Hoshke1

As a fan who can't always make it to games, I've enjoyed and come to expect incredible drama and engagement from every visit to Carrow Road and have rarely been disappointed. Being a true "yo-yo club" has enabled me to always invest emotionally in what was going on, whether it be the promotion chase or relegation dogfight. In the past decade, we've been relegated 3 times and promoted 4. I fear my expectations for intrigue are now too high. Given the up and down nature of our recent existence, I think most fans appreciate the current willingness to change the way the club operates in a permanent way: i.e. the self-financed, youth-centric, possession-based approach that we've now taken up. The club has matured in it's consideration for its own future, and the importance of a strong culture of development within the club. All of this has made me expect/demand the following: - Continued openness from the club management (Webber, Kensell, Ward, Smith & Co) - Continued investment in our youth and infrastructure - Continued focus on matchday access (getting ticketing right) and matchday experience (I love the lap of NCFC legends before a ig game) - Continued commitment to possession-based football. I'd rather be relegated than play like burnley. - Patience from the fans with respect to our approach, if you don't realise how good we've got it!

Krul Aarons Zimbo Godfrey (if fit) Lewis Trybull Tettey Buendia Duda Hernandez Pukki Changed team because: Lewis - we've lacked natural width in the last few games and Byram is has been busy, if not wasteful. Trybull - he's combined well with Tettey at times and like his ability to recycle possession. More mobile than Vrancic. Duda - McClean has shown his limitations technically in the 10 slot, whilst being a strong leader. Let's give Duda 60 mins to create more through the middle for Pukki. Hernandez - pace could expose Bournemouth's aging defence. Bournemouth will likely play Smith or Francis at RB, who will struggle with the directness of Hernandez.

BTW I did not mean to imply that I though Chris Martin was more naturally gifted than Ola Toivonen. He has found his level as a squad player in the championship.

Despite James Nursey''s constant speculation regarding our continued interest in Hooper, I strongly suspect that Hughton will be looking to employ the same system next season. This does not allow room for two front line strikers (RvW & Hooper). They would operate in the same areas and compromise each others goalscoring ability. I don''t think that either would accept being a backup to the other. Ola is a cut price second striker with a decent goalscoring record from deep and a good track record of assisting goals. As a large proportion of our goals come from headers and more precisely set pieces, Toivonen is attractive due to his substantial size and aerial threat.

A lot of people here seem to think Ola Toivonen is a midfielder. He is a forward who drops deep to link up the play. In terms of comparable City strikers, I would suggested he compares to a more naturally gifted Chris Martin. I don''t think of Chris Martin as a midfielder for one moment, though upon our arrival in the premier league many on this board considered him a rival for Wes''s spot in the side.

I''m not suggesting that we cheer Lambert at all. We are on his (new) home turf, so there will be plenty of Villa fans doing that anyway. I agree that we should be focusing on our team and concentrate the majority of our chants on Hughts and our boys. However, I would hate for our fans to roundly boo Lambert. As many have said, it is not our responsibility or our want to support him any longer, but to attack him would be a mistake IMO.

I''m off to Villa Park this weekend to see our boys attempt to follow up Saturday''s fantastic result against Lambert''s new team. While his departure and litigation-packed aftermath have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many fans, I still feel Paul Lambert deserves resounding cheers and applause when he shows his face this Saturday. I''d hate for my fellow travelling supporters to let themselves down by showing animosity to the man, who has had a major hand in an unbelievable few seasons for us. I will be eternally grateful for the most recent 3 chapters of our footballing history. I hope this is reflected by our greeting of Lambert on Saturday.

[quote user="Across The Pond Yellow"]From mid july - now is hardly any time to show fancy. and using the games with palace are TOTALLY comparable. because Norwich and palace have the same level players from defence to midfield to get the ball to the forwards as Norwich. Sound Logic.[/quote] ATPY, the games with Palace were included in the stats. The fact of the matter is Martin isn''t even close to being a decent goalscorer at Champ level. Why fans fancy him as a player I don''t know. Lambert shipped him out to palace, preferring wilbraham as the fourth striker. Ironically, having had Martin on loan, Palace have decided to sign Wilbraham instead! If Martin had any sense he should try to move on and get first team football, he is nearly 24. As per a previous poster, it sounds as though Hughton has given him the option of leaving on loan or permanently and he has chosen to stay and fight his way up the pecking order. I doubt there''s much chance of more than a few snatched sub apps so we''ll probably never know.

A Jackson vs Martin debate is completely redundant. We are not in the championship any longer and therefore these players cannot play the same role. It is not a level playing field. Martin hasn''t featured prominently in the premier League under Lambert at any point. Jackson made 22 appearances last season, and Martin 4. He was loaned to Palace because he wasn''t going to feature much here. Jackson has been the more fancied player by two of the brightest managerial talents in the League. Jackson has scored more goals in less games at Championship level and above. Jackson = 17 goals in 62 games in Champ and Prem Martin = 15 in 85 games in Champ and Prem no contest

Sorry - do "well for" us

[quote user="Gaz_in_Oz"]Unfortunately ATPY there''s always been a lot of xenophobia in Norfolk and Martin coming from Suffolk just cops it in the shorts all the time.[/quote] Like this comment. I can appreciate that my comments were damning and negative, but this board is built upon our analysis of performances. God knows how much stick Morison has received of late. I have been a committed Norwich fan for many years, sitting through many glorious moments and devastating disappointments. At every match I always give the team my full support but feel justified in critical analysis of performances once the dust has settled. Hughton has many tough challenges ahead with NCFC and it is still too early to gauge the calibre of the man in this role, but our support and experience of our players development predates his. Martin has and always will treated by many as our favourite son. He has been a loyal if occassionally irresponsible servant of our club. I''m sure he is desperate to do us and himself proud here, but I have never seen anything from him to assure me he is worthy of featuring for us at this level. We need to be realistic about the quality of our players in each department and we just haven''t moved on from last season in the striking department. Chris is no longer a youngster and "potential" does not deserve a precious space in the 25 man team. We need to strengthen and he would be my preferred candidate for the chop.

ATPY.... I commented they were moronic for constructing arguments which were based upon hypothetical situations...i.e. Martin would have scored as many goals as Jackson did if he had been playing. I did no such thing. I did not make the opposite assumption. I simply stated that these arguments held no water. Jackson did make 22 appearances, scoring three goals, but only 10 of these apps were starts. Again ATPY, I did not comment on Chris Martin''s goalscoring record last season. My comments referred to the 4 goals he scored in 30 appearances for us in season 2010/11. And for the last thing, I don''t think the ratio of points earned doesn''t reflect favourably on Martin. Don''t know why you put that in there.

[quote user="Gaz_in_Oz"]''''If a striker such as Martin, who is not a proven goalscorer at Championship level (even though he made 26 appearances in that season), does not possess any outstanding physical attributes (like someone like Wilbraham (aerial) or Jackson (raw acceleration)) then he does not deserve to feature.''''Shame.[/quote] It is a shame. I more than most would love to see "one of our own" come through and establish themselves in the side. But sadly I don''t think it will be Martin. As far as I''m concerned, Martin is just happy to be at a Premier League Club and Hughton has established that he is a willing backup. Would you rather he stayed to warm the bench, be top scorer in the Ressies or we cashed in to the tune of £500k before he contract is wound down to an anticlimactic and obviously emotional departure?

The simple thing ATPY is that we ultimately judge strikers on their goalscoring track record. Chris Martin has not scored a sufficient quantity of goals in any instance above League One level. Jackson scored a flurry of goals in a short period at the end of the 11/12 season which undoubtedly aided our successful promotion push. If a striker such as Martin, who is not a proven goalscorer at Championship level (even though he made 26 appearances in that season), does not possess any outstanding physical attributes (like someone like Wilbraham (aerial) or Jackson (raw acceleration)) then he does not deserve to feature. Some morons on this board spouted comments like "if Chris Martin had been playing instead of Jackson at the end of our promotion season, then he would have probably scored just as many" or "Martin would have shown how good he was if he had played more than 4 games for us last season". These arguments hold no water. Ask yourselves this....Would we be interested if Chris Martin had never played for Norwich and was now available on a free transfer? I thought not.

"I just have a feeling that Norwich are not 100% sure about his long term fitness" You''re kidding! I thought they were 100% sure!

Come on Indy Bonehead. "Who knows what CM would have scored if he''d played in those games" is no argument at all. The fact is he hasn''t scored many goals above League 1 level. The fact is if he was a free agent, he wouldn''t even be vaguely on our radar. I find it amazing that people here find reason to celebrate him!

Over the years, there has been a paucity of quality young players coming through our your system. Take Ip5w1ch for example: the likes of Jordan Rhodes and Ryan Bennett are amongst their recent products. It is natural for us to attach greater meaning to players coming through the ranks here, but it is important to realise what Chris Martin has done for us and what we can realistically expect from him in future. Chris did well in League 1, scoring 17 goals in 42 league games that season. Grant did better, scoring 24 goals in 39 league games. Many of you have mentioned that he did well in the Championship. I personally think that 4 league goals in 30 league appearances in a promotion winning side is quite poor, especially considering grant holt and simeon jackson''s tallies. He did not have much of a chance in the premier league, but did start the woeful loss at home to WBA in which we barely had a shot on goal. I firmly believe he is not good enough at this level, and while he sometimes looks like a natural footballer who could cut it for an established championship side, he will not offer much at this level. As many have pointed out he has neither express pace nor real presence, deficiencies which could be made up for by prodigious skill or goalscoring ability. We have 3 strikers who have consistently scored more than the "Boy from Beccles" whose best attribute has been identified as his finishing of chances. Lambert clearly fancied him less and less as the quality of opposition rose, and his judgement on player potential never really let him down. Get a decent fee for him and move him on I say. £500k and out the door

Indy, Rhodes has broken records at League 1 level, is singularly the most spoken about footballer outside the premiership, is still very young so would resell quite well, and would cost £1.5m less than Jay Rodriguez at this price. He is an ex-Ipswich trainee and would really make the signing even more inviting. So far Southampton and Swansea have laid down £7m markers and I don''t see £5.5m being an uneducated gamble that we can''t afford to make. Caulker has recently been sounded out by the press and Spurs themselves about returning to Swansea. There has been talk of a permanent switch and also a loan. Ryan Bennett chose us over Swansea, so I have reason to believe that we are capable of matching what life at the Liberty has to offer. If the entirety of the British press is to be believed, then Jan Vertonghen is heading to Spurs anyway, who along with Dawson, Kaboul and Gallas will form the core central defensive unit. Dawson is not old at 28! King is a backup and dressing room figure at the club due to his chronic knee issues. Barnett''s appearances this season coincided with our string of penalties conceded and sendings off. He has never looked solid and does not have the ability or technique to pass effectively out of defence as Lambert would like. He is at the bottom of the pecking order for our centre backs. He is a solid championship centre back and at the right price, clubs will come calling. C. Martin''s one good season for the club came in League 1. He scored 17 goals in 42 league games. He followed that with 4 league goals in 30 league games in the championship. He recently scored 7 goals for Crystal Palace in 26 league games. He offers neither a physical presence not express pace. His goalscoring record does not inspire confidence. He is technically sound and plays with his head up, but a number of Norwich fans are blinkered by the prospect of having a youth product play for the first team. Throw in his disciplinary record and the fact that Lambert clearly agrees with me that he doesnt deserve to feature for us, then you have your answer. Indy - get you facts straight.

My pick would be: (pricing an estimate) In Rhodes - £5.5m Snodgrass - £2.5m Caulker - £4.5m Clyne - £3m Out Barnett - £750k Chris Martin - £1m Net spend - £13.75m A net spend of £13.74 would be about £2m more than we spent last summer, so a realistic total spend. To those who have campaigned for a highly experienced CB to replace Whitbread, Lambert opted not to invest in premier league experience last season, so i don''t see that Lambert will change tack now that existing players have that experience. I don''t think we need a 5th centre back as Russell Martin have proven a more than capable option in there. My feeling is that any possible deal of luring Naughton on a permanent basis has lost momentum, so the two time championship team of the year RB, Nathaniel Clyne, is the best bet. Caulker has had a year in the premiership with Swansea and has impressed me on a number of occasions. Would provide needed height and bulk with good resale value. Snodgrass has been linked with us frequently in the last 12 months. He has worked under Lambert before and played with Brad Johnson, Jonny Howson and Wes Hoolahan before so would be close to a seamless transition. One year left on his deal so maybe able to bring him on a similarly small fee (in the context of his value!) to Howson. I don''t need to discuss Jordan Rhodes. A record breaking 12 months in League 1 and Lambert has never been afraid of headhunting in the lower leagues (with success!). Would provide us yet another goalscoring option, and would be an obvious talisman show the worst happen (Holt leaving). Thoughts?