andy schmitz

Don''t much care.   Time to move on.

Two Things I Would Like to See Next Year: 1) An understanding by the club and from Nigel that youth must be served at this club.  Frankly the academy has not been good enough.  For a club that is not big enough to simply buy players to fill needs the development of youngsters at Norwich is critical.  I don''t think it is asking too much to expect one youngster to come through each year to CONTEND for the first team.  Whoever is scouting these youngsters and developing them has to be taken to task and told their work is simply not good enough.  If they can''t do it get someone who can.  Ipswich and Crewe are 2 examples of fine academy systems.  If they can be successful why not Norwich?  Personally I would be trolling Arsenal and Man u''s youngsters since surely those clubs will rarely have someone break through due to the fact that they can buy ready made players. 2) An understanding by Nigel that we cannot play a 4-4-2 formation with Darren Huckerby in the side.  Don''t get me wrong I want Hucks in my team.  Just not playing left midfield cause he aint a left midfielder.  And sorry folks he aint any good in a free role either behind the front two cause a free role implies you roam both left and right and he wont.  He is a very old fashioned left foward.  FULL STOP.  He is best used with 3 up front.  Therefore the only question is do you play 3 or 4 in midfield?  Based on everything I have read off this board and others I think we should do the following: Sell: Greeno, Francis, and any others that will fetch a few bob.  This should give us approximately 6-7 million to spend including parachute money left after Ashton buy.  Go with the following formation. ..........................................Lewis..................................................... .............New.......................Shackell.....................Drury..................... New..................New.......................Safri.....................Charlton ..................Leon.................Ashton.................Hucks......... Lewis-Youth be served.  Dont want to hear any rubbish about damaging his confidence.  Part of being a professional athlete is that you have the confidence.  If he aint got it then hes not cut out to be a player. New right back-1.5-2 million should buy you quality that can step up to the Premier. New right Mid-DESPERATELY need someone who can make runs and cross.  Right now we are horribly unbalanced in that we are totally left sided in attack.  This player should also be a back tracker to protect the defence.  1.5-2 million should buy you quality. New center mid-Would 2-2.5 million get you Sidwell? Charlton-Why not left mid?  Did a great job there against Soton.  Don''t need him to take on fullbacks, Hucks will do that, just protect Drury.

Have been greatly disappointed with the youth program the last few years.  The goal is to turn out Premiership level players and it seems quite unproductive.  So I have a question for you who know more about this than I.  Is it necessary for us to have an Academy setup?  My understanding is that if we have an Academy we may only recruit from our local catchment area.  If the academy did not exist would we be allowed to attract players from anywhere in Britain?  I would think if that is true we would have a much better chance of competing if we could go into Manchester, Liverpool, London etc. and try to recruit young players from these areas.  We could still have a youth team it just would not be part of the Academy league setup. Could someone please enlighten me on the catchment rule and the above comments. 

After deep philosophical thought it seems like these are the three ways our club can go in the future.  Please pick your choice for our future. 1) Accept we will never be a large club, our rightful place in the realm of things is somewhere between 20th and 30th, and be happy competing in the Championship for a once in a while trip to the Premier.  In other words be a Leicester. 2) Remain in the Premier, struggle every week and battle relegation every year.  In other words be a Southampton. 3)  Actually compete in the Premier by recognizing that the game now is all about money,  create a team called East Anglia United and immediately probably become one of the top 5 or 6 biggest clubs in the country.  I realize this means Ipswich and Norwich fans supporting the same team but instant crowds of 50-60000 every week and a legitimate chance to win a title.  In other words we become an East Anglican Man U.  Too radical?

You simply can never play a true 4-4-2 with Hucks in the side.  He is not disciplined enough to fulfill the role necessary.  Having said that and trying to address a lot of the concerns on here and taking into account injuries how about: ...............................................Green............................................. ...................Flem......................Doc..................Shack...................... Eddie................................................................................Brennan .............................Jonson..................Francis.................................. .........................................Hucks.................................................... ......................Ashton............................Crow/Leon............................ 5 on defense when Boro have the ball.  Jonson tough enough to play the middle and will hold back when Damo goes up and vice versa.  Hucks is neither a winger nor striker so let him be both in a free role behind the two.  Ashton gets a partner.  Brennan protects on the left instead of isolating left back.  Shack gets his chance in best spot.  Might sneak a 1-0 as its a strong defensive team.

bob

Would like to see this lineup considering injuries and all the opinions stated. .............................................Green........................................................... ..........................Flem.............Doc.............Shack.............................. Eddie...........................................................................Brennan ..........................Jonson......................Francis..................................... .........................................Hucks....................................................... ..........................Ashton........................Crow................................. A team with Hucks can never play 4-4-2 so forget it and play wingbacks and give him a free role behind the strikers.