Forget Sharp, it was only ever the usual feeble effort!.

First Wizard · May 31, 2007

Thats right! just the usual City smokescreen to keep the fans quiet!.

The board are involved with football, and they are fully aware of who the movers and shakers are. They knew full well that when this ''deal''? went public, other teams would also join the hunt.

Then, when it fails, they can then say ''well we tried''.

Fanciful? paranoid?...........I don''t think so.

If you really want a player, you do the deal (Remember Ashton when at Crewe) sign him and make sure the damn selling club keeps stum till its done!.

Remember Morrison? and and a hatfull of close, but failed ''transfers'' targets from our recent past. Mark my words, we will end up with a cheap Jason Jarrett/Brown type replacement for Earnshaw when he goes.

It not so much Grants C'' list now, I reckon we''ve now moved on to XY and Z!.

ricky knight · May 31, 2007

I am afraid you are hitting the nail on the head, if we had got some of the so called targets over the years we would still be in the prem. Also why do we always lose out, do we push hard enough?, ok we are out of the way, but we can offer good facilities, 25,000 fans to play in front of, a good area to live, so we must offer peanuts as wages, something is not right.

mbncfc · May 31, 2007

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Thats right! just the usual City smokescreen to keep the fans quiet!.

The board are involved with football, and they are fully aware of who the movers and shakers are. They knew full well that when this ''deal''? went public, other teams would also join the hunt.

Then, when it fails, they can then say ''well we tried''.

Fanciful? paranoid?...........I don''t think so.

If you really want a player, you do the deal (Remember Ashton when at Crewe) sign him and make sure the damn selling club keeps stum till its done!.

Remember Morrison? and and a hatfull of close, but failed ''transfers'' targets from our recent past. Mark my words, we will end up with a cheap Jason Jarrett/Brown type replacement for Earnshaw when he goes.

It not so much Grants C'' list now, I reckon we''ve now moved on to XY and Z!.

[/quote]

The problem is Wiz, does that mean we do not try in the first place?

Unlike previously, we will probably miss out because we are short of money and have been sadly lacking over the last two seasons.

Previously it was possibly due to a lack of backing from the board, or being reactive rather than proactive. (maybe)

At least PG seems to have an X, Y and Z list. Last season Earnie would have already gone and we wouldn''t be getting ANYONE in.

Mark Barham Appreciation Society · May 31, 2007

I''ll bet it was Scunthorpe or Sharp''s "Mr 10%" that went public. And why wouldn''t they ? They want to get the best (read : highest money) offer for their chap. I''m quite sure Scunthorpe would like nothing more than a bidding war to break out. And when they have such a sought after player, how is it in their interest to keep it quiet ?

It''s now down to our management team to try and sell Norfolk, the club, the training facilities, the manager''s ambition, etc. to this chap to try and compete against the (quite possibly to a non-Norwich supporter) more attractive offers.

Personally I thought it made a pleasant change to be getting our bid in early - rather than Worthy''s "oh maybe I''ll have a look at him when I''m back from my holidays" approach. Surely it shows the club are actively looking for players of the right calibre and are prepared to put up the money ?

The poster known as alex_ncfc · May 31, 2007

"Last season Earnie would have already gone and we wouldn''t be getting ANYONE in."

Err, there''s still time for that to happen. And I wouldn''t bet against it either.

One Flew Over... · May 31, 2007

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

If you really want a player, you do the deal (Remember Ashton when at Crewe) sign him and make sure the damn selling club keeps stum till its done!.

[/quote]

Surely it is in the interests of the selling club, the player''s agent, and the player himself for a possible deal to go public and to see if any other clubs are prepared to offer a better deal.

If the Ashton deal was kept quiet (which I don''t remember..), then maybe it was due to Crewe negotiating a 20% sell on clause and Ashton having a family member for an agent.

ricardo · May 31, 2007

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Thats right! just the usual City smokescreen to keep the fans quiet!.

The board are involved with football, and they are fully aware of who the movers and shakers are. They knew full well that when this ''deal''? went public, other teams would also join the hunt.

Then, when it fails, they can then say ''well we tried''.

Fanciful? paranoid?...........I don''t think so.

If you really want a player, you do the deal (Remember Ashton when at Crewe) sign him and make sure the damn selling club keeps stum till its done!.

Remember Morrison? and and a hatfull of close, but failed ''transfers'' targets from our recent past. Mark my words, we will end up with a cheap Jason Jarrett/Brown type replacement for Earnshaw when he goes.

It not so much Grants C'' list now, I reckon we''ve now moved on to XY and Z!.

[/quote]

Unfortunately Wiz, it wasn''t City who mouthed off about the bid. It was Scunthorpe who revealed that we had come in with an offer.

When a selling club have a player who is in demand it is obviously in their interests to get a bidding war going. I can''t really see how you can blame City for the fact that other clubs are interested and that Scunthorpe want to maximize their profit.

mbncfc · May 31, 2007

[quote user="The poster known as alex_ncfc"]

"Last season Earnie would have already gone and we wouldn''t be getting ANYONE in."

Err, there''s still time for that to happen. And I wouldn''t bet against it either.

[/quote]

I''ll take that bet Alex. If we sell Earnie and do not bring in another striker, I''ll buy you a cyber pint... [B]

Hog · May 31, 2007

yes the club did make it public, but according to reports our bid had been accepted. It was the agent that then touted his player to every club

Old Shuck · May 31, 2007

We can try as much as we like, but we can''t force the player to join us!

We have a lot going for us-great area to live, club has excellent facilities, ground, support, good squad of players...

BUT...a young footballer is going to be swayed by other things-how far is it from family/girlfriend/London, whats the nightlife like, is it a "party" town etc etc, how "big" is the club-hey, Wolves, West Brom, they''re big clubs ain''t they and West Brom is (grunt) near Birmingham innit....Norwich, wheres that, Norfolk, all tractors and carrots mate, don''t wanna go there!

So we can push-push-push and I''m sure we did, but if thats their way of thinking, then what can we do?

The poster known as alex_ncfc · May 31, 2007

[quote user="mbncfc"][quote user="The poster known as alex_ncfc"]

"Last season Earnie would have already gone and we wouldn''t be getting ANYONE in."

Err, there''s still time for that to happen. And I wouldn''t bet against it either.

[/quote]

I''ll take that bet Alex. If we sell Earnie and do not bring in another striker, I''ll buy you a cyber pint... [B]

[/quote]

Okie doke [B]

ricky knight · May 31, 2007

[quote user="Mark Barham Appreciation Society"]

I''ll bet it was Scunthorpe or Sharp''s "Mr 10%" that went public. And why wouldn''t they ? They want to get the best (read : highest money) offer for their chap. I''m quite sure Scunthorpe would like nothing more than a bidding war to break out. And when they have such a sought after player, how is it in their interest to keep it quiet ?

It''s now down to our management team to try and sell Norfolk, the club, the training facilities, the manager''s ambition, etc. to this chap to try and compete against the (quite possibly to a non-Norwich supporter) more attractive offers.

Personally I thought it made a pleasant change to be getting our bid in early - rather than Worthy''s "oh maybe I''ll have a look at him when I''m back from my holidays" approach. Surely it shows the club are actively looking for players of the right calibre and are prepared to put up the money ?

[/quote]

I always rember Worthy keeping deals quite close to his chest but there you go, he is the blame for everything thats bad at Carrow Road. You can have the best idea''s as a manager if the board has no bottle, what can you do.

Smudger · May 31, 2007

[quote user="ricky knight"][quote user="Mark Barham Appreciation Society"]

I''ll bet it was Scunthorpe or Sharp''s "Mr 10%" that went public. And why wouldn''t they ? They want to get the best (read : highest money) offer for their chap. I''m quite sure Scunthorpe would like nothing more than a bidding war to break out. And when they have such a sought after player, how is it in their interest to keep it quiet ?

It''s now down to our management team to try and sell Norfolk, the club, the training facilities, the manager''s ambition, etc. to this chap to try and compete against the (quite possibly to a non-Norwich supporter) more attractive offers.

Personally I thought it made a pleasant change to be getting our bid in early - rather than Worthy''s "oh maybe I''ll have a look at him when I''m back from my holidays" approach. Surely it shows the club are actively looking for players of the right calibre and are prepared to put up the money ?

[/quote]

I always rember Worthy keeping deals quite close to his chest but there you go, he is the blame for everything thats bad at Carrow Road. You can have the best idea''s as a manager if the board has no bottle, what can you do.

[/quote]

Absolutely spot on RICKY...

We are back to the old ''if only the board had given Worthy the cash for Ashton at the start of the season chesnut'' here again aren''t we????

Earnie and Sharp togther would not work anyway for those who think that he ain''t being groomed as Earnie''s replacement. Wolves or West Brom will get him anyway so why not start looking at somebody else??? Even in the unlikely event that we were to get Sharp then we would still need to keep looking for somebody to play alongside him (as Earnie will be off before the ink on Sharp''s newly signed contract is dry with all the profits inevitably going striaght in to further off-field activities).

Boogle · May 31, 2007

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Thats right! just the usual City smokescreen to keep the fans quiet!.

The board are involved with football, and they are fully aware of who the movers and shakers are. They knew full well that when this ''deal''? went public, other teams would also join the hunt.

Then, when it fails, they can then say ''well we tried''.

Fanciful? paranoid?...........I don''t think so.

If you really want a player, you do the deal (Remember Ashton when at Crewe) sign him and make sure the damn selling club keeps stum till its done!.

Remember Morrison? and and a hatfull of close, but failed ''transfers'' targets from our recent past. Mark my words, we will end up with a cheap Jason Jarrett/Brown type replacement for Earnshaw when he goes.

It not so much Grants C'' list now, I reckon we''ve now moved on to XY and Z!.

[/quote]

Have to agree.

This happens far too regular. When you want a player you know other clubs are looking at you do it as quickly and quietly as possible.

What i also remember from the clinton morrison case was the money we supposedly wanted to spend was never actually spent.

I wonder if this 2m plus striker we are looking for will ever actually happen or is it all pr spin?

megson · May 31, 2007

Well its not spin, you can''t table a bid you can''t back up, and if no one else had come in for him we''d look pretty silly saying "er sorry we don''t actually have the cash" wouldn''t we?

NCFC can''t control a players agent. If he believes he can earn more for (himself) his player by letting the media know a bidding war may be starting then he will do.

The club HAVE kept the deal quiet, no offiical comment as per the usual, all the media comments have come from the parties the club has no control over.

Really can''t see how this is the club''s fault.

Mello Yello · May 31, 2007

I know it was all a ''proper gander'' exercise...........Because, I actually heard from my contact (sshhh) it''s just between you and me, OK? That at no time, and fairly recently I think, did ''Nearly Dorchester'' who is our ever present eventguard matron and Club Sandwich Cheese Expletive......Fill his car up with motion lotion, pack his overnight bag with his Pocoyo JimJams and Dougal slippers. Place his "it''s been used to sign a multitude of lucrative contracts" lucky Parker Pen in his suit pocket. Or set his Satnav for Scunny. Or arrange tea at his immediate relatives who reside outside of Norfolk.[N]

So it was never gonna be.........AWRIGHT![:|]

Oh, and he didn''t put his asbestos oven glove on his right hand to protect him from the searing heat from his phone - coz it''s normally so "Damn Hot!"[8-|]

Branston Pickle · May 31, 2007

[quote user="megson"]

Well its not spin, you can''t table a bid you can''t back up, and if no one else had come in for him we''d look pretty silly saying "er sorry we don''t actually have the cash" wouldn''t we?

NCFC can''t control a players agent. If he believes he can earn more for (himself) his player by letting the media know a bidding war may be starting then he will do.

The club HAVE kept the deal quiet, no offiical comment as per the usual, all the media comments have come from the parties the club has no control over.

Really can''t see how this is the club''s fault.

[/quote]

Couldn''t agree more; all the media stuff has come from Scunthorpe''s chairman, seemingly trying to drum up the price. Our club has not commented, so I fail to see how can it be blamed for its bid getting out. Wiz seems to think we could somehow stop Scunny talking to the media but I fail to see how, exactly, we would do this. There seems to be several people around here who want to have a go at the club at any opportunity, but imo they have acted properly in all this.

I for one am still mildly surprised and quite pleased that we are in the position we are - ie tabling decent bids this early on in the close season for decent players. Ok, we need to actually get some signings but I am assured they will come. There are two things that people do seem to be forgetting in all this:

- that we are still in May and the season only finished earlier in the week, so there is plenty of time, and

- that we seem to have found a pretty decent pile of ££ and are being linked with a stream of promising players. Ok some will unsurprisingly choose a different club, but if you aren''t even in the frame to sign these players you will never get them.

Surely this is about 50 times better than last season, when Worthy only seemed interested in his holidays at this stage in the game.

a1canary · June 1, 2007

Oh good god do we have to do this all over again? I''m sure Wiz wheeled out this same old clap trap with the huckerby saga when he went back to Man C - "we were never trying to get him it''s an outrage..." blah blah YAWN. And again with Ashton "now WBA have come in with a bid we''re never going to get him, we never intended to sign him, it''s all spin..." People ended up looking pretty stupid on those occassions, yet they sink away amid the euphoria of those signings only to resurface with the same cr*p the next time we''re after someone.Now i don''t reckon we''ll get Sharp because Scunny have invited and whipped up - deliberately and legitimately - a bidding war that we are never going to win against Wolves'' £££.BUT TO SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD SOMEHOW HAVE PULLED OFF A SECRET DEAL WITH SCUNNY, ALL THE WHILE MAKING SURE THEY DON''T TALK TO ANYONE ELSE, OR SEEK TO GET AN AUCTION GOING, IS ABSOLUTE CLOUD CUCKOO LAND, A PLACE THAT NOTHING BUT DREAMS, GOBLINS , WITCHES AND YES, YOU GUESSED IT, WIZARDS INHABIT. AND BY THE WAY, WE GOT ASHTON BECAUSE WE WON, YES WON, THE AUCTION FOR HIM - NO-ONE ELSE WAS PREPARED TO SPLASH OUT THE MONEY WE WERE, THAT''S WHY WE GOT HIM, NOT BECAUSE OF SOME SECRET DEAL. Sorry about the caps, sometimes the rubbish that get''s written on here just makes me want to shout! Why can''t people just accept that PG would have identified a player, there''s a chance that player could be lured away for the right money, so we make a bid, the other club go public and get an auction going, and we lose out on this auction. It''s really quite simple. No conspiracies, no dodgy dealings, outrageous lies or deceptions, just typical football business. [:@]

Putney Canary · June 1, 2007

Our club had no control over keeping this quiet. It would have been bad business for Scunthorpe and his agent to keep it quiet, their job is to get as much as possible. This means going public. There were always going to be offers to Sharp, well done to us for getting in early. We get to talk to the player first, now we have a bid accepted by the club its down to the player and his agent. If Sharp wants as much cash as possible, I expect he will go to Wolves. I would also expect that Wolves offer the best hope of promotion next season. They have to be favourites, but you never know...

stewfil · June 1, 2007

agree!!

hopefully, however, sharp is not the only one grant is interested in for that position, as he should also be aware of the way these negotiations are made public creating a bidding war.

it will depend sometimes on the background and character of the player whether he chooses to come to norfolk or is strong enough to overule his agent''s greed. if he wants to party, he probably might not be suitable either.

let''s hope that grant has one or two other options and that we will be pleasantly surprised.

Gingembre · June 1, 2007

I''m not sure we are ever actually linked anyway.I think the press see a player for sale and ''assume'' we are after him.Then it looks like we lost out, but the club are happy as the fans think we are constantly chasing people.You should all know by now that NCFC always conduct things quietly then announce signings.

megson · June 1, 2007

Scunthorpe themselves said we had had a bid accepted.

IF that wasn''t true the club would of said as much, as htewy have before.

The fact that we''ve said nothing leads me to believe that Scunthorpe were telling the truth that they have accepted our bid, and doing so to give notice to other clubs that they needed to get in quick if they wanted him!

tim howard? · June 1, 2007

spot on wiz im afraid i cannot see him wanting to come to norwich and the board i agree are using this rumour a s an excuse to make it look like we tried .lets face it earnshaw couldnt have made it clearer that he was of to the prem and the fact we are bidding for replacements this early its clear they are obviously looking for a smokescreen.we didnt show anything last season to attract players like varney or sharp and we can only hope for someone like karl hawley to take pity and join us .

we have always been used as a stepping stone to bigger things take ashton ,sutton,eadie, green and now earnshaw(surely of) and i honestly cant see us ever managing to keep on to good players unless we make things happen and the board back grant to get into the prem.

First Wizard · June 2, 2007

Jeez, read my post guys!.

I acknowledged that City did make an offer for Sharp.

But the whole crux of my arguement was that City made it in the certain knowledge that other clubs would come in and offer the lad better prospects, wages etc, then we could.

Thus, they knew the deal was a certain non starter from the begining, but at the same time it made them look good in the eyes of their fans.

The last poster Tim Howard managed to understand that.......... why can''t you?.

Indy_Bones · June 3, 2007

Come off it Wiz, that''s absolute nonsense.Other clubs are interested in signing a player, so we shouldn''t even make the effort to bid because they''ll choose someone else anyway?The deal on offer is most certainly not a non-starter, the real debate will come around, when or even if, Wolves do actually make a bid, and Sharp sees how their offer compares to ours. They''re not guaranteed to be offering him better terms (although it would be highly likely), nor is he guaranteed to prefer a move to them instead of us.The point being that unless we bother to make a move for a player, we''ll never sign anyone, and whilst I could see your point if it was for a player way out of our league or pricing e.g. Steven Gerrard etc, I''d understand the viewpoint, but Sharp certainly does not fit into this category.There have been a number of players who have turned down ''better'' offers, a prime example being Damien Duff. Spurs came in with a 10 million pound deal, offered excellent wages and a guaranteed spot on the left wing, and Duff turned this down to go instead to Newcastle who only bid 5 million and have been nowhere near to Tottenham in recent seasons. I guess Spurs should have saved their breath when clearly he wasn''t a viable signing???There''s usually a certain amount of spin around any transfers these days - at our club and everyone elses, but I''d rather be seeing that we''ve tried to sign a player and got pipped to the signature, than see no effort at all, and we end up panic buying before the season begins, just to try and somehow get players in (who''s ability is often questionable).We''re linked with two top quality players - Marshall and Sharp (along with the Sutton rumour), and instead of this being seen as a great step forward, it''s being dismissed as nothing more than spin, very pessimistic and unncessarily harsh IMHO - any chance of getting behind the club on this instead?

YankeeCanary · June 3, 2007

The reason many have difficulty understanding your point of view Wizard is because there''s no pleasing you. If we don''t go after good quality you''re quick to judgement, pointing out the minimal number of second raters we''ll bring in. If we do go after good quality you''re quick to judge we''re not really serious. If we sign good quality ( think Ashton or Earnshaw ) even after the club has made it attractive for those individuals to stay you can hardly wait to tell the players to sod off.

I would imagine your good lady makes your tea each morning. If you''re true to form it must go something like this:

Day 1 - You didn''t leave the tea bag in long enough dear

Day 2 - There''s too much milk dear

Day 3 - There''s not enough sugar dear

Day 4 - The tea tastes okay dear but I wanted coffee this morning.

First Wizard · June 4, 2007

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]Come off it Wiz, that''s absolute nonsense.

We''re linked with two top quality players - Marshall and Sharp (along with the Sutton rumour), and instead of this being seen as a great step forward, it''s being dismissed as nothing more than spin, very pessimistic and unncessarily harsh IMHO - any chance of getting behind the club on this instead?
[/quote]

Sorry Indy:

but its no good you trying the emotional blackmail stuff of me getting behind the club...........I''m immune to it!, after 50 years of support I''m still a City supporter.

But I won''t swallow spin and cr*p from the worse board this clubs ever had, and I include Chase in that!.

We were linked last year with many players..................and none actually came. Likewise, I''ll eat my wand if Sharp.....or Marshall.......comes here, Sutton has already said no, even before an alleged offer by the club is made!.

Yankee Canary wrote:

''even after the club has made it attractive for those individuals to stay you can hardly wait to tell the players to sod off''.

If a player (even Earnshaw who I loved as a player) says he doesn''t want to stay at the club, then, to me that player is no longer interested, or cares, about NCFC.

So yes, they can sod off!.

nutty nigel · June 4, 2007

[quote user="YankeeCanary"]

I would imagine your good lady makes your tea each morning. If you''re true to form it must go something like this:

Day 1 - You didn''t leave the tea bag in long enough dear

Day 2 - There''s too much milk dear

Day 3 - There''s not enough sugar dear

Day 4 - The tea tastes okay dear but I wanted coffee this morning.

[/quote]

[8]"Right," said Wiz, "Both of us together One on each end and steady as we go." Tried to shift it, couldn''t even lift it We was getting nowhere And so we had a cuppa tea [C]and

"Right," said Wiz, "Give a shout for Smudger [:@]." Up comes Smudger from the floor below. After strainin'', heavin'' and complainin'' We was getting nowhere And so we had a cuppa tea[C].

And Smudger had a think[I], and he thought we ought to take off all the handles And the things wot held the candles. But it did no good, well I never thought it would[8-)] "All right," said Wiz[I], "Have to take the feet off To get them feet off wouldn''t take a mo[O]."

Took its feet off, even took the seat off Should have got us somewhere but no! So Wiz said, "Let''s have a cuppa tea.[C]" And we said, "right-o[Y]."

"Right," said Wiz,[I] "Have to take the door off Need more space to shift the so-and-so." Had bad twinges taking off the hinges And it got us nowhere And so we had a cuppa tea [C]and

"Right," said Wiz,[I] " Have to take the wall down, That there wall is gonna have to go." Took the wall down, even with it all down We was getting nowhere And so we had a cuppa tea[C].

And Smudger had a think,[I] and he said, "Look, Wiz, I get a sort of feelin'' If we remove the ceilin'' With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through."[um]

"All right," said Wiz, climbing up a ladder With his crowbar gave a mighty blow[li]. Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.[:''(] So Smudger and me had another cuppa tea[C] And then we went home.

(I said to Smudger, "We''ll just have to leave it Standing on the landing, that''s all Trouble with Wiz is, he''s too hasty Never get nowhere if you''re too hasty.")

blahblahblah · June 4, 2007

Oh dear Wiz.We had a bid accepted by Scunny for Sharp. Scunny / Sharps'' agent have then kicked off the bidding war you claim doesn''t exist in announcing that the Baggies and Wolves were also interested in him. That bid is not spin, that''s 2.5 million in used notes waiting to change hands.What do you want the club to do, kidnap the bloke, place him under house arrest, and let him out on Saturdays and Tuesday evenings onto the pitch wearing a tag ?If Billy Sharp wants to play elsewhere, we can''t make him play for us. If he doesn''t want to play for us, I wouldn''t blame you in telling him to sod off. On the other hand, the last time I checked, Robert Earnshaw still plays for us, and being a model pro, will give us 100% until he is offered a deal elsewhere.What''s it like in the eye of the storm in your head ? I hope it''s calm, for your sake.

First Wizard · June 4, 2007

[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="YankeeCanary"]