THE clock is ticking.Nutty Nigel has a week left in which to capture this elusive target man of his. Either that, or gamble on the fact Earnie can fly solo and stay fit for the next four months, and spend the Green wonga in January.

THE clock is ticking.Nutty Nigel has a week left in which to capture this elusive target man of his.

Either that, or gamble on the fact Earnie can fly solo and stay fit for the next four months, and spend the Green wonga in January.

I would urge the club to gamble now.

I know there is not a lot to choose from, but The Man would push the boat out for Freddie Eastwood at Southend.

The Man understands he does not fit Sgt Worthington's physical requirements, but I think if you drop FE in with Hux, Earnie and Croft you get out of this division.

Let's go after him.

We are just about the best supported club in the division at the moment - supposed big boys Brum only got 20k for their top of the table clash with Palace last week - so we should not be afraid of showing some muscle.

We are not little old Norwich anymore.

BUDGET FOR ANOTHER PLANET

Does this sound familiar? I'd hazard a guess it does not.

“We have to budget for getting through to the group stages, otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford to do what we do.

“If you budget for failure, you achieve it, so we budget for success.”

The remarks of Liverpool chief exec Rick Parry this week after his side qualified for the proper stages of the Champions League.

Liverpool, of course, are on a different financial planet to us.

But Mr Parry's remarks did strike a chord with The Man. It's effectively the reverse of our mentality when we were in the Premiership. And continues to be so…?

AWAY FORM WATCH.

The Man does not want to turn this into a thing - but let's face it: it's already a thing.

Two league away games gone; zero goals.

Sort it out Worthy!

LUDICROUS DOUBLE STANDARDS

GENERALLY, The Man does not have a problem with referees.

I did think we were on the end of some appalling big club bias in the top flight, but as a rule I think the men in black do a half decent job in difficult circumstances.

However, it is the actions of Professional Match Officials Ltd - the body which administers referring in England - that has annoyed The Man.

After the opening week of the Premiership the body found the performance of two refs, namely Rob Styles and Peter Walton, so unacceptably bad that they are to be banished this weekend - to the Championship!

The same “punishment” is also set to be handed out to Dermot Gallagher and Uriah Rennie after their mid-week mistakes.

I find it infuriating.

What it means is that when someone pays £25 to watch a Norwich game, they are not entitled to the same standards as someone watching a match in the Premiership.

Talk about second class citizens…

Surely the correct procedure for punishing an errant ref is to suspend them, not to inflict their failings on others.

Games in the Championship - or at any level in the Football League - are just as important as any poxy top flight game.

Why do we have to put up with these refs if the Premiership does not have to? If The Man was a chairman of a football club, or the manager, I'd reject having one of these refs carry out his community service at one of my games.

It is an outrageous double standard.

ATTENDANCE FIGURES ARE MISLEADING

THE biggest crowds the opening weekend of the Premiership has ever seen, roared a proud Sky Sports last weekend.

Hmmm, The Man doesn't buy it.

No doubt Sky's aggregate figure was correct. As a total turnout it probably was the biggest - boosted by increased capacities at Man U and Arsenal.

But look a little closer and the crowds are not too healthy.

A paltry 22,000 for both Bolton and Blackburn's opening home fixtures, despite the fact both had attractive games.

Reading's first ever game in the top flight: 23k, not even selling out!

Worse still, 2,000 empty seats at Charlton for their first home game against Man U.

And The Man knows Fulham are a joke, but 18k for your first Premiership home game is appalling.

Of course a lot of these poor crowds are down to the fact that in recent years some poorly supported clubs have got into the Premiership - either by cheque book or canny management - and managed to stay there due to the self-fulfilling top flight cash.

The other line to the argument is that after a few years in the Premiership their supporters have become aware that the season holds little excitement for them. Mid table and a cup run are the best they can hope for.

Still, The Man wouldn't mind that for a few years…