Don't rate Vlaar myself personally, thought he was angling for a big move when he turned down Villa's contract, looks like none of the big teams were interested in him though
It's probably the risk after such a long injury. He hasn't had playing time to see if he's going to suffer recurrences.
Don't get too excited about the January window lads because we won't be bringing in any quality. A couple of poxy loans from clubs who deem them not good enough for their starting 11's perhaps. McNally & Co. have tried to stay up on the cheap and it's about to come back and bite them on the arse. Why anyone would think we would spend any real money in January when we had a practical 'nil' net spend in the summer is beyond me. If the board ever had any ambition (ha, ha) at all they would have shown it during the close season, typical NCFC I think we can now officially put McNally in the same box as Chase and Doomcaster please log in to view this image
You really have descended into a dark place haven't you, KIO. The Watford performance was depressing to be sure, but I still feel that it was out of character with the season as a whole. As I've said before, the previous four games were all good performances and hopefully that will return against Everton. We're in a relegation battle with at least 5 other teams so let's get up for the fight.
Have to agree with Rick to an extent, KIO. A bit too early in proceedings to roll over and show the soft underbelly just yet, with 23 games - (69 points) still to play for?
I wasn't at last night's 'meet the gaffer' meeting, but from the sound of this, Lafferty's future lies away from Carrow Road. pinkun @pinkun 'Goals mean prizes - It’s time for @NorwichCityFC to give Kyle Lafferty a go' says @Plunkykos http://www.pinkun.com/opinion/goals_mean_prizes_it_s_time_for_norwich_city_to_give_kyle_lafferty_a_go_1_4343738… Andrew Lawn @Andrew_Lawn @pinkun @Plunkykos AN answered this last night, essentially doesn't rate him and isn't prepared to waste a game just to prove a point. Also added no-one batted an eyelid when he went to Turkey (and also made no impact) last year. Others offer more. Adios Laffers - if true
There seems to be a lack of consistency here, Grabban is sh1t and AN still keeps playing him. At least Lafferty has a bit of spirit and can score at international level. Don't know what Grabban's done to deserve the faith AN seems to have in him.
I think it's probably to do with style. I'm no Grabban apologist, but they do perform different roles in that forward position. Grabban is the only striker we have that has genuine pace.
Interesting debate. It's pretty obvious that AN is not a fan of Lafferty's style of play and so he should be sold in January. IMO, most of us on here are not fans of Grabban (myself included!!). I'd be inclined to start with Jerome and see how we perform, but the defence is going to be on top form against Lukaku on Saturday.
It's a bit strange, because a while back AN said that Laffs had adapted his game and was under consideration again. I'm not anti Grabban and I do think we need a player like him. IMO, it could be either Jerome or Mbokani on Saturday, depending on how AN wants to play it. Lukaku will be a handful, but I'd like to see Mulumbu in the side to help cope with him. I thought he could have done a similar job on Deeney last week, but AN went with Dorrans.
**Steven Naismith alert** http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/10/everton-steven-naismith-roberto-martinez?
I could kinda see Naismith happening, but it'll be a big chunk of money for a 29 yr old. Might mean we can shift Grabban at least, that's probably who he'd be competition for and we don't need two strikers in that role.
Naismith is also quite versatile, being able to play as a sole striker, second striker or AM to provide options for all 3 positions. Russell Martin was very keen on us signing him before and thought he'd fit in well. Could be a good fit.