What we have learned this weeked – 8th/9th March 08

Somebody outside the ‘big 4′ will win the FA Cup this season. After a fantastic weekend of FA Cup action a name other than that of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool’s will be etched on the famous trophy for the first time since 1995.

Alex Ferguson still can’t take a defeat on the chin. Was it a penalty? Yes, probably. But how many times has Ronaldo cheated Utd to victory? Too many to mention. And what about the other 80-odd minutes where United couldn’t get passed the determined Pompey back-line? Blaming the referee for that is nothing more than a clever smokescreen. You lost Sir Alex. Get over it.

Norwich are better than Chelsea and Liverpool. Barnsley beat Liverpool in the Fifth Round at Anfield and Chelsea yesterday at Oakwell. We beat Barnsley home and away this season. Ergo Norwich City are better than either of them. It’s obvious!

We won’t be going up this season. 10 points behind with 9 games to go? No sorry, we’re not going to make that up. The main priority this season now is to get the momentum going again for next term – and if we can do our bit to stop Ipswich going up then all the better.

Quotes of the Week: 9th March 08

David Marshall is enjoying himself so far:

Coming here is just like a fresh start and it feels like my first club almost again. So I’m really enjoying it. And you could see it as the start of my career. So I’m really looking forward to next season, but I think there’s a bit to go in this as well.

Glenn Roeder reminds his side that the season is not over:

I think some of them have shown to me in the last couple of weeks that they’re switching off and the season is far from finished. There are a lot of points to play for and they have to realise if they want a future at this football club they have got to do a lot better.

And offers a challenge to his squad:

Some of them are playing for their careers. If they leave Norwich in the summer they will not go to a better club than this. That should be a motivating factor.

Darel Russell explains how desperate he is to regain his place in the side after being sent off, and is subsequently sent-off:

All I can do is continue to train hard and hope I show the manager enough to get back in the team. The one upside of not playing the last few games is I’ve been able to rest a niggly injury so I feel fit and fresh.