Yellow Shrimper

Have seen him a fair few times for the U18s and the U23s. Three years ago he still looked to be carrying a bit of puppy fat and I would have bet that he wouldn''t make the grade. Well he seems to be proving me wrong and he has outstayed a number who I thought looked better prospects. Puppy fat has turned to muscle. Seems to have a good football brain, has some pace and an eye for goal. Has looked impressive and creative in the no. 10 role, but now plying his trade at wing back which seems to suit him. Good luck to the boy; let''s hope he continues to develop and impress

All well-reasoned with some very pertinent points made. Unless we sign more Homegrown players it does seem loan opportunities will be limited for the likes of Cantwell & Raggett. My research tells me that the key number is 7 rather than 8 - that''s a minimum of 7 Homegrown players, but it can include the requirement of 1 Club Developed Player. At the moment that 7 looks like Hanley, Lewis, Marshall, Matthews, Godfrey and 2 out of Husband, Cantwell and Raggett, presuming Thompson remains unavailable. But what happens if 2 or 3 of those are injured? So that tells me there''s still changes to be made to the squad to adjust the imbalance

The club are being very slow in updating the first team squad on the official site but interesting that amongst some additions recorded in the last 24 hours (four are faceless versions of new signings) is Tristan Abrahams, switched from the U23s. Read into it what you will

I see on Gregg Broughton''s Next Generation Blog on the Official Website that the club has offered six professional contracts to U18s but whilst he talks about their background he doesn''t actually say who they are. Obviously one of them is Todd Cantwell but who are the other five? Does anyone know? Maybe I''ve missed something.

Yes, turn up at the gate, kick-off 11.00 tomorrow (22nd). The man on the gate might seek your reassurance that you''re not a scout, that''s all. Perhaps take your season ticket if you have one.

For what it''s worth I kept thinking the sun was in my eyes. I was hoping that it was just because I was 4 rows back from my normal seat but obviously not. I''ll have to bring my sunglasses for the next evening game!

I note that in some quarters there is still criticism of the Conor McGrandles signing which I fail to understand. The boy is still only 19, that’s 7 months younger than the Murphy twins. Only time will tell whether it was a worthwhile acquisition but, for what it’s worth, he looks a good prospect to me.

It’s pretty obvious that the contributors here are familiar with the U21 exemption rulings but here’s a list of those that were born in 1994 and are therefore in their last year of exemption: Remi Matthews Nathan Redmond Jamar Loza Adel Gafaiti Louis Thompson As a matter of interest those born in 1995 for whom season 2016/17 (hopefully still be in the EPL) will be their last as U21s are as follows: Jacob Murphy Josh Murphy Reece Hall-Johnson Harry Toffolo Conor McGrandles Reiss Awuah (U21 squad) Cameron King (U21 squad) Cameron Norman (U21 squad) Ben Killip (U21 squad) Carlton Morris (U21 squad) Andre Wisdom was born in 1993 and will be part of the 25 man squad.

I agree with Yellow Wall - he was found guilty, he´s had his punishment, now let him pursue his career (most probably at Sheffield United).

I´ve just finished watching the game having watched the 1st half live and then paused the 2nd half while I watched the final 2 episodes of series 4 of Boardwalk Empire with the missus so we can now start watching the final series. Firstly I would like to say a huge thanks to Southampton for having their own U-tube channel which I guess shows all their U21 matches live, with a solid commentary, and allowing us to watch our boys in action. Secondly I would like to have another huge moan at NCFC for their pathetic coverage of the U21s. It was only by chance that I happened to look at the Pink´un website just before 7.00 to discover that, not only were the U21s playing, but I could watch the whole match live on the internet. To the best of my knowledge there was no mention of the match on the NCFC official website other than reference to it on the Twitter link if one thought to delve that deep. Get a grip of this please, Mr McNally, this is poor exposure of our youngsters, who deserve better recognition. Is there any good reason why we cannot match Southampton´s excellent coverage of their U21s? I suspect there isn´t. On to the match itself. I felt we were OK, with not too much to offer up-front, but full credit to Southampton who I felt looked lively, with a number of players worthy of 1st team consideration. These are my ratings of the Norwich team - based on Championship expectations. Killip 5.5, Ramsey 5, McFadden 5, Bassong 6, Toffolo 5.5, Hall-Johnson 4.5, McGrandles 5.5, Odjidja-Ofoe 5.5, Murphy 5, Hooper 5, Eaton-Collins 5, King 6, McGeehan 5 I would consider all those outfield players worth, in my opinion., 5.5 or better (5 of them) to be ready, now, for serious consideration for first team "18" inclusion. And finally one or two specific comments. Good to see Louis Ramsey, a first year scholar, getting a good run in the U21s. Good luck to him. Low mark for Reece H-J; plenty of effort but seemed to lose possession far too enough - I''m sure he can do better. Liked my first viewing of Conor McGrandles - admittedly an uninspiring start but kept improving throughout the game - and, remember, still a young boy, age-wise, a year behind the Murphy twins

In case anyone (like me) was intent on going to see Hooper, Howson, Miquel, McGrandles, et al, in action don´t bother because, according to the Academy lady I just spoke to it´s "behind closed doors". A big shame as I was really looking forward to it but I guess I´m only a supporter so my desire to watch the reserves, & our up-and-coming youngsters, is clearly irrelevant to the club. I did suggest to the lady that it might be a good idea for the club to put something on the website but I suspect nothing will be done

The Box Office says all seats are sold so I''ve bought a Standing ticket

Cameron McGeehan did play. I subscribed to MUTV just so I could watch the game (& happily cancelled my subscription immediately afterwards). Cost me £6 I think. We lost 3-0 (or was it 4?) and struggled for most of the match. Our team was Killip, Efete, Callan-McFadden, Gafaiti, Toffolo, Jacob Murphy, McGeehan, Hall-Johnson, Awuah, Sam Kelly, Simpson. The defence was competent enough but suffered at the hands (feet?) of a very lively MU attack, the midfield was industrious, but apart from occasional flashes from Jacob M lacked creativity and, with Josh M, Loza & Morris unavailable, we had little to offer up front. The club acknowledges that the squad is small in numbers and on this showing is going to struggle in the 1st tier of the U21 league. The coverage of the Academy is inconsistent and the failure to report on this match is poor. Having gained Category 1 status I do hope that huge efforts will be put in to maximise the return on the investment but currently the signs are not good. Nonetheless I shall be at Carrow Road on Monday to see them take on Chelsea

Well done for noticing it and commenting on it, and well done to Carlton for getting his first senior goal. Many more to come I hope

Can´t see any reference to this on the Canaries website. Here´s the match report http://www.afcsudbury.com/s/match-centre-104274/0-2403739

David was a young Norwich City player, making one 1st team appearance in the JPT, before leaving for Hibs in 2010. I was surprised and sorry to see him go as I rated him highly in a youth squad which included Tom Adeyemi, Dario Dumic & other good prospects. He seemed to me to have a perfect blend of physique and skill but his progress slowed and I have assumed there are flaws in his footballing make-up. For the last 2 years he has been with Barnet and this weekend was selected by Stuart Hammonds in the Non-league Paper as one of the top-3 centre-backs in the Skrill Premier. I haven´t seen him play since he left Norwich but David is now 22 and seems to be progressing, albeit currently in the 5th tier. His manager at Barnet was Mark Robson, before he came to Norwich, and presumably rates him, and he will be well known to Neil Adams. Maybe worth an inexpensive punt. I wonder.

http://www.afrikansoccer.com/2013/08/norwich-city-boss-chris-hughton-eyes-move-for-moroccan-striker/

The Stoke game was, of course, on MONDAY

He came on as sub at Cambridge but is not mentioned in the U21 Development squad in the Club Handbook and didn´t feature in the Stoke game on Sunday so I suspect he was on trial and not taken on

According to the Brighton website tickets are available

Is Is anyone able to enlighten me as to the contractual arrangements with our younger players? In the past the youngsters would spend 2 years in the youth set-up, at the end of which they would either be released or offered a full professional contract. Under the Elite Player Performance Plan things seem to have changed. Last season we had 7 players who were “over 18” but were members of the under-21 development squad – 2 were recently released.  Are the remaining 5 (Matthews, McNeil, Gafaiti, Clunan & Loza) on full professional contracts or is there some form of hybrid development contract. Last season, in the Under-18 squad, we started, I believe, with 10 2nd year scholars, the majority of whom featured prominently in the Youth Cup run. What happens to them now? We know Josh & Jacob Murphy have signed full professional contracts but what of the others? Have any been offered full professional contracts, or any form of hybrid contract, or have any been released? The club seems to have been silent on this and as a follower of youth football at NCFC I am keen to know what´s happening. If anyone has the answers I shall be grateful to hear them. Thank you.

Haven´t read every word of this thread so apologies if I´m repeating what´s been said before. Realistically, as it came closer to the closure of the transfer window, and believing that the sqad needs at least one more striker, I hoped we would sign either jordan rhodes or Craig Mackall-Smith. I´ve seen both play - JR is almost invisible but has the knack of scoring goals, CMS is a livewire who never lets defenders rests and scores goals. i would rather have CMS, I believe he is the perfect signing for us &, obviously, I hope we manage to sign him 

According to the Telegraph "Chris Hughton is set to strengthen his Norwich City defence wioth the signing of centre-back Michael Turner from Sunderland"

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/21476/7421927/Top-ten-to-avoid Hopefully this link works. Holty gets his mention in the last line

Have I missed something, or has there been no announcement about the future of the year 2 Academy youngsters. I had guessed that Matt Ball would be offered a contract. Does anyone know anything?