Simon Lappin, King Of Spain

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="thefutureisyellow"] To much diversity training and not enough patriotism.   [/quote] The problem for me is when people confuse patriotism with racism. One is to love your country whilst taking no umbrage with other nations, the other is to hate other countries/races etc whilst pushing some false "we are better than you" ideal. I never considered myself a patriot as I could find too much to fault about the country and it''s actions globally, but after I left the country I realised that I am indeed proud to be English, British and European. I just don''t think that not supporting England means I''m not a patriot, a national football team is such an insignificant thing it doesn''t really matter, I also don''t consider myself any less of a patriot to feel that the senseless blaming of immigrants for all our problems is backwards and hateful. [/quote] [Y] well said sir!!!

Half Irish and have always followed my motherland in international sports (although I do love test cricket and will therefore support England especially in theAshes, as I cannot stand the Aussies!!!!). I would echo the sentiments of many on here; I don''t really care about England as I cannot make an emotional connection with the England team, they are for the most part, or rather appear to be a group of thoroughly unlikeable, overpaid, oversexed, undereducated, ego maniacs and therefore I find it very difficult to muster even a modicom of support for them. The only players i feel any kind of sympathy for are David James, as he comes across as a really intelligent, compassionate, articulate and very genuine guy and Ledley King because of his stuggle to overcome injury and his desire to keep on fighting against the odds. The rest can go shaft themselves for all I care. Allied to this is the fact that I simply cannot stand the way in which the Sun (in particular) hijacks every major sporting event saturating the market with it''s simplistic, jingoistic, monotonous brand of "patriostism", all of which is ultimately for the gain of a meglomaniacal, australian media tycoon. There is nothing wrong with loving the country you were born/brought up in/emigrated to, but I find the Sun and their ilk''s almost americanised version of doing so disgustingly brash, gaudy and utterly distasteful. I will of course support England and I hope they do well but I do so reluctantly and If i''m honest would rather see a real under dog like Cote D''Ivoire or even South Africa make a significant challenge for the trophy, that would be something I could really get behind!

Also come on Blackpool!!!! Holly on Match of the Day getting into a fight with those mugs Hansen and Lawrenson please!!! Also the more teams in the prem playing orange the better I say!!!!

[quote user="First Wizard"][quote user="Bungay Canary"]was/nt Dave Jones a born again Piedo perverted barstewart[/quote]Out of order! Apologise and withdraw.[/quote]   Firstly, why? Second, to whom? Third, who gives a shitttt? Fourth, how many noriwch fans sing about Keano being a paedo dog wanking cnut and nobody gives a flying fcuk???? Stop being so bloody self righteous and get a life.

Don''t see anyone mentioning Efan Ekoku or even Ruel Fox (technically Monserratian) both legends!!!

[quote user="Butterbean_Canary"] All I can say is that Lambert knows exactly what sort of player it takes to play the midfield role In Lambert we trust [/quote] Superb point

[quote user="Freebie City F.C."][quote user="Canaries in Bed"]I wondered when Loan/Freebie City was going to spout some crap. Re: We''ve signed Crofts! Lets be honest here, the people saying hes an ok signing are probably the same bunch that reckoned Gunn''s signings were ok last season and he was the man for the job , some people just settle for whatever crap they are given . http://www.pinkun.com/cs_pinkun/cs/forums/2/1269313/ShowPost.aspx#1269313 Above is the thread for Clingfilm and look how many people were not keen on him. Even the ever so cheerful 1st Wiz said he was pants.[/quote] All about opinions isnt it , and mine is we will need more about our squad than a whole host of League 1 players.Here''s another for you i think Holt will be totally out of his depth a league higher and will be one of the worst strikers in the Championship , time will tell eh .[/quote] Yeeaaahh!!!!! That Lambert bloke is a complete mug!!!! Never signed a decent player, what has he done for this club????? oh wait a minute.................... The difference is that Lambert has actually successfully managed a football team before and as a result has a proven track record of signing decent players (Stephen Eliot aside). Additionally oh wise one how many times have you seen Crofts play???

[quote user="city4eva"]Seems to be engineering works on underground on sat...whats wrong with walking from liverpool st to London bridge, i have been told it is only 10 mins[/quote]   It''s walking distance sertainly this is very true, although closer to 25mins, just didn''t want to over complicate things, i remember when i first moved to london even walking with A to Z in hand it was sometimes difficult to work out exactly where I was, am assuming that people who ask for directions are unfamiliar with the layout of the city and therefore it is easier just to direct them on the tube train etc. If you do want to walk then go down Bishopgate following the signs for monument station and then walk over london bridge the station is impossible to miss, still probably a little quicker and easier to get the tube though if you''re not familiar with the city.

[quote user="dezmondo18"]didn''t want to start a new thread but i never travel by train eva! but have little choice sat could any1 recommend the best route from norwich to charlton by train and underground and the times i would need to leave realistically to av a few bevvies too ,Cheers[/quote] Liverpool Street to Stratford, then the jubilee line is normally the easiest (tube to North Greenwich then bus) but it''s suspended on saturday so the best thing is to get on the DLR at Stratford on a train going to Lewisham get off at Cutty Sark (in the middle of Greenwich) and then either hang around there and have some beers in the pubs or get straight on the 177 or 180 bus near the Maritime Museum, getting off at the Charlton Station/Woolwich Road stop (all buses have audio telling you what stop it is), the pubs around Charlton are all a bit rough but the atmosphere for the most part was very welcoming last season, this time around may be different due to the fact that both teams have something to play for but the addicks aren''t exactly renowned for trouble. An alternative would be to go through to Livepool Street, get the central line to bank, and then northern line to london bridge, after that get an overground train to Charlton.

[quote user="RonDavies"]Joking aside [:)], I think the general rule is that if a player''s arms are raised and the ball hits then it is a penalty even if it was accidental because the player is deemed to be trying to get an advantage merely by raising his arms. If his arms are down then a penalty should not be given if it was clearly accidental (Tranmere ref take note). [/quote] It''s such a simple rule yet so hard to follow in practice, i mean a guy with his arm raised to the heavens saturday night fever style whose hand is then hit by the ball, not just brushed a little, but actually hit so powerfully that its diverted back from whence it came, that''s difficult to see right? I''m sure that any of us looking at that in real time would have had trouble seeing it, right? I heard 24,000 people all saw it and thought; "well that was a tough one, seen them given but also seen them turned down", I mean it''s not  like they were all immediately incensed by the decision to give a corner or anything were they? I think gentle applause rang out around the stadium as everyone commended the ref on taking on a tough 50/50 decision and making a call, it takes a brave man to do such a thing doesn''t it?

If we do go 4-4-2 then we''ve got to put McNamee out wide on the left, i understand he wasn''t exactly great vs McDons but can''t see us coming away with much if we don''t play him in his favoured position. Lappin has done nothing to deserve being dropped but i think he might have to take one for the team in this instance. The other option might be to go 433 with a front three of  -MacNamee-Martin-Elliot- then keeping the same back four and midfield pushing Macca up as a very high wing/attacking midfielfer/support striker.

[quote user="Harry"].....................................Forster.................................... Martin............Doherty............Nelson..............Drury Smith...........................Russell........................Lappin ....................................Johnson................................... .......................Martin...............Elliott......................... [/quote] Seems prety obvious now you''ve said it, would like to see us try this from the start at Orient, come out of the blocks quickly, try and get a couple of early goals then stick 5 in midfield and hold on for grim death. Orient are a team on the rocks at the moment but it''s always dificult to predict how they will play under a new manager, particularly as Slade has previous for coming in and galvanising the performances of ailing teams at the end of a season, therefore hit them hard early, knock them out of the contest before half time and make sure we maintain our eight point lead, all but guaranteeing promotion on saturday at the valley. We did something similar with Daley, Martin and Holt away at McDons and would have got a lot more from that game if we hadn''t been hacked out of it, only change I might make would be to play Hughes on the right, think his passing is superior to Korey''s at the moment.

[quote user="adycanary"]how can anyone say hughes in for Lappin when Mcnamee was well off pace today and certainly not good enough, as for playing in the hole in diamond formation, didn''t you see start of 2nd half today, he was useless in that role.[/quote]   I did not, was glued to the pinkun text, guess it''ll be 4-4-2 then!

[quote user="matt crowhurst"]or keep the diamond with the normal 3 midfielders, chrissy in the hole with oli and elliot up front? [/quote]   Intersting idea, however we would then lose Martin''s finishing ability as he would be playing in an unfamiliar deeper role. I think if you want to play all three strikers you''d have to stick all three up front, Oli and Elliot out wide and Chris in the centre (being the best finisher). May have to resort to knocking balls over the top for Oli Chris and Elliot to chase if you were to play that system though as i don''t think any of them are creative enough to have it played to feet without Holt making runs and using his strength to pull defenders out of position.

With Holt certainly out and Hoolahan a major doubt who will we play with Super Chris on saturday??? Think I''d like to see Oli starting with Cody on the bench. Would also like to see McNamee play on the left and Hughes on the right with Lappin dropped to the subs. Or is there a case for playing McNamee in the hole where Wes normally would?

We are going to struggle like hell without him and Holt in our next two games, very tough away fixtures particularly against Charlton. Flashbacks to last season where losing him led to us only scoring one more goal from open play, bad times......

[quote user="Romantic"]I weep for them I really do. God I hope we turn them over today! [/quote] We owe them a thumping after they hacked us all over the pitch at Stadium:McDonalds, hope Lambert rubs it all over Ince''s face as well!

Actually did put a right back in; Alan Dunne, remembered he looked pretty decent in both Millwall games this season.

From Norwich Forster, The Doc, Drury, Hoolahan, Holt Here''s my attempt, don''t really know of any right backs good enough to make the grade so haven''t attmepted to name one, did think about putting semi in though ;) Forster, Doc, Robinson(Millwall), Dunne(Millwall), Drury, Puncheon(Saints), Abdou (Millwall), Hoolahan, Lallana (Saints), Holt, Lambert (Saints). Bench: Rusty Austin (Swindon) Snodgrass (Leeds) Super Chris Naylor (scum) Mc Govern (Swindon) Lappin (versatile and also the king of spain) Polish Brentford keeper on loan from Arsenal

great article, extremely well written, two thumbs up!

[quote user="newcastle uni canary"]Mcnamee has been compared to Fox, however i have no idea of the acuracy of this being too young (dons tin hat).Grant holt at times reminds me of RobertsKorey Smith looks to me like a gary holt in the making to me.Any others?[/quote] Don''t think Macca has anything like Fox''s pace but possibly more tricks in his box

Done, didn''t make it clear that I''m a Norwich fan as that is immaterial, the point being that leeds are shite and really don''t deserve any players at all in the short list. Players I listed as alternatives included; Barnard, Holt, Hoola, Lallana, Abdou, Austin and Paynter.

[quote user="wrathsajoke"]goes missing when needed most-too lightweight? remember last year? cant play 4 4 2 with him in the side and we wont get away with the diamond next season[/quote] Actually his tracking back has been one of the things i have been most impressed with this season particularly since christmas, added to that he has 11 goals and the 2nd highest number of assists in the league...... yeah that''s just the kind of player we don''t need in the team!!

Agree that Macca should probably be out on the left but Hughes doesn''t look fully match fit, don''t think we have another viable option to play wide right. Would love to see an out and out right winger brought in to complement MacNamee on the left.

Must admit I don''t remember Hucks crossing that often with his left, one of what i believe was his very few weaknesses was that he wasn''t strong enough on his left foot. Also Huck''s preferred to play on his opposite wing, don''t think Macca is that kind of player.