Results prove Worthy turned the corner a long time ago.

[yellow hammer 0]

With just one game left to play of the season, we have reached 36 points for the second half of the season, compared with 26 points for the first half. A win against Wolves on the last day will mean that we would amass 78 points through the course of the season based on results since middle of December.

That puts us firmly in playoff territory. So the evidence is there that since the Crewe game Worthy has in fact turned the Norwich ship around despite what the WO''ers try to tell us.

Looking at the latest form. In the past 7 games we''ve earned 15 points. Over a season that form would gives us around a 97 point tally, which in the current table would place us in second spot and automatic promotion behind Reading.

The statistics supports the claim that it takes players around six months to bed in and for the team to gel. That is exactly what happened last season, and it is exactly what has happened this season.

So the biggest mistake that could be made now would be to make sweeping changes in the squad and in the management setup. We''ve a team that is already playing at levels to make it to the playoffs next year. Keeping them together will enhance the chances of reaching automatic promotion.

The results are a fact and not an opinion, and the results prove it''s turned around

Yellow Hammer

[ZLF 271]

Results may have improved but have performances got any better?  

Far too frequently we have clearly being the second best team on the day because our team has not performed to their potential not because the opponents were a good decent better team.   Unless the quality of our performances improve and we are consistently good and not consistently bad we will have no guarantee that the results will continue that way next season.

At the beginning of Jan a win against Preston would have put us top 6 or within a point or so (my memory is failing at the programs are at home) yet despite our superb second half of the season we are now 13 points adrift and closer points wise to an automatic relegation spot than automatic promotion. That superb second half is like saying our Jan was ''average''.  

What this really highlights is just how poor this league has been this season - that we can be so pants and yet still possibly finish 7th is embarrassing, and shows how big and easy an opportunity we have failed to grasp.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="yellow hammer"]

With just one game left to play of the season, we have reached 36 points for the second half of the season, compared with 26 points for the first half. A win against Wolves on the last day will mean that we would amass 78 points through the course of the season based on results since middle of December.

That puts us firmly in playoff territory. So the evidence is there that since the Crewe game Worthy has in fact turned the Norwich ship around despite what the WO''ers try to tell us.

Looking at the latest form. In the past 7 games we''ve earned 15 points. Over a season that form would gives us around a 97 point tally, which in the current table would place us in second spot and automatic promotion behind Reading.

The statistics supports the claim that it takes players around six months to bed in and for the team to gel. That is exactly what happened last season, and it is exactly what has happened this season.

So the biggest mistake that could be made now would be to make sweeping changes in the squad and in the management setup. We''ve a team that is already playing at levels to make it to the playoffs next year. Keeping them together will enhance the chances of reaching automatic promotion.

The results are a fact and not an opinion, and the results prove it''s turned around

Yellow Hammer

[/quote]

If you beleive that playing like we have been doing,  next season we will get Automatic promotion then you are a very deluded individual....   Talking about 97 points!!!  get a sense of reality back please.  If Cardiff play like they have in their last 6 games they will get relegated....

Our home form has relied on a large amount of fortune (perhaps deserved as we didnt get much at the start of the season).  Our central midfield 3 still look like poor footballers.  We still have no decent right midfield or right wing.  Our defense concedes goals at a great rate.   We cant defend a corner or free kick.  We cant take a corner or free kick.  These problems need to be sorted before we can think about automatic promotion.

We have won 1 away game in 2006 (and that was the only one we deserved to win also AND it was a meaningless game).  All the important away games we have not even bothered turning up.

I feel we should make the play-offs next year and we bloody well ought to, we have spent 5 million Quid!!

[Yellow Rages 0]

Some interesting analysis there Yellow Hammer. Thanks for that.

In as much as results are paramount though, we still aren''t playing very well in games and just barely grinding out wins.

I for one won''t be satisfied until we are actually playing well.

If we were to play Reading right now we would still get stuffed and that''s not good enough.

I know what your saying, the evidence is there of an improvement in results, but without an improvement in form, we will come unstuck against the good sides and quite often by the average sides. That doesn''t fill me with confidence if we are to get promoted.

[Sing up the river end 0]

The other way to look at it is if we draw or lose that would work out to be 72/74 points,still in 7th place

[Sing up the river end 0]

sorry just looked at the league table and if the other sides in the

play offs won this weekend.Bare in mind that they have probly already

been taking it easy for the last couple of weeks knowing full well they

are in the play offs,we would still miss out on goal difference.

Heres hopeing for a better seaon next year

[chicken 0]

I think what he is trying to say is that our form has picked up some.To be honest with you I really dont get that people arnt happy with the style of football. Last season people wanted a more rough and ready Norwich to battle their way to safety like Bolton/Blackburn.I think if we were in the play-offs or auto spot playing this sort of football there would be no complaints.To me all of the issues are releated. Few of the players have confidence especially because of the booing and insults which means they probably arnt enjoying their football right now. If you dont enjoy your football then you wont be playing to your best.When I am on form for my team I am confident - I do the simple things well and even pull off more of the difficult things.This season has been tough most people say a season to forget. I wont forget it - I will remember it as the season that a section of the crowd didnt get behind the team, didnt support the team and effectively undermined any chances we had of achieving this season. I will put down to learning though and hope that next season is an improvement in all departments . . .

[Hucka Hucka Huckerby 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Results may have improved but have performances got any better?  

Far too frequently we have clearly being the second best team on the day because our team has not performed to their potential not because the opponents were a good decent better team.   Unless the quality of our performances improve and we are consistently good and not consistently bad we will have no guarantee that the results will continue that way next season.

At the beginning of Jan a win against Preston would have put us top 6 or within a point or so (my memory is failing at the programs are at home) yet despite our superb second half of the season we are now 13 points adrift and closer points wise to an automatic relegation spot than automatic promotion. That superb second half is like saying our Jan was ''average''.  

What this really highlights is just how poor this league has been this season - that we can be so pants and yet still possibly finish 7th is embarrassing, and shows how big and easy an opportunity we have failed to grasp.

[/quote]

Spot on ZLF! This seson it is a poor league & had we managed to find just a bit of good form we would be top 6 comfortably. IMHO Reading are a decent team but nothing special, yet they have romped the league with games to spare which further proves this point.

[a1canary 0]

Actually, spot OFF zlf. And Paul and lots of others. You are all living

in cloud cookoo land. You come on here lauding it about how rubbish our

"performances" are even when we''re getting results. Yet the fact is,

playing ugly gets you far in this league and that''s what we''ve failed

to remember/do this season. We did precisely that throughout most of

our promotion season. Have you all forgotten this or something? How

many times were the "performances" not up to much and yet we got a win?

Derby, Forest, Reading, Sheff U, Ipswich at home to name just a few. It

was only when we were really flying at the top come about

February/March that we started to turn it on against Wigan, Burnley,

Walsall for instance. Which proves what everyone ought to know - that

the performances come with confidence and the confidence comes with

wins.

Yes this league is rubbish because it rewards ugly football. But i

actually think it was much worse the season we won it - the play off

sides are better this year than the ones that featured when we won

promotion. The only difference between us this season and our promo

season is that in the promo season we weren''t arrogant enough to think

we were too good to play ugly football. Every now and then a team pops

up in this division that is good enough to play its way out - Fulham,

Wigan, just on the last day of the season, Reading perhaps. But no-one

last year or in our promo season and definitely not in the seasons WBA

went up.

So get real, if we can play averagely and get points through moments of

inspiration from some star players (of the like most teams in this

division can only dream of having) then the good performances like

those against wigan and walsall in our promo season will come and we

can be successful in this league again.

But not if fans continue to do their best to ruin the atmosphere that

was so integral to fortress carrow road in 2003/04. The team and the

management will have learnt a lot from this season and we''d be throwing

that away if we changed the management now. Bare in mind that we only

have one more season to get promoted before we have to break up the

current team and completely rebuild. Sticking with what we have has to

be the best chance we have of going up next season. A new manger can

not be expected to get us up in only one season. It''s possible, but

it''s a remote possibility and you are reducing our chances by changing

the mangement.

If he fails again next season then his time is up. You can say it''s up

now if you like, but i won''t do us any good to change him now.

[StevenageFan 0]

[quote user="chicken"]I think what he is trying to say is that our form has picked up some.

To be honest with you I really dont get that people arnt happy with the style of football. Last season people wanted a more rough and ready Norwich to battle their way to safety like Bolton/Blackburn.

I think if we were in the play-offs or auto spot playing this sort of football there would be no complaints.

To me all of the issues are releated. Few of the players have confidence especially because of the booing and insults which means they probably arnt enjoying their football right now. If you dont enjoy your football then you wont be playing to your best.

When I am on form for my team I am confident - I do the simple things well and even pull off more of the difficult things.

This season has been tough most people say a season to forget. I wont forget it - I will remember it as the season that a section of the crowd didnt get behind the team, didnt support the team and effectively undermined any chances we had of achieving this season. I will put down to learning though and hope that next season is an improvement in all departments . . .
[/quote]

 

I wasn''t even going to bother posting on yet another spin the stats thread until I saw Chickens reply.

Chicken, honestly, have you been to all the home games and if yes where do you sit?

I sit in the upper Barclay and from where I sit, virtually next to the away fans, Norwich fans have consistantly outsung them and been positive minded week in week out.   The only game where there was a frosty atmosphere has been the QPR game.   A few games before that the atmosphere was dull to say the least, but there is absolutely no way you can blame portions of the crowd for our results, that is ridiculous.  I am fed up with seeing you trying to blame supporters for the teams rubbish performances.   Nigel and the team have delivered consistantly poor performances and poor tactics for over 2 seasons now , that cannot be blamed on the crowd who 99.9% of the time are in fine voice.

If a player of a professional football club can only play well if the fans sing for him, what kind of player is he????  Ridiculous.

I will say it again, the paying fans have every right to voice concerns at a time of the season when there has been nothing left to play for.  Had the team and Nigel done the job and we had still been in with a chance you wouldn''t have seen the negatitve atmosphere as you did against QPR.  

I for one and I know Zipper too, voiced concerns over Nigel''s ability as a top flight Manager well before Xmas last season when he made ridiculous squad selections then.  He hasn''t shown any signs of learning from his mistakes and finally a lot more fans recognise the guy cannot take us any further.   For goodness sake he has spent £5M and we still turn out rubbish performance, after rubbish performance.

I have nothing against Nigel, he has been a great servant of the club and we have enjoyed some good times with him, but in terms of taking the club forward just what has he acheived????  

Is the squad any better?   NO

Are the performances better?  NO

Have we gone forwards in terms of leagues?  NO

Are our finances better?  A bit, but that shouldn''t be the Managers job anyway.

You talk about players needing time to bed in, well ask why?   Because he has been unable to get a squad that wants to play for him, for Norwich and stay together and move forwards.  He is always juggling the team with new journeymen, rejects from other ambitious clubs, loan signings etc.  I don''t know all the stats, but just how much has he spent and just what have we got to show for it?   Huckerby, Earshaw, Doc and Safri the only signings he has made that I rate. 

[Pyro Pete 1,889]

[quote user="yellow hammer"]

With just one game left to play of the season, we have reached 36 points for the second half of the season, compared with 26 points for the first half. A win against Wolves on the last day will mean that we would amass 78 points through the course of the season based on results since middle of December.

That puts us firmly in playoff territory. So the evidence is there that since the Crewe game Worthy has in fact turned the Norwich ship around despite what the WO''ers try to tell us.

Looking at the latest form. In the past 7 games we''ve earned 15 points. Over a season that form would gives us around a 97 point tally, which in the current table would place us in second spot and automatic promotion behind Reading.

The statistics supports the claim that it takes players around six months to bed in and for the team to gel. That is exactly what happened last season, and it is exactly what has happened this season.

So the biggest mistake that could be made now would be to make sweeping changes in the squad and in the management setup. We''ve a team that is already playing at levels to make it to the playoffs next year. Keeping them together will enhance the chances of reaching automatic promotion.

The results are a fact and not an opinion, and the results prove it''s turned around

Yellow Hammer

[/quote]Nonsense. The only facts that concern us is the final Championship League

table. The management asked to be judged at the

end of a full season, and the verdict is they have failed. The league table does not lie. It shows that City fall well short of the play-offs in terms of points. And are light years

away from automatic promotion. No amount of rhetoric can explain away the shambles of this season. Conveniently beginning your analysis once Jason Jarret, Louis-Jean, Jurgen Colin, and Peter Thorne had all shown they weren''t up to the job is rather convenient, and totally undermines your view that the new signings simply took time to "gel". Etuhu came in Decemeber and he too was dropped. Along with other assorted loan signings who often sit on the bench, including our new £3.5million striker. Just ask yourself this. If City were to now play each of the top six teams, home and away. Where in this mini-league would City finish? 7th perhaps?

[Kolin Kob 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Results may have improved but have performances got any better?  

[/quote]

its not about performances in this division. its about battling for 90 minutes. you just need a few players (earnshaw, hucks, safri for example) who can give you the little bit extra. the emphasis is on battling hard though. we haven''t reached the premiership yet. when we do, we can concentrate on playing pretty football.

[ZLF 271]

Thats your opnion a1canary - I just happen to disagree.

For every hard earnt win (Cardiff sheff utd) we have had a complete no show (Preston/Reading) during this ''good'' second half of the season.  

RESULTS have been ground out and work ethic and the long ball have a place in every football sides armoury - ask Arsenal last night. However we have not been consistent enough even during this second half of the season.  Had we played to even 50% of our potential there would not be the disappointment there is now - we would have been going into this last game looking at a possible play off spot or more likely competing for automatic promotion.  We won our championship by joining graft with flair, talent and team work.  This season only graft has been evident but even then only sporadically - flair and talent has been surpressed while there has been little evidence of team work apart from the sheff utd game.

Just as the results are a fact as is the situation that since Jan we have lost 13 (maybe ''just'' 10 by sunday) points on the teams that have mattered - those 6 in the play offs or better. As good as our second half has been painted since Jan 1st 6 teams have performed significantly better than us and likewise wolves, luton, cardiff and even Tahn must be matching our efforts since then otherwise we would have opened a gap on them  - that makes it an average second half rather than good and again states how poor this league has been.  

Over the 12 champs seasons the biggest gap between 6th & 7th has been 4 points with an average of 2.   10 pts behind averages 11th spot - this time it is likely to be 7th - the previous ''best'' was 9th.   Does this mean the play off teams are particularly strong - not on the basis of their performances down here.  All of them looked very average apart ironically from the one team we beat - sheff utd who played the better team and passing football.   I would suggest this most of the teams have been very poor (supported by the evidence of watching our opponents) yet somehow we have contrived to lose to teams like Sheff weds, burnley, QPR and Derby.  

Sadly our good performances this season can be counted on one hand and the rest been unaccetably poor -even the good results. If we can get rid of the dozen plus no shows up to average and improve the average to good then we are getting 

Had the manager bought a decent midfield (even in terms of numbers let alone quality or even position (r mid)), played his best 11 footballers, given youth chance in their positions rather than rely on poor quality out of position players (that he bought) and utilised this team strengths for our benefit (we still have one of the best attacking line ups in the league yet scored just 55 goals all season - the 4th lowest total in our last 10 champs seasons) etc etc etc we would be in that position.

Many of these ''faults'' of the manager have not just materialised this season but have been a feature of his time at the club.  If Worthy does not change and learn from thelast two seasons then glossing up the results since mid Dec to say we are contenders is meaningless.   

As far as the atmosphere is concerned many know that I do not boo our players and have focusd my protest efforts pre and post match to avoid unsettling the team as much as possible and also been criticised by lower barclay colleagues (including so called ''KTFers'') for singing songs of support.  

Were my expectations unrealistic?   The corrupted post started by FTFW in late july contains my prediction of a 7th or 8th slot but I had assumed we would be more competetive week on week , that we would miss out on a play off spot either last weekend or this and that this league would be as fiercly competetive as previous season.  None of those three assumptions have taken place.  

Too many times we have played like a team expecting to win just by being there - given the ''I dont need any additions to my squad'' and ''No excuses'' comments from the manager was it the management team and players who had unrealistic expectations?  That is a question, not an opinion I necessarily hold before I get accused or inappropriate WO ratings.  

A1 your get real is hoping that Worthy can turn things around next season - I have alrady agreed with NCFC - The alternative view that this is possible, but IMO unlikely.   My ''get real'' interpretation is that we have played shockingly poor football this season and have scraped to 7th due to a weak league, in spite the management teams mistakes and not due to their ability to ''turn us around.

I have aleady pointed out, and will do so again now, that I will be fully behind the team come August whoever is in charge.  I can see the argument that ''next year cant be any worse'' and understand the ''nigel has done it before, stability is good'' mantra put forward by the opponents of managerial change.  However I am not opimistic that those hopes will come to fruition and any decision to sack the manager having spent the parachute money will have been too late.

[Saint Canary 0]

A1, In all honesty, wins (however gained) builds confidence which usually leads to better football.  Reading were nothing special at Carrow Road early in the season and ground out a win.  Later on at the Madejski (and after grinding out more results along the way) we saw the benefit of what the confidence from those wins did to improve the quality of their football.

I fully accept that accept that during the season ALL teams that have success in this league will have to play ugly.  However I resent the implication that I am somehow being unreasonable for being slightly miffed at some of the complete and utter no-shows I have witnessed.  I have travelled 20,000 miles in all to attend 43 games home and away this season.  Is it so unreasonable to expect the team I support to show up as well? 

I have not booed/jeered the team/players/Worthy or applauded away goals during a game nor do I agree with it.  I can however understand why people have.  The atmosphere has only been sour in the last few home games and the season over, it was quiet before but not hostile.  Can we stop bleating on about it like it has affected the whole season?  Results have improved since the pre-match protests and in fact the performance improved (as did the atmosphere) after the incidents Vs QPR.

 

[ZLF 271]

its not about performances in this division. its about battling for 90 minutes

So are you saying even the one thing the manager demands from his players he cant deliver either?  So many no shows, such focus on graft and we can only get to 7th.  The manager is graft personified - so either he fails  because his approach to the game is flawed as the team deliver his wishes or fails in getting his players to deliver the approriate performance level of battling required.      

Crewe and Brighton have grafted hard all season, as have Reading and Sheff Utd - yet they sit at opposite ends of the table.   Hughes works harder than anyone in the club - on your argument do you really beleive 11 andy hughes this season would have got us promoted or that Crewe and Brighton were relegated coz their squad didnt give a monkeys?

I cant swallow its not about performances.   Performances isnt just about pretty football anymore than work ethic is.  Performances are about team work, tactics, passing and hoofed balls, talent/flair and graft combined.  Look how hard Henry works for Arsenal - we need that mix, not just battling qualities.

If its about battling we may as well sack everyone and sign up the sas or WWE squads.

[Syteanric 1]

resulkts have improved because theres been nothing to play for.. when the pressures off you can take it easy... which we have been.. fancy football and good results..

when it comes to "toughing it out" we shirk.. hence the reason we wont ever be premiership again with Worthington at the helm

 

jas :)

[0peteddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

Jas you and your ilk are always moaning and nothing this season has been good enough, well at least your''e realistic unlike those who support the continuance of the reign of Worthyless.  Get ready for more of the same until City get a proper manager.

[Huddy 0]

One point

I am completely fed up with people running on about how it takes players X amount of time to settle3 in, in this case apparently 6 months. The fact is that we were not the only team to sign new players in the summer, it was the same for most teams in the division. In our best 11 at the start of the season, only Colin at right back, Hughes on the right side and marney werent about last season. There is no excuses, in fact we made probably less changes to our best 11 than most. Reading, preston, watford etc all signed players last summer - not just us. So please lets not use that as an excuse, its pathetic.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

I don''t think the recent performances against Preston, Sheff Wednesday and QPR suggest that anything has been turned around! 

[rich 0]

and then there''s the fact since the playoff places were wrapped up ages ago, lots of matches have been meaningless, with teams who have had nothing to play for, great test of nothing.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="Alex Harvey-Jones"]I don''t think the recent performances against Preston, Sheff Wednesday and QPR suggest that anything has been turned around! [/quote]

hell, we won our last 5 home matches last season, didnt make any difference did it........