I realise that the worst of the storm has blown over, but I still think a few people are overreacting. Don't get me wrong, I was as surprised as anyone that Holty handed in a transfer request, but I don't understand what any of the panic or confusion is about. Re. confusion: - Norwich are going through the end of year player reviews. Each player will be given a good idea of where there future lies with respect to the club. That's why Whitbread and Wilbraham got released two days ago. A couple of others the negotiations will take longer, which is why we haven't heard about Fox, Ward etc whose contracts also soon run out. - Part of the player reviews involves giving players new contracts even where they've got loads of time left. That's why we saw Hoolahan, Holt etc. get refreshed contracts last year. - When you consider how fast the club has risen and how low some of the wages are, at Norwich this will be a longer, harder task than, say, Arsenal, who won't necessarily be refreshing ALL players contracts, they'll just have one difficult big one. - Holt had his player review yesterday EDIT McNally says this hasn't actually happened yet . This WILL have involved offering him a pay rise. It is quite clear that he will either (a) requested more money or (b) request a longer contract. Both of these are perfectly reasonable given that he sees himself as a valuable asset, but wants to be set up nicely for the future while he can still make the cash. There may have been inquiries from other clubs about him, but this will have nothing to do with that. Like any person in a job, Holt doesn't care who he plays for, as long as he's paid his due. - Submitting a transfer request is now the way players/agents act to increase their income. This is a perfectly normal action from Holt, considering that with Norwich having him tied down to two more years, he hasn't got any other way to bargain. If he does get transferred away, it will be for bigger wages, so it's win-win for him. He's seen he can compete at this level and knows he will be in demand. This is his job, his livelihood. If you were such an integral part of your work, say, in a factory, you would also request a pay increase, or you'll get a job at your rival's factory. Re. panic: - If the board do offer him a bigger contract, this is not going to make him a worse player. Holt's style is Holt's style, he will always play his heart out, whether it's with us or anywhere else next season. - He is not a "Judas" or a traitor. He is being selfish, but you have to be in the football world. People may say he owes Norwich a lot, which is true, but equally Norwich owes him a lot. The club has had a cash windfall running into the hundreds of millions, a large chunk of it down to Grant Holt. It's no surprise that he feels he deserves a chunk of that. - If he does go, it will not be the end of the world. Yes, in terms of his personality he is irreplaceable. But I have absolute faith in the board that the sum of money we will get for his sale will eventually outweigh the loss, possibly quite substantially. Say we get £6m for him, that will already be a huge bonus. Say we buy two players for £3m and one of them ends up being incredible. It will have been Holt's transfer funds that will have made the difference. I see Holt's potential departure as much, much less worrying than the loss of Lambert. Even the loss of Lambert would not be an absolute disaster. - More to the point- if we're not offering him the contract he wants, that's probably because the club can't "afford" it. Now I don't know what they've offered him or what he's asked for, but the domino effect of increasing players' wages is always a risk. In McNally I Trust. He won't be offering dangerous length/size contracts to anyone. - We have been remarkably lucky considering how well we've done that we're not fighting off more bids for our players. This is only the start of it. It is the normal football merry-go-round. And as McNally said the other day, if other clubs are wanting your players and your manager, you're obviously doing something right. - In order to compete at this level in the long term, we will have to increase the wage cap. More to the point, we will be able to because the cash windfall is huge. But this needs to be done slowly and carefully. So everyone. Keep calm, and carry on. I know McNally will be as cool-headed as ever. I am positive Lambert will be. And I'm pretty certain Holt knows what he's doing too
Yay someone making sense. I think we tend to act like smurfs whenever we hear about anything to do with Lambert and or Holt. Yes to lose them would be bad, but nothing we can do about it even if we wanted to!
Me too. Let's have a great evening on Tuesday celebrating not only Adam Drury's magnificent career and service to NCFC, but our fantastic three years and EVERY City player's contribution to it. IDMWT ILWT and ..... WFLGH
Yeah, some people aren't happy about that! If he hadn't been offered one, I'm guessing he would have been released by now, so presumably they're negotiating. I think Ward is good when he's up against certain strikers and is actually worth keeping on the books if he's cheap enough because while he made a few mistakes recently, I thought he was pretty solid when he first came back from injury. Also, his worst mistakes happened to be when Suarez played the best game of his life! I think Ward is adequate as a back up. I also trust Lambert to know whether there is room for Ward in Norwich's long term plans. Also, let's not forget, many defenders hit their peaks aged 28-30, so Ward is just coming up to that.
Not convinced by him I know the forum is split 50/50 on him but for me I find him too clumsy and slow for this level. I'm hoping we can get in a decent calm centre back over the summer someone around 26 with no history of injuries.
Totally agree with everything Canary Rob has said. Use the money from Holt to buy Jordan Rhoades . Maybe Vaughan will come good next season. Holt deserves a last pay day and if he is not happy here then why keep him? We are Norwich, super Norwich, before and after Holt or Lambert, what will be will be................OTBC
I am a fan of Ward, while he will never be one of the starters in the premier league, he is more than adequate back-up should a substitution be required, and his commitment to our cause is always evident. He provides a goal threat from set pieces, makes crucial goal-bound clearances and last ditch tackles. He doesn't have great pace, but that is what full backs are for! We are now in the position of having 3 quality centre-backs: 1) Ayala 2) R.Bennett 3) R.Martin With Back-Up: 4) Ward 5) Barnett ? (does he still feature in PL's plans?) With Whitbread gone, we would all expect at least one replacement...
Strange how well Liverpool played when they visited Carrow Road and I know it was helped to a fairly large extent by Ward's ineptitude. I would rather we had kept Zak, but I trust PL's judgement as to who to keep and who to let go.
My guess is he is incredibly happy here, but realises he's not getting any younger, so as a result his earning power as a footballer will start to diminish. His (ill-advised?) agent saw what happened last year to Rooney at ManUre and thought 'two can play that game' ?
It's a bloody lottery with Vaughan, I fear that he will never be fit for more than 2 or 3 months at a time, however we need him to play else his transfer value will be nothing. Why not Holt and Rhodes, that would be exciting!
