THE KEY ISSUE!

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

I am reasonably happy with the balance and make up of the squad; Roeder has brought in plenty of new faces and freshened things up.

To be fair, these players need time to gel and I agree with the views of ''The Man'' that the Spurs game was the wrong game at the wrong time.

In recent seasons our defence has been our best area with the much maligned Doc a key figure. Even during Roeder''s best run it was single goal wins courtesy of a tight defence and a predatory Ched Evans which did the trick. Infact, with our inability to hold the ball in midfield the defence has done spectacularly well as it has been unprotected.

I believe Roeder has strengthened that defence and has many more midfield options; the key area is that which has plagued us since the too soon disposal of Iwan Roberts....the attack.

Norwich have always lacked goals and one of the few things to have historically galled me about Ipswich Town is their ability to score hatfuls. Why oh why are we a Club incapable of regularly winning by two clear goals or even taking sides to the cleaners by putting four or five past them. It has always bugged me; even when we do play well we end up thrashing teams 2-0 or 3-1 when it should have been more.

Back in the days of Boyer and MacDougall under the effervescent John Bond we were goal-scorers and it was fantastic: but during our greatest ever spell when outplaying teams in the early Premiership we won only narrowly.

In Dean Ashton we spent the cash and had a striker we could all believe in. It was a short honeymoon, though and after Fulham he never really looked like the same player.

So for me the difference this season between mediocre tight games and nailbiting finishes for a position in the bottom half of the table and more enjoyable matches with play off aspirations is what striker(s)  Roeder can sign in the short term. We clearly need a big mobile striker to make sense of what else we have and this has to be something worth paying for. I am impressed at the ages of the players Roeder has signed and a 24 to 28 year old striker in the right mould would be spot on. I don''t want to see an over-aged or under aged straw-clutching option I want to see the Board back a serious option for a keystone player, mobile and able to hold up the ball.

I want to give Roeder time, at least another two seasons but like the old rhyme about ''for the sake of a nail the shoe was lost'' I  don''t want to face another season like last because the Club could not or would not invest in forwards. If they had invested in Ashton sooner we would have remained in the Premier League (as it was we made money on him).....it is time the Board showed they have learned lessons.

Sign us a big, mobile,  talismanic striker Roeder................or pay a bigger price.

[Stevo 0]

Great post Rudy.....couldn''t agree more. I guess the key is which players actually fit the bill? Proven goalscorers will always be expensive and those aged between 24-28 should be in their prime which in itself carries a premium. I fear that the ''finished article'' is beyond our means and our best bet is to go for a lower league striker in the hope they can step up or a youngster who is struggling to break through at a premiership club.

I guess that''s why we have been linked with Caroll at Newcastle....the type of player who is perhaps within our budget and should go up in value with experience. Unfortunately it seems as though the club are either unwilling or more likely unable to make a serious offer on a single player who would represent something of a gamble.

It will be interesting to see if Bristol City''s £2 million ''punt'' pays off next year

[ncfcstar 342]

Totally agree Rudolph, we do need exactly the sort of player you are talking about, maybe not always to start but definitely to be able to get us out of this league.

Not sure if I agree with you about Roberts, but that is by the by, since then we have had two great strikers in both Ashton and Earnshaw, hopefully Roeder can bring in someone who can excite fans like all 3 of those players did.

I back Glenn completely, so far I have not seen him do anything that I disagree with, he needed to change the culture around the club, and that is exactly what he did, the pinnacle of this being the release of Huckerby. I hope at the end of the season, we can look back on that as the defining moment in the ''Roeder Revolution''.

Bring in that target man Glenn, one who can score goals, and the season looks slightly brighter.

[Evil Monkey 52]

Well said Rudolph (is this the "sensible" post you were on about

before? [;)])... We definitely need a couple of strikers at least and I

cannot accept as some believe that Roeder is happy to go into the

season with Martin and Cureton.  I''ve long suspected that he''s

been waiting to splash the cash on a proven goalscorer, but we''ll have

to wait and see I guess.  I also don''t believe that person is

Howard or any other journeyman, that''s just paper talk that some

posters and Archant have taken as fact.  What we need is a Iwan

Roberts-type player - someone who can link up the play, score

goals but also, and perhaps more importantly, someone who will stick

around for more than one or two seasons - a talisman, if you will...

[Saint Canary 0]

While I would agree that attack is the big issue, I would disagree we have struggled since and because of Roberts'' departure.  We have not had a lack of quality up front since Roberts with the likes of Ashton, Earnshaw and even Cureton who has proved he can score goals.To me our problems in scoring goals over recent seasons have been three-fold:1)  Other than Ashton and Mckenzie for a brief period, we have not had a decent partnership up top.  That''s not to say we have not had two decent enough strikers at anyone time, just no good partnerships.2)  Poor midfield.  For many season''s now our midfield has neither created or scored enough goals.  I would say we miss Francis much more than Roberts, his ability to arrive in the box at the right time has been sorely lacking.  Only Huckerby in recent seasons has chipped in with enough goals from midfield but the likes of Croft et all have been severly lacking.  I am hopeful that Bell & Hoolahan might give us more going forward from midfield because we have relied solely on our strikers scoring for far too long.3)  We appear to carry little threat from set-pieces.  This could just be my perception of course but it appears to me that we must have a truly woeful successful rate from set-pieces.  Get these right and more goals will come.

[renegade tootsie 0]

I dont agree with this.  Did we lack goals when Bellamy, Roberts and Eadie graced our attack?  I remember that although we often leak goals we had the ability in our front line to get one more, and it was the same when we went up with Huckerby, quality to get another goal was there.SO historically I dont think goals have been an issue for us any more than any other team.Our issue NOW is that a Iwan Roberts in his prime costs 2.5-4 million and we dont seem to have enough to even buy fatty Howard....

[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]

I am reasonably happy with the balance and make up of the squad; Roeder has brought in plenty of new faces and freshened things up.

To be fair, these players need time to gel and I agree with the views of ''The Man'' that the Spurs game was the wrong game at the wrong time.

In recent seasons our defence has been our best area with the much maligned Doc a key figure. Even during Roeder''s best run it was single goal wins courtesy of a tight defence and a predatory Ched Evans which did the trick. Infact, with our inability to hold the ball in midfield the defence has done spectacularly well as it has been unprotected.

I believe Roeder has strengthened that defence and has many more midfield options; the key area is that which has plagued us since the too soon disposal of Iwan Roberts....the attack.

Norwich have always lacked goals and one of the few things to have historically galled me about Ipswich Town is their ability to score hatfuls. Why oh why are we a Club incapable of regularly winning by two clear goals or even taking sides to the cleaners by putting four or five past them. It has always bugged me; even when we do play well we end up thrashing teams 2-0 or 3-1 when it should have been more.

Back in the days of Boyer and MacDougall under the effervescent John Bond we were goal-scorers and it was fantastic: but during our greatest ever spell when outplaying teams in the early Premiership we won only narrowly.

In Dean Ashton we spent the cash and had a striker we could all believe in. It was a short honeymoon, though and after Fulham he never really looked like the same player.

So for me the difference this season between mediocre tight games and nailbiting finishes for a position in the bottom half of the table and more enjoyable matches with play off aspirations is what striker(s)  Roeder can sign in the short term. We clearly need a big mobile striker to make sense of what else we have and this has to be something worth paying for. I am impressed at the ages of the players Roeder has signed and a 24 to 28 year old striker in the right mould would be spot on. I don''t want to see an over-aged or under aged straw-clutching option I want to see the Board back a serious option for a keystone player, mobile and able to hold up the ball.

I want to give Roeder time, at least another two seasons but like the old rhyme about ''for the sake of a nail the shoe was lost'' I  don''t want to face another season like last because the Club could not or would not invest in forwards. If they had invested in Ashton sooner we would have remained in the Premier League (as it was we made money on him).....it is time the Board showed they have learned lessons.

Sign us a big, mobile,  talismanic striker Roeder................or pay a bigger price.

[/quote]

[renegade tootsie 0]

Totally agree on the set pieces.  I have been ashamed at the lask of quality for years.  Even the much vaunted Mr Mulryne was pretty average in conversions, but at least we pumped a all into the box now and again.  We seem to play short corners to often for example when we need the ball pumped into the box.  It is an issue that has been around for several years now.[quote user="Saint Canary"]While I would agree that attack is the big issue, I would disagree we have struggled since and because of Roberts'' departure.  We have not had a lack of quality up front since Roberts with the likes of Ashton, Earnshaw and even Cureton who has proved he can score goals.To me our problems in scoring goals over recent seasons have been three-fold:1)  Other than Ashton and Mckenzie for a brief period, we have not had a decent partnership up top.  That''s not to say we have not had two decent enough strikers at anyone time, just no good partnerships.2)  Poor midfield.  For many season''s now our midfield has neither created or scored enough goals.  I would say we miss Francis much more than Roberts, his ability to arrive in the box at the right time has been sorely lacking.  Only Huckerby in recent seasons has chipped in with enough goals from midfield but the likes of Croft et all have been severly lacking.  I am hopeful that Bell & Hoolahan might give us more going forward from midfield because we have relied solely on our strikers scoring for far too long.3)  We appear to carry little threat from set-pieces.  This could just be my perception of course but it appears to me that we must have a truly woeful successful rate from set-pieces.  Get these right and more goals will come.[/quote]

[ncfcstar 342]

I think that issue was a lot more due to Mr. Huckerby, whenever that happened, I always looked at Roeder and he never seemed happy about it. Huckerby''s delivery from corners etc was pitiful really.

[lucky green trainers 0]

agreed, great post that sums up the missing peice of the jigsaw for me - we need a good, expereinced goalscorer up front, but time is a running out, the prices are a goin up - and as worthy said - he wouldn''t pay silly money for strikers (deano) and as roedy says, the player is overvalued (tiny taylor) so i doubt if we''ll be getting what we need on past performance...its make do and mend time again for dear ole city, and apparently, we''ve just signed a raw hopeful to do a mans job - lets he''s built from the same mould as chedders!!!nice to see you back rude ole><!  wheres mello gone - on his hols???

[Taxing 0]

Very good post, I tend to say that when I agree with everything written. Big, mobile, muscular striker is definitely what we need. Starting to wonder if we will get one though.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Can anyone please tell me the last time Norwich was a prolific goalscoring side?

I think I agree with Saint...it is about partnerships but for me Iwan was a good partner to anyone else and it was criminal when Musker crocked Bellamy beacuse that was turning out to be a 35+ goals per season partnership, which is what we need and had we had it that season we had real possibilities.

I hope the new lad turns out well but I still don''t see a ''war-horse'' type bruiser coming in and there are times when such a prescence up front is essential.

Perhaps Howard is worth a punt, yes, he''s 32 but experienced and provided his legs are good he might be the missing ingredient.

I have posted before about Croft and his lack of goals; Chadwick should be capable of scoring a few too and we do need Fotheringham to begin to prove he can spot a decent through ball.

I think our defence is good enough, our midfield numbers give us options but still missing is the genuine ''investment'' in a talismanic lump up front. Perhaps an athletic Scandanavian can pull up some trees for us....did someone mention Iverson?

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]

Can anyone please tell me the last time Norwich was a prolific goalscoring side?

I think I agree with Saint...it is about partnerships but for me Iwan was a good partner to anyone else and it was criminal when Musker crocked Bellamy beacuse that was turning out to be a 35+ goals per season partnership, which is what we need and had we had it that season we had real possibilities.

I hope the new lad turns out well but I still don''t see a ''war-horse'' type bruiser coming in and there are times when such a prescence up front is essential.

Perhaps Howard is worth a punt, yes, he''s 32 but experienced and provided his legs are good he might be the missing ingredient.

I have posted before about Croft and his lack of goals; Chadwick should be capable of scoring a few too and we do need Fotheringham to begin to prove he can spot a decent through ball.

I think our defence is good enough, our midfield numbers give us options but still missing is the genuine ''investment'' in a talismanic lump up front. Perhaps an athletic Scandanavian can pull up some trees for us....did someone mention Iverson?

[/quote]Actually Rude Old, I have changed my slant on this slighty and agree that Roberts was actually a good partner as well as a good striker.  He and we knew what he could and couldn''t do and it was used to our advantage.As for City being prolific, I seem to remember from earliest days as a young boy (1988 onwards) at Carrow Road that whether or not we were prolific in goalscoring, we seemed to have goals from all areas of the pitch.  Dale Gordon, Ruel Fox, Dave Phillips, Goss and Crooky & even the likes of Bowen, Linighan and Butterworth always seemed likely to score a few goals during the season.  This may be my blurry, youthful memories clouding the actual reality of the situation but it''s how I remember it. 

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

What a squad that was Saint.

[O.T.B.C 1]

Those were the days. We need more goals from all over the pitch, you look at the squad last year, no real goals from defence or midfield and we need defence to chip in with a few, midfield more and the attack loads.

[beelsie 0]

Nice factual post Rude, to he point ,let''s have some more please!!! OTBC

[Crazy Eddie 0]

[quote user="Saint Canary"]While I would agree that attack is the big issue, I would disagree we have struggled since and because of Roberts'' departure.  We have not had a lack of quality up front since Roberts with the likes of Ashton, Earnshaw and even Cureton who has proved he can score goals.To me our problems in scoring goals over recent seasons have been three-fold:1)  Other than Ashton and Mckenzie for a brief period, we have not had a decent partnership up top.  That''s not to say we have not had two decent enough strikers at anyone time, just no good partnerships.2)  Poor midfield.  For many season''s now our midfield has neither created or scored enough goals.  I would say we miss Francis much more than Roberts, his ability to arrive in the box at the right time has been sorely lacking.  Only Huckerby in recent seasons has chipped in with enough goals from midfield but the likes of Croft et all have been severly lacking.  I am hopeful that Bell & Hoolahan might give us more going forward from midfield because we have relied solely on our strikers scoring for far too long.3)  We appear to carry little threat from set-pieces.  This could just be my perception of course but it appears to me that we must have a truly woeful successful rate from set-pieces.  Get these right and more goals will come.[/quote]3) Wasn''t Clingan touted as a set-piece specialist? I think Roeder is more than aware of our failings.

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Roedy just got you an 18 year old Gambian via Portsmouth.

I wonder if he''s your lad - or just the back up?

What say you?

OTBC

 

[Big Down Under 0]

Seeing as Koromah is only 5''10" he is hardly the target man Roeder (or Rudolph) is talking about. Roeder has been quite clear that he is looking for a big target man to play alongside Curo / Lupoli.Rudolph you are absolutley right, the one issue is that everyone is looking for the same, and the good ones are very expensive. I''m relieved to hear Roeder deny the interest in Howard, Iverson would alomost fit the bill apart from the age. I agree we need a seasoned, proven pro NOT a kid for this role. The youngsters have a part to play but this is, as you say, a key role and could be the difference between mid table and a top 6 finish.