unique

It was not an awful performance. Boro probably created the most clear-cut chances, but Howson HAD to score with his opportunity - that was an extremely costly miss.

Boro defenders got their heads to everything, unfortunately their defence is better than ours. It was important that they didn''t score the first goal and it suited them down to the ground that they did. Hopefully the feeling of defeat will galvanise the players in the play-offs.....

Having sadly read through this entire post, the only stand-out ''German helmets'' are mumpty and fruit-cake......

In all honesty, recent form of the top four sides is irrelevant as they are all picking up points for fun. It''s now a 270 minute crapshoot, and hopefully Norwich hold a marginal advantage going into this as they have Alex Neil throwing the dice.

Middlesbrough HAVE to win on Friday night. With Bournemouth and Watford showing no let up, a draw now suits neither side. And with a significantly inferior goal difference, it certainly suits Borough far less than Norwich. It is quite astonishing that even with three wins tagged onto City''s recent results, that they can still miss out on the autos.

It isn''t so long ago that we played a Man City side and a WBM side with nothing to play for at the end of the season. Two timely fixtures that produced two freak results that caused several on here to believe, all too wrongly, that Hughton was the new Messiah. Two examples that show that nobody can second-guess how teams are likely to perform with nothing to play for.

Watford couldn''t have played at the City Ground at a better time. Hopefully Rotherham and Fulham will both be safe by the time Norwich play them, and goals will be plentiful.

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/11/promotion-watch-bournemouth-norwich-watford-boro-separated-by-two-points/ It says something for this year''s Championship battle that it has even caught the attention of the Americans........and yet Sky''s Sunday Supplement, ''a Sunday morning television programme in the UK about football'', which sees four dinosauric hacks discussing at length the ups and downs of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City for eighty minutes, leaving around ten minutes to discuss ''other'' footballing matters, have not seen fit (to my knowledge) to discuss the Championship promotion race in any way shape or form.Would you not think they would show some interest in what they will perceive to be  ''next year''s cannon-fodder''?

Scoring a winner that late can only add to the belief of the squad that nothing can stop them........

All managers will have the opposition watched, but when AN says he has a plan for how he wants to set up, the players are not only buying into it, but have the abilities to execute it. If things aren''t ''going to plan'', then AN is showing an innate ability to make the necessary changes. I like the idea of the players staying up north for the Leeds game. Minimising the travelling will keep the players focused on training and playing for what is a pivotal seven days.

Brighton played some eye-catching football, particularly in the first-half, but any manager with serious intentions of winning the game would not have played Leon Best up front for ninety minutes.....

Supersonic Canaries reveal yourself...........

The ''Hughton/Brighton post'' running about a week behind. Keep up please..........

If nothing else, it shows how over-rated Nathan Redmond is, and how under-rated Bradley Johnson is.

It says something for this year''s fight for promotion that despite the excellent run of results under AN, Norwich could win five of their six remaining games, draw with ''Boro at Carrow Road, and yet still find themselves in the play-offs.So it is more than likely that we will be looking for some favours from other sides.With home games against Bournemouth and Watford, and a last day outing at Middlesborough, Brighton could play a major part in how the Championship finishes up.It is somewhat ironic that a year after his sacking, NCFC supporters will be united behind Hughton like never before.......

A pretty tenuous link for a football site, but with two days to fill before Norwich''s next game, if you find yourself with half-an-hour to fill, check out '' The Twelve Days of Christine'' on BBC I-player. Written by two of ''The League of Gentleman'', it will be one of the most memorable 30 minutes of television you will watch this year.......

Two mini-leagues now formed at the top of the Championship....... Four teams chasing the automatics, the other four teams facing greater pressure vying for the two emailing play-off places. AN has ensured NCFC are competing in the mini-league that guarantees two shots at promotion.

One down, two games to go. Some NCFC fans may like to think the team will comfortably cope if Johnson earns a two-match ban, his level of consistency and propensity to score crucial and spectacular goals suggest otherwise. The only other midfielder that would be as close to a ''big miss'' as Johnson would probably be Tettey. Johnson has cemented the POTS award.

It lifts the hairs on the back of the neck. What a contrast to the downbeat rumblings of his adversary in today''s match. What a treat it would be to see AN pitting his wits against Mourinho and company.....

There may well be ''adequate'' cover for Johnson over two games, but no other Norwich City midfielder comes close to Johnson this season when it comes to scoring goals, and this threat could be sorely missed.

If the cut-off is still the second Sunday of April, then Johnson has to survive three matches without a booking to avoid a two match ban. A highly unlikely scenario.

......and with their success rate for buying players from abroad showing little credibility, who would you most like to see AN attempt to buy from the Championship and below?Mikail Antonio for me, and failing that, Bakary Sako.Aged 24 and 26 respectively, I don''t think either would look out of place in the PL.

Bournemouth are now showing interest in taking Akpom on loan. Akpom decides tomorrow between Forest, Bournemouth and Norwich........

He''s been out on loan twice before....yet to score a goal in 1st team football......I would have thought that an established goal scorer would be far more preferable than a role of this particular dice, however great ''his potential''.

 '' Huddersfield are without key players as well, no less than Jack Robinson and Nakhi Wells. Are we lucky?''Injuries are part and parcel of the game, as with the absence of Grabban.For a team to have two players sent off in the same game is nothing short of exceptional.....and Bournemouth are benefiting big time, and no doubt Brentford supporters will feel the most hard done by, amongst the promotion chasing pack.