I still think that there are too many teams between us and the play-offs, but it is still possible if Hernandez and Srbeny get going and we up our goal-scoring. As for Leitner, he has brought PL level quality to the midfield. Whereas Trybull is more of a holding CM, Leitner is a playmaker who can control the game with his passing. There's far less sideways passing now and he rarely loses the ball. Playing alongside Madders in a 4-1-4-1 he made sure they couldn't just mark Madders out of the game. Had either he or Madders converted their chances, we'd have won that game easily. I hope we sign him in the summer, as he and Trybull would make a quality pairing next season. If Madders does leave, Leitner could either take the number 10 role or play as a deeper playmaker in a 3-4-3 formation that could work very well.
Interesting poll numbers for the rest of the season. http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/it-s-now-or-never-for-norwich-1-5413452 I didn't expect that many to think we still have a chance of promotion. I put myself in the second category although there really isn't much difference between choices 1 and 2.
I'd also take the second choice, because, as said above rather than the option offered, there are just too many teams between us and the play-offs rather than the home draws of late. We dropped two many points early in the season to the likes of Sunderland at home while new players were settling in and both Pritchard and Lewis were injured. I'm still hoping that Hernandez and Srbeny get going and Oliveira returns to form. If so, 25 points from 12 games is possible, but also unlikely. I'll settle for getting closer to the play-offs and then being ready for a stronger challenge next season with a settled team from the start.
100% agree Rick and canario and even IF we did get near the points required it's the number of good teams between us and 6th place. Let's get the new recruits integrated, bring back Godfrey and Morris and give it a real go next season.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the season to see how the new players settle in. MB had this to say about Hernandez in his debit start: "There’s no denying he has pace, although we didn’t see too much of it with the ball at his feet. His movement looked useful too, while the Cuban’s strength and ability to get his body in front of the ball bodes well for the Championship battles that lie ahead of him. What was also apparent was Hernandez is still going to need some time to get up to the pace of the game – which was hopefully what caused his disappearance from the action after the interval. But certainly, it was an outing that left you wanting to see some more." Looking back at the season so far, the development of players like Maddison, Zimmerman, Vrancic, Lewis and Trybull bodes well for next season. Gunn and Reed have shown similar progress, but there's no guarantee that they will be back next season. Hopefully Hernandez and Srbeny will make similar progress in the remaining games and McLean, Godfrey, Cantwell, Morris and Matthews will integrate quickly during the summer. Possibly Maddison and others may leave, but hopefully Leitner will sign on a permanent contract. There's much to look forward to even if we miss out on the play-offs.
It is going to be interesting to see which players do leave with the team on an upward curve and in reality, our last 4 games so nearly yielded 12 points instead of a meagre 4 - so plenty of reasons to give the fans hope for the future IF we do make the play-offs, it will be a MASSIVE achievement, considering our lowly position early in the season and the losing streak after our defeat at the Emirates and it speaks volumes for the togetherness in the team and its management and something that has been missing since the Lambert era. I'm sure you'll always get the mindless idiots who boo (as happened against Bolton), but there is a feeling of guarded optimism returning to the Archant journalists/MFW contributors etc. Edit - Sorry KIO, but looks like we'll be encumbered with Delia and co for a while yet!!!
I also want to see Marcus Edwards get some game time even though he's not our player. If Farke can get him straightened out, it would be feather in DF's hat. Re: your post #61 I don't think we will be able to afford Leitner unless he pushes for a transfer and we offer a big add-on for going up next season.
Bundesliga wages are lower than the equivalent here, so that may not be a mega problem for such a good player. With the books balanced and a huge player value in Maddison, our position is stronger than many believe and he does have a past experience with DF. I don't think he'd have come here if it wasn't a possibility. Time will tell though. I don't know what to make of Edwards - a promising player who seems to be held back by his attitude. DF will have had that before, so it'll be interesting to see what he can get out of him. If he manages it, we could have an exciting player for what's left of the season.
I hope your right about Leitner. I just looked up 1. Bundesliga salaries and found this: https://www.statista.com/statistics/675490/average-bundesliga-salary-by-team/ Augsburg is 3rd from the bottom with avg player salary of circa £10k/wk. My point about Edwards is not only for this season, but also clubs trusting to send loan players to DF in the future.
Good Heavens!!! NONE of our overpaid prima donnas in the PL would consider getting out of bed for that!!! Excellent comment re Edwards.
Good research, CS. I suspect Leitner is probably on around £15-20k which we should be able to pay. Good point about Edwards, but he has to earn his place like any other player. Spurs know he has an attitude problem so I don't think there's a huge problem.
Bristol showing some fight, we have that game in hand but 10pts is some gap, Derby are having their annual Feb/Mar implosion and only 13pts ahead of us, they might be easier to catch than Bristol on current form! Bah!
More about next season than this, but I wonder whether Remi Matthews will be our number one keeper next season. He's 24 now and 9 clean sheets in 24 games at Plymouth speaks well of his chances. http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/canaries-matthews-using-plymouth-argyle-loan-stint-1-5455298
