MancCanary

jaemae - what exactly is your beef with Hooper? Because we''ve already had this conversation where it was mentioned that Hooper has *already* proven himself in the championship by scoring 19 goals for a struggling side.. Remember? Are you going to say that it didn''t count because he was in a team desperate to score goals, again? Does your girlfriend fancy him or something? I can''t think why else you''d have this over the top opinion. Yes he did poorly last season, but was he the only one? And can we not attribute any of the poor play and attitudes to the depressing tactics that we know made many of our players unhappy and de-motivated? Some football fans have very short memories and an inability to judge a player on more than just one season, forgetting that these players have had a career *before* Norwich City. Also we must remember we are now in a far weaker league and players that were poor last season should find it easier this season .

On the whole, I agree with you LDC. However, it will be a bit of a disaster if we finish in the bottom half. I could cope with narrowly missing out on the playoffs, but 10th and below, would be very disappointing. It''s hard to quantify expectation vs hope too. We all hope we''ll do well and finish 6th or above, but I''m not sure who is actually *expecting* it. To expect it would suggest the person expecting promotion has the utmost confidence in the manager and players - but I don''t think any of us feels 100% sure that we''ve got exactly the right management team or players - it''s all up in the air and generally untested. We certainly expect, on paper, the team to do well in this league, but it''s not without considerable doubt too, for me. I also don''t think there''s anything we fans can really do at this stage (i.e. try to start Hoping rather than Expecting) - the other good things (promotion with Worthy/Lambert) happened as you pointed out, when the club was in the doldrums. At the moment, we''re in a pretty good state and that''s why we feel hopeful/expectant of a decent season. That''s just the way it is - you can''t blame the fans for expecting a decent season when really, being in such as good state following relegation from the prem, that''s what should follow.

3 points - 1. Grabban is not very strong in the air - he is a pacey, hard-worker. He has often played off a big man. We still do not have a big man (Becchio could poss do this, but there''s doubts over whether he''ll be here). 2. McCormack is also not very good in the air, and is most similar to Hooper really. 3. Therefore we deffo still need to sign a target man, otherwise we''ll have the same problems as we did last season.

Newton - Not a chance we''d get him for £2-3m - he''s contracted till 2017. With Newcastle, West Ham etc sniffing around price tag will be £5 - £7m, despite Leeds'' finances. I don''t think their difficulties will last long once Cellino has got his house in order. It''s easy to say McCormack is a better bet than Hooper - but right now he''s as proven as Hooper and Becchio both are - scored goals in the championship but no higher. There''s nothing to suggest Hooper won''t be good again at Championship level, and there''s nothing to suggest McCormack will be good at Prem level. Best to give our current strikers a shot (possibly with the exception of RVW, as I don''t imagine he wants to play in the Champ), and then if we''re not scoring much splash out on the likes of McCormack in january. I think central midfield and defence is where the money needs to be spent.

Sadly Jimmy plenty of people do disagree. He''s the scapegoat because he was so expensive. But back to Becchio - I totally agree he should be told he''s back in the fold and given the chance to prove himself, as should Ricky. Our problems last season weren''t really due to poor players, but poor management of the players. Therefore for a championship season we shouldn''t need to strengthen too much as long as we don''t lose too many.

Its just Waveney, again! If you don''t learn to spot his threads you''ll keep biting, and he''ll keep posting.

Glad to see those of us who have an open mind about RVW.. those who know that he was just one of a whole bunch of strikers who didn''t score under Hughton... and those who know that he, Hooper and Becchio didn''t just turn shit overnight... outnumber those who don''t. Even Holty went from 17 goals to 8 under Hughton.

jaemae - surely scoring 19 goals in a poor team would make you a better striker than one who scores 19 in the best team in the league? So are you saying Hooper''s shit because he scored lots for Celtic but it was too easy as Celtic were the best team... AND he''s shit because he scored lots for Scunthorpe who were chasing goals because they were the shittest team in the league? I''d say scoring lots of goals for both the best team in a league, and for the worst team in a league almost definitely makes him a good striker. Also, note that he was not alone in the under-performing strikers club at Norwich - RVW, Becchio, Morison, Holt... they all suddenly became "shit" strikers once they played for Hughton.. Is that a coincidence, or do you think it might''ve been something to do with Hughton?

All good to hear.. but let''s not get too cocky - 2 or 3 seasons in the Championship and that gap will be very close indeed. We''ll still be better though obviously :p I mean we got more fans than them when we were in League 1!

Ok jaemae thanks for the correction - but 19 / 20 - Thats rather here nor there. The point is we have at least 2 proven championship level strikers so I don''t see why people want rid of either of them. Neither may be prem quality - that''s definitely undecided but could well be true - but now we''re in the championship they should both be convinced to stay. With our poor track record in landing our targets none of our 3 senior strikers should be sold before we bring in a proven replacement. I would also point out that were we being linked with any of them now as new signings for this season we would be very happy indeed. Don''t let a poor season taint your view of players, especially now we''re a step down in class.

Correct me if I''m wrong.. 1. Didn''t Hooper score 20+ goals with Scunthorpe in the Championship, and 30+ with Celtic in the SPL.. And we''re now in the Championship, so surely we should keep Hooper (and Becchio for the same reason) as he''s a proven Championship level goal scorer? 2. Aren''t Watford bankrolled by a wealthy italian businessman, and Deeney is contracted till 2016 - so would they have to accept £3m for Deeney? Surely they''d say more like £7m? 3. Blackburn must be low on money now, and Rhodes'' wages must be high. I''d say they''ll have to take less than the £8m they paid for him now, as their gamble hasn''t paid out. But would he want another season in the Championship? If his price is lower than £8m now, the Burnleys and Sunderlands will come knocking and snaffle him up, if we make a bid?

Cole and Sidwell would probably be worth it for 1 season, but I doubt Cole would want to come to us. I think he could still get a year or two at a lowly Prem team such as Burnley or West Brom. I''d take Collison and Sidwell.

[quote user="The Great Wall Of Tettey"]I genuinely think Adams will turn out to be a really good manager. With a director of football the weight of transfers is removed leaving him to concentrate on being a coach, a job which I think he will excel in. Lots of chat about him being a ''nice guy'' and the rest. First thing he did was tell the players if they don''t want to fight don''t bother, where did bassong/Jonas/becchio disappear too? He''s not afraid to make changes. I also imagine te board have had a chat with some of the squad to see how they felt about it. I imagine if they were banging on the door saying we really dislike his style they wouldn''t take him on? I was very shocked when he was appointed considering the candidates linked. But what do you class as experience? Zola, Mackay and Lennon all have approx 4 years of managerial ''experience''. Would you say that is sufficient? Maybe, maybe not. Quite ridiculous people saying they will throw tickets back at the club purely based on that appointment. I think it''s time to look at the bigger picture. All 3 managers were out of contract, the ''cheaper option'' is the biggest load of rubbish I''ve heard. With players on tens of thousands I highly doubt the club are bothered on spending a few thousand on a manager. Some people have already mentioned it....lambert was met with mixed opinions, and hughton was welcomed as quality? Let''s just get behind him, think this one might work out[/quote] Lots of excellent points Great Wall Of Tettey! Whilst I am underwhelmed about Adams, there''s no guarantee that any of those 3 managers would have done well. And the point that they are all out of work and would all also be "The Cheap Option" is very very true!

Sounds good to me BSYELLOW. The Championship is certainly a very different level to the mini league of 5 games Adams had to compete in at the end of last season. If he can rebuild the confidence of the existing players they could be a formidable team in this division, and one well-suited to an attacking ''we''ll always score one-more than you'' type game.

I think the valid point here is his lack of reputation in the game, not his knowledge (or lack) of players or how to actually sign them. We know a few of our signings cited Hughton as part of the reason they came to us, so we know reputation plays a part. So I am concerned that a player who is umming and erring between us and say, Cardiff, may pick Cardiff because of Solskjaer''s reputation, despite him getting Cardiff relegated. Obviously, if Adams does very well, then his reputation will grow quickly. But for me, it is a factor.

I smell another Waveney wind-up! Not surprised that "River End Canary (Waveney) was first to comment on this thread!, just 2 minutes after it was started! (just enough time to log out and log back in with another account and write the reply) :)

Name me a premiership manager who has a 100% success rate with their signings. Even just one who''s signings just for last season were all a success. As with a lot of decisions in football, and indeed life, not everything will turn out as well as you hoped.

[quote user="hurricane"]Agreed let''s rush the appointment so those who are impatient on here can really sink their teeth into why it was the wrong person, list all their supposed weaknesses then bang on about it for days........oh and then complain why they haven''t signed anyone after 1 day of n the job.[/quote] SPOT ON!

My sauce says I''m feeling neglected, why aren''t you having more burgers or bacon sarnies?

I can vouch for Garcia - Brighton weren''t negative at all under him. Lacking quality yes, but they tried to play positively. My bro lives there and follows them closely.

Boyer9 - there''s a few people on here who want him as first choice. But strangely, he doesn''t get a mention in anyone else''s posts!

LDC - I know what you''re saying - but it was working very well at Norwich. It suited us, and we were building on 3 years of success with it. It''s about continuity at the same club, and I believe Lambert left the club in a good way, with a team of players who really believed in his methods. The board, perhaps scolded by his departure and the ensuing legal disputes, overlooked the fact that he had built a great thing here, which should have been If a manager with similar footballing beliefs came in, the players wouldn''t have had to try to forget all the old coaching methods, and adjust to a different, more conservative tactics and mindset. Clubs like Norwich bang on about continuity being vital, and sticking with your managers, citing Ferguson, Wenger and others as examples. But if you''re smaller club like Norwich who is quite likely to lose their manager to a bigger rival, why then ditch the idea of continuity and totally turn your club upside down by appointing a manager who is the polar opposite to your previous?

YellowNets1901 - True, it was a little cringeworthy, but mainly because the two club''s PR made it so! But it''s nice to be nice, and the friendlies we had were truly friendly, and it was a pleasant, very different experience in football.

Also, Jimmy I totally agree with you. However, I don''t think Fer will be here in August. If Tettey is open to a move, don''t expect Fer to be showing any loyalty.

Good piece Daniel. I and many others have made a few threads recently saying the same thing about the culture-destruction that Hughton brought about. If we''d appointed someone who agreed with Lambert''s philosophies, we wouldn''t have had to rip up what was already a successful team so much. This is why Swansea (and I expect Soton will prove to be similar over the years) are to be admired. They have a strict culture in place, which every manager has to adhere to. The club picks the new manager to fit into their philosophy. This means the squad develop together for years, all learning the same ideas and philosophies. But at clubs like Norwich, the new manager comes in and suddenly players are having to forget everything that''s been drilled into them for the past 18 months, and start all over again. It also means less player turnover, which can only be a good thing. I really hope we get another young manager who wants to play the way Norwich fans think we should - on the floor, and with no fear. I agree about Eddie Howe, but my first choice would be Oscar Garcia. Either for me. Failing that, Adkins. I won''t be disappointed with Mackay or Lennon though, just slightly underwhelmed but with an open mind. I will be disappointed if it''s Adams, Zola or Warnock though.