First and foremost greetings fellow Not606'ers. By way of introduction my story is not unusual. I used to post on 606 until the 'fun police' at work banned the site. Thankfully they have yet to discover this one so I have been avidly reading since it started but this is my first post. So hello one and all. Anyway to my point...Every year the Premier League throws up one or two surprises. As every fantasy footballer knows there is always a bargain to be had by way of an unexpected gem; particulary from the newly promoted teams. I am talking the Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis and of course Charlie Adam types. Now personally I cannot for the life of me second guess who Lambert will start with against Wigan and no doubt it will evolve over the course of the season but who do you reckon, if any of our current squad, will be this years Charlie Adam? Who has the potential to step up? I gess I have to plump for Bennet as he made it into my provisional FF team but I assume that will change before D day comes...
Hi Norfolk & well done for being brave enough to post for the first time You are right, there normally seems to be some players that bring the surprise element making a poor to average PL team a bit more competitive. Hopefully we will have 11 of them on the pitch every week! Bennett is a good prospect for sure, clearly showed bags of potential at Brighton last season and it would not surprise me to see him 'surprise' some others. I think Surman, Ward, Jackson & Hoolihan could all 'up their game' on the bigger stage, they certainly have the potential to do so.
Welcome Norfolk I'd guess at Wes Hoolahoops or Scott Sinclair to be the 'new kid on the Premier block' this coming season - hopefully the former rather than the latter.
I've been thinking along the same lines as the OP, and also because I've been looking at who to put in my fantasy team. Am going for for Bennett as well at the moment. But provoked a lot of pondering between him and Surman. And if Pilkington was fit to start the campaign then that would be another one in the mix. I've a feeling that he might be the one to watch later on in the season. Or maybe Vaughn, when fit, might be the one to shine... Or Hoolahan will really rise to the expectations of him being the Norwich star man... Or Holt will confound the naysayers and end up running Premier League defenders ragged, like their Champ and Lg1 counterparts, and pop in some really important goals... Happy days.
Thanks all for the welcome. I certainly agree on the Scott Sinclair front. It would also be very interesting to see how former reported target Danny Graham fairs as there has been very little hype about the champs top scorer. Also if he doesn’t ditch the PL for pastures new I would be keen to see whether Taarabt could handle the top flight or whether his petulance and child-like antics would get the better of him. Either way I am very excited about this evening. Should hopefully give us an insight into Lambert’s thoughts for the opening day. Fingers crossed for a Pilks run out too.
Disgraceful, isn't it, that an employer might expect their employees to actually work for the eight hours that they're there for the day, instead of wasting away the minutes and hours on a football forum?? anyway, for what it's worth, i would expect Andrew Surman to lift his game, was quite impressed with what i saw of him in the latter stages of last season...
I think David Fox, I think people will quickly realise his range of passing and see actually how good he is. Improved his all round game hugely this season especially his defensive attributes. I think Bennett and Pilkington will also be brilliant this year as well.
Mmmm...great question. I have a feeling that Crofts will be a revelation in the Prem. He was outstanding for us in the Championship and I think he has the mentality to raise his game. Plus, I wonder if Chrissy Martin is suited to the Prem? He seems to have it all for me and it's just his attitude getting in the way. If that changes now he is in the big time he could be a big success. As I said, a great question.
can't agree there northeast i'm afraid. i feel of all the players to have played regularly last season, crofts may be one of the ones who struggles to keep his place. cracking player, but i think johnson, bennett and pilkington will keep him out sometimes, depending on formation of course. the natural choice would be hoolahan, although i've long predicted bennett will be a great player for us. instead though, i'm going to go for captain holt. many pundits and fans will say he is too slow for the top flight but it never stopped teddy sheringham being a top player for years. holt is a clever player. his brain is always switched on to what is happening around him and he is a great leader - never one to shy away from a battle. thats not to say he is purely a battler - he possess skill levels way beyond many opposition fans claim. i doubt he will produce as many goals as we are used to, but a return of 9 or 10 will give us a good platform to stay up... not forgetting of course, he is our main man when it comes to assists.
I m under the impression that Bennett is an out and out right winger, his game is getting it down the channels and crossing or passing for the front men, his assists were superb for Brighton. We haven t had a descent wing player since Hucks so i m excited about him. Pilkington seemed to do a similar job as Bennett for Huds too. Last season we packed the midfield with defensive minded midfielders and Hoolahoops for the flair... Fox Crofts and Surman were all imense last season so Bennett Johnson and Pilkington will have to be bloody good to take their places.
true supernorwich. with regards crofts though, bennett and pilkington would take his place if we play with width because there won't be room for crofts/johnson, unless we don't play any of surman, hoolahan or fox which is possible. so much flexibility within the squad - its fantastic!
i think the formation will vary game to game. in the diamond, hools and croft may feature more but in 4-4-2 it is likely they would be on the bench, with benneyy and pilks on the wings. has anyone taken into consideration the goals we should get from midfield this season, plenty of really talented midfield strikers in the squad now. how about bennett being top scorer, i'm in love with him already (in a platonic type of way). think he could become a top player.
