Vlad

Donkeys?! Monkeys, perhaps? Either way, the fact that DH chose to come here is a compliment to the staff, set-up and fans alike at this club. Myriad reasons behind it, no doubt, but he''s here. I recall a Soccernet [ahem] article, and Chris Kamara has said similar things, that said the transfer of Hucks would effectively decide the destination of this years Div1 title. As he''s come here perhaps the media will trek to Carrow Rd on occasion. They may then notice that we have a great keeper, solid defence, capable midfield and a strike force to reckon with - finally. In comparison to the other Div1 teams we are a top8 eight side (see last 3yrs) with no chaff and some potentially terrific signings (Francis, McKenzie, Svensson and ..er watsisname). OTBC

In my post Christmas haze, I''m sure I noticed the following yesterday; A 4-nil AWAY win to us Scummers losing at home (Andy Johnson - ex-canary? - doing most of the damage) Akinbiyi scored Llewelyn scored twice Adrian Forbes even managed to score Can anybody explain this madness?

??? If Hucks comes here (still using "if"...) then we have options. You honestly think we''ll go the rest of the season without injuries/bans? No, exactly. Whats our best 1st team? At the beginning of the season it wouldn''t have been much of a discussion (in all fairness), with the two signings plus one more (Hucks or not) we have more choice, options and variety. Every team that hopes to do more than survive needs this. In fact, every team that wants to last the course needs options - Man Utd, the Arse and Chelski are miles clear of everyone not because of their "1st team" (whatever those may be) but because regardless of injuries/bans (Rio - !!!) they can pluck another performer from somewhere. Makes all the difference.

Iwan as a starter: Whats the issue? A legend he may be, but solution to our problems he isn''t. Would we be happy with Gunn back in goal - no. Why, because he''s past it. So is Roberts, fact. Iwan coming from off the bench: As a sub he may have the type of galvanising effect mentioned on these posts. Stamina wise it would suit him. If he bangs in a few, good, but if he doesn''t then nobody should be surprised. McVeigh/Jarvis should at least cause a headache, rather than allowing the opposition defence to get comfortable. 1st Wizard: hello. "What was the b***dy point in getting in the holy trio in the first place?" The answer is in the question. The b***dy point was to get points. We have no cash to buy players, therefore any new players have to be loan signings or Academy starlets. Starlets we got, loanees we got. And more loanees will come because we have a few loan slots to fill. And yes, I reckon the board "probably" realise this fact... (bumpkins they may be, k**b-ends they''re not) As for the Tractor boys, man, its got defeat written all over it. For the scum that is - they are getting ideas above their station and Sheep#ank is as deluded as that idiot of a manager. The further up the table they go the farther away from reality they get. Our away form is terrible - therefore certain [!] that we will pick up the 3pts. OTBC

BBC sports gossip pages carry a reference to The Sun "Aston Villa are ready to pay strike flop Peter Crouch to leave the club. (The Sun) " So wages are a problem and they appear to believe that Crouch is the least best of their 5/6 strikers. Would that mean we could get him on a Bosman? Loan players going in December - who cares. Not one of them is wanted by their Premiership clubs, placing them in the same situation as ...who knows how many other players that could all do a job for Norwich. We have 4 or 5 or 6 or ? [depends upon what you read and who you believe] loan "slots" left. Another boost akin to that we have had, but in two seperate bursts (some in Dec, some in March) could mean an auto place is within sights all season. Huckerby, Crouch, Harper = Holy Trinity = don''t think so. Yes they add to what we have, but the same can be said of many others. All of them had something to prove when they came here, as did one David Nielsen. This is Div1 we are talking about and the Premiership reserve ranks are burgeoning with talent that, at worst, compliments what we have. Loan players = Temporary wage liability. No risks if players are injured (send them back). No signing on fees. And, ooo, no transfer fee. which pretty much avoids all the financial pitfalls that NCFC can ill afford. Leeds are a good example of how not to do it (7 at once???). NW suddenly begins to look astute, even if it is by virtue of having his wallet surgically removed. Flexible use of loan players may, just may, allow us, in May, to look down on everyone and say ta-ta-for-now-suckers.

This post is an interesting barometer of the current mood [a promometer?!]. Opens up with a few calcs of what we have to do to get promoted, sideways via a few moans at the board and then finishes with The 4th Official ramming home the situation that we actually face. Yes, its going to be tough to get promoted. We knew that. The points requirement (for auto) is likely to be less than the historic average. City are currently ahead of our own historic average for this time of the year. We have 3/4 loan slots still to fill ... and I have no doubt we will. (Still not sure why we used one on Fulhams'' Elvis tho...). This adds strength in depth which is precisely whats needed at Carrow Rd and any Premiership hopeful Yes, we need reinforcements. We have had them and may get more..albeit of a different flavour to that served by Delia & Co in the run up to Christmas. The board are not idiots (I hope) and will be well aware that we need to strengthen and therefore spend some money. But this is football. Arsenal 0 : 0 Fulham anyone. A nil-nil massacre. Chuck in a few bad ref decisions, running in to teams hitting good form etc etc ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. Spending cannot be based on the assumption that we get promoted. Because its football. Leeds, anyone? So, a few loan players in - squad problems not looking too bad versus the rest of the division. Leading to my final point - WBA winning the division?! Only because they are hard to beat and score more often than not. Second place? I fancy our chances as much as anyone with the possible exceptions of those with money to spend. Yet we have an advantage there too. Dare I say it, but the "Man Utd" factor so beloved of tabloid types. Man Utd there year in year out, no panics, at or near the top. We have been in the play-off hunt consistently now - loan players may just be the edge that we needed. "Who" doesn''t matter, so long as they are of the requisite quality (ie Prem reserve/1st team fringe/ideally a youngster). Football, eh?

1) As our squad is thin (see other postings, NWs own comments) I very much doubt that getting rid of any player is such a good idea. 2) With ref to 1) should anyone be boo-ing/jeering any player that we have. Morale is important. 3) Is Clint Easton a player that can hold his own in a top6 Div1 side with premiership aspirations? Don''t think so. Sell him in the summer on the cheap to a Div2/3 club where I''m sure he''ll do very well. Or let him see out his contract in the reserves. Until then, perhaps we should just roar when he does something good and groan when he fluffs it. We march on.

Chicken - interesting analysis, but far from complete. In an ideal world you have eleven captains on the pitch, but I guess the budget at Carrow Rd [amen] doesn''t stretch to eleven armbands week-in week-out. While I wouldn''t go as far as to say that a captain makes no difference, I do get the feeling that this meesage board has overrated the importance of the role of captain. Motivating, chastising and communicating instructions/reminders of training are all done from the bench and individuals on the pitch as well as the man wearing the armband. I personally would avoid making a keeper captain unless you had a very quiet defence. The keeper should always be organising his defenders (including everyone else that comes back) when defending set-pieces and getting them to move according to the managers instructions when the ball is in the opposition half/we''re attacking. Captain or not. As for Drurys'' appointment, I guess NW appreciates that it doesn''t matter that much - hey we''ve got a club captain and a team captain, explain that one any other way - and elected to choose a man who has proved to be one of our better players, perhaps in the hope that Drury would step up yet another level given the impetus of captaincy. It also helps that Drury is ever-present when none of the other leading candidates are likely to be this season. Roberts - no, Malkay - hmm, Shackell coming through, Fleming - hahahahahaha not a captain in my eyes, Francis - 1st season ergo no way. As for results, well they speak for themselves. I would put it down to a solid skeleton of a team augmented by three quality (for 1st div) players on loan. The mental boost that gives to the squad is immeasurable, and in addition to the playing qualities the loanees bring. Not this thread, I know, but Worthy Out - no way. I do, however, have deep misgivings about the Christmas run of games and our habit of being crap post Christmas. Coupled with the uncertainty regarding the 3 loanees it could be very tough. NW managing expectations already only compounds my fears. In the meantime - 3RD!!! - nice :-)

As surprised as ...well, everyone, that he''s gone and so quickly. Equally surprised by the need to bring in a striker at the start of the season for a 1 or 2 month loan. [Is the limit 3 or 4 loan signings per season - why use one so quickly when we lack cover in so many areas.] Did NW know that Nielsen and family wanted to return home (just a question of time) and so bring in Elvis on the strength of that? Perhaps the wages & staff resources also came in to NWs decision. Why pay Nielsens wages & "waste" training time on him when his focus would be elsewhere? Or none of the above. I dunno.

Sorry, Rich, hadn''t seen your post when I composed and posted mine :-)

Where''s the ambition and where''s the sense of perspective? Div1 is a tough one to get out of because anybody can beat anybody...so they say. When you look at the strength (and spending power) of the teams that went up versus the crud that came down the divison has been weakened. Remove Ipswich (weakened squad, no cash)& Sunderland* (better 2nd half probably, but weakened & demoralised) from the equation and add in our improvements (general perception is that we strengthened - well done NW) and the play-offs are realistic. And thats before you look at our finishing position in the last two seasons. NW wouldn''t say it in public and thats because he has sense (why court additional pressure). *Straight swap: three relegated teams generally thought to be favourites to go up + Ipswich finished in 7th. Why would it be acceptable to finish worse off than last year? 7th is the lowest we should set our sights. Relegation?! Don''t make me laugh - there are worse teams with less money and more problems than City in the division. Anything can & does happen in football, but over the course of a season City being relegated isn''t one of them. In summary; Failure - bottom half Poor - outside top 7 Acceptable - last year posn/play-offs Good - that 2nd berth Exceptional - outright win As I opened with "anyone can beat anyone". Take that as a +ve or -ve, as fans we have to be +ve, who else will? AND ANOTHER THING - what is all this rubbish about being a fan of NW? I support NCFC regardless of the man in charge. Thats not a dig at Tumbleweed (did like your post, honest) just a few others on this board. ONWARDS & UPWARDS!! ON THE BALL CITY!