Since August I have posted many times on here saying Bassong is our best defender Grabban is good enough to get us promoted & we will win the league. Most shot me down on all 3 counts insisting Bassong will never play for us again Grabban is lg 1 standard at best and no we can't win this division. I have even thrown my toys out of my pram with some in my insistence that I am right . I am not blowing my own trumpet yet but I believe to be correct and you can quote me on this thread at the end of the season. #TheLewisGrabbanappreciationsociety
Relax dear, it´s far too soon to start making those sorts of rash statements, even if it does turn out to be true, and certainly not the right time to be boasting about it. I guarantee Mr. Neil wouldn´t take too kindly to hearing it. One game at a time and all that.
Bold statement RBF yes but I have stood by my predictions all season and the point is rather than a lone voice shouting in the wilderness , I am starting to think others may be starting to see where I am coming from. Who thinks we can make up 7 points and win the title? Who thinks Bassong has added stability and verve to our leaky defence? Who thinks Grabban has added power pace and goals to our attack?. These were the stand out straw men of our squad being blamed for all that was wrong with our team but now they are slowly winning back adulation from our fickle fans. Most of this is down to our new manager but still It's a terrific sub plot to our story this season. Also I very much doubt Alex Neil reads these boards but I doubt he would be offended by me singing his praises in regards to man management, tactics & team selection . O T B C.
Incidentally I heartily agree with you as regards Bassong, but as for the rest, I´ll reserve judgement for now, far too many games left yet.
I'm talking about rabbits & hats & those 2 stand out as written off failures that nobody thought would be in Alex's thoughts before he took over the show, both performing magic in the 5 wins on centre stage. Johnson has also proven himself to be a star too and him signing a new contract has been nothing short of proof that we can finish on a high.
I've been saying we'll win the league all season as well, bet I've got more money on us than you have as well
I only said we'd win the league the morning before the Bournemouth game. You cannot blame people for not being keen on Grabban, he was missing sitters, scuffing when he did score and contributing little. He's not a particularly good footballer and he reminds me a bit of Simeon Jackson. Jackson would go on a scoring run, but in truth he offered very little because he was so limited in what he could do.
I love the positivity that is beginning to ebb through the pores of some of our fans and it's certainly true you, and a few others such as Munky, have said all along that Norwich would win the league. But have I been asleep since February and woken up in May? 'I believe to be correct'? This is a pretty hasty thread, I have to say, considering we often get accused of arrogance and have three potentially tricky fixtures on the horizon. Clearly a few digs at certain posters (including me) thrown in for good measure too. There's a very long way to go! Fair play if we do win it though - its a very bold prediction - more so now (7 points behind) than at the start of the season in my opinion!!! Can I ask who exactly has written Bassong off? I've not seen anyone suggest anything other than Bassong being a key player and many have found it frustrating that our best defender hasn't been picked for 27 of our 31 games, and even more frustrating that he got sent on loan to a bloody promotion rival! He is exceptional at this level and is already proving it. You should be slating Adams and Bassong himself for his demise early this season, not the fans. As for Grabban, I've seen you 'quote' me on this League One stuff before and you quote me incorrectly every time. In the context of my post, I said that Grabban is more likely to end up playing his long term football in League One than the Premier League. I still stand by that, despite his upturn in form recently. He's just not a particularly good striker and definitely not as good as Jerome or Hooper. He's similar to Simeon Jackson who now resides in League One by the way, and he wasn't bad. It's nothing personal against him and he has some assets such as pace and his movement is ok and now he seems to have finally added work rate - but I came out with those comments whilst he was on fire at the start of the season, so its not like I just followed the crowd when things went wrong. Alex Neil has put some faith in him (ok, he's getting his chance because Jerome isn't fully fit but still, he didn't have to play him) and he's repaying him with some decent performances, even though he's still missing guilt edged chances from time to time. But he's definitely playing much better than early in the season and its great to see our (effectively) third choice striker is playing well. I just think a lot of people are getting carried away. After the Brentford game many people were down and quite rightly because that was a golden chance to cement our place in the top six and push on towards the top two. In my opinion the Wolves game was our most complete performance of the season so I can understand the optimism most are showing, but I personally prefer to tread with caution. 7 points might not seem like much but we we've only closed the gap on the top spot by 1 point since the turn of the year. One solitary point. Too much emphasis is being placed on games against the top teams. Do we all think we will definitely win at Blackburn, Huddersfield, Brighton, Bolton or Leeds? Perhaps we should win them but there's points to be dropped there, no question! We've got key games ahead of us and the potential is there to win many if not all the key games. But you surely can't be surprised that many are slightly more sceptical. I thought we'd finish 9th this season so I will be delighted if we gain promotion full stop. It is my opinion that we have the best players in this division and I now think we have a top young manager. By this time next week we might be 13 points adrift. Or we might be 1 point behind. It could go either way. Let's just enjoy the ride. Can we win the league? Yes. Have we won it? No.
I can't bet on Norwich I always jinx them , how much do you stand to get "IF" we win ?. Positivity seems to be a swear word on here .
About two and a half grand Got load of smallish each-way bets on us at some very generous odds indeed, I've doubled some up them up with Chelsea and Bristol City to win there leagues as well so need. A bit more than 'just' us to prevail. Still make a decent few quid if we finish top three so no wonder I'm trying to be so positive!!
I was giving Grabban a hard time after the scored that brace against Blackburn. He's not a bad footballer but he has clear limitations. He's not as quick or physical as Jerome and he's definitely not a better finisher than Hooper (Or Jerome in my opinion but they are a bit closer). Grabban makes pretty good runs, generally finds space well and seems to play best on instinct but he still lacks something. Put it this way, I would be happier going into the Prem with Jerome and Hooper than Grabban and one of the other 2. That said, I'm very happy he is finding some form again, I think it helps that the teams as a whole are playing more cohesively and providing him with better opportunities. Definitely agree about Bassong, he's made a huge difference though I didnt think he'd ever be brought back. Definitely the right move and hopefully it happened just in time. The whole ordeal might have sorted some of his issue in terms of commitment and desire. I still don't think we can win it, we may just sneak an auto but my confidence in the team is far higher than it's been this season.
The manager clearly rates Grabban and he has been instrumental in our current run scoring assisting and winning the pen for Hooper's hat trick (glad he didn't take it) .Jerome has a better goal tally than Hooper and Grabban but Grabban has fitted in well to Alex's set up very well . Lots of posters said Lafferty was better than him but clearly the new boss doesn't agree , shipping the £4m 1 goal striker off to Turkey .
