Patches OHoolahan

Still not here then?

Right, let me clarify that I''m not getting carried away and thinking all our problems have gone just because we beat the scum, but where are the likes of Smudger and Cluck- you''re Norwich fans too, join the party seriously!

How many times will we see the "I must have missed your tenure as England manager" quote on this m/b by the end of the season? I''ve lost count already, but I would say it''ll be about 500.

Looking at the many derogatory comments about Sibierski, I wander what went wrong with him? He started off so promisingly against Plymouth and yet has now seemingly gone down the pan. From what i have seen of him, he does spend a lot of time on the ground after challenges, and should not be treated as the target man we seemingly bought him as. Would he not be better deployed as a link up man, who can hold the ball up then distribute to an onrushing midfield, possibly with Hoolahan playing alongside him in an advanced role. You could then play a 4-3-3 formation, although now I have to question whether Sibierski''s confidence is shot to bits- he looked quality before he came here and look what''s happened, similar to many of our new recruits in some ways.

Having read certain posts on how we can''t unite the fans in protest, or in outright support of the manager and board I feel i should point out one thing that should unite us. We are all Norwich fans, does this not mean that we should support our club, and that doesn''t mean the board, the manager or even specifically the players, it is the entity in itself that we must support. Although it''s been hard for me to get to games this season because of certain circumstances, when I go I choose to show my support for my club by singing my heart out. I realise that this might be new to the south stand but if a few people started maybe more and more would join in. I am not saying that we should all agree on what is for the best for our club, but why let circumstances such as disliking the manager or the board get in the way of loving our club, which I feel is best expressed through singing On the Ball City... or any number of other songs which you care to mention.

Deviating slightly from the original point of the thread, what makes a sort of ''coalition'' between Delia etc and Cullum so unfeasible- I know he said he would want complete control for the investment of £20 million, but does that have to be purely on business terms, could Delia etc not retain their shareholding, PC buy up new shares and take control, with Delia and Michael as members of the board in a lesser capacity to present. Or is it that if Delia and co are to break from the club, they would want a complete separation rather than a partial one. It is quite a subjective issue, and can be swung in either direction IMO...

GJP, his heart may well have been in the right place, but it was surrounded by a fatty layer of cholesterol, which inhibited him slightly.

A pertinent question Smudge. I was meaning particularly on this messageboard, which I appreciate does not constitute a direct challenge to the position of the board. However you haven''t really answered my question, as to the future of the club should there be nobody to replace the current board- how would you move forward? Would you protest against the board, boycott the club through a refusal to buy club merchandise, or maybe even organise your own little ''Smudge Putsch'' from the beer halls of Norwich?

Sharp Shooter, yours are some of the weirdest posts I have ever read on this forum, but somehow depsite the idiocy it makes me laugh.

Slater, I agree with your points, and also see this as the depressing situation we are in at present re investment. While I accept a certain degree of frustration with our current board, I also don''t see how protesting will help the club find new investment, if the board are genuinely aiming to find new investment, which at least seems the case with the appointment of Harris. I also appreciate the inextricable link between off the pitch activities with regard to investment and on the pitch success, but again should we not try and make the best of our current situation. We have a good squad in my opinion all be it with several loans, as well as an experienced manager who took us on a superb run last year to avoid the drop as well as playing better football than other sides, and whilst I am not happy with Roeder''s AGM comments and other aspects of his performance, I too feel he should be given time to do a job.  This view could theoretically render us fans impotent with regards to forcing change, but perhaps it is this feeling that impassions the arguments of those who would have us boycott games etc; just to feel like they are doing something, giving them a need to lash out. I too feel strongly about Norwich: it is the team I have supported from childhood, but I see no virtue in the destructive methods of the anti-board camp, nor do I think everything is rosy, we need to support the team as best as we can in our current circumstances, and simply hope that we demonstrate the quality  necessary to take the club to its full potential, if we have no imminent outside investment. 

Hypothetically speaking, if we knew for a fact that there was absolutely no outside investment forthcoming in NCFC, how would people propose we move forward? Given all the calls for the board to go and Roeder to be sacked, would people still be shouting so loudly if they knew there was nobody there to replace them? Remember this is hypothetical, I don''t want to be polarised into either the pro/anti-board camps, as I don''t feel particularly affiliated with either.

I''m a Norwich supporter not a Forest fan, or even a Crystal Palace fan.

After yet another disappointing result, I wonder what people think GR''s main problem is? For me the team seem to lack confidence, and motivation, although it also seems evident that we have been tactically naive for most of this season, and ill-disciplined when it comes to the basics. However, what sort of manager would do better than GR, another Peter Grant type motivator? Or someone completely different? How many tactical geniuses in managment terms do you know out of the game who would work for very little, or any lower league managers with the nouse to get us out of this situation with very little money. I have said previously that on paper our squad is very good, but who can marshal the players effectively, and also provide some more permanent sigings for little money? I await your thoughts, as a disgruntled but not yet beaten Norwich fan.

Nottm Forest have won 1 game in 13, and while I also thought they had a good squad Cam, its not proving true in practise. Similar to our own situation you might say, however we have players of championship/premiership experience/quality, admittedly with Stefanovic out we are lightweight at centre back now but teams like Blackpool are only doing better than us because they play as a unit, but with mediocre players. I agree that Earnshaw is quality at this level, as is Lee Martin, but who else have they got at this level who has done well, while their defense is leaking goals ata ridiculous rate at times. Gazza, i couldn''t agree more that we need to transfer our quality on paper onto the pitch, but I retain faith that we will do that at some point soon. They will only live up to the 2003/4 team when they do what you say, but why can''t they? Is it not possible, or even feasible that we may start to play as a team, who work hard, close down and do all the simple things well with the quality to separate us from other sides like our championship winning side. Vor I take your points, which are pertinent as an outsider, but I retain my ''overly-optimistic'' viewpoint of things and I would contest our sqaud strength again compared to most in this league. Brum, Reading, Sheff U and Wolves are the stand out squads for me, we''ve beaten two and drawn with one of the four already, if we play consistently against the other teams in this league why couldn''t we win most of our home games. Our away form does concern me as well, but we can rectify that if we start to work as a more cohesive unit IMO. our strength in the 2003/4 season seemed to be good defense backed up with that ability to nick a goal, bar the Burnley game of course. And Cluck, as you failed to provide a constructive criticism of my post I shall lower myself to your level and quote my namesake: "Holy hell son, you''re about as useful as a c*ck flavoured lollipop!"

I have to disagree with CDMullins on this. Player for player we are better than most in this league, it is the lack of team cohesion and motivation that has let us down at times, as well as ill-discipline in Rusty''s case. We are not better in these departments when compared to the Championship winning side, that I will concede, but in terms of individual raw talent, we are IMO. Wiz, may I ask which part of my post you have a problem with, or perhaps it''s all of it? Surely you must see that our team is far more balanced than in previous years, and while I continue to disagree with the decision to release Huckerby, this has helped matters somewhat. He is an ingredient we are lacking when compared to the championship side; that enigmatic match winner but it seems unlikely that we will have another of those any time soon. That is what set us apart from other teams, as well as a settled defense which I believe could be achieved if we persisted with a backline of Otsemobor, Stefanovic, Doherty and Drury.

Sounds like the Swans are a bit inconsitent to me, like ourselves and most other clubs in the championship, therefore there is no reason to suppose we couldn''t give them a good thrashing if we are on our game and play it sensibly from a defensive perspective. 

I see where you''re coming from chicken but I can''t see GR being that adventurous in all honesty with regards the wing-backs, but I think the 4-5-1 could be very effective away from home should we have a strong enough striker to hold the ball up. I think if Hoolahan could be used in that way against teams like Brum we may be able to beat the defensive collossus that is Lee Carsley and other defensive midfielders; if we could drag him out of position then the Brum back 4 would lack the protection that has seen them concede relatively few goals this season. I know we''ve already played them but it''s more a suggestion for future games. I am not Glenn Roeder, nor do I eagerly anticipate the latest release of Football manager! Just my view on what could be a good way of beating Swansea, and other teams.

From my very limited knowledge of the Swansea team, and tactical knowledge in general, I think the main threats we''ll have to deal with will be Jason Scotland and Ferrie Bodde as well as other onrushing midfield players. My suggestion is that we play 2 holding players in clingan and Pattison, and two out and out wide players in Croft/Bell/Hoolahan. One or other of Clingan/ Pattison can double up marking Scotland, and we also have a spare player to track Bodde''s runs into the box. If we are quick to break their attacks down we should hopefully have a wide player spare on the wing ready for distribution from either the holding players or the defense. If Swansea aren''t coming at us we may have to draw them out, in which case I think that the wide positions would again be our best bet as the spine of the Swansea team seems quite strong, so if we doubled up with the fullbacks running beyond the wide player and the holding player giving another option back up the field I think we could use our strength in numbers against them. I realise that a lot of this strategy is contingent on good delivery from wide positions but with Bell out there we can get at least some good balls in the box for the strikers to attack.

Good post agree with most if not all of that. We have to give him a chance with his own players, even if that''s just based on last years miracle.

Now I may be shouted down as a board apologist, Roeder supporter or anything else people may come up with, but I think the squad we have at present is very strong compared to most in the league. This is the source of frustration for me in that we are not living up to our potential. However I can see us hitting a run of form potentially better than that of our purple patch last year, because our squad is definitely better now, regardless of what you think of Roeder''s loan policy or his arrogant personality. Could we have even considered a frontline of Antoine Sibierski and Leroy Lita under Peter Grant, I don''t think so even if they were loans. We have the quality, we just have to show it on a more consistent basis. I realise the board have said that there will be little or no money available to GR this coming transfer window, but if we can retain most of our loan players, bar maybe Lita who seems almost certain to move elsewhere, then we can at least get in the playoffs. Optimistic maybe, but as a supporter who was not old enough to comprehend the glory days of the early ''90s I have to retain faith that one day we could go back to the pinnacle of our potential as a club, playing good football and winning against the odds. That is why the club will have my full support, I shall never wish Norwich to lose, nor be relegated in order to oust the current board or the current manager. The likes of Cluck, Wiz and Smudger may now say that I have my hands over my eyes and don''t want to see the mess that this club is in and  the new depths to which we could plummet, but that is not true, I see where we could go in a more optimistic light. Currently we have a squad stronger than our championship winning team IMO, and while off the field activity is important  it is on the pitch where our real future will be decided and we have a league that is ripe for domination by a team other than Wolves at our mercy.

"Come on Etuhu it''s a contact sport! Not bloody sudoku!" and just prior to his wonder goal against Wigan: "Don''t pass it to Svennson..he''s s**t!"

''Attack her'' eh Wiz? I shall tear them apart like a lion would a small furry animal, with words of course... 

Couldn''t agree more about the strength of our squad, even if most of our frontline is made up of loans, it''s still the strongest we''ve had for a while. I''m hopeful that in the next few games we may see the team gel a bit more, and maybe go on a run of wins, naive perhaps, but a man can dream... 

I fear the thread has drifted off course...   Bravo...

To get a bit of postive energy and pride for our club flowing on the message board why don''t we have a sing along! Just add the next bit on the song...   KICK IT OFF!!!...