Feel The Force

[quote user="Donkey dangler"]£9m Afobe v £8.5m Naismith[/quote] curlywurly 20p, finger of fudge 15p. I just don''t get it.

The ball hit him and went in. Get a grip people. He''s not going to be with us next season. That said I wish him well in the euros.

Oh dear. Brighton no plan b. Feels familiar.

[quote user="city4eva"]would love to see hooper get a hat trick come on wednesday! [/quote] Why? Did you not see his tweet? He''s a good championship striker, nothing more.

Anyone watching the playoff game tonight? Would love to see Gary Hooper draw a blank. 88! More like two fat ladies.

[quote user="Syteanric"]and rightly so!he could only work with what he had and I think he was sh@t on from a great height this season... that person has paid the price.[/quote] McNally''s departure before this game has actually played out well. He takes the blame with him. Neil is left to be the hard done by manager and the players, who just aren''t good enough for this league, either move on or will make up arguably the strongest squad in the championship next season.

Perfect storm

1

Get Gary a new bandage. That''s where it''s all gone wrong.

[quote user="unique"]Brady - burnt out from his early season exertions.....[/quote] Must be the new haircut

[quote user="SeattleCanary"]Hooly shakes his head as he goes off, and I have to agree. Without him there is no spark .[/quote] Redders most likely to do something now.

Hoof ball here we go. This might work though. Arsenal don''t like it up em.

[quote user="julian hudson"]Need the experience of Naismith on here, it''s his sort of game.[/quote] Yeah he''s been awesome hasn''t he.

[quote user="JF"]Feel The Force wrote the following post at 30/04/2016 6:09 PM: What a dire match. Just waiting for arsenal to score. It''s not much fun in the premiership is it. I''d rather watch us beating the binners any day even if it''s in the championship. You''re either a troll or know nothing about the game[/quote] Ok so it''s picked up in the last 10 mins but realistically this is only going to end one way.

Arsenal can''t even be bothered to be half arsed. If we had someone that could score we''d be 1 or 2 up by now. Bassong is looking reasonably competent today. Perhaps he''s under instructions to hoof it.

What a dire match. Just waiting for arsenal to score. It''s not much fun in the premiership is it. I''d rather watch us beating the binners any day even if it''s in the championship.

Totally agree withe the above. It''s always been about concentration and attitude for Bassong. When he''s the big cheese he gets his slippers and pipe out. With something to prove he will be focused and ready.

Not sure I agree. Playing teams with nothing to play for is arguably easier. So much of football is down to motivation and mental strength. I''d prefer to play a Watford team that''s ''on the beach'' rather than fighting for cup final places. Best case would be for Everton and Watford to have hard semis and come agonisingly close to reaching the final.

Quite amazing he''s not been sacked. If he stays until the end of the season it''s between us and Sunderland for 17th place. And to all the Alex Neil outers and those whinging about being little old Norwich. Yes we are little old Norwich, always have been always will be, get over it. If we go down then life in the Championship will be fun and if we stay up we''ll have a bit more money that we''ll struggle to spend on players because for some reason they''d rather live in London than our fine county. Nuts!

He''s the next David Bentley.

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]The OP says the players are good enough. 13 of the current squad have been relegated in their careers... failures at other teams with... what makes them good enough? Newcastle have 4 relegated players... Swansea 1.[/quote] They were good enough to win 3 out of 4 at Christmas. The problem is the players are having a major wobble, the fans are nervous and Neil is scratching his head thinking where has it all gone wrong. I agree to some extent about the players that have been relegated and their mental strength but bassong is the main worry for me. Bennett and Klose are the ideal pairing. Ruddy needs to come back and we must stop playing howson on out of position. I feel west ham is probably make or break for Neil. If it''s another heavy defeat the knives that have been sharpened will be well and truly out. Let''s hope it doesn''t come to that.

But the crowd don''t get behind the team and they can''t hear you in the pub or on your sofa. Yes of course they should play for the club or the shirt if you want a cliche. But it''s about believing in the manager, his tactics and that he''s going to turn it round. Like any job if you lose faith in the leadership then you''re not as productive and successful. And to these players it is just a job. It''s all relative and just because they''re paid millions doesn''t mean they behave any differently in the work place. I''m not saying it''s right it''s just human nature. Look at Chelsea last season and this. Couldn''t be more different but don''t tell me those players are less able this year. It''s down to the manager, the buck stops with him and the folks who hire him.

We''ve been here before and sadly I can''t see Alex Neil stopping the rot. We''re totally bereft of confidence and the players are not responding to the manager. There''s only so may times he can say it''s not good enough or we need to cut out the mistakes. The players ARE good enough but we''re in a downward spiral that''s only going to end one way. Neil is not getting the right response from his players. They''re not up for the fight at the moment and look jaded and out of ideas. The coaching staff are not experienced enough to step in and add fresh ideas and any suggestions of adding a more experienced mentor to help him is nonsense. That just doesn''t work. If the club are happy with relegation then they should stick with Alex Neil and he''ll make a good fist of getting us back up. If they want us to survive, then like Chelsea it''s time to get a new voice in the dressing room while there is still time. Hiddink essentially has the same players but they are now playing with more confidence and belief and as a result are unbeaten in the league under him. Ruddy and Bennett need to come back into the team and players like Bassong who have multiple relegations on their CV need to be dropped. I''m afraid that guy just isn''t bothered one way or the other, history shows that. So Mr McNally what''s your plan B? Plan A is just not working.

I think we''ll beat Villa and take points of Swansea, West Ham and Chelsea. It''s going to be tight but the NE clubs are a shambles and Swansea aren''t much better. We just have to hope mclaren gets just enough results to avoid the sack. He''ll take the toon down. It''s probably going to come down to the three games against our relegation rivals. Those are the priorities and both games against the NE clubs we''re at home. There''s along way to go yet. West Brom and Bournemouth may still have a wobble in them. Stay positive peeps.

... Would love to see one of them score tonight.