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Nine Points Anyone?

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Here’s my glass half full forecast for our last three matches suggesting we will pick up nine points.

These three games follow on from our having just yesterday played the best team in the league and almost certainly the league champions and had them hanging on for the last ten minutes despite going two goals down and having a third lucky goal against us.

We next go to Old Trafford where they have nothing to play for and there are suggestions that many players are not happy with the new manager so could prefer to lose the game in order to get rid of him! Newspapers are questioning whether he might be sacked this week!

Then on to Chelsea who have just lost at home to the team bottom of the league who we completely outplayed a week or two ago. Chelsea will face us after three gruelling matches against Liverpool for the title and Athletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. If they lose to Liverpool but beat Athletico Madrid they won’t be bothered about our result. They will be preserving their team and energy for the Champions league final.

Finally Arsenal by which time they should have settled their argument with Everton over fourth place following easy home games against Newcastle and West Brom whereas Everton have very difficult games away to Southampton and at home to Man City. Also Arsenal have the F.A. Cup final the week after playing us and are desperate to win a trophy after a ten year lapse so they should be easy meat at Carrow Road.

There we are 9 points from our last three games and survival in the prem!

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Wouldn''t surprise me at all. Chips are down for us, last chance saloon, & yesterday''s game showed we have the character.

My missus made a good NCFC analogy (a first!); she compared our situation to the 1981 Ashes (Wiki):

"On the Monday morning 500–1 odds began to look somewhat more ungenerous as first Brearley, then David Gower and Mike Gatting all fell cheaply reducing England to 41 for 4. Boycott was still anchored at the other end however, and he and Peter Willey added 50 runs before lunch. In the afternoon, Willey was out for 33 and England were still in deep trouble at 105 for 5 when Botham went in to bat. Matters did not improve as first Geoff Boycott and then Bob Taylor were quickly dismissed. At 135 for 7 an innings defeat looked almost certain.

When Graham Dilley joined him at the crease, Botham reportedly said, "Right then, let''s have a bit of fun...". With able support from Dilley (56) and Chris Old (29), Botham hit out and by the close of play was 145 not out with Bob Willis hanging on at the other end on 1 not out. England''s lead was just 124 but there remained some glimmer of hope. On the final day''s play there was time for just four more runs from Botham before Willis was out and Botham was left on 149 not out. Wisden rated this innings as the 4th best of all time.[15]

Botham batting at Trent Bridge, 1983

Willis'' far greater contribution was with the ball. After Botham took the first wicket, Willis skittled Australia out for just 111, finishing with figures of 8 for 43 – rated by Wisden as the 7th best bowling performance of all time.[16] England had won by just 18 runs. It was only the second time in history that a team following-on had won a Test match.[17]

The next Test match, at Edgbaston, looked almost as hopeless, if not hapless, from England''s point of view. In a low scoring match (no-one made a score over 48), Australia needed 151 to win. At 105–5, things looked a little worrying for them, but an Australian win still seemed the most likely result. Botham then took 5 wickets for only 1 run in 28 balls to give England victory by 29 runs. Later, Brearley said that Botham had not wanted to bowl and had to be persuaded to do so.[18]

The Old Trafford Test was less of a turnaround and more of a team effort than the previous two Tests, but Botham again was England''s hero hitting yet another century in what Lillee claimed to be a better innings than his Headingley heroics. Botham had joined Chris Tavaré with the score at 104–5. Botham then scored 118 in a partnership of 149 before he was dismissed. He hit six sixes in this innings, three off Lillee''s bowling, two of them in the same over. Remarkably, even though he seemed to take his eye off the ball while hooking some fearsome Lillee bouncers, his sheer power and strength carried the ball over the boundary rope. In total Botham batted for 5 hours shorter than Tavaré and yet scored 40 more runs. England won that match, then drew the last one at The Oval (Botham taking 6 wickets in the first innings), and thereby winning the series 3–1. Hardly surprisingly, Botham was named Man of the Series, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets."

Who will be our Botham??

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No way. We are little Norwich and don''t deserve any points in the last three games. We are much better going behind and then we can cheer our gallant heroes to another failed comeback and a glorious defeat. That way at least we can say we have got our club back.....

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Not impossible by any means. The team look better under Neil Adams. They will have taken plenty of positives from yesterday, not least the belief that they are good enough and can come back from what would have been knock out blows under CH. I was a bit concerned that Hooper looked under par and on his heels, but RvW looked better. A team that looked for the most part down and out under the previous manager, with little balance, cohesion, consistency or belief, now looks up for the fight, trading toe to toe, and just coming slightly worse off against an incredible side that will likely be worthy league champions. They deserved something from Craven Cottage too.

9 points to play for. Home or away ..I bet this team has much more belief now than it did after WBA.

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[quote user="lake district canary"]No way. We are little Norwich and don''t deserve any points in the last three games. We are much better going behind and then we can cheer our gallant heroes to another failed comeback and a glorious defeat. That way at least we can say we have got our club back.....[/quote]

So you didn''t enjoy the game yesterday then?

Oh no, I forgot - you weren''t there.

Well, we had 11 players fighting and competing and trying to play football and a full house shouting them forward. The result was the result - Liverpool probably deserved the win over the 90 minutes, but we competed with the champions elect and were still in the game when the final whistle went.

I enjoyed my two hour drive home much more than when we beat Hull or Palace - certainly much more than when we lamely lost to West Brom and every away game except Stoke for the last two seasons.

So, yes mate - I have got my club back now that Hughton and his staff have gone.

Perhaps we go to watch football for different reasons, but I''m happy now whether we stay up, as I hope we will, or if we go down because I want my team to play football.

Nine points is a wonderful dream, but if we don''t get any and play as we did yesterday, I will go back in August with new hope of another promotion campaign.

Under the defensive regime of Hughton I would only have another dour, boring season of no goals and rubbish football to look forward to.

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Best thread on here today[Y]

 

We won Sunday''s second half. We can draw confidence and strength from that and push on!

 

 

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[quote user="lake district canary"]No way. We are little Norwich and don''t deserve any points in the last three games. We are much better going behind and then we can cheer our gallant heroes to another failed comeback and a glorious defeat. That way at least we can say we have got our club back.....[/quote]

Because Hughton would have taken points off Fulham and Liverpool yeah Lakey!? Like hell would he.

I can''t wait for Hughton to be employed, just so you can s0d off and support another club.

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What a shame that yet another decent thread ends up being a chance to insult a fellow Norwich City supporter, some on her really need to look at themselves.

For me, four points is certainly possible, but they certainly will not be gained by some gung-ho approach thinking we can out score these quality teams. Neil Adams will have to be at his tactical best and have the team up from the first whistle, as you just cannot give these sides a two goal head start. So, I am going for 4 points which should be enough for us to stay up......anything more than than would be an absolutely fantastic achievement. 

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The second half display was probably one of the best halves i have seen for a couple of seasons, but of course ended in failure. Awful timing for if Moyes gets the push before saturday, it was always going to be an uphill task there anyway, just looks harder. All the bottom 3 are getting the odd fantastic result we are the stand out failures with nothing in the last 5 games. We can hope but as each games slips away thats more or less where it ends for me. That said one fluked win changes the whole scenario. It is the games against Cardiff, Fulham, Swansea, WBA, Aston Villa that has decided our fate and you cannot really argue with it

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We''ll get 4 imo

2-2 at United with us leading until the last few minutes

I reckon Chelsea will beat us about 4-1, they''ll be hurting after there last few results and Mourinho will get a reaction

Then a lack luster Arsenal with nothing to play for an a cup final in mind will come to CR and we''ll win about 4-2 with RVW finally scoring and we''ll stay up on goal difference

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[quote user="Darth Catbeard The Old"]

Then a lack luster Arsenal with nothing to play for

[/quote]

 

Looks like arsenal will still have a champions league (qualifier) place to play for - that is a far from ideal scenario.      Together with Manure scking moyes it does seem as if the fates are conspiring against us!

 

So it will be all the sweeter when we secure a win against Arsenal :-)

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The pressures at this end of the season are on everyone.  There will be all sorts of strange results.  We have to be up for it, as we were against Liverpool, so we can capitalise on any weaknesses that emerge in other teams.   We simply have to be prepared to win all three games, not think anything other than that is possible.  If we then pick up three or four points we will be doing well, but obviously, nine points IS a possibility.

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Four points might be enough, should be enough. I am more confident now the team has Adams than I would have been under the cautious one.

 

What a relief. It might be too late. Let''s prey we don''t ever see that shite again at the Carra, but such a relief.  

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