Players for Next Season

[Splendid Rush 0]

I hope that you will all forgive me for now assuming that we will be in the Premiership next season.

That said, with the risk of being unpopular, here is the how I feel the situation is regarding players for next year. With these opinions I have attempted to be realistic, bearing in mind the performance of Wolves this season, and the harsh reality of the requirements of staying in the Premiership. Debate and critisism are welcomed.

FIRST TEAM (Blank spaces denote new players required)

GK. Green
DR.
DC. Mackay/Fleming
DC.
DL. Drury
MR.
MC. Holt
MC. Francis/Mulryne
ML.
FC. Huckerby
FC.

SQUAD PLAYERS (who, if they perform, could challenge for a 1st team place)

Edworthy
Shackell
McVeigh
Henderson
Brennan
Svensson
McKenzie

BACKUP

Crichton
Lewis
Jarvis
Sinclair

HAVE TO GO

Briggs
Abbey
Rivers
Easton
Roberts (sorry)

Comments…

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

In my opinion Sven, McKenzie, McVeigh and Edworthy (Yes Edworthy) will be more than squad players. I''m sure that all will do a job for us in the Prem. A couple of defenders, midfielders and a striker would be good though.

[nobbyg 0]

Unbelievable....... how come Edworthy doesn''t get a place in your team but Drury does? He has been superb this season and would give Holt a run for his money in the "who is the fittest Norwich Player award".

Are you also trying to tell me that Svensson and Mackenzie aren''t worth starting places. I don''t think you''ll find Worthy will be rushing out to replace them with Boa Morte, Jon Stead, Collins John, Brett Ormerod, Kevin Davies, Yakubu, Les Ferdinand, Kenny Miller, Emile Heskey.............etc, etc.

The premiership isn''t full of Henry''s - give all our boys a break and have some confidence. I would fancy most of our lot, player for player over half the Premier players. Would you swap Malky or Bob Fleming for Linvoy Primus from Portsmouth or Simon Charlton from Bolton or Jason Dodd at Southampton? No, neither would I.

People keep saying "how will Malky cope with Henry?" Well quite simply he won''t - just like every other defender in the Premier. Look at Leeds last week and they had 4 centre halves playing!

Would you swap Malky for Michael Duberry or Lucas Radebe or Stephen Caldwell?


In summary.... Follow, Follow, Follow...Follow the boys in yellow........

[Splendid Rush 0]

What!? Come on Nobby, I have expressed that if the squad players proved themselves in the premiership they could have a first team place, I believe they have the potential, but it is naive to say they WILL be effective at that level. If we head into the premiership with a ''we''re already good enough'' attitude, we will struggle.

I am trying to point out that McKenize and Svensson aren''t shoe-ins for a place. McKenzie is unproven at that level, and Svensson never really performed at Charlton. We need to go up with the mentality of, our players may not be good enough, we will try to find proven premiership quality, and if the likes of Leon and Matty shine then they''re in the team. We need to strengthen and deepen our squad, and we shouldn''t do that by buying inferior players.

In answer to your question "Would I swap Malky for Duberry, Radebe or Caldwell", (not sure where you got these names) the answer is no, I wouldn''t replace him with them but if we could bring in a strong, premiership tested centre back, he would fight for his place along with Malk and Flem, we would have a healthy competition for places.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

Hi SR, mind if I join in?

"Svensson never really performed at Charlton" - please qualify this statement. I think there are a few Charlton fans who might disagree.......

The names Duberry, Radebe and Caldwell came from the Leeds Utd team which was unceremoniously taken apart by Thierry Henry on Friday night. The point Nobby is making is that we shouldn''t rush out to replace players who have been superb all season - if Everton can manage with Stubbs and Weir at centre half, then I see no reason why Malky & Flem won''t be successful. They understand each other''s game, you can''t buy that. Manure''s success was built upon Pallister & Bruce, neither of those were the best centre halves around, but formed a formidable partnership. Add Scmeichel behind them, and that''s why they were hard to beat.

Now I''m not saying that I think we will compete at the top end of the Prem, far from it, but I think our second half showing against Everton proves that we may not be that far short of staying up. We are a TEAM, many others in the Prem will be very envious of that........

[Splendid Rush 0]

Quantification for my Svensson at Charlton statement:

Crystal Palace - Played 26, scored 10
Charlton - Played 42, scored 8
Derby - Played 9, scored 3
Norwich - Played 12 - scored 7

As I have been saying all along that I''m not positive that Sven won''t be effective for us in the prem, he might be, he might not be, but if we want to buy a new striker, we should go for a superior one. Again, as I have said previously, I''m not saying we should ''replace'' anyone (other than Easton, Abbey, Rivers and Roberts), simply to introduce more competition for places.

Perhaps Wolves felt they were a solid team when they went up. We will not get anywhere by refusing to introduce new players to protect our camaraderie.

[butch p 0]

Splendid Rush - If you want to be technical Greeno isn''t proven at premiership level - but you still have him in your team dont you?

Same could be said about Holt and Drury


I think that Norwich need a defensive utility player, especially able to play in the centre, possibly in place of malky,

a right winger

A left winger (i think mcVeigh is to lightweight and will get shoved about a bit to much - still can play a part)

Peter Crouch if he''s avalible

then it depends on who worthington can get on free transfers

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

I can see what you mean, but, but, but...

1. We won''t be able to afford more than 4 or 5 new players I think
2. Underestimate ''team strength'' at your peril. Make too many changes and the team becomes less than the sum of its parts all too easily.

I hate to say it, but look at Ipswich as an example. The team that went up through the play-offs (i.e. the best in the league, obviouly) finished 5th in the Prem with relatively few additions. They added a bunch of ''better'' players and....

If our back 5 can keep clean sheets against all the other teams in the top 6 of the division, then they have a good chance against the bottom 6 in the Prem. What we need is strength in depth so that when we do get a few injuries we have more quality to call upon rather than inexperienced youngsters.

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

Actually, ponder this. Which current England regular has played against our defence this season and failed to score?

Rooney. As I recall, Malky and Flem kept him pretty quiet on a day when some would have expected him to run riot against such a weak defence as ours....

Ama

[Tumbleweed 106]

I agree with Amarillo that team strength and unity is underestimated as a factor. If you want another example, look at what Mike Walkers achieved with what was effectively Dave Stringer''s side. He bought Mark Robins and that was about it. The key part of that 92/93/94 side was that they gelled so well togather that there was little coaching needed once they knew each other''s game and they worked hard as a team.

the present team is not disimilar- they are collectively more than the sum of their parts. Ripping the guts out and making wholesale changes is I think fraught with danger. Making a few well placed signings to strengthen in key positions and give more strength in depth is the way to go.

The understanding and almost telepathic ESP which Hux, Leon and Sven seemed to communicate with on Saturday was quite scary- and the togetherness they showed after the final whistle cannot be bought.