Best CM ever?

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,076]

Andy Townsend, whilst only here for 2 seasons was a complete midfielder

[Barham Blitz 910]

'Best' is always contingent on lots of other factors - the tactical approach of the team at a particular time, how well they were doing, our own personal biases around what to value in a player and individual nostalgia around certain eras.

Ian Crook is by no means the most rounded midfielder we've had at the club during my time as a fan, and you'd need to build at least the rest of the midfield around him to get the best out of him.  But he is my favourite because he was capable of executing passes nobody else would even see. He just seemed to be playing a different game to the rest of them.  I'm a smidge too young to properly remember Martin Peters but from what people tell me he was still outstanding even at that stage of his career for similar reasons.

 

 

[Grando 346]

Mike Phelan was pretty decent.

[CatLineker28 7]

Crook and Townsend were the perfect combination. Shame it was so brief. Crook will always be my favourite.

[The fog came down..! 5]

The great Martin Peters for me (if he qualifies as CM) but if not then Ian Crook for me too.

[Bovril 275]

Midfielders to have made at least 100 appearances for Norwich. The last two columns indicate their total apps. and goals scored respectively.

 

Trevor Howard	England	MF	1967-1974	156	19
Max Briggs	England	MF	1968-1974	170	2
Graham Paddon	England	MF	1969-1973 1976-1981	340	47
Doug Livermore	England	MF	1970-1975	139	6
Colin Suggett	England	MF	1972-1978	243	29
Mick McGuire	England	MF	1975-1983	203	12
Martin Peters	England*	MF	1975-1980	232	50
John Ryan	England	MF	1976-1980	132	29
Peter Mendham	England	MF	1978-1987	267	29
Jeremy Goss	Wales*	MF	1983-1996	238	14
Mike Phelan	England*	MF	1985-1989	194	10
Ian Crook	England	MF	1986-1997	418	24
David Phillips	Wales*	MF	1989-1993	186	20
Mike Milligan	Republic of Ireland*	MF	1994-2000	142	5
Chris Llewellyn	Wales*	MF	1996-2003	158	18
Lee Marshall	England	MF	1997-2001	131	13
Darel Russell	England	MF	1997-2003 2007-2010	271	19
Phil Mulryne	Northern Ireland*	MF	1998-2005	178	20
Gary Holt	Scotland*	MF	2001-2005	182	3
Simon Lappin	Scotland	MF	2007-2013	126	4
Wes Hoolahan	Republic of Ireland*	MF	2008-2018	352	54
Bradley Johnson	England	MF	2011-2015	154	21
Jonny Howson	England	MF	2012-2017	188	24
Alexander Tettey	Norway*	MF	2012-2021	263	8
Todd Cantwell	England	MF	2017–2023	129	14
Mario Vrančić	Bosnia and Herzegovina*	MF	2017–2021	134	17
Marco Stiepermann	Germany	MF	2017–2021	115	12
Emiliano Buendía	Argentina*	MF	2018–2021	121	24
Kenny McLean	Scotland*	MF	2018–Present	230	13
Onel Hernández	Cuba*	MF	2018–Present	185	15

Edited October 30, 2024 by Bovril

[ROBFLECK 135]

Ian Crook

[nutty nigel 7,965]

1 hour ago, Bovril said:

Midfielders to have made at least 100 appearances for Norwich. The last two columns indicate their total apps. and goals scored respectively.

 

Trevor Howard	England	MF	1967-1974	156	19
Max Briggs	England	MF	1968-1974	170	2
Graham Paddon	England	MF	1969-1973 1976-1981	340	47
Doug Livermore	England	MF	1970-1975	139	6
Colin Suggett	England	MF	1972-1978	243	29
Mick McGuire	England	MF	1975-1983	203	12
Martin Peters	England*	MF	1975-1980	232	50
John Ryan	England	MF	1976-1980	132	29
Peter Mendham	England	MF	1978-1987	267	29
Jeremy Goss	Wales*	MF	1983-1996	238	14
Mike Phelan	England*	MF	1985-1989	194	10
Ian Crook	England	MF	1986-1997	418	24
David Phillips	Wales*	MF	1989-1993	186	20
Mike Milligan	Republic of Ireland*	MF	1994-2000	142	5
Chris Llewellyn	Wales*	MF	1996-2003	158	18
Lee Marshall	England	MF	1997-2001	131	13
Darel Russell	England	MF	1997-2003 2007-2010	271	19
Phil Mulryne	Northern Ireland*	MF	1998-2005	178	20
Gary Holt	Scotland*	MF	2001-2005	182	3
Simon Lappin	Scotland	MF	2007-2013	126	4
Wes Hoolahan	Republic of Ireland*	MF	2008-2018	352	54
Bradley Johnson	England	MF	2011-2015	154	21
Jonny Howson	England	MF	2012-2017	188	24
Alexander Tettey	Norway*	MF	2012-2021	263	8
Todd Cantwell	England	MF	2017–2023	129	14
Mario Vrančić	Bosnia and Herzegovina*	MF	2017–2021	134	17
Marco Stiepermann	Germany	MF	2017–2021	115	12
Emiliano Buendía	Argentina*	MF	2018–2021	121	24
Kenny McLean	Scotland*	MF	2018–Present	230	13
Onel Hernández	Cuba*	MF	2018–Present	185	15

Why is Tommy Bryceland not on this list…

https://www.canaries.co.uk/content/hall-of-famer-tommy-bryceland-dies-aged-76

[Google Bot 4,002]

10 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

Why is Tommy Bryceland not on this list…

He's as a forward on wiki:

Tommy Bryceland

Scotland

FW

1962-1969

284

55

[nutty nigel 7,965]

2 hours ago, Google Bot said:

He's as a forward on wiki:

Tommy Bryceland

Scotland

FW

1962-1969

284

55

He was a very similar player to Wes. Pretty much the same position and skill set. If Wiki is right then teams in the 60s didn’t have any midfielders just one keeper, five defenders and five forwards.

[Robert N. LiM 6,448]

22 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

If Wiki is right then teams in the 60s didn’t have any midfielders just one keeper, five defenders and five forwards.

A formation revived last season by David Wagner

[Mr Angry 2,097]

You learn something every day-I didn’t realise that Graham Paddon had two spells with us, I only remember him from when he was at West Ham and then came to us in 1976.

[nutty nigel 7,965]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Bryceland