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Paul Spector

Kyle Lafferty

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I''m sure this has probably been discussed to death, but I''m starting to find myself increasingly bemused by the reluctance to give Lafferty a chance.

At the start of the season, I would have said on paper he was rightly down the pecking order, however given the poor return we are getting from the rest of the strikers he must surely be worth a go?!

I was dumbfounded at the Chelsea game to see that we had only 1 striker on the bench (Mbokani), and 3 (yes, THREE) defensive midfielders on there (Dorrans/GoN/Mulumbu). Surely any manager would rather have a player like Lafferty on the bench in case the team concede after 39 seconds and need a way back into the game?!

As I see it, our current strikers aren''t scoring whereas Lafferty has 1 goal in about 40 minutes of football for us this season - and we all know about his international goals. Yes, the bloke can be a bit of a loose cannon - but there''s such a dearth of passion in the team at the moment that he is exactly the sort of guy I would want on the bench to chuck on with 10 minutes to go when we''re desperate for a goal.

Ultimately, he''s got a point to prove and needs to play himself into form ahead of the Euro''s. I''m not saying he should necessarily be starting games at the moment, but he has to be worth having on the bench.

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Lafferty''s a Norwich City player AND an International - yet we don''t play him even when others fail to perform.

Naismith used to play alongside similar stature Fellaini at Everton - and that blend did OK...

It seems a fair question to ask why Lafferty remains on the payroll?

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In actual fact, did Lafferty and Naismith not play together for Rangers with some success?

As he''s shown for N.I. he knows where the goal is. Our other strikers aren''t performing. He may be just as bad, but i think it''s reasonable to ask why he isn''t given a chance.

After all, to quote Einstein - "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". We''re on a terrible run of form - something needs to change.

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It really is a mystery why he''s not at least on the bench. Used to playing in high pressure international games and in front of big crowds, so I would say he could handle the pressure.

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The bloke barely got a kick for us in the Championship and I don''t remember there being any uproar when we loaned him out to Turkey, yet we''re somehow supposed to think that he''s the answer in the Premier League?

If he wasn''t better than Jerome et al against weaker opposition, I can''t see how he''ll succeed against better players.

As so often happens, he''s perceived to have improved simply because he hasn''t been part of a losing side. If madness is doing the same thing over and over, then this is an ideal example. Last time we were struggling in this league it was Becchio that "couldn''t be any worse". The same clamour for Lafferty to play is bonkers.

Just my opinion, of course. Should he suddenly get his chance in the first team (he won''t) I''ll be 100% behind him.

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Duncan, I don''t think anybody truly believes he''s the best striker at the club - what people are merely pointing out is the fact we have a player full of confidence and scoring goals not getting a chance in a team which is seriously struggling to score goals.

I''d assume his confidence has been sucked dry now though

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I talked to someone who watched him play for the U21''s the other night, and although he got his goal he was just horribly lazy, never tracked back, and spent a long time arguing with the lino.He''s barely Championship standard, never mind Premiership. He''s a striker from another era, when strikers barely left the oppositions penalty area.

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I''ve never met Kyle, don''t know any more than the papers tell me but as far as I can make out, when he is selected to play in a team, more often than not, he scores.

As has been mentioned, those games include serious ''everything to play for'' international games.

He may not be the long term answer, but it would appear to be a strange decision to exclude him based on form.

Can''t see any other players at the club scoring very often.

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We don''t know what the reality of Laffery''s situation is. But what I do know is Lafferty has stated that he needs a platform to play on to bolster his chances of playing in the Euros. This is bollox imo. He will play regardless to play time. He knows this all too well hence why his loan to Leeds never materialized. Though what makes me most curious is the fact that Neil openly said that he wanted to keep Lafferty as a squad player stating that he was still important to the tea??

It is just another example of poor management from the manager. Very much like the Grabban debacle, he has made a mess of a situation that could have been resolved a long time before.

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[quote user="Norfolk Mustard "]Lafferty''s a Norwich City player AND an International - yet we don''t play him even when others fail to perform. [/quote]I don''t think throwing the ''international'' word around helps win many arguments. David Carney & Chris Killen were both internationals while at Norwich City.

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As AJ says, I don''t think anybody would say he is the best striker at the club. I''m not even advocating us necessarily starting in games straight away - but unlike the rest of our strikeforce he does seem to have the ''midas touch'' when it comes to finding the net.

In my opinion it is absurd for him not to be even considered as a sub for situations when we need a goal. Particularly so in the Chelsea game where Bamford was ineligible and we had to fill the bench with holding midfielders!

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Neil Adams never played him as a striker.

Alex Neil sanctioned his loan move barely weeks after taking over.

Alex Neil has seen him in training every day and has decided to hardly every put him in matchday squads.

His goal return in Scotland was poor considering the quality of it. Gary Hooper''s was excellent yet he couldn''t make it here either.

The Palermo hierarchy were glad to get rid of him.

His loan spell in Turkey last allegedly poor.

He has just fourteen (!) English league goals. He started his career at Burnley ten years ago. Russell Martin has more league goals.

Instead of working hard, he can often be seen on Twitter searching his own name and threatening our fans who criticise him.

So, apart from a few international goals against some woeful international sides, what has convinced some fans he should be playing in the Premier League?

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He''s an international that has scored some crucial goals for his country to help them qualify for the Euros, for the first time in many a year.

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[quote user="morty"]I talked to someone who watched him play for the U21''s the other night, and although he got his goal he was just horribly lazy, never tracked back, and spent a long time arguing with the lino.[/quote]That maybe so but the bottom line is that he scored. In fact he''s scored in almost every game he''s played in in the last 12 months and at all sorts of levels.And those that say he can''t deliver are guessing, just as much as those that say he can deliver are guessing, because until he''s out there on the pitch, playing as a proper striker, nobody knows what he could be capable of.What we need is a goalscorer & it must be clear to everyone by now that Jerome & Mbokani are not capable of delivering.In the last month alone Jerome has squandered a whole string of decent chances that would have won us games and got us points.Personally I''d rather have a lazy, argumentative striker who doesn''t track back, who puts the

ball in the net than one who does a lot of running about and doesn''t.We are in desperate need of goals & it''s time for AN to put his blinkered outlook aside and give the man a chance.

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Maybe Lafferty would be horrific too, but we don''t know, as he hasn''t been given much of a chance as a striker.

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[quote user="Making Plans"][quote user="morty"]I talked to someone who watched him play for the U21''s the other night, and although he got his goal he was just horribly lazy, never tracked back, and spent a long time arguing with the lino.[/quote]That maybe so but the bottom line is that he scored. In fact he''s scored in almost every game he''s played in in the last 12 months and at all sorts of levels.And those that say he can''t deliver are guessing, just as much as those that say he can deliver are guessing, because until he''s out there on the pitch, playing as a proper striker, nobody knows what he could be capable of.What we need is a goalscorer & it must be clear to everyone by now that Jerome & Mbokani are not capable of delivering.In the last month alone Jerome has squandered a whole string of decent chances that would have won us games and got us points.Personally I''d rather have a lazy, argumentative striker who doesn''t track back, who puts the

ball in the net than one who does a lot of running about and doesn''t.We are in desperate need of goals & it''s time for AN to put his blinkered outlook aside and give the man a chance.[/quote]He scored against, basically, a youth team.

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[quote user="George Santayana"]David Healy scored loads of international level for NI (top goal scorer I think) but he was horrific at club level.[/quote]Totally irrelevant - different player and a different time

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This is hilarious, we could basically rewind about 12 months and substitute the name Becchio for Lafferty.

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[quote user="Making Plans"][quote user="George Santayana"]David Healy scored loads of international level for NI (top goal scorer I think) but he was horrific at club level.[/quote]Totally irrelevant - different player and a different time[/quote]Or just not relevant because it doesn''t suit the point you are trying to make?Of course its relevant.

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Whether he is lazy or not, if we''re 1-0 down with 80 minutes gone he would be exactly the sort of player I would want to chuck on to get us a goal. He''d put himself about and as shown, he has that instinct that if a chance falls to him he knows where the goal is.

Whether AN gets on with him or not, we''re in a desperate situation now and he must be considered.

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[quote user="morty"]He scored against, basically, a youth team.[/quote]And the goals for NI and for us against WBA in the League Cup. Hardly youth teams are they.And before anybody claims the NI goals were against poor opposition, their group was not that easy considering the quality of player available to  the NI squad.

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[quote user="Making Plans"][quote user="morty"]He scored against, basically, a youth team.[/quote]And the goals for NI and for us against WBA in the League Cup. Hardly youth teams are they.And before anybody claims the NI goals were against poor opposition, their group was not that easy considering the quality of player available to  the NI squad.[/quote]No "claim" about it, look at the list a few posts up.If Kyle Lafferty was good enough, he''d be playing.

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He may not be brilliant but I''m not sure we need to be running down the abilities of one of our own players?

At the end of the day AN clearly doesn''t rate him and he will succeed or fail on his decisions.

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This season he''s had about 40 minutes on the pitch for Norwich, and scored 1 goal - against West Brom. The defence he was up against that day was James Chester, Craig Dawson, Jonas Olsson and Sebastian Pocognoil - all decent Premier League players. Was his goal that day a fluke?

I''m not saying Lafferty is a better overall striker than Jerome/Mbokani/Bamford - but the simple fact is that options A,B and C aren''t working and sometimes it might be worth trying option D.

He is surely worth consideration from the bench, yet he''s being overlooked even when no other strikers are available - that''s the point.

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If Lafferty was at another club and we looked at his career and stats we would never look st getting him in and this board would be awash with posters moaning that he''d be a useless signing.

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[quote user="Hairy Canary"]He may not be brilliant but I''m not sure we need to be running down the abilities of one of our own players?

At the end of the day AN clearly doesn''t rate him and he will succeed or fail on his decisions.[/quote]No one is running him down, we''re talking opinions. He wasn''t good enough for the Championship, and he certainly isn''t good enough for the Premiership.He was a plain daft purchase.

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