south of the border

Cheers GG&W I will try the velodrome.  How many supporters are you expecting to the game any idea?We''ve just lost 3-2 to Herta Berlin so a draw would be good!Our main changes, as you probably know, have been with the management Paul Lambert has gone to manage a little prem outfit called AstonVilla!!Seems most of our efforts so far in the transfer market has been signing our better players on improved contracts (to keep them out of PL''s reach...hopefully) but we have signed Steven Whittacker on a free from the other (ex) club in your fine city so don''t hold it against us! Also a promising lad from barnsley but he''s recovering from injury but thats it so far transferwise.  I''m just hoping we can keep the momentum going from the past 3 seasons have been on a bit of a roll but I think its going to be pretty tuff this season there''ll be 7 or 8 clubs who are all pretty evenly matched in the bottom half of the league.I''m guessing Celtic will walk the league title next season, do you think any of the other SPL teams will give you a run for your money? 

Thanks for the advise GG&W, I will be driving up where is the best place to park my car near to the ground?We should be leaving 25 degrees of sunshire down here in east anglia hope we don''t have to endure some of your usual ''Scottish summer weather''!! ha haLike you we haven''t had the best start to our pre-season so hoping that improves.....would probably settle for an agreeable draw?Have a good one!

[quote user="Gingerpele"]..............And while its not quite the ''top league experience'' McNally may have been referring too, its still probably a harder job than a few such as Clark and Robinson (maybe/probably even Mackay & Poyet) who have been mentioned. Wouldn''t be a huge surprise if he is at least spoken too by the board.[/quote]Gingerpele, I would agree with you here & I would put him ahead of Neil Lennon aswell, Lennon''s temprement would be a bit too Roy Keane for me!!!

I know the main candidates for the new City boss have been discussed on here at length but I am interested in peoples opinion on whether Solskjær would be the right man for us.I know this is a bit ''left of field'' but the more I think about this the more I think he would be a good fit with our present set up & with our current squad of players.  He is young, ambitous & has just won the Norwegian league title with Molde for the 1st time in about 100 years, I imagine he has been backed well financially but he must have enough about him to get the players gelled together & motivated.Don''t think it matters that the Norwegian league may not be the strongest but he was at Man U for 14 years as a player & reserve team manager & has witnessed the master at work!!  I think his teams would play the brand of football that we have been used to watching over the past 3 years.He seemed serious enough about the possibility of becoming a premier league manager to fly from Norway to talk to Villa.  So it seems to me that he wants a way in to the premier league so why not us?  I don''t see why he should be seen as being out of our league!!Any thoughts?OTBC

I think while we have got David McNally & Bowkett at the club we will have our best chance of continued success on & off the pitch, we will have to see who they serve up as our next manager, but this combo are ''big men'' who are not affraid of making ''big decisions'' (I.E. Gunny & near adminstration)OTBC

So why didn''t Lee Payne negotiate an enhancement clause into his client''s original contract based on promotion?Sounds like a grade-A c**k up on his part!!The timing of this to coinside with Lambert''s attempted resignation is to try & put the maximum pressure on David McNally through the fans, Lee Payne''s trying to recover the situation for a poorly negotiated contract??  Unfortunately its puts Grant Holt in a bad position with the fans because it makes him look like a money grabber which I don''t believe him to be as such.The other unfortunate element to this saga is that I think D McNally is going to dig in over this because would open the door to other players to renegotiate the terms of their contract.Grant Holt has been a big part of what has happened here in the last 3 seasons, losing Holt now would not be good because of the influence he has in the dressing room & on the pitch.  I think we still need him for now because it would make the transition between Lambert & the new manager a whole lot smoother in my opinion so perhaps McNally needs to make an exception to the rule here!At least to put in on the same money as Jonny Howson & Ryan Bennett are on if this is what this fiasco is all about.  Perhaps it could be dressed up as some kind of ''bonus payments'' or a golden hand shake if he sees his contract out with us??I have some simpathy I know I would be feeling a bit raw if there were two new employees on better money than me & I knew I was one of the firm''s best performers!OTBC

Don''t know why they have not also tendered their resignation but in my opinion they will be going to Villa with Lambert.I think Lambert would have talked the move over with Culverhouse & Karsa before setting wheels in motion.

I was at the match last tuesday & I''ve not been to a friendly game with an atmosphere like the one generated by the Celtic fans, absolute credit to their club.  Best away support I''ve seen at Carrow Road in a long time, I mean they got the inhabitants of the director''s box doing the poznan for god''s sake!!  Yes I would also like to see a return match at Parkhead.  Will be keeping an eye on how the bhoys get on next season...Good Luck!

I  agree Swansea are a good side who keep the ball well & I''m pleased they are doing better than money bags QPR!!  However, I am a bit fed up with media''s love affair with them.We have now shown the premier league teams how to beat them.  Brenden Rodgers was shown in the game at the liberty to not be as tractically astute as the media would have everyone believe Paul Lambert out did him on that day especially at the start of the 2nd half.OTBC

I had the good fortune of being at both games, great compilation.These times will be the stuff of City legend in years to come....''The Lambert Years''!!OTBC

[quote user="Tim Allman"]A question for all those posting on this thread, and other threads about Morison. For arguments sake, take Morison out of yesterday’s team and replace him with Holt in the same formation…. 1. Would Holt have touched the ball so few times? 2. Would Holt been got himself as isolated at Morison? 3. Would Holt have brought team mates into the game? 4. Would Holt have worked harder than Morison? 5. If Holt had been having such a bad game as Morrison yesterday would he have not done the basics, and tried to get back into the game? 6. Would Holt have hidden and not demanded the ball? 7. Would Holt have wanted more from the players immediately around him? Yes I know we passed-passed-passed yesterday and the service to Morison wasn’t the best, but I think Holty would have shown more and we have had more options if he’d been on the pitch. Good players demand and get the ball and when they don’t get it they kick up as fuss until they do get it. I didn’t see any of that yesterday from Morison. I’d like to think that the majority of the answers to Q1 to Q7 would have been “Yes”, apart from Q2. When Wilbraham came on, a player would we rightly or wrongly assume is inferior to Morison and does so many simple things better things than him, we have a right to question Morison’s attitude and application on the pitch.[/quote]I also pretty much agree with most of Tim Allman''s post, however, I think the fans are getting on his back if the slightest thing goes wrong which does not help if he''s having confidence issues.  I don''t agree with the ''lazy'' accusations although he seems less willing than Holt & Simeon to chase lost causes.  But when he had more confidence earlier in the season he''s proven that he knows where the goal is after all he''s scored more goals than a certain £50m chelsea striker!  I have thought for some time that Wilbraham''s hold up play is better than Morrison as it was yesterday.  Perhaps Wilbraham has now earned a start against everton?

[quote user="lake district canary"]Some of us are in cloud cuckoo land.  Wealthy investor?   No thanks.   Not in the terms and directions that it has sent alot of clubs.   It encourages greed, increases expectations, encourages poor business practice and inflates wages.  In short it does more harm than good.    We are lucky we''ve had Delia on board to help keep us afloat in recent years - but once the club is on the right footing - as it is now - the financing should take care of itself.  If the club lives within its means it can still do well and progress but I for one don''t want to go down the dodgy investor route.      We are what we are and will never be a Man Utd or a Chelski.   We can progress, grow and improve the status of the club but for goodness sake, take a look round at the clubs that have some kind of benefactor.   They are nearly all of them in some kind of bother  or have created an unpleasant atomosphere in their clubs.     Keep it real. Norwich is a great club in its own right - and we are on the right track.     Enjoy the fact that we are doing well on and off the pitch and watch how the cub grows in this era of being a well run club.  I said in earlier posts on this thread that there are no limits to what we can achieve in the long term - and I stand by that - but only if we stick to a grounded common sense approach.  Once you bring in ''wealth'' you bring alot of baggage in that would spoil the club for many years.         In short be happy with what you''ve got and support that.  We''re not "little ol'' Norwich" and we''re not super "big" Norwich. We are what we are - a great club in its own right.      And we''re on the up and  improving.  Isn''t that enough?         [/quote]Well said Lake District Canary, I agree with all of that.  Our previous CEO once said ''...Prudence with Ambition''!!  I think its probably the only thing he said that I agree with.  Hopefully our present CEO & board are following the sentiment in those words.

I was at the match & as has already been said I can confirm that I saw only one late challenge in the whole game that of Drury on Dyer for which he was rightly booked apart from that we pressed, hassled & tackled them all afternoon its called being competitive and it worked!  A fantastic team effort front to back every player did his job well sadly its just sour grapes from Dyer, they couldn''t deal with constantly being denied space & time on the ball & no they are not Swanselona in spite of what they & the media might say, we could/should have won 5-2.  We were not negative though we played some great stuff at times one & two touch cut them open.Our manager is very quick on the uptake because this I think is very similar to how Sunderland took up apart.  Talking to a couple of Swansea fans after the game, they said we deserved the win because ''...we bossed them today...''I think Swansea are going to have to ''man up'' a bit & find a plan B now that we have perhaps shown others how to beat them at home!!OTBC

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Tamas elbowed Vaughan deliberately.  Did anybody else see the indident not long before this? Where Vaughan clattered into Tamas (no intent just trying to get on a cross I think) he was on the deck for a couple of miniutes.  So definately retaliation on Tamas''s part he turned to check where Vaughan was before he swung his elbow. Should have been a straight red card & a penalty kick. For Hodgson to defend Tamas in the post match interview is a joke who is he trying to kid.  I hope the powers that be reviews this incident because Tamas should be banned in my opinion and the ref & his useless lino should be dropped to the Conference for missing it!!

Good post, I agree to a point but I think it was definitely Doncaster''s misjudged belief in that we were going to emulate what Charlton had done by establishing themselves in the premier league on a (small) budget was our undoing that year, as I understand it Worthy wanted to buy Dean Ashton in the summer of 2004-05 & Doomy didn''t give him the budget to do it this coupled with getting rid of Malky & Ewan which was down to Worthy but perhaps it was a gamble on his part in trying work within his tight budget.I think people are quick to slate Delia for what happened that season & subsequently when we were relegated to league 1, personally I think both she & Wyn-Jones are passionate about our club but they were perhaps misguided by buying into Doncaster''s approach.  Clearly Doncaster was simply out of his depth, this is highlighted by the way he went about player transfers, us going into that campaign with Gary Doherty as our only signing for a central striker & always waiting until the last day of the window before trying to secure a key target, anyone remember him trying & failing to sign David Cotterill from Bristol C or Steve Howard from Luton what a joke!In my view the appointment of David McNally as CE is absolutely pivotal to what has happened to Norwich City over the last 2 seasons we have a man in charge with football experience but he had the courage to sack Brian Gunn (club legend) as manager & to appoint Paul Lambert & Co (be honest did anyone really know who he was back then?) & only after he himself had only been in the CE hot seat for a few weeks.Now can you image the uproar from the City faithful had this not have been a successful appointment!!  Lets also not forget that at this time we apparently were not far from going into administration.....the pressure would have been immense.  In my opinion Doomy would have melted in that situation!So well done to David McNally personally I think he & Michael Foulger for his financial backing of the team, has saved us from football oblivion.Obviously what Paul Lambert has achieved with his team over the last 2 seasons is beyond belief but I absolutely agree with the final sentence in the original post, I have every confidence that our club will be given the best possible chance of survival in the premier league next season with these 2 men at the helm, thanks to them its been one hell of a ride.  OTBC

Just seen this & trying to not panic yet!! Could this be Lambert just playing ''hardball'' with Delia & McNally so they back him with more cash in the transfer window?Think we will just have to wait until the morning to know, as others have said if the club doesn''t come out with statement pretty much 1st thing tomorrow to confirm that he is going nowhere....then I think we can assume he''s on his way.  Martin O''Neil all over again!!

"Are you actually suggesting the reason we got beat by colchester 7-1 was because Wes was playing on the left?"Yes I am suggesting that playing Wes on the left was ONE of the reasons our team failed on that day obviously there were many other reasons, however, Lambert has since shown us what he thinks Wesley''s best postion is & thats good enough for me!

I agree that the diamond did work well yesterday, however, Forest never really got to grips with it & consequently Wes/ Serman  got the space they needs to opperate.  Going back to the Watford game they shut Wes out of the game very well & used the wide areas well that the diamond leaves eventually this was our undoing. I think this will happen more this season as we play more tactically aware teams than we did last season.  It seems Lambert is prepared to switch to 4-4-2 if the diamond is not working.  Finally, I was at the Forest game yesterday & I think Serman had his best game for us so far...playing in centre midfield!!

"Drop Wes onto the left wing and....."I think the  last time he played there Colchester beat city 7-1!!  Wes is a liability as a left winger because invariably he will be out of position when we lose the ball & that affects the way we defend down the left hand side leaving too much space for the opposition to exploit which leaves Drury too much to do (remember Hucks?).  But Lambert did recogise that changing to a 4-4-2 formation is an option which he used to good effect last week against Scunthorpe when be brought Lappin on for Wes & it did the trick on that occasion.

Hopefully just a wobble!However, I was also a little concerned at our 1st half display & broadly agree with your opinion on the diamond midfield but this did work pretty well for us in the 1st half of last season until teams learnt how to play against us.  I am of the opinion that the diamond midfield does need a detroyer in front of the back four to make it work this is one of the things we lacked last night, I hope Lambert has not made a mistake in letting Russell leave.You only need to look at how Chelsea have played this formation in the past with the likes of Makelele, Mikel or Essien, therefore I think Lambert has to sacrafice one of the three creative midfielders (Fox, Surman or Hoolahan) the question is which one do you leave out?  For me it would have to be Fox.  Maybe Crofts could play at the base of the diamond he seems like a player who can get his foot in.  What about giving Korey Smith a go in that position once he is fit again?  Although Korey Smith does not have the build of Jon Obbie Mickel I think it is a role he could grow into he has great energy & gets stuck in.  Lambert should know about playing that in that position at a fairly young age because thats the position he played so well in Dortmund.I do however agree that if the diamond midfield is still not functioning after about half a dozen games then yes the 4-2-3-1 could work well.

[quote user="morty"]Not sour grapes or personal dislike, but I thought he looked poor today. Pace is fine but combined with the first touch of a hippo, its not really much use. And if you can be effectively marked out of the game, first by Gary Doherty, and then by Michael Nelson, well that doesn''t really say a lot about your skills.I honestly don''t think he''s going to make it in the Prem.[/quote]Ageed he''s a one trick pony always waiting for the ball in behind the defence, for me Jackson has better all round play only problem he just needs to practise his shooting in training next week!!

I think premier league defenders will deal with him with ease, i thought michael nelson had him in his pocket for most of the time he was on the pitch this afternoon. Loaned out to a championship club by christmas!

I was at the game today & I understand that we did not win in the manner that some would have liked but in my opinion this was a great TEAM performance we were defending for our lives in the 2nd half but with the help of Fraser Forster, who was absolutely superb today, we got to the finishing line which is all that really matters (Lambert must try to secure his services for next season this lad will go far but if we could have him for another season that would be great). I was also at the valley last season when we were relegated & the performance then & the performance today are poles apart!! I think if Lambert had tried to play the diamond formation at any time today we would have lost by a margin I think Lambert was spot on & set us up to be really solid. A great day for City onwards & upwards, OTBC

[quote user="Harry"]I think it''s more likely to be:------------------ Rudd ------------------Martin --- Doherty -- Whitbread --- DruryMcNamee --- Smith --- Russell --- Lappin---------- Martin ---- Holt ---------------Subs :Steer, Spillane, Nelson, Hughes, Elliott, Gill, Johnson.If Smith isn''t fit I would like to see Spillane replace him, Hughes and Gill don''t have enough steel about them.[/quote] Yes agree this is the most likely line up if Lambert wants to ring the changes although I think Hughes might start instead of McNamee he would make us a bit more solid down the right at the start of the game McNamee could be brought on as plan B.

I think Lambert could make some changes tomorrow because those who played on Friday put in a shift & will be jaded he has a chance to rotate the squad there is enough depth in our squad to do that.