George Smiley

Was reading Harry Rednapp''s new book recently and he made a good point about football grounds being overpopulated with fans who know nothing about their club''s history and traditions.They go to games because it is cool and trendy and they know nothing really about football.I think he was talking mainly about the Premier league but you could also say the same thing about the Championship.The much maligned Lake District Canary gets a lot of stick on here by our fans, myself included but I can recognize he knows this clubs history even though he doesn''t go to many games.Have any die hard fans noticed this at Carrow Road?

Check out '' the tale of Samson'' clip from the movie 44inch chest. John had a hilarious way of telling a story.rip

It''s straight to the comments whenever lakey goes off on one of his lectures. He doesn''t know the meaning of the word concise.

Looks a bit like Matt Damon

To be fair even if we were flying on all four cylinders and playing to our true potential we would still be behind Brighton and Newcastle who have been ruthless to opposition teams.If and that is a big if, we manage to sneak into the play offs I would back us to go up purely on the basis that certain players in our squad are big game players and have have the experience to cope with the stress and high tension that the play offs will bring. The likes of Wes , Naismith and Jonny Howson aren''t going to be overawed by 3 high pressure games.The teams around the play offs do not have this. There are 2 games from our history which sum this up .. The first was the FA cup semi final in 1989 against Everton.That season we had a superior team to theirs as a collective but their players had big game experience and we just froze from the occasion.The second was the play off final in Cardiff in 2002.For the first 10 mins our team were frozen from the fear of being in such a huge stadium and it helped put Birmingham on the front foot.

Lake District Canary ...what a tool he is

One of my favourite strikers who didn''t have much physical presence  was Paulo Rossi who could also be classed as a bit of a poacher .He was absolutely  awesome  , who scored goals when it really mattered and  at 2 World Cups .What set him apart was his uncanny sense of opportunism and clinical finishing.The Italian team of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina had a very interesting goal threat .They used 3 forwards basically, with Causio ,Bettega and Rossi switching positions during the game (left wing /right wing/centre) to create confusion with the opposition''s defence .Ian Rush was also a skinny striker who could run on to through balls and poach in the 6 yard box.

Don''t know if anyone can remember this from Malcolm Allen but it was pure class, when you consider the quality of the opposition and the magnitude of the game.West Germany (eventual champions) had to beat Wales to qualify for the 1990 world cup in the last game of the qualifiers .Wales scored first and the Kaiser''s face went white.It is a pity they couldn''t have held on, then we would have been spared  the agony of an England penalty shoot-out defeat and Gazza''s tears.Loved the way he slipped the last defender (Reuter) and then one on one with the goalkeeper, a real centre forward''s goal. Wish our current strikers could do this.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBkoA-gA1dc

Maradona of course but closer to home it would have to be Gazza and Matt Le Tissier.Only one person prevented Paul Gascoigne from becoming one of the greats,it was er......"Paul Gascoigne", what skill but what self destructiveness.Le Tissier on the other hand got a raw deal from the current England manager at the time Glen Hoddle.Should of been on the plane for the world cup at  France 98 but one costly missed sitter header against Italy in the qualifier at wembley cost him dearly and planted a seed of doubt in Hoddle''s mind about his ability to perform in big games.Apart from that i have never seen a player make scoring spectacular goals seem so effortless, as normal as having a cup of tea.I saw Le Tiss make his debut against us ( We won 4-3), and when he came on as sub i thought "what a strange name , i doubt he would amount to anything".His  greatest ever goal was this one , ironically against us, Le Tiss takes the piss   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSaTQ_1Hm7c

With wonga being the very crucible of the Premier League''s existence,just supposing Sky pulled the plug and decided to spend their unimaginable wealth elsewhere(2nd conditional).What sort of effect do you think it would it have from top to bottom?How would it effect overseas tv rights? Could it ever happen?.The Binners are having a bit of a whinge about the unfair advantage the likes of QPR ,Reading and Wigan have over them coming down from the Prem but then again we had to deal with the same problem when we got promoted.It''s great to be here but the situation at Coventry ( a team not dissimilar to us )does scare me a bit.I think that Sky has created a monster ..sorry situation where a lot of supporters all over the country are indifferent to the England team.I for one will be absolutely gutted if we miss out on what promises to be an epic World Cup in Brazil next year.

Holt must stay because i believe he will be the ideal foil for RVW .The Winkel (new to the dark arts of  Premier league defenders) will need a minder , an enforcer up front  and Holty definitely ticks all the boxes.Last season Holt had too much on his shoulders with all the changes and now that all eyes will be on the Dutchman I am backing the big lump to score at least 10 goals next season.

Is it just me or is anybody else concerned  about how the new kits design will effect the player''s peripheral vision?If the top was all yellow then no problem .Will they be able to pick each other out with ease? short and long passes?.Can anybody else remember the Manure fiasco when they had to change their grey shirts at half time because they were getting thrashed by Southampton?The players claimed that they couldn''t pick each other out  against the backdrop of the crowd.I know that good teams like Werder Bremen ,St Etienne  and Nigeria play in green so I guess it shouldn''t really make any difference.

Maybe someone could explain exactly what is happening at grassroots football?  I hear stories of dads (thinking that their offspring is going to be the next Rooney"screaming at their kids to "Hoof  it "Get stuck in " .abusing the ref etc..Blokes over a certain age  who never made it fancing themselves as a bit of a Mourinho by picking the biggest/fastest kids over the technically better smaller ones for a win at all costs attitude.Kids who collect worthless trophies/medals  like smarties before they have even  mastered the basics .Naturally when it is obvious that the kid/now a teenager is not going to make it  they lose  interest and don''t bother to watch them anymore.Am i right ? Come on Dads, when you take your son to footy training , maybe you should check the credentials of the clown  taking the training and if you are not happy with what you see then i suggest packing them off to a German/Dutch soccer summer camp where they can learn how to develop a first touch and pass a ball.

Hire a manager to get you promoted , to keep you there year after year, and that no other big  club will touch with a barge pole.Ladies and Gentleman i present you   TONY PULIS, But seriously  the three promoted teams Reading , Southampton and West Ham must be loving the turmoil and disarray at not one but 3 clubs Swansea , West Brom and us.Their task to stay up has got  a whole lot easier.

Holt is an unknown entity at this level and maybe Woy feels like he would make a useful impact sub if we happen to be chasing a game(which is more than likely)..As long as he doesn''t get himself sent off then i would fancy his chances to score.If he wins the golden boot for the tournament ,expect a big media circus to descend upon Carrow Rd.

We blew it big time that day, Burmynam weren''t brilliant  but i thought that the occasion( Big stadium, 75,000 fans etc) got to some of the players and they froze a bit , especially in the first 10 mins of the game, until Holt''s (Gary) brilliant run through the middle where it ended up on a plate for Easton.After that the game sort of ebbed and flowed.Rivers was doing all right until Grainger growled at him then he went into his shell.

 I can remember that Arsenal once played France at Highbury during their Championship year in 1989 and beat them 2-0 ( back then France were dire, even Scotland beat them in the World cup qualifiers) .If Swansea are Spain with their possession football ,then which team does our style most resemble ?, do we have the teutonic efficiency of Germany  due to Lambert''s footballing education?(of course we could never be ranked in the top seeds) not to mention where would our favourite other team Ipswich be in the FIFA world rankings?  What countries could we beat?

The "Hulk" up front with Holt would give the opposition defense plenty to worry about.

Pace , touch , vision ,precision up front , just like us towards the end of  last season, I still love watching the championship highlights.

Thanks for that, that link worked a treat

I would love to hear it because i was at the game

Just found this on the MSN comments board regarding the FIFA corruption scandal involving Qatar.I don''t know if it has been discussed before but we were a million miles away from the Prem when this ludicrous idea first came about. " I have never been for the "39th" game, out in the middle east or China etc. Never thought it was a good idea until now. Imagine Sepp Twatters face when he hears that the Prem League are having that 39th game in Outer Mongolia, he would never be able to go anywhere without seeing a sign outside saying "Live Premiership Football". I hope this extra game resurfaces so we can really shove the Premier League right down his scrawny little throat." Would love to know how many of our  fans would be up for this ,....a game in  some far flung Asian country with 3 precious points at stake.

This is one of the funniest  clips for  new football strips out there . It was back in the early 90s if i am not mistaken and  QPR were the victims  of a wind -up on Noel Edmonds  House Party. Can''t picture Grant Holt wearing any of these designs mind . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzQerkZ3QsY

Do you know of  any of our supporters from other countries , maybe students from the UEA , Poles (I know a Legia Warsaw fan who works at the club)  who sometimes go to games and live in the city?The more the merrier i say and it also boosts our global reputation. Would also be interesting to know of any Norwich born and bred fans who have watched other teams in other countries. Have seen Ajax, Haarlem, ADO Den Haag in Holland , Dynamo Kiev , Shakatar Donetsk, and a few more.

A team in Krasnodar in Russia  "FC Kuban" plays in yellow and green. http://www.fckuban.ru/news/2519/