Apologies for intruding, but didn't know where else to post! Who is Tony Andreu and will he be playing for you at all this season? I need a cheap 5th midfielder for my FPL team!
I wish those slating our player(s) would be more creative. Instead of saying someone isn't PL quality why not suggest another better player who is affordable and might be prepared to join us. I know you'll probably say not our job to scout players etc but you're happy enough to pick the players you don't want. We all know our players & strengths & weaknesses but it'd just show a bit more thought & less lazy. How many times has Martin cleared the ball off the goal line. Bassong makes mistakes, Martin does, Whits does, Turner does because they are human. Suggestions for better defenders???
No need to apologies, all welcome here. Alex brought from his former club Hamilton but hasn't featured very often and I can't see him playing many games in the PL.
While he has the reputation as a good player, it's always felt like he has an attitude problem. Also, he just got relegated in a team full of "WCT", so read into that what you will. I think the thing many need to remember is that this is a team game and Norwich have managed to have success by being better than the sum of their parts. Maybe Rusty isn't good enough, we'll find out this season. What matters is that all our players are committed to the club, to the ideas of the manager and to entertaining the fans. I'd rather have Rusty giving his all than Curtis Davis flouncing about, picking up his pay check then jumping ship if we go down.
Check Hull fans forum - Davies had a shocker for the last half of the season. I wouldn't be keen now tbh. The Times claim our weak link in defence is... Bassong.
When you explain it like that cotb, I have to withdraw my suggestion - I'd no idea he had an attitude problem, but when Rusty tries to head the ball out of defence, it just worries me!!
They're just making it up again mate! The home game against Reading was the bail in the coffin for Turner's City career, he was at fault for both goals and don't think he was ever first choice after that.
Honestly, I cannot believe people are STILL judging anything at all from pre-season friendlies!! If we're going to have this kind of dissection of performance just for a friendly "get some fitness in your legs lads" game then God help us when the real stuff actually starts.
Who said he was at fault for either goal. Bennett played alongside Martin & was just returning from injury. For a large portion of the game our defence except Martin were trying to hold a high line, Martin who should have been organising the back 4 was constantly out of sync with the rest of the defence on many occasions Bennett appear to be encouraging him to hold a higher line. I would also question his positioning for the second goal, although I accept the goal wasn't his fault, although I think he did concede the corner that lead to the goal. Highlights never show the full store Anyway I think I'll return to being a lurker.
Davies was injured for much of last season I think Rob, though his form was pretty ordinary before that. I had him in my dream team last year and he only picked up something like 25 points (didn't stop me winning the league touch!)
Fair comments - I didn't watch the game, so I don't know how it went. Not sure why you want to sulk about people disagreeing with you though, you have to expect it on here!
I think there has been a lot of debate about whether Martin is good enough at CB, well before pre-season. Before the start of last season, his ability to play there was questioned by a lot us, as it turned out at Championship level he was very capable, but I as many on here believe that the our return to the PL will require somebody a class up from Martin. I personally believe if we were able to get R Bennett playing consistently without any injuries woes, that he would be the suitable replacement.
I know a lot of people have expressed this opinion, but I think Andreu will be an important player for us. He's not a Wes, certainly, but he does offer another option at AM as well as being able to play wide. Unlike Wes, his strength is scoring goals, which makes him more like a cross between an AM and second striker. IMO, he will be used as an alternative to Wes and as an impact sub replacing Wes, especially when we're chasing a game.
My worry with Andreu is that he seems to adopt a "shoot on sight" policy, leading to several low quality, speculative efforts, rather than the really good chances Wes is capable of creating. When we're going to see less of the ball and get into advanced areas less frequently, Andreu's approach could hinder our attacks somewhat. That said, I completely agree with what you've said about being an impact sub. When we're on top late in a game and pressing for a goal against a resolute defence, Andreu might be the one to find himself space and crack the all important shot away, whilst Wes can get crowded out trying to thread the eye of a needle.
I'd seen a bit of Ryan Bennett before we signed him, and he was a player I rated highly and hoped that we'd sign, and when we did I was obviously over the moon. Early signs were good, and it looked like he was making good progress for us an pre-season a couple of years ago (before the relegation season) I predicted that by the next summer we'd have top six clubs sniffing round him and he'd be our first £10m player. Sadly since then his Canary career has been not much more than stop/start, he's never had a good run in the side and when he has I've not been convinced by him - understandable I guess for the simple reason he's not been able to establish himself and develop a good partnership with anyone - unlike Rusty and Seb last year. In Bennett's defence (no pun intended) the fact he hasn't been given a good enough run in the team and the chance to build a solid partnership with any one CB, and the fact that he has picked up a number of niggling injuries means he's not had the chance to progess as well as everyone would have liked, and I do worry that we're never going to see his full potential with us. For some reason (or perhaps a number of them) it just doesn't seem to have worked out for him with us so far, and sometimes when a player has gone a bit stale at a club he needs a change of scenery to fulfill his potential - of which he has a mountain, I have no question about that. I really hope he does get his chance and can grab it with both hands and show me the classy, dominant CB I really hoped he would be for us, I have to say that I'm somewhat fearful of that at the moment and it is clear that in the manager's eyes he is nowhere near the first XI. I'd love him to be our first choice CB, putting in performances that might even get him somewhere near the England squad, sadly that appears to be not much more than wishful thinking on my part because none of the evidence of the past couple of seasons supports it.
Agree with the last 2 comments about Bennett. I would love him to finally get a chance again. He lasted 2 minutes against Ipswich and was out for the rest of the season essentially, which shows the sort of luck he's had while here. I think he's a really good CB and would actually not be surprised if he gets ahead of one of Seb or Russ this season. He's strong in the air, good on the ball and quick enough, if not really speedy. I see Wisdom as cover for Whittaker, Martin as now a first choice CB who can cover RB and Bennett as the main back up for Seb and Russ. Wisdom is cover for CB as well. We could definitely do with a new CB, I wouldn't be disappointed if they were only a back up option... Well maybe a little, but I could understand not wanting to now bring someone in who would bump Bennett down to fourth choice when he's fit and ready to go. Obviously no one player is more important than the team though.
If I had to choose between a striker or a CB to sign ASAP, I'd be heavily weighted in favour of the defender. We currently have 5 strikers plus Loza, and on the rare occasion when two are deployed at the same time, Hooper could still do a perfectly respectable job. Otherwise, Jerome or Grabban, depending on the strengths of the opposition that week. This won't happen, however. One - or both of Lafferty or RvW will be gone, I'm sure, which paves the way for one new striking arrival. Why doesn't Alex Neil read this forum?? Bloody foomun', Neil!
