Wow

Wasn't Barnett the only one with any sort of Prem experience at the start of the season as well? Shows how well they've all done!!

 

As well as Toure played when he came on, and he is a tremendous player, the difference was ultimately in the quality of the strikers. As much as people love Holt and are screaming for him to get into the national squad, you would have to be barmy if you didn't think that Tevez and Aguero are almost world class and far better players.
We had our chances but didn't convert at the rate they did.
And I'm not in the Wilbraham must stay camp. Or any other player for that matter. If there is a better player out there who is better than what we have then lets have them, provide they meet the wage criteria, fee of course.

 

It's a mark of how concerned Mancini was at 1--2 in the second half that he brought Toure on. There would be no point in protecting him if it meant dropping points at Carrow Road. Man City just had to win it or the title would definitely be United's.

 

Pretty much. Surman had 3 or 11 appearances for Wolves, Drury had a season with us, Barnett had about 20 appearances with Wolves Vaughan had about 8 with Everton. and Ruddy had 1 or 2 appearances with Everton.

So, that is pretty good!

 

not too sure i understand what you're trying to say redruth!

you are saying holt isn't as good as tevez and aguero - i think thats obvious - doesn't mean he isn't one of the best english strikers though.

you say the difference was the finishing - true again - but they weren't creating ANY chances 2nd half until toure came on and won the midfield for them.

finally, you say you are not in the wilbraham must stay camp - i'm not sure this camp exists and i agree that we should always strive to improve every position if possible - but that doesn't mean we should just get rid of a player who has played very well for a couple of months now. even if he doesn't play much, he can still be a positive player for us to throw on if need be or to give us another option up front. chris martin will probably leave - bring someone in to replace him.

 

I thought at 1-2 next goal wins,we were rocking and if you'd equalised you could well have won it.Great atmosphere in the ground and beforehand in the Compleat Angler
Pity Delia couldn't do a rallying call again

 

i think that says it all about how well we did! citeh fans were excellent - chatted to numerous fans before and after the game and all were complimentary about norwich. the scoreline was hard to take but when you step back and look at the quality of the opposition, you simply have to wonder what more we could have done. we could have played 11 behind the ball but thats not our style. i felt we tried to do it (for the one and only time) at the etihad and it didn't work so why try it again? i'm glad we had a real go, even if it meant the scoreline being heavy

 

Holt at the moment is indeed one of the better English strikers but that wasn't my point. They were better and indeed are generally better.
I think you'll find they were creating chances as equally as we were and Ruddy was stopping them all. In fact I remember remarking to my son that it was one of the most entertaining games of the season, end to end.
Toure of course is a true class player and he did boss the game when he came on, but how many times has a player done that and his strikers let him down. His didn't.
And I'm not convinced about Wilbrahams contribution, especially for a couple of months as you say. Tottenham was his full debut wasn't it? Just coming off the bench becasue Morison is off form isn't the criteria for keeping him.
I'm not suggesting get rid of anyone, but that is the nature of professional football and if a replacement is found, thats it, they move on. Lambert knows that all too well.

 

Mark this date in your diary's everyone........I agree with everything Superman has said on this thread.
<Feelingabitodd>

ILD OTBC

 

Who is Abi Todd?

 

redruth, you are missing one of norwich's vital ingredients - team spirit. now i know for a fact that wilbraham is one of the biggest influences in the dressing room, whether he is playing or not. he is holt's best mate, he is extremely well thought of by everyone at the club as both a player and person. to get rid without taking everything into account could be a big error. he is costing practically nothing so there is no reason to give the heave ho. eventually, there will be a natural time for things to move on but i can't see that being this summer. its a squad game - surely better to keep him and sell martin, someone with value, who isn't going to offer anything more to the team than wilbraham but offers far less in the dressing room? you're completely misjudging the role he plays at the club which is fair enough if you don't know about it.

as for their strikers, if you pay a combined £70m for two strikers they should be able to finish like that! clinical they most certainly were, but it was the influence of toure who changed the match in their favour. they might still have won without him, but they wouldn't have created that many chances. he was behind everything in the last twenty minutes, everything!

 

In fairness to Holt, Tevez and Aguero had one another to link up too. No offence to Alby but it's just like having another big guy up front he was alright but I don't think him and Holt always compliment one another well. Let's also pair up Kompany and Lescott doubled up on Holt and read anything going to him I reckon if they were of an inferior quality Holt would of got goals. Also as attacking as Citeh seemed they also played two more defensive minded midfielders in De Jong and Barry our wide men helped us at times but once the Manc's got into shape we couldn't do anything.

 

What do you mean he is costing virually nothing? He's got to be on the same as the squad payment and no doubt a rise if we stay up. So we keep him on because he has a sense of humour? Or he always brings sweets to training? Or he's easy to beat at cards? I get fed up of hearing about the dressing room. They don't have to be best mates but are supposed to get on just as £70M strikers are supposed to score. If anyone steps out of line then the manager then gives him what for.
We keep him on if he is worth it. If the manager says he is fair enough. Personally, I prefer Chris Martin. We don't need to sell anybody for the fee so I would like to see him stay. But if the manager thinks different thats fine.
The team spirit is fine and its not down to one player and I don't think it would evaporate if anyone left. And by that reasoning we could put out a different team and still be as good.
We will live or die by our ability to score enough goals to beat teams around us and get more points. We will never have a good enough defence to rely on. Wilbraham would not get 5 if he played the whole season. Holt needs someone to take the weight off his goal scoring. Vaughan is a sick note, Jackson hasn't really cut it and I'm sorry Wilbraham is not a scorer.

 

i think you are miles off knowing what goes on at colney judging by these remarks. very naive redruth... there is more to running a successful team than just sticking a load of players together, no matter how good. its all about balance and lambert knows this. thats why martin will leave and wilbraham will most likely stay. i don't know how much he is on but he is not a high earner and that means we can keep a decent player and bring in other better ones too without upsetting the harmony in the squad. its pretty basic stuff really and your comment that 'he's not really a scorer' sums up why i bang my head against a wall trying to explain that being a striker ISN'T ALWAYS ABOUT SCORING GOALS.

 

Sorry Man of Steel did I dare argue with you? Your 30 years of football have imbibed you with an arrogance bordering on bad manners tinged with crass stupidity. If you think you are the only one who knows anything about football or indeed NCFC then I suggest you ask Jamie Redknapp if you can go and live with him.
How the fcuk did football live without you? What was I watching in the 60's at Carrow Road? If only you'd been there to explain it I wouldn't be the silly naive old tosser I obviously am.
A striker means just that he strikes or else he would be called a holder upper or a laugh in the dressing roomer.
Lets buy fcuking Peter Kaye next and we'll get into Europe.
Go boil your head

 

redruth, your above post was so ridiculously naive it bordered on idiotic so to call me stupid is laughable. just cos you've been watching for twice as long doesn't mean you know how the dressing room works, and your post was a massive indication of that. if you knew anything that was currently going on at colney then you'd think twice about what you'd posted.

 

and just to add, your comment about wilbraham not being a scorer is the biggest gripe of mine with certain fans, hence the reaction

not sure it quite required the ludicrous response though...

 

Oh dear, might have been a bit premature there!

ILD OTBC

 

All I will say is I'm glad Paul Lambert is our manager!

 

me too!