Gosh you chaps really are a massive bunch of negative Nancys arent you! Why couldnt that be our strike force? And even if its not I cant see us losing both Hooper and RVW. The worst we will have is Hooper, Grabban and Becchio which is 3/4 of what I suggested. Why do we have to lose both Hooper and RVW to get another striker in? What if Adams is incredibly ambitious and has made this clear to the board and players? He seems to be gunning for a swift return to the PL and whilst this is what all managers say when they are in charge of a recently relegated side, isnt it exactly what all of us want?! I have been guilty of negativity in the past but I think we need to join together and raise our expectations again! Our squad (which I believe we can keep mostly in tact) should rinse the Championship. Yeah I know, its a tough league etc etc but that doesbt change the fact that we have some very good players who just need a better, more positive manager. We are in a position where we do not need to sell anyone. I am sick of the old "we are just being realistic" arguement. Its rubbish. Its the "little old Norwich" syndrome coming out. We are in desperate need of some positive vibes around our club after the past season of tripe we have had to endure. I mentioned that I still expect RVW to leave but if he shows Adams that he wants to stay and fight I know who I would rather have between he and Becchio and it aint Becchio (regardless of past Championship success!)
I think the Board have common sense, ambition and realism. On the other hand a lot of our supporters lack common sense, realism and patience. The financial stability of the Club is the MAIN priority of the Board and it should be the main priority of the supporters. This requires a patient build up. Cut corners by hiring managers or players that you cannot afford to try and buy quick success and the chances are that, financially, it will go tits up. Every Club that has hired 'arry has had some success but at what cost? Unless backed by a rich owner the Club has ended up in a financial mess or even worse. The supporters who are now saying ' sack Adams if we are not top of the league after 6 games/10games/3months/end of the year etc.' are the same unrealistic people who were saying this time last year that because we had spent, in total, half of what Arsenal spent on one player we would finish in the top 6. It was ridiculous. People have got to get realistic and patient - the Paul Lambert miracle is not going to happen again. Common sense states that we are now in a difficult league containing many Clubs who could argue that they should be in the Premiership. It is unlikely that we will be top of the league at any stage of the season, let alone inside a given time frame, and our chances of promotion are no better than any of 10 different Clubs in that league. What we need to see is progress on and off the pitch and I do not see how you can do other than give the new set up at least 2 years before assessing whether sufficient progress has been made.
if that's your view then fair enough but i feel you'll be bitterly disappointed in two months time. its not 'little old norwich' - it's basic, common sense. we might not 'have' to sell players but we 'will' sell some and by adding to the strikers we already have, the likelihood of some leaving increases and we certainly can't afford to have the calibre of striker we're talking about sitting on our bench in the championship. its not a game of football manager - its real life - and our wage budget will be decimated because of relegation. you're talking as if its been increased!
So we don't need to sell RVW or Hooper but we need to buy another stricker. This will leave us with Grabban and AN other (both bought with a view to being first choices in the Championship), Hooper( who left Celtic to play in the Premiership ), RVW( who was clearly in a strop at the end of last season because he wasn't first choice) and Bechio( who was fed up last year because he didn't get a game). So we tell any Premiership Club who comes in for Hooper or any continental Club who comes in for RVW to go forth and multiply ( p***ing both players off even more) and start the season with these 5 strikers. Which 2 do we play? How do the Club deal with the aggrieved other 3 bearing in mind that in the modern game players rule the roost? In order to keep them happy do we become the first Club to play a 3-2-5 formation? In a Championship squad, in the modern game playing only 1 or 2 up top, you need 3 ' first choice' strikers plus a couple of youngsters. If we sign 'AN Other' to join Grabban and Bechio then RVW and Hooper will be leaving. What was I saying about realism? Another unpleasant dose of realism my friend - compared to most Clubs in the Premiership and many in the Championship we are ' little old Norwich '
I agree that some players will leave, but it'll be fewer than many people think and if they do, they will be replaced by quality players like Grabban. The wage structure situation can be handled by adjustments after relegation and parachute payments (that's why they're there). Even after all that our wage structure will be very attractive for Championship players (as it was for Grabban). This is why I'm feeling more optimistic about next season.
I think allowing Hooper to go will show a real lack of ambition. RVW is a risk in the Championship next season expecially after a poor return last year which is why I wouldnt mind him coming off the wage bill and getting as much of the fee back as possible. Hooper is a proven goalscorer at this level and is in my opinion a better option than most we could bring in. I'd happily start the season with Hooper, Grabban, Becchio and Loza as backup.
It isn't rubbish, it isn't being negative and it isn't being pessimistic. It's what it says on the tin - it's being realistic. If you really think that we will be able to keep all those strikers happy in our squad then I'm afraid you are going to have a bit of a rethink, either that or you will be very disappointed
obviously we have no idea but if i was to guess who, out of our first team, will leave i'd say: bassong, fer, rvw and possibly snodgrass, olsson and hooper by no means are we going to be decimated by sales and those six alone would fetch anywhere in the region of £20m+ combined to reinvest, but its wishful thinking by some to suggest we could hang on to most of those players AND bring in more players. the wage structure will have been halved i would think, and yes, players ALL had clauses for their wages to drop to that level but not all those players will be happy to stay on those terms and will leave if someone makes a bid we deem appropriate
Personally I am nto advocating adding to what we already have, I am however keen to try and keep those players who can get us out of the Championship and, if that happens, are abke to performance for us the season after in the Premier League. For me I cant understand selling Hooper when we are just going to go our and buy someone of a lesser pedigree when we could keep him. If we dont recieve significant offers then I wouldnt like to lose Olsson, Hooper, Snodgrass or Fer - but I wouldnt be expecting to bring anyone else in either. I posted the other day that i think we have enough midfield options to be creative in the Championship. I would accept offers and take a loss on RVW and Bassong which would just leave us with maybe a CB to bring in but no doubt on substancially less than that what we pay Bassong. We really dont need to have a huge squad reform if we fight hard to keep some of our better players. Obviously if large offers come in then I am all for accepting them and bringin someone else in. I dont understand why some of our fans are so keen to sell our better players - who are we going to be bringin in to replace them that will give us a better chance at promotion?
i don't think people are saying we should sell all our best players but the odd one or two will go regardless of whether we want to keep them cos the club will want them off the books. i would chose to sell snodgrass because he only has a year left and is still valuable, it would also allow us to play with more pace out wide. he's a good player but i do think he causes us problems ourselves. i think we could get at least £5m which could be reinvested in one or two long term options. in comparison, hooper should not be sold as he guarantees goals at this level. however, what do you do if a player makes it clear that he wants out? then we should sell him, but only if that happens and we should demand a sizeable fee to make it worth our while. he has longer to run on his contract so we are not in a slightly compromised position.
I would see another striker as a positive move to freshen up the attack, so we would have Hooper, Grabben, Becchio and one other with RvW leaving. The Championship is a physical league and I don't think that RvW would fit in whereas Hooper would (and has in the past) as has the other two. 4 decent strikers fighting for two places each game would be an ideal for me.
The problem with that Thurnby is that Bechio would realise he was 4th choice and how do you keep him happy with swapping a seat on a Premiership bench for a place on a Championship bench. IMO he would turn into a disruptive influence and be no use to man nor beast even if he came on. That is why I feel that any 4th striker needs to be a developing youngster - academy, bought or loaned - as he would enjoy a spot on the bench with a chance of getting on.
At the moment, City have a 25 man squad if Surman returns and Josh Murphy is included. I suspect that Adams would like to maintain that 25, so if a player leaves, a replacement target has already been identified (i.e. if RvW leaves, someone like Troy Deeney becomes a target). It's hypothetical, but you get the idea. IMO, Supers is probably right that Bassong, RvW and Fer are the most likely to leave, but it depends on whether other clubs come in for them, and that is by no means certain. If I were McNally, I'd offer a bonus that would make up last year's wages to all current players if we win promotion. There's another opportunity in January if things aren't going well, so players could be tempted. A lot will depend on how they view Adams from the last 5 matches. My personal feeling is that we could manage without Bassong, RvW and Fer if suitable replacements are found but Snodgrass, Olsson and Hooper would be much harder to replace. It'll be interesting, that's for sure!
I just hope that if anybody is going they go fairly quickly - we don't want offers we cannot refuse being made just before - or even worse just after - the start of the season. To save me looking it up anyone know when they return for pre-season training, what pre-season friendlies/tours have been arranged and when the season starts?
Fixtures are out next week aren't they? Have we ever played that lot on the opening day? That would be great, of would it never be allowed to happen?
yep next Wednesday I think at 9 a.m. No, don't think an opening day derby would be on the cards, somehow they tend to be November and March.
