Jez

This whole ''British vs. Foreign'' debate is moot. Where they''re born matters not, it''s whether they fit into the team and play well that matters. As for the price I think inflated for British is a problem especially when they''re untested at a higher level. Let''s say we buy Snodgrass for 5mill, which seems to be the amount Leeds want for him, then we only have a hope of making that back if he makes the step up successfully, which is a bit of a gamble.

I like it, certainly better than the Norwich City Calypso!

We need more defenders. I''d never heard of this von Bergen guy before we were linked with him but he sounds alright.

[quote user="lincoln canary"]23 is the number of players Lambert has signed for Norwich in less then 2 years! Anyone else find this a staggering total? Especially consider it seems there has been no major upheaval - very clever[/quote]23?  I only count 14.  This may be a sign of just how slyly he''s done his signings but who are the 23?

[quote user="swindoncanary"]Ruddy will be fine, but I do agree, we need a new goalkeeper. Every position should have competion for places. My first choice for defence would be Right back, Goal keeper & Centre half.   (think I''ve spent about 10 million there !) [/quote]Not sure I totally agree with this "Goalie must have strong competition" line.  If there''s one position where you want contiuity it''s you goalie, so the defense always know who''s in control and marshalling them.  The last thing you want is a goalie nervous that if he makes a mistake he might lose his place so pulling out of 50/50s etc.  I know the argument is the other way, if they have competiton they''ll try harder, but it''s not like an outfield player. A goalie can''t run around and close people down, get in to great space and all the other things players do to prove that they want their place.I think Ruddy will do fine in goal for us, I think getting in another goalie as cover, especially FF, will just ruin his confidence.  He admited at the start of the season that he was struggling in the shadow of FF and as another poster wrote he needs the backing of the fans.  And tbh I reckon if you look at any other gk in the league you''ll probably be able to find a similar number of mistakes.  So let''s spend our money strengthening the defense infront of him.

[quote user="Canary23"]Southend have announced on their website that it''s a tenner for our match, NICE :-)[/quote]I may even go to that then!  Don''t usually go to pre-season, but that''s not too far for me to get to, and only a tenner, sweet!

[quote user="Ncfc"]Paddy Power outright prices for the 3 promoted clubs are QPR 750/1SWANSEA 2000/1NORWICH 3000/1Surprised we are viewed as that far behind the other two , they really do see us as next seasons whipping boys .[/quote]They may have Swansea more likely to win the league than us (although let''s face it, they could stick another few thousand 0s onto that first number and it still wouldn''t make it worth a punt) but they also have Swansea as more likely to get relegated.  4/7 to 4/6.

[quote user="UEA Canary"]i''d be shocked if he wasnt No.1 keeper at start of the season. He improved vastly from a shaky 1st month, proven himself to be a good shotstopper and made numerous crucial saves at crucial times last season, last minute at home to sheff utd immediately springs to mind when at 3-2. Also his distribution is excellent and vital to the way we play, he doesnt hesitate when throwing/kicking to ball to a defender and always looking to start moves quickly, basically a lot of the time he sets the tone for the pace we play the game. I think he''ll do well next season as well, of course he''ll make an error or two, as every keeper will do, but he''ll save us a few tight games im sure[/quote]Didn''t he set up the 3rd goal against Bristol back in October by launching it to Jackson?  I do like it when a keeper''s looking to start attacks and not just hoofing it into a crowded midfield.

If we''re going for a new keeper I''d want us to by Seb Brown, Wimbledons keeper.  Mainly to piss of my brother (Dons season ticket holder, we grew up in South London, I went the way of my Norfolk born and raised dad, my brother went the other way), but the few times I''ve watched him this season, and especially in the play-off final he''s impressed me with his command of the box and positioning.Obviously he wouldn''t take the no.1 jersey from Ruddy though.

People would moan if we bought big names because they''d ruin the team spirit and be paid to much salary.  People just like to moan, especially on the internet.I totally agree with the OP and the others who''ve said that this is an exciting time to support the club.  I remember when we didn''t make any signings til late in the summer but now if I haven''t checked newsnow for a few hours I keep expecting to have missed a transfer, or at least a bid.  If the Bennett and Johnson rumours come to fuition then we''ll have signed 4 players that should definitely be fighting for first team places by mid June.  Throw in a couple of defenders and we''ve got the makings of a team that should have as good a shot as anyone at staying up.

I can''t really see us buying a new goalie tbh.  Obviously still early and I may be proved wrong but I think our money will be spent on on improving the team infront of him.I think Ruddy''s a solid keeper, not the best in the world but apart from a couple of errors early on (when fans were to quick to jump on his back imo) he''s done very well for us.  And with Rudd as back up I''m not too worried.  It''s our defense that I''m most worried about, but I trust Lambert will sort that out in due time.To summarise, yeah Ruddy will be our No.1 next year, so you can go ahead and get that put on the back of your shirt [:P]

http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/teams/NorwichCty.htmlThat''s a good site for stats, it has us scoring 17 after the 85th minute to 6 we conceded, but that includes a couple scored in cup games.

[quote user="lincoln canary"]They could have been far more imaginative with the shirt. A subtle green pinstripe design or somthing similar would have made all the difference. The huge Aviva logo looks terrible and as for the shorts, did they even bother designing them? The whole kit just looks cheap, every design the guy on here made ( I forget his name) is cleary better then this effort. Oh well thats £45 I''ve saved.[/quote]A green pinstripe?  Seriously?  That''d be horrible, I know people are praising the retroness of this design but that''d just look dated.  No, I''m very glad that we went for a simple design as supposed to stripes, flecks, whistles etc.

I like the v-neck, pity it doesn''t have a collar really, but that''s a minor grumble. There''s nothing wrong with a simple design, if we go complicated we may end up with the bird s*** strip again. As for all the people saying they hate it, what''s to hate? I can understand thinking older ones are better, or not being a massive fan, but hate? Seems a bit of a strong word to put to anything with a Norwich City badge on it.

Strikers always cost more and make more headlines. Also it''s early June, too soon to say what our plans are. No one does business at this time of year!

Also loving the change Lambert has brought to our transfer proceedings. It''s only June 3rd and we''re already worrying that we haven''t brought in any defenders yet!

Also worrying me that no one else seems to have picked up on this. So far all the reports are based on a Vital Brighton story which says it "believes" Brighton have accepted an offer. Correct me if I''m wrong but isn''t the Vital network written by fans? So could this just be another baseless rumour?

I don''t know if it''s the language thing but I seem to remember Lambert saying last year that he only really wanted to sign British players because they understand the way British teams play football better. Although he went on to say that he''d consider Scandinavian players too because they play in a similar style to British players. Personally I think that national traits are absolute b*ll*cks but there might be something in the different ways different countries teach/learn football. We tend to play it on muddy pitches on rainy days so skill is hard but slide tackling is easy, Brazil more likely to play it on hard ground that is conducive to skill etc. Of course those are generalisations too, there''s even more rain in Ireland and it produced Wessi! I think the English speaking thing is more down to £££, in the lower leagues there are very few players who aren''t British/Irish/lived in Britain for a long time as there isn''t the money for international scouting.

With all the transfer talk it seems like Lambert is doing the complete opposite of conventional wisdom and building from the front. I do hope we sign some defenders too! But blimey this club is exciting, for once the close season seems to have more action than the season!

[quote user="mrs miggins"]. We''ll also need at least: 1- RM 1- RB 1/2- CB 1- GK[/quote]What would we do with half a centre back? [:P]

Going for a big name signing doesn''t necessarily represent ambition.  I''d rather have a few cheaper players (of a certain quality obvs) than one expensive player, brining in "star" signings is as likely to ruin the ''togetherness'' of the club as anything else.  One star a team does not make!

[quote user="City1st"]A game against the binners would be good. City usually play pre season friendlies against some of the smaller, local clubs. A noble gesture would be to allow the paupers to keep the gate receipts, so they could perhaps pay the back rent or offer some of their youth players a full year contract instead of the measley 6 months which is all they seem to be able to afford at the moment. Every lower league clubs wants a home game against a Premier League team - it wouldn''t have to be a full strength team - a few of the ''fringe'' players maybe and some of the U18''s should be enough for the binners. No one will want another five or four one.[/quote] Lol!

I can''t wait for the new MOTD opening, I remember the last time we were up there they had a system of all the clubs badges rising out of their stadiums and always cheered a little bit to see our crest. Hope they have something similar or at least that we appear in it somewhere!

[quote user="Beauseant"]I loved the fact that, as the ball was rolling to him for his first touch in international football, the producer decided that what we really needed to see was an expresionless Trappatoni for the next 20 seconds. Anti Norwich bias strikes again![:@][/quote] I just hate the anti-Norwich bias! How dare they show the manager when not much is happening and the ball is in defence! (No idea if this is true, didn''t watch the game, and to SDP I''m just making a jokey comment and not trying to be mean to anyone, I have upmost respect for Beauseant and everything he represents)

He''s been our top scorer two years in a row. The answer to banana''s question is yes, we would till love him. In fact I''d go as far as saying that we''d F***ing love Grant Holt!