According to Wiki, Berg's contract is up at the end of 2014: "On 17 July 2009, Hamburger SV confirmed that Berg had signed a five-year contract with the club." It doesn't seem that Hamburg will offer another contract and I saw somewhere that they were looking for a loan for the rest of the season then a permanent if it works out. That could well suit City, IMO.
Berg is a very common name in Sweden, much like Evans is in Wales! Is Norwich ready for another Marcus Evans?
we've had one decent swedish striker before, mathius i must admit, i'm amazed at how many strikers we are being linked with this window, it must be 15+ now. something to chew over at least.
Murphy twins are defined, I believe, as a left winger and a striker. Not Premiership quality yet. I don't see them as a realistic option currently, and clearly neither does Hughton. DHC, if Berg is going anywhere near that cheap then I would be horrified if we WEREN'T in for him. No doubt in my mind that he's the best striker we have been seriously linked with this season. I guess technically, Pilkington's competition is Bennett (because if he could force a first team start, Snodgrass could play left). I know, I know, inverted wingers. But that's what I think the deal is. Plus, Surman could play there if we were really desperate.
On the Canary Official website the Murphy's positions are stated as Right or Left winger for one and Left winger for the others. Hairyis Berg seriously THAT good? I don't know much about him. To say he is the best striker we have been linked with is quite a big statement considering Danny Graham and Hooper are both pretty good strikers and we have also been linked with Ibrahima Toure who is tipped for stardom. Like i say, I don't know much about him so if you do and he truly is the best we have been linked with, I would be extremely hopeful that something can be done to bring him in.
Fair enough on the Murphys! Yes, I believe he is. To qualify that though, I mean current ability. Toure may one day be better. Hooper is good but couldnt exactly be described as lethal, and I don't believe that Graham is any better than Holt, he's just on form. When he was in Eiredivisie, noone wanted to play against him. And he's got 26 caps in a team that usually includes Ibrahimovic!
Berg would be a Titanic signing for us - sure to sink a few goals I reckon. Waiter ... coat please .....
I like the loan with a view to a permanent deal mentioned above for Berg, that would be awesome. If we had him on loan with a fee of £3m or so agreed for the summer if we want him (and get ourselves first refusal) then I'd be very happy. With the inverted wingers thing, why couldn't Bennett play on the left?
No idea tbh, it's not something that's often suggested for him. I would like to see Pilks/Snodgrass swap wings for a bit, but I would also like to see Bennett in the team. I'd like to see Pilks have a go up front to be honest.
It's a good point that - while Holty and Morro were unavailable we could have tried Pilks in a central strikers role - he can hit with both feet, his heading ability while not as good as Holt or Morison doesn't seem that bad (see goal v Man Ure as an example) and has pace. With Jacko not able to command the same status as the lone front-man and Hughton not offering Kane the gig, Pilks could have been an option "up top" with Benno and Snoddy out wide. Souns like a plan for the Luton game to me ....
It would certainly give us more pace and possibly some added creativity, although we could be more susceptible to losing the ball in advanced positions. It's similar to the E Bennett at right wing back thing - a nice idea but I doubt we'll ever see it
I like the idea, although suspect a reason why it hasn't been tried might well be squad harmony. It sends a pretty damning message to Jackson that, when our main striker, and his back-up for the lone target man role, are both out, he still doesn't get the chance to lead the line. I would imagine Hughton likes the option of a pacy player to bring on towards the end of games when we're behind, but, how many strikers are prepared to sit on the bench nearly every week, with little chance of starting? I don't know how Jacko feels about his situation, but we've not heard any complaints publicly. If he finds he's behind a winger (albeit one who's previously played up front), then he might well decide it's time to move on. We wouldn't get much for him, and finding someone prepared to be a 3rd/4th choice striker is probably quite difficult!
