Not meant to be negative, i promise....

[H4H 0]

Now this is not meant to be a negative post!!! But looking at the league this season I believe we have just as much chance of going down as we do going up. That doesn’t mean I think we are going to go down but it such an open league this season. I think PG has brought in some good signings this closed season but what if they all turn out to be tripe, and come Christmas were 17/18/19^th in the league!! Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

 

Sure it wont happen and we will be fighting at the right end come April!!!

 

Come on you yellows!!!!!!

[NCFC_Chris 0]

i see where you''re coming from, i''m not certain we''ll challenge for the top 6 but i think we have a good chance, i''m convinced though that Brellier and Marshall will be big players for us

[colneycanary 0]

Most football pundits have put us to finish mid table and i think they have got it spot on. We have signed a great keeper in marshall and i think brellier is a good signing but no-one else really stands out at you and i can only see a little improvment on last season. But when peter grant is giving trials to players who can''t make it at plymouth what do you expect?

[lobster catcher 0]

What were our odds of winning the league in our championship year,if i remember not good

[ricky knight 0]

If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

[quote user="lobster catcher"]What were our odds of winning the league in our championship year,if i remember not good[/quote]

But we didn''t have Huckerby at the start of that season did we? If it wasn''t for "those" loan signings we wouldn''t have gone up.

[Positive & Proud Canary 0]

Come on you lot, who cares what the pundits think we can do it, and why in your post did you not mention the fact we signed the leading goalscorer in the championship. Is Curtains no good, was he a flash in the pan. Please, please you lot be POSITIVE we can achieve (with a bit of luck) the play-offs or automatic promotion

[claus 0]

Yes this is what i want to hear some optimisom at last. I feel the same really, it doesnt matter what anyone else thinks, I really hope that the team clicks and we do end up having some kind of success this season, and i think its possible. And as you said a bit of luck wouldnt go amiss.

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

relegation is not an issue this season.  Especially if a decent centre back is signed.  The play-offs can still be acheived, especially if Hucks can be properly accomodated into the team.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Not wanting to be negative but..............

Is Brellier called ''Judge'' because he spends most of his time on the bench?

[Ginja 26]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]Just out of curiosity, who would you have realistically signed?

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

Spot on Ricky and Stevie....  [Y]

Pundits and most of the national press have said that we would be very lucky to improve a little on the 16th place that we finsihed last season.

We are very unlikely to challenge the top ten let alone the top six.... and unless another £3million plus is spent on a quality centre back, permanent centre midfielder and another striker at the very least then this is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.

[In Dubious Battle 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

David Marshall hasn''t immpressed you then? christ what does the bloke have to do to attain the wow factor? and top scorer in our league last season??? don''t realsitically see how we could have topped that as far as strikers go

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

But surely Riordan is unproven at this level too? I don''t recall PG saying he was even interested in him but suddenly everybody is using him to prove how unambitious we are.

The likes of Drury, McKenzie, Francis and Holt were all unproven at this level when they arrived but eventually they gelled as a team and got us promoted. Sometimes it''s better to assemble a team with a point to prove than relying on players who have been kicking about the same division for years.

[geo374 0]

[quote user="Oli"]

Now this is not meant to be a negative post!!! But looking at the league this season I believe we have just as much chance of going down as we do going up. That doesn’t mean I think we are going to go down but it such an open league this season. I think PG has brought in some good signings this closed season but what if they all turn out to be tripe, and come Christmas were 17/18/19^th in the league!! Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

 

Sure it wont happen and we will be fighting at the right end come April!!!

 

Come on you yellows!!!!!![/quote]

 

You say that PG has some good signings but once playing together they may not turn out to be so. This is unlikely but could also be true, however, the same could be said of the signings at other teams, who may in fact make their teams worse and in so doing push Norwich further up the table.

Lets be positive!

 

 

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"]relegation is not an issue this season.  Especially if a decent centre back is signed.  The play-offs can still be acheived, especially if Hucks can be properly accomodated into the team.[/quote]

I think we could get relegated if injuries etc hit hard but I can''t see it.  You are spot on about Hux who needs to be given freedom this season, not tied down to left midfield and given little defensive duties.  It will be interesting to see if Grant will use him in the "hole" between midfield and attack this year.

[Gingerpele 0]

personally i thik your right, we could go down or up, we technically have a good suqad cappable of stopping goals and scoring loads, but i think it is how Grant manages that will provide the outcome, if he rotates to much when it is not needed then well it may not be as good, as you see with some teams.

[Chip20 69]

I agree. It''s impossible to forecast how well we will do purely on the basis of the signings we have made. There are far too many other factors that go into how a season pans out. I am aware that other clubs have, on paper, stronger squads than we do and, equally, there are plenty of teams with a worse-looking bunch to choose from. A lot will come down to how injuries and suspensions hit us and other clubs, how well our own players ''gel'', how much confidence our team and others develop, one-or-two refereeing decisions etc. A squad of average players can over-achieve if the team spirit is good and a squad of quality players can under-perform given the wrong mixture of personalities.

You just can''t predict how well we''ll do; that''s what makes it so exciting.

Can''t wait for Saturday!!!!!

[macdougalls perm 0]

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"][quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

David Marshall hasn''t immpressed you then? christ what does the bloke have to do to attain the wow factor? and top scorer in our league last season??? don''t realsitically see how we could have topped that as far as strikers go

[/quote]

This says it all SHTTA, imo. To be honest, nobody knows how it is going to pan out when the season actually begins but to say that Marshall isn''t an impressive signing indicates a biased analysis as far as I can see. And, as Shack Attack points out, surely Riordan is also ''"unproven" in this league''. As I say, nobody knows how we will do until we kick off the season proper. My main concern is our weakness in central defence and it looks as though Grant is perfectly well aware of that!  

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="UEA Graduate Canary"][quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

Just out of curiosity, who would you have realistically signed?
[/quote]

Riordan, Commins, McLeod, Ben Watson & one of Collins, Davenport, Dailly or Gabbidon. I don''t disagree with any of the signings per se I just think we are still short in spme areas and for me none of the signings have xcited me!

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"][quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

[quote user="ricky knight"]If i say we will finish midtable if lucky i get called allsorts, but i dont genuinely think our signings are good enough, we lack pace all round and our defence as a unit is not good enough, i hope i am proved wrong.[/quote]

Couldn''t have put it any better!

I don''t want to be negative but a lot of our signings are "unproven" in this league and none of the signings have that wow factor for me. If we could get Riordan and a decent centre half in then I will feel a lot happier.

[/quote]

David Marshall hasn''t immpressed you then? christ what does the bloke have to do to attain the wow factor? and top scorer in our league last season??? don''t realsitically see how we could have topped that as far as strikers go

[/quote]

Marshall looks a great signing but keepers don''t have a wow factor for me I''m afraid (even though I play in goal!). However, I would just point out that without a decent centre half in front of him he won''t get us promoted.

If you think a 32 year old with one season of goals at this level is what we should aim for then that is fine. Personally, I want to see someone who will score the goals to get us promoted and be good/young enough to continue doing that job in the prem - the likes of Riordan, Sharp, McLeod or even Eastwood have more chance of this than Jamie.

[Stevie Wonder 0]

Macd''s perm (sorry keep getting that stupid non matching quotes comment so can''t quote your comments)

Where in my comments do I say I am unimpressed with Marshall? For me keepers don''t have that wow factor i.e such as Hux, Earnie, Ashton or Bentley. Marshall has looked and would appear to be the best of our signings. If you care to look at my other posts you will note that I hve consistently said Marshall looks like a decent signing.

As for the centre half, we have all bl**dy summer to get one in but none have arrived. Surely we should have been able to get someone in?

Sadly too many of our fans have double standards - we sign former players and its a great move the binners do it and its very funny lets take the p*ss time. Leicester sign a whole host of joourneymen and unknown foreigners and they are all rubbish - we do pretty much the same thing and they are all great players who will be Norwich Legends. Now that is biased analysis!!!!!

Believe me, I really hope all our new players work out but perhaps I am cynical as the last time we brought lots of players into the club (the 8/9 months after relegation) they were all rubbish and none of them are now at the club!!!

[macdougalls perm 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

Macd''s perm (sorry keep getting that stupid non matching quotes comment so can''t quote your comments)

Where in my comments do I say I am unimpressed with Marshall? For me keepers don''t have that wow factor i.e such as Hux, Earnie, Ashton or Bentley. Marshall has looked and would appear to be the best of our signings. If you care to look at my other posts you will note that I hve consistently said Marshall looks like a decent signing.

As for the centre half, we have all bl**dy summer to get one in but none have arrived. Surely we should have been able to get someone in?

Sadly too many of our fans have double standards - we sign former players and its a great move the binners do it and its very funny lets take the p*ss time. Leicester sign a whole host of joourneymen and unknown foreigners and they are all rubbish - we do pretty much the same thing and they are all great players who will be Norwich Legends. Now that is biased analysis!!!!!

Believe me, I really hope all our new players work out but perhaps I am cynical as the last time we brought lots of players into the club (the 8/9 months after relegation) they were all rubbish and none of them are now at the club!!!

[/quote]

Sorry, I assumed that your comments about signings implied that you weren''t impressed with the signing of Marshall. For me, personally, that signing does have the wow factor - I think he could be crucial - certainly if you remember settling in to your seat at Carrow Rd and getting that sinking feeling as Gallacher trotted out to take his place between the sticks [:)]. I think he is easily as important as Earnie who, despite his goal scoring (which I concede is a vital aspect) was the most selfish player I think I have ever seen at Carrow Rd thus disrupting any attempts at team play. I agree wholeheartedly with your double standards quote, but I feel that this also works both ways - players we have been interested in have been disregarded on here as useless, only for them to be hailed as a sign of our lack of ambition when another team does sign them. On the whole I agree with what a lot of you are saying, in particular, our desperate need for a centre back.

I will, however, take issue with you on Cureton though because I think you are being unfair. Yes, it is just one great season but then what have Eastwood or Sharp done that is any better for them to be considered ''proven''? And their good season was at a lower level - Eastwood , imo, looked particularly unspectacular in this division last season. The only thing that I think you can point to is age which, considering Cureton is only 30, is very unfair or, at least unreasonable. He was certainly integral to Colchester''s huge overachievement last season. I am actually very happy with his signing (he was the highest scorer in THIS division last season after all)  but, only time will tell, starting today. [:)]

 

[Stevie Wonder 0]

Cureton is 32 not 30. This means he will probably see out his 3 year contact and then drop a league or 2. My point about Sharp and Eastwood was mainly age related. They are both young enough to improve and develop whereas JC is unlikely to get much better. I take your point about the experience at this level.

I have to say though that given the choice of Cureton at £750K (or even the £1M quoted by some sources) or Riordan for the same sort of money I know who I would have gone for!