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morty

Six things we learned...

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Good piece from David Freezer :-http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/six_things_we_learned_from_norwich_city_s_deserved_home_success_against_birmingham_1_4867574?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.itThe journos have been as flippy-floppy as the fans recently, but this stood out for me :-

Put the knives away

We all like a good moan but some City fans are just wallowing at the moment.

On Saturday I was providing our live updates service at pinkun.com and in no time at all a comment filtered through saying Alex Neil should be sacked if Birmingham weren’t beaten convincingly.

Social media is full of it as well. Some seem disappointed that City’s form has picked up. Honestly, lighten up.

Yes, Rotherham was miserable, I was there. But this was potentially a third successive home win and turned out to be just that. It was also the first back-to-back league victory since October and it was entertaining.

It is only the start of a potential revival and coaches, players and directors all still have much to improve upon – but they have acknowledged as much and started to turn words into actions.

If you can’t enjoy a win, then what’s the point of following a football club?

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I''m absolutely delighted with our recent home form and have really enjoyed our last two home games.

My "Neil out" view has softened and I''ve accepted he''s here for the season.

However, I do worry that we''ll f up these next two away games. We''ve been awful on the road recently.

We''ll get in the play-offs with a consistent run, and I really hope we start it in Cardiff on Saturday.

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[quote user="Hoola Han Solo"]I''m absolutely delighted with our recent home form and have really enjoyed our last two home games.

My "Neil out" view has softened and I''ve accepted he''s here for the season.

However, I do worry that we''ll f up these next two away games. We''ve been awful on the road recently.

We''ll get in the play-offs with a consistent run, and I really hope we start it in Cardiff on Saturday.[/quote]Well done on being able to admit you have changed your mind, there has always been way too much "I have made my decision, and I won''t change it until I''m proved right" here, over the years.

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Don''t get me wrong, I have serious reservations over Neil''s long term future, but I really can''t see him being sacked this season after recent results and him being given this transfer window. However, he''s here until at least May so no point in moaning about it.

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[quote user="Hoola Han Solo"]Don''t get me wrong, I have serious reservations over Neil''s long term future, but I really can''t see him being sacked this season after recent results and him being given this transfer window. However, he''s here until at least May so no point in moaning about it.[/quote][Y]

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That''s a fair piece and reflects my views. As I''ve said elsewhere, it''s clear the guys have been putting in a shift at home, it was a great game on Saturday and CR should have been rocking with what we saw. We really need to tear up the anti AN agenda at least for now and review where we are at the end of the season. We are capable of winning all our home games for the rest of the season, top six is very much still on. The time for reluctant applause for me has passed.

But please, sort out our away performances!

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We have 18 games left, some tough ones to come - Newcastle, Brighton, Reading and Barnsley at home, plus Villa, Huddersfield and Leeds away. 75 points normally gets you to the playoffs, so we need 32 points minimum. Hold on tight...!

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I''ve held my view that Neil should be replaced for some time now. Not just the past couple of months, but most of last season.

It''s going to take a pattern of games to show whether Neil has learned lessons and from this and last season, so I''m not convinced yet.

ie I love a win and 3 points, but I know that we won''t be saved by the frame of the goal every game.

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Some fans are ''football blind'' - the performance against Birmingham was dull and frustrating. It''s hardly worth bending AN over backwards,

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[quote user="Hoola Han Solo"]Don''t get me wrong, I have serious reservations over Neil''s long term future, but I really can''t see him being sacked this season after recent results and him being given this transfer window. However, he''s here until at least May so no point in moaning about it.[/quote]

Hard to disagree with that - I still think we will make the play offs, then its a lottery and we know we can beat anyone on our day.

The playoffs will now been seen as a success, where at the start of the season they were an absolute minimum, anything less was a failure.

Neil is here for the season, so we may as well back the team and fight for the playoffs, he will be judged between what happens between now & then

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[quote user="Lewis DW"]Some fans are ''football blind'' - the performance against Birmingham was dull and frustrating. It''s hardly worth bending AN over backwards,[/quote]Seriously?

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Funny that. If Naismith had scored his header & taken the other chance we would have won 4-0. Is that dull & frustrating?

I don''t think the last 3 home performances have been truly outstanding, but we have scored 8, conceded 1 and took 9 points - the last 2 games missing our main striker...

Winning football, convincing scorelines, clean sheets, goals around the team...Whats not to like?

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[quote user="Rogue Baboon"]Funny that. If Naismith had scored his header & taken the other chance we would have won 4-0. Is that dull & frustrating?

I don''t think the last 3 home performances have been truly outstanding, but we have scored 8, conceded 1 and took 9 points - the last 2 games missing our main striker...

Winning football, convincing scorelines, clean sheets, goals around the team...Whats not to like?[/quote]Well exactly, and its not like anyone is running around shouting "OMG its was like watching Brazil, we''re going to win the league", I think most peoples praise has been in context.

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Watching the highlights, before anybody says anything I know it''s just highlights, with all the easy chances missed, looked like the result should have been about 5-3 to Norwich.

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As others have said he''s clearly here until the end of the season. Play-offs is the absolute minimum though. If we finish outside the top 6 I''d expect him to be sacked immediately.

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Frustrating - yes; Naismith had enough chances himself for a hat-trick and I have no idea how Jerome didn''t score "that" second when set-up by Howson.

Dull, err, no - not in my opinion. I''ve seen far, far worse games than that - and on the whole it was pretty entertaining and open. Not sure what your agenda is, but it really wasn''t a boring performance.

I would take us being 2-0 up at half time and zero action in the second half every day of the week!

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[quote user="cypriotcanary"]Watching the highlights, before anybody says anything I know it''s just highlights, with all the easy chances missed, looked like the result should have been about 5-3 to Norwich.[/quote]Would 5-3 been better, or worse?

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Certainly wasn''t a dull second half - a couple of chances for Brum, 2 crosses dropped by Ruddy (he was fouled for the first but completely misjudged the second), crossbar rattled. Then we had 2 or 3 good chances to score - Naismith''s header, Murphy''s shot and Jerome''s miss at the end. Overall, a very entertaining afternoon.

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We may need to lift our heads up and look at the big picture here.

It''s not about "can we make the playoffs?" That can''t be the key issue.

If we win the playoffs and get promoted, it will be ground hog day, unless Neil has learned lessons from the past eighteen months.

We can''t be successful long term conceding 2 goals every game and hoping to outscore the opposition. It''s a flawed plan, it got us relegated last summer and isn''t working in the Championship. Unless we sort out conceding goals and allowing open ''you shoot / we shoot'' games then promotion will simply give a hit to the finances, not provide long term stability.

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[quote user="Number 9"]We may need to lift our heads up and look at the big picture here.

It''s not about "can we make the playoffs?" That can''t be the key issue.

If we win the playoffs and get promoted, it will be ground hog day, unless Neil has learned lessons from the past eighteen months.

We can''t be successful long term conceding 2 goals every game and hoping to outscore the opposition. It''s a flawed plan, it got us relegated last summer and isn''t working in the Championship. Unless we sort out conceding goals and allowing open ''you shoot / we shoot'' games then promotion will simply give a hit to the finances, not provide long term stability.[/quote]So you''re saying we need a more cautious manager then?(See where I''m going with this?)

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So, did you prefer Hughton''s second season in the Prem then Number 9?

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@morty

I see where you''re going.

But it isn''t like there are two binary choices- what we have now and what we had under Hughton.

Most teams are able to strike some form of balance.

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[quote user="king canary"]@morty

I see where you''re going.

But it isn''t like there are two binary choices- what we have now and what we had under Hughton.

Most teams are able to strike some form of balance.[/quote]I was being slightly flippant, I do see your point.We conceded a lot under Lambert though, didn''t we?It goes back to the circular debate about players we can afford, and how quickly we can change things if they aren''t working out.

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Yes we conceded a bit under Lambert.

But this season only five other teams have conceded more than us and two of those are in the bottom three. It would be four if Birmingham could finish.

We don''t need to suddenly start sticking 10 men behind the ball and playing for 0-0 draws. We just need to tighten up a little. We''ve been keeping a few more clean sheets recently which is good but it needs to be sustained.

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[quote user="Greavsy"]Morty being flippant, makes a change from whingy opinionated.[/quote]

If he can learn, then so can Alex Neil?

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