unique

Without wishing to dampen all this Swansea love, they were playing an Arsenal side with the woeful Arshavin and unreliable Walcott offering very little up front, allied to a full-back I ''d never heard of. Norwich played an Arsenal side containing Vermaelen, Arteta and Gervinho - a far more potent proposition. It would also appear that we played Spurs at their peak, because their performances ever since have been nowhere near the same high level!

When Norwich lost to Colchester 7-1 on that fateful day, (that has now quite possibly proved to be the greatest day in the recent history of Norwich City FC), Burnley were embarking on their return to the Premier League. A little over two years on and a hungry, focused, skilful Norwich team brushes aside Burnley, still benefiting from parachute payments, with consummate ease. Norwich fans may still not be pinching themselves as to the position their club currently holds, but everyone should be enjoying the moment. This is not the time to question the attitude of certain players ( Morison), boo at a slight dip in performance ( Fulham ), or question any team selection or player purchase/sale that Paul Lambert might make. This is turning into a special era for NCFC, there should be no place for criticism or negativity. Everybody should just be enjoying the ride!

11 games into the season and for me, the first three names on the team sheet would be Tierney, Johnson and Pilkington, with Morison running them close. I''m not surprised by Tierney. I am surprised how well Pilkington has recovered from injury. Johnson has surpassed all expectation, and some. Love their attitudes. Lambert''s squad is incapable of putting on a Craven Cottage no-show.......

It really narked me to watch his interview. How short the memories of these managers. You could say the same for AVB last week. His reaction to PL and Norwich after the Chelsea game marked him down, in my eyes, as over-arrogant. His reaction after last week''s match cannot have endeared him to the neutral in the way that Mourinho managed to. It all serves to show what an absolute gem Paul Lambert is.

"We deserved to win as we were the only team wanting to win"....or words to that effect - you would need an interpreter for an exact translation. Ferguson is a prize **nker...always has been..always will be. Sees every game wearing heavily blinkered glasses and any praise that came Norwich''s way was feint to the extreme.

Hats off to Lambert for putting his trust in Martin at centre-back. With Tierney, Naughton and Martin part of the back four, Norwich must have one of the most forward-thinking defences in the Premier League. You certainly wouldn''t have seen Kompany, Lescott, Ferdinand or Vidic making the counter-attack that led to Russell''s shot/pass across the area at 2-0! Fantastic performance right across the back-line last night....long may it continue.....

[quote user="Gingerpele"]unique, thats what you do with youngsters. You don''t base their potential on 100s of appearances, you base it on a few performances. Wayne Rooney was being billed as the next big thing after his goal for Everton against Arsenal, people didn''t wait 3 years to see if he was any good. When a player hasn''t played much, you can only base your opinion on what he has played and on reputation, and apart from injuries Vaughan has a great reputation (was going to be better than Rooney, claims like that don''t often come to pass, but they normally mean the player is fairly good) and as has been said he played well enough in a poor Palace team last season. Lets just hope this isn''t a major injury, although the look on his face wasn''t promising.[/quote] There are undoubtedly hundreds of youngsters through every age group who are regarded as ''the next big thing''. Very few make it, for one reason or another. If Vaughan has had 5 or 6 outstanding games in those 50 starts, then that''s one per season - not good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Wayne Rooney these days.... For me, Vaughan''s injury record, and an average of around 8 starts a season over the past six years, set alarm bells ringing over spending £2.5m on him. The bells haven''t stopped ringing since he quickly became injured in a pre-season friendly. For all his ''potential'', he has spent most of his career on the treatment table, which would strongly suggest that he won''t be getting much game time at Norwich. If his injuries are varied and ''unlucky'', then his luck doesn''t look like changing anytime soon. All Norwich fans will be wishing him a speedy recovery, but it is only a deluded few who will have Vaughan''s reputation enhanced with his absence, and will be clinging to the belief that Vaughan will at some stage return to the Norwich side, play 10 consecutive games and prove to be a goalscoring/assist machine. I really hope he does...I just don''t think he will.

One of the most passionate players to wear the Norwich shirt - he has taken the baton from Russell Martin of last season. His crossing is nothing short of superb. A frontrunner for player of the season.

The myth is that Vaughan is/could be/will be a ''great player'', The guy has started fewer than 50 games over the past six seasons, and I would say that seldom has a reputation been built with such relatively little evidence..... He was always going to be a massive gamble for £2.5m, I just hope Norwich aren''t going to be proven the fall guys in a massive transfer sting..... Early evidence isn''t very encouraging.

Sky could well be reconsidering having a viewers'' vote in the future!

Don''t wish to be harsh, but his career so far has been all myth and very little substance......Everton must have bit City''s hand off....

....disgraceful.

...only three goals conceeded in open play over the first five matches. Pretty impressive defending from that point of view.

Unfortunately, ''acting/looking hard'' counts for nothing....it''s all about putting the ball in the back of the net - something the trio have much still to prove at the top level.....

This smacks of trying to protect his reputation. I''m not sure whether referees are allowed to speak after a game, so if they are, why didn''t he comment on Sunday? A bloodied shirt and a strong reaction from Vaughan was an obvious clue that the ''collision'' was deemed deliberate by Vaughan. The FA charging Tamas was a clear indication that Halsey had cocked-up, and he clearly thinks ''fessing-up'' now will help him continue to ref the Premiership the rest of the season. Some of these referees give the impression that they relish the big televised games as it''s a chance for them to preen their feathers. The best refs are the ones that finish a game, no controversial incidents, and you''ve hardly noticed they''ve been on the pitch.....few and far between...

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]Graham Poll, the man who showed 3 yellow cards infront of billions watching on TV at the world cup.....i think that says all it needs to.[/quote] As you''ve pointed out, Graham Poll has refereed at the very highest level..... If HE is showing concern at the fairness of refereeing in the Premier League, then it is something that needs to be very carefully monitored, and if need be, dealt with.

I never did like Graham Poll as a referee, but the following article has just moved him up a tad in my estimation..... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2036381/Graham-Poll-Do-referees-favour-big-clubs-Yes-dont-know-theyre-doing-it.html Norwich fans are starting to question PL''s team selections and individual performances, but if truth be told, it''s the appalling decisions by the officials in the four games so far, that have prevented Norwich from starting the season reasonably well. Poll''s implications should be investigated by the FA, and these pompous prats who are seriously affecting the outcome of every match that Norwich have played, should be held to account afterwards, in the same way that Tamas surely will be.

It''s funny how different people see each game. Johnson, to me, looked every bit a Premiership player, and probably covered more ground than anybody. Crofts, on the other hand, looked lightweight, and frequently surrendered possession. If it became an ''either/or'', Johnson should be in the team at the expense of Crofts. Mind you, neither would be selected on the quality of their shooting........

The quality of crossing from both Bennett and Tierney was first class. Very few wasted crosses (if any).........just not enough pressure exerted on Foster.

This is an excellent first test for Lambert, and will show whether sentiment will play any part in his team selections this season. With a trip to Stamford Bridge the week after, nobody needs to be reminded of the importance of a positive result against Stoke, and how imperative it is to set down a marker for games at Carrow Road this season. Width will be the key this Saturday, and it cannot be relied upon to be provided by the full-backs. I fully expect Bennett and/or Pilkington to play a much bigger part this Saturday.

I am sorry to say that if the first twenty minutes are anything to go by, then Norwich''s season has just got harder. Swansea have been superb, and are playing exactly as I would like to see Norwich playing. Crisp passing, speed of movement, and with an air of complete confidence. A long way to go, though..........

I Sky+d MotD and , after reading the early part of this thread, was expecting the worst. In all honesty, I thought the highlights were pretty fair, after all, Al-Habsi had very few saves to make, Lineker and his cronies really are an embarassment to fronting a sports programme. Sky''s coverage in general is very professional (although Sports Saturday can be pretty hit and miss). Sky have a new addition to their team this season - Gary Neville. As a player I couldn''t stand the guy, as a pundit, he''s an absolute revelation. Erudite, insightful, unbiased, and natural, he is the complete opposite of the monotonous Alan Shearer. Full marks to Sky for signing him up. MotD''s attempt at freshening up the programme is a woeful opening sequence that greases the palms of Manure and Liverpool, and does nothing but underlines their bias towards the richer clubs.

There is no room for passengers in this league. Nerves seemed to get the best of many Premier League players yesterday, not just Norwich players. Two indifferent performances on the trot ought to lose the chance for a third, and there''s every likelihod that PL will act ruthlessly with such a large squad at his disposal. Surman, Martin and dare I say Holt were as disappointing as Morison and Hoolihan were a big plus. Yesterday merely underlined that there is a big difference between the Championship and Premiership. If Wigan are purportedly one of the weaker sides, then City have got a long hard season ahead of them.

I would fully expect Johnson to start next week. Just watched first half of Stoke v Chelsea, and they''re one helluva big bunch of bruisers. City ideally need three points next week ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. If they get them they will have well earned them......

just as the new season is set to get underway.... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2022589/Ian-Holloway-struggling-deal-Blackpool-nightmare.html Let''s hope McNally''s ''7-year plan'' holds us in good stead, just in case the season fails to pan out as we all would like it to...