people seem to wear the rose tinted goggles. I''m not saying I don''t think he''s got ability because I think he has. I''m sure if PG thinks he''s ready for it then he''ll get definitely get a chance.

Definitely seems to be a quality player. Obviously it''s always sensible not to get carried away but he had a superb game today and seemingly had all the right attributes to continue it. Excellent left foot.

[quote user="SpanishCanary"] Both scored today and two more we ''looked at'' but didn''t try for!!!! We''re 1-0 down AGAIN!!! Someone said that Varney isn''t that good and that he''s over achieving this season, well I''ll tell you summit, I''d like to have seen him carry on over achieving and scoring for Norwich!!! wouldn''t you??? we need a goalscorer. Losing at home to poor teams, these are sad times. I don''t even live in England anymore and listening to the game on the radio is painful enough that it makes me want to support my local team here (Elche) rather than a this sad sinking ship. NO PASSION!!! NO PASSION AT ALL!!!! PATHETIC. [/quote] So let me get this straight...you weren''t at the game and you''re criticising the team (before the game was over) dubbing them pathetic with no passion. Even though we were the better side from start to finish and got the result we deserved. And you''re singing the praises of a player who plays for a team in the lower regions of the league below us who wasn''t good enough to keep his team up last year. You''re welcome to support ''Elche'' to be honest.