lake district canary 4,531 Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) Easy to say, but there is still a long way to go. What is good is that we are consistently matching opposition sides for quality for large parts of matches - and there are plenty of positives still to be got out of the recent run of matches. Need one or two more different goal scorers, Emi, Vrancic, Stiepermann, Hernandez, all contributed goals last season and they need to this too. Vrancic I think will come more into the games as the season progresses and he gets fully matchfit. So go on, keep the faith, we knew it would be tough - and it is. I still think there is something special to emerge out of this season, we are not cannon fodder in any shape or form and will make a game of it with anyone, take points wherever we can whether its against top or bottom. Still playing some great football and doing us proud. OTBC Edited December 21, 2019 by lake district canary 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TeemuVanBasten 3,327 Posted December 21, 2019 Nah, we're as good as down. Villa away a must win if we want to keep the dream alive. Fail to win that and we've facked it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,515 Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) Win at Villa and matching our points in the second half of the season would give us 30 points and bottom 2. We need to win 2 or 3 in a row very quickly to have any half chance. It looks like we are moribund Lakey. Agree though we certainly are not cannon fodder. And it is starting to look like us and Villa who are the two teams who came from the Championship to go down. Sheff Utd have had such steel (sorry for this pun in advance). Edited December 21, 2019 by sonyc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kick it off 1,948 Posted December 21, 2019 Who cares? Prem is ****, boring to watch and little joy to be found in winning once a month. Bring on next season in the Champs. 3 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chumino 57 Posted December 21, 2019 Not disheartened here, I have been constantly conditioned by the club to accept being a top 26 club is our lot, sucked it all up, in fact it's probably my fault as a fan we're going to be relegated for not singing loud enough when we capitulate a win. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Pants 4,228 Posted December 21, 2019 We're not good enough simple as that. Arsenal should have won, Sheff Utd have won, Leicester should have won, Wolves should have won, didn't. It will be interesting if we do go down who of our young players stay and whether the management team and players have the desire to get us back up. Quite bizarre to say it is boring, we've been involved in some cracking games but we just can't see it over the line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kick it off 1,948 Posted December 21, 2019 Just now, Capt. Pants said: We're not good enough simple as that. Arsenal should have won, Sheff Utd have won, Leicester should have won, Wolves should have won, didn't. It will be interesting if we do go down who of our young players stay and whether the management team and players have the desire to get us back up. Quite bizarre to say it is boring, we've been involved in some cracking games but we just can't see it over the line. Didn't mean our games are boring. I meant the entire league in it's entirety. Same teams competing year in, year out. Everybody else hoping to finish mid-table and call it a roaring success. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted December 21, 2019 Yeah, I mustn’t get miserable.... at 1-0 up I looked at a table with a 3 point escape i now look at 12 points from18 games which is at least 24 points two games from the end of the season.... i remember us being on 38 pints and all we had to do was DRAW with Fulham to stay up....... pints lol!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,187 Posted December 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, Foxy2600 said: Yeah, I mustn’t get miserable.... at 1-0 up I looked at a table with a 3 point escape i now look at 12 points from18 games which is at least 24 points two games from the end of the season.... i remember us being on 38 pints and all we had to do was DRAW with Fulham to stay up....... pints lol!!! I see 38 pints and think of Bill Werbenuik 🙂 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midlands Yellow 3,980 Posted December 21, 2019 Unless Norwich have a 2 goal lead you always fear the worst. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Making Plans 936 Posted December 21, 2019 LDC, the NCFC equivalent of Jeremy Corbyn. We won the arguement but we got stuffed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,605 Posted December 21, 2019 I might be misreading the mood but I don't think folks are generally that disheartened. I think most came up knowing we'd be in the relegation mix and knew relegation was more than possible, especially after the summer window. You, on the other hand, went into this season talking about 4th place and being disappointed if we spent the season in a relegation battle. So I do wonder how much these pep talks are actually aimed at yourself. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff the Canary 63 Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) I’m grateful that Delia et al have given us this year in the EPL! back to the championship to get a natural equilibrium of where our owners resources and aspirations are met. she’s a true fan, aren’t we as supporters so fortunate Edited December 21, 2019 by Cliff the Canary 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Pants 4,228 Posted December 21, 2019 5 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said: Unless Norwich have a 2 goal lead you always fear the worst. We concede 2 most games so need 3 a game if we are hoping to win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted December 21, 2019 4 minutes ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said: I see 38 pints and think of Bill Werbenuik 🙂 A three cushion escape - I know exactly where you were in December 1979. Virgo wins lol!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted December 21, 2019 8 minutes ago, king canary said: I might be misreading the mood but I don't think folks are generally that disheartened. I think most came up knowing we'd be in the relegation mix and knew relegation was more than possible, especially after the summer window. You, on the other hand, went into this season talking about 4th place and being disappointed if we spent the season in a relegation battle. So I do wonder how much these pep talks are actually aimed at yourself. Who ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,605 Posted December 21, 2019 1 minute ago, Foxy2600 said: Who ? Ldc 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfie54 76 Posted December 21, 2019 So frustrating giving away soft goals, short corner unmarked at far post! Criminal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr Greenthumb 749 Posted December 21, 2019 4 minutes ago, Alfie54 said: So frustrating giving away soft goals, short corner unmarked at far post! Criminal Zonal marking... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) I have secret plan Baldrick.... we get relegated and sell all our best players for a ‘tidy sum’ we continue to play as a mediocre Championship side and finish 15th - but!!!! We field our best team in the Carrabao Cup - fully fit, focussed and everyone buys in. Ill have words with Delia 😀 Edited December 21, 2019 by Foxy2600 Numpty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bonzo 198 Posted December 21, 2019 A couple of wins would help restore the faith but personally I’m not too disappointed. We have matched the best at times and can give any side a challenge on our day. The issues are not all defensive ones. We are missing a lot of chances and seem to struggle to close out games.But yes we can improve our defensive play. Farke says he wants us to take the initiative but then won’t make substitutions until too late. This is confusing. Doesn’t he have faith in his squad? Or is he being too timid himself? We need to be more aggressive in our approach. To do this we may need a couple more players. Today a draw would have been a fair result. But football isn’t fair. There is a long way to go. If we can improve then a late run against teams who are safe and not really competitive could see us staying up. Villa is not a must win game. However we have a lot to work on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TIL 1010 4,738 Posted December 21, 2019 I am not disheartened Lakey but a lot of us saw this coming when you concede an average of two goals a game. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted December 21, 2019 Mantra - we got to half time with this strategy ..... we will continue with the same for safety’s sake. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Well b back 3,203 Posted December 21, 2019 So you tell everyone we are finishing 4th then lecture us when we aren’t. I am confused there is a difference in what you say and accepting what will be will be. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Great Mass Debater 1,090 Posted December 21, 2019 I accepted relegation a while back. It's not defeatism or giving up, it's realism. Almost none of our players have played Premier League football before. We spent £750,000 in the summer strengthening a Championship that surprised most with our season that year, to compete in a league where Fulham spent £150m and still went down. We have no rich backers, minimal worldwide brand, and a small stadium. Yo-yoing between Premier League and Championship is our natural position. Its important to ensure we have a competitve team for next season to challenge for promotion again 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sooty57 403 Posted December 21, 2019 Sorry Lakey, but I can't agree with you. Today was one of the most disappointing games I have seen for a long time. For the first 45mins we played as well as I have seen us all season and should have killed the game off by half-time. But once again we let it all slip away in the second half. There have been other games where we have played well in the second half, but have been playing catchup following a poor first 45. I know some will point to our defeat of Man City as a valid argument against my opinion, but that was earlier in the season when we were still pretty much an unknown quantity to most 'big' teams, the ground was a cauldron of noise, the players were leading the reigning champions and running on adrenaline. When we play our best game we can be a match for anyone. The problem is that we seem incapable of maintaining that level for a full 90 plus minutes. Perhaps the intensity of the game we need to play in order to compete at this level takes a little too much out of out players, physically, mentally or both. I really hope I am wrong, but for the first time this season I honestly think that we are not quite good enough for this division - close, but not quite the complete article yet. Going into this season I thought we had potentially the best team for quite some time, more than capable of surviving the jump up and consolidating ourselves as a Premiership side at least for a few seasons. I now worry about us, not just going back the Championship ( I rather enjoy it there, especially the lack of VAR), but more importantly losing our young home-grown talent to established Prem teams, thus undoing all the good work that has been done over the last couple of years. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yellowfever 17 Posted December 21, 2019 Wasted opportunity again. Smith's need to move on now. Only a matter of time before the locals wake up and realise whats happening here. Time to find some new investment. Working in private equity has its advantages. stay tuned. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JF 694 Posted December 21, 2019 Don’t get disheartened? That was a devastating loss imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellowhammer 86 Posted December 21, 2019 This is what we do we get promoted if we are lucky last a season or two but sometimes only one then we go down for a few seasons and do it all again ,until we get a wealthy investor it will stay like this I would love us to do well with Delia in charge but it is not going to happen. I just cannot see us suddenly start winning games maybe we will pick up the odd win and draw but that's it . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites