The Great Mass Debater

Dont worry, he''s crap... Didnt even get nominated for player of the season... http://services.pinkun.com/forums/pinkun/cs/emoticons/emotion-3.gif

Surprised not to see him get to the by-line very much. His natural instinct is to go on the outside (bit like Cole Trickle) with the ball, or drift into the box off the ball. Didnt see much of that yesterday. Natural instincts curbed by instructions from the gaffer or just devoid of confidence? Hard to tell

Ruddy Whittaker Martin Bassong Garrido Tettey E Bennett Pilkington Snodgrass Hoolahan Holt

If we do go down is it totally unrealistic he''d play in the Championship? We''ve paid 8.5m for him, which is what Blackburn paid for Rhodes, so based on transfer fee alone there is a precedent. I know he wont want to play in the Championship, but McNally has consistently refuted claims of a release clause if the club goes down, so he may not have a choice. Rules about players playing for clubs within certain periods may also prevent him from leaving. Question is, we all saw what happened with Tevez - would RVW behave in a similar way, or is he more likely to buckle down and fire the club out of the division?

Interesting that (and not only because of the Cup win) Swansea would be universally applauded and considered to have had a good season. Yet had we somehow beaten Aston Villa yesterday, we would have been only 2 points behind them. Shows how tight this season has been despite many people saying 40 points would not be required this season. My hopes personally are relying on two things: Swansea maintaining their excellent season... And the Arsenal fix-factor... Ever since that dodgy curry incident, I have been suspicious about Arsenals results towards the end of a season. Never been one to believe in ridiculous conspiracies, but the events of the last 5 minutes at the Emirates were inexplicable. If Arsenal and Swansea win their remaining games, we may have a lifeline. Just cant help thinking we will look back on certain games and mistakes and rue them. Something I felt with a sense of foreboding and dread at the time. The times we were robbed QPR home, West Ham away, Sunderland away, Arsenal away The times we huffed and puffed and let things slip Reading away, West Ham home. The times we made it all too easy for our opponents to steal in and nick an important goal - Lee Camps wet kitchen roll hands away to Wigan, Villa at home, Stoke away. If we do go down, despite the injustices at the Stadium of Light and the Emirates, we will have only ourselves to blame for the unforced errors. Sadly I no longer feel it is in our hands, we need someone else to slip up.

[quote user="Gingerpele"]https://twitter.com/Holtamania Just use that link, and you are on his profile.[/quote] Thanks for that GP :)

Sorry - WOULDN''T

[quote user="Pyro Pete"]Funny how many successful businessmen fail when it comes to running a football club. If Fernandes walks out on QPR you would have to wonder how they will survive. With a £90million debt and high earning players contracted at least until 2014 we may have another Portsmouth on our hands.[/quote] Someone posted something from one of the newspapers a few weeks ago with the financial breakdowns of each Premiership club. Sunderland and QPR was frightening. Even the parachute payments would prevent catastrophe is Fernandes walked out

Im a bit scared of twitter - always stayed away. How would I do that? (Forgive my technophobia)

What a shame, I really enjoyed his match analyses. Guess he''s simply become a blogger now. Not on twitter so will have to accept loss and move on... I know I could join twitter, but I dont want to...

Does he still do match reports?

[quote user="kingsway"]Joe Lewis was a good keeper but not that good. He was never good enough to play for our 1st team while he was with us. If he was that good he wouldn''t be a reserve keeper at a Championship club at present! As for Rudd, hes good like the boy Steer, but very over rated by Norwich fans. If either were that good we wouldn''t of signed Bunn and Camp. Neither are good enough for where we are now and theres more chance they won''t be in the future. Both look capable of having decent Football League careers! [/quote] He did however get a senior call up by Capello... Something Ruddy really had to wait for. Mind you so did Frank Fielding and some youth team lad at Watford. Suppose that says more about Ray Clemence really and the whole its-who-you-know-select-circles-pick-on-reputation/club-pedigree approach that England selection has always been based upon

[quote user="Semblance of Reason"]My first Norwich game (though my 2nd match at Carrow road - the first being an England youth game), was the 1996? Coca Cola cup match against Birmingham. I''d just finished work experience at school, and my manager for those two weeks took me with his son, So went proudly wearing my "bird poo shirt" (still my favourite design - don''t care what anyone else says about it!)1-1 draw and the highlight for me was Gunny saving a penalty.Not a classic game, but was a very different experience/atmosphere than how I would have imagined it would be when watching MOTD as a kid.[/quote] I love the birdpoo shirt too :) Doesnt fit me anymore though so gave it to my girlfriend. Tell me, is it wrong to make love to her in it??? Images of David Mellor come to mind (which of course scuppers the whole thing)

Wonder if he now looks back on his potential Norwich investment and wonders. By running a club in London, players come for London. Big wages, London lifestyle, dont give a toss about the club. Big players will want to come to a London club, but not necessarily care about performing. Had he taken over at Norwich his money might have gone on more realistic players and the culture that developed at QPR would have been unlikely to have developed here. Could have twinned the club with Lotus, could have been a match made in heaven with a very different outcome. Here''s to forever being Tony Fernandes'' ''one that got away''

We know Huck''s is on this forum occasionally, but was this the case when he was an active player here? (Hucks if you''re reading please give us some insider info here) Cant think that looking on here is any worse than some of the abuse the players open themselves up to by being on twitter (Ryan Bennett take a bow)

There''s no denying it. Chris Hughton dramatically changed the playing style of this club from the Lambo style when he first walked in (would be really interested to know what his notes said after allegedly watching all those DVDs pre-season). He took the 7th top scoring team and clipped their wings in order to provide a solid base. IMO, he felt the players were not good enough to go toe-to-toe with the Premiership, and so decided the best approach this season was to shut-up-shop and hope for the best. That is this season. The reason for this post is to ask the question - will it be the same next season. Obviously its massively dependant on which league we will be in, but for the sake of argument, lets discuss this in the ''we stay up'' scenario. As has been said before, Chris Hughtons tactics with Norwich this season are not indicative of his general style of play. With Newcastle and Birmingham, his style was very much attacking. All of this leads me to think (and hope) that Chris Hughton does not see Norwich City''s Premiership future as a war of attrtition, but took this approach this season as a verdict on the players he inherited. Watching us this season has been so frustrating, as I know we can play better. I am taking the singing of RVW as evidence that Hughton plans to do major things with this team next season, and that the brand of football we''ve played this season was means to an end. With his team, his players we could be transformed - he seems to have done half the job already with the defence. So my question is this. IF we stay up, how do you think we will play next season? His players = attacking football? or Better players same system/approach? Please God let it be the former, and lets spank Villa to make sure it happens!

[quote user="Ketts Rebel"]Almost certainly. If I was (or am ?) a player or manager I would have a look. I might even sign up and make the odd sneaky post as well.... [/quote] Maybe he is Ged Steeroo.... As it was the local elections, I was thinking about David Cameron (a frightening thought and not something I do often), and how he likes to try to look ''in touch'' and every so often comes out with something stupid like hug-a-hoody. Being a football manager is somewhat like being a party leader. Keep your members/backbenchers (ie the players) happy (something AVB and Scolari failed to do at Chelsea and paid the price for) whilst appearing to be listening to and caring about the thoughts of the electorate (the fans). Hughton clearly wants to engage his ''followers'', look at the completely different media handling styles of Hughton and Lambert, so I just wanted to pose the suggestion that in aid of all this, he does tap into the grapevine from time to time?

[quote user="Cantiaci Canary"]For your own health I think you would have to turn a stubborn pair of blind eyes to the newspapers and message boards if you were a Premier League football manager. I would assume that once Hughton is off the coaching field, out of his office or finished with meetings he tries to switch off from football as much as possible! [/quote] Definitely agree with this. He would have to have self-esteem of steel to be able to view the posts directly with some of the stuff that is said about him. Maybe a measure of the man perhaps if he is able, I cant imagine managers like Neil Warnock or Tony Pulis for instance crying into their beer after having read a particularly stinging comment, but me personally, my ego would be far too fragile to read what people thought about me. I might want some spies to read for me though and give me the general concensus, whilst protecting me from the nasty side of it!

Has Ged Steeroo finally gotten bored or is he still on the wind-up?

During last season I really enjoyed reading the Holtamania blog, especially the story-of-a-match analyses he/they used to do. After initially covering the Fulham game this season, Holtamania seems to have ground to a halt. I did find that the blogger did start off the season by critiquing a few other non-Norwich games, but this stopped as well. It was always a good read, just wondered if anyone knew why it stopped. Was the guy behind it ever a member here?

[quote user="morty"][quote user="The Great Mass Debater"][quote user="morty"]Lol, I very much doubt that Chris Hughton, Premiership football manager, scours this forum looking for inspiration.[/quote] Not so much inspiration, but he does strike me as a chap who likes to try and keep people happy. Lose the fans, lose your job. To not have a window on what the fans think would be ignorant, and he doesnt strike me as that kind of fellow[/quote]Whilst I see what you''re saying, still a no from me.Lets face it, about 98% of football fans know nowt.[/quote] I beg to differ, Im sure we''ve all taken Accrington Stanley to Champions League glory in only 6 seasons on Football Manager... If that doesnt validate our credentials I dont know what does!

[quote user="morty"]Lol, I very much doubt that Chris Hughton, Premiership football manager, scours this forum looking for inspiration.[/quote] Not so much inspiration, but he does strike me as a chap who likes to try and keep people happy. Lose the fans, lose your job. To not have a window on what the fans think would be ignorant, and he doesnt strike me as that kind of fellow

I find it curious that many posters are on here, baying for certain tactics, and on a number of occasions perhaps 4 or 5 games later, those changes have appeared - playing Snoddy on the left for instance comes to mind. I''ve noticed this happen quite a few times this season. Now I''m not for one second suggesting that Chris Hughton isnt his own man, but he strikes me as a man without much of an ego and that putting his ear to the wind every now and again is not beyond the realms of possibility. Everyone knows how arrogant Glenn Roeder was, to have been aware or taken any notice of external opinions just wasnt in his make-up, but Chris Hughton seems a receptive respectful kind of guy. I think it is not beyond the realms of possibility he may want to know what the man in the stands thinks and take this on board. He doesnt seem too arrogant to accept the viewpoint that the fans have been interested in his current crop of players far longer than he has. We know some players monitor this forum, is it inconceivable our manager might (or at least have some spies)?

Pity our season wasnt concluded earlier else this might have been a possibility. Someone posted a while back ''Isnt it great for the season to still be going at this point?''. Not for me. Id have taken safety 6 weeks ago and a season that gradually wound down and nothing to play for so players who might be ready for a minute here and there like Carlton Morris could get a chance. Liverpool blooded Raheem Sterling at 17, so if we were safe some of those boys could have been given a taste. But we''re not, so they wont get a chance. Could see Morris on loan next season. I know the Murphy twins both have pro contracts, but I think its just those two isnt it? Sign them up, thats what I say!

Tierney is an interesting one, hard to know who is the bigger casualty of Hughtons reign, him or Fantastic Mr Fox. Tierney I thought was our best player in the first half of last season, as Jeremy Clarkson would say - POWER!!! Thought with Drury leaving he would pick up where he left off before injury but rather a forgotten man. Missed the Fulham debacle but granted he was poor. Hughton clearly doesnt rate him. I like Garrido a lot, but if you could guarantee Tierney played like he played when we first came up, I''d be sorely tempted. Problem is what he did 18 months ago is rather irrelevant. Like Fox he''d be starting from cold. Hughton clearly doesnt rate either of them. He''s frozen them both out, but I bet he did it in the nicest possible way!