STAN

Note you mention Villa''s 4 "best" players,You forget to mention Lambert also inherited Drury, Lappin, Hoolahan, Holt, Russell, Otsemobor, Mcveigh, Smith, Doherty, Cureton, Martin, Hughes. All players that had played at a higher level than League 1, a team which under the right guidance was more than capable of promotion. He was then given funds to add some decent players at that level. I do agree people saying Villa aren''t a step up are deluded, but the people reading between the lines are just as deluded. Lambert has shown time and time again you cannot take a every word he says literally. He''s reacted to all speculation about himself and players in the same manner. Yes it drives you crazy but that''s Lambert. Colchester did warn us. Sitting at CR watching Colchesters 7th goal fly in, you wouldn''t of even dreamt what has happened. WE''VE JUST FINISHED 12th IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE!! The day he leaves is the the day i''ll worry. Until then...

I cant believe i''m reading this about Fox, he''s been immense all season. Prior to the Spurs game he was one of the first names on the team sheet, Johnson couldn''t get a look in. Some people have short memories. On a plus note, isn''t it nice to be arguing over the player of the season results.

You can hardly blame Pete though.. This is an internet forum and he''s made people post. If you take Lambert literally, after hearing that you would say he''s off. I would imagine most Villa fans who have heard this interview believe he''s now there man. As most Norwich supporters have realised And as Colchester supporters would tell you.. You simply cannot take a word this man says in an interview seriously. He''s almost impossible to read. I believe this is just Lambert doing what he does. In football you can never say never. Aston Villa could offer him the chance to be the highest paid manager in the world And give him £900 million transfer budget. It''s not going to happen but never say never. Lambert played along the same lines when asked about selling Holt.

I keep hearing we will benefit if Holt doesn''t go to the Euro''s. In my opinion Holt has always looked his un-fittest at the start of every season. It was the same when he signed, the same in the Championship and the same this season. I feel some more competitive training, some more match time and a shorter break will benefit Holt and us. If he isn''t picked it''s ridiculous. The England squad should be the best 11 players available at the current time. If someones having a shocking season they shouldn''t be selected on what they''ve once done. Look at Spain of recent times, they had no ''in-form'' strikers. So rather than stick the once good Torres up-front, they played with 6 midfielders.

Edmund, you are right. Not everything moves on for the better, but take a look at our attendances over the past 15 seasons. It''ll show you what making football more ''family friendly'' has done for our club. My age is irrelevant, as is your point. Just because we once had a ''top flight side challenging for honours'' doesn''t mean we shouldn''t celebrate our current position. That''s ridiculous. Also If you''re just there to watch Norwich play as you said, why does it bother you there''s someone waving a flag. Or is that too nancy for you? Like I said, grow up.

Edmund what are you on about? Football has moved on since ''back in your day''. The same as everything else in this world.. But I guess your ''rep'' would drop if you downed the stone island jacket and sported a yellow&green wig? I think it''s about time you grew up son.

In 2 seasons time there should hopefully be some top players starting to come through. Mcnally & Lambert gave Ewan Chester a job for a reason, and that was to rebuild our scouting and youth network. Lambert said on Chesters arrival, "Ewan is a top, top scout and he will be a first-class addition to our team here at Norwich City. He''s got excellent experience and connections throughout Britain and Europe, which will be a really major plus for us as we continue to identify the players we want to be part of things here" Our academy (U18''s) now only has 5 players that have been with the club for more than 3 seasons (Prior to Mcnally/Lambert/Chester). Chester left for an "Amazing offer" as an International scout at Chelsea AKA. Birmingham. The Chelsea link was made up to increase his chances of getting a job elsewhere. It was a case of thankyou&goodbye by Mcnally. Chester''s contract was up, he''d done what he was paid for. Fingers crossed we see the benefits in a few seasons time!!

Some of you are being harsh on Jackson. Yes he hasn''t scored many this season, but i feel this is down to him and Lambert changing his all round game. Last season even when on scoring form people were saying, ''he doesn''t do anything except score''. Compare that to this season, he persistently chases the ball when in the opponents half. More often than not leaving him out of goal scoring positions. It would be interesting to see how many shots on goal he''s actually had. By memory, not many. At the end of the day people do judge strikers by goals, so maybe this will be his downfall. Then bring Vaughan into the situation and i think it seems even more harsh. Jackson just 1 year older than Vaughan has 90 league goals, compared to Vaughan''s 16. Since Vaughan broke in to the Everton first team he has not had One ''injury free season''. Will this change? There''s only 2 reasons for selling Jackson and keeping Vaughan. Firstly we''d be lucky to get a 1/4 of what we paid for the latter. Secondly you''re hoping the latter lives up to the hype when he made his debut 7 years ago. I agree we need to sign another forward, but i don''t think we should sell a player who has consistently played well just to make room.

Hello Steve.

It''s tough to say, none of us really know what our transfer budget will be. Although reading this forum and listening to fans around the ground, there seems to be question marks over quite a few of our players. So fingers crossed it will be quite substantial. J.Ruddy - Error prone. R.Martin - Slow, didn''t tackle Hoilett. E.Ward - S**t! My Nan could pass the ball better. R.Bennett - Totally unacceptable!!! M.Tierny - Cant keep it in his pants. A.Surman - Styles his hair the bloody nancy! B.Johnson - Ditto E.Ward. A.Crofts - Reminds me of A.Hughes. E.Bennett - Has the crossing ability of L.Croft. S.Jackson - League 1 striker. S.Morison - The less said about him the better! D.Rudd - J.Steer is better. J.Steer - Too small and too young. D.Ayala - Injury prone. L.Barnett - Hasn''t been in the team, S**t! A.Drury - Will soon be in a coffin. D.Fox - Been outstanding but we need better. S.Lappin - Not up to it. W.Hoolahan - We need a D.Silva. A.Wilbraham - Look at his stats on Wikipedia!! G.Holt - Second season syndrome. J.Vaughan - Ditto D.Ayala. C.Martin - Think''s he''s a hardman. Bad influence. K.Smith - Not good enough. We''ll keep Pilkington, Howson and Whitbread though...

Really good article showing the heartache Vaughan has been through. I wish him all the best but this article really doesn''t bode well...... Having worked his way up through the Everton ranks, like many before him, 16-year-old James Vaughan must have got a huge rush knowing he would be on the bench for one Everton''s biggest games of the 2004-05 season — an FA Cup 5th Round tie at home to Manchester United. And although his manager opted to bring on two defenders and accept the inevitable at Old Trafford and then left Vaughan warming the bench the following week at Aston Villa, another chance for his record debut came the following weekend against Crystal Palace. With 15 minutes to go in that game, David Moyes finally found the moment to bring on Vaughan for his senior debut. At the tender age of 16 years & 271 days, he became the youngest Everton player ever, beating Joe Royle''s debut age by 11 days. And what a way to celebrate the occasion: scoring a debut goal that made him the Youngest Ever Everton Goalscorer, and the Youngest Ever Premiership Goalscorer. Vaughan could not sign a professional contract until after his 17th birthday in July 2005 but after fruitful negotiations with Everton, Vaughan was signed on to a four-year deal that would hopefully see him consolidate his place on the highest rung of English football. Things did not go well for James the following season, however, with just one sub appearance (v Fulham) after which he sustained a serious knee injury while playing with the England U-19s in September 2005. Knee surgery was required, and the long recovery process began. The path to recovery was long and problematic, with the knee breaking down not once but twice before he was finally dispatched to Dr Richard Steadman''s world-renowned Colorado clinic in April 2006. His recovery was reported to be ''progressing'' with hopes that he might figure in Everton''s pre-season training programme come July 2006. Vaughan finally reappeared in November 2006, partly because David Moyes ran out of options, due to injuries. Commenting on Vaughan''s injury woes, Moyes said "It''s been a slow process for James. He''s been doing extra sessions, and he''s probably just a bit too brave for his own good sometimes. I''m not too sure whether he''d have made the 16 for the [West Ham] match had we not had those injuries, but he deserves his moment." And he took it well, firing low and hard through keeper Robert Green to confirm Everton''s win in well into stoppage time. Progress for Vaughan was slow, however, and long periods went by without him playing any part despite the failure of James Beattie to hit the net, and with Andy Johnson going through a number of barren spells. So it was that nearly two years had elapsed from Vaughan''s initial appearance as a sub at senior level before he was given a starting berth — in a massive game against Arsenal which the Blues won thanks to an injury-time goal by Johnson. James''s emergence from the Everton Academy coincided with that of Victor Anichebe but many have regarded Vaughan as the better all-round striker. That would appear to be supported by the fact that he had the greater impact at a younger age but those long-term injuries enabled Anichebe to stake his own claim at Goodison, particularly in the first half of the 2007-08 season when he scored some crucial goals in the Blues'' Uefa Cup campaign. Vaughan, however, has proved deadly when fit and given a chance, as evidenced by his own Uefa Cup, the winning goal in a 3-2 victory against AZ Alkmaar in December 2007 that condemned the Dutch side to their first defeat on home soil in European competition for 32 years. He has good aerial ability, terrific pace, a devastating eye for goal, excellent strength to hold off defenders, and a never-say-die attitude that makes him an exciting player to watch. He recently earned his promotion to the England U-21 squad. But sheer enthusiasm, all too often misplaced in overly exuberant play, proved his downfall again. In early March 2008 his knee locked up in training and Vaughan was sent off to knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman for an operation to fix the problem, which kept him out until August. He recovered from that in time for the US tour of 2008, and came on as a sub in the first game (Chicago Fire) only to get dismissed for a silly tackle with 2 mins to go. There was talk that he would be suspended for the start of the season and David Moyes was apparently furious with him. Vaughan''s opportunities were restricted somewhat at the start of the 2008-09 season, perhaps due to more undisclosed problems with his knee that finally led to more surgery in November 2008... but not by Dr Richard Steadman, who broke his arm skiing! After a fruitless trip to Colorado, Vaughan had the surgery done in England and was back in training by March, but only a handful of sub appearances followed under Moyes''s softly-softly approach to rehabilitation. He made his return against Man Utd in the FA Cup semi-final, coming on in the first period of extra time and scoring his penalty in the shootout that saw Everton famously beat the Mancs 4-2. He went on to play in the FA Cup Final, coming on as a second half substitute. But mostly it was another season wasted, with not a single goal to show for his efforts. Near the end of the 2009 summer transfer window there were rumours of moves to Stoke, Newcastle and then (after the transfer window closed) Middlesbrough on loan. In September 2009 he left for a three-month loan spell with Derby County, where it was hoped he would get plenty of injury-free first-team football. But that fell flat after just two games when he got injured in October, cutting short the loan deal while he once again recovered from injury for an extended period. Goodison was surprised to see him named on the subs'' bench in the game before Christmas 2009 but could not see much point in giving him 2 mins on the field when the game was effectively over. He was given just one start in 2009-10, going on loan again in the Spring, this time to Leicester City, where he was less than impressive... but at least he managed a goal, his future with Everton seemingly hanging in the balance. With David Moyes bringing in both Jermaine Beckfored and Magaye Gueye to strengthen his attacking options, Vaughan looked to be slipping backwards in the pecking order, and rumours were rife that someone would come in for him... but no-one did before the transfer window closed on 1 September 2010. But a week or so later, a loan deal was finally struck, with Vaughan going to Crystal Palace on a three-month loan where niggling injuries reduced him to 14 starts and 5 goals. He returned to Everton in Januray, and came on as sub in one game. When nobody came in for him in January 2011, Moyes packed him off back to Palace for the rest of the season. This time, he got another 14 starts and 4 goals. We all no the story at Norwich so far.......

[quote user="MAJESTIC"]no one is upset what a load of bollox, expectations have just got a little higher[/quote] I didn''t use the word ''upset''. Like i said on an earlier post, generally, if your moaning about something you''re unhappy about it. I then went on to say maybe ''unhappy'' was the wrong the word to use...... Like i have also said, this thread was started just to show how well we''re doing compared to the last time we were in the Premier League, not to have a pop at anyone. The first paragraph is just to get you into the thread hence the reason ''unhappy'' isn''t in the title. It just amuses me, that by me putting the word ''unhappy'' (Which meaning could vary from saying you dont like the matchday pies to chanting Lambert out) in the OP, You discount the whole thread and the best thing you can think to say is ''BOLLOX'' But your welcome to your opinion mate....

You''ve gotta love abit of banter lol Surely in wont be long before clubs clamp down on Twitter?

I agree maybe ''Unhappy'' was maybe the wrong word to use, but like i said it just wound me up as that wasn''t the point of the thread anyway! But fair play.........

That''s fair enough mate, I didn''t start the thread to create an argument. I simply got together a few stats just to show people in another way how well were doing in comparison to our last attempt, that based with the fact that the last time we nearly stayed up. It just annoyed me that all you could say was that ''i made it up'' when the whole point of the thread wasn''t to have a pop at anyone for anything in the first place.

Ok mate ;D

And the only thing Mr 10000 posts can up with is ''Your making that up''

Where in my first post did i say i had a problem with people moaning?? Everyone is entitled to there own opinion on the team. But guess what mate, if you''re moaning about something then therefore you''re unhappy about the thing you''re moaning about. I didn''t hit out at these people i simply said some people still seem unhappy nothing more nothing less, My thread was quite clearly just comparing the last time we were promoted to the premier league to this season.

[quote user="Gingerpele"]People aren''t unhappy, your making that up.[/quote] Making it up?? How have you come to that conclusion then?? I no many people are happy with the season so far, but i no full well there are still alot who aren''t. When we came up last time every single person considered it a blessing, every point we picked up we were thankful for, every goal we scored we celebrated like we''d one the league. We didn''t win one away game all season and still there wasn''t moaning on this level. But this year some people don''t just want us to win, but expect us to win. Against teams that have been established in the Premier League for a number of years. Last time when we were outclassed we said fair play!! Some people seem more interested of focusing on the bad points rather than enjoying what Lambert has created. I tried making a constructive thread without moaning and all you can do is write that, Grow up man

The contrast between this season and the 04-05 Premiership season is unbelievable. But yet people still seem to be unhappy. After 20 games we''ve scored 30 goals, only Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal have bettered this. At this stage In 04/05 we had only scored 16. So far we''ve Won 6, Drawn 7 and Lost 7, only the 5 teams mentioned before plus Newcastle, Stoke and Everton have Won more than us. At this stage in 04/05 we had Won 2, Drawn 9 and Lost 9. We''ve currently Conceded 35 goals, Wolves, QPR, Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton have all conceded more. At this stage in 04/05 we had conceded 37. At the moment we sit 9th in the table. At this stage in 04/05 we sat 18th. Everyone knows we nearly stayed up in 04/05. And what was our goal at the start of this season???

Love this!!! But what i love more is if you take look at the ''A'' in Barton and then look at the ''A'' in Breath. I''ve got a funny feeling someone had to give Bradley a hand with his spelling lol

We took the p*ss out of Col Who''s Chairman and Fans for the way they moaned about us taking Lambert, But Just imagine what we would say if say Middlesborough sacked Strachan and Came in and robbed Lambert from under our noses after a great start and with us looking pretty in the table just like the Col Who situation and then they refused us decent compensation, I no it ain''t gonna happen but I''m pretty sure we''d be feeling the same

I dont normaly bash Posts, But, Luke Chadworth did make me raise a smile, An epic fail at being funny, Sorry but it did ruin it lol =P

Probably My Worst is Chelsea, Dont Get me Wrong, Its a nice Ground, But in the Away end The back half (As in The Upper Half of each block of Seats) are built into and under the upper tier, So if You stand up All you Can see Is concrete, So You Have the choice Of staying seated And Watching someone''s back Half of the time Or standing Up and Watching concrete. I Did try Explaining the situation to the bloke in front (Im Guessin He was sitting Just far enough forward to be able to stand up Without Watchin concrete) But this Ended in a Massive Argument, Which followed with Me being started on after the Game which then ended in a fight =/ My Favorite is a Toss up Between Newcastle, Fulham And West Ham