Juggy

We have three world class players.... Hart, Rooney, Cole. Then we have two players who are passed their peak but were world class at their best... Gerrard and Terry, one of whom has retired from Internationals. Perhaps Lampard falls into that second group, but in terms of current world class players we have three and none of them are in midfield. Every successful national team has had a world class midfielder. We should have capitalised on Scholes but we didn''t. France had Zidane, Spain have Iniesta and Xavi, Brazil had Rivaldo. Italy had Pirlo in the summer but he is ageing. Until we have a world class player pulling the strings in the middle of the park we have no chance, and that''s why people are holding out hope that Wilshere can fulfil his potential. 

[quote user="Hackedoff"]"He is basically a squad player for Italy, a national team which isn''t any better than ours" Do you support Scotland with that comment as you can''t be talking about England.[/quote]Are you suggesting that I''m a Scotland fan because I don''t think the England team are better than Italy? If anything I''d argue that Italy are a little bit better than England, but with England having a bit more potential for the future if players like Wilshere, Rodwell, and Oxlade-Chamberlain fulfill their potential. We haven''t got anybody with the quality of Pirlo in our team and when we did have one (Scholes) we wasted him. You are deluded if you think we are any better than Italy. Who got to the final of Euro 2012 again? They over-achieved, but didn''t see England getting to the final. 

[quote user="Monty13"]"Surman will not get a PL game this season. Whatever formation CH plays there are several players that are in front of him." Assuming he stays I''ll take that bet Joanna. I can''t see him being part of the squad and not tried once, even as a sub, in 38 games. I think Surman gets a bit of a raw deal from some posters, he was out pretty much the entirety of last season because of injury and Hughton was quoted as rating him. I''m not sure why he is seen as a player who can only play on the left of the diamond? He can play on the left side of a midfield 3 or on the left side of a 442, you don''t have to be an out and out winger to play left midfield. The very reason I think Surman will stay is because he offers something different, he doesn''t hug the touchline, he makes roving runs into the box and switches inside. He''s clever player with an eye for goal and a pass and, while I would admit one we probably need to upgrade on, I don''t think we have yet.[/quote]The big question is whether we will need a player who can play left midfield when we now have Redmond and Olsson (who can play left mid, and has done for both Blackburn and Sweden). If Van Wolfswinkel is to be believed then Hughton also wants another winger, who could well be a left mid. By the time we have signed Fer, an attacking centre mid, and potentially another winger, I just can''t see where Surman will get minutes in the Premier League. Cup maybe.

[quote user="TheNewBoy"][quote user="BroadstairsR"]"He''s obviously a good player but ''world class'' is really pushing it."  Yes true, I used that description earlier and was correctly picked up for it. However, since when in the past have Norwich City ever envisaged signing an Italian international forward with 25 caps to his name? If it comes about, and there are massive doubts about this in reality, let''s settle for calling it a ''World Class'' signing by the Hoots.  [/quote] is probably on applicable to three Italian players and that is Buffon, Pirlo, and De Rossi.[/quote]Four sorry, forgot about Balotteli, who would probably be considered world class. 

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]"He''s obviously a good player but ''world class'' is really pushing it."  Yes true, I used that description earlier and was correctly picked up for it. However, since when in the past have Norwich City ever envisaged signing an Italian international forward with 25 caps to his name? If it comes about, and there are massive doubts about this in reality, let''s settle for calling it a ''World Class'' signing by the Hoots.  [/quote]Can''t we just call it a ''quality'' signing, or even a ''top quality'' signing? If anything he is ''international class''. The words ''world class'' is probably on applicable to three Italian players and that is Buffon, Pirlo, and De Rossi.He is basically a squad player for Italy, a national team which isn''t any better than ours and doesn''t have an abundance of top class strikers. He is probably the equivalent of signing the Italian version of Darren Bent when it comes to status. He''s a good signing and we could do with a bit of experience, probably won''t cost us anywhere near the money that somebody like Bent would (wage wise), and is probably going to score a few goals - always a bonus with a striker.I''m much more excited about Leroy Fer, due to his potential, who is probably the Dutch equivalent of signing Jack Rodwell. 

[quote user="ref89"]NO, lets not let a world class player ruin little old Norwich''s image.Idiot.[quote user="I am a Banana"]Not the Italian chap! Please no! Fer and 1 other ;)[/quote][/quote]He''s obviously a good player but ''world class'' is really pushing it. 

[quote user="MisterCarrow"]The young lad was homesick.....wanted to go home.[/quote]Actually just read an interview where he said he felt he wasn''t developing at Norwich! We did sign him as a centre midfielder and released him as a centre back though, so perhaps if he ends up making it as a top centre back he will look back at his time a little differently.... 

                              BuffonCafu      R. Koeman      Cannavaro     CarlosFigo       Zidane             Scholes           Giggs              Ronaldo (fat)    HenryThat would have to be mine, heavy bias towards players that I have seen a lot of, so it ignores players before my time. Wanted to fit Michael Laudrup in there somewhere but couldn''t really take out Zidane. 

[quote user="Mervmeister"]I kmowmlol, was thinking that, but hey ho. Makelele would prob be my choice for that, or even Pirlo.[/quote]Think Scholes would do. Not a good tackler but he can dictate tempo. If you switched Hagi with a second generation Scholes (after he moved deep) you would have your little diamond. 

[quote user="Mervmeister"]Schmeichel Thuram Stam Nesta R.Carlos Figo Zidane Hagi Nedved Batistua Ronaldo (Brazilian) That would be my 11 me thinks.[/quote]I bet if you asked any of those players what they think of your XI they would insist on a deep lying midfielder like Roy Keane or Claude Makelele to hold it all together. Defensive midfielders always go unnoticed but without one you don''t have a team. 

Lee Trundle, basically a fat Welsh bloke who had a bag of tricks as big as Ronaldinho.  

If we manage to sign a centre mid or two and a centre back then Fox and Barnett will probably be off this summer, unless they want to sit out their contracts, should imagine they will at least be going out on loan. Neither are Premier League standard, but both excellent Championship players, and I''d like to think we could manage to get half a million each for them.Surman is a slightly different. I don''t rate him at this level but others do. We have no idea whether Hughton does or not, because he''s always out injured. I''d personally add him to the ''dead wood'' category and can''t see how or where he is going to get minutes on the pitch. Butterfield is a strange one. Daniel Ayala is another who just isn''t cut out for this level and needs to move on. 

[quote user="alartz"]I think you''ve answered your own question there. They aren''t as good when they had such and such who really haven''t set the world alight (elmander and agger) So if he ain''t as good as them he ain''t gonna be a player to lose sleep over.[/quote]Dumic is playing alongside the exact same centre back that mentored Agger. Agger left Brondby at 21 to go to Liverpool after having played just 34 games. Dumic is playing alongside the same man (the team captain) and has already played more than Agger at 20. I think he will mature into an excellent player, can remember he was supposed to have been a huge loss to us at the time actually. 

[quote user="The Walking Man "]Finished 9th out of 12 last season. I think if Dumic gets a move to a ''better'' club then i''ll keep an eye on him. But at the moment he''s playing at a level and for a club that isn''t that high...[/quote]Brondby had a financial crisis last year and are rebuilding with youth. To be playing regularly of a team of that stature and their record of developing young talent is something big, remember he is only 20, a player who we brought through at that time is now in league one at 22 (Korey Smith), so I can''t help but think this is going to be one that we''ve missed. 

Some of you may remember that we had this kid in our youth team, was really highly rated but Lambert shipped him out in the first January after he arrived. Played one game for us in the Paint trophy or whatever it was called.Now a regularly for Danish giants Brondby! They aren''t as good as they were when they had Agger, Elmander, and Kahlenberg in the team, but they are one of the two biggest clubs in Denmark... famously former club of Michael Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel. At only 20 years old he suddenly looks like a Lambert signing, wonder whether we will be hearing more about him in the future... 

[quote user="zemas tendon"] Was Bryan Gunn a great keeper...  [/quote]Ermmmm..... yes! Pretty much a decade of playing in the top division, two times player of the season, the only Norwich keeper to win player of the season twice. He only began to go down hill in 1995 when he was diagnosed with a spinal condition and that, coupled with a serious leg break, ended his career. He had a dodgy last season because of that, otherwise he was a fantastic keeper! 

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]£40k at the time was just stupid money. [/quote]£40k a week is still stupid money, is it not? Bullard almost bankrupted Hull on £50k a week.That''s £2m a year, a lot of money for any championship team. I would hope that McNally is negotiating substantial relegation wage decreases because we could quite easily be left in a dark place if we were to go down with a Premier League wage bill.The thing that I''m most worried about is loyalty. None of these players that we are being linked to seem particularly keen on coming and seem obsesses with status if their comments are to be believed, and that means that if things get rough they will likely not think twice at jumping the ship at the first sign of trouble. Things don''t always work out when you cram your squad full of big names, QPR are the extreme example, but look at Newcastle - they have a squad full of big name European players and they were very lucky to stay up last year. 

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]nothing on anyway websites, not true..i would actually turn my back on the club if we signed this pitiful excuse for a human being. Scum bag![/quote]Everybody deserves a 27th chance! 

[quote user="Herman "]So are you saying that all white people look the same?It''s amazing that anyone would sign for this backwoods club![/quote]Nope, I''m saying that everybody knows Barton has that gay fifties style quiff haircut but not many non-football people will be able to put a face to the name ''Gary Hooper''. 

[quote user="Grant Holts 3 year contract"][quote user="TheNewBoy"][quote user="Grant Holts 3 year contract"]It definitely was not B*rton.a) I''ve actually seen B*rton (sat on the lower tier for the match at QPR when he headbutted Bradley).b) we''ve got a ton of midfielders already. [/quote]a) great to know. b) you what? centre mid is one of the main areas we need bodies for, what do you think we are chasing Fer for? [/quote]Tettey, Howson, Johnson and Fer. Wes can play there as well if need be!Obviously assuming Fer signs..[/quote]Wes can''t really play there though, Fer hasn''t signed, and Tettey isn''t all that good. Howson is better in an attacking role. Could even argue that Johnson has a serious weakness. Barton is a better player than both Johnson and Tettey, if we put aside his mental health issues. 

[quote user="Grant Holts 3 year contract"]It definitely was not B*rton.a) I''ve actually seen B*rton (sat on the lower tier for the match at QPR when he headbutted Bradley).b) we''ve got a ton of midfielders already. [/quote]a) great to know. b) you what? centre mid is one of the main areas we need bodies for, what do you think we are chasing Fer for? 

[quote user="Grant Holts 3 year contract"][quote user="mr lister"]Mr McNally said today in the staff meeting that there would be no further signings this week.   Just to let u know. [/quote]Well the Fer "signing" has been rumbling on..Why could the Hooper signing not go through next week? It is Thursday now![/quote]Definitely couldn''t have been Joey Barton right?

It was my best mates old man who reckons it was Barton, but not sure how much he knows about footy. He doesn''t go down to CR much so probably not much. Makes me wonder whether he actually saw Hooper now that I''ve read that thread by Grant Holt''s Contract or whatever his name is, they do look a bit similar. 

He hasn''t ever exactly seemed keen on the move has he, maybe we should look for somebody who actually wants to play for us. 

Never know, needs a new club and has played for Hughton, who apparently he got on well with.