Step up, Wilba?

We all love a good bandwagon, the latest is to grumble about Morison’s uninterested demeanour being in absolute contrast to that of Wilbrahamovic. It is be difficult to argue with it.

This Stoke game couldn’t have come at a better time for the ex-MK man either. Without wanting to resort to humping it long up top, letting Holt and Wilba put their weight about competing with Stoke’s aerial presence could create a final 20 minutes primed for Jacko to bring his pace on and run at pounded defenders. It’s as good a chance as any to give him a proper run, and in turn it might be a nudge in the right direction to Morison.

S-whatever

So it’s back across the border to them there in Wales. Hopefully there’ll be no bricks through any coach windows, but Holt appears to have ignited that again. But anyway.

As pointed out over on Holtamania, a Swansea win puts them above us in the league. And that’s annoying. Mainly, because we will then – however temporarily- lose the ability to counter the sickly love-in for Swansea with a “Yeah but just look at the league table.”

Tinkering and Tailoring

What with Sir Paul doing his best Ranieri impression, he’s being courted as not knowing his best eleven and/or picking as per the opposition. The three points collected yesterday has gone some way to vindicating his newest philosophy but has also shown his disdain and no time for sentiment.

And I for am all for it.

Dropping Holt on the face of it ‘took a lot of bottle’. But The Big Man hasnt got off to the bruising, gut-busting best we all know and love. His effort can’t and never will be questioned, but it hasn’t quite happened for him yet, regardless of how vague and unspecific that sounds.

We know what he can produce and so do Messrs Terry and Ivanovic, but the use of CMartin with him plainly hasn’t worked. Arguably, the dropping of CMart was the crudest. But the fact that Holt has “been brilliant for me” as Sir Paul never ceases to tell us, he hasn’t allowed the last two seasons of machine-like prolifacy impact his choice of starting eleven.

Quite simply, there is no place for sentiment in football if you’re to succeed at this game. Lappin has fallen foul of it. Since he’s one of the few remaining from previous reigns, some have a special place in their footballing-heart for him. “He played more in League One than anyone else” they argue. Wonderful as that must have been for him, League One this aint.

Now this is no sleight at The Spanish One, despite my views of the guy. He’s merely my example. The same went for Rusty, he returned gloves-on-hands and we lauded it because a little part of us rememebered him from green-gloved years gone by. We’re fickle and easily won over. Doherty was a chief recipient of this, although thankfully not from us all.

He was here for a good/bad few years and this somehow led people to overlook his patently obvious deficiencies. If he was on a season-long loan and played the way he did for the majority of his ill-fated Norwich career, he would be mentioned in the same breath as Koroma and Leijer.

Worthy would never have dreamed have dropping a player like Holt. Neither would Roeder or Grant. Gunn would have filled in every teamsheet with Holt’s name on it in about July. Lambert knows what we need to do to both restrict the opposition and to impose ourselves.

He also can’t help but put himself well ahead of scores of our previous managers.

That’s Enough

Another day, another pointless rumour about our very own Grant Holt. The more reasoned of us shrug it off as mere hearsay and move swiftly on. Others get wrapped up in it and others offer ‘witty’ retorts reeking of “Newcastle? Sm-ewcastle more like. Heh” and the face-palming ilk.

But the thought of Holt leaving isn’t easily conceived, not because of how good he is for us with the captain’s armband wrapped round his bicep, but how he would struggle to replicate what he’s done here elsewhere.

He’s a not so much a big fish at Carrow Road but certainly the most hard-working and influential fish in a pond in which he feels right at home. Technically gifted wouldn’t necessarily spring to mind. Zlatan he aint. But he’ll bring the ball down and give every drop to get it back if it bounces away. He even takes a couple of chances per goal.

But sell him? Swap him? Not a chance.

He’s one of those of players that you can visibly see straining every sinew for 90 full-on minutes which goes a long way to winning fans over. Scoring a hattrick down the road goes a bit further. Laughing whilst doing it goes further still.

But were he to leave he would never experience this sort of adulation again. He came with little pressure, whereas move for £4million+ after 50 goals in two seasons and the pressure’s mounted. Next season he could have a quiet seaon with the boot but his presence will still be still be felt and acknowledged by the Carra faithful. Move, and he could run as much <i>bionically</i> possible but if he fails to live up to the goal expectancy it wouldn’t matter a jot.

Thankfully, no matter how many rumours are inflated to fill a line or two, he’ll be in yellow come Saturday. And still will be this time next season.

I Swear

So they’ve gone and done it.

Rooney’s been charged because he said a naughty word.

Way to go, FA.

The reason being it is a bad influence on kids, especially because their only contact with the outside, grown-up world is on Sky Sports and Match of the Day every week. The fact that they hear these utterances of such offence and worse on a daily basis on public transport, or their siblings, or parents even is irrelevant.

Eng-Er-L-Oh Who Cares.

In case you’ve missed it, it’s international break weekend up next, you would be forgiven for forgetting, too. Normally, the buzz and hype of a home international Euro qualifier would be all-consuming starting from now. But not even the reinstating of JT could thrust it into our consciousness.

Sir Alan Sugar summed this whole shambles up in 140 glorious characters this week, How to become England captain: Adultery, Flog Hospitality tickets, Harass Americans while drunk, alleged charges of assault, insult referees. Perfection. Capello could have been the one to finally realise the potential of our so called Golden Generation, alas he’s crumbled to player power like the National team managers of recent memory.

But at least he’s picked some players on the merit of form. Few would begrudge Matt Jarvis an England call-up. And at least there’s no Bothroyd this time around.

I, along with most fans of a Championship club above tenth, would rather this whole charade wasn’t happening. As the Premier League race is stuttering along, close, but not particularly exciting, anything can still happen in the Championship. Well, except Norwich getting relegated now, wherever you are in the table as a Norwich fan there’s always a sneaky sigh of relief when that fact hits home. The bottle-necked top-half is stretching, Play-off positions are still up for grabs and the automatic places are by no means claimed.

And then there’s still the QPR debacle. “Sorted by the end of the season” is the word from the FA, and the solidity of their backbone will determine the size of their punishment. My hunch, it will be a suspended penalty and a fine that will in no way dent their purse. Maybe they should give the penalty to clubs like Plymouth. (I am in no way calling them a charity, but for the good of the game clubs need to be saved.)