Knappers First Transfer Window

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

Now that it's over, bit of a mixed bag for me but mostly positive.

A tough window due to the general lack of activity, quietest window in English football in terms of quantity of moves and value of transfers for decades, and we've got obvious resource limitations and players typically pricier in January unless a club wants a bit of cash with a player 6 months from being out of contract.

PROS:

• Syndey van Hooijdonk In - Struggled in Italy but Seria A stronger than the Championship and he seems to have a good pedigree, Holland U21 caps last year. Wary of getting too excited by a surname as a supporter of the club who once signed Paul Dalglish, and Van Wolfswinkle had senior Holland caps, but I think this one is quite exciting.
• Tony Springett out - Clearly not ready for this level and I don't think it would be good for him to have stepped on the pitch again at Carrow Road, hopefully he can impress in League One, but if he doesn't then at least we know that he's not one for us next season.
• Adam Forshaw out - Look, he's been injury prone for years, there was a player there in the past, but I don't think that player is there anymore, he's no longer at the required level, and had little prospect of an extension so just best for all parties that we move on now. The signing felt  a bit desperate at the time, a bit like that time Bryan Gunn signed Paul McVeigh in League One, 4 years after his useful life and just after he'd been struggling to get into a League Two side.
• Jon McCracken loan - We've got a plethora of young keepers and I'm really hoping one of them will step up and make George Long redundant next year, McCracken seems to be getting a better standard of loans than the rest of them so I've got him down as my big hope for the short term if he can get some football this season. Similar with Jaden Warner I guess, him or Tomkinson can hopefully graduate to the first team squad next season.
• Adam Idah out - Happy with this, if he impresses at Celtic we'll either get a decent fee for him in the summer off them or somebody else or he comes back a better player with a spring in his step. I'm hoping Celtic take him on a permanent and Hooijdonk does well and it funds his acquisition, but would be just as happy if Idah comes back better equipped to make an impact. Not really any downside to this, if he struggles then another loan elsewhere next season perhaps.
• Keeping hold of Rowe - Huge one this, and leaves us with an outside chance of squeezing into the top 6, as long as he isn't in a hump about not getting a move. Sara and Sargent as well, but think Rowe was the most likely to leave.

CONS:

• No defensive midfielder - It does sound like we tried, difficult window, this is a major one for Knapper to resolve in the summer after 5 years of Webber failing to recruit a permanent solution in this position. 
• No right back - In an ideal world I think we would have brought a right back in and given Kellen Fisher a League Two loan to get more minutes under his belt, Fisher doesn't look ready and I'd have thought that we'd be trying to blood him for the squad next season, but on the other hand its probably really difficult to convince a player and their parent club to lend us a player to be a second choice right back. I think if we'd perhaps been successful in signing a defensive midfielder we could have considered Sorenson our emergency/backup right back for the rest of this season and loaned him out, so perhaps it was just the DM we needed.

UNSURE

• Placheta out - Weird one this as I fancy him to do well in the Championship and he looked really sharp earlier this season, Wagner sang his praises, said he'd be an important player, then suddenly he was playing and struggling at left back and disappeared. I do believe that Placheta is Championship quality and that in a way we've persevered with 3 years of trying to turn him into a footballer only to ditch him at the point where he's started to look like one. In a way its a shame he didn't get a chance to try and earn a contract. 

 

Conclusion: 6.8/10

Edited February 2 by JonnyJonnyRowe

[Satriales 685]

What about Idah?

[ricardo 7,396]

The boy done well.

[Dr Greenthumb 750]

Did well seeing as though there was no funds available (as per)

[cambridgeshire canary 6,778]

7 minutes ago, Satriales said:

What about Idah?

Currently making Celtic fans scream in anger it seems

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

7 minutes ago, Satriales said:

What about Idah?

Oops, I've added that in.

[Satriales 685]

Just now, cambridgeshire canary said:

Currently making Celtic fans scream in anger it seems

He might go on to score a shed load, will be interesting to see how he goes up there.

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

Not a lot of business anywhere but think Knapper did ok. Can only be judged after a couple of seasons. Will take time to repair the damage done by the last Sporting Director. 

Hooijdonk hopefully will work but it's always a risk with our limited resources. Idah wasn't working here so that's all good in my book.

 

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

Seems fine to me. He very clearly hasn't given Wagner long-term backing, which is also fine by me.

Pretty much agree with your assessment, @JonnyJonnyRowe. I might have gone for 6.7 or 6.9 out of 10 but 6.8 seems fair enough.

[Nuff Said 5,161]

I don’t get the people who think Placheta had latent talent. He’d been here three years, had a loan at another Championship club and none of it uncovered any sort of promise. He did ok in a couple of games this season to be fair but that soon tailed off and if that’s the best he could do after the time and training invested in him, meh. We won’t miss him.

[Ulfotto 641]

On paper this transfer window has weakened the squad. Which at this stage of this season can’t be a good thing. The jury is out both long and short term if the donk idah switch pays dividends. We’ll see.

Whats disappointing is that all the team around us and above us have strengthened and we have lost players and have done a like for like. Personally would have liked to have seen more options for Wagner I just do not see our bench being able to influence games. I would imagine Wagner is pretty annoyed by the business. 

[king canary 7,654]

9 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

I don’t get the people who think Placheta had latent talent. He’d been here three years, had a loan at another Championship club and none of it uncovered any sort of promise. He did ok in a couple of games this season to be fair but that soon tailed off and if that’s the best he could do after the time and training invested in him, meh. We won’t miss him.

Yeah I'm the same- people seem to think there is a player to be unlocked there but I see absolutely nothing in him and clearly neither do any of the managers who've worked with him since he joined. 

He's honestly one of the most limited players I think I've ever watched in a Norwich shirt. 

[norfolkngood 1,087]

Bit disappointed he didn't have some hidden gems up his sleeve after all the time looking at the squad with his stats etc 

 thought he might have known some younger players not up to Arsenal standard but would have fitted in here ,that he has seen or heard of at other clubs from his time at a big club ,

most of us know about Idah i am still not convinced after giving him so many chances but he did score off the bench so we might miss him more than we think ,

PP Well another who has had plenty of chances but i think i would have kept him , low earner can play nearly everywhere on left and a squad player who was leaving in 6 months so not saving much money so might as well kept him ,

Forshaw totally understand same as springett ,

Donk might be a good player so happy to have him with a option to buy seems the way everyone was going but he has to score goals like idah did off the bench so a bit of pressure on him to score when needed ,

so not overly impressed but i do not know money  saved or if players were unhappy and wanted to move PP and Idah ,

we are in Limbo still in play off shout but i doubt we will make it ?

still in limbo with manager staying or leaving in summer ? 

then limbo with ownership money available ? who is making the calls to invest or not ? 

i would say 6 out of 10 ,

[BurwellCanary 216]

14 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Seems fine to me. He very clearly hasn't given Wagner long-term backing, which is also fine by me.

Pretty much agree with your assessment, @JonnyJonnyRowe. I might have gone for 6.7 or 6.9 out of 10 but 6.8 seems fair enough.

Are you Criag Revell-Horwood in disguise?

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

10 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

I don’t get the people who think Placheta had latent talent.

Well we'll soon find out, proof will be in the pudding.

I guess Swansea is sink or swim for him, and its back to Poland with his tail between his legs if it doesn't work out, or we are kicking ourselves if it does. I wish him luck, never had an issue with his professionalism or effort, although it has infuriated me that he doesn't just knock and run, you don't need to be able to do the Huckerby shoulder drop and jink to have the beating of a player if you can just beat them with sheer pace which on paper he should be able to do to like 7 out of 10 Championship full backs.

[horsefly 4,310]

45 minutes ago, JonnyJonnyRowe said:

Now that it's over, bit of a mixed bag for me but mostly positive.

A tough window due to the general lack of activity, quietest window in English football in terms of quantity of moves and value of transfers for decades, and we've got obvious resource limitations and players typically pricier in January unless a club wants a bit of cash with a player 6 months from being out of contract.

PROS:

• Syndey van Hooijdonk In - Struggled in Italy but Seria A stronger than the Championship and he seems to have a good pedigree, Holland U21 caps last year. Wary of getting too excited by a surname as a supporter of the club who once signed Paul Dalglish, and Van Wolfswinkle had senior Holland caps, but I think this one is quite exciting.
• Tony Springett out - Clearly not ready for this level and I don't think it would be good for him to have stepped on the pitch again at Carrow Road, hopefully he can impress in League One, but if he doesn't then at least we know that he's not one for us next season.
• Adam Forshaw out - Look, he's been injury prone for years, there was a player there in the past, but I don't think that player is there anymore, he's no longer at the required level, and had little prospect of an extension so just best for all parties that we move on now. The signing felt  a bit desperate at the time, a bit like that time Bryan Gunn signed Paul McVeigh in League One, 4 years after his useful life and just after he'd been struggling to get into a League Two side.
• Jon McCracken loan - We've got a plethora of young keepers and I'm really hoping one of them will step up and make George Long redundant next year, McCracken seems to be getting a better standard of loans than the rest of them so I've got him down as my big hope for the short term if he can get some football this season.
• Adam Idah out - Happy with this, if he impresses at Celtic we'll either get a decent fee for him in the summer off them or somebody else or he comes back a better player with a spring in his step. I'm hoping Celtic take him on a permanent and Hooijdonk does well and it funds his acquisition, but would be just as happy if Idah comes back better equipped to make an impact. Not really any downside to this, if he struggles then another loan elsewhere next season perhaps.

CONS:

• No defensive midfielder - It does sound like we tried, difficult window, this is a major one for Knapper to resolve in the summer after 5 years of Webber failing to recruit a permanent solution in this position. 
• No right back - In an ideal world I think we would have brought a right back in and given Kellen Fisher a League Two loan to get more minutes under his belt, Fisher doesn't look ready and I'd have thought that we'd be trying to blood him for the squad next season, but on the other hand its probably really difficult to convince a player and their parent club to lend us a player to be a second choice right back. I think if we'd perhaps been successful in signing a defensive midfielder we could have considered Sorenson our emergency/backup right back for the rest of this season and loaned him out, so perhaps it was just the DM we needed.

UNSURE

• Placheta out - Weird one this as I fancy him to do well in the Championship and he looked really sharp earlier this season, Wagner sang his praises, said he'd be an important player, then suddenly he was playing and struggling at left back and disappeared. I do believe that Placheta is Championship quality and that in a way we've persevered with 3 years of trying to turn him into a footballer only to ditch him at the point where he's started to look like one. In a way its a shame he didn't get a chance to try and earn a contract. 

 

Conclusion: 6.8/10

Yep! That sounds pretty fair. I would just add to the pros the biggest pro of all: the fact we held on to Sargent, Sara, and Rowe. I very much doubt there were not significant tempting offers for all three.

[hertfordyellow 460]

@JonnyJonnyRowe Jaden Warner loan?

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

5 minutes ago, horsefly said:

Yep! That sounds pretty fair. I would just add to the pros the biggest pro of all: the fact we held on to Sargent, Sara, and Rowe. I very much doubt there were not significant tempting offers for all three.

Of course, silly of me not to list that as a pro actually! 

And I feel this actually gives us an outside chance of squeezing in the top 6 as long as Rowe doesn't have the hump about a move not materialising

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

3 minutes ago, hertfordyellow said:

@JonnyJonnyRowe Jaden Warner loan?

I've edited and squeezed it into the McCracken one.

[JonnyJonnyRowe 451]

10 minutes ago, horsefly said:

Yep! That sounds pretty fair. I would just add to the pros the biggest pro of all: the fact we held on to Sargent, Sara, and Rowe. I very much doubt there were not significant tempting offers for all three.

Ah good shout, I've put that in the Pros.

Makes me want to revise the score up to 7.3 ha

[PurpleCanary 5,580]

13 minutes ago, horsefly said:

Yep! That sounds pretty fair. I would just add to the pros the biggest pro of all: the fact we held on to Sargent, Sara, and Rowe. I very much doubt there were not significant tempting offers for all three.

Quite.

[chicken 2,640]

Re McCracken, I believe he is out of contract come the summer so unless he has signed a new deal that hasn't yet been announced, it's likely this loan is to put him in the shop window for the summer so he can get a move and start his career as a first choice somewhere.

I don't think Placheta going is an issue either. He's not going to get ahead of Rowe, Saint, Onel or Fass so it seems a bit pointless to hold onto him really.

I think he was given a go at full back as potentially we will be short there come the summer. Not enough there to work with. Nice lad, good enough for lower half/mid table champs but 5th choice out wide... waste of a wage that could be used tying better players down to longer contracts etc.

[Branston Pickle 3,679]

Overall, it’s a cautious “fairly good” for me, but time will tell.  In the main it is squad players leaving, mostly on loan. We’ve replaced a striker out on loan (who the club clearly still rate), with a fresh face so we’ll see how it goes.

The cdm is a strange one - we don’t really play with one, so on the one hand it’s no surprise we didn’t get anyone, but given the strong links with Varane it is obviously something we’re reviewing.

I always try to gauge whether we are stronger or weaker after a window - this one’s hard to say right now.  On paper we have fewer ‘senior’ bodies in the squad, but we did feel bloated in parts and we hopefully have youngsters who can be given a go of necessary.  

 

[Conrad 178]

47 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

I don’t get the people who think Placheta had latent talent. He’d been here three years, had a loan at another Championship club and none of it uncovered any sort of promise. He did ok in a couple of games this season to be fair but that soon tailed off and if that’s the best he could do after the time and training invested in him, meh. We won’t miss him.

It's the same people that think Idah will come good. (actually I hope that he comes back from Celtic a better player). 

[Conrad 178]

48 minutes ago, Ulfotto said:

On paper this transfer window has weakened the squad. Which at this stage of this season can’t be a good thing. The jury is out both long and short term if the donk idah switch pays dividends. We’ll see.

Whats disappointing is that all the team around us and above us have strengthened and we have lost players and have done a like for like. Personally would have liked to have seen more options for Wagner I just do not see our bench being able to influence games. I would imagine Wagner is pretty annoyed by the business. 

It makes more sense if Wagner is leaving in the summer. 

[Bristol Canary 17]

Yeah holding onto Sara, Rowe and Sargent... I'd add Gunn to that too is a major plus. I personally don't think we have a weaker squad and we have probably banked a decent amount in wage savings.

I think our player trading would have been dependent on outgoings anyway because our squad in Championship terms is very large. So I had hoped for much greater emphasis on outgoings of fringe players, particularly the out of contract players if we could get them out and replacements in early. Think that is pie in the sky stuff though, I expect the summer to be much more like 2017. A lot out and in. 

[Well b back 3,265]

53 minutes ago, Ulfotto said:

On paper this transfer window has weakened the squad. Which at this stage of this season can’t be a good thing. The jury is out both long and short term if the donk idah switch pays dividends. We’ll see.

Whats disappointing is that all the team around us and above us have strengthened and we have lost players and have done a like for like. Personally would have liked to have seen more options for Wagner I just do not see our bench being able to influence games. I would imagine Wagner is pretty annoyed by the business. 

A lot of the teams in and around us lost one of their good players, we didn’t ?

[norfolkngood 1,087]

Pretty sure the Attacker Moyes kept on about bids made etc was Rowe so that's a plus we turned them down if it was him 

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

56 minutes ago, BurwellCanary said:

Are you Criag Revell-Horwood in disguise?

If so it's a bloody good disguise.

[ec-p 98]

We lack strength in depth. Replacing like for like and losing Placheta, Springett and Forshaw. I know, not first team regulars but at least some back up. 
 

Just a couple of injuries away from a crisis.