Simon Lappin, King Of Spain

@ Big Bad John; Agree largely re: Lappin although thought he improved second half, most of his corners were pretty well delivered (there was one awful one though), we are definitely going to need to find a replacement for next season simply cannot see him making it as a Championship player unfortunately. Do think it''s a little unfair to single him out as in general our final ball was pretty rubbish today up until McNamee and Hughes came on. Lambert is a genius though and knew exactly when to bring on the subs, Chrissy in particular looked like a player re-born ,even after such a short rest, benching him was 100% the right thing to do, he looked so much sharper and hungrier than he has in recent matches and showed it with a great header for the goal, extremely well taken!

Watched it on the net too, thought Drury was very solid defensively but his delivery when going forward was average at best, can''t really understand the MotM award, Doc was a colossus today, definitely his performance of the season so far. It was a very tense affair and it always looked like a single goal would decide it. Thought that Leeds stopped us playing our passing game for much of the match and frequently came through the midfield too easily however the whole back four stood up to be counted and were not found wanting, absolutley fantastic performance all round from them. We were sloppy at times on the ball and alot of our crossing was very poor particularly in the first 10-15 of the second half, however the quality shone through at the end, particulalrly after the introduction of Macca and Super Chris and we looked more of a match for them in the last half an hour. All credit to Lambert for making changes early which enhanced the way we played, it''s obvious to me that our manager and the squad''s strength in depth won it for us today, to be able to bring on players of such quality who can change the game is what will win us the title.  

Whilst I partially agree with the OP the thing is that on saturday we were hugely improved second half without actually changing the system significantly. I think the difference was that rusty sat too deep first half and therefore too much territory and possession was ceded to the opposition. Additionally it appeared to me that the fullbacks and micheal rose in particular over lapped with much greater regularity in the second than in the first. This allowed us to compete more in midfield and spread the ball into wide areas. The problem with the OP''s suggestion is that in our current system Rusty occupies the space that the "box to box" midfielder would take up but because we play a diamond he has to sit deep or leave us extremely exposed at the back. We will need to revert to 4-4-2 to allow this to occur and to accomodate a player of that ilk.

Going with the capitals on the 1130 from paddington and definitely be getting on it early, does anyone have a clue about which pub most city fans will be going to? I was thinking the Gluepot as it looks like the only half decent pub within easy distance of the station and the ground, any ideas?

[quote user="corbs"]The only good pub I know is the Glue Pot, Emlyn Sq, nr Oxford St, nr Railway Station and Village. I am meeting up with my mate in the Gluey, who is a Town fan and long term Gluey regular, and who will be with his mates, mostly exiles and ale fans. It has always been a friendly pub, although basically a Home pub, but it is a fair walk to the ground as I remember, but very few other options in the area I am informed.[/quote] That''s where i intend to go pre match as it''s a Hopback Brewery pub and looks like one of only two decent ale pubs in the whole town, my experience so far this season has been that it generally doesn''t matter if it''s a home pub; most people have been extremely friendly and willing to accomodate a few stray Norwich fans not looking for any trouble. I''m very much looking forward to enjoying a decent pint of summer lightning!

We''ve almost certainly sold out the Arkells stand, my mate bought tickets last week and we were allocated them in the uncovered stand, no idea how many of those are left though.

The only question I have to ask is, Wiz are you on crack?

I really like it, very clean and simple, also agree regarding the colour, liking the return to the lighter shade of yellow we''ve employed in the past. Very impressed, well done xara think this is you best attempt yet! Looking forward to getting this asap!

I''d Say Rusty''s equaliser vs Gills due to; the character we showed to keep on attacking and attacking even with ten men, PL running onto the pitch and hugging Declan Rudd then running off and finally because i cheered so hard i almost threw up. Ginger pele''s winner against brighton comes very very close though, the crowd went utterly mental and the atmosphere which had been dire until our equaliser just went into the stratosphere. Brighton was also quite funny due to watching John Salako gearing up for Soccer Saturday and trying to put him off by singing at him.

[quote user="Going up up up"]yer i was going to go to huddersfield but i can''t afford it. coach and ticket for swindon 37 pound[/quote] I''m going with the Capitals, got a special deal on the train only a fiver return, nice! Anyone know of any decent pubs? I''ve looked on beer in the evening.co.uk and the glue pot looks like the best bet, no idea if it''s away fan friendly though.

does it have sporran? will we be playing in kilts rather than shorts next season???

I think the most amazing thing is that despite our horrific start to the season we are now on the same points and gd that leicester were, in what is arguably a more competitive league than the last one. Good on you boys!!!! OTBC!!!

Is it me or does it seem like no one but us actually wants to win the league this season? When we have a horrible performance we manage to pull at least a point out of the bag and even when we lose none of the others actually want to try and make up some ground by winning. Would literally do a sh it if Leeds don''t beat Tranmere tonight.

[quote user="Yarmyed"] Norwich City''s Honours Second tier Champions 1971–72, 1985–86, 2003–04 Third tier Champions 1933–34 Third tier Runners Up 1959–60 League Cup Winners 1962, 1985 League Cup Runners Up 1973, 1975 As this shows it''s not everday you win something. So I think we should celebrate it IF we get over the line. It marks a fantastic turnaround from the absolute despair I felt at Charlton and on the opening day against Colchester. Also remember the players in all this. They have been fantastic for the whole season and deserve credit. For many it will have been the first league title of their careers. People like Martin and Spillane are getting a taste for winning things and will surely want more.  For players like Michael Nelson who is a good honest lower league pro, it would represent the highlight of his career to date. He has his limitations but he has played really well alongside Doc this season. So why shouldnt they celebrate it? [/quote]   You speak the truth sir! If we win the league, i will celebrate like we we''ve won the league, it''s not like we''ve had a lot to be happy about in the past 5 years. Hoping that IF it does happen we''ll be confrimed champions on 1st of May at Bristol Rovers as I''m going to that game and it''s my birthday, will then attempt to drink my own body weight in super strength west country cider, YUM!!!

[quote user="Yarmyed"] Norwich City''s Honours Second tier Champions 1971–72, 1985–86, 2003–04 Third tier Champions 1933–34 Third tier Runners Up 1959–60 League Cup Winners 1962, 1985 League Cup Runners Up 1973, 1975 As this shows it''s not everday you win something. So I think we should celebrate it IF we get over the line. It marks a fantastic turnaround from the absolute despair I felt at Charlton and on the opening day against Colchester. Also remember the players in all this. They have been fantastic for the whole season and deserve credit. For many it will have been the first league title of their careers. People like Martin and Spillane are getting a taste for winning things and will surely want more.  For players like Michael Nelson who is a good honest lower league pro, it would represent the highlight of his career to date. He has his limitations but he has played really well alongside Doc this season. So why shouldnt they celebrate it? [/quote]   You speak the truth sir! If we win the league, i will celebrate like we we''ve won the league, it''s not like we''ve had a lot to be happy about in the past 5 years. Hoping that IF it does happen we''ll be confrimed champions on 1st of May at Bristol Rovers as I''m going to that game and it''s my birthday, will then attmept to drink my own body weight in super strength west country cider, YUM!!!

[quote user="pennywise "]theos contribution to this season has been unmatched by any other player...without him we might have only lost 3-1 to colchester and gunn would have hung around until october and we would have never got lambert..instead the spectacular capitulation gave mcnally all the ammo he needed to act ruthlessly  and the rest is history... thanks to theo gunns ineptitude was  magnified x 100 ...thankyou theo [:D][/quote] That is quite simply the best way of looking at his unfortunate time at the club, I wholeheartedly second those sentiments  sir!  

Comprehensive report thanks mate, was at the game in the away end and saw bugger all as we were in the 2nd row from the front and not going to try and comment too much on the game itself as a result. I do disagree with you on some points particularly with regard to our defence, my personal impression was that Rose had a stinker especially in the first half, thought his postioning was poor and he lacked strength in the tackle, Martin had a better game but was given a lot of trouble by Lua Lua, like Rose my impression was that his defensive work was not up to standard, however his play going forward improves with every game I see. I also thought both centre halves had better games than you gave them credit for but were made to look worse than they were by poor defensive performances from both full backs. For me the result hinged on two decisions, firstly Poyet''s to bring off Lua Lua who was their most dangerous attacking threat, gave Martin a real run around for the whole 65mins he was on the pitch and bring on a defensive midfielder, the second being Lambert''s to bring off Korey and Nelson and put on Oli and Macca, tactical naivety from Poyet who tried to hold down a one nil lead against the league leaders and a great gamble from Lambert who saw that we were going nowehere fast and made the substitutions and formaition changes which entirely altered the face of the game, obviously that is one of the factors which seperates a good manager from a great one. Also I loved the way Lambert sprinted down the touchline to pick up the stray ball and give it to Martin (R) to take the free kick which resulted in Ginger Pele''s match winner. I gain more and more respect for that man with every game I see, he is the best thing to happen to the club in an eternity.Other than that I thought Holt was far from his best today, constantly over on the wings rather in the middle of the park which left no one in the centre to get on the end of crosses or through balls as Martin was usually over on the other touchline (although he looked skillful wiht the ball at his feet I thought his movement without the ball was pretty poor today). Holt seems to have the tendency to "do a Rooney" when we''re not playing well and tries too hard to make things happen as a result we sometimes lose his physical presence up front. As soon as McNamee and Johnson came on and he took a more central position we looked much more threatening. One final point is that although Hoolahan was marked out of the majority of the game, it was his magical little run along the byline into the box which set up Holt''s equaliser, he may have been kept quiet at times, but only needs to slip his marker for a second to make something happen, utterly indispensible player!Overall poor performance except the last 15mins but great result, we''ll need to improve hugely to beat Southampton next weekend but the three points is the main thing at the moment OTBC!!!!!!

[quote user="SimonOTBC"] [quote user="Brighton Yellow"]Where is he at the moment? Anyone know? Is he still recovering from injury?[/quote] My opinion is that he isn''t good enough and we don''t miss him. As for your question, I don''t know, equally, I''m not too bothered. [/quote] He''s young and raw, let''s not write him off too quickly, needs to be loaned out to a league two side for some experience and then see how he fares after that. Also he looked good against Southend on December the first (tbf they were already beaten), showed some decent touches and did well to win a penalty.

Speaking to Millwall fans last week they said he''s the best centre back they''ve had in years and he certainly looked the part when he came on, very cool and assured despite the extremely hostile atmosphere. From what Lambert said in the interview you can interpret that he''s picked up a minor injury because he hasn''t played in a bit, let''s not get our knickers in a twist over something so minor, he''ll be back in a couple of weeks and no doubt will be a very important part of our run in to the end of the season.

I thought the atmosphere was great fun, it was verey noisy and we bettered them throughout the first half, my friends brother in law is a millwall fan and conceded we were very very loud in the first half, obviously the millwall fans got a lot louder after they went 2-1 up but in general i don''t think we gave too bad a account of ourselves.

Mc Namee looked decent, my only complaint would be that we didn''t use him enough out wide, there was a number of occasions when he was in space and looked inside or put it across to the other flank. I think as soon as Holt returns Hoolahan will flourish again and brighton is the perfect game for us to bounce back. Incidently the only change I would make would be to bring in Whitbread for Nelson, he looked superb, a very cultured championship quality centre back.

[quote user="blahblahblah"]You are a very lucky man, your highness.  If nothing else you can hide behind her if it all kicks off [:)] [/quote]   Of Course! I choose my queen based upon her ability to assist theKing in defence of his realm, looks are tertiary to fighting spirit and powerful thighs!

[quote user="eagle"] Haha, awesome! Good to see someone on here who has a sense of humour and can take a joke for once! [/quote]   The King is always mindful of the need to show humility when conversing with even the lowliest of his subjects.

[quote user="morty"]You are entitled to your opinion. It is, however, tantamount to treason to question the ability of the King of Spain. [/quote]   Agreed! Off with his head!!!!!!!

[quote user="blahblahblah"][quote user="Simon Lappin King Of Spain"][quote user="eagle"] Is she a big lass who can handle herself? [/quote] Absolutely, arms like a docker''s, kicks like a mule [/quote] She likes you for the compliments, you like her for the pain ? [/quote] Well how could you not fall for her??? plus it keeps life interesting, and certainly adds an element of danger to our relationship.