Jersey Canary

[quote user="El Asesino"][quote user="Jersey Canary"]From what I gather Austin doesn''t have much pace and I think pace and size is what we are looking for going forward.[/quote] Personally I''d rather take a goal scorer over a 100m runner! Austin has scored 20 goals in 24 games this season, and he''s only 23 years old (so still developing his game). [/quote] Vydra has scored 14 in 21 games and is getting better. Austin seems to have dropped off a bit after a lightning start.

From what I gather Austin doesn''t have much pace and I think pace and size is what we are looking for going forward.

Hughton has said that there is more value in foreign players so this pretty much rules out Hooper and Graham.  So how about Majet Vydra who is banging in the goals for Watford.  He is 5ft 10.5 inches tall (taller than Rooney), he''s quick, he''s aged 20 and his parent club is Udinese so he will hopefully have a good technical ability.So the fact that he is banging in the goals in the physical league which is the Championship would be worth a punt in my opinion.What do you think?

[quote user="Carlton Canary"][quote user="Jersey Canary"]I hope not.  A waste of money.Even if he turns out to be a Robert Fleck (Mark 1) in the way he performs I still don''t see him being able to play up top on his own and I cannot see us sacraficing Hoolahan or changing the formation.  So a large sum of money for a bench warmer or an impact sub is not good value IMO.[/quote]Jersey Canary, I have seen you say this a few times now and while I could not promise Hooper would be a success (nobody can guarantee that about anyone), I can guarantee he can play up top on his own.My old man is a Celtic fan and therefore I watch every game I can on Sky and have been to Park Head quite a few times with him. Hooper often plays as the only striker. They may play Samaras or Stokes too but they play much, much deeper.Hooper is very often deployed as the furthest man up field and despite him not being a giant, he is bloody strong, well balanced, works fucking hard and is pretty quick. Defenders would not get a rest as one minute he would be dropping short to link up play, then he''d be turning and bombing past them.Trust me, he would be a brilliant signing and at our price range (if he is even a possibility for us!) he is one of the best we could get!Come on City, this would be massive! [/quote]I really do hope you''re right, I really do.  I would love Norwich to buy a striker and he bangs in 15 goals a season and if Hooper is that then I will openly eat humble pie.  I just think the odds are stacked against us as Hooper and other small strikers would be all the rage in the PL.

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]There is something in getting over-run in midfield when 442 though - when we played that way earlier in the season we were woeful and uncompetetive.    It will be interesting to see how much difference tettey makes over howson but my feeling is until we get a better player thn johnson 442 may be just beyond us.   Going 2 up front will put pressure on wes...  [/quote]Good point.  Although Johnson has done well he has limited use long term and will need to be replaced with better quality player such as a hybrid of Fox and Tettey if that was possible.

[quote user="ncfcstar"][quote user="Paris aint German"]Steve Morison and Carlton Cole cannot play up-top on their own and Suarez doesn''t do a bad job for a small guy..... [/quote]Precisely, good point well made.[/quote]Steve Morison is 6ft 2 plus, Carlton Cole is a similar size as well so not a great point and not well made.  I would however concede the Suarez point although he cost something like £25m and has the attributes of a top 3 or 4 striker in the world.  If we could afford £100k p/w on wages then we can afford to buy the Gerrards of this world to feed Suarez the ball in the correct way.

[quote user="ncfcstar"][quote user="Jersey Canary"]You are missing the point.  How many teams who play one up front successfully play a player who is 5ft 9 inches tall?  Torres and Demba Ba are 6ft plus I would have thought so not a like for like comparison.[/quote]Why do you need to be big to play up front on your own?  As long as you can hold the ball up or run off the shoulder of the last man then you can do the job successfully.  You could be 5 foot nothing and be a success if you could do either of those things.[/quote]So how many teams play a small man up top successfully? Man U, no, Chelsea, no, Arsenal, no, Man City Yes sometimes, Tottenham occassionally with Defoe but play mainly 442 with Adebyor, Everton, no, WBA no, Swansea no, WHU no, Southampton no, Reading no, QPR no, Villa no, Newcastle no, Fulham no, Liverpool yes, Stoke (hell no!), Sunderland no, Wigan no.So lets look at it a bit deeper, who are these small strikers, Aguero, Tevez, Suarez who cost on average around £25m each have the quality and play in technically good football teams. Norwich with all due respect are not in these league (I would love them to be but the reality is we are not).  We score a huge proportion of our goals from set pieces and a small man up front is not going to help that stat.

As I have said before Norwich do not have the technical ability to retain the ball for long periods like Barcelona or Man City to create the chances needed for a small quick striker and therefore need to have a focal point up top.We cannot play 2 up top as we get over run in midfield so therefore we are sort of stuck with the formation and style we have, just like most other PL sides.

You are missing the point.  How many teams who play one up front successfully play a player who is 5ft 9 inches tall?  Torres and Demba Ba are 6ft plus I would have thought so not a like for like comparison.

I hope not.  A waste of money.Even if he turns out to be a Robert Fleck (Mark 1) in the way he performs I still don''t see him being able to play up top on his own and I cannot see us sacraficing Hoolahan or changing the formation.  So a large sum of money for a bench warmer or an impact sub is not good value IMO.

[quote user="ricky knight"][quote user="Scooby"][quote user="CambridgeCanary"][quote user="Scooby"]I can''t understand this fascination with Hooper. So he''s scored a few goals against Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St. Johnston, big deal. So would Morison and Jackson. It''s one of the poorest Leagues in Europe. £7 million!!! Be serious. He may be worth a gamble for about £3, max. Just think about who we could get in for £7,000,000 !!!![/quote] So enlighten us all. Who could we get for £7,000,000? [/quote]Mmmmm, lemme think. Danny Graham, Shane Long for two and I''d rather take a punt on Becchio who I personally think is a class act, although a little temperamental.[/quote] 7 mill for becchio at 29 is alot of dough, Long has not really been prolific for WBA, Graham i would not mind but i think Hooper would be a good signing.[/quote] I thought Becchio was quoted at £4 m? £2-3m worth a punt but not at £4 m.

[quote user="Skijumptoes"]One name: Jelavic I didn''t see him struggling in the premiership after playing in the supposedly ''weak'' SPL.[/quote] Jelavic is 6 ft plus and can play up top on his own, Hooper is 5ft 9 inches and can not.

It''s not the scoring record it''s a case for how will he fit into our formation. It''s a bit like signing an expensive Jackson and Jackson doesn''t play currently as we cannot afford to lose the extra player in midfield. So unless he can do a Hoolahan role there is no point in signing him.

Either way the 3 points on Saturday would really take the pressure off us and also help us attract players in the transfer window.

With due respect, we do not have the technical quality of Man City to effectively play a small man up front. How many goals do we score from set piece? Lots, so therefore we need more physical presence up front to give us the diversification in attack to keep our limited funded team in the PL. I would love us to play with an Aguero type up front but I don''t think it''s practical.

Why would we be in for Hooper as the modern football team plays 1 up front and not with someone who according to Wikipedia is 5ft 9 inches? Whilst Holt is fit and playing well then he will be first choice so why pay £7m plus for someone who s going to warm the bench more often or not. Graham would have been ideal but I feel he is too expensive or us now.

I think Butterfield is getting his fitness up ready for next season and start afresh.

On average I think it is 35 points needed to survive so I don''t know about you but I think the Newcastle game is a massive 3 points. Win and we have 28 points, lose and Newcastle are 2 points behind and we''re looking over our shoulder. Also, if we can get to 35 points sooner rather than later we can have a good crack at the FA Cup. What do you think?

From those clips it seems as though he plays well off a big man up front which bodes well for us.  It would mean a reshuffle in midfield I suppose.We would line up something like this.HoltButterfield AM/Free role/Second StrikerSnodgrass - RMHowson - Tip of DiamondJohnson - Base of DiamondPilks - LMMartin -RBTurner - CBBassong - CBGarrido - LBRuddy

[quote user="NcfcSam"]To address the lack of pace in our forward line, also worth a look is Jack Hobbs a centre back from Hull who is their captain at just 23 years old.[/quote]Since when has Jordan Rhodes been pacey?  From what I have seen he''s a younger version of Holt/Ricky Lambert.

We need to start with the right players to kick off with and if that means Morison/Vaughan and Holt up top, and bring back the diamond for the QPR game anyway.  Last season QPR couldn''t handle the movement and the unusual strategy.QPR cannot defend so therefore the more strikers we have on the pitch along with decent service then we have a decent chance to rectify yesterdays non event.

After watching the Southampton game today is a nice reminder as to our attitude for the rest of the season.

Surely Hughton is an inteligent man?  We were told that he came in and took the video''s of all last seasons games to watch.  Surely he would have picked up 3 things quite quickly:Firstly, Holt cannot play the lone striker, he is too immobileSecondly, our success was based on flexible, pressing, high tempo attacking footballLastly, we cannot defendSo why set us up that way yesterday?  Surely that formation had defeat written all over it from the off?Hughton had better learn the above lessons quickly as Norwich fans won''t put up with this McLeish style pragmatic football.  I worry for him should the QPR result not go our way and we''re still playing this dour, tactical battle.Bewarned!

Simeon blows hot and cold, we need a regular scorer to be first choice and Jackson would deputise.

I never said we would buy Defoe but someone like Defoe (cheaper).  I think we should give Vaughan a run and see how things pan out but it may be a case that if he is not starting he needs games to get his body used to playing again so 6 months on loan may be just what both parties need.