Posted April 30th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Billy Davies is looking forward to Sunday’s match against Southampton, before his real work begins.
That work being bringing Dexter Blackstock to the club permanently.
And if not Dexter then the “big man”, Dele Adebola (who I’m still not keen on but didn’t have give Wes the run-around this season).
Well that’s about it for this exciting news-roundup. I’d take this over sweating about Sunday though!
UPDATE
Mark Arthur reckons a Premier League Two is inevitable.
And Nigel Doughty has money to burn this summer.
Tags: billy davies, dele adebola, dexter blackstock, mark arthur, nigel doughty, premier league, premier league two Posted in News
Posted April 28th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
In case you hadn’t noticed, Reading did us a bit of a favour last night.
Norwich now cannot catch us, making the final relegation spot a battle between them and Barnsley. Also meaning that Sunday’s game is now stress-free!
So congratulations to Billy and the players, congratulations to everyone associated with the club. I said at the start of the season that I would take 21st place and it looks like we will do one better. OK, it was a bit of a roller-coaster but we’ve seen some beautiful football, some absolute dire football and I actually started to like Colin Calderwood (and then he was gone).
And now we have big-mouth Billy Davies, who, if nothing else, has a big job on his hands over the summer. More on that over the next few days …
Tags: barnsley, billy davies, colin calderwood, norwich city, reading Posted in Opinion
Posted April 23rd, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
On paper this looks like really good news for us (I also think that it is fair that clubs are deducted points for administration, even though it is a nightmare for us fans – but that’s for another day).
Southampton have had ten points deducted after their parent company went into administration. Surely this helps us, no?
Well not quite.
I calculated that we need four points to reach guaranteed safety. The best that Norwich, in the last relegation place, can manage is 52. We are on 49, with a much worse goal difference to the Canaries. So either we beat one of Blackpool or Southampton by nine goals more than Norwich score in their next two games (putting us on 52 with a better goal difference) – or we go for a win and a draw (putting us on 53, just out of their reach).
However, Southampton’s punishment is variable. If they “stay up” (which they can do by getting six points from two games and one of Norwich, Barnsley or us not getting above 49 points) then they will have the points deduction applied straight away. Putting them on 40 points and leaving Norwich, Barnsley or us in the third relegation place.
But, if they go down this season “naturally” (ie they fail to get six points or two of Norwich, Barnsley or us get more than 50 points) then their ten point penalty is applied next season.
Read that again.
If they go down the penalty is held over till next season.
Which is something they will be desperate to avoid. And puts a whole new complexion on the final game of the season.
Hopefully, we will only need a point on the 3rd (or even better, Norwich will have done us a favour and slipped up).
But to Southampton, it’s no longer a six pointer – it’s a sixteen pointer – and they will be fighting that much harder to prevent next season being ruined as well.
Tags: administration, southampton Posted in News, Opinion
Posted April 21st, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Will Forest be after Lee Campo in the summer? I’m sure there’s a lot of people at the City Ground who would welcome that (and I can’t see Paul Smith staying, to be honest).
Kelvin Wilson is fined after his sending off at the Blunts the other day.
Kenny Burns reckons Forest have added a bit of gamesmanship to their armoury, which is something we have been crying out for.
And Bryan Gunn (remember him breaking his leg in a horrific injury against us?) says that “it ain’t over till it’s over” in his best falsetto.
Tags: billy davies, bryan gunn, kelvin wilson, kenny burns, lee campo, paul smith Posted in News
Posted April 19th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Billy chooses what, on paper, looks like a 4-4-2 but actually turns into a 4-5-1 for this “must-win” home game.
Smith in goal, with a back-four of Gunther, Morgan, Chambers and Perchio. In midfield, Anderson, McGugan, Cohen, Osbourne and Garner and Dexter Blackstock leading the line.
We forgot to mention it during the actual podcast, but we give the man of the match award to Luke Chambers. It was pretty close run, between McCleary, Blackstock, Chambers and maybe Cohen – but given the torrid season Chambers has had, this game (where he played in his favoured position for the first time) showed what a decent player he can be.
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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunther, coventry city, dexter blackstock, isiah osbourne, james perchio, joe garner, lewis mcgugan, luke chambers, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul smith, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
Posted April 11th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
4-4-2 for us today: Turner, Gunther, Morgan, Wilson, Lynch, Anderson, Moussi, Perchio (c), Cohen, Blackstock, Earnshaw. And one of the best endings to a game in years (after much tedium).
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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, Guy Moussi, james perch, joel lynch, kelvin wilson, match report, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, rob earnshaw, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
Posted April 11th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
We remember Hillsbrough.
Tags: Hillsbrough, liverpool Posted in General
Posted April 6th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Davies and Davey go to war over Billy’s Chris Morgan comments – you can also hear Billy’s post-match comments.
Paolo Sousa says that Dexter Blackstock came to us without his knowledge.
Is Gary McSheffrey on his way?
Stuart Pearce unsurprisingly spotted at punk gig.
Are we a chronically deluded Championship side, as the author argues Southampton are?
And, finally, Arsene Wenger wants more points if you score lots of goals.
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Tags: arsene wenger, billy davies, chris morgan, dexter blackstock, gary mcsheffrey, paolo sousa, simon davey, southampton Posted in News
Posted April 2nd, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
As the Geordies bring in an inexperienced local hero to try and save them in their relegation battle, our inexperienced local hero (that link gets me every time) who couldn’t quite save us in one of our many relegation battles returns to the City Ground. And is beaten.
The excellently named Lincoln striker Danny N’Guessan is a target for us, as well as the three biggest clubs in Yorkshire. While, the less-excellently named Peter Leven, midfielder at MK Dons, is wanted by us, Plymouth and Preston. Meanwhile Spencer Weir-Daley makes it his aim to join every single football club in Nottinghamshire.
And finally Capital One have ended their six year association with the club. I’ve heard that the “credit crunch” has hit them hard, so this comes as no surprise. Speaking of money – Southampton are staring administration in the face. While the ten point deduction may make us sleep a bit easier, it just goes to show how a board consisting of tits can transform a viable club into something on the brink of extinction.
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Tags: alan shearer, capital one, city ground, danny n'guessan, england, peter leven, southampton, spencer weir-daley, stuart pearce Posted in News
