Tuesday night brings a repeat of City's second round in the Carabao Cup last season. That ended 6-0 with braces by Josh Sargent and Christos Tzolis. The roles are now reversed, however, with us relegated and Bournemouth promoted to the Premier League last season. Buoyed by two wins over Huddersfield and Millwall, the Canaries will be riding high. The opposite is likely to be the case for Bournemouth, having been thrashed 3-0 by Arsenal yesterday and 4-0 by ManCity the week before. This is how they were seen yesterday: "From the very first whistle, the spirit and the attitude just didn't look right. There were brief glimpses of promise in the opening few minutes, with Kieffer Moore and Philip Billing looking to press high as a two and harry the visitors. But shortly after, everything, including the long-established game plan, was effectively thrown into the bin." Scott Parker will doubtless want to use the Cup to lift spirits while Dean Smith will want to carry on a winning run. Both teams will also see this as a chance to include players who did not feature in recent matches so form isn't the only issue. It'll be a hard game to predict because of all of that. More later as team news emerges.
It will be interesting to see who starts Tuesday with Sargent possibly being rested for League duty and Pukki not fully fit . Hugill ,Ramsey , Sara , Tod , Gibbs, Gibson Rashica and possibly some academy boys like Kamara
Idah has been targeting this game for a return too. Gunn Aarons Tomkinson Gibson Byram Sara McLean Ramsey Rashica Hugill Hernandez Idah and Pukki from the bench?
As DH says, Smith did say he expected Idah to be fit for Tuesday. Perhaps Hugill will start and Idah come on as sub. Should be a presser tomorrow morning. Agree with DH's players but it could also look like this. Gunn Aarons Tomkinson Gibson Byram Sara McLean Rashica Ramsey Hernandez Hugill Subs: McGovern, Hanley, Omobamidele, Gibbs, Cantwell, Idah
As things stand I cannot realistically see Hugill still being with us on Sept. 1. No way has he a place in either the starting 11, or off the bench, as things stand at present. A decision has to be made about his participation, or not, this season.`
Personally I would be giving a half each to Pukki and Idah, try to get some match fitness for Idah and look for Pukki to get his first goal this season. Other than when he rounded the keeper at Kings Lynn I don’t think he has scored since last season
Also worth looking at one of the youth left backs I would have thought - Shipley perhaps to see what they could offer
That could be, but Hugill offers another option as an impact sub target man if we're chasing a game late on. Sargent has scored with headers a couple of times but Idah has yet to establish himself in that role. I suspect Smith will want Byram to get some minutes at LB but there's no reason Shipley couldn't be an option from the bench, except that he played for the U21s today.
Strikers are notoriously expensive Hugill cost West Ham £9m we paid just under £3m. He's too old and not good enough to play in the Premier league but at Championship level He's pretty effective and a great character in the dressing room . If someone offered £1m plus and he wanted more game time then great . A 32 year old out of form Pukki, Idah who spends more time injured than fit only scoring 1 goal in the Premier league and 3 in the Championship the season before , ever present for Ireland with 13 appearances but no goals . Sargent that most of us had written off as a donkey appears to be the main man now. Hugill could be important this season if others get suspended or injured again . We put Mumba out on loan because we didn't need him and now we don't have a left back , with luck like that and no financial incentive to offload him . I would hang on to him as an insurance policy plus he deserves the respect after being loaned out twice last season and coming back with a great attitude. The brace against Marseille and the other pre season goals should buy him another season. His contract expires next season let the guy leave at the end of the season . He's 2 years younger than Pukki at 30 . I see no value in loaning him out and releasing him for free
Totally agree with all of that Dunc. He's a decent Championship striker to have as an option. We've had a quiet window so far and should be within of our budget so why move him on? He worked really hard over the summer and came back firing and fit to go as his goals in the preseason show. I'm hopeful that Sargent has moved up a level, but I'd like another option as insurance. Idah is developing but his injuries are worrying. Pukki is still our main man, IMO, and our only striker to have proved himself in the PL but is now 32 and will need a rest occasionally.
The results the two teams have had this year are like a mirror to last year almost exactly. It's strange, I don't see us lose 6-0
It depends on what teams both sides put out. Last year Bournemouth put out a young side which got thrashed 6-0 by our own much changed side with Tzolis and Sargent leading the attack with two goals each. News from the Presser is that Idah is not ready to start, but should be on the bench. Omobamidele picked up a sore ankle from blocking a shot against Millwall and will not be involved. Byram is likely to start at LB and Smith also hinted that Gabriel Sara will also start. Asked about Krul to ManUtd Smith replied: “We are not looking to lose any players.” That's about it on team news, except that on improving set-pieces, “the players are starting to grasp what Alan (Russell) wants from them. We are improving, but we want to score goals.” Watch out for set pieces tomorrow night then.
I have a horrible feeling we won't get a stream tomorrow again , the club don't have the licence to charge us to watch on their streaming service but can charge £2.50 to listen to radio Norwich
I can see McLean starting this one alongside Gibbo & Tomkinson with Byram coming on midway 2nd half. Hope we see a performance from hugill he should have enough about him to dislodge idah from the 3rd striker position, unless we no longer consider Idah an upfront option? In which case he longer has a place in the squad given the other he'd be competing with. Either way one of those 2 needs to leave. Rashica needs to get his act together given his (apparent) ability there's no way he should be behind argos, though with his current showing it's impossible to argue otherwies.
Cantwell has to start, given all the chat from the Bournemouth fans about how useless he was and didn’t contribute. Then Rashica needs more game time and I think we should start Hugill over Pukki, but I’m relaxed either way.
Can we continue to play Cantwell if he shows no intention of signing a new deal? Maybe things are happening that we know nothing about, and the Bournemouth rejection will bring some reality to his mind. But I am sceptical about a good outcome.
His contract is up next June but we usually have an option for a further year . IF we go up and he contributed then I'm pretty sure he would sign another deal . IF he isn't featuring much around January then maybe try and sell him . At 24 he isn't a baby anymore and from what I have seen he's trying his best for the club and happy here . Agent talk about big money moves completely wrecked his head and he believed his own hype , after a few servings of humble pie he's looking like the player of a few seasons ago.
Have never seen an extension option mentioned which is why I posted as I did. If anyone knows different please enlighten us. Edit :- is he not in a one year extension currently?
