How Many Times?

[Saint Canary 0]

Sorry but this is another moan about Francis!

How many more times is he going to let our great football club down?  First of all were his non comitted performances last season.  Then came this long, drawn out transfer saga during which time his head "was not right".  We have had his agent spouting all kinds of rubbish.  Francis now appears to be asking for loyalty bonus even though he has made it clear he is not!  Finally (for me the biggest insult) he has so far taken 4 days to agree terms with Wigan, leaving us with no time to reinvest any money on a replacement.  Again I will say this is the biggest insult, we appear to have an injury crisis in midfield and he can''t even do us the favour of sodding off quickly in order to replace him before the season starts.

Good riddance!

[Rasputin was a C... 0]

Bloody right! The sooner he is out of this club the better. I will be laughing so hard come the end of the season when he''s back on his way down to the Championship.

[If I had the wings of a sparrow 0]

The Wigan fans are saying the deal is off.

[nolegs 0]

[quote]The Wigan fans are saying the deal is off.[/quote]

Where?''Cos I''m starting to get a sneaking feeling that Francis is going nowhere.If thats the case its a bit of a worry which player we''ll be left with...will he knuckle down and be the player we all know he can be ,or are we going to get a terminal sulker in the reserves?

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote]Where?''Cos I''m starting to get a sneaking feeling that Francis is going nowhere.If thats the case its a bit of a worry which player we''ll be left with...will he knuckle down and be the player we all k...[/quote]

I fear we would get the sulker!

[..xx..WoRtHy_In..xx.. 0]

If he goes, I''ll wish him luck, if he stays, I''m cheering him on at every kick of the ball.

[NavMan 0]

Got to agree with you nolegs - I can slaso see this deal not going through and then we are left with a player ''who''s head is not right''. Give me his money per week and my head would be all right.

[Kenny Powers 0]

[quote]Sorry but this is another moan about Francis! How many more times is he going to let our great football club down? First of all were his non comitted performances last season. Then came this long,...[/quote]

Non committed performances; he was our joint top scorer from central midfield last year. How many goals would he have to score to be committed. Throughout the first half of the season up to his injury he was one of Norwich''s best players. I admit his last half dozen games were not good but players do lose form throughout a season.

Should he have to agree terms extra quickly to suit a previous employer (because they have an injury crisis -Safri out = crisis!?) or should he try and work out if the deal is good for him. Maybe he thinks living in Norwich and playing in the Championship, is better than playing in the Premiership for Wigan despite being offered more money. (Just a thought)

If he comes back which is looking more on the cards I will be happy. He will realise that the only way of getting the move he wants is by playing well, and if he plays well for the first half of the season this should mean that we are near the top of the league and the position can be re-evaluated then.

BTW Francis was not the reason we got relegated even though he seems to be the main focus of any abuse on this forum.

[Syteanric 1]

spot on there Louie!

 People go on about Damos "non existant" performances but lets remember that it was his goal that sunk WBA in february, it was his cross that led deano to score vs Palace in March, it was his committed display at Newcastle at home that led to our fight back...

 Infact last season i thought there was a period between October and December where Darren Huckerby was pretty much non existant for us and was putting in lethargic displays on a weekly basis, yet not one murmer of disgust was raised at "golden boy" was it?

 any manager worth his salts would of dropped him, unless of course his head was right!!!!

 I notice that the hipocrytes who were booing Francis vs inter were the same ones who were applauding him as the game went on... i made that point to these people in the barclay only to be told where to go... as they then continued to applaud francis after readily booing him just minutes earlier.

Good luck to Damo if he does join Wigan, yes he can be a bit lazy at times, but he was one of the reasons we went up, and one of the reasons we almost stayed up too... Fulham wasnt just his fault, which the local press seem incapable of comprehending, theres 11 players in a team and 10 of them (excluding Ashton who did well) let this city, this club, and its fans down.

 All too often Norwich fans have to find a scapegoat, a player who doesnt fit in, a player to riddicule and cajoule when a pass goes astray,  Llewellyn, Henderson, Francis etc.. if you want these players to do as u ask then try encouraging them not slagging them off!

 If Damo does decide to leave then good luck to him, I hope he does well at Wigan, if he stays he will continue to give the good performances he has given in the past.

 Also, it seems to me that certain individuals in the Local media, Press and Radio seem to want Damo to leave just so they can find a critical story to write.  Rather than reporting on the fact, and the event when, and if it happens, they write or speak (in the case of TV) that it has already happened. This isnt professional and turning the fans against Francis, No wonder his head is messed if external influences are turning people against him.

jas

[Mook 0]

I agree Louie - it''s not all Francis'' fault.

But the fact is, Francis was NEVER the messiah that people made him out, he was ok, but ALWAYS disappeared from games and let Holty and the others to most of the hard work - even in our championship winning season. But nobody noticed then.

Ok, he scored some goals last year, and that is a good thing, but when we needed him most where was he? And I don''t mean just in the Fulham game, I mean every game. When a tackle needed to be made he wasn''t there, when a run needed to be tracked he wasn''t there.

i think he''s a good player, but we can replace him.

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote]Non committed performances; he was our joint top scorer from central midfield last year. How many goals would he have to score to be committed. Throughout the first half of the season up to his injury...[/quote]

In no way I am blaming Francis for our relegation, we were simply not good enough over the course of the season.

Does the amount of goals he scored actually prove his commitment?  I hardly think so, he looked so uninterested for the latter half of season and in extremely important matches in the last 10-15 fixtures.  I''m not just talking about playing badly, I am talking barely trying and that speaks volumes.  Maybe I should look up committed in the dictionary because I am clearly struggling to recall the definition as being "lazy and uninterested".

He should by no means have to rush a decision on our account but it would have been nice, knowing we have only have two fit central midfielders available.  Both of which are unlikely to last 90 minutes.  We currently pay his wages and personally I would treat my employer (whether soon to ex or not) with a bit more respect. 

Finally are you sure that if he comes back "He will realise that the only way of getting the move he wants is by playing well"?  Really?  If that is the case, why did he not bust a gut to play well in the closing stages of last season?  If he had, he would have had a lot more clubs interested in him than just Wigan and maybe, just maybe a couple of man of the match performances from him could have kept us all the Premier League.

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote]spot on there Louie! People go on about Damos "non existant" performances but lets remember that it was his goal that sunk WBA in february, it was his cross that led deano to score vs Palace in Marc...[/quote]

7 goals and an occasional good cross/pass are just fleeting moments in a match.  As Mook pointed out where was he when tackles were needed in midfield?  Where was he when opposing midfielders made forward runs?  If you go missing for 80 out of 90 minutes of match it negates all the positive efforts that you have made.  I''m sorry but that is not the media''s fault, he is not being made a scapegoat, he simply did not give 100% and that''s his fault, no one else''s.  I would never boo a City player and if he stays I will gladly cheer him all the way should he decide to put some effort in.

[We need a Manager 0]

We are not going to replace him (how predictable was that) Worthy is happy with what hes got, so there is no need for Francis to rush things on our behalf.

[Putney Canary 0]

There is no denying all the good things he did last season, but it was all undone as he stood in the middle at Craven Cottage watching as time after time Fulham''s midfield strolled past him (with Holt chasing) to score yet again.

And don''t take Worthy''s words (re "no more signings this summer") at face value either - it could be the truth, it could just as easily be a bluff knowing the way he uses the media.

Just go Francis and let this whole matter come to an end.