Huckerby - What's the point ?

[Old Yella 0]

Before everyone finds the shotgun in the closet let me just say this - there is no arguement that the signing of Huckerby was the single most important point in our promotion season. Also I do not disagree that he has also been our most talented player over the past three years - and that he has pledged his loyalty to NCFC in perpertuity. So what''s my problem ?

Well Darren is probably our biggest earner and has stated on many occasions recently that he is basically on a one and done contract depending on how he feels he is playing - very laudable an attitude too. However unfortunately City are in what one can be most charitably be called the beginning of a rebuilding period - it''s difficult for even the most optimistic of us to believe that we will be truly sorted and ready to make another push for promotion until 2009/10 at the earliest. That''s two years away - Darren in all likelihood won"t be the player he is today so why would he want to spend the last year(s) of his career playing for an at best an average Championship outfit ? and why would we want to pay his wages when the money might better be invested elsewhere ? So what''s the point ?

Replies without gunfire please !

[sheded 0]

Answer :-

Hughes     whats the point ?

Ethuhu          "      "      "

Doc                "      "       "

Jean               "       "       "

McVeigh        "       "       "

Drury              "        "      "

Safri                "         "      " 

Thorne            "          "      "

------------------   ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))   0    [I]

[Canary02 0]

[quote user="Old Yella"]

Before everyone finds the shotgun in the closet let me just say this - there is no arguement that the signing of Huckerby was the single most important point in our promotion season. Also I do not disagree that he has also been our most talented player over the past three years - and that he has pledged his loyalty to NCFC in perpertuity. So what''s my problem ?

Well Darren is probably our biggest earner and has stated on many occasions recently that he is basically on a one and done contract depending on how he feels he is playing - very laudable an attitude too. However unfortunately City are in what one can be most charitably be called the beginning of a rebuilding period - it''s difficult for even the most optimistic of us to believe that we will be truly sorted and ready to make another push for promotion until 2009/10 at the earliest. That''s two years away - Darren in all likelihood won"t be the player he is today so why would he want to spend the last year(s) of his career playing for an at best an average Championship outfit ? and why would we want to pay his wages when the money might better be invested elsewhere ? So what''s the point ?

Replies without gunfire please !

[/quote]

I understand the logic of letting a top earner go who won''t be around when we''re next equipped for a promotion push. However, I think that people like Hucks and Dion are needed for the experience and professionalism they bring. If either were a Robinson or Thorne who adds nothing in terms of commitment or leading by example then I''d be with you, but I still think we get our moneys worth with Hucks, even if the legs slow up. The best trainer at the club, a man who stands up to his agent and decides his own future, hugely committed to the cause. If even a little bit of that rubs off on the youngsters it''s wages well spent.

 

[JC 0]

1.  He and Earnie are the only thing keeping us out of League One.

2.  He is a loyal player, one of very few we currently have.  Thats why he is here.

3.  He has the capability to destroy any team in the division when he is at his best, so why risk losing him to a team in our division?

Sorry, cant see where you are coming from with your post.  You seem to advocate building for the future, without addressing the fact that unless we survive in the now, there is no future.  Huckerby is a key part of surviving the now, and selling him would be absolute suicide.

Loads shotgun......

[quote user="Old Yella"]

Before everyone finds the shotgun in the closet let me just say this - there is no arguement that the signing of Huckerby was the single most important point in our promotion season. Also I do not disagree that he has also been our most talented player over the past three years - and that he has pledged his loyalty to NCFC in perpertuity. So what''s my problem ?

Well Darren is probably our biggest earner and has stated on many occasions recently that he is basically on a one and done contract depending on how he feels he is playing - very laudable an attitude too. However unfortunately City are in what one can be most charitably be called the beginning of a rebuilding period - it''s difficult for even the most optimistic of us to believe that we will be truly sorted and ready to make another push for promotion until 2009/10 at the earliest. That''s two years away - Darren in all likelihood won"t be the player he is today so why would he want to spend the last year(s) of his career playing for an at best an average Championship outfit ? and why would we want to pay his wages when the money might better be invested elsewhere ? So what''s the point ?

Replies without gunfire please !

[/quote]

[BedsCanary 0]

Hasn''t Huckerby delivered and set up more goals than any other player this season?Plus how can you even consider selling him when the likes of Hughes, Robinson, Etuhu and Doherty trudge around the field like headless chickens??Mind boggling!

[Tumbleweed 106]

I agree with Beds, there are far more deserving cases than Darren to let go. He may have his faults (particularly defensively) but if we didn''t have such a poor central midfield and defence there wouldn''t be any question mark over Darren''s contribution. We only have two potential match winners and we should be keeping those while getting rid of the other rot.

I fear that Grant was including Hux when he made his public statement about people being here too long and the need to make unpopular decisions. Hux has never been a tackler and he is wasted in that role- NW made it work in the Championship year and it can work again if he gets the right team together.

[ronbol ronbol 0]

simple - because you build a team around your best players and hux is one of those.

[huck tastic<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Bryan Hamilton could turn this around...<BR><FONT> 0]

I think Hux gets judged by far higher standards than anyone else...even on a bad day he does far more than most of the rest...and lets face it take him out of the side and geez are we struggling for entertainment...

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="Canary02"][quote user="Old Yella"]

Before everyone finds the shotgun in the closet let me just say this - there is no arguement that the signing of Huckerby was the single most important point in our promotion season. Also I do not disagree that he has also been our most talented player over the past three years - and that he has pledged his loyalty to NCFC in perpertuity. So what''s my problem ?

Well Darren is probably our biggest earner and has stated on many occasions recently that he is basically on a one and done contract depending on how he feels he is playing - very laudable an attitude too. However unfortunately City are in what one can be most charitably be called the beginning of a rebuilding period - it''s difficult for even the most optimistic of us to believe that we will be truly sorted and ready to make another push for promotion until 2009/10 at the earliest. That''s two years away - Darren in all likelihood won"t be the player he is today so why would he want to spend the last year(s) of his career playing for an at best an average Championship outfit ? and why would we want to pay his wages when the money might better be invested elsewhere ? So what''s the point ?

Replies without gunfire please !

[/quote]

I understand the logic of letting a top earner go who won''t be around when we''re next equipped for a promotion push. However, I think that people like Hucks and Dion are needed for the experience and professionalism they bring. If either were a Robinson or Thorne who adds nothing in terms of commitment or leading by example then I''d be with you, but I still think we get our moneys worth with Hucks, even if the legs slow up. The best trainer at the club, a man who stands up to his agent and decides his own future, hugely committed to the cause. If even a little bit of that rubs off on the youngsters it''s wages well spent.

 

[/quote]

thats one of the reasons id be tempted to make Flemmo a coach. Release Hucks perhaps to free up the wage bill (which could be a neccessity if we go down, to bne able to be financially viable at a lower level), then we can bring 2 or 3 more kids through on Lower Wages.. someone like Flemmo could coach the kids, having been here nearly 11 years, knows whats it like to play for the club, knows about Loyalty, Professionalism, and how to conduct himself off the pitch. he''d be a great asset and on a lower wage than Hucks, and possibly Dion too.

 The kids could learn alot.. we could of course Make Hucks a coach, but i dont feel he is that sort of player... Good player, fast, skilfull etc but theres more to coaching than that... just couldnt see Darren doing that.. i might be wrong of course.

jas :)

[Chip20 69]

As mentioned above, no successful team is built entirely on youngsters. Even the Busby Babes and Fergie''s Fledglings Man Utd teams had some more seasoned campaigners in their sides to keep the ship steady with their experience.

[Gingerpele 0]

ckerby is a brilliant player and has done very well and can score and cross, but unfortiantly his crosses arnt making many goals even with dublin up-front there arnt enough goals and i hope that changes

[norfolkbroadslim 225]

JC  "1.  He and Earnie are the only thing keeping us out of League One."

Can I add Dion to that?

[Anderz 0]

Transitional phases don''t take place overnight, by the very nature of them being transitional phases. To offload everyone simply on the basis of wages and age would smack of asset-stripping for the sake of asset-stripping and only ever really leads to one outcome - a drop in standards.

I understand the original idea of building a team around newer, fresher players, but to cut everyone out who you perceive not to be a part of the future Norwich City would leave you playing kids and the less-than-desirables (I think we all know who they are)

Build a team for tomorrow around the better aspects that you have at your disposal today and you inherently will end up with a better model down the road.

Discuss...

[Gingerpele 0]

[quote user="sonnycityfan aka Ginger Pele"]ckerby[/quote]opps i ment Huckerby

[big dick sanchez 0]

I''m still convincd its all in Darren''s head, if the right manager came in and challenged him and got the best from himn then he would be close to the player he was in our promotion season.

[Hairy Canary 754]

1. He is part of a very small group of quality players we have, without whome we would be in great danger of relegation.

2. Can you imagine the service provided to the front men from his likely replacements on the left. Dosen''t bear thinking about!

3. He is the only player on the books who can win us a game with a moments magic, even during crap games (maybe Earnie as well).

4. The entertainment he brings. How many season tickets would we lose next year if he went?

5. I love his Roy of the Rovers style, long may it continue.

 

[Mr D 0]

have you got a perscription for that ? You should always build your team around your best players!

[Stevie Wonder 0]

Any rebuilding of the squad should be carried out around Hux, Earnie, Dublin, Croft, Chadwick, Drury, Colin, Shacks & the youngsters such as Rossi J, Spillane, Cave-Brown, Martin, Eagle & Bally Smart.

Hux is the sole reason that I will probably renew my season ticket. Whilst he he isn''t as consisent as he was when he first arrived he is still one of the most exciting players in this division. I still think that if he plays well he is the difference between us winning or losing. Take the Leicester game when he totally destroyed Richard Stearman who is considered to be one of the best young defenders around.

Don''t want to think about a City team without Hux.

[Block E Buh 0]

Hughes, Robinson, Thorne, louis Jean, & Mc Veigh, these are the problem, not Huckerby, him and Earnie are all we have left!!

[BedsCanary 0]

IMO Huckerby''s apparent ''dip'' in form is a direct result of our poor midfield and defence. In our promotion season our defenders were good enough to defend and our midfielders were good enough to win/hold and release the ball. Neither are capable of that anymore so Hucks is forced to defend, scrap, battle and trek back when he needs to be doing what he does best - running at defenders and whipping crosses in.

[K Lo 246]

Hux definately helped to prevent us slipping up against Tamworth. Scored 2, assisted 1.

[Old Yella 0]

The point of this post wasn''t meant to be a criticism of Huckerby but rather to say that in our current predicament and with the point that he has reached in his career that this might not be the best match any longer.

No one denies that Huckerby is a very talented footballer whose legend will live long in the annals of Norwich City..............but

Even Tamworth figured out thate best way to attack us was done the left flank......... yes he scored two goals in that game but the point is that the whole division has figured him and us out - stop Huckerby in defence and attack Huckerby going forward. For himself he needs to play on a better more balanced team where he isn''t the only option. It doesn''t matter how good he is if they put 2/3 men on him and his final ball doesn''t make it we are in trouble. For us - we need grinders - we are in a mess that flair and skill may not get us out of. Right now the ghosts of Gary Holt/Duncan Forbes etc. would look very good in the yellow and green. We are in a fight right now and I don''t believe that this will be good for Huckerby or City.

PS

This is not a defence of other members of the squad - Mcveigh, Docherty,Gallagher, Robinson, Ethuhu (likely to force me to write another post on why useless sods never change their stripes) and possibly Drury, Shackell and a few others should be sent packing.............. There really is a lot of work that needs to be done - and barring  a miracle it won''t happen quickly.

 

[sheded 0]

[quote user="BedsCanary"]IMO Huckerby''s apparent ''dip'' in form is a direct result of our poor midfield and defence. In our promotion season our defenders were good enough to defend and our midfielders were good enough to win/hold and release the ball. Neither are capable of that anymore so Hucks is forced to defend, scrap, battle and trek back when he needs to be doing what he does best - running at defenders and whipping crosses in.
[/quote]

LOL ... your not just whistling Dixie , Beds  !  when the team collapses around him  there`s not a lot Hucks can do about it !!    lets hope Grant   stops trying to make him  a multi position player ,  and  get to grips with  the reality  ....

[Shack Attack 0]

The problem with Hucks seems fairly obvious to me. It''s down to a lack of talent, and confidence, in his team mates.

The way our team is set up means that any opposition manager worth his salt will work out that Hucks is our main creative threat and will therefore attempt to double up on him. In theory this should mean that the opposition are leaving one of our players unmarked elsewhere but we never seem to exploit this. Instead we see the likes of Robinson and Etuhu passing the ball to Hucks when he has two, sometimes three, players around him and just sitting back and expecting him to beat them all. What they should be doing is either taking the ball on themselves or looking for a less obvious pass which will eventually lure the second marker away from Hucks and give him more space.

Hucks best performances for us came in the Championship winning season when the team also included Francis, McKenzie and Svensson, players who all carried a goal threat. The players alongside him now, with the obvious exception of Earnie, don''t carry the same threat which makes it easier for teams to mark Hucks out of the game.

[XXL16 0]

I don''t know, I only know every time when Hucks on the ball there are at least 2 defenders on him, why? Because he was so dangerous to create chances and capable to score and assist goals, 4 years before it is, 4 years after, no change. That''s his worth. No need to argue.

[Lambo 0]

Huckerby is still a vital part to our team and now we might lose Earnshaw it''s even more critical we hang on to him.