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First Wizard

Central Defender Is A Priority!.

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Now look here, I will admit that old Worthy has done okay in the transfer market, but only okay!.

We need a central defender asp. Someone in the Malky mode if you like.

If not, Fleming and the Doc will cost us dearly, can''t anyone else see it!.

Get this position ''cracked'' before the transfer window shuts, and Nigel would go from merely okay to job done!.

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Wow!, I agree with the Wizard on an issue, I also think we need a central defender.

I think the tablets are wearing off, better increase my dose!

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One more, agreed... and if Francis goes, another midfielder, though not as priority as we have lots of quality in there now (despite other opinions to the contrary!)...

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But we already have four: Fleming, Doherty, Shackell and Charlton... plus Louis-Jean has also played there. On the basis of Worthy''s aim of two players for each position, we''ve got it covered... hence I can''t see anyone else coming in there unless someone gets a big injury.

Whether or not they''re good enough is another question entirely. Last season they were clearly not... but this is the Championship, not the Premiership, and Fleming has already proved he can do it at this level. I''d say the others could as well.

Numbers-wise, if Francis goes then we need another CM, but other than that I think we''re up to the 20 outfield players mark aren''t we?

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agree. The weak link in our first team is someone to partner Shackell. It wouldnt be if Worthy played Charlie but we all know he will play fleming. Actually i have just changed my mind. A new centre back (eg Ben Chorley) would be nice but not essential. Charlie for one is definately up to the standard. Fleming could be but i dont know. Doh, same as fleming but Colin can play centre back. However if we wanted to make our team completely unstoppable then a quality centre back (Chorley) and a quality centre mid (dont know) would do.

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Although I agree that another defender would be good, I would like to see a young player come in to play with Shacks in the future.

I think Doc will do ok this season if given a consistant run out.

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A number of people including myself have said in other threads that we would like to see another central defender signed.

So I agree with you, but you certainly aren''t the only person who can see it!

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1, Shackell as first choice (hopefully he can perform week in week out at his young age)

2, Doc or Charlton as partners for him (both equally capable and are definitely among the best CB''s in the league)

3, Fleming as back up (has been there before and proved he can cut it, but sadly starting to lose his faculties)

4, Colin in case of injuries to the above four.

I think the centre of our defence is just fine, thank you.

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I think Flem and the Doc are okay at this level, Shacks is a natural born leader but I can''t see Charlie getting much of a look in, I''m afraid.  He speaks his mind and although he clearly has a football for a brain Worthy does not like his players to do that.

I saw Benitez on Sky Sports yesterday saying he wants another centre-back, but where to get one?  We should be OK this season imo.

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I''m wondering whether another forward would be good - Leon and Ashton are obviously first choice but after that Thorne seems next in line - unless Worthy plays Hucks up front. I wasn''t impressed with Thorne against Inter - his touch didn''t look great and he has no pace. While he may provide half-decent back up this year, he has a two year contract and if we get promoted I really can''t see him cutting it in the prem. I don''t think Hendo or Jarvis are good enough the fill the gap if Leon or Ashton are injured! The question is who could we sign - Freddy Eastwood maybe?

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[quote]1, Shackell as first choice (hopefully he can perform week in week out at his young age) 2, Doc or Charlton as partners for him (both equally capable and are definitely among the best CB''s in the lea...[/quote]

If Worthy sticks with Fleming against Coventry Mook, then an awful lot of people are in for a very loud ''wake up'' call, including you.

We need someone else before saturday, mark my words!.

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"At this level"- well Flem might have been OK a couple of seasons back but now he won''t be. Our defence was a shambles last season committing basic mistakes, poor marking and conceding headers to midgets. Not helped by a midfield reluctant to pick up anyone running through.

I have no reason to believe that this season will be any different and the same mistakes will still cost us points and wins. Virtually every team has a striker that can hurt us if we don''t get those basics right this time and the so-called "level" won''t make much difference at all.

We conceded two at both Colchester and Southend, and two against Inter Milan. OK, friendlies, but hardly a sign of a defensive improvement.

Wiz is right. A tall strong and quick centreback would be the icing on what looks like a very tasty cake. We neglect our defence at our peril.

 

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Tell me folks, is Jurgen Colin not an option at centre back?As someone suggested in the "lineup vs Coventry" note a back four of:Louis-Jean Colin Shackell Drurywouldn''t be all bad. But is does assume that Colin is capable of playing centre half rather than simply right back....

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[quote]"At this level"- well Flem might have been OK a couple of seasons back but now he won''t be. Our defence was a shambles last season committing basic mistakes, poor marking and conceding headers to midg...[/quote]

Good post tumbleweed, could not have put it better myself.

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I agree that Flem is past it, but can still be a useful squad member.

But I don''t agree that Doherty can''t "perform" at this level. We won the division with a very shaky Malky (remember Ageymang at Gillingham, Fuller at Preston and a few others that turned him into stone?) and Flem, and I have ABSOLUTELY no doubts whatsoever that two out of Shack/Doherty/Charlton can keep out most strike forces in this division - with Flem as an able back-up and a tighter midfield.

Wiz, although it may take a few games for a new partnership to gel (think of the 90-odd games that Flem/Malks had together) I think that there will be no wake up call needed. In this instance - have a bit of faith people!

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Talking of back-up strikers, there''s a half-decent one who can''t get a game at some Spanish club ... Real something- or- other ...

Anyone got 11 million quid?

Imagine it though ...

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I agree with the poster above (1st Wizard) we need another centre back. This should have been Worthies priority the moment we were relegated. We were strongly linked with Darren Ward so it appeared that it was indeed his priority, however all has gone quiet on that front, why is this? i beleive that a lack of funds could be the problem.

However, it is very bad management if the club do not sign a new centre back before the transfer window closes. Even Worthy admitted at the end of last season that it was practically our inability to defend that had cost us our premiership status, i beleive he said "if you concede 80 odd goals what do you expect?" or words to that affect. That is why i find it staggering that he has not (as of yet) signed a new and good CB. The defence made alot of errors last season that were exploited by the quality players in the Premiership, i know that we are going to be playing against lesser players in the  Championship but those defensive frailities that cost us relegation last year are not suddenly going to dissapear and they will be exposed (albeit to a lesser extent) by teams.

What worries me is that i feel that the league is going to be very tight with at least 4 teams in with a chance of auto promotion, the race will go right to last few games and our dodgy defence could cost us a top two spot. Flem and Doc might not be too bad in this league as people are saying but will our defence be better than say Palaces and Wolves? i think not so a new centre back is an absolute must and the board must stump up the cash to give to Worthy to allow him to bring one in. I mean a few hundred thousand is nothing compared to the millions that we will lose if we do''nt get promoted this season.

Oh and incidentally i feel that we could get stuck in this league for a while if we do''nt get up this season as for one Ashton will be off. So come on Delia give Worthy the 500k - 1 million he needs to get a decent CB in or we including you could all suffer as a result.

 

Your thoughts?

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Jimbo, I gave up being "staggered" by some of Worthington''s decisions and his lack of action in other areas a long, long, time ago

The fact is that he he never replaced Malky (notice that the word is "replaced", not kept) who gave us physical strength and natural leadership at the heart of the defence.

Sure Shackell is growing into that role but he should be the apprentice not the master which he is expected to be.

Until such time as we do sign a dominant, inspirational, central defender we will always be at risk.

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Jimbo you are absolutely right - I have posted sveral times on the same theme - that of we do not get promotion this season then Ashton, McKenzie & Green will go. So could Hucks, Jarrett and the likelihood of signing Marney (if he proves to be worth signing) will disappear. There are several relatively experienced but young centre backs around & most have been mentioned on this forum; Chorley, Curtis Davies, Claude Davis, Morgan to name but a few, and I would not expect any of them to cost more than £700-800K. I know this is a lot of money to a club like Norwich but what will the fee be if we desperately need one of them in January - £1M plus I should imagine and several other clubs sniffing round.

How many times last season did the forwards do their job only to be let down by the defence? And before anyone jumps in with the usual excuses, most of the goals conceded were down to rank bad defending, not the sublime skill or phenomenal pace of Premiership strikers!

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Firstly, Darren Ward went to Palace about two months ago.........

also, our defence wasnt really the priority as it was midfield. A new defender would make us a very strong squad. but we could reach january without one. I think that might be when we get one.

And i dont think that if we fail this year we will never go up. If we fail this year we will get a whole load of money, and then we will be in a position like Wolves and leeds, we will be able to spend big

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