The 12th Devine

I work in HE in Birmingham and had these ''Lads'' on campus for our Open Day in March. No idea what figures they have chucked about but there weren''t more than 1,000-1,500 at the demo, more possibly at the ''Democratic'' equivalent half a mile away – apparently the difference between the two is about a financial fall out. They spouted some garbage about ''Making Britain Great Again'' before – just a bit ironically – leaving the place piled high with s**t they couldn''t be bothered clearing up. They also urinated up the walls of buildings in open view of families – teenagers, parents, grandparents – attending the university for the day. Someone on this thread said the Council was supportive of the event ... I mean, yes, but only because they''ve a legal duty to support free speech. I''m not in favour of denying these people the right to speak freely in public but don''t be in any doubt that the rhetoric was racist and the tone of the event vile. Who the hell needs this mob to tell the world terrorism is an affront to democracy? No-one. Which is one big reason why that isn''t what they''re doing – they''re fermenting inter-racial hostility. Attach yourselves to this movement if you want to but don''t tell me or anyone else it''s anything other than a far right, racist, new brand successor to the National Front, BNP and EDL.

This isn''t a complicated issue, nor is it knee-jerk ... Whittaker is a decent enough player at Championship level but we all know how he fared at times in the Premier League last time around and fully expect this sort of situation to occur with too much frequency this time around too. He is an alright back up option considering we can''t expect to have two or three mid table top flight players for every position but lots of us have said all summer that we need to invest more in defence than anywhere else on the field because both Whittaker and Martin should be reserves, not first choice players, if we are to stay up. As it stands, we''ve actually signed zero permanent payers whose chief role is as a defender, so not too impressive by any standard! Ollson''s return is clearly needed and we can still hope about adding a new centre back to the squad by Tuesday, so hopefully the situation will improve quickly. Even on this basis I think we are a full back short, but still, it would help. Leaving it this long into the season has been a mistake, one plenty of people anticipated (again, not knee jerk), so the only excuse is the fact it is just bloody hard to sign the right sort of player – ok, Watford and Bournemouth have signed a few but even Man Utd are farting about playing midfielders up front, so we aren''t alone.

Most City fans are realistic but I''ve got to back Coney on this, it''s been pretty dismal. If Mulumbu is our second best signing, in a division where it isn''t uncommon to get ripped to shreds by the top four or five teams (yes, ok there are exceptions but how often is it backs to the wall painful rearguard actions) then it bodes ill. Noone expected a £30m splurge and of course the last window when we were in the Prem we spent big and went down, but ... the weaknesses are so obvious this year, more than usual. So often you feel we need to strengthen across the board but this time it felt simple – one striker, 2/3/4 defenders and a left sided midfielder (simple-ish!). So, good news about Brady; Mulumbu and Dorrans, fine, but as Baggie rejects it was hard not to feel a little ambivalent. Wisdom, I''m optimistic, despite the reservation of West Brom fans, but again, it''s ok, not excellent, or even definitely a good signing. We have time still and our opening games could have been a lot worse but it isn''t unrealistic to be disappointed by ''the window''.

Obviously no. Really, it is obvious and only the sentimentally minded Norwich fan would even bother with such a debate. He''s a good enough coach, might make a good manager one day but we need experience and nous, not another gamble. And that''s not based on his recent screen test, just the hard nosed reality that we need someone who has done it, who isn''t connected to the current crop of players and who has a bit of status. Would be pleased if he could be an assistant or part of the new set up but that needs to be up to whoever the new man is.

[quote user="hogesar"]Our fans under value Snodgrass massively. Not very often you get a player with good Premier League quality - and then on top of that the determination and attitude you''d get from a lower-league player playing for his home club. Top, top player and hopefully POTS.[/quote] This nails it really. People talk about Snods not doing it for 90 minutes but if he did he''d probably be playing elsewhere. We don''t have world class players but do need Premier League class, and Snods is in that bracket – i.e. better than relegation quality AND with a give a s**t attitude. How people have bemoaned him so much on this site is absurd; like blaming the smartest kid in the school when it comes bottom of the league table. If we''re going to win tomorrow we''ll need him firing, and I reckon he will be seriously up for it.

Didn''t want Hughton in the first place but always respected the board''s decision to stick with him and, unlike many on here, I think survival of any kind is the most realistic ambition for us each season – hence didn''t regard our constant flirtation with relegation as the crime it was perceived to be. For me, while never joining the hate camp, I felt like the Boxing Day defeat to Fulham would have been about right. That said, with the paucity of options to replace him with I can''t blame the board for holding out. Even now a ready replacement isn''t obvious, hence plumping for the co-commentator (a very good co-commentator at that and a man who might – I hope – surprise us all).

Right now I think I''d take a draw, just to keep them at bay. If Sunderland lose tonight it would leave us in an ok position. Yes we''d need something out of the last four but we''d have stopped the rot and kept Fulham five points back.

These days apart from Norwich games I can rarely be bothered watching whole live matches of any team, Premier League or otherwise, but still make an exception for Barcelona as I find their attempts to unpick sides by moving them around the pitch genuinely fascinating.I know plenty of people who disagree, about Barca and Spain alike, but for me it''s like past paced chess (not necessarily selling it to sceptics I suppose!), toying with opponents to create space behind. And as someone else has posted, Barca are a little more direct than previously, so it is more a form of tiki-taka-plus. Still not exactly hoof ball!

Would he be good enough to improve our side – yes. Do I have a win at all costs attitude to our side – no. As such, would I want a total scumbag paying for our club – no. Similar reasons why I''d be happier playing back in League One than having a Russian oligarch/Chinese billionaire owner spending zillions on new players while pissing about with our badge, name and history. Ultimately the club we support has to be about more than just the points on the board.

Just venting my spleen after today''s excellent performance by City but against a club I can''t help but loathe. Nothing epitomises their extravagant wealth than their goalscoring substitutes today and while Man City, Utd, Arsenal and Spurs all have some level of comparable depth none quite matches Chelsea for its  medium sized origins (certainly no bigger than West Ham and barely better than us for crowds at various points in their recent history) and growth borne solely out of fashionable status and foreign wealth.Yes Man City have some dubious backers and have, in effect, bought the title but they always had huge crowds, even in the old Division 3, while Abramovitch is a man whose wealth emanates from murky sources in a pretty vile political culture.Sour grapes? Maybe, though I wouldn''t swap in a million years and I can cope perfectly well with losing to the other ''big'' clubs, just not this bunch of frauds.Ahem, gripe over. 

That was as good a midfield performance as I''ve seen from a Norwich side for some time. Tettey and Fer were excellent and well supported by Howson. Even back in the promotion winning days our central midfield was often a weakness but today suggested real solidity and the ability to link defence and attack without opening up too many gaps to the opposition.

Even the most optimistic City fans must think this looks an underwhelming side. Shame for me not to have R Bennett in centre of defence; Snoddy obviously a mystery and just a general sense of plus ca change and all that. Still, a few Wolf-Redmond link ups alongside a solid day''s work at the back ... and all will be forgiven.

In terms of sheer talent, Hucks and then Eadie, but Dale Gordon possibly had the most influence at the highest level, followed by Ruel ... both did it as part of City teams in the top six of the top flight. But an honourable mention to Mark Barham. Less obvious talent but an important part of our yo-yo spell 83-86, who even played for England on some weird summer tour of Australia.

Watched the match in a Baggies pub where I live in Stourbridge. I can safely say I was the only happy person in there. Pleased for Hughton who has known the side''s weakness all along and in fairness has already started putting a plan in place to address it – i.e. goals and RVW.It''s been a tough season but despite those handful of tonkings, we have been harder to beat for the most part than before and have competed in the vast majority of games – without a cutting edge, yes, but competed nonetheless, with plenty of draws and very narrow defeats.And remember, we''re 12th now, and could even go 10th if we were to surprise everyone, myself included, and win next week. This suggests there are a lot of teams closely matched and a lot of fans thinking "why aren''t we good enough" rather than "at least we''re just about good enough not to end the final day in the bottom three". Until we have very deep pockets or a massive mostly packed stadium we need to understand that competing, and surviving, with odd highlights (a cup run would be nice), is not total failure. Look at Lambert and don''t dismiss the idea that his brand of football at this club, this season, would very easily have seen us down. It hasn''t been pretty but Hughton, and most importantly NCFC, have prevailed.

Unequivocally .... no. He''s pretty good, he''s a lively presence, he has some useful attributes, but a top Premier League striker he isn''t. Unlike too many others on here I''ve always been prepared for 17th position being a great outcome from this season but every year we spend in the division the more quality we need to bring in, and KK, while a top lad, isn''t that. RVW is a start but we need one more of his ilk in truth as while I''ve backed the board''s circumscription with cash to date it is probably time – and they seem to recognise this themselves – to up the level somewhat. As such, KK is fine but he isn''t another level, so for me it''s a question of thanks a lot and fare thee well. Of course people become folk heroes, cult icons etc, offering a short term impetus, but that''s a long way from being a genuine and sustained Premier League threat.