Grant Holt is a Monster

It was the other Caldwell!   Lincs Canary - I''m not running Wigan down in any way, but when I look at that team, I don''t see a side that would have blitzed the Championship last season. As such I''m not afraid and I don''t think that PL or the players will be either. Rodallega will be a handful and if you let Moses and Lopez run at you then you could be in trouble but I trust the coaching staff to have drilled the defence on this already. The midfielders are strong, especially going forward, but then so are ours. And I don''t see their defence being any more comfortable than those we faced last year when Grant Holt starts breathing down their necks.   Respect is due, certainly. But fear? Not in my book.

While everyone''s playing guess the City team to face Wigan I thought I''d take a quick look at how our opponents will line up. The likelihood is that they''ll play similarly to Swansea (unsurprisingly because Martinez initiated the style when he was boss of Swansea).   The most likely starting 11 is: Al Habsi Boyce Caldwell Lopez Figueroa Diame McCarthy Watson Moses Gomez Rodallega With subs from : Kirkland, Stam, Jones, Thomas, Di Santo, Sammon, McCarthur and Dicko.   Not a huge amount to be scared of IMO but there''ll be a lot of movement forward from midfield. May be the kind of formation that persuades PL to go with two holding midfielders instead of the diamond?

He''s actually in the Billiard Room, with the lead pipe....

The News of the World would have loved this. "City fans believe Lambert spends nights with Skinhead."

As expected - Johnson at 4, Morison 5, Vaughan 8, Pilkington 12, Bennett at 17, Adeyemi moved to 27, Tierney at 23, De Laet 24, Naughton 25.   No numbers allocated to Smith, Hughes, McNamee, McDonald, Johnson or Tudor Jones.

I take your point but I think the best thing going for Wigan (possibly the only thing) is that they have a half-decent manager. I think they''re more dangerous with him armed with £10m to spend than with N''Zogbia who is a talented but tempramental figure. Wigan''s dressing room spirit just improved greatly and they''re £10m richer into the bargain. The plus is that without N''Zogbia they now lack a cutting edge, but I think Martinez, with his array of contacts across Europe, will find a suitable replacement. You make a good point however that this may well be a foreign player who may not neccesarily adjust first game.

Vaughan for me. He reminds me of Mark Robins in style. A good omen.

Never underestimate the Wizard, Coelho.

Good work Chunky. I did a little LOL at that...

It has got all the classic hallmarks of a "That''s it, I''m stomping off and never coming back" hasn''t it? He''s surely got enough attention from the thread to give him a vicarious bit of tentage by now so the stomp and bullying cries must be next...

Vaughan and Pilkington are old friends anyway and knew each other well before they came to Norwich. Given that they''re all probably staying together at Dunston Hall whilst they''re house-hunting it''s natural for them to pal up. I wouldn''t think it''s a big issue. We''ve had previous influxes of players together and it hasn''t hurt the spirit yet.

[quote user="Bite The Dog"][quote user="Grant Holt is a Monster"]On paper I can see the starting line up being a 4-2-3-1 with Vaughan, Martin and Jackson playing behind Holt as focal point, which I think could well be how we end up playing in many games this season.[/quote]So no Hoolahan? Bennett? Pilkington (when fit)? Not to mention our other, less attacking, midfielders (whovever remains). Instead, you would be happy to see us play with 4 out and out strikers? Against some of the best teams in the world, let alone the country. And people wonder why this clubs fans have the ''dumb, country, farming folk'' reputation![/quote] You''re going to have to help me out here, because obviously I don''t have your slick city intellect and sophisticated understanding that us hayseeds couldn''t possibly aspire to, but how the thundering twatweasel did you extrapolate that pile of cr*p from my post? Lambert played a team with four strikers. I suggested a formation that might accomodate such a selection and given that these games are a prelude to the forthcoming season I presumed that Lambert was testing different players in these positions. However, you, with your unparalleled wisdom and sophistry managed to come up with the theory that the 11 players who started this match were my ideal line up for every game City play in the Premier League. Well thankfully you''re spot on. I do indeed believe that we don''t need the likes of "that there Huuuleyhan" or Pilkington, Bennett etc. In fact I''m so sure that I may take them round the back of my barn and dispose of them with my pitchfork so superfluous are they to any plans. While we''re there I''ll take out Russell Martin, Andrew Surman, David Fox and anybody else who wasn''t in the 11 that started tonight as well, because that''s obviously what I meant. Or were you perhaps just projecting your own intellectual inadequacies on someone else? Just a thought...

On paper I can see the starting line up being a 4-2-3-1 with Vaughan, Martin and Jackson playing behind Holt as focal point, which I think could well be how we end up playing in many games this season.

I like both Ruddy and Forster. I would be happy with either as our starting goalkeeper. I do think it''s essential that we bring in an experienced back up/challenger for the position because Rudd and Steer are too young and I wouldn''t want a repeat of the Bryan Gunn/Andy Marshall situation that contributed towards our relegation a few years back. Ruddy started nervously but grew in confidence throughout the season and by the end I felt he was rock solid. My worry with him is temprament. If he makes a cock up or series of cock-ups in the big league will his confidence stand up to it? I''d wager that it probably would, but I wouldn''t put my mortgage on it. Forster is a more confident character, and seems more at ease with yelling at his defense, bouncing back from mistakes and taking charge in the box. He has not played at the same level as Ruddy did last season however. Playing for Celtic is all well and good, but apart from 4 or so Old Firm games a year, the rest is more akin to playing a L1 or L2 attack every week (and even Rangers I would only class as decent Championship standard). I do like him though and can certainly see him as being a potential England keeper in the coming years. Therefore I understand why people think we should snap him up whilst he''s available and would probably come to City. Equally it would be harsh on John Ruddy though. My general feeling is that PL will try and bring Fraser Forster in based on the fact that he spent all last summer pursuing him on loan and only opted for John Ruddy as a second choice when he couldn''t get FF when he wanted him.

SDP, Purple, Bethnal - Thanks for responses. Queries answered and good points made. Little - I''m not suggesting they make things up but there seems to be a total apathy and even the "easy" stories, i.e. training pics, which they used to do they now aren''t and are simply rehashing stories found in the national press instead. I wondered whether this was a result of Stephan Phillips'' connection but the gents above have answered my question there.   So, from all accounts it seems that Archant are split so far from the club that it''s better to get your NCFC news elsewhere, which is sad because I''ve always seen the two as being part of the same football experience.