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Surely Cameron has to start

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Various comments that either Hooper or Grabban should be considered ahead of Jerome. Bearing in mind that in both Ipswich games he had little close support I thought he proved to be a handful for their defenders. Has had a long season and not the youngest in the team but still has a fair amount of pace when needed. Scored Sat and laid one on at Portman Road. I also think he is always encouraging the younger players. He must start.

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Well, it''s an idea. If you need someone to pull a surprise out of the bag right at the death, David could be your man ......

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It''s a really tough call. I don''t think Grabban should start having been out of match action for a while. But whenever Hooper has been called upon he has delivered, especially in pressure high pressure games and situation (Bolton). And look at his goal v Rotherham. Interesting that he was deployed in a loan role v Fulham in Jerome''s absence and he too was a real handful and set up one of our goals. I just think chances are going to be at a premium and he is our best finisher by some distance imo. It is such a hard call though because Jerome can score goals like v Watford or Bournemouth out of nothing but can also mis sitters like v Ippo that Hooper wouldn''t.

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Hooper doesn''t miss sitters? I seem to remember a few woeful finishes last season. It was all the more disappointing, because I thought we''d found our Premiership quality striker after he scored a cracker. Unfortunately he then became as unreliable as everyone else.

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[quote user="Cantiaci Canary"]Have no doubts about it Jerome will start alone up top. Grabban and Hooper on the bench. A bigger question is will it be Dorrans or Hoolahan?[/quote]

I would start with Dorrans. He looks very comfortable on the ball and maintains possession far better than Wes. Finds men in space whereas Wes does tend to give short passes to teammates who are already closely marked. He also gets in to more scoring positions. On the day it will be a very close call.

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David Cameron might be a good choice as captain as he has recently pulled off a surprise win against the favourites, gives more priority to Defence than other teams and can kick a man when he''s down and get away with it.

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Jerome was very much 2nd choice behind Grabban for Alex Neil when they were both fit and available, but with Lewis not having much match time with injury and suspension it''s hard to know which way the manager will go.

Jerome has looked a little out of sorts recently, I felt he was off the pace in the first game against Ipswich, often failing to hold the ball up and not posing Smith/Berra enough problems with his movement.

This continued this in the home game until Ipswich went down to 10 men. Whilst he is Norwich''s top scorer Jerome has been pretty wasteful in front of goal this season so can see why AN has preferred Grabban, who offers a lot more off the ball.

Apparently Jerome was carrying an injury in the closing stages of the season, which would explain his lack of goals and some average performances.

This will be one of the two big decisions AN has to make, along with one about the make up of midfield. Can''t play Johnson, Dorrans, Howson, Hoolahan, Tettey and Redmond - one will have to make way.

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[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]Jerome was very much 2nd choice behind Grabban for Alex Neil when they were both fit and available, but with Lewis not having much match time with injury and suspension it''s hard to know which way the manager will go.

Jerome has looked a little out of sorts recently, I felt he was off the pace in the first game against Ipswich, often failing to hold the ball up and not posing Smith/Berra enough problems with his movement.

This continued this in the home game until Ipswich went down to 10 men. Whilst he is Norwich''s top scorer Jerome has been pretty wasteful in front of goal this season so can see why AN has preferred Grabban, who offers a lot more off the ball.

Apparently Jerome was carrying an injury in the closing stages of the season, which would explain his lack of goals and some average performances.

This will be one of the two big decisions AN has to make, along with one about the make up of midfield. Can''t play Johnson, Dorrans, Howson, Hoolahan, Tettey and Redmond - one will have to make way.[/quote]Why don''t we justplay like 2010 Spain and play without a striker? Solves both problems [;)]

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I favour Jerome to start, but if its Hooper will not be surprised or concerned. they are both good players.

I firmly believe with M''Boro''s pressing game, not dissimilar to Ippo''s that Dorrans should start. M''Boro will be tough and physical and we need to make sure we are not 2-0 down after 30 mins. I think we need a bit of stability in the middle, use Redmond to get down the flanks if poss but Hoolahan is too lightweight for me to start, would be very useful later on, especially if it goes to extra time when he could exploit tired legs.

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I think that''s spot on Tumble. There is a very high probability of this game ending level after 90, at which point, or maybe after 70 mins or so, a fresh Wes vs tiring legs is going to be a massive weapon for us. And yes, Dorrans to start gives that extra solidity.

Bethnal, you make no reference to Hooper at all in your assessment of who might start up front. Not an option for you?

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Cam would have to start for me, he''s the most experienced I guess, is an encouraging team player, and scored in our last game. Therefore he keeps his place on that basis for me.

HOWEVER...

Gary Hooper seems to have the knack of scoring cool goals when the pressures on, and Jamae2 or whatever he''s called aside, I think we''d all agree he knows where the net is in a vital game, as he''s proved this season. And boy is doesn''t get any more vital than this one. Like Cameron, Wembley won''t faze him either - scoring against Barcelona, Champions League etc etc. I''d be happy if Hoops started too.

I''m torn making a decision of who I''d prefer to start the more I think about it, and that doesn''t even include Grabban''s superb work rate. I''ll be confident whoever we start with OTBC.

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[quote user="a1canary"]

I think that''s spot on Tumble. There is a very high probability of this game ending level after 90, at which point, or maybe after 70 mins or so, a fresh Wes vs tiring legs is going to be a massive weapon for us. And yes, Dorrans to start gives that extra solidity.

Bethnal, you make no reference to Hooper at all in your assessment of who might start up front. Not an option for you?

[/quote]you could make the same argument for Redmond and his pace too....... these are all very good problems to have. You can make a valid case for every selection.

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I disregarded Hooper A1 as Alex Neil has said he sees him as someone to play off a striker, not as the main striker. So it seems a straight shot between Jerome and Grabban. I''m not sure AN is a huge fan of Hooper - when Grabban was unavailable and Jerome was struggling, Hooper still didn''t get much game time (although made crucial interventions against Bolton and Rotherham). I think the main problem is Hooper''s lack of movement upfront, AN wants his strikers to run the channels which isn''t Gary''s game.

As for Hoolahan or Dorrans whichever way starts will show Norwich''s intentions. Dorrans from the start suggests a more cautious approach while Hoolahan will show that AN wants to start on the front foot.

Whether Boro try the trick they did at Norwich again will be interesting - I don''t think AN was expecting them to throw everything at them in the first 30 mins. He might try and get the upper hand this time and start off attacking.

Key battles will be Redmond v Friend, Tettey v Tomlin, Howson v Leadbitter and Olsson v Adomah - if Norwich can win more of those than they lose then it should be a good day. Also, hope that Bamford''s ankle isn''t properly healed.

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We need to learn where we struggled against Boro last time out and for me that means playing Grabban and Dorrans. They set up first and foremost to stop the opposition playing and they do that by overloading the midfield and playing a very organised and powerful centre half partnership. How many centres did we get in when we played them at home? - very few caused any problems.
Dorrans will provide the extra body in the centre of the park and Grabban would offer the mobility to pull their centre-halfs apart.
Whatever we go for I have loads of faith that Neil will make the right choices.  

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After Wembley is there anyone who seriously doubts that "surely Cameron has to start". As against Ipswich he gave the two centre backs problems for the whole of the match and showed he still has a fair amount of pace when needed. Worked tirelessly. Grabban on the other hand did not as some suggest "offer mobility to pull their centre-halves apart". Actually I thought he could have done a lot more closing down when he came on for the final few minutes.

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I still don''t agree that Jerome was great in the two games versus Ipswich, but he was excellent yesterday. Easily his best performance in a Norwich shirt and scared the life out of Gibson and Ayala all game.

He ran both channels and dropped deep to collect the ball offering a complete game. He was shattered midway through the second half (at one point was bent over double on the half way line trying to catch his breath) which was a testament to how hard he''d worked up to then.

When Grabban came on the game was won and Boro were hogging the ball - very different situation but he continued to close down the centre backs well.

There wasn''t one Norwich player who had a bad game yesterday and every key battle was won. Only Adomah ever looked dangerous and that was on rare occasions.

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I was a bit surprised he went for the same attacking line up (wes and redmond) rather than dorrans but that''s why he''s the manager! He knew we had to seize the initiative and do what they did at CR and with the wide pitch and the big game, big name attacking players he absolutely made the right call.

Ditto Jerome. It''s an interesting one though in terms of how we play next year and the lone role that Jerome has actually grown in to in the last couple of months after he returned to the team. He did say at the start of the season when he was playing in a two and scoring goals that he was enjoying that and that he tended to play a lone frontman role at Stoke and he didn''t always enjoy it. But under Neil he seems to have taken to it differently and seen it as his responsibility to really lead the whole team from the front. That must be down to Neil. I''m not going to argue at all with the starting 11 as it was in the game but i do just wish there was a way we could use Hooper more because he is a great finisher.

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