The Green Shoots of Recovery?

[Stevie Wonder 0]

Before I get ruthlessly attacked for being wildly optimistic on the back of a couple of wins, I will point out that I have come to the following conclusions over a number of weeks!

I genuinely have a little bit of optimism regarding the future at Carrow Road for the first time since the morning of the Fulham game. The reasons for this are many;

1. Grant seems to have a good nose for a bargain/good player in the transfer market - the signings of Brown, Chadwick, Fotheringham & Lappin for a total of £600K looks like good business.
2. At long last we have got several of our up and coming players out on loan gaining some much needed experience. This is also giving us a chance to see which ones we can dispose of i.e Hendo & Halliday who don''t appear to have pulled up any trees during their loan spells.
3. Grant seems more willing to give the youngsters their chance. Both Martin and Eagle have had decent runs in the team (with differing levels of success I would point out), rather than the odd game here and there as used to be the case in the past.
4. We seem to have regained the fighting team spirit that was a hallmark of Worthy''s first 3 years in charge. The collapses of earlier this season seem to be a little less likely - how many would we have lost by at Preston earlier this season?
5. In general performances have been much better over the last couple of months - with the exception of a crazy 30 mins against Plymouth and a quite dreadful 75 mins against Coventry.
6. The up turn in performances has come when we have been suffering greatly with injuries and suspension i.e noe Earnie & Chadwick. Marshall injured. Croft, Brown, Safri, Hux, Etuhu, Drury & Shackell have all been playing with injuries of late.
7. Grant is gradually assembling his own backroom team. The appointment of the highly regarding Duffy appears to be working. 
8. Grant is gradually weeding out the players who have been under performing - Fleming, Robinson, Louis-Jean and it would seem that Thorne & McVeigh will follow. It seems that Grant is trying to get the squad a bit younger. Only Hux, Safri & Dublin are the wrongside of the 30 and these three all comfortably justify their places.
9. The goalkeeper situation is being addressed, although we have had little luck in this area.
10. In Lewis, Colin, Cave-Brown, Drury, Shackell, Doc, Spillane, Etuhu, Safri, Fozzy, Lappin, Croft, Chadwick, Eagle, Hux, Earnie, Brown, Dublin, Martin & Ryan J are the basis of a pretty useful squad.
11. There seems to be a few useful youngsters coming thru the ranks at last. Martin is the obvious example but Eagle and Spillane have shown some promise in their appearances although maybe not quite ready to make the step up yet. Cave-Brown and Rossi J also show promise. The likes of Steve Arnold and Bally Smart are also showing some promise too.

This is not to say that everything in the garden is rosy. There are a number of issues still to be addressed;

1. The whole issue with the board. New blood of some kind is clearly needed just to freshen things up and bring a new outlook on things (and some more money hopefully).
2. Funds need to be found to strengthen the team. If Earnie is sold then Grant must be given ALL the money from the sale for team strengthening. Just where is the money going? 5 years ago we were able to spend big in the summer (when we signed Emblem, Rivers, Libra, Easton, Holt and Drury) at a time when average crowds were 17/18K. Since then we have had 4 or 5 years of selling out almost every home game and a year in the prem (plus 2 years of parachute payments).
3. The goal keeper and defence need looking at asap. Gallagher/Lewis are OK as a back up but we need to get in Marshall or Camp as the No.1. Drury and Shackell are fine and Doc and Colin should be retained. However, another centre back is a priority along with proper competition at right back (Cave-Brown?). Another central midfielder would be good too. At lot will obviouly depend on who leaves at the end of the season i.e Earnshaw, Safri etc.
4. The fans need to play their part too. The main reason for the success we had under Worthy was our brilliant home form and a large factor in this was the fact that the fans never stopped singing and made Carrow Road an intimidating place for oppositions players to come to - now if we are honest it is probably more intimadating for our own players. Look at the disgraceful treatment meted out to Hughes, Robinson and Thorne - their own "supporters" boo their name when it is read out and cheer when they are substituted. OK they haven''t been the most successful signings in our history (or anywhere near) but they are playing for OUR team (was in the case of Robbo of course). We seem to be heading down the same route with Etuhu and Brown. These players need our 100% backing - after all we want to see the best out of them don''t we?

What I would like to see between now and the end of the season is hopefully another 7/8 wins and a strong finish to the season. The likes of Lewis, Spillane, Cave-Brown and Eagle either loaned out for league experience or get a few games here. Dublin and Martin must have contracts sorted out asap. If this all happens then this season may not be quite such a disaster as it has often appeared it would be!

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Can agree with most of this Stevie.

Good analysis.

Let''s hope you are right, and that Peter Grant has that so important element -good luck at critical junctures.

OTBC

 

[TheMarshmallowMan 0]

Yes, super post here. It''s the type of well balanced, reasoned outlook we''re not getting here anymore.

[BBFF 0]

Yes SW I would go along with most of that. Keep the players fit and with the FULL backing of the board, fingers crossed we could push for a top spot next season.

FOOTBALL MUST COME FIRST

[Evil Monkey 52]

Agree with pretty much most of what you say, Stevie (not so blind after all, I see [;)])... not much to add, really!

[NottsCanary 0]

Brilliant post, top notch mate.

But i would like to see a centre back come in to replace the Doc instead of retaining him to pick any bones...

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

Before I get ruthlessly attacked for being wildly optimistic on the back of a couple of wins, I will point out that I have come to the following conclusions over a number of weeks!

I genuinely have a little bit of optimism regarding the future at Carrow Road for the first time since the morning of the Fulham game. The reasons for this are many;

1. Grant seems to have a good nose for a bargain/good player in the transfer market - the signings of Brown, Chadwick, Fotheringham & Lappin for a total of £600K looks like good business.

2. At long last we have got several of our up and coming players out on loan gaining some much needed experience. This is also giving us a chance to see which ones we can dispose of i.e Hendo & Halliday who don''t appear to have pulled up any trees during their loan spells.

3. Grant seems more willing to give the youngsters their chance. Both Martin and Eagle have had decent runs in the team (with differing levels of success I would point out), rather than the odd game here and there as used to be the case in the past.

4. We seem to have regained the fighting team spirit that was a hallmark of Worthy''s first 3 years in charge. The collapses of earlier this season seem to be a little less likely - how many would we have lost by at Preston earlier this season?

5. In general performances have been much better over the last couple of months - with the exception of a crazy 30 mins against Plymouth and a quite dreadful 75 mins against Coventry.

6. The up turn in performances has come when we have been suffering greatly with injuries and suspension i.e noe Earnie & Chadwick. Marshall injured. Croft, Brown, Safri, Hux, Etuhu, Drury & Shackell have all been playing with injuries of late.

7. Grant is gradually assembling his own backroom team. The appointment of the highly regarding Duffy appears to be working. 

8. Grant is gradually weeding out the players who have been under performing - Fleming, Robinson, Louis-Jean and it would seem that Thorne & McVeigh will follow. It seems that Grant is trying to get the squad a bit younger. Only Hux, Safri & Dublin are the wrongside of the 30 and these three all comfortably justify their places.

9. The goalkeeper situation is being addressed, although we have had little luck in this area.

10. In Lewis, Colin, Cave-Brown, Drury, Shackell, Doc, Spillane, Etuhu, Safri, Fozzy, Lappin, Croft, Chadwick, Eagle, Hux, Earnie, Brown, Dublin, Martin & Ryan J are the basis of a pretty useful squad.

11. There seems to be a few useful youngsters coming thru the ranks at last. Martin is the obvious example but Eagle and Spillane have shown some promise in their appearances although maybe not quite ready to make the step up yet. Cave-Brown and Rossi J also show promise. The likes of Steve Arnold and Bally Smart are also showing some promise too.

This is not to say that everything in the garden is rosy. There are a number of issues still to be addressed;

1. The whole issue with the board. New blood of some kind is clearly needed just to freshen things up and bring a new outlook on things (and some more money hopefully).

2. Funds need to be found to strengthen the team. If Earnie is sold then Grant must be given ALL the money from the sale for team strengthening. Just where is the money going? 5 years ago we were able to spend big in the summer (when we signed Emblem, Rivers, Libra, Easton, Holt and Drury) at a time when average crowds were 17/18K. Since then we have had 4 or 5 years of selling out almost every home game and a year in the prem (plus 2 years of parachute payments).

3. The goal keeper and defence need looking at asap. Gallagher/Lewis are OK as a back up but we need to get in Marshall or Camp as the No.1. Drury and Shackell are fine and Doc and Colin should be retained. However, another centre back is a priority along with proper competition at right back (Cave-Brown?). Another central midfielder would be good too. At lot will obviouly depend on who leaves at the end of the season i.e Earnshaw, Safri etc.

4. The fans need to play their part too. The main reason for the success we had under Worthy was our brilliant home form and a large factor in this was the fact that the fans never stopped singing and made Carrow Road an intimidating place for oppositions players to come to - now if we are honest it is probably more intimadating for our own players. Look at the disgraceful treatment meted out to Hughes, Robinson and Thorne - their own "supporters" boo their name when it is read out and cheer when they are substituted. OK they haven''t been the most successful signings in our history (or anywhere near) but they are playing for OUR team (was in the case of Robbo of course). We seem to be heading down the same route with Etuhu and Brown. These players need our 100% backing - after all we want to see the best out of them don''t we?

What I would like to see between now and the end of the season is hopefully another 7/8 wins and a strong finish to the season. The likes of Lewis, Spillane, Cave-Brown and Eagle either loaned out for league experience or get a few games here. Dublin and Martin must have contracts sorted out asap. If this all happens then this season may not be quite such a disaster as it has often appeared it would be!

[/quote]

Good post and agree with much of what you have put Stevie...  there is always room for improvements to be made however...

We already knew that Chadwick was a capable player at this level and if Lappin''s early form is anything to go by then he also has the necessary skills to play in a squad pushing for the play-offs....  Fotheringham the dury is still very much out on and Brown already seems to be proving his critics right in my opinion.

Think you will find that Safri will be on his way in the summer.

Would say that we are 5 or 6 players (at least away from a decent looking squad, capable of having any impact on those chasing a play-off place next season.

Agree that a new goalkeeper and a couple of new defenders (at least) need to be the priority in the summer with a new centre midfielder and another striker (obviously if Earnie/Safri or anybody else is sold then these players would have to be replaced also and all money coming in must be reinvested straight back in to the playing squad).

If we do this then we will have a chance at performing consistently at the level we should be at... anything less than that will more than likely see us struggling to keep up with the pace....  As you rightly point out it will be key that the club brings all the supporters on side once more...  it is up to them to show some ambition during the summer months in order to achieve this.

 

 

[Yellowfuture 71]

Stevie, I enjoyed reading this, thanks.I think as far as keepers go that Gallagher should move on for our sake and his own. The whole defence is less confident with him in goal and we really cant afford that. A change of turf may also help him to regain his confidence. I would love to see Camp and Marshall with us next year. Joe Lewis needs to get some match experience, he is still young but for me a keeper of his age needs to be playing every week, he has very very little experience at senior level. Perhaps a loan spell would give him regular games and will also give us an idea if he is actually up to the job.

I dont agree with your comments about the fans booing Chris Brown, thats not my experience at the ground.I like him and do see potential there. We seem too ready to look at selling clubs chat rooms and wait for negative prophesy to be fulfilled, they only show a small section of views which as on here can be very one sided from time to time.

I am a strong supporter of Grant, for many reasons but to be honest my main one is his passion and self belief. I believe he can take that into the dressing room and galvanise the team. We havn`t had that since Malky left, it was only after he had gone that we realised what a crucial ingredient that is in any team. We are not going to be a team of superstars so team spirit and good preparation is something we will have to rely on. I see evidence from set piece that we are begining to make some progress there as well.

Lets hope Tuesday we really turn it on and the fans get back to what we used to be!

 

[lucky green trainers 0]

like lots of what you said stevie - i think we''re getting an exciting foward line-up that could get us the goals to challenge for promotion - its stopping them going in at the other end thats the problem.  i''m hoping grant and duffers won''t shilly-shally on this front - we need new personal in, make no mistake.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

excellent post of which I agree with almost all.  When Grant gets in a few more of his players, and hopefully his silly season tactically and in squad selection is now over (a lack of management experience must be affecting him here as surely he is not stupid) Hopefully his more recent balanced sides have shown him the way forward, I feel we can start climbing the league again quick sharp.

[beelsie 0]

Steve and Smudge both good well reasoned posts , agree with almost all thats said, well put.

[sussexcanary 0]

Agree with the majority of what you say except when it comes to our defence.  Our relentless ability to ship goals at crucial times has been our achilles heel for the best part of three seasons and this has been chiefly down to the defence.  Curiously, you want to retain the likes of Drury,Shackell (would keep),Colin and amazingly Docherty (who''s been truly awful this season).  Can you explain this more because i find this totally unbelievable???. Surely, the only way we can challenge next season is to assemble a completely new defence and start from scratch (and this obviously includes a new goalkeeper).

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,221]

Very good post and I agree with most of what you say, personally I am yet to be convinced by Brown, eight games and no goals for a player with experience at this level tells its own story, not that I am suggesting that the fans are right to get on his back, booing your own players is not good.