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Good evening from Norwich Well the Cully/Karsa thing takes another twist with the message currently coming out of NCFC that they are still very much part of the team here. Apparently there has been talk at the club for a while of appointing more coaching staff to "spread the load" (not sure whether this was something that those 2 guys had asked for). I understand both are on rolling contracts. I'm not entirely sure I'd put much money on them still being here in a few weeks time (I was told a few days ago they were a gonner), and this could be McNally trying to ensure they don't leave without you paying us something for them. That said, Cully was at Spurs as a youngster so could have a connection with Hughton from back then, or it might just be that they have agreed to stay for a couple of weeks to help Hughton bed in Out of interest, what is Gordan Cowans role at Villa? And is Kevin McDonald still there? Cheers KA

Last thing from me for now Our CE was just asked on Twitter (Yes I know you hate that on here) if Cully & Karsa had left to join PL at Villa & his answer was "No" Thats not to say they won't (I was told earlier that it was all done) but PL doesn't have his Lieutenants with him, yet.... Cheers KA

Cheers KA. Best wishes for the new season. Who would you like to see come in as Lambert's replacement? I really don't know - definitely don't want Bruce, McCarthy or Big Eck though! Top 3 in the current betting are Mackay, Hughton & Clark. Mackay is ex Norwich but we've been down the ex-player route before & it failed miserably. Based on what I've seen of his teams they seem to play pretty direct stuff and I don't want that Clark was a coach here under Rodent before he went to Huddersfield. Did well there but whether he's up to managing in the Prem is another matter. He's been backed from 16's today but we all know that means very little in these markets I'd probably side with Hughton. Did a decent job under difficult circumstances at your "neighbours" last season and got shat on at Newcastle. Word down here is that he has been "Plan B" for a while (Lambert staying was plan A) Totally leftfield choice would be Karl Robinson from MK Dons - young, inexperienced but could be anything Whoever we get I trust McNally to make the right appointment. He got Hodgson in at Fulham & Lambert in at NCFC so his track record is pretty decent Apologies for clogging up your thread, but HolteEnd did ask!! KA

Evening from Norwich Dipped in & out of this thread over the last few weeks & thought I'd come back now you've officially got your man, if only to prove that not all NCFC fans are "bitter & deluded". In my post yesterday I said that we were trying to keep Cully & Karsa but it seems they are following PL - dunno whether thats been officially confirmed yet or not Not much point me wishing PL luck as he won't need it. When he first moved to Norwich he spoke about the potential because of the fanbase ("and when you have that you've always got a chance") and he'll no doubt say that about Villa too. With the backing of a man of Lerners means and his ability you could easily be top 4 within 3 years. All that remains for me to say is see you on August 18th - inevitable isn't it :winkold: Cheers KA

Afternoon All You've already got our Manager, leave our CE alone I’m not specifically ITK but have had a couple of bits relayed to me this morning which might be of interest to you The word in these parts is that we’re looking to make Culverhouse & Karsa an offer to keep them at NCFC. This obviously won’t stop PL moving but if they do follow him then compo will be payable for them too so it could be that we’re waiting for their decision before negotiating further with you on their compo if they decide to leave. I’m also understand that part of any deal will involve an “agreement” which says that PL can’t come back to NCFC for any of our players for a 12 month period, same as Swansea & Liverpool have agreed Cheers KA

To be fair Lambert is no lover of the media - most of his post match interviews (particularly with the BBC & Sky) are very much the same. He also seemed to have a particular hatred for Stuart Jarrold from Sky who covered our Friday pressers and always gave him short shrift. However he seemed to develop a bit of a rapport with the BBC Local radio guy in Norwich and his interviews with him always seemed more natural I've had the pleasure of being in his company when theres not a camera around and hes anything but a dour Scot. The bloke has stories galore & would make a great after dinner speaker one day He does rotate a lot, more so last season that others, and I've been critical of him for that. There were times last season when he seemed to make changes to starting XI's for the sake of it and then have to change after 10/15 mins when it was clear things weren't working. That said, he always goes all out to win games, which is how we made it to the prem with something like 18 goals in the last 10 mins of games in the championship. Last season we took a couple of pastings against Man City (1-5 & 1-6) but conceded 7 goals in the last 15 mins of those games as we continued to go at them. Our fans applauded the team off after they did us 1-6 at home, not sure whether that would happen at VP!! He hasnt had any experience of signing big players, but he's played with world class players at Dortmund (admits himself he was the worst player in the dressing room) and learned a lot from Hitzfeld who he has taken a lot of advice from. I doubt that will be an issue Hope this helps KA

Evening All One slightly gutted but still optimistic for our future Norwich fan checking in with some questions for you.... What are you expectations for next season now PL will be your manager? What do you want to see from him? What would cause you to lose patience or turn on him? No agenda in asking these, just genuinely interested Cheers in advance for your replies KA

Yeah we had the misfortune of having him as our Manager for a while - shocking he was In that case no doubt he'll take Culverhouse & Karsa with him then. they've been together since Wycombe Cheers for your response. PS Wheres Wiz???

Evening All - Hoped I'd never see this thread re-opened As you might remember from my earlier posts in this thread, I never actually thought PL would go at this point. But looks like his time is up with us and if he has quit theres a certain sense of irony about it as its exactly what happened when we got him from Colchester There will no doubt be some ragers but its one of those things that most reasonably sensible Norwich fans would happen at some point. Personally I'd have liked to see him give us one more season but there you go. Sure he'll do well for you. Just a quick question for you, did Peter the Pointer (ie Peter Grant) get the bullet at the same time as McLeish? Cheers KA

Ah the old Morison/Tierney rumour - someone on here has been reading the Pink 'Un! Tierney got injured at the turn of the year, then played a reserve game, had a reaction and was out again. Got back "fit", played another reserve game and injured himself after 30 minutes. Morison went through a stage where he was playing on an despite an injured ankle (with injections). Played 90 mins for Wales in March & did himself no good, hence why he's been used primarily off the bench since. Bearing in mind they've been pictured laughing & joking together the rumour of some shennanigans between one and the others wife is ridiculous. Unfortunately Morison has become a bit of a target for some of our more cerebally challenged fans. Initially they didnt like the fact he was playing ahead of Holt - then even when he was scoring goals he was lazy. Then he stopped scoring goals and was useless & lazy. It all came to ahead hen he was abused face to face by a drunk fan in the Gunn Club after one particular home game. Hurry up & appoint OGS - I want my money!!

PL isn't one to let ssentiment get in the way of what he feels is best for him and most Norwich fans realise that he will move on at some point. Realistically, unless we get some overseas investment, then the best he's likely to do with us is mid table prem finishes and the odd challenge for the Carling/FA Cup and he's certainly more ambitious than doing that for the rest of his career In the event (unlikely imo as I've said before) he talks to you, then doesnt get the job, he's professional enough to remain focussed on what he's doing at NCFC and keep doing it to the best of his ability

As another Norwich fan I'll answer that - Personally yes I am. I have a couple of "contacts" who are confident of this which is partly where my confidence comes from!! I don't think the stuff in the press today about him holding talks with you or being unhappy with next years budget are true. I would imagine if you had approached us we would have put something out to say as much, and I doubt he's unhappy with next years budget as our board have publicly said he'll be getting £10m more than last year and hes constantly said he knows the constraints within which he has to work at NCFC I really hope OGS gets the job at Villa, partly because that leaves PL with us but also because after seeing some stuff on here early Thursday I got some 33-1 on him, and then some 7-1 yesterday after the media's translation skills let them down! Free football at Carrow Road for me next season (and a couple of away trips too) if OGS is your man!

I suppose that depends what you classification of doing a lot more is. Villa will always attract experienced Prem players. We may not but when you put it into context, you signed N'Zogbia for £9mill, he played 30 games, scored 2 goals. We signed Pilkington from Huddersfield for £2.5 mill, 29 games, 8 goals. Its not about how much you have to spend its how you spend it (apologies for going off topic with this answer)

Firstly, thanks for the comments on my previous post The £30 mill was a typo, I meant £20mill - didn't mean to mislead, genuine typo. Thats probably between 4 & 6 players of the type we go for, to "give the lads a hand" as PL always says Lots of talk about your facilities and I don't deny they're good, but we have some decent facilities too at Colney and we're now going grade 1 academy too. Also don't make the mistake of thinking that chucking a bundle of money at PL will make his mind up for him, irrespective of other factors. He's a pretty modest guy in the way that he lives his life in the same way that he is when he talks about his own career One other thing I meant to put in my previous post was that I've seen rumours about you going for a Director of Football. I don't think that will sit well with PL - he & his team have total autonomy over the football side at Norwich and I understand thats the way he likes to work. Cheers again KA

Evening Gents - Norwich fan here kindly allowed to post in the main forum. Had some good banter with some of your guys in the Nelson on Sunday (opposite the Compleat Angler where most of your fans were). It was interesting to me that none of them seemed really fussed when Lamberts name was brought up by us as the replacement for McLeish following his inevitable sacking - not enough experience was the main reason stated. Seems they were the exception from this thread I'm not surprised he's favourite (unless McCarthy has overtaken him now - strange one that) and as our CE said publicly yesterday we want our players & manager to be coveted as that means they're doing a good job for us. However what I do know is that we'll fight tooth & nail to keep him and our board are already pulling out all the stops. The Chairman publically announced at the player of the year dinner last night that an additional £10mill on top of the playing budget he received last year, which would probably give him £30million to spend. The CE was again bullish in his speech and in Lamberts speech he made reference to his intentions for next season. He also played on the fact that speculation was that he was leaving a couple of times, joking about last interviews with the compere (who does the local radio commentary & talks to him twice a week) Our board are confident that he'll stay, who knows what will happen if & when you come calling. He'll alsop want the opinion of Culverhouse & Karsa as they come as a 3. Others have mentioned the O'Neill factor - he'll certainly ask him his opinion as he talks to him regularly. If he does come to you, you're getting a top manager. If not its our gain but probably only a matter of time before we get the same speculation of him going to another club. You're the 3rd team in claret & blue to be strongly linked - only Scunthorpe left now!! Either way, I wish you well KA