ABC (A Basingstoke Canary)

To "unique" and "birchfest" - thank you for putting it so eloquently [Y]   After all the successes we have had under Lambert as well as his shrewd selections, it just amazes me that some people think so negatively.   If one was to take their "no proven prem experience" to it''s next step, then, according to their logic, perhaps we should be looking for a new management team - you know, one with "proven prem experience" ...... (I wonder who they would be "most excited by" - Avram Grant or Ian Holloway?) [8-)]

[quote user="Prem1"]Nothing very exciting about any of the signings and we have a whole squad that needs to step up not just one or two players . Maybe we bought to early and should of waited untill now when the likes of Pacheco and Lansbury seem to be available , those two for me would have been head and shoulders better than anything we have signed . [/quote]   I think everybody agrees that the whole squad needs to step up, however, to compare the quality of these signings against players who didn''t regularly start for us last season (and who don''t seem to be high on the "I''m glad we''ve got him list" of their respective clubs) seems to me to be somewhat out of kilter with Lambert''s opinion. Your comment implying that Morrison, Vaughan, Bennet, Pilkington are not exciting signings probably needs to be reviewed!   I wonder who''s opinions I''m going to plump for?[^o)][^o)]

[quote user="lincoln canary"]I''m really not too impressed with any of our signings tbh. The only potential siting I got excited about was snodgrass. If players like Bennet and pilkington were that good how come many people had hardly heard of them? They certainly were not in high demand. None of our signings have proven themselves despite having potential, I would have been much happier if we''d had signed at least 1 proven player for defence midfield and attack. There is going to be an awfull lot of expectancy on so many young players. A bit of experience would have made the step into the premiership a little easier. If we were still a championship club I''d be very happy with our transfers but were not.[/quote]   Oh dear - therefore, you obviously are not impressed with Lambert''s ability to sign good team players then........ With regards to your Bennet & Pilkington comment, I suppose the same could have been said of Holt when we signed him??  

Any excuse to get a plug in for Cody [:D] - I admire your perseverence, and I would be surprised if Paul Lambert didn''t keep hold of Cody.   However, this is about Chris Martin, and as much as I respect others viewpoints, I suspect that PL sees a large role for CM this year. This opinion is backed up by the fact that CM was offered a new 3 and a half year contract in Jan of last year - possibly one of the longest contracts PL has offered anyone....?  

Whilst thanking City 1st for reiterating that this is a team bonding and private training exercise, (for those that, for some inexplicable reason, might have forgotten) it is only the training and 2 "matches" that are private - not the names of the team members that are going to the event.   SOOooooooo, based on the answers given so far, I guess nobody knows then........

According to Sky Sports today "The Canaries have headed out to Germany for a training camp". If that be the case, does anyone have any ideas as to who went out there and who''s stayed behind?

....and of course our very own Justin & John Fashanu....

I don''t think it''s a matter of him not being ambitious - I think he got shafted by Fry and his attempts at being the ultimate "wheeler-dealer". I think I read on this forum that he is going out with Fry''s daughter - which kinds of leaves him between a rock and a hard place.   I really think he wanted to move to a PL team - but with friends like blabbermouth on your side, who needs enemies!

What astounds me about all this is Mr Fry''s total lack of professionalism - he comes across as a combination of a London barrow boy and the spiv from Dad''s Army.   I wouldn''t be surprised if D McN got so fed up with dealing with type of character that he just walked away.   I would certainly be pretty peed off if I was CMS or indeed any other player, with the opportunity of playing in the Premiership, by being put on some sort of fish market type auction by Mr Fry. (By comparison, he actually makes agents look good!)

[quote user="Ncfc26"]Lansbury and pacheco both stated their desire to play for Arsenal and Liverpool respectively. Mcdonald hasn''t[/quote]   Where has he said that he didn''t want to play for Norwich???   However, you are 100,000% correct when Lansbury and Pacheco both stated their desire to play for Arsenal & Liverpool respectively, HOWEVER, they ALSO said that they would love to play for Norwich - it''s known as diplomacy - not peeing off prospective as well as current employers. It really isn''t rocket science you know - I don''t know of many players, who, after a loan move have said "I''ll never want to play for them again" or conversely "I''ll never want to play for my parent club again"

[quote user="Ncfc26"]@basingstoke canary why would he come out and say he wanted to stay at gillingham if he backed himself at premier league level[/quote]   Ncfc26 - in much the same way as Pacheco and Lansbury made all the right sort of noises when they were at Norwich - one doesn''t burn one''s bridges. After all the praise that was heaped on him from Gills supporters, as well as picking up the League 2 Fans player of the league award, it would be a bit churlish to say he never wanted to go back!

[quote user="Ncfc26"]A player knows what they are capable of Cody is obviously an ambitious young man but even he knows he cannot cut it at Ncfc get over it people[/quote]   I have noted that you have been an anti Cody player for some time - but what I didn''t realise was that you have the inside track on him! As you say "even he knows he cannot cut it". That''s it chaps - it''s all over - D.McN & PL - you need to speak to this chap regarding the capabilities of this player - and in fact, as he has such an inside track, he may have an inside track to other players / targets., Who needs Mystic Meg?   Ncfc26 - he may or may not be good enough, however you need to put into practice some of your advice - to whit "GET OVER IT!"

Ho hum - never mind - you are obviously out to disagree, no matter what, to find fault, pick holes, take alternative views, prefer animosity to amity, etc., etc., so I''ll let you have the satisfaction of "having the last word".  Hey, wait a minute, it all makes sense now - would I be correct in assuming your husband doesn''t know that you are on this forum?   As for explaining "to you all" - if you have a multiple personality syndrome, which one should I explain it to?   Finally, the only Napolean that is closely associated with me is the brandy in the cabinet!

Wow - why don''t people try and see what is being said in the context in which it is said as opposed to trying to show that they have both shoulders weighed down with McCains!   There is no confusion regarding teams with clubs - remember when we were relegated with Man Utd & Southampton in 73/74 in the old 1st Division? Whilst the teams weren''t the best (although we went straight up the following season with Man Utd) however, the clubs were still recognised as "top clubs".   BTW - Your comment regarding "3 teams changing every season comment" (which doesn''t help alleviate the confusion regarding teams with clubs) isn''t necessarily a" stunning observation" unless your supposition is that relegated teams stay in the next league down. However, as we have former PL sides in the nether reaches of the football league (Charlton, Sheffields, Bradford etc) by definition we wouldn''t necessarily have the Championship comprising of ex Premiership Clubs - and seeing that the Premiership was only formed less than 20 years ago (1992) and some of those clubs are yo-yo clubs - then I reiterate my assertion that the Championship has become a "reserve" Premier league.   Now, do we want to pick any more holes or accept what is being said in the spirit in which it is said??? (But I''m not holding my breath!)

[quote user="Yellow Rages"] [quote user="Smudger"][quote user="City1st"]ye gods, iets worse by the hour we will all play the same games, no one has an advantage .. better or worse games all fixtures over the Xmas holiday are with ''nearby clubs'', so it is to be expected that we will be playing London clubs I expect some herbert to next query whether playing teams starting with the letter A first, is better than those starting with W ps we will not be consolodating, that is a nonsense .. we will be going out to win[/quote] I agree with that... [Y] [/quote] I quite agree. I think what has happened here is that someone has missed the point of the ''run in fixture list question'' which you always get towards the end of every season which has some point and place due to the differing range of fixtures and points required per side and then tried to apply it to a whole season before it has started. It''s like trying to do a sweepstake on the boat race. Pointless. [/quote]   What are you guys on??? There is no "point" regarding the "run in fixtures" as it predisposes that we are on a level playing field. I''m sure you understand the concept of confidence breeding confidence - our own Simeon being a case in point - yet the opposite is also true, a demoralised team who lack confidence and have been thumped left, right and centre, breeds a lack of confidence - it''s a vicious circle.   With regards to the poor Herbert questioning the merits or otherwise of "Alphabetic teams" - interestingly enough we are likely to get more points from West Brom, Wigan & Wolves then we are from Arsenal & Aston Villa, so on the basis of confidence breeding confidence and sucess begetting success, then I would prefer to play the W''s 1st to enable our team to maintain that winning mentality![:D]

OK - My mistake - I was originally going for the old 1st Division, but plumped for RECENT top tier - which should have read the Premiership.   (The other teams who have been in the top tier and not in the Premiership, by definition, haven''t been in the top tier for decades)   However, the main point of the post was to highlight how the Championship has almost become a "reserve" Premier league.

You know the old saying - live in hope - die in despair![:D]

Has anyone noticed how virtually every team in the Championship this season has been in the top tier of English football (only 6 clubs - highlighted - haven''t) Barnsley Birmingham Blackpool Brighton Bristol City Burnley Cardiff Coventry Crystal Palace Derby Doncaster Notts Forest Hull Ip5w1ch Leeds Leicester Middlesbrough Millwall Peterborough Portsmouth Reading Southampton Watford   I think this is the toughest championship yet and will probably be harder to get out of than any other year - it should make for a thrilling season (certainly worth watching the football league show again)

Actually City 1st, there is a fundamental flaw in your logic   If one of the weaker teams had a pummelling in the 1st 10 or so games and hadn''t picked up any points, then they would be so demoralised, the fans would be on their backs, the media writing them off etc. etc., then the loss of confidence could be such that they couldn''t recover from it. A prime example is Bolton - they play 5 of the top 6 teams in their 1st 7 games (made even worse for them that they have us in the mix as well!). Last season they were flying at the start, then they got decimated through injuries in the latter half only finishing 14th. Now relate that to one of the promoted teams whou could get a battering to start with and then after the Jan window, their team gets decimated through injury, would you still be saying smugly "ye gods..... we will all play the same games, no one has an advantage"? I know who I would rather us NOT be playing at the end of the season if we were in that position!   Oh, and by the way, would you like to inform Mr McNally that he is talking nonsense? He has just said on SSN that our only priority is to consolidate our position in the PL - our aim is 17th. Whilst under Lambert we always go out to win, a certain amount of realism has to be accepted - as much as it hurts me to say this, I think that there is a possibilty that we might not actually win the PL - and having a chairman who is as realistic and pragmatic as McNally, then that takes the pressure off Lambert and the team.

  NCFC QPR SWANSEA A – Wigan H – Stoke A – Chelsea H – WBA A – Bolton H – Sunderland A – Man U H – Swansea A – Liverpool H – Blackburn A – Villa H – Arsenal H – QPR A – Man City H – Newcastle A – Everton A – Wolves H – Spurs (26/12) H – Fulham (31/12) A – QPR (2/1) A – WBA H – Chelsea A – Sunderland H – Bolton A – Swansea H – Man U A – Stoke H – Wigan A – Newcastle H – Wolves A – Fulham (31/3) H – Everton A – Spurs H – Man City A – Blackburn H – Liverpool A – Arsenal H – Villa   H – Bolton A – Everton A – Wigan H – Newcastle A – Wolves H – Villa A – Fulham H – Blackburn H – Chelsea A – Spurs H – Man City A – Stoke A – NCFC H – WBA A – Liverpool H – Man U H – Sunderland A – Swansea (26/12) A – Arsenal (31/12) H – NCFC (2/1) A – Newcastle H – Wigan A – Villa H – Wolves A – Blackburn H – Fulham H – Everton A – Bolton H – Liverpool A – Sunderland H – Arsenal A – Man U H – Swansea A – WBA H – Spurs A – Chelsea H – Stoke A – Man City   A – Man City H – Wigan H – Sunderland A – Arsenal H – WBA A – Chelsea H – Stoke A – NCFC A – Wolves H – Bolton A – Liverpool H – Man U H – Villa A – Blackburn H – Fulham A – Newcastle A – Everton H – QPR (26/12) H – Spurs (31/12) A – Villa (2/1) H – Arsenal A – Sunderland H – Chelsea A – WBA H – NCFC A – Stoke A – Wigan H – Man City A – Fulham H – Everton A – Spurs H – Newcastle A – QPR H – Blackburn A – Bolton H – Wolves A – Man U H – Liverpool       Personally, I think we have been really fortunate with our fixtures - especially the Xmas and New Year ones which give us 2 Homes and 1 Away - all to London Clubs.   I''ve also dated the Fulham away - the date that we should aim to have conolidated as well as to eliminate one of the worst nightmare performances that a NCFC team has ever stooped to.

....and even more chance of her cooking my lunch tomorrow - in Basingstoke!   What a fickle lot we are on the board - CM has been a good servant to the club, has never given any indication of wanting to leave, and now there''s people writing him off. If any of the squad were having any sort of dip in confidence, I would urge them in the strongest possible terms not to tune in to the "fans forum". It really is pathetic at times - some people have always got to "have a go" at someone in the team - about the only person who has been spared from this is Grant Holt.   I know it''s the off / silly season, but for goodness sake, pick on other teams if you must, but leave our guys alone!

NCFC4LIFE - as I have posted elsewhere, we ARE a family club and PL makes every one of the players feel that they are part of the NCFC family - that''s why they give him 100% effort 100% of the time.   As far as goalkeeper mistakes are concerned - we do have a bit of history with Notts Forest on this - witness Rob Green''s gaffe .......

Brilliant post Capt_Canary   You summed up PL perfectly: "Man management is up there with anyone. Has anyone ever heard a bad word said against him by a player? Look at the end of season dinner and he was even building up players like Matt Gill and praising his influence on team, even though he was a non-starter in our promotion campaign. He has left the club and yet Lambert has been nothing short of praise of him." I think the best way that I can describe PL''s man management skills is that he treats the players as if they are his own family - and like most proud family heads, will never have a bad thing to say about any member of the family (no matter how bad any individual plays). That''s why they will move mountains for him - he shows that he really cares about them as individuals.

After reading Fry''s comments in the BBC article, I''m just waiting to see him in a Reliant Robin to complete the picture!

.....and of course there is Greg Downs (Downham Market)....