steakbearnaise

He scored a hattrick at the weekend and now has 15 goals so far this season. What could have been, eh?

[quote user="True Grit"]We''ve seen it time and time again, gain promotion to the top flight, couple of seasons and we''re back down. Why..??? Our style is all wrong for top flight football - to try and play like brazil in the premier league is woefully ignorant. Flair Players like Redmond and Hoolihan just WONT cut it. People are reading too much into the performance yesterday. I would much rather see us set up like Middlesbrough and defend well than have Redmond do a couple of stepovers and run it off into the corner, or Hoolihan spin around like a ballerina. We need more tenacity and dogged determination rather than individuals ‘showing off’. Get some Sex pistols playing before the game and when we score - Never mind the bollocks We were lucky yesterday, we should have walked that leauge, but it shows that the players are more concerned about going on holiday than serving the club and fans – no victory parade..?? really???[/quote]Are you the sort of person that reads this and a) fails to see the irony, and b) thinks ''yes, that''s sensible''?

[quote user="morty"]Buy one of these, all the football you''ll ever need.http://www.nanotvonline.co.uk/[/quote]How does that work? Does it even work at all? And from abroad as well? The site is a bit short on detail, but appears to claim to have everything and anything you want, on demand, for free. No subscription, you just pay for the box. That sounds too good to be true, surely?

I was totally nonplussed when we signed Jerome and assumed he would just be a backup, but he''s turned into one of my favourite players this year. Whenever he''s put on media duties his interviews are great, he''s articulate and interesting, and he''s very cool and calm even when scoring (3rd goal against Ipswich was brilliant, both the perfect poke past the keeper and the celebration). Very impressed by the way he dealt with not starting for a few periods during the season as well. BJ still player of the season, but Cam comes close for me personally. We really needed a 20 goals/season striker - I just didn''t think it would be him at the beginning of the season. Very glad that it was, though. I think he''s desperate for another chance to show he can do it in the prem, and Norwich and AN could be the team and manager to help him do that. Hope that works out, but I''ll always be grateful for and respect him for what he''s done in the last year whatever happens.

ah, ok - paragraphs do get separated in the post, but not in the preview, apparently. But I''ve definitely lost the ability to provide a proper link

someone did just post a montage of all his best times at NCFC on Vine - I wondered whether that was some sort of tribute because he is off somewhere: https://vine.co/v/OQV6awj2mXa (And for a totally off topic question - can I not post clickable links or even separate paragraphs by hitting return when using chrome? Never had a problem with firefox, but that doesn''t seem to work on my ageing work laptop anymore...)

[quote user="Reggie Strayshun"]I liken people grumbling about NA''s taking of the job to those who witter on about illegal immigrants claiming the dole/social etc. You cannot blame him/them for doing it. It is the system that''s wrong, for allowing it to happen in the first place.[/quote]Sorry for going OT, but this lazy stereotype drives me mad. Appreciate this may not be popular, but I will say it nevertheless because it is true.Illegal immigrants can''t claim the dole/social/any benefits whatsoever. If they tried to it would clearly identify them as in the country illegally and they would be deported.Legal migrants may be able to claim support, depending on their circumstances (and note that the EU''s free movement of people principle only applies to those seeking work, and there is no provision that benefits have to be paid to people who move without a job). And of course a far smaller proportion of immigrants (both EU and non-EU) do so than the "native" British population, and the overall net contribution (taxes paid minus benefits claimed) of the immigrant population is overwhelmingly positive. This is in contrast to the British expat population in other EU countries (which is roughly the same size as the number of EU migrants in the UK), in fact - a large proportion of whom are retired people in places like Spain, where they pay little in the way of income taxes yet use services such as healthcare disproportionately (plus other services in their local areas that everyone takes for granted such as roads, local authority responsibilities and so on, which aren''t necessarily paid for by their contribution to local taxes, because in many countries local tax contributions are tied to taxable income)./rant over.

[quote] Without doubt, Gunn''s tenure ended in calamitous fashion but to write off Adams reign as a similar failure does him a disservice. If we ignore the 5 Premier games he had - which were every bit as bad as anything which had gone before - he hasn''t done THAT badly. He left us in 7th place, in touching distance of the play off places and at the halfway point of the season we had achieved just about half the points (75) usually required to make the top 6. We won against - and completely outplayed - the Scum, had topped the table and had fans proclaiming that they had "their" Norwich back. Ultimately, he was unable to oversee a level of performance that was consistent enough. We could be excellent one week (Derby) and hapless the next (Reading). We certainly played like the best team in the division on occasions but we failed to make our dominance count. Adams has, honourably, taken the can for that but I''m sure that the players appreciate that they have been done a bit of a favour there. Whether Alex Neil can find the key to that consistency remains to be seen; if he does we could well go up. Should we go up, plaudits will rightly be showered upon Alex Neil and the team that saw out the season but it will also have been built on a platform of Adams. Some folk want to criticise Adams signings, in the next breath they''re suggesting that we should be top of the table because we have the best squad in the division. You can''t have it all ways. As I said, Adams left us in 7th spot. Since we were relegated in 1995, in the seasons we''ve spent in the Championship (all but 5) we''ve only bettered that as a finishing position 3 times. He wouldn''t have been my choice, he wouldn''t have been most peoples choice I''m sure. But he certainly didn''t fail in epic Gunn proportions and he did a damned sight better than many peoples choice Malky has done so far at Wigan. I don''t think this spell has tarnished his reputation either; he left a foundation to be built and improved upon and with his head held high. Perhaps he was found wanting but his stock hasn''t fallen for trying.[/quote]^ thisOne of all too few measured, thought through and intelligent posts on this forum. People need to get a sense of perspective. It didn''t work out with NA because we weren''t meeting our target of a top two finish, but it''s not as if we''re in danger of being relegated. I hope and believe that we will get better under AN, but its absurd to make out that the first half of this season has been a total disaster.On a side note, I''m still somewhat in shock that we''ve appointed AN at all. I was 100% sure when NA resigned that we were going to have Mike Phelan in charge and it didn''t fill me with any enthusiasm at all (but I''m delighted he''s staying as a coach).

according to the interview AN gave that''s on the NCFC youtube channel, he''s looking to bring his current Asst. Manager down with him, but Phelan and Holt are very much part of the plans and should be staying.

[quote user="Loopzilla"][quote user="steakbearnaise"][/quote]LOL - cheers Steak. That''s what I was trying to do! How do you attach a picture? I copied it into the edit space and in the preview it seemed OK.[/quote]I don''t know, tbh - I copied and pasted too and it looked fine in preview (but is actually distorted in the post itself). I hadn''t seen your post or I would probably have assumed it wouldn''t work and not tried to post it...

Congratulations to Ricky, although tbh I would have preferred him to stay in Norwich with the team...http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/netherlands/world-cup/news/six-pl-players-make-dutch-squad_99880.html(Couldn''t see this elsewhere on the site, but apologies if already posted somewhere)

Btw, TGMD, I meant to say that I wasn''t being critical of your post, which I thought was interesting, but I''ve seen a few posts recently where people have said Snoddy''s contribution is overrated and I wanted to put forward something to counter that.re him playing in the middle or on the left - the ideal of course would be for any of the three attacking players behind the striker in a 4231 to be interchangeable. I''m not quite sure we have that luxury, but I also don''t think we should be too concerned about having a "traditional" winger all the time. Sadly - I live abroad - I haven''t seen enough games recently in their entirety or live, so that you can really see what players are doing off the ball etc, to get a good opinion on whether Snodgrass could play in the middle.But if Benno develops this season, CH will have the luxury of being able to choose between different tactical options depending on the opposition, our own form, who is playing up front/elsewhere across the attacking line and, of course, injuries, plus an opportunity to make a substitution to exploit particular weaknesses or change the game. That would be fantastic, and I hope would drive both players even harder to deliver as much as they can. But I still think Snodgrass would be a more likely starter for now unless and until his own form drops or we see that he doesn''t, for some reason, play well in combination with the new attacking players we''ve got this season.

Not only did Snoddy score the most direct free kicks in the prem, but only 3 players anywhere in Europe scored more direct free kicks than Snodgrass last season, nobody in the prem scored a higher proportion of the free kicks they attempted, and only 2 players in Europe scored a higher percentage of their attempts. He also made more tackles than any other Norwich player last season, and had the most assists in the team. In the whole of the premier league, only one player - Leighton Baines - created more clear cut chances than Snodgrass. His 6 goals and 6 assists meant that he was directly involved in almost 1 in 3 of our (admittedly pitiful) total of 41 goals last season.http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/auzzo7zvxu-3lxa6zbzdkw/Show/Team-Focus-Keeping-Robert-Snodgrass-Will-Be-Norwichs-Best-Summer-SigningIf he "monopolised" the free kicks, then he probably deserved to. He''s not a traditional winger, pinging in crosses from the touchline, but I think he deserves his place in the team.

from the reports in the Swedish press, this looks to be a certain deal and he''s on his way at the moment to sign tomorrow. Presume there will be an official announcement then. Interestingly, though, he''s said that he''s leaving Galatasary because he''s fallen to 3rd choice striker behind Drogba and Burak Yilmas. That suggests he''s expecting to play more often at Norwich - so presumably as the 2nd, deep-lying striker with us. I''d assume, therefore, that we can be fairly sure there won''t be any more strikers or attacking midfielders added to the squad after this.

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="steakbearnaise"]It may seem pedantic, but I do sort of think it stinks that people writing about this dude can''t really bother to get his name right. His full name may be Nils Ola Toivonen, but calling him that every time you refer to him is the equivalent of insisting on referring to Bobby Moore as Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore. Swedish given names don''t always come first, so the name he goes by is Ola, not Nils Ola or Nils. I also assume that his comments were made in English, which can be no better than his third language (his dad is Finnish - I think he speaks the language - and he grew up in Sweden), or if not, they were translated, and in any case interpreted by a journalist. How anyone can make a judgement on the guy when they know pretty much nothing about him is beyond me. That said, I did ask a Swedish colleague "what''s Ola Toivenen like?" And he simply answered "overrated. We only have one good Swedish player and that''s ibrahimovic." Might be a bit unfair, but it''s more informed than most of the rest of the crap that''s been said about him. (When I said Norwich were in for him, my colleague said he''d probably be about right for us).[/quote] They were made on Tuesday night after the Sweden-Faroe Islands game in Stockholm, so probably in Swedish to Swedish journalists. [/quote] Looks like it:http://www.fotbollskanalen.se/england/toivonen-vet-inget-om-norwich-har-inte-ratt-tv-kanaler/ There''s a bit more detail here in Swedish, including on that ''long ball'' quote - he said "just because I''m tall, it doesn''t mean I like too many balls played up long", but he wasn''t suggesting that is how we play. The answer to the question about Norwich seems genuine, he hasn''t seen us this season, hadn''t heard about the bid/fee being agreed, so couldn''t say anything for the moment. As i said, if not in his third language, then translated and selectively chosen or interpreted by journalists. I suggest we keep an open mind.

It may seem pedantic, but I do sort of think it stinks that people writing about this dude can''t really bother to get his name right. His full name may be Nils Ola Toivonen, but calling him that every time you refer to him is the equivalent of insisting on referring to Bobby Moore as Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore. Swedish given names don''t always come first, so the name he goes by is Ola, not Nils Ola or Nils. I also assume that his comments were made in English, which can be no better than his third language (his dad is Finnish - I think he speaks the language - and he grew up in Sweden), or if not, they were translated, and in any case interpreted by a journalist. How anyone can make a judgement on the guy when they know pretty much nothing about him is beyond me. That said, I did ask a Swedish colleague "what''s Ola Toivenen like?" And he simply answered "overrated. We only have one good Swedish player and that''s ibrahimovic." Might be a bit unfair, but it''s more informed than most of the rest of the crap that''s been said about him. (When I said Norwich were in for him, my colleague said he''d probably be about right for us).

[quote] No. [/quote]^this[quote]Not for the first time recently I find myself grateful that the transfer negotiations were conducted by a professional businessman and not by any one of a number of posters from this board.[/quote]^and this

[quote]Having spent no money in Jan meaning we have 9 million roughly as well as next seasons budget means that we should have a massive budget to finally buy a striker worthy of the Prem and replace the deadwood we have in reserve.[/quote]Unless I''ve missed an official statement from the club confirming that we had a 9m budget for January, and that spending this would have no effect on next season''s budget, then this logic falls at the first hurdle. Even if we did bid 9m for a player in this window (unconfirmed) then you have no idea how this was structured and whether none, some or even most of that sum would have been paid in future instalments, coming from future transfer budgets. Face it:- we don''t know what any future transfer budget will be (which is as it should be, or other clubs will have too much information when the negotiate with us)- we don''t confirm the prices we pay for individual players (as it should be, see above) and many of the reported prices we have paid are certainly entirely made up or inaccurate- any transfer budget we do have will in any case have to take into account signing on fees, player wages, agent fees and potential add-ons, so is unlikely to stretch as far as you think it would, based purely on headline prices- there''s very little point in stretching expectations like this only to be disappointed. It''s likely that the club will always take into account a huge variety of things when deciding whether to bid, and how much, for a player - their age and likely resale value, experience and wider contribution to the team etc - and might stretch the budget for an excellent opportunity, but won''t spend just for the sake of it if the right options aren''t available. That''s how teams not owned by a deep-pocketed oligarch/middle-eastern royal should be run. Not all are, but ours is, so let''s be thankful for that.

[quote user="AJ"]It won''t be Curtis Davies sadly, Hughton suggested we aren''t in for him last night[/quote]The one thing, I have to say, that I really miss about Lambert is the element of surprise to our transfer dealings. I''m a big fan of CH otherwise, but I don''t understand why he''s pretty much confirmed in public all of the deals we''re trying to do - I think they should just get on and do it all behind closed doors. And on a purely personal, selfish level I''d like to be surprised by the announcement of a signing, not get my hopes up about someone previously unheard of dutchman called Dogsdick or whatever, and then be fobbed off with an MLS player and another recruit from our feeder club Leeds...But don''t get me wrong - I think Kamara looks like a brilliant character and I hope he does fantastically at the club, and I''d welcome Becchio as well.Separate question - do people think Jackson will go today, either a) if we get Becchio (whether Moro goes to Leeds or not?) or b) if we get Becchio and Hooper?

Kamara tweeted this picture: https://twitter.com/keikamara/status/296637654991261697/photo/1 10 minutes ago, which suggests he''s in the US and not anywhere near Norwich right now...That doesn''t mean he definitely is there, of course, but if he isn''t he appears to want people to think he is.

[quote user="Proper Charlie"]No number 5?[/quote]I assume that will go to Garrido, who isn''t on this list. No 18 either, though - room for another signing?

*Slight geek alert*without looking into the numbers myself, I suspect that if you had a much larger dataset of examples to draw on you would find that the probability of a team getting relegated following promotion to the Prem is highest following a single season, then next highest following the second season, and a bit lower after each season, eventually tending towards zero for an indefinite stay in the top division. From fairly shaky memories of A-level statistics (a long time ago - and congratulations, btw, to anyone getting their results today), I think this would be modeled in a graph by what is called a poisson distribution. So although the statistical probability of us getting relegated this season might not seem that high, it could nevertheless be the single most likely season for us to go down, now that we have successfully avoided relegation in our first season. Extrapolating with entirely made up numbers from the figures given by bumblefart above, the probability might look something like this:Relegated after first season: 44%after 2nd season: 12%after 3rd: 9%after 4th: 7%after 5th: 6%and so on.None of that takes into account changes in the team or other teams in the division or anything else, but if you were a lazy journalist then it wouldn''t be a bad guess to assume that at least one of Swansea, Norwich or QPR will go down this season - all other things being equal, a statistician would say there is a reasonable probability of that happening. Or at least if you were going to put a bet on which specific season we will get relegated, then the most likely one would be this season coming (and that would in fact be the case at any point in time).*end of geek bit*I don''t think we''ll go down though, and I haven''t seen much real analysis of our chances from the mainstream media which is, as always, irritating. So I share bumblefart''s frustration at lazy journalism, but think the SSS assumption might nevertheless have more foundation than suggested.

[quote user="dpit"]You had been there for sometime (maybe 3 years?). While you were there you gave your all, were professional and effective. As you are a fairly ambitious person you had always kept your eyes open for other opportunities. When a company slightly bigger than yours with an impressive history showed interest in you, you were flattered and looked into it. They were offering a better package and a challenge that would be difficult but you''re always up for that sort of thing. So you spent some time deciding what to do and in the end you plumped for the new challenge. Your company understood completely, this is the way the world works, they had used the same approach to employ you in the first place. Did you have have hundreds of people laying into you for being a disloyal, backstabbing, money grabbing basket? Thought not.[/quote]Actually, I did. Well by my previous boss, at least, who used most of those words and more, and tried to humiliate me in front of other colleagues and refused to accept my resignation and got so fed up with me continuing to smile and be pleasant that she eventually put me on gardening leave for the final 7 weeks of my contract.But then she was completely crazy, with serious interpersonal and anger management issues, and was fired less than 12 months after I left when the business had gone down the pan. Hopefully there''s some sort of lesson there...

[quote user="Shankslad"]Have to take issue about the beer - you don''t have beer in Belgium and Germany.   You have lager!   A horrible continental concoction of fizzy chemicals and froth.   You need to take opportunity to drink some good ole English Ale and in nect to no time you''ll be morris dancing all over the town!!! [/quote]Now this is just provocation! I have to defend poor Belgium which, although actually a very nice place to live, has so little going for it in terms of international reputation apart from beer (OK, there''s chocolate, Tintin, Poirot, Eddy Merckx and a little pissing boy, but that still doesn''t amount to much).  If you can get hold of it, have a few bottles of Orval and tell me that Belgium doesn''t do beer properly. If you can still stand after a few bottles of Orval, of course...