Last year Bassong had a dreadful season. It was a campaign full of personal mistakes and at times he seemed lost. Awarding him the captaincy didn't help his game or anyone else's. We don't know exactly what happened when Hughton was sacked but Bassong has been marginalised. Adams maintains today that he still has a future at NCFC but many supporters appear willing to drive him to his next club. Is he perhaps paying a price for being Hughton's man? Wind back 12 months and he was our player of the season. Back then it didn't seem to matter who partnered him but we were invariably weaker when he didn't play. He has more experience at the highest levels than most of our squad and, if his head is in the right place, there is no doubt he could make a significant contribution. We wouldn't normally want to see a player like Bassong leave. So, given that most people want to give RVW, who has proved nothing, a chance to redeem himself, shouldn't Bassong, a recipient of the Barry Butler trophy, be afforded the same opportunity? He is only 28, still improving, still learning from his mistakes. I'm pretty sure he'll go but, if he can commit to the cause, I'd like to see him stay.
It all depends on his attitude. There must have been some sort of bust-up when Hughton was fired and fences still haven't been mended. This sort of thing happens all the time in football. If he leaves, we'll have to replace him with somebody costing more than we're likely to get for him. I'd like to see him stay as that would greatly improve our chances of promotion, which is more important than anything else, IMO.
If he wanted to say and work hard I wouldn't hesitate for a second. In terms of talent he is the best defender we have on the books and to be honest last year he played better than people give him credit for. He made mistakes but who didn't last season. The problem is that he seems unwilling to stay, I think he threw his toys out the pram when Hughton went and has been marginalised ever since. Clearly he didn't show up this season in particularly good shape as demonstrates by a supposedly underwhelming performance for the U21s. Really I think he's doing this all wrong, if he wants to leave he should be demonstrating his talents and fitness to spur interest from other clubs.
Bassong is, potentially, our best player. Full stop - end of story. I don't pretend to know what has gone on or who is to blame but I do know that it needs sorting. Bridges need to be built or, if they can't be, he needs to move on. It is no good Adams saying that Bassong has a future at the Club at the same time as humiliating him by making him play with the 3rd team. This smacks of a Manager who just says what he thinks the fans want to here and that is not what we need at the present moment in time.
Bassong has had his day at Norwich. Time for him & the club to move on. The Turner / Bennett partnership is more than capable of getting us back in the premiership. If Bennett doesn't get more playing time he'll have no choice than to move on if he wants to get his career back on track. The club should sell Bassong and look for another promising youngster to provide cover / competition for Turner & Benentt.
Because he would immediately halve in value, its not about placating the fans, its about making sure the club gets the best outcome from the situation.
So why say anything at all. Better to tell a lie than say nothing - really? If Adams tells lies to suit then why believe anything he says in future?
It wasn't like he finished the match and was running round shouting "Where's Chris Goreham I must tell him about Bassong" it came up as a question and "has a future" is fairly non-committal really, he also said that he was waiting to here what Paul Nevin had to say about his perform an for the U21s before he made a judgement. "Has a future" is a pretty nothing statement too of course he has a future here as he's not been sold yet, its tantamount to saying nothing. Adams could have been more forceful with the equally noncommittal "will have some part to play". I see no problem with he statement what so ever seems the most sessile thing to say.
What is wrong with the truth - ' we are having ongoing discussions regarding that ' No reduction in value and no lie. I'm sorry if I am being pedantic but ' he has a future here ' is a lie if he hasn't and, as we tell children, if you tell lies we will not know what to believe in the future.
To say he has a future here means nothing. It's what his future is thats relevant. So Adams view maybe he has a future here if he changes his attitude, comes on board with the new set up and plays his socks off or it might be he has a future here palying in the reserves and as back up for Turner & Bennett. Who knows. I wouldn't want Adams to lie, but equally I don't expect him to provide so much information that he devalues the player and ultimately weakens any future negotiations. Yes as a club we need to retain our integrity, but we also need to live in the real world.
Accepting that I am being pedantic again but if the justification for telling lies is because you do not want other clubs to know the real truth surely not playing Bassong for several months, making him play for the 3rd team and having to answer questions from the local press gives them a clue.
I don't think I suggested we should lie. I just don't think in situations like this it's particularly useful to provide more than the minimum information to answer the questions. Personally for me I think if we want to keep Bennett long term we need to give him a run in the team and Turner is in my view more consistant than Bassong. So if Bassong wants to stay and initially be 3rd choice then fine, if not I'd rather we moved him on and looked for a younger, keener CB with greater potential for the future (or 2) to take his place. The main issue in my arguement is finding a suitable replacement.
Feel free to call me out if this isn't the case, but Bassong won't be a Norwich City player at the beginning of next season. I read the 'has a future comments' in the same way canario did. It's something you hear a lot in football and invariably proven to be an ambiguous response to questions over a players future. It's not a lie, it's at worst non-committal. A lot has to be taken into account when speaking about contracted players. The potential effect it could have on transfer value, the players bargaining position etc. Another point would be Rusty has been handed number 5 in the squad. Which was of course Bassong's number. So, Adams top three center backs appear to be: 1. Turner 2. Martin (would be third for me) 3. Ryan Bennett 4. New CB (maybe a loan?) I can't see SB wanting to be fourth choice center back for a Championship club. He still has international aspirations. On his day, he's fantastic, but I've never seen such a transformation in form in one of our players from one season to the next. There were some real low points last year. It just seems right, with all of this and the reports over the Hughton stuff, for the club and the player that he moves on.
Bassong was amazing for us but he ruined his reputation with the plastic gangstar gun rubbish, CH made him captain and a combination of loss of form and pressure destroyed his confidence . He was not good last year but other than Olsson the entire squad were not very good, if he wants to fight for his place in the Championship then great but we will probably sell him on and he will become awesome again. Tough call for Adams . please log in to view this image
Just picking up on the squad number point, it seems like a pretty cheap gesture to give Rusty Basong's squad number, or for Lafferty to take RVW's. Either the squad numbers don't matter, so why change them, or they do matter, in which case it marginalises players that Adams says remain important to the club. Either way it's going to lead to speculation and media questions so why not just leave them alone. Surely there are less petty ways of making players aware that their future is in doubt, as if they needed telling.
I have raised several queries on our Managers judgement on several threads - usually, to be fair, over fairly minor matters. Having been in the ' give him a reasonable chance ' camp I am beginning to wonder how much longer I can listen to my own advice if this continues.
The truth will lie in the results on the pitch. IMO, many people will be surprised. There's no such thing as guaranteed success in football - just look at ManUtd last year. It's a sporting competition where all sorts of things can happen and probably will - not only to us but to every other club as well.
