What you are saying about: GOT, NOT GOT…

What people are saying about ‘GOT, NOT GOT – The A to Z of Lost Football Culture, Treasures & Pleasures…

* Well, what can I say – your book is a FINE piece of work! Honestly, I think its brilliant and I have seldom put it down since I picked it up…

* The best book about football written in the last 20 years.

* I found myself engrossed again in the trivia that so preoccupied my life between the age of 5 and 15 and laughing until my ribs hurt.

* Wonderful book, great illustrations and is a throw back to days when football was more important than anything else, Superbly written and put together.

* If there’s anyone in your life who attended football when it was still good (60s- 80s) buy them this book and they’ll love you forever.

* I don’t even follow football anymore but I love this book. It’s packed with memories of the game when it was a simpler more enjoyable (to me anyway) sport.

* Superb stuff. Anyone who grew up in the seventies with even a passing interest in football, let alone City, will love this book.

* I utterly and completely love it… so much stuff in there that I’d pretty much forgotten about, but which is a joy to rediscover.

Featuring: Aberdeen, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Cardiff City, Carlisle United, Celtic, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, England, Everton, Fulham, Hearts, Hibs, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Luton Town, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Newcastle United, Northern Ireland, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, QPR, Rangers, Reading, Scotland, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Wales, Watford, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon & Wolves…

City Second Best as Slump Continues

Leicester City 2:3 Norwich City

City’s poor run continued at Filbert Way on Tuesday night as they were defeated 3-2 by a superior Norwich side…

Sven Goran Eriksson made one change to the side that performed so well at QPR, with Berner in for the injured Bruma and Mee restored to the centre of defence.
City should have taken an 8th minute lead when Berner swung a cross onto the head of Yakubu, but he header over the bar for what was the first disappointment of a poor night for the on-loan Everton striker.
The Canaries then took a 21st minuite lead when the impressive Hoolahan ghosted through the penalty area, unmarked, to convert a Surman corner at the near post.
An impressive number of visiting supporters only had two minutes to celebrate as City immediately summoned up an equaliser. Vassell fed Berner, who delivered another good quality cross and this time Wellens connected with an awkward looking header which nontheless beat Ruddy in the Canaries goal.
City then enjoyed a decent spell up until the break but King fired an effort inches wide and a frantic goalmouth scramble ended with a Norwich boot clearing the danger. 
Sadly, City’s improvement didn’t continue in the second half.
Two minutes after the break Mee tripped the lively Hoolahan in the area and Holt, despite Ricardo scuffing up the penalty spot, blasted home from 12 yards to put Norwich back in the lead. 
City looked ineffective in every department by this stage and Norwich settled the game in the 58th minute when Wilbraham beat Bamba on the left before firing in a shot from a tight angle that deflected past Ricardo. Shouts of “Weale, Weale!” went round the stadium, though Ricardo was not really at fault for that goal, despite looking rather unconvincing when dealing with crosses.
The rest of the evening was a miserable one for City and their followers. Norwich looked better organised and livelier all over the park and there was no way they were going to let the home side get a sniff of a point.
The long ball pumped forward for Yakubu to lose out in the air, was much in evidence, something that was missing during the golden run and January and February. 
When Gallagher hit a long range free-kick home at the death there was only time to kick off before the ref blew for time and City’s play-off hopes lay in tatters.
This was the first time City had lost at home since Sven’s arrival, but the chasing down of a play-off place seems to have exhausted them, at least for the time being.
Sven admitted: “I was worried at the start of the second half. I saw a team totally without energy, in the legs and in the mind. I don’t know what it was or whether it was too much pressure. We have to come together and talk about that.”

Leicester: Ricardo, Berner, Bamba, Naughton, Mee, King, Oakley (Gallagher 66), Abe, Wellens (Dyer 75), Yakubu, Vassell (Waghorn 58). Subs Not Used: Weale, Vitor, Schlupp, Moreno.  
Norwich: Ruddy, Ward, Whitbread, Tierney, Martin, Crofts, Surman, Fox, Hoolahan (Smith 86), Wilbraham, Holt. Subs Not Used: Jackson, Rudd, Lansbury, Edwards, McNamee, Drury.

Referee: C J Foy (Merseyside). Attendance: 23,398 

Feathers Ruffled..

Norwich City 4:3 Leicester City

Leicester slid to their third defeat on the spin last night and although they looked good going forward they were, once again, the architects of their own downfall.

Paolo Sousa made five changes to the side that was humiliated at Fratton Park last Friday with Ikeme, Lamey, Kennedy, Hobbs and Wellens in for Logan, Berner, Vitor, Neilson and Abe.

City got off to the best possible start when they took the lead in the second minute as Waghorn wriggled past two defenders before firing in a low shot at the near post that squirmed from the grasp of Ruddy in the Norwich goal and over the line.
Norwich responded positively and deserved their equaliser when it eventually came on the half hour when Crofts side-footed home from ten yards after a pull-back from the byline by Holt.
The Canaries kept the heat on until half time when City would have been the more relieved to hear the whistle.

The second half was played at a frantic pace with both sides going forward at every opportunity but it was the home side that grabbed the lead on 53 minutes when Hoolahan converted a penalty that was harshly awarded when Morrison was adjudged to have handled a cross. It was rough on City who would feel like the roof was falling in just nine minutes later when a rapid breakaway move resulted in  Hoolahan releasing Drury on the left and he had (too much) time and room to finish coolly from an angle.
Rather than cave in, City responded well and the introduction of Fryatt, Abe and Gallagher for Oakley, Wellens and Dyer gave the side new impetus and it was no surprise when Fryatt scored to keep the game alive in the 65^th minute. He responded smartly to slam the rebound in to the roof of the net after Ruddy had parried a Howard shot. There was an incident after the goal that was to have repercussions later when Ward grabbed the ball from the back of the net and kicked it shamelessly in the crowd in an act of blatant time wasting. The referee didn’t punish the player and City had a frustrating wait whilst the ball was retrieved from the crowd.
As City poured forward they were caught out at the back again in the 74^th minute as Hoolahan grabbed his second of the night with a stunning half volley beyond Ikeme’s dive and the home side’s two goal advantage was restored.
Once again City responded positively and two minutes later Fryatt reduced the deficit with his second of the night as he finished his run with a cool finish past Ruddy from the angle. Remembering the time-wasting antics after the previous goal, Howard, Fryatt and Norwich’s Leon Barnett sprinted to the back of the net in an attempt to be the first to retrieve the ball. All three players arrived together and after the pushing and handbags that ensued Fryatt was met on his way back to the halfway line by referee Walton who brandished the red card and Fryatt’s night was over.
It was a ridiculous situation that could have been avoided but the upshot was that City had to chase an equaliser with ten men. It was a fruitless effort and Norwich closed the game out comfortably and could have grabbed a fifth goal when Drury shot in to the side netting when it looked easier to hit the target.
City will (rightly) consider themselves unlucky not to have taken something from this encounter but they have to look at themselves to see why they lost: once again too many mistakes led to a goal avalanche, too much possession was conceded, and previously reliable players have lost confidence and form. Sides that succeed at this level are usually the sides that make fewest mistakes and City have once again shown that they are going backwards right now in this regard. Until this changes then the trapdoor once again beckons to the third tier of English football and we must hope that Sousa (or someone else) can find a way to restore confidence and form to a decent squad of players.

As a footnote to the events at Carrow Road last night it is worth highlighting the over-zealous stewarding from jumped up wannabees in high vis jackets. We pay a lot of money to attend matches these days and it is not too much to ask that we be allowed to vent some anger and emotion when events on the pitch warrant it. Last night we were continually hassled by stewards who delighted in telling us to “Sit down and mind your language” and several folk were led out for having committed no bigger crime than swearing at the ref. Was it not Delia Smith who, several seasons ago, demanded more passion from her own fans in a famous rant? It seems that the stewards inside Carrow Road are on a mission to ensure that the passion is amputated from the visiting fans and they will only be happy if we all sit and applaud politely. Special mention goes to the somewhat emasculated female steward who looked like Olive from ‘On the Buses’ and was carrying a copy of ‘The Female Eunuch’ in her pocket (probably)…

Norwich: Ruddy, Ward, Barnett, Martin, Drury, Crofts, Hoolahan (Smith 81), Lappin, Smith, Jackson (Martin 72), Holt. Subs Not Used: McNamee, Fox, Berthel Askou, Rudd, Johnson.
Leicester: Ikeme, Kennedy, Hobbs, Lamey, Morrison, King, Dyer (Gallagher 66), Oakley (Fryatt 54 (sent off 80)), Wellens (Abe 67), Howard, Waghorn. Subs Not Used: Berner, Logan, Moreno, Moussa.

Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire). Attendance: 25,091.

 

Guide to the Championship

Here is the FOX Guide to the Championship from the 2007 Summer Special…

Can you name all 24 clubs?

Top Ten Moments at the Walkers…

We know we are guilty of mourning Filbert Street’s passing on here, so let’s have Ten Great Moments since the move from Filbert Street to Filbert Way…

1.  10/8/02 - Opening Day – the first 30,000 plus crowd in many years, the excitement of being in our new home, and a great 2-0 win over Watford thanks to two goals from Brian Deane.

2. 14/12/02 – Despite Stevie Claridge’s first minute goal, City thrash Dennis Wise’s Millwall 4-1. 31,904 City fans fill the ground, but away fans are banned.

3.  27/4/03 - Micky Adams and his side celebrate promotion to the Premiership after a 1-1 draw against Norwich City.

4. 15/9/03 - City stuff Leeds 4-0 and Lilian Nalis scores a magnificent opener, all in front of the Sky cameras.

5. 8/11/04 - Craig Levein’s first home game in charge brings a 3-0 win over neighbours Coventry with goals from Nalis, Tiatto and Heath.

6. 26/11/2005 - An otherwise drab season is lit up by a fine 4-2 win over Sheffield United, Hume (2), Smith and Hammond finding the net.

7. 4/3/06 - City win a thriller against Hull 3-2, with Joey Gudjonsson scoring from the half way line.

 

8. 25/8/07 - It all clicks together for Martin Allen’s side as they beat Watford 4-1, with goals from Hume, Campbell, Sheehan and De Vries. 

9. 13/4/09 - Steve Howard’s late header against Leeds brings a 1-0 win and huge step towards the League One title.

10. 24/4/09 - Nigel Pearson’s side are presented with the League One trophy after a 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe, bouncing back from Division Three at the first attempt…