Dirty Lyle

Thank god for that! Brilliant signing that shows more ambition than prudence for a change. Mayo with that Wiz?

Didn''t Real Madrid want to sign him after Euro 2004? Their interest waned because he had his heart set on a move to FCR, did it??? These rumours are getting worse.

Too quiet. Morning Temp. It just occured to me that there is one thing worse than not signing anyone. That is the Club making statements that they are talking to players but still not signing anyone. You are going to tell me to be patient now, aren''t you?.

Ama, he''s as good as ours! Now, if Delia can cook dinner for him tonight he should be signed up by bedtime! lol!

You are right Holloway, even with the prospective new signings we may be missing cover at right midfield. I don''t believe there will be further signings after JJ, Helveg and Linvoy (or their equivalents) so I believe that NW will look within the squad for answers. That means Hendo, Bentley or Mullers. For me Bentley would start most matches (Hendo against Arsenal?) and be replaced by Mulryne on the hour mark. This happened regularly last season with Mulryne coming off the bench for either Hendo or Cooper. Mulryne is a more solid player defensively but I dont think he will get a look in the centre where Holt and Safri will be fighting for one spot with Francis. Especially away from home start with Brennan and Bentley on the flanks to show some ambition. Mulryne replacing Bentley would then close teams out later in the game or add something new. Likewise, a similar system on the left flank with WLY replacing Brennan if a more attacking stance is necessary. However, if Helveg does rock up at FCR he would take the Mulryne role or enable us with Brennan to play wing backs - which on reflection looks quite a mean side... Green Drury Charlton (Primus) Fleming Brennan Helveg Francis Holt Safri Hux/Bentley JJ/Svens thoughts?????

Club has made a statement on the official site. Lots of competition for his signature though.

Pottsy, you are spot on mate, we will play two banks of four away from home at least. However, if we are picking a team to play Palace on the opening day at home, Hucks and two strikers would definitely be a positive step in getting those three points. Given how he has played so far on pre-season I wouldn''t be surprised to see Brennan starting at Old Trafford with Hucks taking over from Leon up front.

I agree with ZLF. The greater the amount of money to spend is beneficial as it gives the manager more options and ability to outbid rivals. However, the manager must buy players to fit into his playing philosophy and systems, this does not always mean buying the best or most expensive players but players who will do a certain job in a certain position. Compare the players Ranieri and Mourinho have bought at Chelsea - Mourinho''s purchases are players who seem to want to play for Chelsea and have potential rather than some of the has-beens Ranieri bought. Ranieri though, bought expensive/exciting players with big reputations or young, largely unproven players (one or two exceptions - Wayne Bridge perhaps) who viewed Chelsea as no more than a fat pay cheque. The situation above led to the scenario of last season. Chelsea, under Ranieri, bought a team that comprised a squad of, albeit very talented, individuals. Such was their individual talent they achieved what would normally be considered a creditable season of 2nd in the PL and the Semis of the Champions League. Open to question though is how much they would have achieved had Ranieri bought one team instead of 20 individuals. If team spirit had been present at Chelsea last year and not just cold, hard cash then I believe they could have kicked on to win the Champions League. Money can and does buy good football teams but only if the money is placed in the hands of someone who knows how to spend it wisely. ZLF''s example of Blackburn is a good one (Jack Walker - gritty northerner - employed a Scotsman - Dalglish - to spend his hard-earnt and ensure value for money, which he achieved for at least for one season). Whether Mourinho is up to the task of moulding a team from Roman''s millions only time will tell but that is his primary job this year. City''s example can be applied here. On many threads on this board there are posters questioning our finances, how much we have to spend on players is the burning question. What we can learn from the teams with vast financial resources is that they are no good unless those players are prepared to fight for one another because they do not want to let each other down. The core of the players at the club have this attitude and that is our greatest attribute as we look to survival. Money is important as it buys ability but it is the application of that ability that counts (many don''t apply themselves correctly IMO Mark Rivers, Man City etc). Our application will ensure our survival - the harder the players work the easier we will make the fight. We won''t compete over 38 games with the top 6 in the league but we can realistically finish sixth from bottom.

My feeling is that NW will stick with the same defensive unit (again assuming no new signings are made) as last season against Palace. Charlton and possibly Safri and Mulryne will be added if we need to go to plan B. I am sure they will all get their chance at some stage of the season as it will be "horses for courses". 3 points are a must against Palace so a defensive unit who know each other inside out is crucial.

At the time of writing (assuming no new transfers) Greeno, Drury, Malk, Flem, Eddie Hucks, Holty, Francis, Bentley Leon, Svens to clip the Eagles wings...

I agree Temp. I think that NW is targeting another quarry - Kluivert still hasn''t signed up!!! :-)

Shucks Temp! You''ll make me blush! I think we will still stay up this year because there are at least three teams worse off than us. The dedication to the cause at FCR alone would have us finish in the top half. A team who trust in each other will get further in the long run than a team of individually skilled mercenaries. I believe that Palace, Baggies and either Man C or Everton will go down. Over the course of 38 games our collectiveness will prove a greater asset than any of the above have on their books (especially after Roonaldo goes in January). Our signings, Safri included (Wiz, you scamp!), are all good apples who will only add the to the rich vein of commitement already present in the squad. However, if we do fail this year, as it stands we would have nothing to fear in the Championship with the current squad.

thought this may be of interest. Seems Mickey isn''t a fan... http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/040716/1/51of.html

Primus will be a very useful squad player next season after his experiences last year. It is no coincidence that both he and Charlton come backgrounds where relegation has has been successfully avoided. 008 - you may be right about NW putting a Division 1 side together and you are certainly right concerning a long term plan (at board level at least) to establish the Club as a Premiership force even if that involves relegation in the short term. Besides who cares if it does take until 2007, 2010 or 2020 its not as if we are going anywhere to support someone else. The fans are always the ones who benefit most from long term planning like this because, unlike the players, management or even the Board we are the only ones who are guaranteed to still be here when those plans bare fruit. Enjoy the ride.

Talking of rocking horse poo... Rumour on the football-rumours website that we are interested in signing Marcus Allback from Villa for £2.75 million. I truly don''t know where these people come up with them

That weren''t humour Flick, that there was sarcasm, the lowest form of wit... Thanks for the input though! :-) Your point Flick was that Sutton first established himself as a central defender here. My point was that he was a better defender than forward in his time here. Once he went to Blackburn the media became obsessed with his attacking qualities which have indeed improved over the years, forgetting his defensive abilities. The combination of us searching for a centre back at the moment and Sutton''s name being rumoured as on the way it seems an obvious, if silly, link to make. In retrospect, getting £5m for Sutton was a good piece of business and still would be for any centreback turned part time striker as he was then. Our (The Dark Lord''s) mistake was not adequately replacing him. Hope that clears up any confusion, Flick!

The Red Arrows

Thanks Flick Fleck, my comment was a little tongue in cheek! I always have been amused by the media over the years failing to recognise his qualities as a centreback and assuming that he was only a forward. IMO in his time with us he (he was still young mind) looked to be a better bet as a centre back rather than a forward. Time and experience have maybe proven otherwise but if he does return home in the twlight of his career we would likely deploy him as a centreback as any speed he has diminishes. I don''t see him returning now (wages an issue) but maybe next year with our Premiership status intact.

We are looking for another central defender... :-)

Great post MG7 and it was long! I agree with most of what you said and that the North East is a major hotbed in terms of support and rivalry between the clubs. Having said that, the Mackems failed to get anywhere near capacity last year on a number of occasions as the fans drifted away after relegation. This is inevitable and in the unlikely event of our relegation this year we will witness similar (a bonus being us exiles will be able to pick up the odd home ticket!). Man City therefore would seem to have the most devoted fans after their escapade in Division 2. However, the sensible money was on them making a swift return to Division 1 and Im sure many fans carried on attending to see them walkover the smaller sides in that division. It would have been interesting to see what had happened to attendances if they had failed to win the playoff final that year. Would the Mancs appetite have stretched to another season in Division 2? I imagine Leeds will be in a similar position this year. They will enjoy Premiership size gates this year but if they do not gain promotion their attendances will drop dramatically the following year. I would like to award the Baggies fans with the Best Fans Award. After all, they must be loyal if they turn up to watch that dross week in, week out. lol.

Morning Temp, hope you and the family are well. I''ve read NW''s comments too and was pleased with the positive tone it set. My last post wasn''t particularily clear however. What I meant to say was that the signing of Scowcroft should become the priority over Primus at this time. The signing of Charlton (brilliant acquisition) means NW can maintain focus on getting that extra striker/right side berth sorted. IMO both Scowcroft and Primus are necessary (Harewood would be a bonus) but of those two, in light of Charlton, Scowcroft is now the priority. Also, I thought/assumed Scowcroft was a right hand sided player. Am I correct or is he left hand sided? A post on another thread says he is left hand sided and now Im confused (the Sun isn''t above the yard arm yet!). If he is left hand sided, does that leave either WLY or Brennan out in the cold?

I think neither. NW has his sights set on Scowcroft. Whatever his relative merits as a player (not as bad as some are saying) and his despite his rather unfortunate history he would cover both the right wing and striker roles. The budget is tight and this type of player who can do a proper job in more than one position is the most efficient way of building the squad. To answer the question though, Primus for me.

You got in before me Temp! Burnley away last year has to snatch it for me just ahead of the Bayern home leg. 3-2 at half time, all sloppy goals to concede, we cheered the boys off at half time. I will always remember Malky''s face as he went down the tunnel (below the away fans) and the bemused look on his face. Shouldn''t we have been booing them? After all it was probably worst half of defending all season in terms of the mistakes made by our back four... I was convinced that we would win that game and they came out and tore Burnley apart in the second half. 5-3 flattered Burnley in the end and we could have had many more. The one regret was that the Big Man missed a chance on the final whistle which would have put the cherry on the icing on the cake. I remembered thinking afterwards that the players could hear us singing at the end underneath the stand (the dressing room was below us) and like us they must have been on a massive high. It seemed that day as if we were the best team on the planet - the kind of buzz only football can give you and after that day promotion seemed like something we could dare to reach out and touch at last.

We will be taken for granted next season. We are already seen as relegation fodder in the press who count Delia and Hucks as our only attributes. This is in our favour, to be underestimated and to have the ability to surprise are super characteristics to have, being a factor in the reason why so many promoted teams stay up in their first season. More substance is required in the second season when other teams have sussed your players out (the old cliche about the second year being harder is true). Leon is one of a group of players at the Club who are "unknowns" outside Norfolk who will make their mark on the Premiership next season, others maybe Drury, Francis, Greeno and Holty. I think Leon has the ability to score 10 next season and rate him as one of the brightest prospects at the Club.

It occurs to me that as everyone is getting a bit frustrated with the lack of progress on the transfer front it would be worth evaluating the defensive options we have available both current and prospective. Correct me if I''m wrong (I usually am somewhere) but we have 7 defenders at the club at the moment. Drury, Brennan (?) Flem, Malky, Shackell, Briggs, Edworthy We are seriously lightweight in this area and I''m sure we all agree another centre back is a must, if not two. I have no problem with the first choice back four in the Premiership (we may not have much alternative anyway) but their back up is a concern. Brennan is a midfielder over a defender. Shackell is still young and is not ready to be put in a situation where he is a regular choice yet while Briggs has never had the chance to prove himself although looked solid at reseve team level last season. IMHO all three are decent players but not yet (or never will be) consistent Premiership quality players. This leaves me considering what is currently available on the transfer market. I trust NW implicitly and believe he is doing all he can to bring a defender or two to the club. He also has the ability to do the unexpected pulling the odd rabbit from his hat like Edworthy last year or Safri this. The next signing may just be around the corner and is likely to be a name not thought of by anyone reading this. For my penny''s worth though I believe there are only a small number of obvious candidates for central defence out there who fulfil wages/transfer fee criteria etc. Fernando Ricksen, Joos Valegaren (excuse the spelling), Craig Moore ( transfer listed today)and Nikos Dabizas. I''m not going to spell out their individual pros and cons as we will all have differing opinions. However, again IMHO we were fortunate to miss out on Scimeca but Purse would have been a good acquisition. Dabizas is the name that intrigues though. He has a release clause from Leicester yet there is little speculation surrounding him at the moment. He has a shiny new medal round his neck, has played for a while in the Premiership and we could afford him. I have a feeling that he may be coming our way... Finally, cast your mind back to last summer when we were scratching around for a new striker and it seemed NW was making no progress and missing the boat as prospective signings were tempted elsewhere. The similarities between then and now are many - we are just concerned over a different position. I am as frustrated as everyone else but the great striker hunt came spectacularly right in the end and Im sure that this situation will too. Have faith in NW he will get the right man (men) in the end.