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Drop Jerome?

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A lot of people on here saying Jerome should be dropped.

was just wondering what a Norwich team without jerome looks like?

So the main problem here... Is jerome doesn''t score goals. What he does do however is draw defenders away and make impressive runs which allow our midfield/defence to score.

Ok our strikers aren''t scoring... But we are hardly shy of goals.. Is that 11 in the league now?

So my question is.. Do we drop a player (who should be scoring but is instead helping others score) for a player like lafferty who may not score and most certainly won''t do the off the ball work jerome does?

Or... Do we just take jerome for what he is.. A solid hard working forward who may not get 10/15 goals a season but will contribute massively to an overall team effort?

If we weren''t scoring any goals at all i would understand the striker panic... But we are banging them in from

All over the pitch... So is it really worth dropping a player who is clearly part of our formula for success ?

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I would drop Jerome for Mbokani now, if Mbokani is fully fit.

Jerome needs a rest and a wakeup call.

He has not done badly, but he has no luck, and therefore I think it is good to utilize the squad a bit.

Question is if Mbokani can strech defences like Jerome does, and if nit, how will it affect our general play?

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Granted that Jerome does make other contributions, but his main function, especially when there is only one, is as a striker. He misses at least one chance per match, and he is the specialist player - the rest are midfielders and defenders.

I think that when Mbukani is fit, it could focus Jerome''s mind if the new player is given a game or two.

What concerns me, with our failure to sign a striker in the summer, is that he is regarded by many as a good Championship player, as we saw last season, but in a few chances he has not been able to step up to the Prem. It can''t be helping him that he is played as a loan striker, faced by two big central defenders usually

I fear that the same is true of Grabban and Hooper, and I have still to be convinced by Lafferty.

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I certainly think a change of tack might be a good idea. Not necessarily ''dropping'' CJ, but ''rotating'' him and giving someone else a chance. We have four fit strikers, and CJ''s last couple of performances haven''t been his best (although far from being poor/unacceptable). Wes and Redders have both had games on the bench, and it might be wise to take the goalscoring burden off CJ for a bit to see if Mbokani can provide more of a goal threat.And yes I know that being left on the bench constitutes being ''dropped'' to the player, but Redders and (particularly) Wes weren''t playing badly enough to be ''dropped''; it''s just keeping the squad fresh, keeping the fringe players hungry, and being able to tweak the tactics/style to avoid predictability, without making wholesale changes.

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Jerome has done 10x more what Hooper, RvW and Elmander achieved in an entire season.
Pleased with his performances so far.

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I expect Mbokani to start vs Leicester, and Jerome to get 20-30 mins from the bench. May well play both late on if we need to push it.

Definitely time for Mbokani now, who is, overall, a better player when fit.

As stated above, better player may not nescessarily mean he fits into the system equally well.

In AN we trust.

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If AN wanted Jerome to be his number-one starter all season, I don''t think he would have signed Mbokani at all. He made no secret of his desire to sign a ''number nine'' – whether referring to squad number or nominal role, it alludes to the fact he wanted a proven goalscorer in his squad, which Jerome, at this level, is not. Obviously Mbokani is unproven at this level too, but his top-flight goal ratio (admittedly in weaker leagues) is very good. If he thought Jerome was good enough to lead the line for us all season, I think Jerome > Grabban > Hooper/Lafferty would have been sufficient to cover it – you don''t need more than four strikers on the books when you religiously play one up top.Mbokani is an unknown quantity, but was clearly signed to compete directly with CJ for the leading role. He''s shown enough so far to convince me (and AN, I suspect) that he has at least as much presence as CJ in and around the box, plus a good ability to pick a pass and link play. I''d be surprised if one of them starts significantly more games than the other this season, as long as both remain fit.

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If you count the goal against Palace, which was a perfectly good goal, he would have 2 goals from 7 games. If he keeps up that strike rate he''d get about 11 goals over a full season. Which is a perfectly acceptable strike rate in the Prem, given his massive overall contribution to the team (compare any of the strikers from our last Prem season).

As it stands he''s certainly doing well enough to keep his starting position IMO.

How much game time does Mbokani have for us now ? Not yet enough to show he should take over as starter, I''d say. I expect he''ll continue to get time as a substitute but it will take more before he''d persuade AN to start him.

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And people talk about him missing chances... but all strikers miss chances. You can focus on any striker in the Prem and they won''t get all their chances. Just look at the chances Liverpool had against us, quite a few chances where they could have done better. The difference is that top strikers miss less. They also tend to be ridiculously expensive.

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Maybe it will depend on what type of centre backs the opposition have-CJ didn''t get much change out of Skrtel last week and maybe Mbokani would have been a better option if he had been fit?

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''Drop'' seems to harsh a term, but I think we need to see sooner rather than later if Mbokani can be the player who can add that cutting edge to a team currently playing some fantastic football in midfield.

No one can argue against the contribution of Jerome, as far as team play and shape goes, but ultimately he is and will be judged on goals, and I''m afraid chances like the one on Saturday in the first half need to be taken at this level. The reality is he may lack that bit of quality we need to score those all important goals in tight games that will make the difference to our season.

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Mbokani will probably get to start against Leicester. We''ll see how that works out.

Jerome does still offer a goal threat, even if he''s not converting regularly enough. That team role is clearly important to AN. He doesn''t just want a goal-poacher.

I wouldn''t rule out Grabban just yet either, seeing as he started so many games under AN last season.

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Mbokani wasn''t brought here as a stocking-filler - he''s been given the #9 shirt for his goal-scoring ability.

I figure CJ & Mbokani will share the match day role; 70 mins for one & 20 for the other to make an energised impact.

AN has been feeding Mbokani in; and he''s probably ready for the starting role against Leicester.

Given Jamie Vardy wastes very few chances, whichever lone striker AN decides to field will need to have his shooting boots on!

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Yes time to give him a rest,give lafferty a chance as he seems to be our only striker who can find the net. Put. Jerome on the bench as back up ,like to see two up front but don''t think that will happen .

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It''s bound to happen soon if he doesn''t score, we have reasonable alternatives now.

Might help him by taking the pressure off a bit.

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crikey - he''s had a fair start... but for poor refereeing he''d also have an extra goal from the Palace game, and the keeper at Wet Spam only saved another goal with his nose! Goal tally would have looked better. I know he should have scored another on Saturday.

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It will also depend on who we are playing. Players are brought in because of certain skills or playing styles. It is not simply a case of dropping one player to slot in another. I doubt Jerome is thinking ''I''m ok. I can miss a few as there is no one else'' Or  '' Well I''d better score some now I have been dropped''. The team will line up as what the manager and coaching staff think will give us the best chance on the day.

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CJ could easily have had 5 goals by now - 1 scored v Bournemouth, 1 x diassallowed v Palace and at least 3 other easy chances versus Stoke, Southampton & West Ham.I think it''s a combination of bad luck & poor finishing and Saturday was a prime example - a poor finish when put through & unlucky with the attempt that hit the goalie in the face.You could argue that Lafferty would have scored both of those simply because he''s confident and lucky at the moment - everything he touches seems to go in somehow.I just feel that it''s only a matter of time before CJ''s gets some luck, his confidence will return & he''ll be scoring regularly. I''d stick with him for another two or three games because even when he fails to score his overall game adds a lot to the team performance.

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So you would persist with the unlucky and not-so-skillful Jerome, who does not take his chances, while a hungry Mbokani and a luck goal-Midas in form, like Lafferty, shall be hidden away on the bench for the 2-3 games where you hope CJ will magically become good?

Sounds deluded to me.

When strikers are in form, use them. Strikers will not score on the bench.

Both Mbokani and Lafferty are due to get their chances now.

I think Lafferty could be a new Holty, if given a proper chance of playing centre forward, not wasted on the wing as Adams did.

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I''m in the keep Jerome camp. He should have 2 goals in 6 starts and one sub appearance and could have had more but for some good/lucky GKs. It''s not just his scoring though, it''s about his ability to enable others to score with holding up play and cut-backs. We have 11 goals (should be at least 12) in 7 games, so we''re hardly in a drought, but people have to move on from expecting most of our goals from a lone striker.

Mbokani is still settling in and Lafferty is not fully match fit after his injury. I don''t buy the ''in-form'' striker tag, but even so he doesn''t have the all round game that Jerome has. I''d have him on the bench as an impact striker as he was used in the cup. Mbokani may well up his game as he gets match fit, but I haven''t seen enough from him yet to displace Jerome.

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