USAcanary

[quote user="WeAreYellows49"]Give the Hucks thing a break please.[/quote] Im not going to rah rah Hucks as a savior but............. It looks like we are putting all our eggs in the proverbial "Hoolahan basket" this year, with a lot of our attacking options going through him. A lot of LG1 teams will look to "stop" Hoolahan playing which means we don''t have much cover for the left sided free roaming position. I still think Hucks could be a useful player from the bench when used for the last 15-20 mins and the oppositions starts to get tired. This would also pump the crowd up too when he comes on. Its also worth noting that a good run in the JP trophy could lead us to play as many as 60 games this year. 

[quote user="city-till-i-die"]Does anyone think we have money left in the kitty for the january sales...i know the season hasnt started but im sure Gunny would have asked the question already if he has stopped the spending thus far....hope we get shot of Rusty and add to it IF there is money avalible for january...hopefully we will be in a healthy league position and be able to strengthen further for a final push for automatic promotion....COME ON YOU YELLOWS....ROLL ON NEXT SATURDAY I CANT WAIT [Y][/quote] Yes. especially if we sell Russell. Its important we have plenty of cash as there are no freebies in the Jan transfer window. If we are doing well we can add quality to push on and secure promotion. Will have even more cash if we loan out higher paid players like Dejan, Cureton and Pattison.

[quote user="Shake n Vac the basd meerkat up"]because football HQ is moving to Wembley and there''s a backlog [/quote] It blows my mind that they decide to make a move like this during one of the busiest transfer periods.........  

[quote user="Crazy Eddie"]After today''s final warm-up, I think we have seen, on merit, who has done enough to fill that final piece of the jigsaw up front, and the creative Hughes'' set up a goal as well as being involved in another move resulting in a goal, therefore I present my final best (and, I feel, pretty accurate) guess for opening day: -------------Theo------------ Semmy - Doc - Nelson - Drury Whaley - OTJ - Hughes - Wes --------Holt - Martin -------- Gill will be pushing Hughes ALL the way, however. OTBC [/quote] 100% agree on the team, unless we get injuries I think this is the team we will start the season with. Spillane must count himself very very unlucky not to have a starting place somewhere...... Semi made the position his with todays performance. He needs to keep it going. Spillane, because he plays both CB and RB will be an automatic sub this year if he doesnt start. Now for the 7 subs......... Alnwick, McDonald, Maric, Spillane, Adeyemi, Gill, Lappin With so many players knocking on the door everyone who plays will have to perform......... Most teams in LG will struggle to fill 18 places with any kind of quality......... We will be leaving decent players out. I don''t want to get too carried away but I dont think pre-season could have gone any better in terms of performance and in terms of bringing in players. Everything that was promised by Gunn and McNally has been delivered.............. I still think more players will arrive but a few will either leave or go out on loan (Cureton, Dejan, Pattison plus some youngsters) I still think we havn''t seen the last of Hucks in a Norwich shirt.   

[quote user="LQ"]I put this in the comments box on the live feed but there seem to be some problems with it so I wondered if anyone on here knows the answer? Maric and Askou couldn''t play today as international clearance hasn''t come through. Isn''t it odd that they could play in friendlies for us as trialists but not once they''ve signed? I thought international clearance only applied to competitive matches. Can anyone shed any light? [/quote] I think the problem starts once they sign a permanent contract......

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]I guess Dejan will also be able to help with the translating if he is around for the season.[/quote] Hmmmm, I am guessing no but who knows? I think the signing of Askou could signal one of the CBs not getting any playing time........... I think we might loan Dejan out if another club needs one for cover and we have no injuries.  

The thing we have to realize is that when you sign 12 players not all of them are going to do well. The manager/board does its best but some will do well and some won''t.......Thats a fact of football life. The beauty is we have a large squad....... so poor form from one player can be another players gain with a spot in the team. Of the players who will be hit and miss.......... I think McVeigh won''t play that much but I think he will do much better than expected. I think Martin and Spillane will do well..........It''s easy to forget how young they still are. I think the biggest question mark maybe against Maric.......... it''s hard to judge somone on a few games, hoping I am proved totally wrong and he scores for fun.    

[quote user="Ali Dia"] Much of muchness in this league. I''m guessing that Charlton, Leeds, S''hampton (despite -10 start), Millwall, MK Dons, are the strongest oppostion, with perhaps Huddersfield and Tranmere offering an outside challenge.  Brentford seemed strong out of the teams up from the league below.  Thoughts..... [/quote] I think the biggest clues are the ins and outs............looking at the current LG1 transfers................ http://soccerlens.com/english-league-one-transfers/ I just dont get why you are big on Southampton? They have lost most of their better players and have not brought any in.......... so much for the Billionaire owner? with -10 points they are probably looking to just survive this year. I think Charlton still have some quality and Leeds do also but wont spend much unless they get Delph money. On quality/money Huddersfield and Brighton should do well. Looking down the list of LG 1 transfers it should be obvious that nobody has added even close to the quality we have......... Anything less than promotion this year will be failure especially if Charlton go into admin and start on -10 points.

I personally think Martin will play a big part in our season...........mostly up front or some playing time on the right depending on injuries. My feeling is that our 4 game day strikers (2 starting 2 on the bench) will be Holt, Maric, Martin and McDonald. I think a combination of any 2 of those 4 strikers will score goals at the LG1 level. I think we may try and loan out Cureton to get his wages off the books. Dont worry about us having too many players........ If we go deep in the J P trophy we could end up playing as many as 60 games this year.........

[quote user="Jen Jen"]Gunn Mentioned That Maric Spoke Little English, But It Appears That He Speaks NO English!! Dumic Had To Translate And Speak Everything For Him. Pretty Impressive To Be Honest, And Dumic Is Only 17...........[/quote] LOL, I loved the reports in one of the scotish games where the ref gave Maric a good "talking too" after a stiff tackle with Maric looking puzzled...... I am guessing we might have to warn refs that he doesn''t speak English and they are wasting their time................

In all reality we are playing one of the best 10-15 clubs in England......light years above the quality we will face this year. I just hope we can compete and won''t come away too disheartened along with no injuries.  

[quote user="linco88"] can you post a link for the press conference id quite like to see it cheers [/quote] http://canariesworld.co.uk

[quote user="Canary_on_the Trent"]With a name like Dario Dumic i''m not surprised he can speak Serbian, is he eligible for Serbia as well as Denmark?[/quote] he has played for Denmark u 17, but I am not sure of anything alse or what his family heritage is? Obviously you don''t just learn Serbian.............. This actually works out well for both Dario and Goran. I am sure Goran will be learning popular English phrases in no time at all......... Imagine Borat saying............"Mr Ref you is blinder than Bulgarian gypsy"  

Is it just me or is Goran Maric the oldest looking 25 year old you have ever seen?

[quote user="Keith Roads"]I know its in the wrong category - but thought it was worth a try! Hey I''m a wheelchair user - I have a driver for Yeovil - but need someone else to share the driving. Want to avoid the coach, if possible. Same for exeter, can also take two or three passengers. Any help gratefully received mobile 07854 503729. Thanks Keith[/quote] Hi Keith Might also be worth posting this message on the board at the official website if you havn''t already as well as at the wrath http://www.wotb.co.uk  

Who knew he could translate for Goran Maric? very interesting interviews posted at canariesworld.  

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Is there a list of who has gone in and out, i am losing track !!! [/quote] A good list of in and outs is also here....... it''s updated daily. http://soccerlens.com/english-league-one-transfers/  

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"] , because I can''t recall a side at this level having so many senior first team squad players, which must be cumulatively on a pretty large wage for this division.(not a problem I thought I''d be discussing a week and a half and seven signings ago!) If it doesn''t happen in the next week or so, after the first few games when it becomes apparant to everyone who is ''first choice'' and who isn''t I would expect a few to make way, Pattison,Cureton,Stefanovic - others?      Who goes? - you decide! [/quote] Its going to be a long season. We need 18 fit players on matchday alone with 7 subs. I actually expect us to play 55+ games this year with 3 cup competitions........... I do expect us to loan out a few players if we don''t have any major injuries......... Its fair to assume that Pattison,Cureton and Stefanovic are 3 of the higher wage earners at the club so it would make sense to loan them if they are not playing. Same goes with Russell if we don''t sell him. The beauty of being the loaning club rather than the loanee club is that we can recall them if we need them.  

I think we tried to sign Albert Adomah............ According to reports we made some bids for him a few weeks ago......... http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5432041,00.html It sounds like Barnet wanted far too much money and we went with Whaley instead. Whaley is a bit more proven at a higher level.

[quote user="CT "][quote user="LQ"][quote user="Jen Jen"]I Wonder How Much Norwich FC Would Sell For On Ebay? [;)][/quote] If anyone even thinks of posting a reply that includes "£56million" in it I''ll scream! [:|] [/quote] Correct me if I''m wrong but is that not what the club is valued at? [/quote] No..........That is the amount to buy the club, fund it and clear every single debt we have including personal loans. Using that Math........ Newcastle should be worth over 250 Million.............. If anyone wanted to become majority shareholder of NCFC they could probably do it for less than 10 Million as long as they could renegotiate the debt........ To those who think getting rich investors to take over the club is always a good thing should look at Southampton and Portsmouth at the moment. Its amusing that many predicted "Man City spending" at Southampton..................... 1 free transfer from the scum so far..............and a ton of players sold/let go. Obviously the billionaire owner got rich by keeping his money in his pocket............ If I were a Portsmouth fan I would be very worried about the coming season after selling virtually every good player they have to clear debts?    

[quote user="USAcanary"][quote user="USAcanary"] OK, assuming we sign Whaley how does the current squad look at the various positions...... With recent annoucements many positions have started to become clearer. Here are my opinions. Goalkeeper..... Theoklitos, Rudd and Steer Pretty much set as all 3 are/will be getting minutes in pre-season. This looks like a strong trio of experience and quality young keepers. I don''t expect any moves in this area unless we get injuries. Centre backs....Doherty , Stefanovic, Nelson, Stephens,(Askou) (Joarder) A decent array of experience/cover in this position. I havn''t included Spillane or Drury who both could play at a push. I think its interesting we have Askou on trial who did well today by all reports. This with Dumic playing at RB suggest a shift of thinking. Right back... Otsemobor, Spillane and Dumic Big question marks at this position.Its obvious that we are lining up either Dumic or Spillane to be the cover for this position. It would not surprise me to see Spillane start the year as our number 1 RB. It was interesting in the Raith Rovers game they moved Otsemobor into right midfield. Left back     Drury, Habergham (Lappin ?) This is our weakest position by far in terms of squad depth. I would expect us to make some serious moves in this area pretty soon. Cen Midfield..... OTJ, Gill, Adeyemi Again we seem to be one short here. The fact we offered Stephen Hughes a contract kind of confirms that Team Gunn knows this. Spillane or Lappin can fill in at a push if we are hit badly. Left Midfield  Hoolahan, Pattison and Lappin With Hoolahan confirming he is staying this now looks stronger. The problem is do we have an out and out left sided attacking player? Oct 24th is the last regular season game for San Jose Earthquakes, They have very little chance of making the play offs. Maybe they might let one of their players out of their contract early? Even at his age Hucks IMHO would be a fantastic player to bring from the bench at this level. Right Midfield   Whaley, McVeigh, Corey Smith (Neilson) If we sign Whaley it looks like a decent improvement in quality at this position. I do expect McVeigh to have done enough to earn a contract Not sure what team Gunn thinks of the trialist Neilson. People reported he was decent against Dartford. Another possible option on the right is Chris Martin Strikers  Martin, Cureton, McDonald, Daley, (Maric) (Bridges) (Craig) (Powell) (I havn''t included Renton who probably won''t figure at all.) This is the area we are really looking to improve. The fact we have had a number of different trialists in (plus bids for Lee and Dickinson) suggest that we are looking to bring in a minimum of 2 strikers maybe 3. I think this is one area that Team Gunn must be aplauded for effort. (even if we lack confirmed signings as I make this post) Some people questioned why they have such a large pre-season fixture list. It should be obvious now that Team Gunn wanted to look at as many different players as possible. I also like the fact that Norwich won''t overpay for players that are not worth the outlay. Sir Alex just recently annouced he isn''t prepared to overpay for players no matter how good they are. (a guy with 80 million to spend) So far the Team Gunn gameplan is obviously to spend the limited budget wisely knowing the we needed to bring in a minimum of 8-10 players. I like the fact that Bryan Gunn kept his word that we are not going down the mass loan route again. All the players we have either signed or looked to sign were all on permanent deals. The important fact to realize is that with 7 subs this year, the game will become much more tactical. Having decent quality on the bench in most positions has never been more important. I also think once the Clingan and Russell deals are concluded (and their wages freed up) we will have a pretty good idea what our overall transfer budget will be. I expect us to be MUCH more active in the transfer market. I would be surprised if we don''t bring in at least another 4-5 players on permanent deals before the window shuts. [/quote] OK time to update this thread after a very busy transfer week. Well Bryan Gunn has certainly addresed most of the concerns from the last post on  the 16th July. I will add my thoughts as before. Goalkeeper..... Theoklitos, Alnwick, Rudd and Steer Bit of a suprise taking Alnwick on a 3 month loan. Obviously team Gunn has some concerns over either the two young lads or Theoklitos. Being only 3 months it suggests they still see Rudd as part of the first team squad but are hedging. Centre backs....Doherty , Stefanovic, Nelson, Stephens,(Askou) As before. Solid. Not sure if we will sign Askou. Looked decent by all reports in the pre-season games. Right back... Otsemobor, Spillane and Dumic This looks like who we are going with........... I still have a sneaky feeling Spillane will be 1st choice by the start of the season. Left back     Drury, Wiggins, Habergham Obviously they addressed the weakness at this position by adding Wiggins. A good signing based on the fact that Drury has not exactly been injury free.  Left Midfield  Hoolahan, Pattison and Lappin Still think we have a position open for a certain Mr Huckerby............. Cen Midfield..... OTJ, Gill, Hughes and Adeyemi Adding Hughes means we have numerous options in the middle. With 7 subs you will have 1-2 central midfield players on the bench. Right Midfield   Whaley, McVeigh, Corey Smith With Whaley signing we look more solid in this position. Hughes is also able to operate on the right hand side. Strikers  Holt, Martin, Cureton, McDonald, Daley, (Maric) (Powell) Obviously signing Holt is our biggest and most exciting signing so far. Gunn stated will still have an offer in for Maric so its obvious we are still looking for one more "bigger" type striker. Overall since my last post we have signed 5 players on permanent transfers and one 3 month loan. Most have been met with mostly positive reponses except one I want to say some words about Paul McVeigh. I think he has been unfairly attacked for a number of reasons. The guy obviously worked incredibly hard to earn a contract. If he didn''t impress the management on the training ground he wouldn''t have been offered a 1 year deal. Considering he cost us nothing and its fair to assume his wages are not that high its not much of a gamble for a decent squad player who has experience of playing in all four divisons. With 7 subs he is the type of utility player we can use if we are badly hit by injuries. Unlike a loan he wont have to learn the system. I think McVeighs problem in the past was not lack of skill but lack of commitment.............with a 1 year deal this is his last chance to impress. Gunn has made 10 signings this summer. I predict that in terms of "overall value" that Paul McVeigh wont be close to the worst signing. Overall pretty good so far. I still think we could bring in more players.........(askou, maric?) Especially if we could get a good price for Russell. If  Maric turns us down it''s still possible we could go out for another striker such as Alan Lee or Andy bishop. We now have by far the biggest permanant squad we have had in many many years. Now its just a case of finding our best 18 match day players............ With our current squad we have the option of many different formations. [/quote] OK, quick update with the two signings. Goalkeeper..... Theoklitos, Alnwick, Rudd and Steer Centre backs....Doherty , Stefanovic, Nelson, Askou, Stephens Right back... Otsemobor, Spillane and Dumic Left back     Drury, Wiggins, Habergham  Left Midfield  Hoolahan, Pattison and Lappin Cen Midfield..... OTJ, Gill, Hughes and Adeyemi Right Midfield   Whaley, McVeigh, Corey Smith Strikers  Holt, Maric, Martin, Cureton, McDonald, Daley Obviously this is by far our biggest permanent squad we have had in a long long time. Both in terms of numbers and in terms of physical size. Some think we are a bit weak at RB but with Spillane, Otsemebor plus Doc can play there as well if needed. Thats not too bad especially now we have signed Askou. We have the option of moving CBs to RB if we are hit by bad injuries. The one area we don''t have much cover is left midfield in particular Hoolahans free role.............. It should be obvious that the perfect cover/sub would be Hucks..........I think signing him could add another 500-1000 season tickets alone. After 12 signings I expect us to move towards 20,000 ST before the start of the season .   The amazing thing is that after some fantastic hard work by Gunn/McNally and the whole team.......... I actually think we have quite a bit of money left in the transfer kitty Even before selling Russell........... This is important in the Jan transfer window. If we look like we have a good shot at promotion Gunn can either add to the squad or replace any players who are injured.  If it doesn''t look like we have a shot at promotion then the "new" manager will have that money! Frankly with the backing of the board and the fans, anything less than promotion IMHO is failure. We have invested more than any team in LG1. Infact we have invested far more than most teams in the Champs....... OTBC.........    

[quote user="CANARYCHARGE"]Im finding it hard not to get excited, i know none of our players are exactly tested but i just feel we are at the start of something good!!! Wigan will come here all guns blazing..............Roll on saturday! [/quote] Obviously a week is long time in football....... http://www.pinkun.com/cs/forums/1771524/ShowPost.aspx Southampton with their billionaire owner has sold most of the better players in the squad and had only one free signing from the scum. Maybe the guy became a billionaire by keeping his money in his pocket? Portsmouth and their Arab takeover? WTF...... they have sold everyone that commands a fee. I am not convinced these "takeovers" are as good as some think.

[quote user="Shake n Vac the basd meerkat up"]Isn''t a one year deal practically the same as a year''s loan? [/quote] No, because he cannot be recalled by the loaning club! Plus we have the right to sell him midseason if we got a silly offer.  It also would not suprise me if we had some kind of "option" on the contract. Meaning its 1 year but we might have the option of a further year at an improved figure if he does well.

[quote user="Kathy"] ................. Who sent him a death threat? http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/headlines/4517392.Wilnis_reveals_life_at_Portman_Road/   [/quote] What a horrific "Deck Chair" shirt.

[quote user="Delia Out"] I would like to see Doherty and Askou. Mind you I think we have too many Centre Backs! Doherty, Askou, Nelson, Stefanovic, Dumic, Spillane etc. [/quote] Plus David Stephens....... Isn''t this much better than last year when we were wondering if we had ANY centre backs with Drury being forced to start. These are the "good" problems to have. Virtually every player in our squad will be looking over their shoulder knowing they will get dropped if they don''t perform. With 50+ games this year and 7 subs we are going to need a lot of players.