Patches OHoolahan

I realise that some of those players will move on and they don''t have a keeper right now, but that is a top first 11 for the Championship. Last time Nugent was in this league he was a cut above, and along with Tommy Smith and Danny Webber, they have a potent looking attack.

He was in prison but is due out this week. I wouldn''t touch him to be honest, more trouble than he''s worth, generally a quite disgraceful human being.

What a refreshing change of pace his interview was. Nice to have a little insight into how the players aim to make the diamond work, and from what he says I think it may be a little different to what it was last year. But in the main good to see an interview mostly absent from the well worn cliches that pervade the English footballing world.

Not so much a suggestion of songs to sing here, but a comparison of atmosphere, the Besiktas fans are pretty amazing, so loud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUN96KzAlDM&feature=related

I still think that Darrel would be an asset to our team. Despite the comments of Beau et al, he played like an on form Michael Carrick against Gillingham, having the ability to spray the ball around the park as well as breaking up the play superbly. Yes it was against Gillingham, but I believe he could still do a similar job in the Championship. Apologies if he looked awful in the other games towards the end of the season, I was unable to attend most of them.

It maybe a problem, but I feel we are better equipped to deal with it this season than we were last. Jackson and Martin as a partnership in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Hughes/Surman/Macnammee just in behind the front two, and a midfield trio behind that.

I could see the scenario of Surman on one wing and Macnammee working if Smith is as good at bombing on as has been said. However it is difficult to say that right now. Also I''m not convinced by Macnammee on the right, whereas on the left I think he could be a real asset. My personal opinion, ignorant as I may be, is that it''s better to have a pacey threat from both wings rather than just one, as the defenders would not know where to turn. That said the trend in football at present seems to be turning towards having one winger ''tuck in''. Morty you are correct that at present this is all just speculation, and I too trust Lambert''s decision making skills, however isn''t speculation a large part of this message board?

Yes but my point was related to genuine right wingers, none of those players fulfill that criterion in my mind, I don''t believe they have the pace, skill or positional sense to be described as such. You are correct that we could still sign a player, and I hope we get in someone like Danny Green, but that is by no means guaranteed listening to the way that PL has been talking.

I appreciate how well the diamond worked for us last year, and hopefully it continues to do so, but do we have another formation to fall back on? A standard 4-4-2 doesn''t look like an option to me, with a dearth of right wingers at present, and only McNamee as a senior out and out winger. Any suggestions for how PL might change things if the diamond goes wrong?

I would say that one of the main things Lambert will have to consider is keeping the solidity we had in midfield last season. As such I could see Korey starting alongside Crofts and Surman in the midfield, or maybe switch Surman for Fox, so you have two really creative forces in Surman/Fox and Hoolahan in the side at any one time.

I reckon we could have had a combination in Liam Dickinson, but unfortunately Barnsley beat us to the punch. I think that Jackson would be a good signing, and probably the best that we could afford realistically, unless we could get someone like Nugent or Ebanks-Blake in on loan, but not sure how keen Lambert would be on something like that.

Shittu is a centre back, and Kingson is truly awful, very unreliable keeper over a few games let alone a season. Finnan or Butterfield are good shouts at right back but they don''t strike me as Paul Lambert style players. Any of those strikers would be good but we need another strong striker, in the Holt mould, the only one I could come up with was Dickinson who just joined Barnsley. Any suggestions other than Scotland?

Having scoured Cardiff messageboards for opinions, it seems that the majority are pleased to see him go, but equally Dave Jones played the lad out of position often on the wing, and he rarely saw first team action making it difficult for a full impression to be established. I have my reservations but I also think that he has the makings of a potential Dixon Etuhu style midfielder only with better long range passing according to his own comments when he signed for Cardiff, so hopefully we''ve found ourselves a bargain here, if not its only 150k, which isn''t too much of a gamble for a club which really should be at least at Championship level.

Sometimes I wonder why I look on this forum...

Does anyone know where I can find highlights of the 4-4 draw against Middlesbrough from the Premiership season? I''ve had a look on youtube but have been unsuccessful, just wanted to relive the emotions of that day once again! Cheers!

An amusing thread Morty, made all the more so by the moronic misinterpretations of certain posters, and the inane ramblings of a bored middle aged woman who appears to be the self-appointed m/b police, in addition to her new role as steward of poster''s lives.

... something simpler and nicked from the plymouth away trip last year... "doo doo doo Jens Berthel Askou, doo doo doo he''s got a shiny head"  

Were you on Ipswich station Smudge?!

You misspelt county, with Norwich on the decline they''re thinking of another move... The Dons coming to a city/town near you soon...

Looking at the release of various sought after Stockport players such as the ''keeper Williams, and Oli Johnson I couldn''t help but think that these are the players we should be thinking about going for. They are players that premier league clubs are interested in, but whats to say an offer of first team football couldn''t get these young, hungry prospects to Carrow Road. Yes we need to balance them out with more experienced players, such as Sodje if we could get him, but we shouldn''t be looking to get the cast offs of lower league sides, we should be going for their prize assets. Lets be ruthless, and take advantage of Stockport''s administration, and show a little bit of grit in the transfer market- no longer can we be ''little old norwich'', I''d rather we were ''Dirty Norwich'' within the bounds of legality!

Norwich actually played well to beat Forest away, in the final matches of Calderwood''s regime, however by the time we played them at home, Roeder''s reign was coming to an end, and I think circumstances prevailed in both cases.

To be fair I thought/hoped at the start of the season that Norwich would just about be in the hunt for 6th place, and I believed that Forest would be in a similar position if not better. I realise I was wrong, but I still think that they had a strong squad, the likes of Earnshaw, Tyson, Garner, Cole and later Blackstock scream goals at this level, despite their initial failings. The main difference between the two was investment in permanent players, which Forest has due to their ambition and a wealthy backer. Norwich had neither of these really.

I think the debate here is essentially to do with certain fans maintaining a stance of disdain towards the board and management at present, and failing to appreciate those who are prepared to give Gunn a little bit of time, or perhaps are resigned to his continuation as manager at present with the current board. Smudger''s posts have always been characterised by a sort of ''with me or against me'' attitude and I see this continues in the post-relegation era, despite a degree of agreement with his views on the board, if not the way in which he expresses these opinions.

Mods can we have this imitation thread deleted please, and it is not me chicken, just a mimic.

Fairly predictable responses from certain members of this message board tbh. The realisation that I have come to is that for the first few games at least we will have Gunn in charge, and if we want to win those games it will be a lot easier if we support the players, rather than chanting for Gunn''s head immediately. By all means if he fails to win in those first few games we will be entitled to protest, call for his resignation etc. However it also seems to me that at the present moment board room change is the most important worry for the club, and with the current system in place it is unlikely that Gunn will be sacked within the first few games, nor would we necessarily get a better alternative in place due primarily to the board''s lack of footballing knowledge. If we were to have a new board in place before the start of the season, I could see Gunn having less time than he would at present. My main point really is that I want my team to win football matches and I think that this is best achieved by supporting the players and manager, at least until it becomes clear that Gunn is not going to achieve the desired results. To look at things in the short and long term, one might say that it would be best for City to get rid of Gunn in the long term, this may be the case, but for the time being i don''t think we have much choice, as it is in the boardroom where long term change lies. In the short term I don''t want City to fail so I see supporting my team, not the board, as the prime concern.