The Engineer

@otb alas Crystal Palace have already been relegated 4 times... 1992-93/94-95/97-98/04-05

Don''t fancy Man City to be fielding a fully fully strong team with Champions League coming up in the week, hopefully be a similar team to the FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge... Either way I think City will win... Which City though?? ;))

Did one of these yesterday, if I remember rightly Leicester won the league on 81 points, Spurs second on 80 points, then it was Man City, followed by Arsenal, West Ham, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Stoke... Some teams in between then near the bottom it went Palace on 37/8/9 points, Norwich on 35, Newcastle on 35 going down on goal difference, Sunderland on 34 finishing off with Villa on 20 I think... Swansea one place above Palace, one above was a other team, in 14th were Bournemouth on 42 points I think?   Love a bit of speculation and guessing... Included the odd shock result, like Newcastle winning away at Southampton or Stoke I think, and Sunderland beating Arsenal 1-0 at home :)

When we first sold Johnson I thought it was a tidy bit of business, however it is now where we need his spirit and fight attitude to get the team going. Yes he wasn''t the most technically gifted player to grace the Carrow Road turf, but his mentality was something else, and is what our team is missing! No point dwelling on it though, time for Naismith to take the reigns like he did against Liverpool!

9 games left... We COULD finish with 51 points still! No actually, we WILL finish with 51 points!

A loss is never unacceptable. It''s the manner of the loss which can be unacceptable. If we play superbly, but Fabianski decides to have a good day, and Swansea fluke a goal then you could get over that, as annoying as it would be. However, if we went there and decided to not turn up, looking like we''d been out on the lash the night before and getting completely turned over then that would be unacceptable.   On regards to AN, we should stick with him regardless of whether or not we stay in this league, for me I would only consider parting company with him if we were relegated and doing poorly in the Championship whilst showing no signs of improvement.

Must have been dodgy laptop speakers then ;)

I watched the Chelsea game from the comfort of a bean bag in front of a log fire in the French Alps on Tuesday evening, and one thing that was very noticeable was the complete lack of atmosphere at the ground! What was going on? We are in need of one goal, we were the better team in the second half on the front foot, and yet you could hear a pin drop! I couldn''t believe my ears! When the team needs the supporters at the game the most, we completely let them down... Yes they''ve let us down over the past couple months but seriously? I thought Carrow Road was meant to be a ground renowned for great atmosphere?? Has everyone literally just given up??   Hopefully people will tell me wrong and will tell me that the television mics were simply switched off! If not then it was just simply embarrassing. Cue another Delia half time rant!

I believe whilst no trading period is nearby, the shop window he was posing in has closed for a few months - I expect to see him towards the back end of April when the shutters roll back up ;) Some say he''s still there, behind the shutters - practising his next pose, gaining advice from Derek Zoolander...   Or I''ve missed something and he''s injured... Wouldn''t be that shocking to be honest!

I wonder what DM concludes as a ''substantial profit'' if we sold him...

1-1 vs. Huddersfield in 2000. Sat in the old South Stand :)

So now Liverpool fans have the option to pay £59 to watch them play a newly promoted team or £59 to watch them face off against the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Everton, etc...   Not to mention away fans will also have to pay these prices... No doubt Liverpool were one of the clubs that voted against a £30 cap on away prices...   To have no structure is just bonkers, can''t get my head around this at all - how FSG think they''re being good...   Deary deary me, what is life?!

I think it''s a very tough call to be fair...   On one hand you have Ruddy - not been brilliant for a while, I would even go as far as saying he didn''t have a great season last season compared to previous... Making simple, basic errors never really looking like the keeper he was for our previous 3 seasons in the premier league. Got dropped as we all know, but came back in for the cup tie against Man City. I was personally expecting a big performance from him then to stake his claim for a first team place, but had a poor game and never looked happy once during the course of the game - almost like he didn''t want to be playing...   Rudd on the other hand came in and did a stellar job for his first few games, really trying to prove himself as the man who should be between the sticks. Made some fantastic saves - ones that we absolutely know Ruddy probably wouldn''t have made (the ones low in the corners that require a bit of mobility). Looked high on confidence, things seemed to be going well, we began keeping more clean sheets and the defence seemed to play with a bit more confidence again with the assurance of Rudd in goal. However, the last few games with the defence changing, making mistakes, and conceding a lot of goals (which in fairness he couldn''t do a lot about most of them) Rudd''s confidence seems to be faltering which is in my opinion why he is making such rash decision like the one at Villa. The way I see that Villa goal, Rudd has shipped a few, he''s trying to make up his confidence again, so he''s being impatient and making rash decisions which ultimately have cost us a goal. Reminds me a bit like De Gea in his first season at Old Trafford, he was making mistakes left right and centre, but the way I saw it was he was going for balls that no other keeper would go for, trying to be brave and prove himself - and that he wasn''t actually a bad keeper like everyone was saying. The only thing I would say Rudd lacks compared to Ruddy is his leadership skills. But that confidence in organising your defence and bossing them about comes with experience, it''s hard for a ''rookie'' keeper to come in and start bossing a few big(ish) and experienced names about in the biggest league in the world straight away like he''s Peter Schmeichel.   In fact, I''ve changed my mind, its not a ''very tough'' decision at all. Rudd stays in goal for me. His leadership will improve with experience. If Ruddy had played exceptionally well against Man City then I maybe would say it''s a tough decision and say Ruddy should go back in goal and this break has given him the kick up the bum he needed like Joe Hart had... Rudd is making less mistakes, he is more agile, he is IMO a better shot stopper and his distribution I would say is good too - but maybe Ruddy edges it there to be fair to him. A bit of guidance, and a bit of experience and Rudd, I think, will finally establish himself.   But whoever gets the nod for Saturday, or next Saturday or whoever we play, I hope they play well :)

The stats: Before and including Newcastle (league only): P9 - W2 - D3 - L4 - GF14 - GA20 - Pts9 Average GF = 1.56 Average GA = 2.22 Average Pts per game = 1.00 After Newcastle: P16 - W4 - D2 - L10 - GF14 - GA28 - Pts14 Average GF = 0.88 Average GA = 1.75 Average Pts per game = 0.88   Whilst initially I agreed that maybe we should be a bit more defensive after the Newcastle game, upon reflection of these stats it seems as though playing more risky has been more beneficial than trying to be a bit more solid. We were unlucky not to have gotten more points from our first 9 games yes, but reality is we didn''t get those points so it doesn''t even matter. So we do need to go back to a more attacking side, which I think we are trying to do now but not to the extent as the start of the season. We need to obviously stop shipping as many goals as we have done in our last 5. It''s just finding the balance now, we''ve set up attacking and we weren''t getting the points, we set up more defensively and we''re not getting the points. With the signings we''ve just made I think it will make the balance between attack and defence easier to find and hopefully over the next month we really begin to find that consistency we all crave! Add in a bit of luck that we are due in return from the beginning of the season and we''ll soon start seeing the points racking up!   Note: The strength of schedule has not been taken into account and it could be argued that we were better in the first 9 games due to the opposition we were facing. 

No problem! He certainly looked as though he has the makings of a professional footballer and I would definitely consider loaning him out next season to see how he gets on with the physicality of the professional game.   Forgive me if I''m wrong but I''m sure there was a team a couple years back who fielded three fully fit first team players when their U21 team was chasing the title? Could of had an impact into Memphis'' selection with United chasing the league - after Van Gaal has said it wasn''t punishment for a poor performance against Chelsea the day before...   On another note Will Keane and Januzaj also very strong selections and I''m wondering what they''re doing n the U21 side rather than being loaned out - I''m sure there would have been a host of suitable clubs chasing their signatures over the last month... Same applies to McNair. 

Ruddy alongside Klose in the back four could be a good option to be fair... Though my only concern would be his habit of handling the ball. Back when I used to play I was a keeper, came outfield for a few games - first game, ball comes to me at chest height and what do I do? I catch the blimin'' thing!

To the actual point of the OP though, I don''t believe we need to come out and say it - McNally does most things behind doors and as long as AN knows he has the support it doesn''t matter if it''s made public or private, if anything making it public may heap more unnecessary pressure on AN.... On the Derby front - they''re just stupid. Coming out and saying promotion isn''t even their main aim, if I was a Derby supporter I would be fairly p***ed off right now - especially as they''ve just put the academy manager in charge for the rest of the season. Still in the playoffs, still producing good football, going through a rough patch (as every team does at some point in the season) and their board loses their head, panic and sacks him... Crazy imo...

Got to stick with him, I would stick with him even if we got relegated - and who knows, if we did get relegated maybe AN would become a better manager as a result... He would definitely be my choice to get us straight back up! The Liverpool game could of gone either way and who knows about Stoke if O''Neil hadn''t gotten sent off - that could have been 6 points instead of none and then we would be sitting 5 points clear of the relegation zone ''comfortably'' in 15th... Football is a funny old game and a couple of bad decisions here and there and a bit of bad luck and all of a sudden we find ourselves back in our current position (along with a couple sub-standard performances too - but we can''t realistically expect to be playing amazing week in week out at this time). Who knows, we could go on a three game win streak now and pull ourselves clear and Newcastle could equally lose their next three or whoever for that matter... Look at Chelsea and Leicester, they are showing us all that anything is possible and everything is unpredictable :) It''s all just a game of ifs and buts... 

Meant to put a ;) at the end!   Oh the lack of an edit button... [:P]

I was at the game last night, albeit I missed the first 20 minutes and the first goal...   United were definitely a couple leagues above us in terms of class - but then again what can you expect when they play 7 players who have played for the first team?? Some of the touches Will Keane had were out of this world, especially one where he flicked it over our defenders head on the edge of the box - absolutely unreal! Along with his lovely chip I can''t deny I applauded that goal...   We perked up a bit at 4 or 5 nil down and made a couple of good chances and our play began to flow a bit more for about 10 minutes. No one really stood out for me except I was impressed with the attacking qualities of LB Michael Efete. Ran tight down the line a few times cutting into the box and producing a couple of hard and low dangerous crosses. Cantwell, whilst not really doing a lot showed some promise with some neat footwork. New signing Godfrey looked like he''s a decent acquisition in years to come, didn''t really do anything to stand out, just went about his business quietly. You could see the way we were trying to play which if we pull it off would be some great football to watch, but unfortunately last night we were just completely outclassed - one United player that particularly impressed me was James Weir, seemed to win every ball and find his man with every pass - reminded me a bit of Paul Scholes... On the whole, can''t really complain too much due to the class difference, but one positive to take from the game is we didn''t concede from a set piece! (That I can remember anyway?) Maybe the first team should take note

I always liked drums, but I guess I''m the only one by the sounds of it. As to the trumpet as well, yeah sure lets start our own barmy army! Used to love it when Sheffield Wednesday came down to Carrow Road! As for the tin pot comment, do England sound tin pot with the barmy army? Do massive European clubs sound tinpot? Bring the drum and trumpet tomorrow and I think you''ll get more support than you have done on here!

Judging by his Youtube compilations I think he would offer us something slightly different to what we''ve already got. Incredibly well timed intelligent runs and a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Can also score 40 yard half volleys Suarez-esk! All in all looks a tidy player used to playing in a league not too dissimilar from the Premier league so hopefully adaptation wouldn''t be too much of a problem. Very tidy signing if it comes off :)

Starting XI: Ruddy; Whitts, Russ, Bass, Brady; Redmond, Howson, Dorrans, Jonho; Jerome. Bench: Rudd, Wisdom, Vaddis, Wes, Tettey, Grabban, Hooper.

I''ve gone for WBA/Southampton defence, both teams will keep plenty of clean sheets again this year I imagine!

Hi guys, Sorry for ''spamming'' the message board but I need local residents (you can also complete if you''re not local) to complete my survey about an expansion to Norwich airport. This is for my dissertation and I would greatly appreciate it if you could take just 5-10minutes out of your day to help a fellow yellow! Here''s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/georgedissertationsurvey Thank you all in advance! George a.k.a. The Engineer :)