Don’t think we should underestimate the experience Neil has gained over the last couple of seasons. He is often thought of by us as a young lad, but, he’s an experienced Championship player now…… as is Ballard, Hume, O9…. it’s quality we’re looking for, not necessarily experience.
Neil is also a quality championship CM, 1 of the best in the league and honestly wouldnt pick many ahead of him Norwood still has something to offer tbh and he improves us. Where the experience is needed is having a CM that knows when to change a tempo of the game with their passing, thats something norwood would offer
If Rigg stays it’s because he’ll play a big part imo. Really exciting and Norwood could be a big help for him and Neil.
I f they are all here Norwood, Neil, Rigg, Jobe and Ekwah would all get plenty of game time and are a pretty good range of options. I’d still rather have Browne over Norwood though.
Having heard that a lot of Lorient's defensive woes last season were due to the ease with which the opposition walked through their midfield, I'm hoping that Norwood isn't being signed with a view to being played as a single pivot/defensive midfielder. I'd hope to have someone who is more a specialist, plus a bit more mobile, in that role.
Roberts is a much better player than we saw last season. Imo..he was never allowed to get fit. Was out for huge chunks and never got to play the amount of games needed to get upt speed. I like PR very much and hope he has a good pre-season and can hit the ground running.
He is the first potentially saleable player I would sell. We need goals and he can’t do the final ball never mind the finish and is a liability. Chops inside, opposition steal and counter repeat. Skilful yes but wouldn’t get anywhere beyond the subs bench for me.
He is very predictable, always cuts inside, but on his game, defenders cant cope, but his end product is dire, beat a man twice then nothing. Needs to watch some videos of Summerbee
Anyone know what Norwood’s injury history is like? It’s my only concern with signing a 33 year old. I had a look on Transfermarkt but it doesn’t list any injuries for him. He also doesn’t seem to have missed many games at all in the last 12 years so possible he’s never had a serious injury. Enter Sunderland
In defence of Roberts, he hasnt had much inside of him recently to encourage him to get the ball in early
And in defence of everyone inside of him they haven’t had much to do other than chase players backwards
Barely ever injured, virtually an ever present/available. Sheff Utd fans I know do say that his physical attributes have quite sharply declined recently though.
That would be my main concern with signing him. No question about his quality at this level and has been an excellent pro. Maybe a year too late. No doubt he’d be good for our current midfielders.
If Clarke goes how about playing Roberts on the left wing. He’s a left footer and wouldn’t need to beat a couple of defenders every time he wants to put a cross in. Has he always been played on the RW in his other teams.
Said earlier somewhere i’m feeling a 3 4 3 09 Ballard and Hume (his best position) all who can advance and support Pembele Neil PlusOne Cirkin with Neil free to roam and ideally Browne as a plus one both who could support the forwards Right attacker CF Left attacker all with goals in them There’s solidity in there, width and all can play and carry a forward threat
According to the bloke on what the falk’s podcast who is a lorient fan he only switched to 3 at the back when it was going to ****. He prefers a 4231/433
I'm in the camp that Ba needs a good loan somewhere where he can play a ton of games consistently, there is definite talent there, but he looks raw and this season gone looked a bit more by the book, scared to lose the ball. Loans are awkward for some players, but if we could get him to somewhere like Scotland or Holland, or even League 2 and have him play 40 games from the start, we'd see what he is all about
