Norwich fans said he played at Right back a few times for when they needed cover. He played in central midfield for them from their promotion from league 1 to the prem but got injured at Christmas time when they were in the championship and they were forced to bring loan players in, when he came back from injury he couldn't force his way back in the side and Lambert didn't think he was premiership quality. One of the Norwich fans likened him to Nigel Reo Coker when he was good. Check our Smiths goal here, absolute peach! [video=youtube;BQ1Cq1P90AA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ1Cq1P90AA[/video]
Lee Johnson on Korey Smith Lee Johnson believes new Bristol City signing Korey Smith has what it takes to cut it in the Championship. Former Robins midfielder Johnson, now in charge at League One rivals Oldham, gave the 23-year-old a glowing reference after sanctioning his move to Ashton Gate for an undisclosed fee on Friday. The Oldham boss, who took Robins midfielder Liam Kelly as a ready-made replacement for his Bristol-bound captain, says he is surprised former Norwich prodigy Smith is not already operating in the English second tier. "We had quite a bit of interest in Korey from Championship clubs back in January," revealed Johnson. "Money was being offered but, fortunately, my chairman stayed strong and we were able to keep him at the club for the rest of the season. But I knew there would be interest this summer and, if I'm honest, I was resigned to losing him. "Bristol City have got themselves a very good player, one who is definitely capable of doing well in the next level up. I was surprised when we were allowed to sign him from Norwich, because he was a little bit too good for League One. "We benefited from having Korey for a full season last year and he was great for us, but he was always going to end up at a bigger club." Although Smith, who captained Oldham, was deployed ostensibly as a holding midfielder, Johnson insists he is equally effective in any number of roles. Asked what kind of player Robins boss Steve Cotterill has recruited, Johnson answered: "A very good one. I used him as the one in a 4-1-4-1 formation, but there is a lot more to his game. He has a great engine, runs all day long and is probably better suited to a box-to-box role. Korey is also a fantastic right-back in the making and I reckon he could end up in that position in the long run. "He is very comfortable in possession. You can give him the ball under pressure and he has this ability to wriggle his way out of trouble." http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/...dham-manager/story-21307480-detail/story.html
I suppose the best deal would have been to have kept Kelly and signed Smith We could have included Reid, Wynter, Gillett or Wagstaff
In many ways the risk part of this deal is with Oldham, as no guarantee that Liam will fully recover from that injury
