Top of the League on Friday night!

[Block E Buh 0]

So we''re the first team in the country to play at home this season and we could be ''top of the league'' and ''going up,up,up'' on Friday night with an extra £200,000 to spend on a striker, seems all good to me!

[Barclay hero 0]

[quote user="M.A.T.T"]So we''re the first team in the country to play at home this season and we could be ''top of the league'' and ''going up,up,up'' on Friday night with an extra £200,000 to spend on a striker, seems all good to me![/quote]

Yeah, lets hope so.  But Watford wont be pushovers, Malky will have them up for it and we usually play rubbish on Sky.  So whilst Im not usually the negative type I''ll not celebrate too much til we''re 3-0 up with 5 mins to play

[I am a Banana 0]

Hopefully it''s a good game too!!

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

[quote user="Barclay hero"]

[quote user="M.A.T.T"]So we''re the first team in the country to play at home this season and we could be ''top of the league'' and ''going up,up,up'' on Friday night with an extra £200,000 to spend on a striker, seems all good to me![/quote]

Yeah, lets hope so.  But Watford wont be pushovers, Malky will have them up for it and we usually play rubbish on Sky.  So whilst Im not usually the negative type I''ll not celebrate too much til we''re 3-0 up with 5 mins to play

[/quote]

I think Watford WILL be pushovers come August 6th, they only narrowly avoided relegation last season, and as much as I loved Malky ,he will never be a manager as long as he has a hole in is @rse !!, FCR will be a fortress this particular Friday evening........Watford.................................WELCOME TO HELL !!!!!!

[TheGoogler 604]

Watford will not be push overs. Malky''s sides are always well drilled and determined. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

[John 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"]Watford will not be push overs. Malky''s sides are always well drilled and determined. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.[/quote]He may have them well drilled, but that is clearly not playing out on the pitch. Last season, under his management, was one of consolodation / relegation battle and nothing else for Watford. And going by Malky Mackay''s win ratio for Watford (30.61%, worse than both Glenn Roeder (30.71%) and Peter Grant (33.3%)), it looks like this season will be nothing different.They won ''4'' of their last 23 away games in the League, and if we can''t as much as draw against Watford at home, it''s a bad sign. A really bad sign that things are probably going wrong behind the scenes, and that our players are going to need one hell of a serious kick up the backside if we are going to remain competitive against the numerous array of sides more competitive than Watford that we are inevitably going to face next season.Those concerned by the ''prowess'' of Watford can only have as much as consolodation in mind for next season. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

[Brendo 0]

Also if we draw, we''re top on alphabetical order. So unless we lose, we will be top of the league. [:)]

[John 0]

In other words, Watford are about as close to us facing "pushovers" as we will get next season, with the exception of up to 3 or 4 other clubs.

[Calsworth 0]

im sure people said that about blackpool last season before that season

started, i really wouldnt go by form guide from the previous season.There

is a big gap between championship and league one. It will be a very

tough league and i cant imagine any easy fixtures for you guys,

Peterborough found that out the hard way! 3-0 is a bit optimistic i

personally think, more likely a draw or a hard earned 2-1 win is much

more realistic

[Graham Humphrey 13]

Before people get too cocky I think they should remember how confident we were before the first game of last season...!In any one match anything can happen.  If we lose it''s not a sign everything''s falling apart.  If we win we''re not going to storm to promotion.  It''s a good chance to get off to a good start but it''s no more than that so chill.

[John 0]

[quote user="Calsworth"]im sure people said that about blackpool last season before that season

started, i really wouldnt go by form guide from the previous season.There

is a big gap between championship and league one. It will be a very

tough league and i cant imagine any easy fixtures for you guys,

Peterborough found that out the hard way! 3-0 is a bit optimistic i

personally think, more likely a draw or a hard earned 2-1 win is much

more realistic[/quote]Are you implying Malky Mackay is of the same calibre as Ian Holloway? Granted, Ian played his part in getting Leicester relegated, but after being the 5th manager in however many months at Leicester in the same season, they were bound for it. Sometimes an evironment plays a big part in how a manager does, and in Holloway''s case it''s clear the likes of Plymouth and Blackpool suit him. What has Malky done to imply that he has a well built side that will challenge the higher echelons of the Championship next season? And from what i can gather they haven''t uncovered the next "Charlie Adam"? The circumstances in either case are completely unique to their own situation. You trying to draw a correlation between the two on the mere basis that "not much was was expected of them" is pretty daft in all honesty.It''s also worth noting that not long ago Blackpool were a side that only just edged they''re way into the Championship via the play-offs in League One, perhaps dispelling this bloody notion of a "big gap" (*yawn* to that). I made a comment on 606 relevant to this topic, and in trying to avoid writing about it for the hundredth time, i''ll just quote myself...[quote user="Sussex King Canary"]I feel it is worth noting that, whatever you may have thought about the

football played, League One last year was more than probably the hardest

the third tier of English football has ever been. The teams in us,

Charlton, Leeds, Sothampton, alongside the likes of Millwall, Swindon,

Huddersfield, and Colchester, were of a significantly higher quality

than to that of the season before (and arguably every season before

that). And the runaway winners that year in Leicester, who won by a very

similar margin to us with considerably easier competition managed to

reach the play-offs in the Championship. It''s not the biggest

step up from what we saw in League One, or atleast a manageable one, i

truly believe that. Undoubtedly worse promoted teams from League One in

the mould of Bristol City, Swansea, Blackpool, and Nottingham Forest

have in time managed to transpose their League One form into the

Championship. If they can, we can.And, for what i''ve seen of the

Championship last season, i''m not convinced it''s ''that'' good. The

football was unimaginitive, very one-dimensional, and the defending was

abhorrently awful at times. And to be fair, when you look at the teams,

it''s clear that it''s only going to get worse next season.And

what i know for sure is that in the season we got relegated, the

standard of football Norwich played was utter garbage in comparison to

what we play now. And i believe it''s rather telling that in that entire

season we never lost to more than a 2 goal deficit in the League.

Mediocrity permeates every aspect of the Championship now, and it''s

there to be taken advantage of. And with Paul Lambert at the helm, i''m

confident we can do just that. And what is more is that history

concerning title winning teams in League One can verify it.I''m a

firm believer that organisation, spirit, and momentum are far more

important factors than any individual talent will ever be in League

football. And right now Lambert seems to ATLEAST be getting the formerly

mentioned trio right at the moment.[/quote]

[John 0]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Before people get too cocky I think they should remember how confident we were before the first game of last season...!In any one match anything can happen.  If we lose it''s not a sign everything''s falling apart.  If we win we''re not going to storm to promotion.  It''s a good chance to get off to a good start but it''s no more than that so chill.[/quote]In a sense you are right Graham. But you usually find over the course of the season, the overall pattern of the results on the pitch has a lot to say about the intrinsic nature of a club. Perhaps, if we were to be beaten by Watford, we could treat it as a distinct individual case. But they are certainly not a team to be feared going into the game, we''re well aware that they''re in a mess, and they have happened to of been in perpetual decline ever since they exited the Premier League.You''re right to be fair, in that they''re is no absolute conclusion to be drawn from the result of this single game though, i''ll admit that much.Perhaps i''m sounding "cocky", but all i''m trying to say is that we have every reason to be confident going into this particular game, because i''m getting a tad miffed with all this ridiculous talk of a "big gap". There''s a "gap", indeed, but as for it being "big"? Most recent history (atleast) points to the contrary.

[Brendo 0]

I agree tbhhhh, everyone thinks we''re just going to cruise to the Prem once more. People need to chill out and take a bite of reality. We''re not favourites to go up and have no real reason for us to be.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

I don''t disagree with you John - and your 606 post you quoted above is excellent.  I too have never thought there''s really a masssive gap between the second and third tiers.  Peterborough failed badly last year but they were a bit of a circus.  Most teams survive and plenty do well.Going back to when we went down, you mentioned we never lost by more than two goals; it''s also worth noting that we only failed to score three times at home, and if you look at a lot of the sides that beat us at Carrow Road - Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, Derby - many of them weren''t really anything special were they?  They were average for the most part.  We were much, much worse and I think we have a better squad now.And to be honest, to start with Watford at home and Scunthorpe away is a start most of us would take.  But we shouldn''t get ahead of ourselves and expect to get in the top six, or whatever.  It''s still a step up and it will be harder but I expect us to make tangible progress and that is all I am asking for next season.

[Calsworth 0]

[quote user="John"][quote user="Calsworth"]im sure people said that about blackpool last season before that season

started, i really wouldnt go by form guide from the previous season.There

is a big gap between championship and league one. It will be a very

tough league and i cant imagine any easy fixtures for you guys,

Peterborough found that out the hard way! 3-0 is a bit optimistic i

personally think, more likely a draw or a hard earned 2-1 win is much

more realistic[/quote]Are you implying Malky Mackay is of the same calibre as Ian Holloway? Granted, Ian played his part in getting Leicester relegated, but after being the 5th manager in however many months at Leicester in the same season, they were bound for it. Sometimes an evironment plays a big part in how a manager does, and in Holloway''s case it''s clear the likes of Plymouth and Blackpool suit him. What has Malky done to imply that he has a well built side that will challenge the higher echelons of the Championship next season? And from what i can gather they haven''t uncovered the next "Charlie Adam"? The circumstances in either case are completely unique to their own situation. You trying to draw a correlation between the two on the mere basis that "not much was was expected of them" is pretty daft in all honesty.It''s also worth noting that not long ago Blackpool were a side that only just edged they''re way into the Championship via the play-offs in League One, perhaps dispelling this bloody notion of a "big gap" (*yawn* to that). I made a comment on 606 relevant to this topic, and in trying to avoid writing about it for the hundredth time, i''ll just quote myself...[quote user="Sussex King Canary"]I feel it is worth noting that, whatever you may have thought about the

football played, League One last year was more than probably the hardest

the third tier of English football has ever been. The teams in us,

Charlton, Leeds, Sothampton, alongside the likes of Millwall, Swindon,

Huddersfield, and Colchester, were of a significantly higher quality

than to that of the season before (and arguably every season before

that). And the runaway winners that year in Leicester, who won by a very

similar margin to us with considerably easier competition managed to

reach the play-offs in the Championship. It''s not the biggest

step up from what we saw in League One, or atleast a manageable one, i

truly believe that. Undoubtedly worse promoted teams from League One in

the mould of Bristol City, Swansea, Blackpool, and Nottingham Forest

have in time managed to transpose their League One form into the

Championship. If they can, we can.And, for what i''ve seen of the

Championship last season, i''m not convinced it''s ''that'' good. The

football was unimaginitive, very one-dimensional, and the defending was

abhorrently awful at times. And to be fair, when you look at the teams,

it''s clear that it''s only going to get worse next season.And

what i know for sure is that in the season we got relegated, the

standard of football Norwich played was utter garbage in comparison to

what we play now. And i believe it''s rather telling that in that entire

season we never lost to more than a 2 goal deficit in the League.

Mediocrity permeates every aspect of the Championship now, and it''s

there to be taken advantage of. And with Paul Lambert at the helm, i''m

confident we can do just that. And what is more is that history

concerning title winning teams in League One can verify it.I''m a

firm believer that organisation, spirit, and momentum are far more

important factors than any individual talent will ever be in League

football. And right now Lambert seems to ATLEAST be getting the formerly

mentioned trio right at the moment.[/quote][/quote]

"Are you implying Malky Mackay is of the same calibre as Ian Holloway?"    Errr no....??  When did I say that?  I didn''t even mention managers?? How about READING what i actually wrote, instead of looking for something that isnt there.I said  "im sure people said that about blackpool last season before that season

started, i really wouldnt go by form guide from the previous season.There

is a big gap between championship and league one. It will be a very

tough league and i cant imagine any easy fixtures for you guys,

Peterborough found that out the hard way! 3-0 is a bit optimistic i

personally think, more likely a draw or a hard earned 2-1 win is much

more realistic"  The bit in red is my personal opinion, so get off your high horse already." You trying to draw a correlation between the two on the mere basis that

"not much was was expected of them" is pretty daft in all honesty."  where the hell did that come from???

Can you not say stuff on this forum without someone taking it completely out of context?Rant over, won''t waste my energy typing a reply if it happens again.

[John 0]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]I don''t disagree with you John - and your 606 post you quoted above is excellent.  I too have never thought there''s really a masssive gap between the second and third tiers.  Peterborough failed badly last year but they were a bit of a circus.  Most teams survive and plenty do well.Going back to when we went down, you mentioned we never lost by more than two goals; it''s also worth noting that we only failed to score three times at home, and if you look at a lot of the sides that beat us at Carrow Road - Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, Derby - many of them weren''t really anything special were they?  They were average for the most part.  We were much, much worse and I think we have a better squad now.And to be honest, to start with Watford at home and Scunthorpe away is a start most of us would take.  But we shouldn''t get ahead of ourselves and expect to get in the top six, or whatever.  It''s still a step up and it will be harder but I expect us to make tangible progress and that is all I am asking for next season.[/quote]I certainly agree with that Graham. [Y]

[John 0]

[quote user="Calsworth"]

"Are you implying Malky Mackay is of the same calibre as Ian Holloway?"    Errr no....??  When did I say that?  I didn''t even mention managers?? How about READING what i actually wrote, instead of looking for something that isnt there.I said  "im sure people said that about blackpool last season before that season

started, i really wouldnt go by form guide from the previous season.[/quote]De facto, you were disregarding their individual circumstances on the basis of what was expected of them, and the managers in each case were a significant part of those circumstances.I read it, but it''s a blatantly flawed and brash analysis of the situation.

[quote user="Calsworth"]

There

is a big gap between championship and league one. It will be a very

tough league and i cant imagine any easy fixtures for you guys,

Peterborough found that out the hard way! 3-0 is a bit optimistic i

personally think, more likely a draw or a hard earned 2-1 win is much

more realistic"  The bit in red is my personal opinion, so get off your high horse

already.[/quote]"You guys"?As for Peterborough, granted, but they were in the kind of mess we''re unlikely to experience next, not least to say they were far worse than us having been promoted from a fairly mediocre League in second place, they had a side that was playing in League 2 only two years before, and in comparison to the amount of examples of relative success in the step-up department it''s a faily solitary case.As for your prediction, i don''t disagree, and if you''ve read what i''ve said, i haven''t yet said anything to imply i would.[quote user="Calsworth"]

" You trying to draw a correlation between the two on the mere basis that

"not much was was expected of them" is pretty daft in all honesty."  where the hell did that come from???

Can you not say stuff on this forum without someone taking it completely out of context?Rant over, won''t waste my energy typing a reply if it happens again.[/quote]Haven''t been "taking it of context". To quote you, "How about READING what i actually wrote, instead of looking for

something that isnt there.".

[I am a Banana 0]

Were the best so will cruise the prem!!

[SUPER YELLOW CANARY 0]

Made My Sig To Fit In With TopicCHECK IT OUT

[Block E Buh 0]

Love the point that if we draw we''ll be top on alphabetical order! lol!