Fleckys Flip-Flop

I tend to agree with the OP. But with Tettey sitting and Wes and Johnno sitting in central midfield, both with the freedom to get forward. I think our best performances have come from that formation. Wes would take up the ''playmaker'' mantle from Fer, so I dont see any worry about getting good ball to Hoops. Truth be told, in recent weeks all the good balls have come from Redmond, rather than Fer.

It has to be Hoops. I get the feeling that a goal would do wonders for his confidence and see him start banging them in again. I''d go for the same side that started against Man City. If I were the boss I''d be tempted to play Wes in place of Fer though. Only tempted mind you.

If we can start taking the chances we are creating then we will be fine. Everyone down with us has a similar run in over the next 12, just in a different order.   I took a crumb of comfort in this fact. For 40 points to be the amount needed to stay up, at least 8 of the other bottom 11 teams need to average a minimum of 1 point per game (in most cases slightly more). As there are so many teams in this mess, it makes it all the more difficult as teams all play each other. So if one gets 3 points, the other gets none. Obviously! Equally, with the top sides being so close together, none of the big teams have any reason to take their foot off the gas. If you want to write off our last 4 games then you have to write off 4 of everone''s games.   What I think it comes to is this. If we win our 3 home games against WBA, Stoke and Sunderland then we will probably need 2 or 3 more points to stay up. 35/36 points, in such a tight season, will realistically be the likely points tally of the highest placed relegated side. I think we will do it if we win those games. But i''m not willing to stake anything on whether we will or not!     

Ashton. If he was getting the chances we are creating at the mo he would be banging the goals in.

Its difficult to pick out one really. Olsson made 2 world class blocks. Bassong AND Yobo were outstanding. Johnson, Tettey and Fer all superb. Redders an absolute menace. When his final delivery gets more consistent he is going to be a real class act. Pilks had a good game too.

Its difficult to pick out one really. Olsson made 2 world class blocks. Bassong AND Yobo were outstanding. Johnson, Tettey and Fer all superb. Redders an absolute menace. When his final delivery gets more consistent he is going to be a real class act. Pilks had a good game too.

Toure deliberately kicked him in the back.

The draft system only works because the players come straight from college. College sport is huge and a lucrative business itself which (financially) allows colleges to offer scholarships to the best high school players. So to work a system like that, you need to eradicate the current youth development systems, while encouraging people to watch University sport in their thousands to pay for the player scholarships. Logistically we could never switch to that kind of system.    

Indy, we have played well a few times this season. Saturday was a great example. But there''s never any threads to discuss it! In fairness I''ve seen us play much worse and against much weaker opposition. Don''t get me wrong, there''s been some awful performances this season, same as last. But they don''t compare to the Hamilton, Deehan, Megson, Roeder or even Mike Walker (second time around) eras. My point is that whether or not a change is needed, all the opinions have been stated goodness knows how many times. Why are the majority of new threads all about the same thing? It''s crazy, especially considering how quick some are to point out when posters start duplicate threads about anything else! I get that lots of posters want Hughton out. I also get that plenty don''t want him sacked. I understand both sides of the debate. I imagine most of the regulars do? I just wish we didnt have to trawl through so many posts to find one where we can actually debate something and not descend in to mere table-thumping!

In fairness, everybody knows that a good atmosphere makes a ground more difficult for away teams and a negative atmosphere can seriously affect home performances - England and Villa for example. When fans boo, players get wound up and don''t focus as well as they might. It happens all the time. I don''t see why anyone tries to deny it.   I agree with the OP. It''s dull. A constant rehashing of the same old threads, usually well disguised as something else. We all know who wants Hughton in, we all know who wants Hughton out. The reality is we have all stopped talking about the actual football and are focussing on one man! It''s crazy really.   As a final point, it doesn''t need to be everyone at CR posting or even viewing this board. The negativity spreads like wildfire. CR is a horrible place to go and watch a game these days. People just whinge all the time. Everything is negative and critical. There are even people who don''t celebrate on the rare occasion that we actually do score!! What does that achieve?

That is the position he plays for Scotland, or at least does under Strachan. Has scored twice in the last qualifying campaign from that position. Both against Croatia - one a header and one running on to a through ball. I think it could be his best position.

Do we not all think that a CB with a huge amount of experience and excellent leadership qualities is exactly the signing we need. Haven''t we been complaining that Bassong has been poor and that we have no leaders in the squad? Seems like another astute signing to me, in a position we really need cover for.

A quick point on changing manager; Worthy replaced by Grant, replaced by Roeder replaced by Gunn... so it was on the fourth go (Lambert) that things actually improved. In fact they got steadily worse. The point is that it isn''t the change itself that works. Hughes, Meulensteen and Solskjaer (so far) are showing that. It often has immediate results if the previous incumbent has ''lost the dressing room'' as Di Canio certainly seemed to have, but that doesn''t seem the case here. On the whole it is a risky move. You need an excellent candidate who will suit your club and players. I''m not sure that person is out there right now. Don''t get me wrong, we need a change somewhere, but when we are sitting 12th in the league, closer to the top half than the relegation zone, it really doesn''t make any sense (from a boardroom perspective) to change things just because the fans are bored of the style of play. It is effective enough right now when you compare our results with those around us. (Hull, Stoke, Swansea, West Brom, West Ham,Cardiff and Fulham have all taken less points than us in the last 10 games)

Reminds me an awful lot of all those ''calendar year'' stat posts. Interestingly, as reported in the pink un, we are top of the bottom 11 mini league (i.e Nutty''s league minus So''ton). What the op, and all the other similar posts show is simply that you can make the stats say anything you want. Ultimately the Hughton in/out debate boils down to entertainment. Are we happy to stay up at the cost of dull, boring footy or do we need to play a more attractive brand of football now we are in our third Premier League season?

Last season Man City had everything to play for when they came to Carrow Road and won by the odd goal in 7. We had our chances to get more than that too. No reason why we can''t have a go again!   I will be happy with 4 + points. Think we need to avoid defeats against Hammers and Cardiff.

Whittaker is just so slow! Wingers lose him so easily. It''s beyond me why he ever starts ahead of Martin who is quicker, better defensively and perfectly capable of attacking (Man Utd this season, Man City last spring to mind).

It very much sounded to me that McNally was suggesting that should we drop in to the relegation zone, then Hughton will go. Whilst our form remains on par with those around us, he won''t take the gamble. He even went so far as to mention the fact that a number of the clubs around us are on bigger budgets, which can certainly be seen as a justification of our current position. If we beat Hull, I doubt CH will be going anywhere. If we lose, and everybody below us does too, it''s quite possible, based on McNally''s comments, that CH will stay too!

Well, clearly we need a signing in those wide positions. Bennett and Pilks out, Snoddy underperforming, Redmond''s final ball is usually poor and the Murphys aren''t really ready for a starting role yet. Gutierrez is clearly very comfortable with the ball and is capable of both scoring and providing. Work rate is excellent. Maybe a bit slow, but an ideal wide man for a 442 formation. A solid signing in my eyes.

;-)

Being perfectly honest, it depends on the day!

6 step plan to being a Norwich fan Step 1: The manager is never right. His way is the wrong way. What went before was right and we should lament the loss of the ''old way'' as often as possible. Step 2: Shout at the manager to play a 442 and then complain when he does. Ignore the fact that most sides in our division play a variant of the 451 system. IT IS NOT TRUE Step 3: Pretend we have squad members who had/have an ounce of flair. James Vaughan IS better than every striker we have ever had and David Fox IS better than Beckham. Step 4: When challenged on your previous call for a 442, deny all knowledge. What you wanted was the diamond formation. Got that? The DIAMOND!!! Step 5: Constantly whinge about second rate players not getting game time and remember all their good qualities whilst ignoring their bad ones. Step 6: When all else fails, go back to step 2 and repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 again. It''s amazing how easy it was to do that!

I think it probably is the biggest so far given recent results, yes. It is clearly a game in which we are going to have to impose our own game on them. They are playing good football, but only have 3 points more than us. Call them their surprise 3 points from Liverpool and they are in exactly the same place as we are in terms of results against the teams around them. We do desperately need a win here as we have a decent run of games coming up (bar Man City at home) and need to try and kick start a little run. 3 points going in to the Newcastle (who have lost 3 on the spin) game at home is crucial in my eyes.

[quote user="MrMcGoo1809"]Your right Flecky I''ve lost my argument, we''re 8th in the table 15 points clear of the bottom 3 and we can''t stop scoring[/quote] See, that''s much better! We can actually have a discussion about this. My response being something along the lines of ''Sorry, I forgot we are bottom of the league, 15 points from safety and in considerably worse shape than every other team in the premier league.'' I get your point, things look pretty dire at the moment. But is it worth taking a gamble and sacking a manager who seems to still have the backing of his players, to bring in an unknown quantity? It certainly won''t be if he has the same impact that Poyet, Meulensteen, Solskjaer (a little unfair after 1 PL game, but still no obvious ''new manager effect'' there) and Pulis have had. We are still only 3 points from the top half. It is very tight and there are 11 teams who are still realistically in the relegation scrap. Will we be one of the bottom 3? I don''t know. I think probably not. I think 35 points will probably be the requirement for safety this season and I think we will edge past that. But I''m open to debate there!

[quote user="ron obvious"]Anybody prepared to take on my suggestion that the squad is too inconsistent in the skills department? And that this is typical of lower level squads?[/quote] I think that is a fair assessment of the situation. In most positions we have all the skills needed to succeed, but they come from more than one player. For example, if Olsson had Garrido''s crossing ability, if Wes had Howson''s shooting ability, if Turner had Bennett or Bassong''s pace etc. I guess this kind of issue means that CH HAS to tinker. That and the injuries. They don''t help.

I love the irony in a poster named ''Mr McGoo'' calling everyone else blind... Seriously, calm down fella. We all have opinions on here, yours is perfectly valid. But don''t expect not to get shot down by those who don''t agree. Oh and fyi, taking to expletive laden tirades is usually a sure sign that someone has lost their argument. Surely you can do better than that son?