MancCanary

Whatever we think about Snodgrass - this thank you message he''s just put on Twitter for Norwich is a nice touch. Don''t recall any player doing that before: https://twitter.com/robsnodgrass7/status/483956024861540354

Yelloow Since 72 - Thank you, I''ve been trying to tell people this about Lafferty. He''s not actually very good with his head, but makes up for that by being very good with his feet. Strange player. Most importantly he works hard and puts himself about - bit like Holty used to.

Ron - pretty much every day! Almost every thread about signing players (and especially strikers) contains a post from someone saying we need to spend the money from Snodgrass on Rhodes.

Carlos - The thing is he had the talent to do that last year in the Prem - but seemingly didn''t have the attitude to make it count. So if he''s more successful in the Champ I don''t think it''ll be due to the opposition being weaker, but more to do with him sorting his head out and working harder, particularly without the ball.

Because it''s very very unlikely he would sign for us. Forget the fee (although I think it''s unlikely City will spend £6 - £8m on a player again for a while) - he will be holding out for a move to the Prem. If we can afford him, so can every club in the Premiership, and if it becomes public knowledge that Blackburn will sell - I''m sure at least one club in the bottom half will take him. In short, if he''s available, we won''t stand a chance in signing him. Whilst Lafferty and Grabban aren''t as big names, Grabban only scored 3 less goals than Rhodes, and played a few less games too. We''ve needed a player like Lafferty since Holt left - someone with a high work-rate, a bit of guile and good feet. I think the big money needs to be spent on a creative midfielder, and a centre back. And one of them at least needs to be a strong leader.

Confirms what my Burnley-supporting friend said of him - good with his feet, puts himself about a bit and generally causes trouble. He also said he''s a bit of a dog with the ladies.. and that was before the story broke of the 6 kids in Italy! He''s also a bit of a div by all accounts. Not that that''s important as a footballer, but still. He had a mullet in 2008 - that takes some justifying! I doubt he''ll get 15 or 20 goals but he should aid others in scoring more.

O''Neill''s only been in the Ireland job 6 months hasn''t he? Not much chance of him leaving to take a non-coaching job I would''ve thought.

SplatCat wrote: "Ok but I think the shorts and socks are black and white, or else why would they bother putting a special graphic design saying "ncfc 2013 -2014" on the official article with black and white shorts and socks? Think they were just not ready for the official video. soon find out." I think it''s very obvious, if you read the article itself, that the little picture of the kit on the left with the white shorts and black socks is of the 1913-1914 kit which they claim is the inspiration for the green part at the top of the new kit. The new kit is the one in the video, unsurprisingly.

Kangeroo court - if you think one season is all you should get to prove yourself it''s a good you weren''t making the decisions about Iwan Roberts after his first season. Not to mention countless others.

surfer - Well I''m a pro-Wolfswinkel fan, but I was looking through the top scorers lists for the championship for the last few seasons to find a player that is physically similar to RVW and who''s scored lots in the Championship. Basically, they''re all either faster or stronger than him, unless they''re great all-rounders like Kevin Philips. But even he''s stronger than Wolfy. Basically, RVW''s game is about finishing (when he''s got the confidence and fitness anyway), but that''s not quite enough in the championship. So I think in order to be able to actually get his shots away he needs to get stronger to prevent being muscled off the ball so much. I just think it would help his game no end - particularly as he is not a pacey type of player.

When at Burnley he played out wide left half of the time. He may have also done this at other clubs, hence the low strike rate?

LAFFERTY REVIEW FROM A BURNLEY FAN - My colleague at work is a massive clarets fan, and had this to say about Lafferty: Very good technically & has quick feet for a big guy. Good at holding up the ball, and has an eye for a pass. Good target man, but headed goals weren''t his strong-point at Burnley. Has since improved this side of his game. Is "thick as two short planks" apparently. Not the brightest lad but good footballing brain. Sounds like a good player to partner Hooper, and perhaps Grabban/RVW. I hope it''s less than 5m euros though!

Agreed Jimmy. RVW would definitely be better with a big hard-working strike partner up front. If he''d have played alongside Holty in the championship season instead of Chris Martin (who is actually quite similar to RVW in that he''s not pacey or physically imposing), I''d wager Ricky would''ve scored more than Martin or Jackson. One thing though - if he is going to do well in this league he really needs to put on some weight.

Totally agree Buzz. It''s either a MASSIVE coincidence that ALL the strikers turned bad as soon as they signed for us... or something else. And seeing as we have the handy example of Holt who was there before Hughton and after, we can be fairly sure that Hughton''s coaching was not in the favour of scoring goals. And yes - YouTube videos, easy as it is to say that with disdain, are in actual fact videos of real live events - so he really did score all those goals, like it or not, and he really did play for Netherlands full squad - like it not, and he really was coveted by top European clubs before we snaffled him up. I love the fact some fans are unable to believe a player who has been poor for Norwich could be good and has been good for others - I mean look at the amount of players who were poor for us and have gone on to prove themselves - Chris Martin and James Vaughan just 2 of the most recent ones.

[quote user="Reggie Strayshun"]Maybe a little over-simplistic, but Spain reminded me of Hughton''s Norwich. Plenty of sideways passing, attempts to play the ball wide that break down, no end product, coupled with when they did get the odd chance it ,was missed horrendously. Oh, and let''s not forget that they always had a catastrophic defensive error in them. And even at 2-0 down no real change of emphasis. Mind you, John Ruddy is a far better goalkeeper than Iker Casillas.......[/quote] You''re right Reggie. And I think the over-riding similarity between the two teams is a lack of confidence. It''s amazing how important confidence is in sport and in football. It makes you unable to do simple things like kick the ball straight, catch a ball (Casillas) or look for your teammate before just passing it (see Wolfswinkel''s "moment" last season)!

.. has been great. I know Spain are lacking confidence, but the way Chile are playing is just brilliant. Exactly the way I would like City to play. They''re making up for the difference in quality by working far, far harder than their opponents, and working for each other so well. They win the ball back so easily that it gives them the confidence to take risks and bomb forward, supporting each other in attack as much as they do in defence. Turns out the manager is a Bielsa protege - not surprising really!

Whoops! I was reading an article about Sidwell whilst writing that, and I wrote Sidwell instead of Shaun Maloney.

My heart agrees with Casey, would love Wolfswinkel to resurrect his reputation in the Championship, but my head says Becchio is a safer bet. Hopefully we don''t have to choose between them! I would keep all the current strikers if they can be persuaded, and give them all an equal chance from the start of the season. I would probably begin with Hooper and Becchio due to Becchio''s height, and the fact they are both proven in the Championship. But I would give Grabban and RVW plenty of chances to impress, and Loza some chances but not as much yet. As has been mentioned before, it''s midfield and defence we need to improve more urgently. Still need a creative player, and a better RB and another CB. I think Steve Sidwell would be a good signing for the Number 10/Creative player.. just give him a 2 year contract.

Perhaps we''ll be swapping Becchio for McCormack?

GMB - I totally agree with everything you''ve said. The lack of a big bustling target man does worry me. I can only assume we''re getting the replacements for RVW (and maybe Hooper) in first before selling or loaning them out. But yeah we deffo need a different option. We''ve missed Holt ever since he left. We''ve also missed a Wes type player (as you point out), and to be honest, in terms of keeping possession and passing well from deep positions, we''ve missed Fox. I''m not saying these 2 should''ve been in the team last season, but we haven''t replaced those types of players - who can pass and keep possession.

[quote user="Herman "]Can anyone understand jaemae''s logic here? Yes, he''s a wind-up merchant. [/quote] Fair enough Herman, he''d slipped under my troll radar then! Maybe we should have a "known trolls" thread on which we post people like Waveney''s aliases as soon as they use a new one?! Then they pretty much have to change name straightaway.. might put em off and help separate the trolls from the genuine twa@ts! Would be good if it could be sticky, but with the amount of trolls and number of times they change names, it''d probably be at the top of the threads all the time anyway..

[quote user="jaemae2"][quote user="MancCanary"]jaemae: "Yes, it''s a weaker league, but well over Hooper''s head even in that case. " But jaemae, he''s already proven himself in this league playing for Scunthorpe? He scored 19 goals, FOR SCUNTHORPE. How can you possible say that means he''s over his head in the Championship before he''s even kicked a ball?[/quote] Yeah, one season where your team was chasing goals constantly sure makes you established...[/quote] Wow - this point again? So his 19 goals count less because he was playing for a shit team? All teams chase goals - what does that even mean?! You''re telling me Leicester weren''t chasing goals last season? Are you saying Hooper''s 19 goals that season would be somehow worth more if it had been for a club that got promoted that season? Can anyone understand jaemae''s logic here?

NCFCgardener - yes we have had some dire ones too. I''d say the ratio of good to bad is pretty much the same as with permanent signings though. I think we can all agree that the only ones we would want in are those who are top of the class, who can really add to the team. Like Jimmy pointed out - who would say no to Lukaku? It has to be a balance - we blood the best of our youth players, but not too many - and we balance this with the best of our senior players - and if we can get a loanee in who has the talent to keep a senior player out of the team, we use them too.

jaemae: "Yes, it''s a weaker league, but well over Hooper''s head even in that case. " But jaemae, he''s already proven himself in this league playing for Scunthorpe? He scored 19 goals, FOR SCUNTHORPE. How can you possible say that means he''s over his head in the Championship before he''s even kicked a ball?

Young loan players not been good for us? What about: Kyle Naughton Daniel Pacheco Henri Lansbury Fraser Forster Kieran Gibbs Ryan Bertrand? All been pretty damn good in recent years. It''s good for cover, and if they can prove themselves and take the place of a senior player then so be it. With regards to our own young players, yes I too would like some of them to be given a try, but the types of players I''ve listed above are generally a little further down the line in their development than the likes of McGeehan, Morris, Loza etc are currently.