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nycanary

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Everything posted by nycanary

  1. while the initial comment was a little strong in its delivery, has this board degenerated into a "say positive things or dont say it at all?" i hope not. it sounds an awful lot like the ridiculous refrain that ran around the US when people opposed the war on Iraq. these damn republicans said if you oppose the war, then you''re not supporting the troops or being a ''proud american'' (whatever that is -- i''m not american anyway!). please. it''s possible to still LOVE your football team EVEN if you have negative things to say about it. they are not mutually exclusive. sven is a norwich player but there is a REASON NW wants another centre forward -- and it''s not to warm the bench behind sven. NW believes that sven isn''t good enough to be norwich''s #1 striker. i agree. yes, he had a good run-in last season but he is a little slow and might suffer against some pretty good defenders in the prem. do i want sven to succeed? ABSOLUTELY. but i would prefer another striker up there instead. and maybe yesterday friendly against the only top flight team so far this preseason is an indication of things to come. so, message is NW - GO FIND YOUR STRIKER. but if not, we''ll back whoever pulls on the yellow jersey and support you completely.
  2. 40-50,000 pounds a week? are you mad? if craig moore is indeed looking for 50k a week (which i think is highly unlikely), then let''s compare this over a 3 year contract. primus was 10k per week. primus would cost 750k plus 1560k in wages over three years -- 2.3 million pounds in total moore would cost 500k plus 7800k in wages over three years -- 8.3 million pounds in total if that''s what moore wants, then NW is completely correct in saying no thank you.
  3. As much as the little Latvian impressed greatly during the Euros, he should not be our man. He''s very very small. And Worthy is looking for a big man. Isn''t Charisteas suffering on a bench somewhere? Sadly tho, I think that ones a reach....but it''s nice to see NW giving us something to talk about!
  4. what about that cardiff defender? whatshisname....gabbidon? i think he''s really rated and from what i can remember....he could be ready for the jump to the prem and has a long promising future.
  5. selhurst. since i''ve never lived in the UK, going to see norwich play has been tough. the one time i did get to go was selhurst when we lost to palace 2-0 couple of years ago. we were awful. absolutely second-rate. rivers was terrible. hopefully my 2nd live norwich match will be a bit different and after 25 years supporting the canaries, i must make my pilgrimage to carrow road some day soon....
  6. i agree with magiceyes. 4-3-2-1 sounds like an excellent formation. and it is probably the reason NW is looking around for a top target man. he needs someone along with sven for the squad. this formation worked wonders for portugal. green -- helveg, fleming, charlton, drury -- francis, holt, safri -- bentley, hux -- sven. but 5-3-2 sounds good too: greeg -- helveg, charlton, fleming, drury, brennan -- francis, holt, bentley -- hux, sven. and 1 substitution will allow NW to switch from one to the other in addition to being attack or defense-minded in the 5-3-2 formation. it does seem as well that NW is building a squad that can work in many formations with good versatility. our squad will be fine in 4-4-2 too if he wants to revert back to that but i fear it isn''t malleable enough to work in the prem.
  7. to be fair, you''re absolutely right. i only listened to every norwich match online last season and saw very few so this is true. i base this judgment off the limited action i saw of them but mostly off the online radio thing. i hope i''m wrong. but then again, it seems that NW isn''t content with this front line either. and that''s even tho there are enough forwards in the squad for him to concentrate his efforts elsewhere.
  8. i really hope i''m wrong but i think our that we have three players who i feel are generally over-rated on these boards (we are fans and optimists so that''s what we shoudl expect!): leon, sven and mcveigh. i think all are average players in the premiership. but like i said, i hope i''m wrong. terribly so. we all watch the premiership week in, week out and watch the canaries too.....the talent gap is not insignificant. don''t get me wrong...i truly and completely believe that we will stay up next year. without a doubt. but i think it''s going to be our gritty midfield/defense, hux, bentley and ONE more attacker that will do it for us.
  9. two potential lineups depending on the opposition (assuming primus and new striker are not signed): green edworthy fleming charlton drury helveg holt francis bentley hux sven ---------- green helveg fleming charlton drury bentley holt francis safri hux sven --------------- subs: gallacher safri mackay mulryne/brennan mckenzie
  10. i was just thinking about charisteas when i posted the initial message last night but then thought he might be out of reach for us....but i didn''t realize he was playing in the reserves at bremen. maybe! i also like the notion of one main striker just so long as hux/bents float CLOSE BY. there are very few clubs who are successful with one main striker. van nistelrooy. saha while at fulham. very few. so, either it''s a TOP striker (which is not someone we''ll get anytime soon) or the floaters play as defacto strikers in a rooney-esque a la euro2004 role. there is also a fair amount of defending going on for our strikers. of course, i hope they do really well next season but we should retain a sense of realism combined with hope and optimism. our top striker/targetman needs to be relied upon to get 12+ goals next season. when you look at the players who got that many in the prem last season, virtually ALL of them are seasoned international-quality strikers. taking our lads: sven. yes, he did a good job for us but he is a little slow -- let''s be honest! and leon -- he''s ambitious but he''s a bit careless from what i can tell and not a target man. i stand by my statement. our strikers (barring hux) are very good div 1 strikers and average prem strikers. that''s why i''m so happy that NW recognizes this and is STILL going after a better one even tho he signed both sven and leon in the last 12 months. it shows just how realistic he is about what he''s up against. i think he''s done a GREAT job this summer with what he''s picked up so far. really quality players who will fit in with our team. but if he only gets one more player this offseason -- i hope it''s a striker over primus. both would be best but we REALLY need one of our better players to be our target man -- and that''s just not the case right now. side note: i think mulryne will surprise a few people this season. i''m not sure he''ll be a starter but i think he''s got true class and vision and he''ll be up for it. the man''s got vision.
  11. I''m thrilled that NW is looking around for a top striker. With the exception of Hux, what we currently have are a couple of average forwards. The problem is who? Johannson was interesting. Thankfully we didn''t get Crouch (I don''t know what Southampton were thinking - 2 million!!). Harewood doesn''t really seem like a target man where Hux could be the foil. Good strikers are hard to find -- so we''ll see what NW comes up with! Next season''s team is really starting to shape up quite nicely. It''s possible that NW could employ a 4-3-1-2 next season...his acquisitions of Safri and Helveg certainly support that: Green Edworthy Fleming Mackay Drury Helveg Holt Francis Bentley Hux Sven Subs: Charlton Safri Brennan McKenzie Gallacher That''s not a bad side! Course Helveg could replace Edworthy and Safri could fill in midfield. We would lack a little width but I think NW may want to play a compact side initially in the Prem. It''s not out of the question that he could play Hux and Bentley alongside each other up front and have a Helveg, Francis, Holt, Safri midfield. That''s a strong controlling midfield group. Ahh...it''s all very exciting and finally, for people abroad like myself (fan since 1979! i still remember the Woods, Haylock, Downs, McGuire, Walford, Watson, Barham, ONeill, Deehan, Bertschin, Bennett team!), we get to watch the Canaries on the telly in New York! Cheers.
  12. It''s obvious really. I''ve been playing Fifa2004 and tried to replicate the transfers etc. I finished 2nd in the league so that was a bit off. But managed to pick up Hux, Helveg, Safri, Svensson (no Bentley in the game). The premiership season started off tough with a loss to Spurs and then a draw with Middlesborough but soon thereafter some scintillating matches (3-2 win vs Blackburn after they came back from 2-0 down) and then a wonderful 1-0 win at Highbury (Holt scored!) and even a 1-1 tie at Old Trafford. Helveg plays really well on the right hand side of midfield. After 10 matches, we''re 4th. This is how its going to be. Remember -- you heard it here first. Of course, I''ll keep you updated with future progress.
  13. I agree. I don''t think Primus is going to move. Sad since the more I hear about him, the more I think he''d be a great fit with the boys. Hypothetically, if he''s currently on 5k a week and we''re offering 10k per week and he is as sincere a player as it seems, then it''s not going to take much for Mnadaric to get to 8k a week and bluff Primus into saying yes. I don''t think he''s coming. And I always felt like Hux was going to make it somehow.
  14. Afraid I have to disagree with most of you on this one. Leon is a good 1st div striker and a below-average premiership striker. Yes, he''s a poacher but he doesn''t have that extra somethign that you need to be successful in the Premiership. All this talk of him getting 15+ goals in the premiership is quite surprising. Consider some of the names in that region last season: Saha 20 Van Nistelrooy 20 Forssell 17 Anelka 16 Angel 16 Owen 16 Yakubu 16 Beattie 14 Keane 14 I would take ANY of those strikers over McKenzie any day and I think most of you would agree. He has more learning to do -- he seems to be caught offside an awful lot in situations where he should be able to stay on. That, along with his inability to create for himself will be punished in the Premiership and place more pressure on the rest of the team to score goals. Frankly, I''m concerned about both Matt and Leon. I don''t think either is up to premiership scratch. If you think of our formation, you have two choices to put up front alongside either Matt/Leon -- Hux or Bentley (a Leon/Matt combo would be a recipe for problems). Hux/Bentley is likely to play more like a Rooney a la Euro2004 than an out and out striker....play slightly behind 1 solitary front man and create chances for the man upfront. I don''t think either Matt or Leon is good enough to be that solo figure up front. Thats why I am thrilled that Worthy seems to be casting around for another striker. But assuming that you have that type of combo up front, the midfield becomes Brennan/Safri, Holt, Francis and Bentley/Hux. That will do fine for now. The back up of Mulryne and Safri/Brennan will be crucial but McVeigh will find it challenging given his size (not impossible for him to do well but he''s not Wright-Phillips). Henderson and Jarvis are not ready yet but may contribute later in the season. I''ve been a Canaries fan since 1979 and I want them to succeed as badly as all of you but in the interests of not convincing each other on this board about the brilliance of certain members of our squad, lets be rational and be appropriately critical. I think Worthy knows this and is acting accordingly and not hurriedly. Canary in New York.
  15. It definitely does feel like Worthy is hoarding the cash at the mo but I think he may very well be doing a very wise thing. Maybe he gets one or two more players before the start of the season but he will also have a chunk of money to spend when the next transfer window opens. Let''s not forget how effectively he used that last season. In the next window, we might see better quality players coming in at a better price and it may work out for us at the end of the season. Crouch went for 2 million. That is an over-payment for an under-achiever. Is he worth twice as much as Hux? Or half of someone as proven as Viduka? I don''t think so. While Hughes and Purse would have been nice acquisitions, it is also possible that Worthy felt that they may not fit in with the collegial atmosphere the team seems to have. Have patience. We may get another Hux or two in the next month or in the next transfer window. With all this being said, the single most important signing before the season is a central defender. Everything else can wait if the cards fall that way. Canary in New York.
  16. Ah yes.........City 3 United 3. Louie Donowa''s first goal wasn''t it? What a game that was. 3-0 down with 20 mins to go and then the great comeback!! Ahh...the golden days.
  17. OK. It''s all fine to discuss the West Broms/Charlton approached to sustained life in the Premiership but let''s go back to the initial question. Hypothetically speaking, if the club do go up, then where would we look to initially strengthen the squad? There''s no question funds will be available. How much...I dunno....maybe a few million pounds? Maybe a bit more? Who knows. But as you go through the squad, there are a few glaring spots where we will need to add some strength. Here''s my stab at it: -- central defence. need some more cover for fleming/mackay. imagining them going up against henry, beattie, van nistelrooy, mutu, hasselbaink, crespo, owen, anelka, shearer and the rest week in week out is a bit frightening. -- wide players. henderson is coming along nicely. but he''s not near premiership class as yet. mcveigh is a great little player but i do think at the highest level, his size will hurt him more than it does now. we will need some propping up there. we play well when we utilize our width well -- even if it just to create space through the middle -- and so we may need something there those are probably our key needs. outside of that, more cover in the centre of midfield and a step up from svennson for a big man up front are good choices too. while the long-term plan is important, it''s just as crucial for us to build the squad to give us a good chance of survival next term...we''ll never have more goodwill with the coffer-keepers than after gaining promotion and we should take advantage of it. even though portsmouth are having a rough time of it (due to injuries), i feel that they were the best movers in the offseason getting some great quality players in (berger, sherringham and others). birmingham also did exceedingly well to get some talent their first season up and look how they are moving forward now. there''s also a possibility that our success at the top will continue and we may pull away from the pack. we''ll look like a great prospect for next season and players will want to come play for us. the ambition shown by the board to put us in this great position now should not be overlooked and that same strategy could keep up in the premiership where we belong. i''ve been supporting norwich now since 1979. i''ve had to do so from hong kong, philadelphia and now from new york. but i don''t think anything has been this exciting since the glory days of our euro triumph against bayern or even as far back as the great times when the team was: woods, haylock, downs, mcguire, walford, watson, barham, oneill, deehan, bertschin, bennett. i hope that the lads can keep it up and whip the first division and show the premiership boys that the canaries are here to stay. cheers, nycanary
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