Campbell 0 Posted February 15, 2005 If at the start of the season, somebody had said: "With 11 games to go, Norwich will be 18th; two points behind 17th" you would have probably accepted it gleefully. There is absolutely no reason to be down hearted or full of doom and gloom at this stage.Ok, performances haven''t been great, and we have the worse defence in the league at the moment...BUT we''re still in with a shout, and a very good shout at that.Norwich City will stay up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saint Canary 0 Posted February 15, 2005 I don''t quite have your confidence that we WILL stay up but a well made point none the less. Some posters don''t like it when I say it but they have put far too much expectation upon the team and you cannot blame the team for that. I would have taken being in touching distance at the start of season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gentleman Jim 0 Posted February 15, 2005 Well said Campbell, vive le optimists ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DumbleDelia is Magic 0 Posted February 15, 2005 Never was a truer word said Campbell. Great post. I said something similar a few days ago. We have a lot to be proud of Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northern Canary 0 Posted February 15, 2005 thank god. an optimistic point Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
At last? 0 Posted February 15, 2005 well said! Our run in is easy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Rob 0 Posted February 16, 2005 I would have accepted it yeah and also we are still in with a shout but i just feel the way we have been performing lately and the way the teams around us have been performing I think it is just too much too ask that we will be able to gain enough points for survival come May. Time will tell though and I hope that when the time comes you will be able to bring this post back to the top with a note saying ''I told you so''! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ 1,218 Posted February 16, 2005 and another one..... will we be doing mexican waves on here next? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlyBlyBabes 0 Posted February 16, 2005 ......................or this.I would be more optimistic if we weren''t 8 points behind 16th place. Because the way I''ve seen Southampton playing recently I don''t think they''re going to be down amongst us for too long.My head is pessimistic, but my heart is optimistic. And I wear my heart on my sleeve every match day. Is that OK folks - or still heresy?OTBC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chicken 0 Posted February 16, 2005 We still have to play Crystal Palace and Southampton so things could yet change around. If we can get results against them then it depends on nicking points from other games.I am not convinced that Harry can save the saints. They just have too many issues at the moment. Players supposedly going in the summer. I dont see Philips staying even if they do stay up. Only time will tell ofcourse! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3pmkickoff 0 Posted February 16, 2005 I''d love to be optimistic but the reality is that the likes of Palace and Southampton are better than us. I wouldn''t put anything on us to get results against them. That''s not being negative, it''s just being a realist based on the way we''ve been playing in recent months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
First Wizard 0 Posted February 16, 2005 [quote]If at the start of the season, somebody had said: "With 11 games to go, Norwich will be 18th; two points behind 17th" you would have probably accepted it gleefully. There is absolutely no reason to ...[/quote]Will you stop this Campbell. Its twice this week that I''ve agreed whole heartily with you, and that''s bad for my image!.Read Campbell''s thread, and digest people. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northern Canary 0 Posted February 16, 2005 this thread is slowly going back to pessimism. so, with the two weeks off we have surely the manager can re group, freshen up and sort out the defence Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StevenageFan 0 Posted February 16, 2005 The optimist in me says, well said Campbell, great post and I agree with you every step of the way and would of accepted our current position at the start of the season.The realist in me says that had we not been so naive with allot of our tactics during numerous games this year we WOULD be out of the drop zone right now and that is the annoying thing. I know we could and should have done better with the players we have.Sorry to sound negative, but its a fact, we were Champions last year and the playoff winners are better than us, that''s not right surely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Campbell 0 Posted February 16, 2005 [quote]The optimist in me says, well said Campbell, great post and I agree with you every step of the way and would of accepted our current position at the start of the season. The realist in me says that h...[/quote]I don''t think Crystal Palace are a better side than us at all. If you put the second highest league goalscorer in any team, you have a major advantage. The fact AJ has scored as many goals as he has, and Palace are still only two points away from us tells me everything about our two clubs. Put AJ in our side, and put McKenzie (No offence to Leon, top bloke) in theirs, then we''d be up with Blackburn and Birmingham, and the bottom 3 (WBA, Southampton, Palace) would be cut adrift. Unfortunately, to buy an Andy Johnson would cost upwards of £5m. That''s the harsh reality of it all.I really don''t believe that Ian Dowie is some ''super-manager''...last season he had a player who scored a goal nearly every game. That''s crazy; a one-off. Yes, Dowie is a good manager, and has turned Palace around, but he''s not the amazing manager some journalists and pundits would have you believe.For me, this season has been great...ok, nobody likes losing most weeks, but to get where we want to go, we have to do it this way. By the way some fans are acting, it''s as though we are called West Bromwich Albion and Bryan Robson is our manager! We have a lot to be happy about, and I know the players will be working stupidly hard over the coming weeks to ensure we stay in this league.Our season starts Monday 28th February...I cannot wait Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlyBlyBabes 0 Posted February 16, 2005 [quote]I don''t think Crystal Palace are a better side than us at all. If you put the second highest league goalscorer in any team, you have a major advantage. The fact AJ has scored as many goals as he has...[/quote] But AJ is with Palace, not us. Therefore........................ OTBCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sheded 0 Posted February 16, 2005 [quote]I don''t think Crystal Palace are a better side than us at all. If you put the second highest league goalscorer in any team, you have a major advantage. The fact AJ has scored as many goals as he has...[/quote]Hope that includes some serious and prolonged practise at shooting into the net from all angles Campbell ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Campbell 0 Posted February 16, 2005 [quote]But AJ is with Palace, not us. Therefore........................ OTBC[/quote] Sheded: Quite right...not just intensive shooting practise, but psychological boosting too! The AJ/Palace situation: I look at it slightly differently... You''re right BBB: AJ is with Palace...however, if he doesn''t score as often as he has been, or gets injured, then quite simply they get relegated. If he scores 10 goals between now and the end of the season, then fair play to him. But whilst they rely so heavily on him, there is always chance his goals will dry up...and ultimately so will Palace. Pundits talk of our reliance on Huckerby, but without AJ, Palace would already be relegated. We''re in a good position for the final push for survival. The coming 11 games will decide whether we stay up or go down; if that doesn''t excite you then you need psychological help yourself! We need to make up 3 points over a possible 33 to stay up... BRING. IT. ON Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YankeeCanary 0 Posted February 17, 2005 Campbell, while we are in with a shout and only two points back of 17th spot, I have to say that, when I have watched Palace play this season, they looked like they were more frequently making a match of things than Norwich has. This is also supported by the number of times their margin of loss has been 3 goals or more. Palace has suffered this twice, the recent match against Arsenal and an earlier game against Manchester United. Norwich has lost six times by 3 goals or more. Palace are not a one man team and they have had to battle all over the park. As far as Andy Johnson is concerned, your point is valid and he has made a difference, but don''t forget he has often appeared as a solitary striking force ( which he carries off better than most ) and he has an excellent technique of knowing just how to fall to ensure the ref''s decision is more likely to go in his favour, and 7 of his 16 goals were from penalties. While my support will always be for Norwich, if I were a neutral ( objective ) betting man, based upon what I have seen to date, I would give the nod to Palace over Norwich. In any event, I feel we have more to fear from Southampton. Bottom line, in order for the odds to start moving in our favour, something has to change in our performance as it has transpired so far over the second half of the season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlyBlyBabes 0 Posted February 17, 2005 With or without AJ I am not so concerned about Palace as I am about Southampton - they have been playing really well recently, with Crouchy and Camara proving a real handful. On top of that they have a manager with loads of Premiership experience.Although I still look on the sunny side on match days, the quality of City''s recent performances leave me with deep foreboding for the rest of the week.But chin up!! Let''s look at it like this - we can still have a realistic chance if Worthy will take on board Dave Stringer''s recent gentle chiding and diagnosis that the ''tightening up'' necessary needs to come more from organisation than the hard work/effort so beloved of Worthy i.e. we need more ''smarts'' to back up the ''wonderful effort that I can''t fault the players for''.The work rate is OK, the hearts are OK - we need to work on the heads and get those little grey cells working better.OTBC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 274 Posted February 17, 2005 Good post campbell - as I posted a couple of days ago our destiny remains in our own hands; by taking points off soton, palace and winning a proportion of our home games is ''all'' that is needed to get prem football next season. Please worthy use the two week gap to get the baiscs right - an organised defence being the priority.It is all there to play for - but the pessimism kicks in when you looked at the last two performances and then realise that we are the only club not to have won on sky this season with the next three games all live. OTBC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ 1,218 Posted February 17, 2005 [quote]But AJ is with Palace, not us. Therefore........................ OTBC[/quote] Yes, but one injury to AJ and they are down. Yes they have a 20 goal a season striker, but where is his partner Anyhow, realisticly, we should just concentrate on ourselves, and let first whiz worry his charm on everyone else! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites