Jez

I''d be surprised if we bought him. Also disappointed. He''s no better than what we have, and I don''t think he''s good enough for the prem anymore. Given that Swansea seem to have come to the same conclusion it would be a right lack of ambition from us if we mopped him up

I''ve seen a few hints of people being dissatisfied, like sending McNally questions on twitter demanding to know why we haven''t bought more players and insinuating that the two we''ve brought in aren''t good enough. I can understand the frustration, as the past couple of summers we''ve done our business very early on, but it also annoys me, ''cos they''re not giving Hughton a chance. It ill be a very challenging year regardless of who we sign, survival is still the only goal, but to start writing off our team two days into pre-season training seems pretty premature. I''m fairly confident that we will add to our squad further by the end of the summer, but please, let''s give our new manager a chance!

We already have a countdown...to OTBC! I think we should go back to singing it right as it''s kicked off rather than just before. Always liked it when the stadium was quiet then just as the ball gets kicked it erupts into OTBC, more intimidating or the opposing team that way.

[quote user="CambsCanary"]"Not the Gary Kemp the pop star, it;s the Gary kemp NCFC''s own head gardener." ''True'', as the ex-New Romantic would no doubt have put it. But on a deeper level it surely begs the question of what our own star gardener sings. Maybe he''s currently belting out (to the tune of ''Gold''): "Holt, Always believe in your goals, You''ve got the power to score, You''re indestructible ..." My money''s on "Sing while I''m mowing, I only sing when I''m mowing ...". Anyone at the ground (or even Morrison''s) who can find out?[/quote]I think we should start singing that Holt song...

I think the "Cody''s simply not good enough" brigade are being a little unfair on the lad.  He scored 25 goals for Gils last season, so clearly he''s improved since he played for us.  It may be the case that he''s not good enough for the prem yet, but I can see him doing a good job at a League 1 or Championsip team if we loaned him out again, and as a young player still has time to develop.I wouldn''t be particularly sad to see him sold as I think what he needs now is first team football and he won''t get that with us this season, but another loan spell and perhaps he''ll be good enough next season.  So I wouldn''t be annoyed to see him sign a new contract either.  I certainly wouldn''t write him off quite yet.

[quote user="City1st"]But how will non Premier League players know how to play Premier League football. You wait till the first game. Wigan will kick off and Norwich''s players will be expecting Wigan to pass to one of their players who might pas it to another or hit it forward. Just the same with corners and goal kicks. Tthe Norwich players will be expecting a Wigan player to kick the ball into play towards the goal or upfield for the latter .. and will be caught out. Have you seen how Premier League players take throw ins, how the ball is usually in FRONT of them when they are running with it. We are in for a big shock. Players should not be allowed to play in any Premier League game (for any club) unless they have played in the Premier League before, with lots of games so they are experienced. Personally it''s the fans I''m worried about. Many at Carrow Road have never seen Premier League football so we need more Premier League fans. Perhaps the club could bring in some of the old regulars to replace the kids and happy clappies who will struggle.[/quote]City1st, winning here!

[quote user="ChelmsfordCanary"]Not got an ''obsession'' with experienced prem players, just in years gone by we have always had the odd one to steady the ship, now I fully agree with your comments that experience comes with higher wage bill and im talking about one or two players fitting this category and would not leave our club in ''financial'' ruin if we go down. Just opened the subject for debate..... [/quote]Wasn''t saying you in particular, just this board in general.  We seem to keep on coming back to the same comments on needing experienced players.

Because it''s Lambert''s choice and in Lambert we trust!

Doesn''t Cody only have a year left on his contract?  Now would be a good time to sell him coming off a 25 goal season at Gills if he doesn''t have a future with us.

I agree with Shark Attack, this obsession with "experienced premiership players" is crazy.  The only ones we''ll be able to get are journeymen like Bullard, and they''re all likely to be on huge wages.  I prefer the strategy we''re taking now as it''s not going to financially ruin us if we go down, and if we do go down we won''t be forced to sell and destroy our team.  And if we stay up, well then we''ll have an entire team of experienced PL players!

Grant Holt doesn''t do push ups, he pushes the earth down.FACT

[quote user="star_manic"][quote user="AJ Wizard"]Hmm, if Liverpool don''t feel he is ready for the premier league, then, why should we? He did well for us last year when we got a few glimpses of him, but is that enough?[/quote] are you saying that our midfield is as good as liverpools? i some how think he would get in our team a lot easier than pools.[/quote]I think the point AJ was making is about the comment of them trying to loan him to other Championship clubs.  If they thought he was good enough for the prem then surely they would be looking for lower Premier clubs to loan him to.  At least I assume that''s the point being made.Although as a previous poster pointed out it''d just a rumour in a paper, so perhaps Liverpool are trying to loan him to other PL clubs.

[quote user="NauruDude"]So youre saying the Spanish and French leagues are the same???? The number of games are same in all those leagues and the number of points you can gain over the season are the SAME. That means the number of points needed to avoid relegation will be about the same.[/quote]No, I wouldn''t say the French and Spanish leagues are the same, that''s exactly my point, they''re all different.  Having the same amount of points available is a factor, but that doesn''t take into account the fact that some leagues may be closer than others.  If we look at the premier league (which I know isn''t identical every year but is the closest we can look at) then 40points would usually mean that there are 5 or 6 teams below you.  Last season was actually a bit of an anomaly in that 40 points was only just enough.Sure more than 40 points gives you a better chance, as in 2003 West Ham went down with 42 points, but I don''t see any reason to argue that the general rule of thumb has changed, certainly by using other leagues.  Last season the Isthmian North had 21 teams and 40 points would''ve seen you 16th but the Southen division had 22 teams and 40 points got you 21.  Hence my point, it''s like comparing apples with oranges.

[quote user="NauruDude"]Why cant you compaer them. If it can happen in 20-team leagues around us then it can happen in our 20-point league. We just have to aim higher.[/quote]Because they''re not the same league.  Apples, oranges and all that jazz!

[quote user="NauruDude"]Mallorca 44 --------------- Deportivo 43 Hércules 35 Almería 30 Nice 46 ---------- Monaco 44 Lens 35 Arles 20 Wolves 40 ------------ Birmingham 39 Blackpool 39 West Ham 33 Lecce 41 ------------ Sampdoria 36 Brescia 32 Bari 24 Last season the AVERAGE 18th placed team in Italy, England, France and Spain accumulated 40.5 points. Monaco were relegated with 44!!! points and Deportivo with 43 points. That''s crazy. I think it might boil down to that mutch in the England Prem this season.[/quote]There''s no point comparing the Prem to other European leagues, you have to go back to 2003 in the prem to find a team that got relegate with 40+ points, in most seasons 40 is more than enough.

Surely it makes more sense that we''re paried with 1p5wich or another local (ish) team.  You''d have thought that Swansea would be paired with Cardiff, Wigan are closer to Bolton than Blackburn are. Blackburn are more likely to be paired with Preston.

Two thumbs up from Smudger in an hour, I must''ve made it on the Pink''un board!

[quote user="youngcanary"]yeah I noticed that haha. I hope they go to someone associated with us, but it''s probably because behind the scenes lambert and co are working very hard, much harder than warnock whos sat at home waiting for the owners to get players in[/quote]Surely they''ll drag out Dion Dublin soon, isn''t he the usual Sky go to guy for all things Norwich?  Not that I''m complaining about Dion!

[quote user="Smudger"]I''m hoping/expecting that we will be challenging for a European spot come April... so bring it on!!! [:D][/quote]Well if we follow the natural progression of seasons we''ll come 3rd..  Which is not good enough, Lambert Out!!!!

[quote user="Desert Fox"]In all seriousness the PL will pair us with a team for fixture setting pruposes. This is to avoid near neighbours in the bigger cities playing at home on the same day. Arsenal will be paired with Spurs and the obvious pair for us will be either Swansea, Stoke or Villa as all other teams have a close local pair. If Stoke are paired with Wolves, this means we will have Swansea as our pair becuase then West Brom woudl e paired with Villa. Although we are nowhwere near Swansea, I hope this makes sense.[/quote]I thought the pairings could be across leagues?  You wouldn''t Chelsea and Fulham playing on the same day even if Fulham got relegated.

I don''t have Sky, what was his attitude when asked about fixtures?

[quote user="ChelmsfordCanary"]Its not over till its over and we have until the end of May!!!! Jesus people writing us off already. Yes it will be a tough league but we have to grind out results, Lets get behind the team and fight for every pass, challenge, corner etc not write us off saying we need to be safe this and that.....its the luck of the draw and we need to ensure we win our home games. Yes I would have liked an easier run in but thats life...... OTBC Roll on Wigan!! [/quote]All we need to do is win 10 home games and pick up some points on the road.  Alternatively we need to find 3 teams worse than us.  Whichever way you look at it I think that it''s doable.

Anyone know when Sky announce which games they''re showing?

Wigan, I''d say that''s a 6 pointer, but at least it''s away I guess.

Arsenal always have a poor end to the season and Villa at home is winnable, guaranteed 6 points in May then [:P]