At the beginning of the season the indication following JHT’s arrival was that we needed to prepare for 2 to 3 seasons in the wilderness as we restructured and got to grips with changes intended to make us successful long term. The excitement that followed with multiple victories combined with the heroics of Sainz lured many into believing that the new build may only take 2-3 months. Suspenjuries have pricked that little bubble of hope / fantasy with Norwich’s starting XI now looking more like a Carabao Cup lineup and perhaps a more realistic expectation emerging of the team’s circumstances. Critical players are missing but our squad players filling the gaps have so far been unable to grab their opportunity to shine. Sometimes, these absences can have a silver lining. Think back to Max Aarons coming in for Ivo Pinto. Right now, we could use one or more of the fringe players getting a start to really grab that opportunity by the horns. The next chance to do so will be Saturday at 3pm, back at Carrow Road. Bristol City are inbound. They are one place and one point above us in 11th spot having lost to Sheffield Utd midweek, losing a one goal lead late on. (Sound familiar?) but also a good away win at PNE last weekend. Bristol are having a similar injury problem, with their defence feeling it the most. Head Coach, Liam Manning has flagged “a flurry of injuries” for Bristol. Midfielders Mark Sykes and Joe Williams and Defenders Kal Naismith and George Tanner are out plus maybes include other defenders Ross McCrorie and Luke McNally. CB, Rob Dickie is suspended now too following a red card midweek. Norwich suspenjury latest (updated via @SuffolkCanary Thanks!) Sorensen – Has played 75mins and 90mins after immediate return from injury, only planned to give him 60mins in each Hills – BACK – Back in training today after a few weeks out Springett - BACK - Made the bench on Tuesday Fassnacht - RISK - Knock to his knee on Tuesday Slimane - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Gunn - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Hernandez - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Barnes - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Nunez - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom / v Plymouth McLean - OUT - 3/4 game suspension - v Plymouth Forsyth – OUT - knee - 5/6 weeks Gibbs - OUT until Christmas Sargent - OUT - Had surgery – 7-8 weeks out Sounds a bit depressing, however… Norwich are undefeated in 14 of their last 15 matches against Bristol and you may have heard that it’s now more than a year since a team last beat Norwich at Carrow Road. Long may that record last! (See what I did there?). Good luck team. Let's have some more points on the board please.
Great job Hairy! COYY!!! Here's some encouraging news: "Norwich City winger Borja Sainz has been crowned Championship player of the month for a second consecutive time. Sainz becomes just the third player to do so, following in the footsteps of record-breaking former Fulham forward Aleksander Mitrovic and ex-Canary James Vaughan to scoop the October award. He scored four goals and claimed two assists in five appearances during the month, extending his impressive start to a campaign in which he's now found the net 12 times. Those included two long-range efforts against an impressive Middlesbrough side, as well as a perfectly-weighted lob to seal victory over Hull and a clever finish away at Preston." https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwic...city-borja-sainz-wins-efl-player-month-award/
I'll be there tomorrow. I'm taking my boots just in case I'm needed!!! Borja on the left and 54 year old me on the right. What could possibly go wrong?!! I could be 'Robin' the headlines!!
I actually wondered if he could be fast tracked into the squad DD. He is still only 17 I believe, but others have made a great career starting there or younger.
I’m suprised Mahovo has been the one to make the bench recently, I believe he’s been performing well for the u21s but we need midfielders so i'm surprised we haven’t seen Djedje or Gee or Manning
I think that's a bit unfair on the current youngsters, Hairy. Fisher is shining every bit as brightly as Aarons, and Forsyth has cemented a place in the first team squad. In the last two games we've fielded sides in which six of the starting eleven were 21 or younger, and certainly at Cardiff they shone brightly enough for 80 minutes. It's not the youngsters who have let the side down.
It's also much easier to slot into a settled side, the youngsters and new players are coming into a side with 5 or 6 changes from our strongest side. Other than the back 4 and Sainz every other position has had to be changed due to injury/suspension or covering another position (Crnac). Arguably only Duffy and Sainz are our only current starting players that played regularly last season, that's a lot of cohesion lost in the current set up.
I've done a full update for you HMQC, tried to order in terms of timeframe as well. Squad update **UPDATE** Sorensen – Has played 75mins and 90mins after immediate return from injury, only planned to give him 60mins in each Hills – BACK – Back in training today after a few weeks out Springett - BACK - Made the bench on Tuesday Fassnacht - RISK - Knock to his knee on Tuesday Slimane - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Gunn - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Hernandez - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Barnes - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom Nunez - OUT - Targeting return after International break - v West Brom / v Plymouth McLean - OUT - 3/4 game suspension - v Plymouth Forsyth – OUT - knee - 5/6 weeks Gibbs - OUT until Christmas Sargent - OUT - Had surgery – 7-8 weeks out
Manning is 21 now and has played with the first team in the preseason. Gee is 19 and is a CB who can also play as a DM. A J Bridge is 19 and a CM. Djedje is still 17 and a DM. Manning would seem the most logical choice to me.
I don't regard Fisher in this context. He earned his spot before the injury crisis. I'm not having a go at youngsters either. I talked about "squad players" getting their chance to shine. I'm not sure Nunez, Kenny or Sargent are worrying if another player has cemented a claim on their starting spot yet in the same way Aarons did.
Sorry yes AJ Bridge was the one I meant, as you say Manning should be the choice, given his age it is surely time to see what he can do.
I wasn't disagreeing Suffolk, but simply sorting through the possibilities. I thought Manning did well in preseason and deserves a chance in the present situation.
Pleasant surprise that Slimane is deemed fit enough to return. Not sure if we will see Shwartau or Marcondes move out to right wing.
