He had a bad season for injuries last year, yes, but prior to that he was by no means injury prone (though he admittedly was not played much by Udinese for his 3 years there). A medical should resolve whether it was just one bad season or he has developed a long term problem. I agree with this - McGugan is half the player of Abdi, honestly. We don't need a player who can burst forward and score goals - we have that in the form of Howson. We need a player who can create space, keep possession, keep the midfield passing ticking over and get assists.
Tbf, I'm going on what my Watford supporting mate says, rather than claiming to have watched more than a couple of their matches. As far as I've been told, McGugan doesn't do it half as well and the absence of Abdi hit Watford hard because the midfield's movement, passing, etc was nowhere near as crisp. Basically, McGugan might have filled in that role recently, but it was Abdi that made them tick in 12-13 - which was why he was rushed into the team when they thought he was fit. I also think Abdi is a proper creative central midfielder, rather than an attacking midfielder - so he goes missing less often. McGugan is certainly comparable to Hoolahan, whereas Abdi sits a shade deeper and is more involved
tbf, that is a hell of a freekick and if messi done something like that it would be shown over and over again. anybody who can curl a ball around jason scotland has to be quite special. but to be honest, if we got mcgugan i would be more than happy because he is someone who we could accomodate with the players we have.
Harsh, but fair question... As I confessed earlier, I'm really repeating verbatim what my mate has said. And he raves about Abdi, as you can probably see. He's got a girlfriend but I don't suppose that prevents him from having a vested interest in Abdi... Joking aside, I think it's a moot point as we're not going to be signing either of these players I suspect.
One hell of a free-kick, but how often does he do that? Lafferty has a similar YouTube video of a similar free-kick for Palermo, and he did another very similar one last night at Braintree. I don't know Abdi at all, but I have seen enough of McGugan to think he could be a useful player for City. It depends on who else might be out there and willing to come to Norwich.
How about Kolo Toure from Liverpool? At 33 he would not be too expensive as they got him for free and is on the final year of his contract. I doubt he would want to drop down a league but it would be worth a phone call.
I'd certainly go for McGugan. When he performs he blows away this division. He's a goalscorer, we've just lost one in Snodgrass so we need someone to chip in.
I posted this list a while back and whilst I am not really one for stats, these are surely the types of player we need to be bringing into our midfield?! I know people have alluded to the fact that passes to wide players dont get recognised as assists etc but these players all contributed to 10+ goals each for their teams in the Championship last season. Albert Adomah: 12 goals- 5 assists Lewis McGugan: 10 goals- 5 assists Danny Ward: 10 goals- 6 assists Adam Clayton: 7 goals- 4 assists* Andy Reid: 9 goals- 13 assists Matt Richie: 9 goals- 2 assists Jamie Paterson: 8 goals- 4 assists ...Thoughts?
Clayton has been mentioned in the past as interesting City, but McGugan would be my choice out of that list.
I quite like the look of Paterson from what I have seen of him. Then again that was only 2 or 3 games but he did look good. Think he might be more of a winger than an ACM or CM though.
I quite like the look of Paterson from what I have seen of him. Then again that was only 2 or 3 games but he did look good. Think he might be more of a winger than an ACM or CM though.
Adomah, Ward and Ritchie are also wingers/forwards rather than CMs, but could be decent shouts if Adams is looking for another Callum Wilson type player. Reid is 31, but a good player all the same.
It's also interesting about Surman's take on Adams: “We have more than enough in this dressing room to be in the Premier League. That is the main aim and that is the attitude we are taking into games. We have some decent players and good characters in the dressing room. When you first come back in everyone is on a downer after the relegation but the manager has had a few meetings and made it clear that is in the past and that has gone now. Things can change so quickly in football. It was disappointing last season with what happened and the manager leaving but everyone is behind Neil. He has put his stamp on things and we all know what he wants. I’ve played the diamond before when we got promoted and playing with Jonno (Bradley Johnson) sitting and Wes (Hoolahan) and Jonny Howson in there I thought we linked quite well (at Braintree). It’s easy to play that role when you have done it before and I have enjoyed the first two games. It proves we have a lot of good players.”
