CanaryCouple

13 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, both worked their nuts off, Bell managed to contribute a bit more to our attacks, but even though things didn’t really go for Wells there were a couple of lovely controls and layoffs.

Funny innit, I thought McLean had a good game, your other midfielders were all “fur coat and no knickers”, and I can see them going missing when the going gets tough.  Giannoulis I thought was good second half, but Sykes had the better of him when we got attacks.

Kenny didn't play badly overall, but struggled to stop Scott influencing the game, especially after his booking. He has consistently been one of our best performers this season, I love the guy but he gets a ton of undeserved stick from our fans.

Dowell was anonymous, Sara his usual frustrating self (flashes of brilliance, then goes missing), Nunez poor too. We really lack a specialist DM, have done since Alex Tettey left. Gibbs played well when he came on, but he's more of a box-to-box midfielder.

15 minutes ago, Hamdon Mart said:

On the plus side, Matt, it was nice to see Adam Idah back in the fold today, thought he looked lively when he came on.

Watched him as a 17-year-old in your u23's at Reading where he was one of the most impressive strikers at that level I'd seen. Career seemed to take off meteorically then fall flat equally quickly (think he had off-field issues!) but now he seems to be on the mend again. Wish the lad luck, hundreds of others have done what he's done and not come back.

I'm not aware of any off-field issues, although he has had ongoing muscular issues that have hampered his progress. A friend of mine is from the same town in Ireland and watched him come up through the ranks. He has all the tools to be an excellent player, other than that laser-guided instinct in front of goal. We've just given him a five-year contract, so he's very highly thought of, but he needs a run of goals to build that confidence.

Wasn't helped by playing as a lone striker for ROI in a failing team with very little service!

15 minutes ago, mozo said:

Yeah Mehmeti had me excited with hos quick feet, albeit he fluffed his one shot.

You're probably aware that Mehmeti came through the Norwich academy. Saw him play a couple of times for our reserves and he didn't look like much of a player... really pleased for him that he's forged a career for himself.

1 hour ago, REDOXO said:

You watching the Rugby?

Aye, watched it in BBF. Probably heading to Tobacco Factory next. Enjoy your night, folks!

Just now, cidercity1987 said:

I thought Scott was shit!! Comparatively 

Will have to keep watching your games to see what he's like when he's at his best, then!

Just the way he moves and makes space for himself on and off the ball, no offence intended but you can see he's a cut above the rest of your team (and ours). We saw the same with Maddison and Buendía in recent years. Enjoy him while you have him!

Just wanted to add – I saw that you're planning a minute's applause from 7:00-7:59 for the Ashton Gate Eight.

At our last couple of games we have had a minute's applause from 8:00-8.59 for a young fan named Amber Sheehy, who tragically died recently just hours short of her ninth birthday.

Appreciate it's a bit late notice now, but if you see us cheering especially loudly just afterwards you'll know why. Coventry fans joined in with us at our last away game and made it an incredibly emotional experience for Amber's family, who were in the crowd.

https://www.ambersarmy.org.uk/

Krul has largely been our backup, Angus Gunn had been playing well but Wagner put Krul in. He made an absolute howler against Burnley and is generally looking very shaky. Poor distribution, but good communication and command of the area. Would expect Gunn to be straight back in once he recovers from his injury, but he's definitely out for tomorrow.

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

It's an intriguing one for sure. I always assume Pukki will score against us - he's got 4 goals in 4 games against us, including 2 in the 3-2 loss earlier this season that the Norwich fan mentions. Naismith was in central defence that game, and obviously that will be a little different this time around. If I remember correctly then Omadimbele was decent in that game as well and I think generally they'll be tough.

Having said all that there are some differences as well. I presume we will be setting out in our new 433/4231 formation. Of our starting XI in that game we're without Naismith and Conway, and Dasilva and Weimann will probably not start, so we will be quite different from the what we saw a few months ago. Norwich are obviously under new management, and have been playing a pretty orthodox 433 recently. So it will be two teams lining up in similar formations rather than the 4231 v 532 that we saw at Carrow Road.

It was an entertaining game in September, and I think it should be tomorrow as well.

This line from the Norwich fan excites me. Get a frantic Sykes backed up by Tanner running down our right and put this guy under pressure and we could see some joy. We've scored a lot of goals from low crosses/cut-backs from the channel and byeline so I should think there will be opportunities to do exactly that tomorrow.

Ultimately Norwich are dangerous going forward, but also fragile at the back. 34 conceded in the league this season, so there are vulnerabilites that our new direct style could exploit.

I wouldn't be surprised if saw another 3-2 to be honest...wouldn't want to bet in who's favour though.

We're definitely vulnerable down the left. Since Wagner took over it has looked more like 4231 than 433 though, but as we don't have a specialist DM (McLean playing there currently) I worry about Scott running the game. If you can stop the supply to Pukki you could get a lot of joy.

8 minutes ago, Homer Simpson said:

That's a lot of fingers to cross.

Seriously have a great time, except for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon. 

Ahhhh, finally an inbred joke! Was wondering how long it'd take you lot...

Cheers mate, should be a good one.

Hi folks, just wanted to say we're having a fantastic time already. Currently sat in Left Handed Giant having a quiet afternoon ale or two.

Fantastic city, really friendly locals and plenty of fine establishments. Walked round St Nicholas Market earlier, and had a gert lush brunch at The Crafty Egg.

In the morning we're going to do M Shed, then walk up to the Suspension Bridge and down towards the ground. Going to meet a large contingent of Irish Canaries at Bedminster Cricket Club pre-game, then watch the rugby in the sports bar at the ground afterwards, before heading to Bristol Beer Factory for a few ales.

Thanks again to you all for your great suggestions and recommendations, and fingers crossed for an entertaining match tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing whether Alex Scott lives up to the hype!

2 minutes ago, harrys said:

I was in Sherringham and Holt last weekend, plenty of Norwich fans there

Yeah, we're pretty much a one-club county. Even on the southern fringes, there's more Norwich than Ip****h.

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

While we are having an East - West love in, I also really like Norwich as a City. I did some work there either side of Xmas the year before lockdown at Aviva and really enjoyed it. 

The only downside is where it is, there was nothing more depressing on a Friday evening than seeing a sign saying "London 120 miles", knowing that wasn't even half your total journey.

It will be interesting to see what the Norwich fans think of Scott in comparison to Maddison at a similar stage of his career. 

Haha yeah, we are something of an outpost! The A11 (main route to London) is currently being resurfaced, so it's down to a single lane for the next few months... and trying to get to Norwich from the west via the A17 is absolutely soul-sapping. Well worth it when you get there, though – we're very proud of our 'fine city'.

As for Alex Scott, from the bits and bobs I've seen of him so far he shares more similarities to Emi Buendía – he seems a bit more robust and willing to get stuck in than Maddison, and Buendía was more flamboyant with his footwork than Maddison too.

Maddison's greatest gift was the seeming ability to slow down time; even at 19 years old, he managed to make time and space for himself to make his passing seem effortless. A fair amount of clips of Scott show him in wider positions – again, that's more of a Buendía trait. Emi nominally started on the right of an attacking three, but could pop up across the full width of the pitch and magic his way out of seemingly impossible spots.

I'm sure that BCFC fans (and fans in general) would consider Maddison a much better player than Buendía, but in the Championship Emi was simply a cheat code. We did well to hang onto him as long as we did – we persuaded him to stay after our relegation in 2020, and during our title season of 2020/21 we played the best football I've seen in 35+ years of watching Norwich (sadly, lockdown meant that we never got to see it in the flesh).

If you can't keep hold of Alex beyond the summer, I hope you get an astronomical fee for him – although, as we found out when we sold Emi, it's impossible to replace weapons like those in a like-for-like fashion. As has been said elsewhere, cherish every minute you get to watch him (although naturally I hope he has a stinker on Saturday!).

10 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

Feedthewolf reckon you and Mrs Wolf might need to stay a bit longer to make the most of our lovely City. Check out Denmark Street…..https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/hidden-gems-denmark-street-you-6585376?fbclid=IwAR0vsihHeiZzzhjzO9Xe-QqsfT5zOg3My-u9NSPjxCMD6ItBtzABFHfOo8k

Haha, someone's been doing some detective work on our NCFC fans' forum!

We'll add Denmark Street to the list... plenty of Denmark/Danish history in Norwich too. Might have a wander round before we go to Izakaya on Friday afternoon.

4 minutes ago, Dolman Block B said:

Impressive but you guys have always travelled well.

Certainly true in recent times. I think it's partly because we always seem to have something to play for, as is the way with a yo-yo team. I first had a season ticket in 2008, and since then there has only been one season that we've had nothing to play for at the end of the season (2017-18). I think our numbers would dwindle pretty significantly if we had a couple of years stuck in mid-table.... there's a lot of expectation (maybe even entitlement) among our younger fans in particular.

1 minute ago, weepywall said:

That's impressive  

I can guarantee you it'd have been about half that if Dean Smith was still in charge. We're certainly enjoying the feelgood factor of a new manager bounce, despite our humbling against Burnley. Should be a good attacking game with a cracking atmosphere. Looking forward to it!

49 minutes ago, CanaryCouple said:

Trying to find out how many we've sold, but our lowest away attendance of the season was 791 and I think that was a midweek game at Sunderland when we had Dean Smith as manager (the football was dross). I'd guess somewhere around 1,500, possibly even as many as 2,000.

Update from our head of comms: "Bristol City ticket update. We've currently sold 2,158 from our allocation of 2,522. Tickets available until 1pm Friday. No pay on the day available."

2 hours ago, Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan said:

Norwich travel very well, much better than we do especially considering their location compared to the grounds they have to visit during the season.

They’ll bring way more than 450.

Trying to find out how many we've sold, but our lowest away attendance of the season was 791 and I think that was a midweek game at Sunderland when we had Dean Smith as manager (the football was dross). I'd guess somewhere around 1,500, possibly even as many as 2,000.

9 hours ago, mightyreds89 said:

Any idea how many Norwich have sold? 

Nope, trying to find out. My estimate would be about 1,500, although it's a long old trek.

46 minutes ago, redkev said:

Very friendly types ( your not swingers are you )

We're friendly, but not *that* friendly

4 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

I`d suggest you buy a City top and she could slip that on but I doubt the shop will have any........................................

But I already have a City top... just sayin'...

EDIT: the missus is a bit obsessed with your goalie's tops with the mad patterns on them, she'd probably wear one of those!

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

Spent a fantastic long weekend there with some mates last year. Particularly liked the Kings Head in Magdalen Street as not only did they have lots of interesting ales, but the staff and locals were great VFM. Though, as@CanaryCouple will doubtless be able to tell you, Norwich is full of decent boozers, many of them with very interesting histories.  We all booked to do a repeat visit this year. 

I know the Kings Head well, we actually play for one of their bar billiards teams! But yeah, we're blessed for good pubs, and most of the good ones seem to have survived the pandemic. The Fat Cat Brewery has three pubs around the city and frequently wins CAMRA national awards. Look forward to seeing how many of your fine tipples and ale houses we can squeeze into three days. I'm not much of a cider drinker, but when in Rome and all that...

5 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

4:45 ko might be a stretch post match.
 

My recommendation would be the sports bar at AG. The chap and his wife will be fine however I would just bring a non football top in a bag to remove all doubt as they will be in Briz for four days I suspect Mrs Canary will have one. @CanaryCouple

Good plan, thanks... we'll do that. Definitely makes sense to watch it at the ground, so we'll miss as little of the match as possible. Although if you guys get your wish, we might as well knock it on the head at half-time and go and watch the end of the Ireland-France game...

22 minutes ago, Oh Louie louie said:

Twice in pubs up North ive been asked if I'm from Norwich, the accent must sound similar up north, pull off the accent your golden around bemmy cc

Haha yeah, we get the reverse. I can see the similarity to the untrained ear, but there's a huge difference to a 'loocal'!

Just now, internetjef said:

I was in the new tap room place out the back of Bristol beer factory the other day ahead of the last home game. It was a nice setup, but there was no sound on the early BT sport kick off (Chelsea ha someone ), they were playing some music instead. Not sure of they will give you the audio for the rugby that’s all. If they will then it’s a great shout 

Have to say, that's a pet peeve of mine... if you're showing live sport, commit to it! Really annoys me if somewhere says they're showing the match and then it's on a 14" TV hanging from the ceiling while whatever passes for chart music these days is blaring through the speakers. If I want to watch sport, I want to hear it too... even if it's Jonathan Davies moaning