Duncan

Will we be able to win away from home??  I can see the quotes in the press from our coaching staff being '' the game at Bristol Rovers/Yeovil/Leeds/MK Dons etc etc will be a very tough one.''  Our record away from home in recent years has been as bad as anything in the country so something has to change in that respect for our season to be successful.

Totally agree with this comment.  Clingan has been poor in the last two games but apart from that has been one of the best players for us this season.  You have to wonder if the transfer talk has affected his form.  Fotheringham is a very average player who thinks he is better than he is. He likes to stroll around the pitch picking mostly sideway passes with the occasional move forward into a scoring position. Like others in our team he is somebody who rarely scores and there are too many individuals who don''t find the net.  However his biggest crime is not just a lack of effort but passion and pride in being the captain.  For an example, when Norwich came out for the second half one goal down, who was urging the players on?  Not one single player was showing any sort of leadership.  Of course Fotheringham should be doing it as captain but instead he stands with his hand on hips as if it is a stroll on a Sunday afternoon friendly match.  Oh for the leadership of Malky and Dion since it seems that there is nobody up for the fight whatever the players said to Gunny after the game!

Agree with you.  Between them Bell and Lita were caught offside about 8 times causing many of our attacks to stop short. Our players must try to look along the line. As luck would have it their first goal which might have been offside was allowed!

    I don''t understand the full financial position with the debt at Ipswich, but I do know that Norwich Union have a significant sponsorship deal with our club for the Norwich Union Community Stand. 

    Quite a number of people will be attracted by the idea of staying in a reasonably priced hotel attached to a football stadium. 

    I think Jurgen has made progress this year but he has quite some way to go before getting to ''Player of the Year'' category.  Of course perhaps this an easier year to win it!  But getting back to Jurgen and to an extent Adam Drury as well, how often do our full backs beat a man or two, get to the bye line and send over a decent cross? Jurgen is enthusiastic but rarely in a game is he an attacking threat and until City have pacy full backs who are a threat then our chances of scoring many in a game are seriously reduced.

    Yesterday''s fantastic performance by Watford made me wonder just what Nigel would have said if it had been us rather than Watford winning 3-0 at Palace.  Given that he thought we were superb at Leeds in a 1-1 draw and excellent losing 2-0 at Preston, preumably he would have been rather excited! 

If we have Ann Summers does that mean the players will wear thongs rather than shorts!

    This season the Scottish rugby union team has been transformed even although the players are much the same as last year.  To quote today''s EDP England were '' thwarted by a Scottish side whose character, commitment and courage underpinned their success. New Coach, Frank Hadden has instilled pride and purpose among the players - a stark contrast from the miserable regimeof his predecessor Matt Williams.''  Let''s hope that the EDP are writing similar things about a Norwich City team, transformed next season by a new manager who can bring a smile back to the players and fans of our fine club.

Perhaps if he can''t get Gray, Nigel will turn his attention to Scowcroft again!!

When Doherty made his debut, there was no lack of effort from the big man. His form has really improved but his commitment level is the same. What upset supporters about Etuhu was a lack of effort - when the ball came near him he often went missing, didn''t challenge, didn''t work hard.  Now I''m not sure why that was.  Is he lazy, was he still suffering from his virus, not fit and trying to pace himself, unmotivated?  Time will tell although it is worrying that some Preston fans say they thought he didn''t work hard enough for them.  A good manager will make sure he is fully committed and involved in which case he can be an asset.  Over to you, Nigel!

Have to say the performance of Etuhu against Preston was one of the worst and least committed I have seen. I would have substituted him at half time.  He should hang his head in shame at his work rate. 

A friend of mine who is a Cardiff fan sent me this comprehensive report of the match on Tuesday.  The writer describes our fans as ''fanatical'' and ''the loudest home support I''ve heard this season''.  Link is: http://195.238.240.168/board/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?read=173446

The sending off was a difficult decision for the referee and it is not obvious either way from the replay.  However if you look at the reaction of De Vos and Magilton towards the referee afterwards then you have to wonder if one or both might have been sent off as well.  Hucks was sent off for abusing the ref at Stoke so the furious reaction of the Ipswich players might well have been punished.  Of course this was surprisingly not mentioned by Joe Royle!    

I agree with a lot of these points and also hope that Nigel can get the team playing with a bit of confidence again.  The squad is smaller however and the replacements that have come in are yet to show their best form.  When we won the league before we were really lucky with having so few injuries - I can''t see us being so fortunate again.  So how are we going to cope with injuries and suspensions (?) this time - with some difficulty.  One other point is that for the last three seasons we have had so many games when we have only played well for one half.  Despite many words on this from Worthy, he still seems incapable of getting the players to play well for 90 minutes on many occasions.   Still this a time for fans to get behind the team since they really do need our support at the moment.

Bentley is pleasing to the eye with his fine ball skills.  However his defending was suspect, his crossing was poor - Marney looks much better so far - and his shooting was terrible, usually over the bar or horribly sliced.  Personally I''d rather sign a midfielder who could score 10 goals or more for us (there must be someone out there!) rather than another non scoring midfielder. In other words a good replacement for Francis.     

With the G8 talking about climate change this week, I just thought that the emissions from the NCFC ''Away Day'' bus at the top of the screen were a bit much!! 

The club was represented at Holt by Neil Doncaster and at Hethersett by Bryan Gunn.  In addition six NCFC staff did a great job on Friday in painting the kitchen and toilets at Hethersett. 

Wouldn''t it be rather strange if Portsmouth signed Greeno and Francis but were relegated and replaced in the Premier League next season by a revitalised Norwich City!!

I watched quite a few reserve games last season and most of them were poor entertainment.  However Danny Crow did light up many of the matches with his enthusiasm and goal scoring.  I realise we are quite well off for forwards but this lad has talent. We should have tried to loan him out again next season for him to get more experience.  I can see him going to Barnet and joining the other ex NCFC youth players who are doing so well (Dean Sinclair & Damien Batt).  There he will become a star player.

Out of the other teams in the relegation scrap, I''m quite happy with the Baggies staying up. They have played some good committed football of late.  I really don''t like Harry Rednap and the way he switched from Pompey to Saints and I''m glad that AJ''s diving didn''t keep Palace up!!  What a chance we had to be the ones in the Premier but defensively away from home we were rarely good enough.  Oh well with two new defenders and two new midfielders we could be in good shape next season.

When the season is over and the last pint of beer has been downed in celebration or sheer despair, what can you do other than wait for the pre-season friendlies?  Well why not join in one of the ''Canaries for the Community'' Summer Projects.  Team up with other City fans on a day when once again we show the football world that we are indeed the best supporters around.  Show you care about the grass roots of our beloved game by helping with pre-season work at a local non-league team or contribute to the local community on our other project.  This year’s projects are:   Saturday 11 June 2005 Holt United FC.  Work will include painting the enclosure and changing rooms.   Saturday 2 July 2005 Hethersett Youth Centre.  Work will include painting the centre and tidying the surrounding grounds   Work starts at 9.30 and finishes at 16.30.  Come for an hour or two or stay all day.  You’ll get a free t-shirt, free baseball cap, free lunch and a chance to win dinner for two at Delia’s Restaurant & Bar ( Competition closing date 31 May 2005). Meet club officials and make new friends with other City fans. If you want to join in then e-mail me duncan@macinnes551.fslife.co.uk or phone 01603 431059 so that I know how many lunches and paintbrushes to order!  This year’s projects are linked with the Year of the Volunteer, which is backed by the Home Office and the Premier League.    

If we go 1-0 up in the first half, please can we not sit too deep and defend the whole of the second half!!  One I''m not sure I can stand that tension and two I''ll be shattered if we then concede a late goal! C''mon City give us an emphatic controlled 3-0 win!!!!!!

Everyone bar none thinks our defending was not the best on Saturday.  However the EDP gives a very respectable 6/10 to all our defenders and the same rating to Hucks, Francis and Bentley with 7 for Greeno and 8 for Safri.  Safri I agree played really well and Greeno kept the score down but how does the EDP justify rating the others as if all had a pretty good game?

Some while ago, these garments were supposedly bringing City luck - have people started wearing them again or was it that Fergie forgot to put his on and that was why he was so upset at the final whistle??