6/7 and then there was one....

[6/7 and then there was one....]

you shoudlnt read too much into the 7 signings talk, lambert mentioned it as a rough figure and fans have jumped on it as a definite number we''ll sign. i fully expect it to be more than 7, possibly reaching 9 by transfer window closes, with a good 5-6 leaving as well

[If we signed just three more players....]

we''ll 100% get a new keeper, most likely as back up to ruddy. i think a right back and centre back + 1 more midfielder. lambert said he wants 7 players, but i think we might get 1 or 2 more than 7. squad depth is essential as now being in the prem we can''t just go out and sign a loanee in october if theres a couple of injuries or lack of form.

[LAMBERT - BOXING CLEVER]

has there been much negativity about our transfer activity thus far?! all i''ve seen is mostly positive comments about our approach, of course at every club there''ll be some that just want to moan at everything and are never happy, but i''d say 95% of the fans are delighted with the way our squads shaping up for next season as well as with the names we are being linked with currently.

[John Ruddy]

i''d be shocked if he wasnt No.1 keeper at start of the season. He improved vastly from a shaky 1st month, proven himself to be a good shotstopper and made numerous crucial saves at crucial times last season, last minute at home to sheff utd immediately springs to mind when at 3-2. Also his distribution is excellent and vital to the way we play, he doesnt hesitate when throwing/kicking to ball to a defender and always looking to start moves quickly, basically a lot of the time he sets the tone for the pace we play the game. I think he''ll do well next season as well, of course he''ll make an error or two, as every keeper will do, but he''ll save us a few tight games im sure

[Swansea showing more ambition then us!]

anyone remember nathan ellington? prolific in the championship with wigan, scored over 30 goals in their promotion season. think he joined WBA after that and did f-all in the prem, couldnt hack it, wasted £3m. just saying spending a lot of money on a player doesnt mean you''re more ambitious and doesnt mean it''ll bring success, may mean you''re more wasteful.

[Bid for Morison turned down, Morison asks to leave]

id take both, we have to be realistic...we''re not going to be able to sign proven premiership strikers. lambert hasnt got much wrong in the transfer market, and as we have seen with holt a striker in the right environment and system can flourish, even when approaching their 30''s, no reason why both those strikers won''t be a handful and score a few goals next season. i also point out jon walters at stoke this season, never really rated him at ipswich in championship yet hes been brilliant for stoke scoring his fair share of important goals. a strike force of holt, jackson, morison and vaughan looks very good in my opinion, all adding different strenghts to create a great mix up top

[OT - 2 championship sides in the Europa League]

if birmingham have any sense they will throw their 1st round match and get knocked out. getting through to group stage will be distasterous for their chances of getting back up, many of their midweek league games will be rearranged due to having to play every other thursday till xmas, and the fixture congestion post xmas would cripple them badly. same for blackpool if they get in, its not worth trying to progress to group stages as it will significantly hinder their chanes of promotion. shame as they probably wouldnt get another chance at europe, but thats price they have to pay for getting relegated.

[If he did go, we know he wont....]

this is such a pointless thread, hes not going!! and why would anyone want ady boothroyd as manager?! failed playing hoof ball for consecutive seasons

[Norwich City - The Hollywood movie]

damian lewis as zak whitbread, small part i know but is a dead ringer for him!

[So what are people actually expecting from next season?]

I expect a good old scrap to survive and think we may just do it, between 14th and 17th for me. I''m struggling to believe others who think we''ll be comfortable mid-table tho!

[Will we start signing players as soon as the play-offs are over?]

it was completely different for ian holloway tho for two reasons, one was he couldnt start any business until the play offs had ended, secondly the club has a policy of sticking to a max wage of £10k a week, so he cannot compete with clubs in championship even for players. our situation is completely different, i imagine at least 1 or 2 signings by start of June and for most of his signings to be made by pre season start

[This Suad is far better than when we went up last time]

lets not forget we were playing doherty up front a the beginning on our last prem campaign. overall id say this team is better than 2004 team, and with some quality additions we''ll compete a lot better as well

[NCFC v Coventry - predictions?]

5-4 win, ruddy with a last minute pen to win....with lappin storming off at the end because of this

[Who Do you want to come up with us?]

definately not cardiff or forest, despise both their managers. dont really like the thought of a welsh side in the english premiership so not feeling swansea. nothing against reading, but id quite like shane long and jimmy kebe so keeping them down would help that!

[Your favourite late late late goal this season?]

The 1st vs Swansea in august, not our latest goal but coming moments after Ruddy saved a pen in 88th minute or whatever. Sensed a goal could come from the other ones, whereas facing going a goal down to be one up moments later so late on was incredible, against what turned out to be one of our main rivals

[Season Awards. A quick 10]

Player of the Season - Grant Holt

Favourite Match - Derby- Home, wild celebrations at end will live long in memory

Best Goal - Jackson 2nd vs Derby

Best Opponents - Swansea

Best Opposing Fans - Scunthorpe...small but good natured in being destroyed

Moment thought we could do it - QPR at home

Lowest Point - Preston Home, mainly for THAT pen

Best Opposing Player - Jimmy Kebe

Unsung Hero - 4th Official, always willing to put 4-5 mins of stoppage time when we needed a goal

Sum up Lambert in 3 words - The New Fergie

[Who thinks Cardiff will be 2nd going into the last game?]

portsmouth are bottom of the form table i believe and we are 2nd................for that simple reason im very confident of a norwich win and for it all to remain in our hands come 7th may. plus we have the joint best away record in the league as well!

[Cardiff Prediction]

yes 7 wins in a row, thats why i was saying theyll now come unstuck. that form cannot be sustained no matter how good you are, one dodgy pen/sending off and it can all start going wrong. even if they stay unbeaten next 2 games with 2 draws thatll still be great for us. im just stating my opinion that reading will fall away a bit and they wont be challenging us come the last game for 2nd

[Cardiff Prediction]

i am absolutely certain reading will not win their next 2 games against leicester and leeds. its illogical for them to continue winning, not even chelsea and utd put 7-8 game winning run together. they will come unstuck and i dont think they are to be worried about. between us and cardiff and we will edge it!

[Come on..........We can still do this!]

im still very optimistic, not losing last night was crucial as a loss would of really dampened the mood around the team i feel. But we finished strongly and could of nicked the win and we can take that into friday. I think cardiff are the only challengers with us for 2nd as swansea''s away form is poor and they have 3 tough away games, and im certai reading will come unstuck in the next few games. having a great run yes but its very unusual in this league for such long winning runs and i think theyll drop points against leicester leeds and coventry. just my gut feeling on the run in, and maybe completely wrong but one thing certain is that therell be a few more twists and turns and will go to the final game with everything to play for. plenty to be optimistic about and i am confident we''ll be celebrating big style come 7th may!

[Championship Table of last 21 Games]

This makes great reading and shows how much this side has improved over the season and how we are now flying. Interesting to see how much Cardiff have tailed off and how Swansea shouldnt be as feared as they like to make us think we should be. Also shows that maybe QPR aren''t by far the best side in the championship as the media think.

Table of last 21 games:

1st - Norwich +19 - 43 pts

2nd - QPR +15 - 41 pts

3rd - Reading +15 - 38 pts

4th - Leeds +12 - 36 pts

5th - Hull +9 - 35 pts

6th - Millwall +12 - 34 pts

7th - Leicester +8 - 34 pts

8th - Watford +10 - 33 pts

9th - Swansea +7 - 33 pts

10th - Bristol +6 - 33 pts

11th - Notts F +5 - 33 pts

12th - Pompey +5 - 32 pts

13th - Burnley -1 - 31 pts

14th - Cardiff +2 - 30 pts

15th - Ipswich +2 - 28 pts

16th - M''boro +1 - 28 pts

17th - Palace -8 - 25 pts

18th - Barnsley -7 - 22 pts

19th - Preston -8 - 20 pts

20th - Coventry -9 - 18 pts

21th - Doncaster -21 - 17pts

22nd - Derby -19 - 14 pts

23rd - Scunthorpe -34 - 14 pts

24th - Sheff Utd -20 - 13 pts

[So who gets dropped now?]

id be shocked if it isnt pacheco and holt up front next game. liverpool wouldnt let him come here to sit on the bench. plus hes a more natural partner for holt than vokes who is a similar mould. its great to have vokes tho as some quality back up to holt if he gets injured/suspended. our squad depth really is superb for the run in, so many different options to call upon. i certainly believe our rivals will be casting jealous eyes over us for getting pacheco in

[Cross bar challenge]

i had a go last season, was brilliant to have a kick around on the pitch in front of a full house! as the previous poster wrote, the balls are deflated like beach balls so all the practice i had done the day before with a proper ball was wasted! just a ploy to make sure you dont hit it more than once i think

[Forest game on Sky]

the big issue here that no one has touched upon is the fact with the swansea game being moved to the evening the week before the forest game we will have one heck of a tough week made all the more harder having to play 3 crucial matches in a very short amount of time than what would of been the case.

swansea 5.15 ko on 9th april

watford 7.45 ko 12th april

forest 7.45 ko 15th april

all 3 are direct rivals for promotion and will the outcome of which will surely decide our season. so thanks sky for bunching up 3 massive games into 6 days.

[Play-offs not at Wembley]

well if they did stand up to them uefa would simply say we''ll play it somewhere else then. not much of an issue, this was known 2 years ago when it was announced wembley had got the final.