mikewalker

[quote user="tom cavendish"]Like I say, it makes sense that part of the stadium  (regardless of location) is funded by teaching space leased to the UEA (as in the Bristol example which is being used to help fund a new stadium). You can get far more money from that than if leased as office space, and the UEA would likely be reliable long-term tenants. The income would go a long way towards paying for a huge new stand. As for the feasibility of moving to a whole new stadium or staying at CR... VALUE OF CR The site would be of enormous value to Ikea. Ikea don''t have a store in the East but want one. CR would be a logical location for an Ikea store and there are hundreds of apartments (and hundreds more yet to be built) next to the site. LAND If the UEA doesn''t have enough land, then the UEA can probably access finance to purchase additional land. As with the Bristol example, NCFC could lease the land from the UEA for a peppercorn rent. This vastly reduces the cost of a new stadium. This means that the proceeds from CR could be used towards build costs rather than purchasing land. ADDITIONAL REVENUE It makes sense to generate non match-day revenue from a stadium car park, and the UEA do need additional parking spaces that are the equivalent of a stadium car park. Leasing teaching space to the UEA (as explained above). Students using bars etc. on non match-days. Lease a small convenience store at the stadium (to Sainsburys) that would be used by students living on the campus. An increase in the number of students going to matches. It would be logical to have a new stadium near to the UEA Sportspark and turn the area into a hub of sporting excellence sharing facilities. Bigger capacity stadium. An iconic design would attract tourists to a new stadium for tours on non-match-days. Also consider that by moving to a new stadium, there would be no loss in revenue whilst building (whereas if staying at CR the old stand would have to be closed). FEASIBILITY I hope people can see that regardless of whether NCFC stay at CR or have a new stadium, it is logical that NCFC follow the example of Bristol by having a partnership with the local uni to help fund the stadium, and provide the football club with new non match-day income streams. Hopefully people can see the logic in a partnership with the UEA without being abusive towards me for suggesting it. It certainly seems as if McNally thinks it is an idea worth exploring. [/quote]   MENTAL 1. Teaching space, ie labs, lecture theatres, seminar rooms, etc do not fit well into the concourses of a football stadium. Teaching space is usually funded when the design is for actual dedicated teaching space. The UEA have to lease the space to the various schools and faculties, that could be quite a tough sell explaining why studies/exams/etc have to be cancelled due to a playoff final or reserve match 2. Have you even been to the UEA lately? You may have noticed that there are several green bits that do not have buildings on them. This isn''t because they''re waiting to build a football stadium on them, but due to the fact that NOTHING can be built on them due to planning/preservation status. 3. Have you ever been to Sparks In The Park? The fireworks display on Earlham Park next to UEA (not UEA land!) The congestion/carparking/general chaos is just once a year and barely tolerated by local residents. Can''t see 30,000+ people turning up in cars (because lets face it its not in the city and there''s only 1 bus route and 3 single roads in) going down well or running too smoothly. For a start there is no giant car park and building one would wipe out any hope the UEA has of ever reducing its carbon footprint (which is required for some elements of funding). Its just a no go. 4. Security. Imagine 6,000 away fans trampling over everything, chucking litter everywhere, nicking anything of opportunity, hassling students aots. You''d need to CCTV the entire place, have security Thats before we factor in our own support.   In summary, you''re a tit.      

Nice work Frank, good use to stats to back up what I''d always thought. Fox is Key. To me Fox is deffo our Xavi to Surman''s Iniesta and Hoolahan''s Messi.Barcelona don''t got a Holt, or Morison though, so no more comparisons with those fools.Cheers pal.

[quote user="Row D Seat 7"]I attended my first game in October 1992. The 2-1 win over QPR. Being very young at the time I remember very little about Walker and his ways of managing i.e. tactics, relationship with the media, his players etc. I do feel, with my own opinion and the opinions of family members and friends who have been Norwich fans and attending games for well over 30-50 years, that Paul Lambert is without doubt the best manager this football club has ever had. What Walker achieved here with the players he had was fantastic! However, Lambert surpasses Mike''s achievements because of where Lambert had to bring our football club from.[/quote]

[quote user="City penguin"][quote user="mikewalker"][quote user="The Jewish Cowboy"]There must be 100s of football clubs that are obsolete now for one reason or another that fans were equally as fanatical about. Sh!t happens, you just hope it never happens to you.[/quote]Its this kinda attitude which would have seen us sit by in ''39. You''d be happy with Borussia Warsaw and Bayern Krakov annexing the UEFA Cup now? You ok with VfB Shrewsbury and Eintract Oldham? Think on eh?[/quote] wouldnt be all bad, would have terracing still, match ticket would be 15DM, would be aloud to drink as much beer during the game as we liked....[/quote]

You Dion Dublin pal? Snitches get stiches.

[quote user="The Jewish Cowboy"]There must be 100s of football clubs that are obsolete now for one reason or another that fans were equally as fanatical about. Sh!t happens, you just hope it never happens to you.[/quote]Its this kinda attitude which would have seen us sit by in ''39. You''d be happy with Borussia Warsaw and Bayern Krakov annexing the UEFA Cup now? You ok with VfB Shrewsbury and Eintract Oldham? Think on eh?

[quote user="Crispy"]I love Hoolahan, he''s a great player to watch & over the last 4 years arguably our most talented. BUT as the title suggests I think it will be him that will get the most direct replacement this transfer window.Since Lambert took over he''s been in & out of the team ..... getting dropped for a few times in a row in League 1, Championship & now the Premier League. Lambert has even tried playing Chris Martin in his position and more recently Pilkington at QPR. Not sure what it is ... maybe his lack of strength or end product but Lambert seems reluctant to build a midfield around him.I genuinely feel Lambert will spend the biggest chunk of money he has so far on a attack minded  midfielder that will leave Wes on the sidelines. This is in no way an attack on Wes ! Just my guess.[/quote]There''s only one Wes Hoolahan pal. He''s the heartbeat of our team. See also Dave Fox. I reckon we''ll scoop up Dan Pacheco in the summer regardless of our status, I think it was only Liverpool frigging about ''loaning'' him to Athletico Madrid who then loaned him on to Vallabolitoz thats scuppered us swiping him this month. 3 club rule hintut.

Get a grip cryarse ffs...you really expected us to bash Spurs?

It was telling that no other club ever came in for Gunn, if he was that good he''d have been off as soon as Chase saw the cheque. Southall, all the ones you''ve listed, Tim Flowers, even Thorsvelt, Srnicek (sp? Newc), Spink, Bosnic, Pressman, Crossley were all acer than Gunn. He was average, it was only the Simon Tracey experience and Mark Walton''s occasional cameo''s that made him seem so good. Even Daz Beckford kept a clean sheet at Sheff Utd one game.

[quote user="spencer 1970"]I''m pleased someone else spotted that one from Bowen. The other classic was that most delicate of all NCFC players Spencer Prior giving the "horse bite" trick to the inner arm of the opposition player by not quite holding their arm in a challenge but nipping it with a hand grip. I remember a few Leicester players all getting the treatment one game...one (can remember who), came running up to him at the end of the game showing him his under arm mark...they both had wry smiles.[/quote]   Lovely spot. Didn''t Prior go on to join Leicester? Bet that was an awkward changing room to begin with. Horse bite reprisals aots.

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]Thats basic defending.. google "jockeying" anyone who has ever played a game of football at any level should be able to do it... As for ian Crook, he never volleyed a ball in his life! [/quote]   No, I know jockeying when I see it and this isn''t jockeying. Its almost like he''s trying to beat the attacker to the byline, but by glancing over his shoulder and running at a silly pace Bowen (and now Tierney) was able to bamboozle the opponent into thinking he was a coward for challenges and blip the ball off his heel and away from the attacker.   Crook used to shape to control a ball as it came toward him from the throw in, then would twist and volley it straight up the pitch. I''m 100% sure about this. I used to study his technique and ponder that no-one else in our team was capable of it (these volley passes were usually decent passes) and fretted what we''d do when he retired/left (to my child brain this volley-from-a-throw-in was the very fabric of our football ethos) Turns out relegation and years of utter mediocrity was the answer.

Lovely to see Tierney in the QPR game do the old Bowen trick of running away from his opponent but at slightly slower pace than the winger, so the ball flicked off his heels and he was able to clear. Drury never mastered this, nice to see it reprised. All we need now is Fox to volley the ball up field when receiving a throw-in Crook-style and we''ll be well on our way.

Fair dues, all I can recall from reading in his autobiog is stuff about getting leathered at away games and some guff about headbutting an Oxford player at half time. My grandad never rated him and I reckon his venom has influenced my thinking too much. I reckon you''re spot on about teamwork and defence marshalling.

Correct me if I''m wrong, but Bryan Gunn wasn''t actually that amazing a keeper was he? Obviously, I admire his bravery and commitment to City, his amazing charity work, and I''ll never forget his brave, heroic performance in the 2-1 win over QPR the week after his daughter passed. However, he wasn''t our greatest keeper of all time was he? Weird positioning, unforced error prone, slow to get down to low shots, average distribution....The Froiday Fillums that are from his era only serve to reinforce this.   Like I say, maybe I''m wrong but I don''t particuarly care that his son''s not in the queue behind Rudd, Ruddy and the other one.

http://www.thedaisycutter.co.uk/2011/11/the-10-best-1980s-kits/   Hummel were light years ahead of the game, thank god we''ve finally got a decent kit this year or I''d be paying some tit on ebay about £80 for a fake version of in my opinion our best kit.

I reckon I''ve been caning Absolute ''80s too hard as I cannot get Dub Be Good To Me or Total Eclipse of the Heart out of my brain. So much so I''ve started singing these lyrics instead. Potential chant ideas? Tank Fly Boss Walk Jam Nitty Gritty battered by the boys from the mustard city This is Grant Holt - This is Grant Holt   Once upon a time we were last in league one now we''re on the premier league march what else can I say Paul Lambert is sheer fcuking class    

http://www.rivalsfootball.net/norwich/index.php Doesn''t seem to be many people on it yet, but I remember the old one was pretty ace at times. Anyway, the link is there if you want it. 

[quote user="BlyBlyBabes"]The Question: Are Barcelona reinventing the W-W formation? | Jonathan Wilson To counter teams who sit deep, Barça push both full-backs up the pitch – echoing the 2-3-2-3 formation of the 1930s Football is a holistic game. Advance a player here, and you must retreat a player there. Give one player more attacking responsibility, and you must give another increased defensive duties. As three at the back has become outmoded as a balanced or attacking formation – though not as a defensive formation – by the boom in lone-striker systems, coaches have had to address the problem of how to incorporate attacking full-backs without the loss of defensive cover. With clubs who use inverted wingers, as Barcelona do, the issue is particularly significant. For them, the attacking full-back provides not merely auxiliary attacking width but is the basic source of width as the wide forwards turn infield. The absence of an Argentinian Dani Alves figure in part explains why Lionel Messi has been less successful at national level than at club level. For Barcelona, as he turns inside off the right flank, Alves streaks outside him, and the opposing full-back cannot simply step inside and force Messi to try to use his weaker right foot. Do that, and Messi nudges it on to Alves. So the full-back tries to cover both options, and Messi then has time and space to inflict damage with his left foot. It''s the same if Pedro plays on the right flank, and the same when David Villa plays on the left. Barcelona''s wide forwards are always looking to cut inside to exploit the space available on the diagonal, and that is facilitated if they have overlapping full-backs. Traditionally, if one full-back pushed forwards the other would sit, shuffling across to leave what was effectively a back three. Barcelona, though, often have both full-backs pushed high, a risky strategy necessitated by how frequently they come up against sides who sit deep against them. With width on both sides they can switch the play quickly from one flank to the other, and turn even a massed defence. They still, though, need cover in case the opponent breaks, and so Sergio Busquets sits in, becoming in effect a third centre-back. That, of course, isn''t especially new. Most sides who have used a diamond in midfield have done something similar. At Shakhtar Donetsk, before they switched to a 4-2-3-1, Dario Srna and Razvan Rat were liberated by Mariusz Lewandowski dropping very deep in midfield. At Chelsea, Luiz Felipe Scolari would often, when sketching out his team shape, include Mikel John Obi as a third centre-back. And Barcelona themselves had Yaya Touré dropping back to play as a centre-back on their run to the Champions League trophy in 2008-09. What is different is the degree. It''s not just Barcelona. I first became aware of the trend watching Mexico play England in a pre-World Cup friendly. Trying to note down the Mexican formation, I had them as four at the back, then three, then four, then three, and then I realised it was neither and both, switching from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3, as it did during the World Cup. Ricardo Osorio and Francisco Rodriguez sat deep as the two centre-backs, with Rafael Marquez operating almost as an old-fashioned (by which I mean pre-War) centre-half just in front of them. Paul Aguilar and Carlos Salcido were attacking full-backs, so the defence was effectively split into two lines, a two and a three. Efrain Juarez and Gerardo Torrado sat in central midfield, behind a front three of Giovani dos Santos, Guillermo Franco and Carlos Vela. The most accurate way of denoting the formation, in fact, would be 2-3-2-3: the shape, in other words, was the W-W with which Vittorio Pozzo''s Italy won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938. Of the same species as Pozzo Pozzo first latched on to football while studying the manufacture of wool in Bradford in the first decade of the last century. He would travel all around Yorkshire and Lancashire watching games, eventually becoming a fan of Manchester United and, in particular, their fabled half-back line of Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts and Alec Bell. All centre-halves, he thought, should be like Roberts, capable of long, sweeping passes out to the wings. It was a belief he held fundamental and led to his decision, having been reappointed manager of the Italy national team in 1924, immediately to drop Fulvio Bernadini, an idol of the Roman crowds, because he was a ''carrier'' rather than a ''dispatcher''. As a result, Pozzo abhorred the W-M formation that his friend Herbert Chapman, the manager of Arsenal, developed after the change in the offside law in 1925, in which the centre-half – in Arsenal''s case Herbie Roberts – became a stopper, an ''overcoat'' for the opposing centre-forward. He did, though, recognise that in the new reality the centre-half had to take on some defensive responsibilities. Pozzo found the perfect player for the role in Luisito Monti. He had played for Argentina in the 1930 World Cup but, after joining Juventus in 1931, became one of the oriundi – those South American players who, thanks to Italian heritage, qualified to play for their adopted country. Already 30 when he signed, Monti was overweight and, even after a month of solitary training, was not quick. He was, though, fit, and became known as Doble ancho (Double wide) for his capacity to cover the ground. Monti became a centro mediano (halfway house) – not quite Charlie Roberts, but not Herbie Roberts either. He would drop when the other team had possession and mark the opposing centre-forward, but would advance and become an attacking fulcrum when his side had the ball. Although he was not a third back, he played deeper than a traditional centre-half and so the two inside-forwards retreated to support the wing-halves. Italy''s shape became a 2-3-2-3, the W-W. At the time it seemed, as the journalist Mario Zappa put it in La Gazzetta della Sport, "a model of play that is the synthesis of the best elements of all the most admired systems", something borne out by Italy''s success. Footfalls echo in the memory To acknowledge that modern football''s shape at times resembles the 1930s, though, is not to repeat Qohelet, the author of Ecclesiastes, and lament the futility of a world without novelty: "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ''Look! This is something new''? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time." Nor is it to argue that tactics are somehow cyclical, as many bewilderingly do. Rather it is to acknowledge that fragments and echoes of the past still flicker, reinvented and reinterpreted for the modern age. Like Mexico, Barcelona''s shape, at least when they use only one midfield holder, seems to ape that of Pozzo''s Italy. Those who defend three at the back argue that, to prevent the side having two spare men when facing a single-striker system, one of the centre-backs can step into midfield, to which the response was always that few defenders are good enough technically to do that, and why not just field an additional midfielder anyway? What Barcelona and Mexico have done is approach the problem the opposite way round, using a holding midfielder as an additional centre-back rather than a centre-back as an additional midfielder. But the style of football is very different. It is not just that modern football is far quicker than that of the 30s. Barcelona press relentlessly when out of possession, a means of defending that wasn''t developed until a quarter of a century after Pozzo''s second World Cup. In the opening 20 minutes at the Emirates last season when Barcelona overwhelmed Arsenal, the major difference between the sides lay not in technique but in the discipline of their pressing. Inverted wingers, similarly, would have been alien to Pozzo: Enrique Guaita and Raimundo Orsi started wide and stayed wide, looking to reach the byline and sling crosses in. Angelo Schiavio was a fixed point as a centre-forward – no dropping deep or pulling wide for him. The two wing-halves, Attilio Ferraris and Luigi Bertolini, would have been too concerned with negating the opposing inside-forwards to press forward and overlap. Nonetheless, the advantages of the W-W for a side that want to retain possession, the interlocking triangles offering simply passing options, remain the same. Having Busquets, the modern-day Monti, drop between Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué isn''t just a defensive move; it also makes it easier for Barcelona to build from the back. Against a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1, Busquets can be picked up by a deeper-lying centre-forward or the central player in the trident, which can interrupt Barcelona''s rhythm (just as sides realised after Kevin Keegan had deployed Antoine Sibierski to do the job, that – counterintuitively - Chelsea could be upset by marking Claude Makelélé); pull Busquets deeper, though, and he has more space to initiate attacks. There is a wider point here, which relates to notation. Looking at reports from the early 70s, it seems bizarre to modern eyes that teams were still listed as though they played a 2-3-5, which had been dead for the best part of 70 years. Yet that, presumably, was still how journalists and their readers thought. Future generations may equally look at our way of recording formations and wonder how we ever thought it logical that a team playing "a back four" could feature fewer defensive players than a team playing "a back three". We understand that full-backs attack and that in a back four the two centre-backs will almost invariably play deeper than their full-backs, but the formation as we note it doesn''t record that. Barcelona tend to play a 4-1-2-3 or a 4-2-1-3, according to our system of notation; heat maps of average position, though, show it as a 2-3-2-3. Barcelona, like Mexico, play a W-W, but not as Pozzo knew it. Jonathan Wilson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Posted originally: 2010-10-26 13:59:47 [/quote]   INRAT I played centreback at school, myself and my fellow stalwart centreback partner used to barrell headlong upfield 1-2ing passes to each other, at maximum pace. Because this worked once (think we had a wild shot deflected in) we used to do this every chance we got, it became known as the "ball hogger" or "hoggers" role and eventually we got bypassed for passes by our own team who yell stuff like "play it wide full back, knock it, don''t use the hoggers" we inadvertantly invented the Crazy Gang long ball game.

  Hello mate you can crash round mine. I''m now heading into the city. Been drinking since 8 this morning so the house is in a bit of a state but help yourself to any toast you can find and I think theres juice in the fridge. If next door come round and give you any grief tell him to do one or you''ll get him in a headlock. If she comes round flirt outrageously with her. I''m close to cracking that case but feel free to chance yer arm. I''ll be drinking in the Bell from 3 onwards and again after the match. Like I said eitehr catch up with you in the Bell or see you back at mine later. I just tried to ring your mobile but its off? Whatever pal.

Night game. Perfect. Remember last year when we had to snot Bristol City and Forest under the floodlights? The pressure was on. And snot them we did. Fullbacks roving with pace and panache up the flanks, the lynchpin Fox tempo setting like a sexy metronome. The midfielders bombing on and tackling back, always on for a pass, perfect first touches and non stop energy. Then there was the beast up front. The Captain. Battering, goading, working his opponents to distraction with unstoppable, relentless snidery and determination. Pace. Passion. Fluidity. Never Mind The Danger. Goals. All this and more tonight. Lets send these fools packing. Ten Feet Tall And As Strong As Oxes. Lets Roll.

Team for Bolton                                 Ruddy R Martin      Barnett        De Late     TIERNEY                      Crofts          Fox Bennett               Hoolahan              Surman                                  Holt          

  Aye, I know the legend responsible. Someone else I know printed off a screenshot of the incident and gave it to him as a framed memento of the heroic incident. What a throw.

- They were sponsored by ''No Smoking'' (if my Pannini ''86 album memory serves) - Games v them in their Megson era being proper snide fests. - They''ve had a few of our cast off midfielders (Andy Johnson, Lee Marshall, Ruel) - I like how Steve Bull came back to haunt them a hundredfold - Kieron Richardson getting a hot pie full in the face courtesy of the Barclay.

He looks like a photcopy salesman or someone who''s in IT.Also, his voice is SO deep it doesn''t tally with his weedy physique. Sounds like a delta bluesman. Someones (James Earl Jones) doing the voice from behind a curtain, eeeez fax

I think Lambert made a point of criticising the ref for the pen and red card simply to put it in the media spotlight and perhaps raise awareness of the pathetic red card and pen vs Stoke. I think it was the right thing for Lambert to do, he''s not gone all out to slate the ref, just made his comments clear. Villas-Boas, however, is clearly rattled. His team got shown up, the £50m striker looks like Shevchenko mk2 and all in all he''s made himself look rattled with his "Imagination...only our players go down easy..." etc comments. Quite simply, once the Scotch axis of doom (Dalglish, Ferguson) get stuck into this wannabe Mourinho cry arse tit then Shearer and his shit shirted pals will be analysing the tracks of his tears.Rattled.COYY