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Canary02 IV

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Everything posted by Canary02 IV

  1. I know the guy who first tweeted about John Ruddy joining us, and you''re not him. I don''t think we need Columbo to figure out what you are though.
  2. I think we need another 2 strikers and an attacking midfielder. I think we have enough wing options now and I''d be happy enough at CB with the options provided by Bassong, Turner, Bennett and Martin although it appears CH is looking to strengthen there. Toivanon was an interesting target as a hybrid AM/S. I''ve always liked the idea of having a big man playing behind your goalscorer, winning headers for his partner to run onto. Sutton and Larsson proved how effective it can be if played correctly. Target men are rare enough these days though. Target men who can link play through the midfield as well are incredibly difficult to find.
  3. Cheers Twitchy, I think it might have given a few people the wrong idea that it was a joke thread instead of just a joke title but I got the answer I needed in the end!
  4. Great, thanks very much LDC, much appreciated. I''ve only been once away since we went up and I''m out of touch with the process, particularly in terms of getting "extra" tickets as well as my own.
  5. I''ve obviously overdone the joke factor here. Arse jokes aside I''m asking a genuine question (or two). 1) As a season ticket holder with no away stubs from last season what are my chances for getting a ticket to Arsenal away in Oct? 2) What would be my chances of getting a second ticket for my wife as a non-member or season ticket holder? 3) If I had a friend who had a season ticket and didn''t intend going, is it kosher to use his season ticket and for her to go with his ticket? Any advice from regular away fans welcome.
  6. She''s not as keen as she was when Freddie Ljungberg was involved but I think I can still arouse interest.
  7. Genuine question which I''m hoping someone with recent travelling experience or understanding of the new rules can help me with. I''m a season ticket holder and have been for donkeys years. I used to go to quite a few away games but didn''t go to any last season and only one the year before. My wife comes from London and is a nominal gooner, and as the Arsenal game comes on the weekend of my birthday I thought it would be nice for me and her to go down to London for the weekend and see the game while we''re there. With the changes to the away allocations will I be able to do that? What are my chances of getting one ticket, let alone two? And if there''s a problem with getting a second ticket, what''s the standpoint if I were to borrow someone else''s season ticket to use to get my wife a ticket? Any advice gratefully received.
  8. Heard a rumour from someone with no insider knowledge so not looking for ITK status on this one, that we''ve enquired about Lee Cattermole who Di Canio doesn''t fancy. Personally I''ve always thought he''s a good young scrapper but he always seems to be getting sent off or injured. Always seemed to be made captain at a young age which is a good sign though (Lambert must like him!) Any thoughts?
  9. Gary Megson was an awesome enforcer for us. Any of our lads got kicked he would stalk the offender for the next ten minutes and invariably scythe through them at least once.
  10. Townsend would be my choice. Great young talent and the betting thing was by all accounts a naive mistake by an otherwise good pro. Shelvey would be good too and can play in a couple of positions that we''re not overly stocked with. Redmond certainly has potential but think he was in and out of the Birmingham team which maybe isn''t a wonderful sign. Haven''t seen a huge amount of him to be fair. If we could calm him down enough to stay on the field, I''d love to see someone with the passion of Lee Cattermole. Can''t see it happening though.
  11. Townsend put a few bets on matches he wasn''t involved in without realising it wasn''t allowed. By all accounts off the pitch he''s a good pro and has had no other problems. This incident doesn''t make him the antichrist. I think he''d make a great signing. He can also play in a more central role so he''s not necessarily a like-for-like replacement for Benno.
  12. I''d like to see him here. No more than £5m though.
  13. Humour is funniest when it''s edgy. Jan just went a bit over the commonly accepted line. Minor mistake, he''s not sick, he''s just a very naughty boy.
  14. It''s noticeable that Holt has been far more central in the last 2 games and looked a far better player. Kamara ended up playing wide when he was up front on his own too so it was obviously a tactical choice and not just Holt wandering off of his own accord. Holt hasn''t done a lot wrong this season. I can''t remember him missing any sitters (apart from Soton pen). He just hasn''t had many chances. Kamara could likewise feel hard done by on that score.
  15. Typo, "Of course we''re happy with 11th"... Because you know that would be the first response!
  16. There has been one clear difference in terms of our set-up and formation in the last 2 games and that has been the midfield joining the attack. It goes without saying after the goals but when Howson in particular has pushed on we have presented a far greater threat than in the whole of the season. It''s long been the case as well. One of our best home displays was against Tottenham and in that game Tettey, particularly in the first half was regularly bursting forward and we shocked Spurs with our willingness to attack. The second half he stopped doing that and we carried less of a threat. Too many times we''ve seen Snoddy or Wes have to hold the ball for an age while the whole team moves up simply because when the attack started the opposition found it easy to mark the 3 possible passing options for one of our 4 attackers to find. A breaking midfielder makes all the difference. Regardless of what a minority say, Hughton has made us defensively more solid, both with his signings and tactics but it''s been at the cost of attacking numbers. I''ve been a critic of Hughton, (and remain unconvinced) but IF these two games have proved to him the value of allowing an extra body to join the four forwards, we could have a very good season next year. To do that he needs to have trust in our players intelligence. Allowing them to attack doesn''t mean they will forget to defend when needed. The margins are so tight that we''ve seen the results of the last games today mean we could have ended up anywhere between 10th and 17th depending on other results. Whilst a lot of people are getting excited by this because we finished 11th I pity the missed opportunity because there were so many poor teams that were in that 10-20th group and we had so many opportunities to rip points from them. Imagine where we could have finished. From where we were 2 weeks ago of course we''re delighted with 12th, but with the way we''ve seen our players can attack and create and finish chances when allowed to, isn''t it a crying shame that we''ve hid behind stifling defence all year long? I believe something as simple as allowing a midfielder to push on when we have the ball could make the difference between what still remains a narrow escape, and challenging with the Swansea''s and West Brom''s around 6th and 7th places. I pray that Chris Hughton takes that message away and we can have a great season next year. Everybody likes CH as a man, and everybody wants him to succeed. He has the blueprint now, he just needs to follow it and everyone will fall behind him.
  17. Also well done to Leon Barnett, Simon Lappin, Joe Lewis, David Marshall, and Craig Bellamy. Little Norwich!
  18. I agree totally with the limitations to certain players not helping. I''m not entirely on board with the idea that the squad we have isn''t good enough to have won more games though. We''re limited in this league certainly, but we''re capable of a lot more. I know mentioning a certain ex-manager in a discussion is tantamount to invoking the Nazi''s as a juxtapoint, but one of the key differences for me is that PL instilled belief in players and made them greater than the sum of their parts. I''ve yet to see that with CH. Only when Kamara''s infectious enthusiasm forced Everton to capitulate have we seen any "magic" this year. Any sign that we''re being aggressive. Sure we beat Arsenal and Man United but as pleasing as the results were, they were the outcome of a defensive game plan coming off. And while that''s not a bad thing against the biggest teams, we can offer so much more against the mid-lower range teams in this league. The Lambert attacking philosophy had to change and we had to be more defensive. But other than Snodgrass and Tettey (bar the recent additions of Becchio and Kamara) the midfield and forwards are the same that were creating chances left, right and centre last season. They have it in them in my opinion, but the current philosophy doesn''t allow them to show that.
  19. I''ve been more critical of Hughton than most in the past. Nice guy, has the support of everyone he works with and buys good players but I hate his tactics and his negative, timid approach. But we''ve been hitched to his wagon all season and we''re now past the point of no return. I''ve never advocated getting rid of Hughton and to do so now would be suicide, so like him or his tactics or not, we''re set now for the next seven games. We have to stay up, and our best chance is to unite and get behind the boys. I''ll be the first to scream "Hughton Out" if we do stay up, bring players in, and then continue to play this brand of insipid, uninspired dross next year, but for now we need to cheer the boys across the line, and hope he has the courage to open things up next year. We all want the same outcome and our best bet is to come together as a club. Good things always happen when we do that.
  20. [quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Canary02 IV"]Thanks all for some interesting reactions. I''m highly flattered that Mister Chops devoted his Sunday lunchtime to his response. The consensus seems to be that the paintball part was a bit overcooked which is fair enough. I would like to reiterate that I''m not anti-Hughton, or a troll, or a binner. I didn''t post just because we lost at Old Trafford. The reason I see us as being so negative is that in winnable home games when we have the crowd behind us and could force the issue against the likes of QPR, Newcastle etc we don''t push forward. The first thought is always to settle for a point. Everton just reinforced that when CH said he would have taken a point but the players had other ideas. That''s why I regard us as negative, and I don''t think I''m in the minority with that. For some the be-all-and-end-all is the league table and you can say nothing dissenting whilst we sit 17th or better. Personally I think a message board can have different opinions and you can be supportive of the club in some aspects, and have issues you disagree with them on in other aspects and still be a supporter. On here it appears you have to pick a team and either be a " True Supporter/Happy Clappy" or a "Hughton-Outer/Knee-Jerk Troll", which is a pity because by law of averages most people are probably like me, and have a variety of opinions on different subjects. It must be very upsetting to feel the need to tell 50% of people off all the time.[/quote]I type quickly.What I do agree on is that the approach next season, when Hughton has "his" squad in place, does need to be more win-minded - at least at home, if not away from home. My assumption is that he''s doing his best to grind out results with a system designed to play to his squad''s strengths, or to at least minimise their weaknesses (i.e. make them hard to beat), but once he has his players he will be able to flex the balance between defence and attack as required.If the squad changes but the approach doesn''t, I will fall into the "Hughton outer/troll" category with you.[/quote] Now we''re agreeing and that makes me scared. ;-)
  21. Thanks all for some interesting reactions. I''m highly flattered that Mister Chops devoted his Sunday lunchtime to his response. The consensus seems to be that the paintball part was a bit overcooked which is fair enough. I would like to reiterate that I''m not anti-Hughton, or a troll, or a binner. I didn''t post just because we lost at Old Trafford. The reason I see us as being so negative is that in winnable home games when we have the crowd behind us and could force the issue against the likes of QPR, Newcastle etc we don''t push forward. The first thought is always to settle for a point. Everton just reinforced that when CH said he would have taken a point but the players had other ideas. That''s why I regard us as negative, and I don''t think I''m in the minority with that. For some the be-all-and-end-all is the league table and you can say nothing dissenting whilst we sit 17th or better. Personally I think a message board can have different opinions and you can be supportive of the club in some aspects, and have issues you disagree with them on in other aspects and still be a supporter. On here it appears you have to pick a team and either be a " True Supporter/Happy Clappy" or a "Hughton-Outer/Knee-Jerk Troll", which is a pity because by law of averages most people are probably like me, and have a variety of opinions on different subjects. It must be very upsetting to feel the need to tell 50% of people off all the time.
  22. I''ve been struggling to think of a way to explain the way I''m feeling as a Norwich fan at the moment when this analogy struck me. Imagine a National Paintball Championship. It''s the biggest sport in the country, heavily televised on pay-per-view, and it''s an honour to have your team competing. The rules are that each team scores points when they hit people and has points taken away when they get hit. The team with most points at the end wins. There are 20 teams and at the end of the Championship the 17 teams with the best records are invited back for the next Championship. Now it''s clear that some teams have a far greater advantage. They bring in the best sharpshooters in the world, and have guns that fire 300 paintballs a minute to everyone else''s 50 etc. But when the game begins, everyone starts shooting and doing the best they can. They pick off easy targets but also take on difficult shots, and they get involved and play the game and it''s exciting and fun and you can see why everyone loves the game. All except for one team. That team, as soon as the game begins, runs to the farthest corner of the woods they can find. They dig down into the undergrowth, and for the duration of the game they say nothing. They never fire a shot or make a sound. Some of them are obviously frustrated. They''re decent paintballers and they want to compete. They want to try and win, even if the odds are against them. But they are loyal to their team leader who insists it has to be this way. When the end of the game is called and the points totalled up, the team that never fired a shot finishes in the top 17. 3 of the teams that did play the game came out with negative points totals and so, by default, the hiding team qualify for the next years Championship. The team leader can say he''s done his bit and qualified. But who wants to play for that team next year? Who wants to pay to watch that again next year? Is it right to say that you played paintball just because you have the kit and turn up if you don''t have the will to actually take part? I don''t hate Chris Hughton and I don''t want him out. This is a hugely important year to stay up financially and needs must. I thought the decision to revert to one up front at Old Trafford was correct, albeit I didn''t expect us to play anywhere near as deep. We have to be pragmatic away from home against the big teams. And if, as his defenders suggest, we get through this season, add quality signings, and compete properly next year, then this season will have been a step backwards to eventually move forwards and we can chalk it up as a learning experience. But if we get to next season and nothing changes and we play every game looking like Rochdale facing up to a tricky cup tie at The Emirates that we''re desperately hoping we can scrape a replay from, then I don''t think I''ll be looking forward to Saturdays any more, which after 30 years as a season ticket holder will be a sad day. I don''t expect us to play dazzling attacking football or even good football to get our results. But when we show such overwhelming deference to every team we play, regardless of circumstance, we drift away from pragmatism and into cowardice. That''s the line that CH crosses that I can''t support. It''s a game. You have to try and win to make it fun, otherwise why are we all wasting our time on it?
  23. I think Hughton is a nice guy, good judge of talent,who is so close to being a top manager. The one area he lets himself down in, is his bravery. He fears the opposition, always pointing out their perceived strengths, and fears what will happen if he lets our players off the leash in the slightest. Today our players took matters into heir own hands and battered down the doors because they could. He needs to trust them. They may not be the greatest technical players in the league but they''re not headless chickens. They can be allowed to attack without the fear that they''ll forget themselves and not chase back if needed to. I agree with Rudolph''s summation. But it''s not about being anti-Hughton. His defensive 4-2-3-1 will be exactly what we need at Old Trafford and defensively we are far better this season. He does need to take the training wheels off offensively though because his lack of courage breeds fear which isn''t healthy.
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