Rudolph Hucker 0 Posted January 19, 2006 Have you seen the programme Deal Or No Deal?Well it appears Pardew, The Banker (of yer actual merchant variety) has offered a hand bitingly good offer of 7 million for Dean ''I''m injured-no I''m not'' Ashton. (Apparently there is a new revolving door being fitted to the A&E at the N&N which is to be named after him - Ashton Gate or similar).Norwich look prepared for a little gamble. Will they go one round too many and lose the lot?I know many of you rate Deano and I think he is a well-grounded (not to say regularly) decent individual but come on: 7 million? If the club get more then I suppose they deserve praise. But if they get more without time to spend it on replacements then they are mugs.Deano may not even pass a medical. I fear he is an injury/corrective Op. waiting to happen. The physio tests his hamstrings with a bloody tuning fork: the left is B flat and the right is a G.I suppose Deano will go on to be the next Geoff Hurst but I wonder if he has also flattered to deceive. Alright, he would get better service on a Ryanair flight than he gets from our midfield but he has missed more sitters than I''ve had re-heated dinners.For goodness sake send the lad off to Green Street and buy in three; a striker like Jerome and two right footed, tackling, crossing and like the right touchline types.Well done Deano, you were a great buy, good money spent on talent and a profit realised. Now isn''t there a lesson in this?Deano could have gone to Palace last season, he opted for the provinces. I wonder if he is such a small town boy at heart that he doesn''t actually fancy the disruption etc of a move to London? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Barman 0 Posted January 19, 2006 A super return to the board, Rude Old, and well-reasoned. City seem convinced they can screw an extra farthing out of this - maybe they have a wish-list that needs the extra dosh to come true? After Crewe get their slice (plus what''s still owed on the original £3 mill) will there be enough for even one of your mythical right-footed, touchline-loving types! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0 Posted January 19, 2006 [quote user="Fat Barman"]A super return to the board, Rude Old, and well-reasoned. City seem convinced they can screw an extra farthing out of this - maybe they have a wish-list that needs the extra dosh to come true? After Crewe get their slice (plus what''s still owed on the original £3 mill) will there be enough for even one of your mythical right-footed, touchline-loving types![/quote]dont you get it barman... worthy isnt going to sign a real right winger!! he hasnt done in 4 years!! why would he want to start now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
a1canary 0 Posted January 19, 2006 That''s a great post rudlolph. Agree with a lot of it.The thing is, Worthy is doing all this because he can. We are obviouslynot (yet) under pressure to sell for financial reasons so we can sittight and say to Polly Pardew "if you want him you''ll have to pay forhim. If you don''t want him, we''ll be delighted to hang on to the beststriker in the division."You can also be sure that there''s plenty of work going on behind thescenes as regards to a replacement. If Jerome is the man, they''ll bedoing all they can to ensure that when and if Ashton goes, the Jeromedeal will be but a phone call away and that he would actually want tocome. It shouldn''t need too much time. We''ve got 12 days to go, andwhichever way you look at it, as regards strikers, we can''t lose. Ok yes it is a gamble and we could lose if something goes wrong with the Jerome deal but it''s a well calculated one. And as i said to a hammers fan who came on here a few days ago askingif he was worth 7m, a striker that will score you regular goals in theprem is worth pretty much whatever you pay for him. And tell me Ashtonwon''t score goals for West Ham. They play it to feet - i reckon he''d bea huge hit there, as clearly, does Polly. Ask a Newcastle fan if Owen is worth 17m. Leaving aside his injuryproblems, or even not leaving them aside, he is the difference betweena potent Newcastle and an inept one that would otherwise be scrappingit out with Pompey and Birmingham in the bottom 4. Is that differenceworth 17m? You bet it is! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
breaker 0 Posted January 19, 2006 And don''t forget A1, that in a season when Norwich have been for the most part bloody awful, and Deano has been average and missed many good chances, he has cored 10 goals and is (I think) the third top scorer in the division. For those that bemoan his ability you cannot argue with his goal count - and Pardew knows that. Your comment about passing to feet is very valid, plus they have wingers don''t they? Oh and a couple of creative midfielders? And are encouraged to play attacking football? Where would YOU want to ply your trade? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claretnblue 0 Posted January 19, 2006 hello again a1 , spot on as usual with your views , just wish this whole thing could be sorted out , its dragging on now , its obvious pardes or polly as you call him reckons ashton will slot in our way of playing and i think he will , this is teddys last season with us so what a replacement your man would be , 22 and british .. just have to see if we can stump up the other mill , hope the deal does go through , and you get some worthy players in with the money to push you in to the play offs !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucky green trainers 0 Posted January 19, 2006 glad to see you back rude old - obviously the medication worked alright boy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
a1canary 0 Posted January 19, 2006 Thanks claret - i''m afraid we hold all the cards here and we''re takingfull advantage of that fact. But i''m sure you won''t begrudge us that ifyou get him - you''re the ones up there in the premiership after all!Few hammers will even remember what you paid for him if he delivers,much less be bothered about whether or not it was too much! Pardewwon''t be happy about being given the run around though! Tell me something, i meant to ask you before, what were the thoughts onPardew as a manager during your promotion season? It didn''t all gosmoothly and you had to come up the hard way through the play offs (topjob in disposing of the scummers there by the way!). I''ve comparedourselves to you guys a few times on here - very useful looking squadin div 1 following relegation, but didn''t find it at all easy. Managergiven a really hard time, especially in first season, but rewarded inthe end. I often cling to the hope that we can do what you did! But itstill took two seasons in div 1 for you to do it. I used to have a lot of time for him as a person, esp when he was atReading, but the grief he suffered at your place early on made hima bit of an a**e i thought and i''ve also thought something similar hashappened to Worthy. When people are criticised, especially if they feelit isn''t deserved, they''re more than likely to give a bit back and comeout fighting, especially if they are strong personalities. AndWorthy has upset a lot of people with his attitude to the criticism hehas received, which has been something along the lines of "they can getlost, i don''t care what the fans think". But I respect that more thanthe Keegan approach - "you''re right i''m rubbish, i''ll get me coat!" I just hope NW can show as much tactical nous as Pardew - he still has a bit to learn there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claretnblue 0 Posted January 19, 2006 a1 my thoughts on pardew , the promotion season and before , i must be honest and say at various times during that season i was not impressed , then i thought , the chap had his hands tied by a bloke you must have heard of .. our very own terence brown ...pards had little cash to work with , but gave the youngsters a go and made some shrewd buys for little money , as ive said on a prevoius thread , norwich in most ways remind me of us , both can be big , or much bigger .. with the right backing .. im not totally convinced t brown will stump up the money for ashton but i do know pardew admires him greatly .. lets hope you boys to get a sniff of the playoffs , we did it the hard way , but he did get us there twice in two years so he cant be that bad a manager ... ps its always nice beating them bleaters from suffolk (twice) and to see that sheepshanks boatrace !!! all things going well a1 see you in the boyleyn next season !!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0 Posted January 19, 2006 [quote user="claretnblue"]a1 my thoughts on pardew , the promotion season and before , i must be honest and say at various times during that season i was not impressed , then i thought , the chap had his hands tied by a bloke you must have heard of .. our very own terence brown ...pards had little cash to work with , but gave the youngsters a go and made some shrewd buys for little money , as ive said on a prevoius thread , norwich in most ways remind me of us , both can be big , or much bigger .. with the right backing .. im not totally convinced t brown will stump up the money for ashton but i do know pardew admires him greatly .. lets hope you boys to get a sniff of the playoffs , we did it the hard way , but he did get us there twice in two years so he cant be that bad a manager ... ps its always nice beating them bleaters from suffolk (twice) and to see that sheepshanks boatrace !!! all things going well a1 see you in the boyleyn next season !!!![/quote]gave the yougsters a go and some shrewd buys for litytle money!!!! lol thats the copmplete opposite of what worthy is doing!! he doesnt often give youngsters a chance and his buys have been the most unshrewd ever!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LinkNR9 0 Posted January 19, 2006 "...Pards had little cash to work with , but gave the youngsters a go and made some shrewd buys for little money..."That''s where Worthington lets us down, Claret. He is very reluctant to give youth a chance and his use of transfer cash (excluding the obvious buys like Ashton and Huckerby) have largely been poor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chipster 0 Posted January 20, 2006 i wish people will stop going on about the signings, please rememebr the doc, dead set favourite for the p o y, and up to three months ago ridiculled on this board,when does a bad signing become good? jarret has already shown improvment and fingers crossed the others will only get better too,please give our team time,there has been a massive turn around in players over the last year or two and they need time to grow in to the club ,they are a good age on the whole and if you are not convinced by the doc, try to think back to ewan, his first season he was written off as being too fat and spent a lot of time on the bench,from small acorns and all that,lets allow the players at the club time to bloom in to the great players we want to see here, i am not a lover of a lot of things worthy has done but please dont write off players too quickly history should tell us that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Barman 0 Posted January 20, 2006 [quote user="LinkNR9"]"...Pards had little cash to work with , but gave the youngsters a go and made some shrewd buys for little money..."That''s where Worthington lets us down, Claret. He is very reluctant to give youth a chance and his use of transfer cash (excluding the obvious buys like Ashton and Huckerby) have largely been poor. [/quote]Just off the top of my head - Good buys by Worthington: Drury, McKenzie, Holt, Huckerby, Ashton, Francis, Safri, Edworthy, Svensson.Ones who nearly made it - Zema Abbey, Alex Notman, Mark Rivers, Marc Libbra, David NielsenYoungsters given pro-contracts by Worthington - Green, Shackell, Henderson, Jarvis (x2), Crow, LewisOf the youngsters released by the club since Worthington took over, none are currently playing Championship, or Premiership - suggesting nobody else thinks they''re good enough either - you can''t make a silk purse from a sows ear!Yes, Worthy has made some poor signings, but I''m sure Pardew has made some duff signings also, you tend to forget them when they don''t play for your club.The discontent with transfers seems mainly centred around this last summer & current season since the rules changed. It appears City have fluffed their lines with the new rules and this, coupled with a poor start has led to comments like Paul''s & Link''s. These new signings may yet prove their worth - previous favourites like Iwan & Steeno had poor starts to their City careers and I''m prepared to give Hughes, Etuhu, Robinson, Louis-Jean & Colin time to settle. They might be donkeys at the end of it, but I won''t condemn them out of hand, so early at least. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EadiesRight Foot 0 Posted January 20, 2006 The signings we want coming into the club should be players that will improve the quality of the playing staff, in the ultimate aim of getting us back into the Premier League. If we buy players who are ok, at best, a little poo, and then MIGHT improve in a year or two, then this is the 3 steps backwards 2 steps forward approach, which I cant really see the point of. For every Iwan there has been more than enough Keith Briggs, Paul Heckingbottoms, Paul Gallachers, as well as giving away youngsters like Danny Crow and Paul Hayes.......Time will be the ultimate judge of Worthy, but I believe things have just gone a little stale. Which is disappointing cause he was such a success in the early years. On the subject of selling Ashton, I dont believe he should be sold at all. If we start playing in the right way, getting the ball down the flanks, breaking from midfield, and attacking as a unit, then we will see Deanos goal tally similar to the one he had at Crewe, and the playoffs are guaranteed. All the posters wanting the 7/8 mill for him already seemed resigned to the fact that we arent going to play that way again under Worthy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macdougalls perm 0 Posted January 20, 2006 Very good post Chipster. I''m not over the moon with Worthington myself but I really believe that some of the recent signings have been slaughtered before they have been given any time at all to settle into a new team. Yes, some look weaker than others but I honestly don''t think, from what I''ve seen, that Etuhu or Jarrett in particular have been given enough time in a settled side to justify a lot of the stick that they have received. I may well be eating my words after Saturday, but I think we should give them a bit of time before judging. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Barman 0 Posted January 20, 2006 Damn! I forgot Doherty in my list of good signings!Also, I think Helveg & Jonsson would''ve proved well worth it, if only they''d stuck with us for this season - their choice to leave, remember? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 261 Posted January 20, 2006 Helveg & Svenson chose to leave - Jonson was sold by us when jurgardens(sp?) came in for him and it was clear he was no longer wanted here... - but agree both wouldhave been key squad members this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0 Posted January 20, 2006 [quote user="Fat Barman"]Damn! I forgot Doherty in my list of good signings!Also, I think Helveg & Jonsson would''ve proved well worth it, if only they''d stuck with us for this season - their choice to leave, remember?[/quote] Jonsson didnt want to leave, Doherty wasnt a great signing for the premiership but is proving his worth in the championship. Helveg wasnt even picked for most of the premiership seaosn so obviosly worthy didnt rate him!!! lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Barman 0 Posted January 20, 2006 Fair enough, Jonson said he wanted to stay, until the offer came in for him, we didn''t transfer list him was my point.As for Helveg, Paul, players arriving from the Italian league often take time to adjust to English football. I''m sure Worthy did rate him, he just wasn''t ready to play a full part until near the end of the season. I think (yes, it''s just my opinion) Helveg would''ve played an important role this year - even if we''d still been in the Prem. I guess we''ll never know, thanks to his national manager giving such excellent advice - go to Germany & get injured (oh yeah, we forgot to qualify for the World Cup, Doh! Sorry Tomas.). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites