This squad needs a scalpel not an axe this summer

[Yellow Wal 314]

23 hours ago, Monty13 said:

While I think we definitely need that striker my concern is who can we afford who is genuine competition for Pukki and also prepared to potentially sit on the bench a lot if we play one striker. That’s a tough acquisition in the Championship.

If we are going to play 442 more or that Striker can play wide it gets a bit easier but I think we need that bigger athletic guy to complement Pukki and offer a different option, a Hugill upgrade basically, and they generally want to play through the middle.

I have been critical of Adam Idah in the past when he was playing under Farke but his few performances, playing with Pukki prior to his injury, under Dean Smith in a different role, showed that he could well develop into the player we all hoped he would be. 

For that reason I feel a good defensive midfielder is the number one requirement.

[yellowrider120 793]

17 hours ago, Terminally Yellow said:

If it were me....

GK - Krul / Gunn
DR - Byram / Mumba
DL - Dimi / McCallum
DC - Hanley / Gibson
DC - Andy Omo / Zimm
DMC - ? / Sorenson
MC - ? / Rupp
MC - PLM / McLean
AMR - Rashica / Rowe
AML - Dowell / Placheta
SC - Pukki / Idah 

Leaving Aarons, Sargent, Tzolis, Onel, Cantwell and Hugill as capable of being sold to raise a few £££. Aarons the only one from that list who should be sold because he's probably earnt himself a move away and only if a Premier League side comes in with £25m or more. 

I would then try and sign John Swift from Reading for the MC position (I think he's out of contract - might be wrong) and Max Bird from Derby as the DMC, who from my admittedly limited knowledge of him appears to be a mini-Skipp - and I think that's a squad ready to go. 

On the face of it that's a reasonable squad. One major problem that must be addressed though is that our squad is ageing and we need an injection of youth, energy and pace. Krul, Hanley, Gibson, McLean, Rupp and Pukki  are all 30 or the wrong side thereof. Not suggesting we ditch all those but soon, they will progressively need replacing and if we wait another 12 months (and went back up) there is no way that group would be instrumental in keeping us up.  

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,297]

I know he'll get a big chance next season, but I'm still not convinced Idah will deliver.  I think his run of form this season was over hyped. This will be Idah's make or break season for Norwich. And he will get the chance - so I don't see another striker coming in unless Pukki leaves. 

[PurpleCanary 5,592]

1 hour ago, TheGunnShow said:

Shall we go back and get Erik Fuglestad for a laugh then? (Apparently his surname means "place of birds" in Norwegian)

You ought to be able to recommend any number of Vogels...🐦

[TheGunnShow 6,029]

17 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

You ought to be able to recommend any number of Vogels...🐦

Well, off to the Faroe Islands in June. Might get to Fuglafjørður or even the island of Fugloy. 😉 

[Unhinged Canary 375]

On 11/04/2022 at 14:22, Monty13 said:

Disagree entirely personally. Smith was bought in to make the most of this squad.

That went well then.....

[Move Klose 303]

23 hours ago, Yellow Wal said:

I have been critical of Adam Idah in the past when he was playing under Farke but his few performances, playing with Pukki prior to his injury, under Dean Smith in a different role, showed that he could well develop into the player we all hoped he would be. 

For that reason I feel a good defensive midfielder is the number one requirement.

I think you could see Idah game had changed alot of Smith & Shakespeare came in. No matter what you think of Farke and Smith as managers Smith is clearly more of a coach

[Move Klose 303]

23 hours ago, yellowrider120 said:

On the face of it that's a reasonable squad. One major problem that must be addressed though is that our squad is ageing and we need an injection of youth, energy and pace. Krul, Hanley, Gibson, McLean, Rupp and Pukki  are all 30 or the wrong side thereof. Not suggesting we ditch all those but soon, they will progressively need replacing and if we wait another 12 months (and went back up) there is no way that group would be instrumental in keeping us up.  

That's a fair assessment. Kruls replacement is in the building. And we already have Hanley/Gibson replacement in Omobamidele. Rupp is injured far too much to have to rely on him week in week out, and there's certainly not anyone in this squad ready to take over the Pukki mantle in getting 20+ goals.

[DraytonBoy 165]

I think an axe is needed, not necessarily for the players that will likely make up the first 15/16 but for those on the fringes. The massive drop in income next year will need to be offset with millions taken off the wage bill especially as additions are needed in certain areas. I hope I've got my maths right with this so here goes, including those 'out on loan' and excluding the current loanees (Williams etc) the overall first team squad numbers 32 players, the U-23's is another 25 players so in total there's nigh on 60 under contract, is that sustainable in the Championship?

[The Great Mass Debater 1,092]

We have a real problem. Whilst I agree with pretty much every word of the OP, the problem we have is that twice now this squad has shown it cannot compete in the Premier League. So just what do we do about that?

This squad is easily championship level. But could easily be mediocre championship level. We are still missing Skipp and Buendia, the latter particularly being what made out team tick. We have also lost Cantwell (present but not involved). So the players we hoped might become Premier League level -  we have sold, leaving the mediocrity.

We've kept Aarons, but frankly I think he's had a poor season and has been a shadow of his former self. And even when he was firing on all cylindars he couldnt really make a significant change for us.

 

So how does a club like ours ever get personnel above the level of Championship player struggling to cut it at Premier League level. Which lets face it our squad is. Thoroughly Championship.

We can grow them - take a young player, blood them in the first team and let them grow until they develop to Premier League level. Problem with that is, as soon as they're at that level they either want off, or the club wants to sell them to feed the self-funding model.

We can buy them - we cant afford the fees pretty much every other of our PL rivals can.

We can sign them - even if fee is not a problem (free or not an obstacle) what do we have to attract them to us rather than a rival? We're not in Europe, we're likely to be relegated, we pay peanuts.

 

Face it, the only players we can sign are the players other teams allow us to have. ie the ones they dont fancy. Its how we ended up with Sargent and Rashica etc, and in days gone by RvW.

 

So we either need to be prepared to pay huge wages to compensate for our lack of appeal, or keep hold of our prospects as they are the only way we can get Premier League level players (they're free and start with low wages).

 

The only other option is to develop a playing style that can grind out results and keep us in the division for a few years, the way Stoke and Burnley did - success through approach, teamwork and endeavour, rather than ability, so we can be seen as more than a yoyo club and players might be more willing to join and help the team gradually evolve.

 

 

Unfortunately I dont see any of that happening, so we are doomed to Championship players at best. The current squad may be good enough to perform in the Championship, but it will never be at the races in the Premier League without major surgery. And under Smith, without smart investment in the key areas, there is no reason to expect this squad to be competing for promotion this year. The key signings need to be spot on, and given the players we signed in the last summer window its not looking promising.

Edited April 13, 2022 by The Great Mass Debater