I was having a chat with a friend about who is the most naturally talented player to have played for Norwich. This doesn't necessarily mean the best player, but one who had the talent to be.
I have gone for Ashton (even though every time I look I choose someone different). I always thought he was a bit on the chunky side but I genuinely believe he would of gone on to be an England regular if he didnt retire through injury.
Hucks was one of the few players who would get the crowd to their feet when he received the ball. Colin Suggett was another fav of mine .Great awareness.
Has to be Ron Davies or Martin Peters. The others are/were all talented players, but those two were not only very talented but among the very best of their generations, for club and country, for the greater part of their careers. As has been said elsewhere, Ron Davies was the best centre forward that many of us have ever seen (not just in a City shirt), and certainly the best header of the ball (even Matt Busby said so). He had a prodigious leap -- which he attributed to jumping hurdles wearing army boots. Brian Glanville's obituary of him in the Guardian quotes him as saying that when he took the boots off he felt he could jump over the moon! The great thing was, when he leapt to head the ball, he had an uncanny ability to direct the header where no goalkeeper could have saved it. His great talent lay in timing the leap to give him that precise control on the direction of the header. Players who have that ability seem to hang in the air for an age before despatching the header just where they want it.
I have voted for "Chippie" although I was in two minds to pick Darren Eadie. Huckerby was more exciting to watch (as well as frustrating sometimes) but for "talent" he would come in about 4th or 5th for me.
voted for Kevin Reeves. only saw him a few times but he left an indelible imprint on my mind. but, to be fair, there were several i could have picked, they were so close in talent. it is just down to a matter of opinion.
hmm, this is tough. for sheer talent you'd have to assume that martin peters, being a world cup winner, would have to be top. i never had the privilege of watching him in the flesh though, so i cannot vote for him. huckerby is certainly the most exciting footballer i've seen play for norwich city but, although skilful, his main asset was his searing pace. the most naturally gifted footballer was ian crook. always seemed to have more time on the ball than anyone - people have raved about michael carrick this season and quite rightly but in my opinion he is not in the same class as chippy. he really should have played regularly for england but as was the case with many other talented footballers of that generation he was overlooked. however, and this may shock a few, the player who had the best technique i've ever seen with a ball at his feet is without question keith o'neill. sadly, he was a prize-a tosser and terribly injury prone but having watched him in training, he had messi-like ball skills. could have been a truly sensational player.
I really do miss seeing Hucks in the yellow and green. I remember that, when he left, I lost interest in Norwich (only for a few days, I swear!) because I didn't see the point in a Norwich without Huckerby! Luckily he's now got a job at the club again. I would honestly love to see him manage us one day, but not before he's ready. On a similar vein, I think the reason we went up in 04/05 was because we had players who genuinely cared about the club. Players like Huckerby, Iwan, Drury, McKenzie all looked like they really gave a toss on the field. We didn't see anything like that again until 09/10 when the likes of Hoolahan, Holt and Russell Martin (now our three longest serving players) really gave everything for the yellow and green again. You can have as much skill as you want, but while there's no passion there, it's meaningless. That's why Huckerby gets my vote.
Thanks Thia, sorry but I'm not able to return the favour. My vote is for David Williams IMO the best passer of a ball I've seen in a Norwich shirt, closely followed by Ian crook.
There are quite a few options here that I've never seen play, but I have to say, reading some of the discussion on here I am now regretting choosing Bellamy over Huckerby.
i really can't see huckerby ever becoming a decent manager! have you ever met him? there's honestly no chance
Never, unfortunately, although I was once greeted at the door by a life size cardboard cut-out of him which startled the life out of me! He seems to be doing well with the U16s?
some of the long passes hoolahan makes are unreal, aswell as his touch on the ball. I cant remember much past Huckerbys time and he was awesome but Hoolahan edges it for me
nice! i tried to get my wife a cardboard cutout of russell martin in his pants!! as for hucks, he just does some coaching with the academy - he's not cutout (pun intended) to be a manager though.
The problem I find with Hoolahan is that he never has that killer pass that sends the striker free and completely nullifies the opposition defence. He spends a lot of time on the ball, but rarely does anything effective with it.
I am going for Wes. If he had hucks pace he would be a top top player. When someone says "naturally talented" I dont really consider physical attributes, I think Hucks game was hugely down to his pace. I look at intelligence and what they can do on the ball as naturally gifted players. Its all well and good having the vision but you need the technique to execute it.
i agree with this about hoolahan, but the topic is 'most naturally talented' and i think hoolahan is right up there in that respect, even if he isn't one of our greatest players. edit. yellowlittle beat me to it
Haha, that would be truly startling! And fair enough with the Hucks thing, it was only a passing thought. You'll never have me change my name though!
