Quo Vadis?

Because I bet no-one has ever made that joke before... But the answer is clearly our first XI

I know he was given less than ten minutes even with injury time included, but I thought it was interesting that he was brought on as a replacement for Hoolahan. I also thought he looked very tidy on the ball - stronger than Hoolahan - and in that brief cameo he got himself in an excellent position in front of Arsenal where he should have done much better (not as a criticism, he did very well to get us there) and put Redmond into a couple of good positions too.

Are we going to see more of him in the team from now on instead of Hoolahan? I think so. With Hoolahan used more as a sub. The team is shaping up very nicely and Neil seems to have a sense of which players he thinks are suited to playing against certain teams (there seems sense in the strikers he plays, rather than mixing them up because he doesn't know which one is in form).

 

I truly believe we've yet to see the best of him, such a shame he was out so long with injury.

 

I really hope we've yet to see the best of him, it would be rather a waste of £4m if what we've seen thus far is as good as it gets as he's not really got going at all for us yet.

I agree with Rob that he is likely to be given more game time from now on, and I also hope he grabs his chance with both hands and shows us what he's capable of as I agree that he certainly looks to have potential.

 

Yes, a couple of the fans around me remarked on how good he looked in his brief cameo and if he continues in the same vein, we'll see a lot more of him. I'd certainly like to see him perhaps start against Watford and it will be almost like having a new player, as he has hardly played due to injury.

 

A Midfield of Mulumbu, Vadis and Howson would be fantastic in my opinion. Gives you strength, energy, good passing, a willingness to get in the box and it'd allow the likes of Redmond and Jarvis to be that bit more adventurous as all 3 are defensively sound players.

 

I thought he did ok - good positioning and sense of anticipation.

He's no lightweight either so would add a bit of muscle to the team which isn't a bad thing. Could he play in the No 10 role - not sure, but Howson certainly could so maybe that would be the way to play Vadis - alongside Mulumbu with Howson further advanced ?

 

Didn't most of his better performances at Rotherham occur when he was playing as a right-sided midfielder?

 

Nobody mentioning Gary O'Neil? He has been the forgotten man for most of the season, but has looked superb whenever he's played and the gaffer clearly (and rightly) likes him so I can see him starting a lot of games between now and the end of the season. It's brilliant to have a midfield so well stocked with so many options, don't remember it ever being in such rude health to be honest. What the matter with Tettey by the way?

 

Gary O'Neil has been a revelation IMO

 

He's done a fine job. A key part of that job is kicking lumps out of the opposition's more creative players

 

Yeah, I've been really impressed with O'Neil too. I didn't expect to see much, if any, of him this season but fair play to him.

Weird that QPR let him go.

 

Oh I don't know, it's not as if QPR know what they're doing when it comes to player recruitment is it?

 

Maybe - just maybe - the sale of Bradley Johnson wasn't such a bad piece of business after all.....

 

Excellent thread title, Rob and a very interesting question. As I recall, AN's reservations about Vadis had to do with his defensive capabilities, so playing further forward would be less of a risk in that sense. I don't think he's a natural number 10 (though nor is Howson), though he has played there in the past. Perhaps he'd provide a different option to Wes rather than just a replacement. Like others, I think he could become a valuable player for us as the season goes on.

 

I would love to see Vadis get a run of games or at least some more playing time from the bench. Every time I see him play he looks to be good on the ball and a strong runner, could be quite effective employed at number 10 to give Hoolahan a rest.

 

Ha, I thought someone would say something like this.

 

Harsh!
I thought signing Christopher Samba on £100k a week - when your 'stadium' holds 18,439 was a very astute piece of business

 

To be fair to them at least they (somehow, good old 'arry eh?) managed to sell him for a profit, or they at least got the money back they spent on his transfer.

 

Back to the OP, Odjidja-Ofoe is playing for the U21s tonight along with Lafferty, Martin and Kean in goal. Saints took the lead after 10 minutes, but we responded with 4 (yes four) goals before half time. There is running commentary on the PinkUn site here:

http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/live_updates_norwich_city_u21s_v_southampton_u21s_1_4331168

 

7-2 now - Loza has 5 !