No Centre back

[Wishbone 8]

Found it staggering that centre back isn''t one of the positions Alex Neil is looking to strengthen. Bassong, Martin, Bennett and Turner in the premier league. That is very very risky!

[Cantiaci Canary 556]

And you know that he isn''t looking to strengthen there because ...

Does the window shut tomorrow?

[mrs miggins 0]

Personally hope he''s just playing his cards close to his chest....hopefully

[Wishbone 8]

Paddy Davitt ‏@paddyjdavitt 17h17 hours ago

#ncfc AN wants 3/4 more bodies in. Incl keeper, left-back, striker

[ReadingCanary 0]

4 signings and he says 3 positions. Do the maths. Oh and he could be making it all up... He''s hardly gonna tell a journalist his plans is he

[Old Shuck 183]

If a new CB comes in, presumably it would be someone as a first choice starter?

 

With five senior squad players able to play in that position already, we don''t want another ''filler'' at that position do we?

 

So if a new CB came in, who does he replace? Martin? Or Bassong?

 

Martin is Captain. Neil values him as much as all the other Managers he has played for here-and as a centre half. I don''t think it would be a case of a new CB coming in and Russ reverting to RB. So is he coming in to replace Bassong?

 

I don''t think CB will be one of the positions AN is desperate to cover despite the fact that so many of us think its a pressing need. Time will tell. Left back-yes. Left midfielder-yes (and hopefully Brady by tomorrow) and striker, yes...but only if RVW and Lafferty look set to move on and thats not certain. Looks like Rudd will get another loan if an experienced keeper comes in, feel as if he might soon leave a''la Steer if a good bid comes in with Matthews having just signed a new deal.

[firststeps 0]

Bassong won''t be replaced. He is head and shoulders above Martin as a centre back.

[Wishbone 8]

I get the point about Martin being captain and needing to be in the side. However, he''s hardly shown he''s anywhere near a consistent enough performer for Premier league standards (at right back or centre back).

Yes, Neil could be omitting centre back as a priority so as to bluff clubs with our potential targets.

It was pretty clear from last time around that we lack a centre back that has the attributes to excel in the premier league. Only time will tell if Neil agrees..

[smooth 114]

Russell Martin stepping ahead of Ryan Bennett, Michael turner tells you a lot

Those two could be shipped a loan for bennett is needed.

In an ideal world we need 2 new centre halves, but we most certainly need 1.

Russell Martin may be captain but as wishbone notes he is not good enough. Bassong is regarded as our best centre half and he needs a partner better than him.

Striker is a good call lafferty will be on his way, loan or otherwise. Goalkeeper is a must, shame the bunn relationship broke down, but please no Carlo Nash. Left back, well right back is a concern with a lack of pace. I like Whittaker and rm to a point in those positions but a lot of goals came down that side in our prem collapse.

Exciting two weeks

[Samwam27 519]

Doesn''t mean a new CB will see Martin dropped. He may retain captaincy (he may not) but he may revert back to RB which is many peoples opinion is a better one for him, instead of Whitt

[Year of the tiger 54]

Russell Martin is no way good enough for the Prem (or Championship) ..so say all the sages on the Pink un message board. Other boards are available & also say he''s not good enough.

Messrs Houghton, Adams, Lambert , Neil & Strachan don''t appear to agree. I''ll go with them for the time being.

[Year of the tiger 54]

Damn predictive text , where''s the edit button .Hughton.

[Chemical Bro 0]

This is actually something I''ve been fearing all summer. Having not been seriously linked with a centre back all summer it''s looking more and more likely we will go with Russ and Seb as our main CB pairing.

I don''t want to knock the bloke as he seems a top pro but for me Russ isn''t good enough. Loses far too many crucial headers in his own box and lacks that physicality a top CB needs.

It''s a strange one as our previous managers and current one seem to all rate the bloke. I can''t see him being dropped as he''s captain, and Seb is generally seen as our best CB.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

I''m a little concerned that AN potentially doesn''t see the need to strengthen at centre half.

I think Martin reads the game well and can play there, he needs an a pacy, ball playing centre half next to him. On paper Bassong is that man, but IMO he''s the real weak link and is error prone.

[Miss Bum Bum 0]

He will see the need but I suspect McNasty is limiting the funds available for him to spend.

His excessive bonus has to be funded some how!

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

I''m more intrigued that us supporters seem to think we know more about things than the guy who just oversaw our promotion....I''m sure AN knows what he''s doing/what he thinks we need.

[DanTheMan 2]

In an ideal world a left footed CB would be on his way in - cover for two positions.

I don''t understand going into a Prem season without trading up on Turner

[Highland Canary 76]

We will be ripped apart without an upgrade at RCB and RB.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Ripped apart by who?

[Redders Right Foot 22]

[quote user="Wishbone"]Paddy Davitt ‏@paddyjdavitt 17h17 hours ago

#ncfc AN wants 3/4 more bodies in. Incl keeper, left-back, striker[/quote]as others have said, I think the fourth player is the CB, which is needed, but it''s hard to see how the new CB would fit in to the team with how valuable Martin is as captain, and Bassong for sheer skill.someone mentioned Right back, I think we''re sticking with what we''ve got. we have Whitts, Martin, and a keen E Benno who are all able to play RB, and AN sees potential in benno, so it wouldn''t shock me to see him start soon.striker is definitely needed. who knows, under AN Jerome and RVW (if he''s still here) may be monsters this time around in the prem, but their past records aren''t jaw dropping. (2013/2014 Jerome started 20, subbed 8 and scored 2 with palace, season before that he started 9 subbed 17 and scored 3 for stoke, and RVWs record is well known.) so we need someone. Hooper showed prem quality last time around, but for one reason or another he never broke through to be a regular starter. I''m not saying we need a 20+ goal a season striker, because we simply wont get one. but we do realistically need a new 12+ goal striker, as our midfield should be chipping in a lot more this time around.The leftback is an interesting one for me. Unlike many on here I don''t consider brady a LB. he played LWB for Hull and he wasn''t a fantastic one.I see brady as our LW "answer" (for lack of a better word. I think he has quite a bit to prove in all honesty) so we do need cover for Olsson, but whoever we get will not be glamorous and will be rather cheap. and our goaly will more than likey be a Journeyman near the end of his career. just because he''s likely to be 3rd string.But all in all I wanted us to recruit in a few places at the end of last season. CM (more than happy with YM on a free + Dorrans) CB, RB (but not a necessity) LW (would still like someone else for backup but unlikely with the cost of brady) and Striker. so for the next few weeks until the start of the season I will be waiting patiently and nervously for that CB and Striker, but we need to be prepared for the thought that we may not start the season with them, and it may have to wait for the closing days of the window.

[chicken 0]

So again we are questioning the manager then?So far he has said he is happy with E.Bennett as an option at right back. This is something a number of people on here have said for a couple of seasons and a couple of managers have used him there in the past. That has Whittaker and him for RB.CB we have Martin, Bassong, Turner and R.Bennett. People are going on about Toffolo - I think it is worth remembering he has played there for the youth teams in the past so is not a position he is a stranger to. He may well be a bit green as of yet and perhaps not at the stage of being a first team regular just yet but he is at least cover if needed.LB - Olsson and I suspect Alonso. If Brady is confirmed that actually offers us some options down the left. I would say Brady is primarily a left midfielder that can cover LB if needed and Alonso is primarily a LB that can cover LM if needed (sort of like Olsson).As others have said, we have a very strong squad and really should have achieved better last season. Ideally we probably would want another strong CB to replace one of Turner or Bennett with Turner being the more likely I suspect.It''s a matter of prioritising though. With the sort of sums being thrown around at the moment, perhaps they realise that we may not be able to make all of the purchases we desire and must focus on the ones we really need to make.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Ripped apart by who?[/quote]Eduardo Scisorrhandio.Had stints at Barnet and (H)Airdry United earlier in his career before moving over to the continent. Fenhairbache and then Panhairthenaikos.I believe he has signed for Man Utd to support Rooney and help Fellani.

[Mr Angry 1,547]

Didn''t he play with SHEARer?

[AJ 1,218]

We have;

R. Martin

Bassong

Turner

R.Bennett

As our main back four pairing. That to me isn''t a bad four to choose from. Yes a new face in there would strengthen things but we''ve got to remember all 4 of those have kept us up before.

We also have the very promising Toffolo coming through the ranks too.

[mrs miggins 0]

They''ve also contributed to our relegation as well though. I think we need to splash out on either a CB or a RB personally

[King Klose 0]

I think if we''re relying on Turner as one of the 4 we will be in big trouble.

[mrs miggins 0]

If we''re relying on Martin and Whitts playing together then...well....

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

The fall of Turner is a strange one, was the best centre back in the relegation season (not too hard) and was the best centre back for the first half of last season. Not sure why AN came in and banished him off to Fulham, suspect it was felt he wasn''t quick enough to play a high line that was the preferred tactic.

Out of the 4 centre backs Norwich currently have, I only feel Bassong is good enough for a whole season in the Premier League. You could see that Ipswich and Boro where both targeting Martin in the play-off games, knowing if they could isolate him they would get a lot of joy out of it. Ipswich profited by putting pressure on him in the 1st leg.

Martin can provide good cover in two positions, but week in week out is going to be an issue for me. He is good at playing the ball out (although his passing is often overrated) but Bassong is also comfortable at this - Norwich need someone with more stature as 9 games out of 10 Norwich will have their backs to the wall for large periods.

[ellis206 0]

I can''t ever remember anyone targetting RM as a weakness in our defence, if you look back at the league games at Carrow Road our LB position was constantly targetted with long balls, remember having 2 or 3 home games on the spin (Reading being one of them) where everything was coming down our left hand side and they achieved a lot of success with it.

 

Looking at the Ipswich forums before the playoffs, they were actually saying Bassong was our weakest link.

To say Martin was targetted is laughable considering his fellow pro''s voted him as 1 of 4 defenders who were the best in the league, so if he was targetted, he clearly did a good job.

I personally feel that LB is our weakest spot and it seems that AN thinks the same as it''s the position we are spending most on getting covered.

 

[Tumbleweed 106]

Bassong always seems to make a bad slip in each game and managers know it, but he is our best CB. RM plays there internationally. But I don''t feel there is much strength in depth and the equaliser by Ipswich in the SF second leg is a good example of why I feel that we need strengthening there. But I have faith in AN and he will either think otherwise or bring someone in. If he publicly says we are looking for a CB, their price will then double straight away.