Football News And Views

Norwich City 1 - 3 Bristol City

There has certainly been mixed fortunes for Norwich City and Bristol City this season. Norwich City had struggled under Peter Grant who has now left the club and this was the first game for caretaker manager Jim Duffy and new loan signing John Hartson. Bristol City on the other hand were expected to go straight back down by most people but have found themselves amongst the big boys in the top of the table. Norwich City had hoped that their league places count for nothing before the game and Norwich City were by far the better team in the first half and created many chances in the first ten minutes alone. Norwich came close after just 3 minutes when some nice play between Otsemobor and Huckerby on the right saw the ball played into the feet of Russell on the edge of the area, his clever back-heel found Strihavka, whose touch fell into the path of Hartson 15 yards out. The 32-year-old’s first touch got the ball out of his feet, and he sent in a low right foot shot which ‘keeper Adriano Basso got down well to push away for a corner. Two minutes later Hartson had a shot from 25 yards that Basso saved well. And from the resulting corner the striker made it a hat-trick of near-misses, powering a header from Lappin’s kick just inches wide. The Canaries were piling on the pressure inside the Bristol box, and on eight minutes another chance went begging. Again Hartson was at the centre of things, chesting a cross from Lappin down into the stride of Drury who had stayed up from a previous attack but he blasted over from 8 yards. Bristol City only came close once in the first half when a shot from McAllister looked to be creeping in but Marshall saved well.

The Canaries tested Basso again on 19 minutes, Russell unleashing a left-foot shot from the edge of the box which the ‘keeper again looked less than comfortable with as he palmed it down in front of him. Fortunately for him, his defence were alert to the danger before Hartson could reach the rebound. There was a moment of concern for City fans on 24 minutes when Drury hit the deck clutching his right knee in pain after coming off worse in a 50-50 challenge on the halfway line. Drury couldn’t continue and had to be replaced by Michael Spillane with Murray going to left back. In the 35th minute Marshall comfortably collected a deep cross from the right before throwing the ball to Huckerby in space on the right. There were many occasions when Huckerby has plenty of space on the right but this one of the few occasions he was picked up and it almost paid off when he darted over the halfway line and found Otsemobor on the overlap. He pinged in a first time cross to the near post where Strihavka was sliding in. But visiting captain Louis Carey had read the danger, jumping in to block on the right corner of the six-yard box. Norwich later won a free kick about 45 yards out and Simon Lappin produced a trademark dipping free kick to the far post, but Hartson could not make a strong enough connection, with the ball finishing behind for a goal kick and the striker dropping to his knees in disappointment.

Norwich were forced to pay for not taking their chances in the second half when within minutes Bristol City took the lead. Ivan Sproule took on Murray and sent in a good ball from the left which McIndoe headed passed Marshall who looked to have got fingers too it. Bristol City almost made it 2-0 when David Noble pulled a chance horribly wide of the far post when unmarked less than 10 yards out. Duffy changed things around after 68 minutes with Croft replacing Murray. This saw Lappin move to left-back, with Huckerby going wide left and Croft taking up his usual position on the right flank. On 70 minutes the change almost led to the equaliser. Croft picked up the ball wide right before playing a ball into Otsemobor’s path who was overlapping. He got to the by-line and fizzed a cross across the six-yard box. Strihavka came diving in, but Carey read the danger, just managing to flick the ball away from the Czech forward. Three minutes later and Hartson produced a smart turn from Otsemobor’s cross, but his low shot was straight at Basso from 10 yards out. He did well to create the chance for himself but he really should have done better with the finish. Hartson again had a chance when he headed wide from a Lappin corner but that was to be the end of his chances as he was taken off and replaced for Chris Martin.

A goal finally came for Norwich City when Darren Huckery made a great run from the left and into the box to blast the ball past Basso to make it 1-1. But it was only 5 minutes until Bristol City were back in the lead. Murray took a pot shot from about 30 yards which Marshall didn’t expect. It hit his left hand post before trickling across and finally over the line. It was a soft goal and very harsh on Norwich who had tried so hard to get the match back level. Bristol City were not finished though. In the final minute Lee Trundle found himself through on the right and smartly finished to make it 3-1.

So Bristol City are now second and Norwich are second from bottom. A new manager is needed fast for Norwich who need to take positives from the game. Overall they were the better team but they need to take their chances. If they had done it might have been a different story altogether.

Norwich City are having a terrible run at the moment. Defeats to then bottom team Sheffield Wednesday and now to current bottom team QPR were pretty much the icing on the cake for manager Peter Grant who has now quit the club which has really only left him a tiny bit of dignity because sooner or later he would have got sacked anyway. Norwich find themselves in the relegation zone with only 8 points from 10 games. Financially they are also in a bad way after their profits fell from £2.4m to just £100,000. To add even more bad news to Norwich City fans there were some reports today that Delia Smith is quit as main director of the club and sell all her shares. I wouldn’t blame her at this moment in time. The future really does look bleak for the club at the moment. The only way to pick themselves up is to get in a higher profile manager to give the fans and players a lift. Just look at what Roy Keane did last year at Sunderland, and although Norwich don’t have the funds that he had he still got the club back to winning ways before he chance to spend much. Let’s hope someone such as Warnock is up to the challenge as he could be just the guy to give the Canaries a boost but I can’t him wanting the job to be honest.

Tomorrow is the big kick off. The English football season begins with all the football leagues and Premiership kicking off on the same day which makes a nice welcome change. At the beginning of every season I always like to make my own predictions. They are usually wrong but the great thing about football is that anything can happen. Below is my predictions for each league.

League 2

I am tipping Darlington to challenge strongly for promotion. They have added a lot of new faces to their squad and were unlucky last season. With Paul Ince as manager I think the MK Dons also will be going up into league one. I am tipping Notts County to take the 3rd promotion place. At the other side of the table I think Macclesfield will be relegated but who goes with them I am not too sure. A lot of people say it may be Dag & Red but I think they might just have what it takes to stay up. Hereford could find themselves being sucked into the relegation fight so I am going to say that they will finish second from bottom.

League 1

Before Leeds were handed their 15 point deduction I would have tipped them to come back up. Their rebuilding process has started now and I think they can get themselves back on their feet. It’s a big ask for them to gain promotion this season with a 15 point deduction. I would like to see Doncaster go up and they will be in with a shout for the playoffs as usual and I will also like to see Hartlepool stay up which I think they might just do. The battle for promotion is very hard to call and the likes of Luton and Southend will be aiming for a quick return to the Championship but I am not sure if either of them will. Surely this will be the year that Nottingham Forest win promotion back to The Championship. They were so close and very unlucky last season. It will be interesting to see how Swansea will cope without Trundle but Duffy has the quality to fill his boots. They might just make the play offs.

The Championship

It’s never easy to predict The Championship but on paper Sheffield United should walk it. They boast a very strong strike force with Beattie and Sharp being added to the ranks this summer and they could well get 30 goals+ between them if they are on form. Charlton will also be good but they have to cope with the loss of Bent and I think they may only get a play off place. I tip West Brom to join Sheff Utd in the automatic spots. I think Wolves could well surprise a few people this season as they have made some good captures in the summer especially Freddy Eastwood and they too should get a play off place at least. I wont rule out Leicester either. They have bought in a lot of new faces so they may need time to adapt which could hinder any hopes of an automatic place. At the bottom of the table I think Scunthorpe will go back down and I think Ipswich may struggle a bit this season but they should stay up. Their rivals Norwich will be interesting this season. They have shuffled the pack and will be looking for a top half finish at least.

The Premiership

I think the top four will be tighter this season with Liverpool capturing Torres and if Arsenal keep up their pre season form they will surprise a lot of people. I think the title will go back to Stamford Bridge though. Fifth and sixth should be wrapped up by Tottenham and Everton. Manchester City have been very active in the transfer market but I think it may take their foreign legion time to adapt and I think they will finish mid table. Fulham could surprise a few people (hopefully not Arsenal on Sunday) and they should hopefully not be in the relegation fight come the close season. Bolton could be in trouble as I think they will struggle without Big Sam at the helm. Going down I have Wigan, Birmingham and Derby. Sunderland should stay up but I can’t see them replicating Reading who I think may finish in the bottom half this season. I expect the likes of Blackburn, Aston Villa and Newcaslte to finish top half this season with Middlesbrough struggling. I can’t see West Ham breaking into the top half.

That’s my take on everything. In May you will see that I am most likely wrong but out of all the season previews and predictions you have read I challenge you to find one  that will be accurate come May.

30 people at Norwich City FC have become very ill due to food poisoning from a BBQ for the players and staff. It is believed that 4 of the staff taking ill were players but it is not known which ones. This is not too dissimilar to the illness caused to a few Tottenham players a couple of years ago from lasagna. It wouldn’t surprise me if the chef from back then was cooking the Norwich City BBQ though for a team who have Delia Smith as their chairman (or lady) you wouldn’t expect anything like this to happen. Outside contractors were employed to lay on the food to allow Mrs Smith’s own catering staff to enjoy the event, which was held on Sunday. It is not known if Delia Smith was at the BBQ but maybe she should be the one cooking next time. They could always just avoid having BBQs in future and stick to famous Norfolk foods such as fish fingers or Colmans mustard.

Today Sheffield Utd completed the signing of James Beattie for £4m from Everton but the point I would like to raise is why would a striker who at 29 is in the prime of his career and who has England ambitions decide to play in the championship?

 I agree that he had to leave Everton as he as dropped down the pecking order at Goodison Park and wern’t gonna play much but if he had bid-ed his time would a premiership club come in for him? I think probably as Sunderland paid £5m for Chopra who has only played a couple of games in the Premiership before being bought by Cardiff in the Championship and Portsmouth paid £7m for Nugent who admittedly is younger but who is unproven in the premiership. No one knows for sure if a Premiership club would have come in for him so I think going to Sheffield Utd is a smart move as they are one of the bigger clubs in the Championship who have a good chance at gaining promotion back to the big league and now Beattie knows he will be playing week in week out but I can’t see him being picked for England any time soon.

 I personally think Beattie will link up well with Billy Sharp and with Lee Hendrie in the midfield as well and I expect at least a top 6 finish from the blades this season.

Lee Trundle has spoke out about his move from Swansea to Bristol City saying that he is targeting a place in the Irish national team. Trundle is now 30 years old and has easily been one of the best strikers below the Championship for a few seasons now but he has not taken the step up until this forth coming season. If he can maintain his record in the Championship with Bristol City then I think there is a serious chance that he will get his first cap. However at 30 years of age there is not much time for Trundle to make a huge impact at International level. In a couple years he may find it difficult to keep up playing for club and country. However I am sure Lee is happy  if he just gets one cap as it has always been his dream to put on the green jersey of Ireland. I just feel that he would have already have put it on if he had joined Sheff Wed in 2005 when they tabled a £750k bid for him. Good luck to Lee anyway. I have always been a fan of him and as long as he doesn’t score too many past Norwich I am sure I still will be for a while yet.

The transfer market has seen an invasion of the best strikers from The Championship. Players such as David Nugent from Preston, Robert Earnshaw from Norwich, Michael Chopra from Cardiff and David Healy from Leeds are all aiming to find the net this season for their clubs, Portsmouth, Derby County, Sunderland and Fulham respectively. But which one of these will score the most goals? Earnshaw and Chopra have some Premiership experience behind them but never really took the league by storm but last season they found the net almost with ease in The Championship. It is a big step up but the players are more than ready for the challenge. Healy has plenty of International experience so he is used to playing tougher opponents and Nugent has an England cap and goal to his name. It will be tough to call who out of these will get the most goals.  Lets look at each player.

David Nugent

By far one of the best strikers Preston have had for a long time. Made it into the England team and got a goal to his name too even though it wasn’t much of a goal it was good for his confidence. He will be wanting to get back into the England team and at Portsmouth he has a great team behind him who can  provide him with more than enough chances.

Robert Earnshaw

When Dean Ashton left Norwich Earnshaw was the man brought into replace him. He scored 19 goals last season despite missing half of it with injury. He is a very short player so I can’t see him getting many headed goals but his finishing has been top drawer. Derby may struggle this season and are bookies favorites  to go down but if he can bring his Championship form into the Premeirship there may be some surprises.

Michael Chopra 

Was a flop at Newcastle and didn’t really manage to do much at Premiership level. he came alive in the Championship but I feel he is no more than Championship quality. Keane has built a good squad at Sunderland. The pressure will be on Chopra to show the rest of the Premiership why he is worth £5m.I can’t see him bagging 15+ goals this season but if he score some important ones it wont matter.

David Healy 

Was a great success at Leeds and has been fantastic for Northern Island at International level. Sanchez knows this man better than most people and he will bring the best from him. Fulham could well be a surprise package this year and if they do spring some surprises then you can put good money on Healy being the man coming up with the goods.