Canary Poirot

Will we ever see the Wolf back in a Norwich shirt? I checked his record at real Betis thus far this season on Wikipedia and it said he had played only 6 games for them without opening his goal scoring account. I can only conclude RVW''s career is heading one way and I doubt he''ll be back starting at Carrow Road again. I can''t remember which genius manager signed him but clearly if you''re a striker I would have second thoughts joining a club managed by that genius if you want to avoid your career being flushed.

10 out of 10. The only one I hesitated on was Simon Ratcliffe. I was 11 back then and had every sticker album and team photos going which I studied in an unhealthy way! But that squad in 1989 was undoubtedly the best in our history and would have a serious shot at qualifying for champions league this season if it was our squad today. The first 11 were that good.

Extremely frustrating. I saw Middlesbrough play Leeds a few weeks ago and boro were diabolical and Leeds were made to look like world beaters. Then yesterday boro played superbly for the first 10 minutes, bamford in particular looking very good, they scored, and then they parked the bus. And then the cheating started. Boro players going down pretending to be injured all over the pitch. I think had I been playing I would''ve been sent off, for having nutted the boro goalie for when he went down cheating, or for leaving my boot in on Adam Clayton, possibly one of the dirtiest players in the championship who had a hack at hoolahan every time he touched the ball. The ref had a shocker and was far too weak. He should''ve dished out some yellow cards for play acting to stop it. Looks like the playoffs for us. Hopefully avoid a derby with a fit Chris Martin Andy we should be in the final - hopefully against this boro team, and make sure loads of pressure is put on the ref before the match so he knows boro are going to cheat beforehand so he isn''t weak, and then stuff them like the they deserve, bunch of cheats.

Both Bolton and Leeds have nothing left to play for it his season. This can often very easily translate into sub par performances. I think both games are winnable. The Middlesbrough game will clearly be tough, as they will come and be compact and could easily nick a draw. Rotherham could well be safe by the the time we play them so again they could put in a below par end of season performance, however we could easily do that v Fulham and drop 2 points. I expect a return of 11 points.

I do not view Chris Hughton favourably as a manager. I have to say he helped kill my interest in football and Norwich whilst he was manager. He had us playing such a dull style of football it was a chore to watch. Football is supposed to be entertaining. I''d rather watch an end to end classic which we narrowly lost than a mind numbing 1-0 defeat in which we defended astutely but did next to nothing in the attacking sense. And that is why I will never support Hughton. If Brighton do appoint him, get ready for some very dull matches.

[quote user="KiwiScot"]Bit of a gap opening up between the top 7 teams and we have 3 big games in January. Who above us has the staying power?[/quote] I ŵould say Derby and Middlesbrough are the two sides with staying power. The other sides have thin squads and will start dropping points left right and centre as the fixtures pile up. There is no way Brentford will stay the pace.

What the hell is progressive football, and is it anyway better than playing ''normal'' football? I personally can''t see Brentford maintaining the pace and will fall away. Remember 23 games still to go, so massive of opportunities to chuck points away yet, and if we know the championship, we know that chucking points away is what 99% of teams do at some point, even at home to Blackpool.

Get shot of him ASAP. Redmond has flattered to deceive all too often, and has virtually no end product. If we can get £6m for him we should be celebrating. Wolves had far more quality attacking players on show on Sunday, their right winger from holland was a freebie, so there is quality out there that can deliver today, not in 2 seasons time.

[quote user="Phillip J Fry"][quote user="Canary Poirot"] Swansea played completely differently to us. For starters they retained possession really well. We didn''t. We were sitting so deep most of the time, that our attackers were isolated when they got the ball. Swansea''s attackers aren''t isolated. Plus they got lucky with michu £2million signing and bony, both excellent strikers.[/quote]All of those are issues with the manager though, not the formation itself. It was Hughton who persisted with a midfield that struggled to maintain possession and maneuver the ball effectively and it was Hughton who instructed the team to sit so deep that it left forwards isolated (not that sitting deep actually means the forwards are always isolated, if you have a decent long-passer and some pace in your team then you can counter very effectively). Just because Hughton''s interpretation of a 4-2-3-1 was one that was negative and severly lacking in savvy does not mean that the formation itself is a negative formation[quote user="Canary Poirot"]I still maintain that the 4-2-3-1 formation is sucking the life out of the premiership outside of the very best teams who have the world class attackers who can succeed in that formation.[/quote]Southampton, Swansea, Norwich (under Lambert), and Stoke (under Hughes) all disagree. As I pointed out before it is the managers who decide how the formation is implemented, not the formation itself. Lambert''s Norwich and Hughes'' Stoke are both very direct, attacking teams, whilst Swansea favour ball retention and Southampton favoured high-pressing and one-touch football. All used a the same formation, but the style of play within that formation could not be anymore different.All formations are inherently neutral. It is the managers and players that imbue upon them defensive or negative aspects. A 4-4-2 is no more inherently attacking than a 4-5-1.[/quote] I''m still not convinced that the 4-2-3-1 formation produces what I call entertaining football unless the team playing it has excellent technical players with flair. Out of the four teams you cite, only Southampton had the sufficient quality to make it work and look entertaining, whilst we entertained under lambert but only because he asked our players to take risks, meaning our games would get stretched and become open as players were out of position. Such games would be terrific. But when teams are set up in a standard 4-2-3-1 without technically quality attackers, then you''re more than likely about to watch a dire match with few or no chances created. As a neutral I would reach for the off switch for any stoke or Swansea match (possession for possessions sake does not make it entertaining). And we were abominable last season in the entertainment stakes. I take your point that any formation can be neutral, more defensive or more attacking based on how adventurous the players are. A 4-4-2 can be two banks of 4 sat flat and deep and it is very hard to break down. But at least there are two central strikers up front to aim for, instead of one, so the counter attack has a chance...

[quote user="Phillip J Fry"][quote user="Canary Poirot"]Well that should rule out the 4-2-3-1 formation then. We''re never going to be able to attract the kind of quality attacking players you need to make that formation work in the premiership. The attacking players in that formation need to be seriously good to be able to cope being isolated and turn such positions into a favourable scoring chance. We had over £20 million worth of striking talent up front last year and still couldn''t score goals with that formation. Just shows how much you need to spend on attacking players to make that formation work at that level.[/quote]Yet Swansea are? [/quote] Swansea played completely differently to us. For starters they retained possession really well. We didn''t. We were sitting so deep most of the time, that our attackers were isolated when they got the ball. Swansea''s attackers aren''t isolated. Plus they got lucky with michu £2million signing and bony, both excellent strikers. I still maintain that the 4-2-3-1 formation is sucking the life out of the premiership outside of the very best teams who have the world class attackers who can succeed in that formation.

Redmond isn''t quite ready for the full England team, still too much of a speed merchant with a bundle of tricks, but doesn''t quite know the best way of putting it all together at the moment. A couple of years of development he could become a seriously good player.

Well that should rule out the 4-2-3-1 formation then. We''re never going to be able to attract the kind of quality attacking players you need to make that formation work in the premiership. The attacking players in that formation need to be seriously good to be able to cope being isolated and turn such positions into a favourable scoring chance. We had over £20 million worth of striking talent up front last year and still couldn''t score goals with that formation. Just shows how much you need to spend on attacking players to make that formation work at that level.

My worst xi based on period 1989-2014 (as I was too young for earlier players). There''s definitely a few loan players over the years that I''ve forgotten who we''re dreadful, so based on the players I remember being awful, here is the team in the 4-3-3 formation. Rvw gets the nod on the basis that he is our record signing and performed abysmally, despite probably being better than say Trevor Benjamin was. Or henrik mortensen might have been (although I always thought he looked quite good, he just never got a game,) Theoklitos Wright. Scott Walsh. Segura Diop Brellier de warrd Coney. Sheron. Rvw (for price tag)

[quote user="lake district canary"]Brilliant video. Watching Dale Gordon is one of the abiding memories of that era for me and was one of the things we lacked last season on the left and right of the pitch. Speed, grace and accuracy - and one of the reasons I am looking forward to seeing E. Bennett on the right next season as I think he has that kind of ability in him, especially at championship level. Redmond could do similar on the left when he finds his form. The moving around of the ball and non stop movement of the players was a joy to behold - and to me is more like how teams like Dortmund play these days imo. We seemed to do it at times last season but couldn''t sustain it or make it count in terms of goals, stuttering along until we ran out of confidence. The football of the late eighties was just sensational and I don''t think that is nostalgia talking - we were the best footballing side in the country - a joy to behold. [/quote] We had such a quality side back then. Dale Gordon was indeed a world beater back then. He was scary good. I remember him scoring this goal outside the box at a crazy acute angle against west ham after going round the goalie. How he didn''t win a lot of England caps is beyond me. Maybe it just shows how good the England team was at the end of the 80s (waddle, Barnes, platt, Beardsley, lineker). But we also had Townsend, phelan, Putney, fleck, goss, Bowen, culverhouse, crook, gunn etc. real talent with great technique to a man. Back then strength and pace were secondary to technique. Hopefully the old fashion will return and we''ll see similar quality at carrow road one day, and fewer speed merchants with no end product.

I live in eternal hope that the diamond or a flat 4-4-2 return as our formation of choice. I am of the opinion that the current fashionable 4-2-3-1 formation is destroying entertainment in football as it is an overtly defensive formation and when deployed by weaker teams leaves the three forward players effectively isolated when they receive the ball, and unless they have unbelievable pace, great technique, or an ability to pick a pass and put it on a sixpence for a striker who moves off the ball really well, well you''re stuffed and can''t score from open play. Oh yeah, that was us last season. So, please please please Neil, a diamond or 4-4-2 next season. Let''s attack with more than one player next season!

[quote user="YellowBlood"]We''ll be 14th at Christmas, Adams will be sacked. A proper manager will then come in greatly improve us but it will be far to late and we''ll end up 7/8th. A realistic call.[/quote] Why be so pessimistic? What you need to remember is that there is quite a gulf in the quality of teams between the championship and the premiership. For starters we''ll have a lot more possession in games next season, and therefore our £13 million striker force will be given much more of a chance to shine. They surely cannot be complete pants. Plus we picked out most of the players from the championship who were at the top end of that division talent wise (howson, snood grass, Redmond) and if they stay, alongside the players who got us up last time, I can''t see why we won''t be top 6.

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]Look at ''mid table'' last season: 11 Nottm Forest 46 3 65 12 Middlesbrough 46 12 64 13 Watford 46 10 60 14 Bolton 46 -1 59 15 Leeds 46 -8 57 One was relegated only recently, one is Leeds who seem to be well backed now, one has the whole Italy agreement thing that gifts them decent players, one is well bank rolled and has Pearce now ready to take control and the next, Boro look set for a better season too. It will be difficult.[/quote] To be fair jimmy, those teams are pants compared to us. Derby, Wigan,are another matter but derby might go up yet. I still think even if we lost half a dozen players, we''ll still have a strong enoughu squad to be top six

I expect us to be top 6. We''ve got most of the squad that got us up last time, aside from strikers, and considering we''ve got £13 million worth of strikers now they should be better.... If Adams realises we need to be much more offensive, and I think he does, we wil do well.

Well apparently Adams has the skills to change tactics mid game (according to our board) which we haven''t had for the last two years (again according to our board). Adams has also pinpointed our shortcomings from the last two years- we didn''t score enough goals. So he''s clearly very astute as a football analyst and that''s the kind of insight we''ve been missing.

If we got done 7-1 at home by Brenford, Leyton orient or Rotherham on the opening day of the season, I think Adams would be gone by the Sunday.

Adams was constrained at the end of last season to use the players Hughton had assembled, such as elmander. Hopefully next season Adams will have more luxury to choose players he wants rather than he inherited to perform the jobs he wants in the team. Whether that includes elmander it remains to be seen. But either way, I''m sure he''ll be a lot better in the championship than he was in the premiership if he does remain. Jury is out on the wolf though, although he surely couldn''t be any worse...

I would really like to know what sort of tactics and style of play Adams employed in the youth side because it''ll give a guide to how our first team plays next season. I''ll back Adams as long as he avoids the dreadful drab defensive tactics and formation Hughton employed for the past two seasons. If Adams plays one up top with two wide strikers, I hope he''s gone by November because watching that kind of footballs again will be intolerable.

That''s a nice list. But you left off John Deehan, Gary megson, Bryan gunn, peter grant, Bryan Hamilton...

[quote user="72season"]That was while the decision took so long sorry but he was last choice , it''s gunn all over again , hope I am wrong but got a feeling he will play the houghton way[/quote] If he plays the Hughton way 4-2-3-1 then I''ll be calling for his head pretty early. I never want to see a Norwich team play that formation ever again. It''s drab, boring, defensive and relies on us scoring from set pieces as we''re not good enough to score from open play with that formation.

[quote user="Lynn Canary"]When is the time to introduce youngsters into the team then ? If not when we are in the Championship, then when ? Less of a risk to use themcin championship thab in premier league[/quote] Exactly. Alex ferguson gambled on the class of 92 and never looked back....