Ronaldo and the transvestites. The funniest story of the year so far?

Oh this is good. This is really, really good.

Is this the quote that finally puts to rest any thought of Hucks staying?

Glenn Roeder on myfootballwriter.com:

I’m absolutely clear in my mind with what players I want to continue to play a part here over the next few years. But I’m also aware that there will be a number of players that will leave the club. We have to replace those with new players; new heroes.

There are heroes here now that will stay and there are heroes that are not at Norwich yet but that will start the season here. And that is what our supporters will want to see as well – fresh blood.

The one constant thing in football is change. I know that is contradictory but that is what it is. It’s a revolving door and that is for managers, coaches and players.

I’m not a person who dwells on the past. The history is left up on the shelf and I just look forward to the future.

I think it might very well be. It’s that last paragraph that does it for me. I hope I’m wrong – it’s not as if everyone is over-analysing every little comment made to look for clues is it? What’s that? Oh.

Aviva-voom and the new City kit

So the rumours were true and AVIVA is the new club sponsor. Very nice too.

What isn’t very nice too, at least on first inspection is the new kit (modelled very well on the right here by Mr. Jason Shackell of Hollywood fame).

You may recall a few weeks ago a post with a few requests to the board regarding the new kit? In that post I made five simple requests, which were:

1. Let us (the fans) have a say in our kit.
2. Get a decent sponsor.
3. Please don’t make it “fitted”.
4. Let us know about it early.
5. Please don’t let Xara give us a kit that is styled from an adidas kit or similar.

My original intention was to email Neil Doncaster just to see what came back, but we were all rather embroiled in a rather messy relegation battle so it didn’t really seem appropriate to waste more of Mr. Doncaster’s time with my “little” requests.

That said, how many of them were met anyway?

Let us (the fans) have a say in our kit. Erm, nope. Didn’t get that one unless somebody somewhere knows different?

Get a decent sponsor. Aviva are the biggest employer in our region and the fifth largest insurance group in the world, so I think that’s a tick in the box.

Please don’t make it “fitted”. It certainly doesn’t appear to be fitted, so even David in Hong Kong should hopefully be able to get the lovely tracksuit he’s always wanted! Another tick in the box.

Let us know about it early. Well we’ve all seen the kit and the season isn’t over yet but we won’t be able to buy it on bulk until August, so that’s a little tiny tick from me.

Please don’t let Xara give us a kit that is styled from an adidas kit of similar. It’s pretty similar to an old Nike kit and a little too much like the last “Proton” shirt we had, so I’m undecided on this one.

It’s about 2.5 each, so all things considered I’m pretty happy with that, however this statement on the official site has got me a little confused:

The new away kit will be exclusively unveiled at this year’s Royal Norfolk Show (Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26) in the Norwich City marquee. Exact launch details are to be confirmed.

The current red and white kit is stated as being used from 2007-2009, so what’s happening there? If anyone knows I’d love to find out…

The greatest TV advert of all time

Fact.

Poll: Southampton, Leicester, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry or Blackpool – who won’t be very happy on Sunday?

It’s the final poll of the season (until I think of another one anyway).

Southampton’s point at West Brom last night means there is still a real battle on for the third and final relegation place in the Championship, with the Saints, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City and Blackpool still not safe.

I’ve had my say (which you can read here), and we’ve had this poll before when we weren’t safe and Leicester were then on the brink, but we’ve come a long way since then so who do you think will be the ones to drop now?

This poll is now closed. You can view the results by clicking here.

Champions League Semi-Final (Second Leg) Predictions

The second leg of the Champions League Semi-Finals take place tonight and tomorrow. Both games are delicately poised after the first leg games, and an all-English final in Moscow next month is still on the cards.

Man Utd v Barcelona (ITV1 from 19:30 tonight). Both sides cancelled each other out at the Nou Camp last week, and Ronaldo’s penalty miss could cost them dear. The question at the moment is whether or not United have “lost it” after the Stamford Bridge debacle, and it’d certainly be interesting if Barca score first. Which I don’t think they will. My prediction: Man Utd to go through.

Chelsea v Liverpool (Sky Sports 1 from 18:00 tomorrow). If you’d have told John Arne Riise that he would score a stunning diving header to equalise in front of the Kop in the last minute of injury time he would have probably been more than happy with that prior to the game last Tuesday, but alas he would also probably have rather scored for Liverpool. Should be a great game and I’m really unsure who will go through, but I’ve decided to back the Blues. My prediction: Chelsea to go through.

Championship Predictions: 28th April 2008

Oh, the sweet feeling of being able to take a look at the Championship table without coming over a little peculiar.

Here’s how I think the final league table will look:

1. West Brom (81pts)
2. Stoke City (81pts)
3. Hull City (78pts)
4. Bristol City (74pts)
5. Crystal Palace (71pts)
6. Watford (70pts)
7. Wolves (70pts)
8. Sheff Utd (67pts)
9. Ipswich Town (66pts)
10. Plymouth Argyle (64pts)
11. Cardiff City (64pts)
12. Charlton Athletic (62pts)
13. Burnley (62pts)
14. QPR (58pts)
15. Preston North End (56pts)
16. Norwich City (56pts)
17. Barnsley (55pts)
18. Blackpool (54pts)
19. Coventry City (54pts)
20. Sheff Wed (53pts)
21. Southampton (52pts)
22. Leicester City (51pts)
23. Scunthorpe United (48pts)
24. Colchester United (37pts)

Sorry Foxes, I just can’t see you getting anything at the Britannia and I think Southampton will get the point they need at home against Sheffield United.

West Brom v Southampton – and why all Canaries should be cheering on the Saints tonight

Until 5pm on Saturday afternoon I was pretty desperate for Southampton to get a thorough stuffing tonight at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. With their wretched goal difference a defeat for the Saints and a draw for the Canaries against QPR would have made us pretty much safe.

Now that the threat of relegation is no longer over us I’ve had a complete change of heart. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against West Brom – I think they are the best team in the division – but I’m thinking of the greater good.

A win for the Baggies leaves only one automatic promotion place left for Hull and Stoke to fight it out for, and Southampton would need nothing less than a win against Sheffield United next Sunday to have any realistic chance of avoiding the drop. The Blades need a win to stand any chance of making the play-offs so that would then potentially be a cracking game but no, exciting a prospect as that may be for a “neutral” that’s not good enough for me.

A Southampton win would have ramifications all the way through the table.

The pressure would be on Leicester to go to Stoke and upset the applecart, who just need a point to seal promotion. Hull could potentially overtake both Stoke and the Baggies with a win at Ipswich, who themselves need a win to get into the play-offs. What better motivation for the Tigers at Portman Road than the possibility of winning the title? And how upsetting would be for all Canaries to see the Tractor Boys miss out on the play-offs?

In short, a win for Southampton tonight makes the last day of the season all the more exciting – now that we don’t need to worry.

So come on you Saints, don’t let us down!

UPDATE: Well done Southampton, you may not have managed to cling on to the win but you’ve definitely made the last game of the season more interesting for a lot of clubs. And well done West Brom as well, promoted to the Premier League barring a chain of ridiculous results on Sunday. Well deserved.

The Week in Review: 21st-27th April 2008

Monday 21st April 2008. On Monday we speculated on the reasons for Kieran GIbbs starting against West Brom, and looked at the possibility of Darren Huckerby staying at the club on a pay-as-you-play deal.

Tuesday 22nd April 2008. On Tuesday we had a look at the week’s Champions League action, and pondered the future of Alex Pearce. Does Mr. Roeder want him back?

Wednesday 23rd April 2008. Wednesday was Mr. Huckerby’s 32nd birthday, and we also sent our best wishes to Liverpool fan Liam Harker.

Thursday 24th April 2008. It was revealed that 92% of City supporters want Hucks to stay on for next season, I couldn’t make my mind up as to whether or not I was looking forward to the QPR game and took a look at the possible ramifications each result could have, and had a weird dream.

Friday 25th April 2008. We looked at the Daily Mirror story linking Hucks to Palace, I spat my dummy out regarding the FA’s decision to play the Welsh National Anthem before the English Cup Final, and finally got over my nerves for the QPR game.

Saturday 26th April 2008. Saturday was a busy day. It was revealed that 56% of people thought QPR would beat us, I laughed at someone who accused me of being a “geek”, previewed the QPR game and marvelled at how Manchester United show respect for referees.

Sunday 27th April 2008. On Sunday I discovered that the Mansfield owner had been attacked, was shocked by the league table and went through the lessons learned over the weekend.

What we have learned this weekend: 26th/27th April 2008

City are safe! Yesterday’s resounding 3-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at Carrow Road finally put to bed any nagging fears regarding relegation.

Nothing else really matters, but there’s also:

The Premier League race is not over after all. Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat of Manchester United blew the title race open again with two games to go. I still think United will win through in the end though.

Don’t mess with the Chelsea ground staff. You’ll get hurt.

Carlos Queiroz understands irony. After the Chelsea game, he said It must be necessary for a player to “bring a gun and shoot one of our men in the box for us to get a penalty”. Yes Carlos, as United never get penalties do they?