Ben has tweeted that he'll be back for the pre-season so let's hope he is. Ben has proven his worth and at least it will give Zimbo some good playing time. I just hope we don't regret not replacing Klose.
Nobody else wants a frozen out by his own club injured player. We should try and haggle Burnley down if anything he's an injury prone past it loser with attitude problems.
Sadly, the truth is out Dunc in this EDP article: "Being naturally left-footed has provided the Canaries with a balance in their defence. His skill set complements nicely with Grant Hanley and is the reason they have performed so well during this campaign." https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/ben-gibson-norwich-city-burnley-championship-7856582
Not sure what happened there but I've changed it now. Thanks GE. Meanwhile here's another article on Sorenson's views looking back on his first season: https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/jacob-sorensen-norwich-city-debut-season-7856698
The 4 teams chasing auto promotion. Looking at the stats it's us & 1 from 3 https://www.theanalyst.com/eu/2021/04/championship-promotion-race/
I find it difficult to understand why we don't learn from experience. We were nobbled last season by CB injuries and yet we went into this season with only 3 CBs. We added Gibson but then lost Godfrey and didn't replace him. It beggars belief.
We had 4 didn’t we ? We then let Klose go out on loan. Foolish decision ? Time will tell but the fact that Hoadley, Zimbo, Gibson and Klose all have had injury concerns over the past 2 seasons should give a clue.
Since October 2018, the only Championship club to beat us at Carrow Road are Derby County (a 37 game period).
Now we're sat on 87 points. That's the average (over past 25 seasons) points required for auto promotion... 6 games to go
It certainly seems that he was right about that. Omobamidele already looks first team quality at the tender age of 18. It just shows the effectiveness of SW's youth focus as he follows in the footsteps of Lewis, Aarons, Godfrey and Cantwell. I'm no longer worried about the CB situation, especially as we also have the 22 year old left footed CB Akin Famewo coming back from his loan at Charlton next season. Looking ahead to that, we now don't need quantity as we already have a solid 25 player squad other than a replacement for Skipp if he doesn't come back (U21 players in brackets): GK: Krul, Nyland/McGovern, (Barden) RB: Aarons, Byram, (Mumba) LB: Giannoulis, Quintilla, (McCallum) RCB: Handley, Zimmerman (Omobamidele) LCB: Gibson, Famewo DM: Skipp/other, Sørensen, Tettey?, (Sitti) CM: McLean, Rupp, Vrančić? WR: Buendia, (Martin) WL: Cantwell, Hernandez, Placheta AM: Dowell, Stieperman S: Pukki, Hugill, (Idah) That's 24 players not counting the 7 U21 players.
Whilst I think CB wise we are okay for the Championship, I still think we will need another CB to push Hanley / Gibson for their starting spot. I can see Omobamidele going out on loan next season, he needs to be playing week in week out and he's not going to get that with us, similar to when Godfrey went to Shrewsbury. I can also see Famewo being loaned out again or even moved on. We will need to either get Skipp back or get someone to replace him. I like Sorensen & McLean, but I think we need another of a similar level to McLean or better. I'm far from convinced we should be extending Tettey's & to a less extent Vrancic's contact. Perhaps my greatest concern is the No10 role. Dowell is starting to come good, but I think again we need another option in this role similar to Dowell or ideally better. I'd see Steipermann as 3rd choice rather than 2nd. Clearly if things change and we don't get promoted or we sell players further changes will be needed.
I wonder whether the 'contract negotiations' mentioned for Tettey and Vrančić might be for a player/coach role. DF was a striker and Eddie Reimer was a CB but I'm not aware of any midfield specialists on the staff. Tettey and Vrančić could be valued for their PL and international experience either as a player or coach. If we replace Skipp and retain both Tettey and Vrančić we still have a place available for a CB or number 10. CB would be my priority if Vrančić is retained as our style of play involves the 3 AMs interchanging behind Pukki.