Beggars Belief

[ABC (A Basingstoke Canary) 26]

It appears that certain "supporters" (and I use the term very loosely) are not enjoying their time in the Premier League.

 

We are one of the financially poorest teams in the most exhilerating league in the world, we should be enjoying the ride. It seems that some fans have not had the opportunity of embracing the experience, and based on some of the incredulous posts on this forum, it appears that they would prefer the gung-ho approach of yesteryear!

 

The concept of moving forward and improving is obviously alien to them (witness some respondents harking back to the "good old Lambo" days). The fact that we got through those days on a wing and a prayer is ignored. If we continued with our performances from the last quarter of last season, then we would already have been relegated this season! Yet some people still cling on to the apron strings of the old ways - as if this could somehow miraculously be the "answer"!

 

I am pretty sure, in fact, I would be prepared to put money on it - that no one from the board, the management or the squad (let alone us supporters) wants to be in the Championship next season. It''s a pity that certain posters witterings don''t reflect that!

 

Be interesting to see the "witterers" response to this post when we successfully complete this season in the PL.

[Divs crew! 0]

I agree ABC [:D]

[Jersey Canary 143]

Well said. Keep the faith. Things will change next season. It''s a needs must season this year.

[BroadstairsR 2,168]

Yesterday was particulary doom and gloom. One post after another told us we would go down, we deserved to go down and that we were the worst side in the Premiership or all to that effect. I needed a valium to relax myself after that tirade of criticism of our managerial team and their methods. All we needed was an input from Corporal Jones and the self-flagellation would have been complete.

 

It will all suddenly change after Saturday, I hope.

[smooth 114]

If you had been to the game you would have seen that for 60 minutes Wigan did not know how to get through our defence. We had good opportunities, but as another poster stated due to the wrong choice of pass, great last ditch challenge or poor selection of pass or execution we didn''t make the most.

Wigan then had a corner cleared off the line and another break down our right which resulted in an excellent block from turner. After the goal they didn''t pressurise too much more.

It was disappointing, but at the same time the movement was there in the first half, until kk slowed up at 55mins.

We have 7 games to. Go tettey and Whittaker are back in the squad following injury so we are almost fully strength. I believe there is no need for too much motivation which is to be a premiership player then we need that win this Saturday to move forward.

I expect an up and at em approach this Saturday. However we get the win we need the win.

[Dicky 0]

Well said ABC. It always amazes me how some people can call themselves supporters

[Indy 3,300]

I love the fact that you use "If you had been to the game you would have seen that for 60 minutes Wigan did not know how to get through our defence" This is a Wigan side who have recently picked up form as normal, granted, yet you fail to state the other end of the picture with "Not a single effort on target by Norwich"

 

I don''t believe we will go down, but you have to ask yourself why are we not going after that win? Why do we think we can hold on to a draw at Wigan who have not kept a clean sheet all season?

 

Last you have to ask yourself are the coaching staff focusing so much on defending we are starting to suffer going forward? I mean 5 goals since the turn of the year, 1 win in 14 games. We have three very winnable home games left in Villa, Reading and WBA, not sure how we will play against Swansea so not really worried about staying up, more about the way we have been structured and set up to play this negative style.

 

I hope that Hughton might think to bring in another coach with a focus on working on our attacking options.

 

 

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

These are nervous times and the strong get stronger and you see the strength of peoples character, players, supportwers alike. when there are timea as potentially difficult as this it is natural for some to react with nervous negative behaviours, it may not be right or indeed helpful but natural nevertheless. A quick glance at some of the other clubs boards show that they are out in strength everywhere

[Jim Smith 2,319]

I enjoy being in the premier league and very much hope we stay there but I have to say i am not enjoying watching us play very much at the moment and this has been the case for most of the season. Most of our games are extremely dull and lacking in entertainment.

I have always maintained that i would rather see my side relegated than watch football like Stoke play week in week out for the sake of remaining in the premier league. Whilst we are not as direct or ugly as Stoke, elements of our play/style this season are becoming very Stoke-esque, particularly our penchant for playing for draws away from home. It would therefore be hypocritical for me to claim I am enjoying what we are doing at the moment when i''m not.

As has been said before many times, hopefully its all a means to an end and if we do stay up we will invest in the sort of attacking players that enable us to take a more positive approach next season because I love watching my team and really am finding the fact many of our games are so dull a real downer of late.

[ROBFLECK 132]

Jim you echo what I have been thinking the last couple of weeks. I don''t really look forward to our games as I used to. I still try to watch as many games as I can though and I''ll support the club whatever happens. Oh my god I long for a win, which ever way it comes! I was seething after the Holt penalty miss for example...he''s a pro and should have burried it! It was crap game but I was hoping for some late drama...turned out to be a downer... Come on City, give your supporters something to cheer about!

[Matt Morriss 69]

Blind optimism ABC, i just cant agree with anyone who talks with a guranteed tone that were safe, i just fail to see where you get this certain optimism from.

Im realistic about our current situation and im worried, we cant score and we seem to have forgotten how to win games, with the exception of Sunderland the teams around us all seem to have a win in them, we dont.

The next four games will determine everything i think, Sunderland have 4 tough matches and if Di Canio has an instant effect then were in trouble, if he doesnt then theyll be in the bottom 3 and we''ll be a lot safer.

Whats certain for me tho is our form will continue while other teams around us will be fighting for their lives and pull out some shock results, like Southampton beating Chelsea, and no doubt Wigan and Villa will pull something out of their bag and grab a couple of wins.

I just dont see that from us and we will plod along trying to drag ourselves over the finishing line.

[Two penneth 0]

..Always amazes me how anybody daring to worry a little bit is termed a non supporter. I love and support my kids doesn''t stop me worrying about them occasionally.

[BOO 0]

[quote user="Huckerbys Boots - Matt"]Blind optimism ABC, i just cant agree with anyone who talks with a guranteed tone that were safe, i just fail to see where you get this certain optimism from.

Im realistic about our current situation and im worried, we cant score and we seem to have forgotten how to win games, with the exception of Sunderland the teams around us all seem to have a win in them, we dont.

The next four games will determine everything i think, Sunderland have 4 tough matches and if Di Canio has an instant effect then were in trouble, if he doesnt then theyll be in the bottom 3 and we''ll be a lot safer.

Whats certain for me tho is our form will continue while other teams around us will be fighting for their lives and pull out some shock results, like Southampton beating Chelsea, and no doubt Wigan and Villa will pull something out of their bag and grab a couple of wins.

I just dont see that from us and we will plod along trying to drag ourselves over the finishing line.[/quote]

The board is full of complacent posters who seem unable to actually see what is before their eyes.

We got 2 points in the last month and I am very concerned that there is nothing to show that things are going to improve.

[BOO 0]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]These are nervous times and the strong get stronger and you see the strength of peoples character, players, supportwers alike. when there are timea as potentially difficult as this it is natural for some to react with nervous negative behaviours, it may not be right or indeed helpful but natural nevertheless. A quick glance at some of the other clubs boards show that they are out in strength everywhere[/quote]

" it is natural for some to react with nervous negative behaviour". Hopefully this will not apply to the way we play or we won''t even get out of our own half.

[nutty nigel 7,536]

[quote user="nulli secundus"]..Always amazes me how anybody daring to worry a little bit is termed a non supporter. I love and support my kids doesn''t stop me worrying about them occasionally.[/quote]

 

Not sure any fans don''t worry occasionally. The people who could be termed non-supporters are those who will do or say anything to make the situation worse!

 

Perhaps to ensure we get over the line we should deduct the points these posters feel we don''t deserve to make the situation more desperate and then get them reinstated at the end of the season.

 

Non - supporters? Probably.. or binners... or maybe a brick short of....

 

You decide.

 

 

[Jules 0]

I''ll admit that I''m nervous. A 4 point gap doesn''t give us much margin for error does it, especially when we have Arsenal away coming up? If we don''t get a result against Swanselona on Sat we could be in the bottom three in two weeks time. Then it really will be squeaky bum time. What makes it worse is that I''d been feeling more confident before that. I was impressed by our resilience at Sunderland and were sitting just below mid-table. Then the good news of RVW came through. Things were feeling a bit more positive. And then the Wigan result happened. IMO that was a big blow. I watched the whole game and TBH felt that we were very comfortable for 70+ mins. It was nice, for once, to have spells where we actually edged possession and territory but our failure to actually score cost us big time. I can''t quite place my finger on when it happened, but it seems that we simply don''t like shooting any more. A win at Wigan and it would have almost been job done for another season. But now we''re really under pressure. Villa''s defeat offered a crumb of comfort for sure, as does the fact that we''re not alone. Sunderland, Newcastle, Stoke and Soton are all in it too and their supporters will be wringing their hands like we are no doubt. I do worry, however, that it might go down to goal difference and with -19 we''ll be stuffed. Those few thrashings we''ve had this season might really come back to haunt us. Fact is we can''t afford to rely on other teams slipping up. At some point safety will have to be assured with a win or two and that means being positive, actually trying to shoot and score goals. How CH is going to manage that conundrum I have no idea because neither can we afford to lost games. We''re in a bit of a kerfuffle.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Lambert threw the dice, it was gung ho football with an attitude of: we''ll score one more than you.

Hughton isn''t a gambler, is he? He doesn''t work on these fine margins, does he?

Well, what are all those 0-0 draws about then? It''s a case of restrict the game rather than open it up and hope to take the one chance. Against Wigan he referred to this post match, and Wigan got it.

So he plays with limited forwards who are frankly not good enough to take those scarce chances as so many EPL forwards do. We have players who score 1in 4, hence Lambert''s higher chance ratio.

This is gambling football of a low entertainment variety and the risk factor is no less because it revolves around limited opportunities.

With RVW we would most likely have taken the chances Holt and others have not taken as he is higher quality, but we have what we have and Hughton is trying to play with what he doesn''t have.

This might not look very casino but in a slow but insidious way it is risky football of the soporific variety.

[City 2nd 191]

ABC wrote:

(witness some respondents harking back to the "good old Lambo" days). The fact that we got through those days on a wing and a prayer is ignored.

Just how''s do you come to that conclusion - not one but TWO successive promotions and a good first premiership season - wing and a prayer, a quite ridiculous statement to make!

I would suggest that Hughton fits your bill more,, opted not to sign a striker at the start of the season, or in January, when it was clear to all what was required. Opting to play regularly with one striker with a defensive mandate not to lose - that is wing and a prayer stuff!

[ABC (A Basingstoke Canary) 26]

[quote user="City 2nd"]ABC wrote: (witness some respondents harking back to the "good old Lambo" days). The fact that we got through those days on a wing and a prayer is ignored. Just how''s do you come to that conclusion - not one but TWO successive promotions and a good first premiership season - wing and a prayer, a quite ridiculous statement to make! I would suggest that Hughton fits your bill more,, opted not to sign a striker at the start of the season, or in January, when it was clear to all what was required. Opting to play regularly with one striker with a defensive mandate not to lose - that is wing and a prayer stuff![/quote]

City 2nd - you are really trying to obfuscate and muddy the water aren''t you!

 

The wing and a prayer did NOT refer to the 2 successive promotions but the 1st season in PL - as I said - if we continued this season with the same results in the last quarter of last season, we would already have been relegated!

 

Regarding CH''s option "not to sign a striker at the start of the season, or in January, when it was clear to all what was required"  And you know this how?? Are you saying that the statements from the board and CH regarding their concerted attempts to get in certain strikers are all lies???

 

Also seems a bit disingenuous of you - firstly you are praising the efforts of PL and the goal scoring machinery we had then you are slating CH for not getting in a striker "when it was clear to all what was required"!

 

Appears to me that you are one of those - "heads I win, tails you lose" type of people! Obviously a "Hughton Outer" - because from what I can gather from your response, he''s damned if he does and he''s damned if he doesn''t!