Chelsea fan in peace. I was one of few that backed you to stay up this season and touch wood you will, my reason for that is Carrow Road has always been a fortress and you Canaries are a well supported club that take large followings which boosts team moral. I think you may surprise a few at Anfield and maybe get a point or even a win. Was very impressed at how you played at the Bridge and OT. No fear factor and no change of gameplan etc. So how do you assess your season so far and what improvements (if any) would you like to see from the January window? Thank you for your time.
i think we've made the sort of start that many expected - we've been a bit shaky at the back at times and naive in giving away penalties - though two of them were outside the box - but all in all we have made a decent start. still a long way to go but the good news is that all but a couple of players have made the step up to the premier league seem very easy. the bad news is the injury to vaughan who has looked like he could have been a real hero for us in the glimpses we have seen. the very best news though is that we have paul lambert in charge and as long as he is at the helm i can only see progress
We have done superbly well in all our games so far aside from Wigan away (where we still should have won) and West Brom at home. The only critisism I have seen levelled at the side so far is that we need to convert a higher % of the chances we create. If it were possible then maybe a little extra firepower in Jan along with the signing of Naughton on a permanent deal would be great. I think there will be signings in Jan as Lambert has done in both the previous windows but these signings will depend on our results between now and then and where we might seem to have weakness. If injuries affect us etc. Even without any signings I think we would be comfortable.
i think it is a given that lambert will sign two or three in january, and i fully expect one of those arrivals to be a centre forward. would love to see naughton here permanently but fear he may be too expensive for us. to me, he is a £5m full back easily. not sure spurs will want to get rid.
kind words there so far it has exceeded expectations for sure. i think we will need some quality reinforcements in January to add to the squad - the first team has performed very well, but if you look at the bench, i'm not so sure we have the same quality there. So 2-3 players required to cover injuries etc.
I don't think we should get a striker we've got 6 already. That's enough. Morison has been brilliant, despite the lack of goals. Goals have been coming from all over the field including the defence. Vaughan seems like a player that has goals in him and he's just been unlucky with injuries and Holt has scored plenty for us. It isn't like in 2004/2005 where we only had McKenzie and Svensson until January.
its not a numbers thing wonky. put it this way, if morison gets injured, would you feel as confident about getting results as you do now? i know i wouldn't. holt doesn't possess the same quality morison does, martin lacks pace, vaughan is injured, jackson hasn't had a game yet so we haven't a clue if he'd cope - personally i think he'd do well but it can't be guaranteed, wilbraham isn't mobile enough so would have to change the system to accommodate him and another... we'd soon look short of options. there is always room for improvement and if you check out teams such as stoke, they have continued to improve their squad slowly but surely in key positions. we need to do this too
As the title says, we are only 8 games in. Lambert got Morison and Vaughan to improve our striker options. Without a doubt, Morison is our best striker at the moment and Vaughan is injured. But, not all our goals have come from strikers. Our highest goal scorer is Pilkington. The fact that we can get goals from all positions is great. The burden is not on the strikers to score goals, even though that's what they're for. I am sure that if Holt or Jackson were goven the chance they would take it. What has held them back is Morison's performance and the fact that we are only playing one up front - which seems to suit Morison and the team better than two up front.
agree, this is what i was trying to say. It's about quality not quantity. and form - morrison could have a stinker for a period. I'd like to see what jackson can do though, he's had little game time compared to holt and martin.
My point with the numbers was that if Morison was to get injured, there is plenty of quality to take his place. We all know what Holt can do, Jackson had a great time at the end of last season and I'm hoping C Martin's bad season last year was a one off.
i'm afraid i disagree wonky. i'm a big fan of holty as you are all aware but the ball is not going to stick to him like it does morison at this level. its sad but its instantly noticeable that when morison goes off we look slightly weaker. holt always takes a few games to get his sharpness but he isn't going to have that time this season. martin is a talented boy but i fear he just hasn't got the pace required at this level to make the grade. jackson HAS got the pace but does he have the all-round game? we shall find out at some point but as i say, its not about having enough numbers in any one position - its about having equal quality to come in to the fray and i'm not convinced we have that up front yet
What we need to remember is that there will likely be players leave in Jan too. Those that are maybe not getting too many games will either be sold or be loaned out. Martin And Wilbs are definate outward possibilities leaving us only Jackson (Kept for pace) Vaughan Morison and Holt. That would leave room for a quality addition. The real question would be whether we could attract and afford a striker better than Martin and Wilbs. if not then no point.
Morison has been fantastic, but when Holt came on I don't think we were that much weaker. Holt was dangerous during a time when we weren't looking for a goal. Also, Holt hasn't really played, the the same as Jackson, so we will have to wait and see about them. Agree about C Martin though. I would say leave judgement on the strikers until January.
