Don't think it's likely we'd regularly play three centre backs, unless we are about to buy at least one more. Bassong must be in need of a rest you'd think, he's played pretty much every game including cups I think.
In that case Rudd Pinto Bennett Klose Brady Tettey Jarvis Howson Naismith Hooper Dave Perhaps? Ps i realise Hooper is not going to play but its a shame imo
Port Vale reportedly interested in loaning Loza he's currently at Southend for a weeks trial but good news if he gets out there for some competitive game time at either club. Bah!
Can't make my mind up about Loza. Scored on his debut, his only game so far, Scores lots in UNDER 21 games, including a fiver, but seems nowhere near the first team squad.
Wise words from AN - “I could have said after Manchester United, ‘We’re great, we’ve just beaten United, we don’t need any more players,’ so the fact we have been poor (at Bournemouth) and lost the game does not make me think we need five or six players because the boys have not been doing well enough,” he said. “That is not the case. It is the same team that put three wins out of four together. The things we had put in place to attract players remains the same.” Full article here - http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/alex_neil_maps_out_his_norwich_city_transfer_strategy_1_4384319 Let's hope Naismith passes his medical and does sign. I'd still like to see a reasonable striker added to our ranks as well.
Providing Naismith actually signs, we certainly cannot be accused of not having competition in every area of the pitch. An example of two full XIs (with some players to spare):
The main issue I see here is that Tettey and Howson are the only Prem quality players in our midfield. O'Neil is very up and down, Dorrans the same and Mulumbu cant seem to get a game. We wont get rid of O'Neil or Dorrans in this window, but i really think that THEY are where we need the improvement.
I can't believe you put Whittaker in ahead of Wisdom! But it does highlight what a good squad we have. In; Rudd, Brady, Tettey, Naismith(If the blighter ever gets confirmed!) and Howson. I think we definitely have some PL quality players. In; Ruddy, Bennett, Klose, Mbokani, Pinto, VOO and Jarvis (I suppose Redmond outta be added too, even if he is bang out of form!) and Redmond. I think we have some that might be and the rest make for a tidy squad where we are in the scheme of things. That is the key though keep adding to the first list each window. Wouldn't fancy the 2nd XI's chances myself, but there isn't so much between the two sides. Bah!
He's also had several loans for short periods of time, where he's never managed to get a lot of minutes. Spells at Coventry, Stevenage, Orient, Yeovil and Southend have yielded 18 appearances (few starts), one goal and two assists.
To be fair up to his moment of insanity in the potteries GON was performing pretty consistently. I have been disappointed with Mulumbu - I know you can't help getting injured but I really thought at the start of the season that he would come in and run our midfield as a Tettey upgrade but it would appear that Tettey is by far the better player. Hopefully Mulumbu will come back strong and prove me wrong. I just don't get what AN sees in Dorrans - moderate Champ player for us last season and hardly kicked on this year. I think that our midfield is relatively strong but AN seems to be struggling to get the right balance for individual matches. When the midfield works we generally do OK but if either the personnel or system don't work on any given day we look awful and generally get murdered.
Yep, me too - especially after watching his first(?) game in our pre-season friendly, where he made one and scored one in no time at all. I figured he'd be first name on the team-sheet regularly. Just goes to prove the old adage, one swallow doesn't make a summer!
Big squad rather than a "good" one imo. There are several players who are not Prem quality in there. O'Neil Mulumbu (Maybe) Dorrans Martin Whittaker Olsson (Occasionally he can be) Mathews Wisdom Thompson Andreau Lafferty That's 11 players out of the 28 mentioned. Leaving us with a squad of 17 (medium to low level) Prem level players. We also don't know about Klose and Pinto, we haven't yet signed Naismith and we probably won't ever see Hooper in a Norwich shirt again (sadly). So at present we KNOW we have 13 Prem level players out of 28. I am not trying to be negative. I am just highlighting what we need in order to move forward i the future. Hopefully we can kick on with the new signings (and Naismith if we get him). At least stay up and then look to replace the players who lack Prem quality.