StevenageFan

from where I was sitting the players most definitely did raise their game when the worthy out chanting started.  I have witnessed poor performance after poor performance this season with the crowd keeping quiet.  This is the first home game when the crowd has really got on the players and the managers back and the players did respond, anyone that thinks otherwise wasn''t at the game. I also love the way all the KTF fans feel it is okay to insult those that boo''ed with personal insults basically calling them rabble and thick.  Not one of the people that agree with the protesting have stooped so low.  By the way I was not protesting, because like others think the 90 minutes should be about support, but at the same time if a paying fan is not happy with what is obviously a poor show then he/she has every right in the World to express his/her disappointment and no other fan or board member or staff member has any right to tell him/her not to. The fans put far more money and effort into this club than any board member or manager, so why should they be told to keep the faith when things have been so obviously bad for so long. Nigel has always picked players when better options are available to him and never seems to give decent new signings a proper chance unless they run about like nutters ala Hughes.   He also regularly proves he is tactically naive, 1 upfront for the last how many away games? when we needed to win every game to get in the playoffs!!!! Helveg dropped after 2 matches - ridiculous.   Svensson held out of the team by McKenzie - effort but little skill.   Jarrett not given a chance, but performs wherever else he has been given a chance.   Etuhu only now getting a chance and did show some of his potential, but as always the chance is  too late.  Safri not played for a large part of the prem season when we all cried out for Holt to be dropped.  Charlton the dwarf preferred at centre back over Shackell who has never looked out of his depth since getting in the team.  Johansson benched week n week out when he plays really well up front and is the ideal candidate to be on the end of the hoof ball we so love.  Doc bought in as a striker and not played in his best position properly until this season.  McVeigh always having to fight for his contract even though he is second only to Hucks in the skill and creativity stakes and again Hughes starts when he is available.Anyone seen Zeshan Rehman?   Charlton gets to sit on the bench even though he has announced he is leaving??!!?  WTF?   I heard Colin is back in training butdidn''t even get on the bench, but agian Charlton who is leaving is?!?!  I say again WTF?  He prefers to play left backs in midfield - Brennan and Charlton, when he has 3 new midfield signings - Jarrett, Etuhu and Robinson!!! Stuff like this has gone on for the last 3 seasons, Nigel doesn''t have the managerial nounce to pick the best players for the best positions in the best formation for the opposition, he proves that regularly.  The fans have put up with this for so long that they have every right to start to boo and jeer and call for his head, especially as we have nothing to play for this season and letters don''t get infront of the right people in the right quantities to make any impact.  Unified action is the only thing that gets noticed and I think the fans did the right thing.

29 last Tuesday.   Been a Canary since birth, lived in Watton, Barnham Broom, Drayton, Horsford then moved to Stevenage at 11 and have stayed here ever since, but still NCFC through and through.

time honoured argument that one.  I have been flitting on and off the boards for about 2 years or more now and it has always been the case.  I don''t think it will ever change, it is human nature.  I am guilty of taking differences of opinions personally sometimes and I think everyone on here has done at some point or other.

apologies Paul for not being able to read AM!!!!      Not the first time I have made a fool of myself on here and I am sure not the last, lol.

love it, hahahaha

why is everyone getting excited about Paul''s rumours coming true, he posted it at 12:14  (or is that when the mods released it?) It''s now only 12:38, so not exactly Einstein''s theory of relativity to get the first two correct, the story was already on the Pinkun page at that point, lol.

a1, Rossi will correct me if I am wrong, but I think he was making a joke about you saying "honeymoon" and "happier times" in the same sentence.   You know, the old joke about getting married and losing all your individuality and forever being under control of her indoors. I actually thought it was quite funny of Rossi, but I think you missed the point and took it literally. 

What would you all prefer: 1) Mid to bottom table Premiership   -   £40M + debt 2) Bottom table Premiership  -  £20M + debt 3) Mid to top half Championship - financially stable with more cash to spend I am not sure which I would prefer to be honest, I just see those as the options the board had about 3 seasons ago.   Spend, spend, spend to get a great team together, get into the prem and stay there on first attempt.   That plan is also according to the right players being available and wanting to come here, slightly easier if your plan is to build a decent squad. Spend half as much and try to stay in the prem.  Again hoping the players were available and would want to come. Live within our means, still try to get to the prem, but also work hard on the debt and keep the business stable with a view to gradually becoming a richer club that can eek it''s way back to glory.  The Ashton sale may have been a lucky break, I mean doubling anyones value in 1 year is great business, but now put''s us in a pretty good position as a business. As far as being lied to goes, come on guys, how many times have people got to explain business to you?   If you are in negogiations with a buyer for a £7M fee with 15% sell on clause, why would you risk that deal, by going public and being honest??   Fans will always be there whatever you tell them, so little risk in being sparse with the truth.   Much greater risk to pee off the buyer. The only problem I do still see is Worthy''s ability to buy the right players with the money in any of the aforementioned plans. Also his childish management style of dropping anyone that diasgrees with him, sometimes for months.  

no one round me really sings and I end up looking a wally when I sing on my own

Chairman pays tribute to loyal fans followed by Seaosn ticket prices hiked hahahaha, nice one.

surely it depends on how many fans are in the queue for season tickets?   I don''t know how many there are, but I bets it''s more than 2,500. The club won''t just have the money for the extension sitting in the bank earning interest, they will borrow more money to build it with a view to getting extra gate receipts and paying back the loan.   Do you pay for everything with cash?    Does any business pay for everything with cash?    Of course not,  come on.  

[quote user="percyvarco"] This is as far back as you can go with the posts......... Still rings true [/quote] umm I think that answers the questions, percyvarco resurrected the old post to prove that even 3 years on Worthy is still anti-foreigners, but I think he forgot: Brennan, Helveg, Svensson, Jonson, Louis-Jean, Safri, Etuhu, Francis and Colin. Of all those I would say: Brennan - only ever a squad player - successful business Helveg - not given a decent run in his preferred position until it was too late - unsuccessful business, but only because he wasn''t utilised properly. Svensson - was decent enough and would rather still have him over Thorne (whom I have nothing against). - successful business Jonson - plenty of chances, but none in his proper preferred position.  Didn''t really make it, but agian would rather still have him on the right wing than Etuhu - successful business given the price we paid and got back in return and the job he did whilst here. Louis Jean - yet to show his stuff Safri - quality, just a shame Worthy didn''t notice it sooner last season. - very successful business Etuhu - yet to show his stuff Francis - well had his time hear and we were right to let him go - successful business Colin - would rather have kept Eddy, but should grow into a better player, solid enough. Therefore on balance Worthy''s dealings with foreign players has been quite positive, even though he let go 3 players that could still be here doing a better job for us (Sven, Helveg and Jonson), the money he got for them and the job they did when given a chance means we gained more than we lost.  

two posters have said he can play on the right and others say he can''t, which is it, anybody know for a fact whether he could play on the right?   When I was reading the post about him liking to run at players and come in from the right I got quite excited at the prospect of seeing this team:                            Green Louis Jean    Shackell    Doc   Drury McSheff       Safri         Hughes     Hux                    McVeigh      Ashton very attacking I know, but that''s why you would have Hughes in there over anyone else, so he could run his guts out and Safri likes to sit and spray it anyway.  LJ and Drury like to push up and LJ has pace.  McSheff and Hux would be awesome threats down the wings and teams couldn''t afford to double up on Hux.  Long ball to Ashton could occassionally be used, but only occasionally.  Safri loves to spray it on the deck.  McVeigh likes to run at people also.   Suddenly our team that either punts to Ashton or gives it to Hux and hopes for some magic, has got loads more options. Anyway if he can''t play on the right, once agian whilst everyone is screaming for a right winger Worthy is looking at more strikers noooooo!! However it could as someone else said just be back up in case a crazy money offer comes in for Deano.

I think mine is obvious too, but having been born and bred in Naarwich, attended the Steve Bruce soccer school aged 10, shipped off to Stevenage due to Dad''s work aged 11, being bullied for the first 3 years of senior school for being a farmer, Arsenal fans always laughing at me when they spanked us 5-2, I have still managed to remain a Yella and I am proud of it. I can''t beleive I travelled all the way from Preston, just to watch Preston spank us though, gutted that took 4 and half hours of hard driving that did.   Good job Mum and Dad live back in Taverham though because I now have somewhere to crash every Friday night pre-match.

I can''t beleive people think that Doc was pants.  I thought he was good from day one, okay he made the odd bumbling mistake which sometimes resulted in a goal or corner, but Flem was doing that all season long.   Flem is also a master of removing responsability from himself and leaving himself free whilst his partner has to do all the hard work.   Since being dropped and then coming back again he hasn''t been doing that so much, as he obviously now respects Doc a lot more.   I used to watch him shouting and pointing where he wanted Doc to be and the poor guys was constantly on edge trying to watch the game and listen to Flems orders.   Nowadays Doc is more relaxed with his own ability and Flem respects that and is defintely not on his back all the time.   They have developed an understanding partnership which is the most important partnership on the entire pitch the two centre backs, build from the back. Also all Mooks points about Doc are spot on, he had a hell of a lot of pressure without Flem barking at him all the time. Jarrett to me has also shown signs of being under pressure.  He has looked shaky and rushed when he has played, but you can still see he has some natural ability.   The last game he played for us he was awful in the first half, his first touch was letting him down all match long, but in the second he started to play better and better and it was clear his confidence was growing all the time.  Next thing you know he has been shipped off on loan and we have a midfield injury crisis - another example of fine management.   I would still prefer to play Jarrett ahead of a left back or centre back, but Nigel clearly wouldn''t.   Don''t forget the boy is young and had missed a huge chunk of last season through quite a serious injury, it was obvious he would take some time to get his confidence back especially joining a new team with such high expectations of automatic promotion.  Perhaps this is why Nigel farmed him out on loan, to get him some match experience and confidence back where it wouldn''t hurt us when he makes mistakes, but then the injuries hit, hindsight is a wonderful thing. In conclusion I think Jarrett will return a different player, especially after a half decent run in the team. Etuhu, also I think needs a decent amount of time to settle, has he played with the same 3 midfielders twice in a row yet?  I don''t think he has.   He did look slow and easily jolted off the ball last Saturday, but I think he can only get better with time and deserves some respect until he has had the chance to prove himself. Hughes, I also think is a good player and the only player that was brought in at the start of the season that was actually better than the player he replaced - Holt.    Don''t forget that was why we brought him in to replace Holt.   Jarret was supposed to be the new Francis and we had Safri too.  He has all the lungs Holt did and actually does have some, I said some, natural ability with passes and movement.    Holt used to just sit on defenders toes when defending and run about a lot when attacking - don''t get me wrong he was awesome in the champ, but way out of depth in prem.   Hughes was playing better than Holt IMO and once we get a proper midfield fit again will be a useful player alongside the type of player like Safri. People have also brought up Eddy and how many games he played in the Prem - Helveg was dropped after two below par performances and then bench warmed for months whilst Eddy bless him tried his best, but wasn''t the best.   Helveg made a return in midfield, right when Nigel had realised Holt was not being effective and finally replaced him with another bench warmer Safri and both these arrivals conicided with an upturn in our fortunes.  If only Nigel saw things that much quicker.   Anyway the resulting departure of an unhappy Helveg, which was to be expected as he never had the chance to prove himself either, was then followed with Nigel letting Eddy go as well, a player that has rightly been touted as a great Champ player  -doh!!!    Again the replacements of Colin and Louis-Jean are no better than the departures.  Although I think Colin is okay, but looks a little confused somtimes. Anyway, the point is with every single player mentioned above - Safri, Hughes, Helveg, Etuhu and Jarrett, they have all suffered with not being given proper runs in their proper positions at the start of their careers with Norwich.  Thank God Safri stuck around to prove a point and lets hope the others do too.   Whilst on the subject, shame Jonson was farmed off when he wanted to stay too.  I know he never showed anything apart from hard work, but I would rather have him on the right of midfield right now than Etuhu who should be in the middle of a proper 4-4-2. 

I think it''s even more funny how some people sit and watch the same football matches as me, the same repeated mistakes, the same poor substitutions, the same naive tactics, the same drivel in post match interviews all over the last two seasons and still think Nigel is okay at his job!!!!

The other point I would like to add is that taking long ball to one side, what is our only other option going forwards?     Huckerby down the left.   If we are not long balling it we are firing it up the line to Huckerby who then usually has two or more players to beat before he has any chance of getting in a half decent cross or attacking the penalty area. We are two dimensional, long ball to Ashton or direct pass up the left to Huckerby and that''s it.   Most teams know this and mark us accordingly. If Ashton is not winning the ball and Huckerby is not at his very, very best then we don''t score, simple as that.   When McVeigh does very rarely pick the ball up in space facing goal with only one or two defenders to beat he usually has a go and we build a good forward attack with some fresh creativity and flair, but that is very rare because the whole team is always looking towards Huckerby or Ashton.

Aaaah, but his experience in the the Championship and the Premier is just what we need to help get the boys going.   Just like Graham Stuart, what a revelation he was [:(]

Andy, I will be very interested in proper reasoned answers to your post and all your questions, this is very good post and I can''t wait to see the answers.   Worthy, we need midfielders, we need a right winger and we need to start playing proper football again.   Route one to Deano or giving it to Hux with 4 men to beat is not the way to score goals.

I agree with everything you say Wiz.   Wiz you are such an ass, what a load of drivel you Worthy hater you [8-)]

Why are some of you getting excited about another striker?   We need midfielders badly yet Worthy is still looking at strikers.   We could Henry and Rooney upfront at the moment and still have the same goals for stats because they wouldn''t get the service.   We need to sort out the midfield.

Spat, your reference to the Sunday League part I am assuming is aimed at my comments on another thread.   Of course I wasn''t trying to compare Sunday League to professional football, I am not "that" stupid ;-)       I was trying, very badly to get across a point that on reflection isn''t that great anyway, but I still feel has some worth.   I will try again to put in different words to see if you grasp what I meant. Sunday League - freezing cold mornings, overweight, often drunk, very unfit players, run out of the changing rooms straight on the pitch and start hammering the ball at the goal keeper with little or no warm up.    The result isn''t a bunch of pulled hamstrings, or sore ankles or lower back strains.  In fact we hardly ever have any injuries. Professional footballers with all the state of the art equipment, facilities and coaches who go through all kinds of warm ups and warm downs, seem to be getting injured rather a lot in training.   These injuries are not even tackle related, but silly little strains to key muscle groups like hamstrings. My point is how can the professionals be getting so many injuries with all the dedicated and professional support, whilst Sunday leaguers who play week in week out with little or no professional help, most of them playing midweek, Saturday and Sunday, hardly ever get injured? To me this is weird.  Maybe it is just one of those things as Nigel and his staff keep telling us. By the way I do have some coaching badges.   Obviously not the top ones though :-)

I think there is something seriously wrong with our training regime.  We have far too many players getting training ground injuries and a lot of the time they are new to the club.   Perhaps Nigels passion for top level fitness is causing over use injury all too often.  Strained this, strained that.  It shouldn''t be happening to so many professionals so often.  I run a Sunday team and we don''t get this many injuries, we turn up in minus 2 degree weather and start booting the ball at the keeper before the match every week.  Okay the odd player does a few stretches and eventually we do stretch, once I have got everyone out of the warm changing rooms, but we don''t get all these strains etc.    Before anyone says it I know professionals play a lot more football and train a lot more, but surely they know how to warm up and warm down to prevent strains?   I think they are being worked too hard.

that made me chuckle, I live near enough to spurs, so I might just try blending in with them at training especially as they have an odd number for 19 a-side

I can''t beleive you are moaning about me moaning about the people that moan about the moaners, who are actually just criticisers, you moany old..............