Pierre Lees Melou

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

1 minute ago, birchfest said:

Anyone know if he’s going to be able to get on for some time on Friday at Lynn? If he’s been in a bubble is he exempt from the normal restrictions?

I'm guessing he will be isolating - which is why there haven't been any pictures of him in a Norwich shirt and his video where he says hello looks a bit like a hostage video. 

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

1 minute ago, Gordon Bennett said:

I assumed he meant Rashica and Melou.

The point is a good one, just because certain positions aren't being talked about doesn't mean the pipeline is empty.

Hopefully we'll bring one in.

Wonder which one of Idah and Hugill would be playing elsewhere this season if we do, because four is too many for a team which plays one up front. 

Idah loan would make sense. 

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

Every signing is a gamble for every club, regardless of price. 

He'll  struggle to understand  that, Fever,  the man is a cretin ( but also 'a good laugh' apparently) 

[Petriix 2,840]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Hopefully we'll bring one in.

Wonder which one of Idah and Hugill would be playing elsewhere this season if we do, because four is too many for a team which plays one up front. 

Idah loan would make sense. 

I don't think four is too many. One injury and one substitute with one in reserve seems absolutely the minimum.

[Fuzzar 1,702]

14 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Hopefully we'll bring one in.

Wonder which one of Idah and Hugill would be playing elsewhere this season if we do, because four is too many for a team which plays one up front. 

Idah loan would make sense. 

All the noise coming out of the club atm suggests they see Idah as a genuine first team option this season. 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

10 minutes ago, Petriix said:

I don't think four is too many. One injury and one substitute with one in reserve seems absolutely the minimum.

Four is too many, for the majority of the season you'd end up with 2 not even making the bench. Most teams that play a single striker only have three in the squad.

The PinkUn seem very sure that Hugill will be off, which I find surprising as this is probably his last chance to play in the Prem and he'd almost certainly get some minutes if he stayed. Can't see Idah going out on loan - if they were going to take that route it would probably have been last season.

[FatCanary 249]

44 minutes ago, Hardhouse44 said:

Right french midfield lovely and all that. But I am getting more and more concerned that a striker is not seriously appearing on the radar. 
 

if we are to have any hope of survival we need another to pitch in with a handful of goals when Pukki is subbed ect. Not talking about a 25 goal a season man just someone capable at this level. Which are other 2 are frankly not!

What exactly was it about Adam Idah's performances in his Premier League appearances for Norwich that made you come to the frank and astute judgment that he isn't capable at that level?

[Essjayess 307]

2 hours ago, Michael Starr said:

We've stolen him from under Crystal Palace's nose apparently. 11th hour. He was in England about to have a medical with them and did a u-turn after we assured him more game time due to his versitility.

This seems silly. City were known to have been scouting in the area where PLM played and from clearly City did their homework on the guy. He needed time to enquire  about Norwich so got info from at least two guys, also he had spoken to DF  and SW, then there is a certain amount of time for clubs and agents all to get things together...lastly, as Beth said, he was no doubt on the direct Nice to Norwich private jet, which was spotted and also Nice media released news almost same time as flight took off that PLM  was headed to Norwich. So...having a medical at Palace and doing a u-turn is just ridiculously inaccurate.

[WSM 62]

4 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Four is too many, for the majority of the season you'd end up with 2 not even making the bench. Most teams that play a single striker only have three in the squad.

The PinkUn seem very sure that Hugill will be off, which I find surprising as this is probably his last chance to play in the Prem and he'd almost certainly get some minutes if he stayed. Can't see Idah going out on loan - if they were going to take that route it would probably have been last season.

Perhaps is also partly due to the fact he wants to play regular football - he's 29 now and probably only one good contract left so he needs to make the most of it?

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

3 minutes ago, Essjayess said:

This seems silly. City were known to have been scouting in the area where PLM played and from clearly City did their homework on the guy. He needed time to enquire  about Norwich so got info from at least two guys, also he had spoken to DF  and SW, then there is a certain amount of time for clubs and agents all to get things together...lastly, as Beth said, he was no doubt on the direct Nice to Norwich private jet, which was spotted and also Nice media released news almost same time as flight took off that PLM  was headed to Norwich. So...having a medical at Palace and doing a u-turn is just ridiculously inaccurate.

I also suspect that he had his medical in France, like Rashica had his in Germany. Travel restrictions are making this the norm this summer.

[Fuzzar 1,702]

2 minutes ago, FatCanary said:

What exactly was it about Adam Idah's performances in his Premier League appearances for Norwich that made you come to the frank and astute judgment that he isn't capable at that level?

To be fair, he did look a little lightweight in the Premier League season and he missed a lot of last season so it's difficult to judge his progression. 

But, similar to Omobamidele, he seems to have filled his frame and the club obviously feels he has something to offer. I'm hoping he'll have a breakthrough season and will be a bit of a weapon. 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

3 minutes ago, Fuzzar said:

All the noise coming out of the club atm suggests they see Idah as a genuine first team option this season. 

Makes sense as well. Not sure what Hugill's got that is better than him apart from experience - and Idah needs games himself. If Farke, a manager who has brought through Maddison, Lewis, Godfrey, Aarons, Cantwell, Buendia and increasingly Omobamidele in the course of the last four years, reckons Idah's ready then I will be more than happy to accept his judgement.

As the deals for Barden, McAlear and McCullum have amply shown, if they want promising youngsters to get first-team loan time at lower levels that considered necessary for development, they're pretty damned proactive about it so that the youngsters in question have the full pre-season or thereabouts to get used to conditions at their new teams.

I think unless something really unexpected in pre-season, Idah and Omobamidele are going to get a crack at the Premier.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

2 minutes ago, WSM said:

Perhaps is also partly due to the fact he wants to play regular football - he's 29 now and probably only one good contract left so he needs to make the most of it?

Yeah, that must be the reason, but still a bit surprised he would give up a shot at the Premier League so quickly. He came to Norwich knowing he wasn't going to be first choice, but in the hope he'd get to the Prem - to then give that up seems odd. Maybe he has been told he is likely to end up 4th choice if he stays so has had his arm sufficiently twisted.

[FatCanary 249]

3 minutes ago, Fuzzar said:

To be fair, he did look a little lightweight in the Premier League season and he missed a lot of last season so it's difficult to judge his progression. 

But, similar to Omobamidele, he seems to have filled his frame and the club obviously feels he has something to offer. I'm hoping he'll have a breakthrough season and will be a bit of a weapon. 

Oh I agree, i'm not saying it's set in stone that Idah is good enough, just to have such deference to the idea off very little evidence is harsh on a player who has a lot of talent, in my opinion.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Further to my point about unexpected stuff in pre-season, I'll just throw Remi Matthews in there. Looked like he was going to get first dibs at the no. 1 shirt, had some nervous moments in pre-season, then Tim Krul was signed. 

Can easily see us looking for a late freebie.

[Capt. Pants 4,248]

He's a solid bums on seats signing and suggests we'll be setting ourselves up as difficult to beat. Not a bad thing as we definitely weren't that last time we were here! He has a busy few weeks ahead to get up to speed for the english game and the pukefest of Farke's training regime. He'll have to hit the ground running that's for sure.

Remains to be seen who will provide the 'Emi esque' service to Pukki. Not sure we are there yet.

[FatCanary 249]

Just now, Capt. Pants said:

He's a solid bums on seats signing and suggests we'll be setting ourselves up as difficult to beat. Not a bad thing as we definitely weren't that last time we were here! He has a busy few weeks ahead to get up to speed for the english game and the pukefest of Farke's training regime. He'll have to hit the ground running that's for sure.

Remains to be seen who will provide the 'Emi esque' service to Pukki. Not sure we are there yet.

Was that Teemu's Pukefest?

[Danke bitte 965]

54 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Only people who hadn't heard about Gilmour are cave dwellers.

I hadn’t heard of Gilmour until the Euros, but I have been living in Dereham for 15 months which is like living in a cave I suppose. A cave with a ‘Fast 8’ bus to Norwich. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

41 minutes ago, Petriix said:

I don't think four is too many. One injury and one substitute with one in reserve seems absolutely the minimum.

And if that injury doesn't happen you have Idah not getting the football he needs to push on and he becomes the new Ryan Jarvis. 

[FenwayFrank 2,459]

As someone has said, I’ve now got vindaloo in my head 😁

[chicken 2,627]

43 minutes ago, Fuzzar said:

All the noise coming out of the club atm suggests they see Idah as a genuine first team option this season. 

And they are open to an offer that makes sense for Hugill.

[BroadstairsR 2,176]

I've come around to the fact that we do need another decent quality striker on board.

I feel that the term "back-up" is a bit of a mis-nomer.

Its a squad game and although Pukki should well be first choice bench-warmer need not be applied to any other.

Substitutes of quality (which most PL teams seem to have) often win games.

'Non-starter' rather than 'bench-warmer' suits me better.

I suppose it will be a matter of finance as quality strikers are expensive, but if it means selling Hugill (who I have nothing against) then fair enough.

We need slightly bettter than him in the Premier League, imo, either as   changer or as replacement for Pukki should the Finn get injured.

WE all hope Idah can fill some gaps as well, of course, but its far from certain .... yet.

[chicken 2,627]

18 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

I feel that the term "back-up" is a bit of a mis-nomer.

Its a squad game and although Pukki should well be first choice bench-warmer need not be applied to any other.

Substitutes of quality (which most PL teams seem to have) often win games.

I think it's about sharing the load. Pukki had no one to share it with before and so had to play through having a broken toe. I suspect Idah, at 6'3", could have enough height and ability to take that role from Hugill. That would mean that we could replace that option with the "striker who can also play wing" who ideally has pace.

But yes, "back-up" is silly when it comes to the PL. Someone who gives you genuine options. Playing Pukki every week won't work for many reasons. He'll need resting, some teams will just not allow his runs to be effective and counter him effectively. As such we'll need to mix it up. Last season we did that, we could play long, we can play wide and cross, and we had Pukki's dynamic movement.

[Surfer 1,547]

5 hours ago, Uncle Fred said:

Cheap and never heard of him. How about signing a midfielder with premier league experience who isn’t a gamble? 

Uncle Fred approves of this signing. Hint to those who think he’s a troll, or doesn’t even support Norwich - he is in fact a true son of Norfolk, you just have to ignore the specific words he uses to uncover his true feelings about the subject he’s commenting on. 

[Petriix 2,840]

1 hour ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

And if that injury doesn't happen you have Idah not getting the football he needs to push on and he becomes the new Ryan Jarvis. 

Or if you stick with three and two or even all three get injured then you end up with Placheta up front again... 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

5 minutes ago, Petriix said:

Or if you stick with three and two or even all three get injured then you end up with Placheta up front again... 

But what quality is a player who is going to be 4th choice striker actually going to be?

If Norwich have three and they all get injured, then Rashica can go up front, or someone from the U23s. You can't build a squad of decent quality if you are considering the what will happen if 3 or 4 players in the same position get injured. Every penny spent on the 4th choice striker is a penny less that can be spent on signing a first choice centre back or 2nd choice defensive midfielder - you have to make compromises somewhere. 

Even Chelsea, who have a lavish squad, only had three first team strikers.

[Petriix 2,840]

1 minute ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

But what quality is a player who is going to be 4th choice striker actually going to be?

If Norwich have three and they all get injured, then Rashica can go up front, or someone from the U23s. You can't build a squad of decent quality if you are considering the what will happen if 3 or 4 players in the same position get injured. Every penny spent on the 4th choice striker is a penny less that can be spent on signing a first choice centre back or 2nd choice defensive midfielder - you have to make compromises somewhere. 

Even Chelsea, who have a lavish squad, only had three first team strikers.

The point is that you sign a new player to be competing for fist choice or to be an impact sub while retaining the other players you already have; you don't sign someone specifically to be fourth choice, that's just Hugill by default. Jordan will still get some opportunities off the bench, especially when we need some aerial presence. The squad needs to get better if we're going to stay up and that means a bit more firepower up front.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

25 minutes ago, Petriix said:

Or if you stick with three and two or even all three get injured then you end up with Placheta up front again... 

Four strikers in a squad for a team which plays 1 up front is just ridiculous, full stop.

The emergency striker if all three get injured is clearly Rashica who has played there a bit in the past, and that's if we don't use an U23 player like we did last season when Omotoye came off the bench a few times.

Also, there is month in the middle of the season when you can recall people from loan or bring in another player if you find yourself short.

Assume you want a fourth goalkeeper as well then? And four right backs? And four left backs? 

If we bring in a senior striker then one of Idah or Hugill will be playing elsewhere next season, whether on loan or perm. 

Edited July 13, 2021 by TeemuVanBasten

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,560]

1 minute ago, Petriix said:

The point is that you sign a new player to be competing for fist choice or to be an impact sub while retaining the other players you already have; you don't sign someone specifically to be fourth choice, that's just Hugill by default. Jordan will still get some opportunities off the bench, especially when we need some aerial presence. The squad needs to get better if we're going to stay up and that means a bit more firepower up front.

More firepower, yes. I can see an argument for a new striker to challenge Pukki. 

But, if that new striker comes in, there is no point keeping Hugill who will most likely get zero minutes while eating up wages and denying Norwich a fee for selling him.

There is pretty much zero justification for 4 dedicated strikers for a team that has a preferred formation of a single striker. Especially when there is a limited budget. 

Based on the same logic that you need 4 players challenging for one position you'd end up with a squad over 30 players which is madness and would ultimately end up watering down the quality of the starting XI as budget has to be ploughed into keeping a bunch of players who will rarely see the bench, let alone contribute minutes on the pitch.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

9 minutes ago, Petriix said:

The point is that you sign a new player to be competing for fist choice or to be an impact sub while retaining the other players you already have; you don't sign someone specifically to be fourth choice, that's just Hugill by default. Jordan will still get some opportunities off the bench, especially when we need some aerial presence. The squad needs to get better if we're going to stay up and that means a bit more firepower up front.

In the 2018/19 season, our third choice was Srbeny and he didn't start a league match.

In 2019/20, we had Srbeny as third choice for the first half of the season and Idah for the second, and Idah started one league game.

This season we had Idah as third choice and again, he started once.

Our third choice has only started two games in three seasons, so adding a fourth doesn't really make much sense.