What Happened Next?

[Canary02 0]

Totally open-ended question: If you were Nige, what would you do next?

A squad as thin as an anorexic''s little finger, transfer window closed, do you carry on as is? Do you loan in? Do you try and get non-contract players in?

[Hucka Hucka Huckerby 0]

he''ll get a loan goal keeper in first & then.... I don''t know, probably who ever is available!!

[blahblahblah 2]

If I recall correctly, 3 loans are permitted, plus 1 for emergencies.  I would bring someone who can cover a few positions in defence, (would Clive Clarke conside a loan now that West Ham are becoming Corinthians ?), a central midfielder, and a striker, then bring in cover in case of Gallacher getting injured.

[canary cherub 1]

With such a small squad and a limit on the number of loans, his choice of loan players will be dictated to some extent by who happens to be available when someone gets injured. 

There may be quite a number of good Premiership squad players available soon, but what does he do?  Strike while the iron''s hot, and then get injuries in other positions and be unable to get cover?  Or wait until we need them, by which time they will have gone elsewhere?

Rock, hard place.  Luck, pushing.  Not ideal to say the least.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]With such a small squad and a limit on the number of loans, his choice of loan players will be dictated to some extent by who happens to be available when someone gets injured.[/quote]

If I may turn the situation around slightly, how do add significantly to your squad when you know that you can only keep 11 players fully match-fit with 80 / 90 minutes per game on the pitch ?  We could pack the squad with cover for all positions, but those players who don''t make the first team will have only one game per fortnight to play against league 1 and 2 reserve teams. 

I feel that our current squad depth has been significantly effected by our move into the Pontins reserve league, which has effectively turned our reserve team into an under 20s team.  It may also be the reason that we didn''t sign Clive Clarke (who wasn''t guaranteed first team football, could have taken one look at the fixture list, seen Stevenage Borough reserves and thought better of it), and another reason for McKenzie to leave (reserve football being the only way he could retain match fitness).

[ZLF 274]

With a fractured cheek bone we should be looking to get a keeper in;  muchharder with Lewis being the injured one - if it was galacher you could aim for Walker. Warner Pollitt to do a job inthis league - but I cant see them coming to sit on the bench.

As that only leaves a couple then I would wait until we had another injury and seek a replacement when that happens.  There are too few loanees for the squad cover needed to second guess where our need might be.

 

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="blahblahblah"]

[quote]With such a small squad and a limit on the number of loans, his choice of loan players will be dictated to some extent by who happens to be available when someone gets injured.[/quote]

If I may turn the situation around slightly, how do add significantly to your squad when you know that you can only keep 11 players fully match-fit with 80 / 90 minutes per game on the pitch ?  We could pack the squad with cover for all positions, but those players who don''t make the first team will have only one game per fortnight to play against league 1 and 2 reserve teams. 

I feel that our current squad depth has been significantly effected by our move into the Pontins reserve league, which has effectively turned our reserve team into an under 20s team.  It may also be the reason that we didn''t sign Clive Clarke (who wasn''t guaranteed first team football, could have taken one look at the fixture list, seen Stevenage Borough reserves and thought better of it), and another reason for McKenzie to leave (reserve football being the only way he could retain match fitness).

[/quote]

Cheers blah.  But if I may turn it round again, I don''t understand how the Pontins reserve league "has effectively turned our reserve team into an under-20s team".  None of the other clubs in this league have put out a team made up entirely of 17 and 18 year olds.  It''s because we can''t risk injury to the few senior players who are not first team regulars.  Do you think they really care which reserve league they''re in, if they''re not in the first team?  Utter tosh, with all due respect.

Nice try mate, keep on defending the indefensible. 

[Whats a right winger 0]

I don''t think there is a limit on the number of loans although there may be on the number able to play at anyone time. Oh & Clarke went to Sunderland in the summer

[barclay4ever 0]

id get players in just to fill the squad for the time being. a couple of utility players on loan who can play in at least 2 or 3 positsions and do wotever you need to just to fill any gaps in the squad until jan. if that takes getting players in just for the season thats fine. wer alrite at the moment but if an injury crisis does come along well strggle to field a team with any experience. i think right now id get a keeper and wait until cracks appear

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]  But if I may turn it round again, I don''t understand how the Pontins reserve league "has effectively turned our reserve team into an under-20s team".  [/quote]

I suspect that it''s difficult to talk players like McVeigh, Hughes, etc into playing a game against Oxford Reserves on a wet Tuesday evening in front of 700 people, when some of last seasons'' reserve matches were against Arsenal or Chelsea reserves and in front of 5000.  But that''s just opinion.

Here''s the pinkun interview with reserve boss Keith Webb at the time of the decision to put us in the Pontins league.  I''m not trying to prove the points I made above, which to be honest were speculative, just thought you might be interested in what the club said at the time :

http://new.pinkun.com/search/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=Norwich&itemid=NOED02%20Aug%202006%2012:21:15:830&tBrand=PINKUNOnline&tCategory=search

Bits relevent to a young reserve team :

[quote]While wishing they had retained their place among the elite, despite winning just four out of 26 games last term, Webb said the new fixture list was long enough for the squad at his disposal.“Two matches a month is probably more beneficial with the squad we''ve got. We''ve got to keep ticking over and still be able to put out a half-decent team.“Last year with the workload laid on the first team we didn''t really have enough players to fulfil the fixtures and with the teams we were fielding we sometimes wondered if it was a worthwhile exercise.”He said City would be unlikely to field many senior first team players in the reserves.“We will use it as a development side, so two games a month are sufficient for that. We will use the younger members of the first team squad - Halliday, Eagle, Fisk - and senior players when they need a game. But I don''t envisage eight or nine of the first team squad playing in reserve team football.“The game has changed now. If you look at what Arsenal were producing last year in terms of reserve teams, Arsene Wenger doesn''t put many senior professionals in. Reserve team football has undergone a big change.“You still need a stepping stone between youth team and first team but two games a month will give players the opportunity for that.” [/quote]

 

[canary cherub 1]

I''m not quite sure what he means by "Last year with the workload laid on the first team we didn''t really have enough players to fulfil the fixtures and with the teams we were fielding we sometimes wondered if it was a worthwhile exercise".

He appears to be talking about reserve team football in general not just the Pontins, judging by his comments about Arsenal.

Overall, he seems to be saying that "relegation" to the Pontins is not necessarily a bad thing.  His comments are in marked contrast to Neil Doncaster''s hissy fit on the same subject.  Very interesting.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote user="mystic megson"]

I''m not quite sure what he means by "Last year with the workload laid on the first team we didn''t really have enough players to fulfil the fixtures and with the teams we were fielding we sometimes wondered if it was a worthwhile exercise".[/quote]

I guess that the reserve squad was depleted as players were called up into the first team squad, resulting in the reserve squad being just as unsettled as the first team was.

[quote]

He appears to be talking about reserve team football in general not just the Pontins, judging by his comments about Arsenal.

Overall, he seems to be saying that "relegation" to the Pontins is not necessarily a bad thing.  His comments are in marked contrast to Neil Doncaster''s hissy fit on the same subject.  Very interesting.[/quote]

I guess Neil D thinks more about bums on seats than getting a team together to play.  I would imagine that the club were making a loss on reserve matches in the premiership reserve league, let alone the Pontins.

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="blahblahblah"][quote user="mystic megson"]

I''m not quite sure what he means by "Last year with the workload laid on the first team we didn''t really have enough players to fulfil the fixtures and with the teams we were fielding we sometimes wondered if it was a worthwhile exercise".[/quote]

I guess that the reserve squad was depleted as players were called up into the first team squad, resulting in the reserve squad being just as unsettled as the first team was.

[quote]

He appears to be talking about reserve team football in general not just the Pontins, judging by his comments about Arsenal.

Overall, he seems to be saying that "relegation" to the Pontins is not necessarily a bad thing.  His comments are in marked contrast to Neil Doncaster''s hissy fit on the same subject.  Very interesting.[/quote]

I guess Neil D thinks more about bums on seats than getting a team together to play.  I would imagine that the club were making a loss on reserve matches in the premiership reserve league, let alone the Pontins.

[/quote]

blah, Neil D thinks ONLY about bums on seats.  It sums up what''s wrong with our club.  Finance first second and third, football nowhere.

I''ve no idea whether we''re making a loss on reserve games, but Neil D''s comments certainly haven''t helped to bring people in.  A pity, because Monday night''s game was the best advertisement for reserve team football I''ve ever seen.