First up I hope I've not been over-presumptuous in assuming I get another shot at the matchday thread after last week's defeat, nobody else has stuck their hand up to say they'd take on the baton so I thought I'd have another go and hope I can get us back to the kind of form that brought us five wins out of five. Penultimate game of the regular season before the play-offs get underway, which will be the worst case scenario for us now that we've secured a top four place. I've seen a few comments since the Boro game that suggest AN will be thinking about mixing things up, resting some key players and concentrating on the post-season scrap as the automatic spots are now out of reach. I personally don't buy into that at all, and am almost certain nobody at the club will either. Yes, last week's game was a big setback to our hopes of making the top two, especially with Boro and Watford picking up maximum points, but the Wendys last gasp equaliser at Bournemouth might just have given us a lifeline, and with six points still to be won and lost before the season's end and only a three, or maybe only a two point swing needed for us to get back into the auto spots I've certainly not ruled anything out yet. But then I wouldn't, would I? So next up is a trip Rotherham, a club plunged right into the relegation dogfight off the field this week as they received a three point deduction for fielding an ineligible player earlier in the season. A week or so they would have felt reasonably safe, but now they hover just a point above the drop zone and the proverbial rabbit's noses must be twitching at the New York Stadium, particularly with Millwall showing a resurgence under Neil Harris. The will surely be bang up for this game, and will be hoping to take advantage of any complacency we may show to grab all three points in their final home game to give themselves as good a chance as they can. I feel they may be disappointed if they are expecting any complacency though as I know AN will have our lads well up for this and he will want to keep the pressure on our rivals until the final whistle of the final game. We have a good record against the Millers, we haven't lost against them in the previous eleven meetings, though the 1-1 home draw earlier in the campaign still rankles as two points that 'got away' so hopefully there will be no pissing about and the three points will be coming back to Norfolk on Saturday night. After an eight day break everyone should be refreshed and fully recharged, and with a virtually fully fit squad to choose from it will be interesting to see how we line up. I wouldn't imagine it would be too different from the starting XI's of late, though I wonder if our gaffer will be tempted to maybe go with Hooper up front from the off. I'm predicting a backlash after the Boro defeat and a bad end to a bad week for Rotherham with a nail hammered in their relegation coffin. 4-1 City win I've gone for with a second hat-trick of the season from Gary Hooper - though I'd be perfectly happy with a scrappy 1-0 as long as our rivals drop points. Watford travel to Brighton for the lunchtime kick-off so by the time we get underway we'll have a better idea of what is still possible for us. A Seagulls win in that early game would crazily give us the chance to go top on Saturday night should Boro fail to win at Fulham. Ever the optimist eh? COME ON YOU YELLAS!!!!!!
Top work, Munky. As people have said, the pressure is off, so let's go and play some attacking football and see what happens (though my arse will be a'nipping if Mr. Hootun does us a favour at lunchtime!) I'm still confident our group of players can beat any team in this league over 2 legs to set up a Wembley final should we have to, and we would have all taken that scenario back in January.
Glad to see you've done this, Munky. Your record (5 wins from 6) is pretty good, you know. All week I've been hopeful that Hughton's Brighton can do Watford. Suddenly today I am less doubtful. No idea why.
I'm predicting a strong win today which will help our gd and a slip from one or more of our rivals putting us back in the thick of it by tonight
I have got fed up reflecting on results earlier in the season, especially at home. They have cost us very, very dear this season. I know our 'friends' down south like to ridicule the notion of the claims of 100 points and 100 goals this season, but when you look back at where we have thrown points away, those targets really should have been achieved (Bournemouth can probably say the same too)
Nice one Munky , I very much doubt we will win it now but #2 is still achievable. I would like to see us spank Rotherham today and rest a few of our big players.
Ruddy; Martin (c), R Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Dorrans, Howson, Johnson, Redmond, Hoolahan; Grabban. SUBS: Rudd (GK), Cuellar, Jerome, Hooper, E Bennett, O'Neil, Odjidja-Ofoe. No Tetty or Whittaker. Jerome on the bench
Well that the title gone (thanks Brighton, you useless ****ing ****ers) so let's go grab second place!
Do you think Brighton fans get told by Geordies how lucky they are to have Chris Hughton ? The guy is a chump.
It's hard to feel any sympathy for Hughton. Duh - everything I did at Norwich failed utterly. Duh - I will do exactly the same again and I will be a glorious success. The man may be nice, but he is not the sharpest knife in the box, is he?
Chris Hughton has not been our manager for more than a year, for God's sake stop living in the past and move on! You're living in days that are gone just like our binner friends from down the road! BAH (sorry GM, I couldn't help it!)