Half Term Report

[JJH]

Stolen from joethegill in League One. As ever, feel free to add your own categories...

Manager: D - started so promisingly but we've been struggling recently and he's not turned it around yet. With the players we have it's fair to say that we're underachieving so I don't think Johnson's doing as well with us as he could be. I'll back him to turn it around though, he did so at Barnsley.


Club: B - we're sound financially with an owner that's willing to put lots of his own money into the club to get us where he wants us to be, and we spent a lot in the summer and made it all back on one decent striker that we had. Needs to put his hand in his pocket again in January, but I've no doubt he will.

League Performance: E - decent starts but the last three months have been shite, completely fallen away. Need a couple of key additions in January to get us back on track then we should be comfortably midtable.

Cup performance: C - we were going alright in the Capital One (or whatever the fuck it's called nowadays) Cup and had a very good chance to progress to the quarter finals for the first time since Mary gave birth but Johnson decided to put out half a side and we didn't do anything in that game until Tomlin and Tammy came on which was frustrating.

Overall: D - disappointing season now after a decent start.

 

[Magic]

Manager: A - Sensational so far.

Club: C - Still need rid of Cellino. Only reason we seem better is because he's essentially been gagged through takeover talks.

League Performance: A - Far exceeded expectations. Storming run after an understandably slow start.

Cup Performance: A - Quarter final of the league cup and a battling defeat at Anfield. Couldn't ask for much more.

Overall: A - Give me more!

 

[Costello]

'A's all round except for Cup performance, where we went out to Reading with a whimper (but it matters very, very little). Big ticks for all the important stuff.

 

[SF_]

Manager - B - Grayson aint perfect but he's working on a bottom three budget and has us pushing for the top half, while bedding in young players who can only improve.

Club - A - Hemmings and Ridsdale have us going in the right direction, no real debt to speak of and a sensible transfer policy. We look stable.

League Performance - B - Just like the manager, we're performing well but a play-off challenge is probably too soon for us.

Cup Performance - D - Our 3-2 win at Bournemouth was forgotten about after that bullshit at Newcastle.

Overall - B

 

[Luke_1884]

Manager: F - Nigel Pearson / A - Steve McClaren.
After what I thought was a great appointment in NP we had an absolutely terrible start to the season, easily the biggest under achievers in the division. 1 goal in his first 7 games, 1 win in 11, prehistoric football.. absolutely the right decision to let him go.
Macca has a record of W9 D2 L1 so I tip my hat to him, the loss was a last minute sucker punch at Huddersfield too which I thought we were unfortunate to lose. Couldn't ask for any more really, he's getting the best out of an unbalanced squad IMO and I wouldn't say we're even playing that well. Just 100% solid.

Club: A - We're in a good place currently, that might change come April when the years accounts are released but we've defied logic in the past two seasons where our spending has been above most clubs' and we have passed with flying colours. Mel Morris has continued the previous owners good work as financially and commercially we're in a fantastic position.

League Performance: B - After giving ourselves some serious ground to make up we've somehow closed it already, top two obviously out of the question but we're just about in the play off mix. If we can sustain this kind of position and follow it up with a good run at the end of the season we should be fine.

Cup performance: F - We were knocked out of the CC by Liverpool but it was the biggest waste of Derby County fans' time this season. An absolute no show from any of our players and manager.

Overall: B - Got to be happy with where we're at, wasn't too long ago we were looking over our shoulder but that's flipped the other way. Let's see where the second half of the season takes us.

 

[AnkleBiter]

Manager- A. No surprise there I suppose. Brought so much excitement to our style of play compared to previous managers who didn't think we could compete with the richer clubs. How can you not love a guy that chooses to stay at Huddersfield over Wolfsburg who were playing, and beating, Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter finals earlier this year?! Signed some great players and massively improved a lot of what we had.

Club- A*. We are so lucky. You really can't get a better owner than Hoyle, life long fan, savvy businessman, cares massively for the community and put his hand in his pocket to transform the club but never overspent irresponsibly. Our club is now filled with likable people who care a lot for the fans. Got the ticket pricing spot on, 20,000 average crowds for us is beyond what I thought a town our size could achieve and we've never had such a good atmosphere.

League Performance- A. We were expected to do better this season but we would've been really pleased with a top 12 finish. We're now in a position where if you offered me 7th place I definitely wouldn't take it. Went through a sticky spell where we were terrible at defending set pieces but responded with 13 pts out of 15.

Cup Performance- D. Who the fk cares about the EFL Cup? We certainly didn't. Lost at Shrewsbury only to go win at Newcastle a few days later.

Overall- A. Yes pretty happy right now

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Manager - Roberto Di Matteo - F Steve Bruce - A - After making what a lot of our fans thought was the wrong decision about manager, we were unfortunately proved right after one win in 11 games, RDM was taken back to Rome in the Ford Mondeo... Shame, as that was a great chant. Bruce has come in and massively revitalised the squad, he has a team with one good centre midfielder, a shit keeper, one winger, too many strikers and a threadbare defence and managed 7 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses. He's done brilliantly and we can only improve after the January window.

Club - B - Not much to complain about since the takeover, plenty of communication (perhaps too much at time), but we need to see if Xia can put his money where his mouth is, can't give an A yet, purely due to us seeing how things are going, done well so far though.

League - D - Not where we should be considering money spent, but this is due to Roberto's failings more than anyone elses. Seem to be moving up slowly but surely.

Cup - G - Comfortable win for Luton fucking Town. We didn't even threaten. Will also crash out of the FA Cup in January to Spurs, though there can't be too many complaints about that.

 

[Hooray]

This will be fun...

Manager - Alex Neil - E (and that's being kind) There was a poll this week on the popular Pink Un website - the go-to site for Norwich fans. 93% of the nearly 11,000 voters want Alex Neil out. Many wanted him gone immediately following last seasons fairly limp attempt at avoiding relegation from the Premier League, but others wanted him to be given a chance to get the club promoted at the first time of asking - a fair enough opinion considering how well the team did when he first arrived which lead to promotion via the play-offs. Those people have now seen why so many others didn't want him to be given that chance. To be stuck in 12th place with the squad of players at his disposal is beyond poor, and the recent run of terrible form (9 defeats in 11 games) would see many a football manager lose his job. Neil has no Plan B when things aren't going right, cannot seemingly organise a defence, and tactically so often gets shown up. Inexperience could perhaps be forgiven last season in the top flight. It cannot be an excuse now. Despite a vote of confidence from the board this week saying he will be given time to correct the slump, you have to feel he is only a couple more poor results away from losing his job. But this is Norwich we're talking about here - notorious for being far too late in making calls on the position of the manager.

Club - E - Unfortunately, 'little old Norwich' still seems to be engrained in Delia and the board. Prudence over ambition is what always holds us back when we get into a position to really push on. If Neil remains in the job and the better players get sold in January (I expect we could see the likes of Brady and Klose leave), without quality being brought in instantly to replace them, then they will find the supporters really will turn on them.

League - D - It started OK. A great opening day away win at Blackburn with performance to match. But since then it's been a case of scraping past the weaker sides and failing to beat the better teams. The fact we are halfway through the season and yet to beat anyone in the top half other than an off-form Villa side is simply a shocking statistic, and one of the reasons patience amongst the Norwich faithful has worn paper thin. The board state promotion is still very much this seasons aim, but it's getting to the stage now where if changes aren't made soon, we'll be jostling for mid-table positions rather than targetting play-off places by the time we reach March.

Cup - C - A 2-0 win away at Everton in the League Cup is a rare highlight of this season. That cup run was soon ended though when the Canaries failed to hold on to a lead at Elland Road against 10-men and ultimately lost a penalty shootout. Southampton are the visitors in the FA Cup 3rd round, with the club managing to anger fans further by charging £25 for a ticket when they would probably have struggled to attract many along to the game at half that price considering the current run.

 

[Walkley_Owl]

Manager - B We haven't been at our best this season and haven't clicked in the final third, the Forestieri saga perhaps created disharmony but CC handled that well and in recent weeks we seem to be edging towards where we were, perhaps he's still a little over reliant on certain players.

Club B+ in the near two years since Chansiri bought out Mandaric we have kicked on both on and off the pitch and are in a good place from where we were, we are competitive in the transfer market and won't be held to ransom by either other clubs or our players. I have a gripe about priced but as an ST holder I can't complain at what I pay.

League B- We should have a few more points and perhaps be slightly higher, we've lost 3 home games already which is more than last season entirely, we've chucked some silly points away.

Cup F We sent the reserves down to Cambridge and lost out in extra time, drawing Boro in the FA Cup screams early exit too so a warranted F.

 

[Haillay7]

Manager: A - I still can't believe we have Rafa Benitez in charge after having a string of incompetent idiots at our Club for the best part of a decade. Albeit we're not performing as well as we were towards the start of the season, Rafa still has us on track to return to the PL at the first time of asking. Not since Robson have I had as much faith in a manager. Genuinely feel that if we get promoted and keep him, we'll be set for the coming years in the top flight.

Club: A- - Until recently I'd have given a much lower mark, but having made a £30m profit in the transfer window and a similar net profit over the cost of the year for the Club, we're standing in really good stead financially. Our home attendances are as high as they have been for years in averaging 51k and have now sold out our last two against Sheff Wed and Forest respectively.

League Performance: A - Top at Christmas and although most likely second going in to 2017, I can't really complain. Our away form is imperious and although our performances at home are inconsistent at best, we have the squad that is far better than our 09/10 one and as its stands I believe we're on track to rival it's finish.

Cup performance: B - - Missed our first opportunity in years to reach a cup semi final in a defeat to Hull which I optimistically thought we'd overcome. Also achieved our second highest attendance in the competition against Preston with 44k. Have Birmingham away in January and if our recent record in the FA Cup is anything to go by, we'll be exiting in the 3rd Round again.

 

[The Southbank]

Manager: A - First proper job in management and he has taken to it like a duck to water. Wasn't initally happy that he was appointed, felt McDermott deserved another season, but can't complain with the way he has transformed the club from relegation candidates to a team challenging for promotion on a limited budget.


Club: D - The club is in a bad way financially if rumours are to be believed, the current owners seem more preoccupied with the hallowed land around the ground. January could be a defining moment; will they finance a promotion bid, or sell off some of our big assets to shore up the club a bit more and hope the youngsters take us up?

League Performance: A - Considering we were abysmal last season, anything is an improvement. We've looked solid, resolute and enjoyable to watch (apart from a few hammerings that I seem to only attend...). Can't see us getting promoted, but the young players have impressed and that bodes well for the future.

Cup performance: B - Losing at Arsenal is no mean feat, will be interesting to see how we do up at Old Trafford where I think we will give it a right good go.

Overall: B - Promising 6 months which could be derailed in the next 6 months if issues off the pitch aren't resolved.

 

[Walkley_Owl]

You've bid 7m for Hogan surely things aren't that bad financially.

 

[Madejski]

According to our local reporters we've made no bid for Hogan, but we are interested.

Other than a couple of Daily Mail articles rehashing things from our previous owners problems that did almost cause us to fall, Southbank is the only person seem to be claiming we're close to administration. Considering we spent money we didn't have to in the Summer, and our owner has been at almost all of our games this season, I'm not worried yet.