Gary Doherty

[Pottsy 0]

I have followed Dohertys career quite closely and when he moved to Spurs he was seen a player with great potential. Having seen him play alot for both Ireland and Spurs I personally believe he should play up front. Many times after Niall Quinn retired Ireland were lost as they were trying to play with two little players up front once they used Doherty up front players like Keane started playing really well. He wins nearly every header and can hold the ball up something that svensson can''t do. Having said all this he was asked to concentrate on on position and perfect that he chose centre back and when i saw him last year he was terrible so i''ll sit on the fence.

[Ayrton Twigge 0]

We can only afford to buy aspiring lower league players, foreign players, old has been Premiership players (we wouldn''t) or out of favour Premiership players.

I don''t have a lot of personal knowledge of Doherty but I''ve read enough on the message board to convince myself he''s going to be a good buy.

And Spurs renewed his deal last year - wouold they do that for a dud?

Gives Worthy options now - we still have Malky and Shacks as further options.

PS
On Saturdays showing, Charlton, whilst playing well, bothered me immenseley at every corner due to his lack of height. nd it was only Palace!! Hopefully, with some mix and matching we''ll have speed and height amongst our back line.

[king of latvia 0]

once again we slagging off a player who could be part of a team that keeps us in the priemership i cant belive what im reading on here.

[nobbyg 0]

Awful.

Where are you boys who were moaning about Safri - because this signing is infinitely worse.

My heart goes out to Malcolm Mackay - because if he is going to be left out of the team for a bloke who defends like a forward then it is a sad day.

This is the least excited and most disappointed I have felt about a signing since Steve Walsh.

As long as I put "IMHO" no one can moan about the negativity of my message...right?

[The Doc 0]

Thanks Tufnell for your mate''s inside information, from what he says sounds like Doherty could be "so safe"!

(Apologies to everyone else for in joke!)

About a year or so ago I heard very good things about this guy. Given his international experience, height and eye for goal (hopefully) he could prove to be a sound investment and hopefully fill the much needed Malky role.

[olster 0]

Going to be a great signing he gives us cover up front also

and he has scored a few playing up front aswell

[YGB 0]

u lot shud be ashamed i bet you lot are arm chair supporters i hope that this full international make u all look like fools he hasnt even signed yet! at the end of the day he is 24 he can header the ball and hold it up he can defend what actually would please u people. are line up would have 2 b

tim howard
cafu ferdinand samuel carlos
beckham zindane veaira giggs
henry rooney

before ur happy! so get behind the lads and hopefully we will stay up. half of football is attitude and if it was ur attitude on the line we would all ready be religated

[cky 0]

i remember he did well up front against the scum a few season ago

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Erm, can''t Malky fill the "much needed Malky role ?"

[Pride of London 0]

I honestly do not understand the moaning on this board about the signing of Doherty. Firstly, and most importantly for you guys, the doc can be a Premiership defender. I have seen him for a while fitting in quite comfortably into a team fighting in the bottom half of the table (no jokes about ourselves last season please), but he simply didn''t have the class, the strut his stride which is seen as being mandatory by all Spurs fans.

Before his leg was smashed to pieces a couple of years ago, he was well on his way to becoming a cult hero at White Hart Lane, unfortunately he returned with a severe lack of pace, and an even more damaging, a lack of confidence.

Doherty can defend. He will put his head where it hurts. He won''t shirk a challenge. He will also pop up with the odd goal- I have not seen many better headers of the ball around.

I just hope that you have someone with pace who can cover his customary clumsy backpass, miskick or stumble which last season would inevitably give away a goal.

Yes he has been booed a few times. But the most abuse came when we had no strikers and he was forced to play as a striker with Teddy two seasons ago. He is a defender. Full stop.

Good luck to the man, I expect he will always be cheered when he comes back to the Lane and I hope he can fulfil the potential he showed when he first came to Spurs at Norwich this year.

And good luck to all of you for this season, hopefully I can say that because we should be a bit further from the dogfight this time round.

Yid Army!

[Herb 0]

Yeah, nice to see everyone writing him off before hes kicked a ball for City.
Wonder if they''ll start booing him too like the laughable supposed Spurs "fans".
If so, give me your season ticket. I would sell my soul to the devil for one and it makes my blood boil to think that such purveyors of negative vibes might "do a Spurs" on him.

Now lets look at this seriously, (like grown ups?)

Have we forgotten that Norwich are second to none in bringing the best out of players?
Huckerby was a so called "failure" before he came to Norwich. More down to him being in a team contolled by a muppet, as we all know.
I know hes not rubbed the doubters noses in it yet, but does anyone here really doubt that he will?
The fact is he had to come here to perform as he has (and will!)
Its not just about the proffesional attitude at the club and the excellent facilities. Its not just about Worthington''s work ethic and managerial skills. Its about a combination of everything mixed in with the well-being you get from living in one of the finest parts of the world.

If he is a "confidence" player then I think hes found the club to give it back to him. Or at least the club to give him a chance.
Unless the boo boys have their way...

[rich 0]

okay so he''s not as good a defender as malky, fleming or charlton. and hes not as good a striker as charlton, malky, fleming or helveg, he''s gonna play where? If he even gets on the pitch this is a disaster. I''m sorry this is an awful signing, if we were gonna raid spurs at least take Dean Richards.

I hope he proves me wrong and is the next tony adams/ henry depending where he plays. I think not, this smacks of a cheap compromise choice and I thought those days were gone.

[Old Boy 0]

Are we going to give this guy a chance? Or should we just go on what a mate''s mate heard from his mate and freeze him out? Two things: a) he''s only 24 years old; b) are Spurs fans the best judges anyway? Worthy wrong-foots us all again! He''s like Hux with the ball at his feet - you may as well give up, you''ll never guess what he''s gonna do next: whatever it is though, it''ll be worth a try.

[ncfc4eva 0]

have to agree with K ''O'' LATVIA!...i found some of the comments so wide of the mark and so unfair!..opinions are fine, but theres no need to be so harsh about them!, what are your views gunna be if this guy actually signs? same as before? or a little toned down?

[ZLF 274]

Anyone else heard the fee? I have heard from a couple of sources that it touches the £1m mark.

Given Worthys recent track record I have to trust his judgement

PS Ayrton - Charlton did well aerial and as for ''only'' Palace they have one of the tallest sides in the prem (Johnson excepted) who play a direct style of footie - if he can cope with them he will cope with most teams...

OTBC

[Andy Down Under 0]

I too was a little deflated when I heard of this deal on Sky News in Australia this morning. Not exactly the ''big-name'' we were hoping for!
But let''s be positive. 24 years old, playing under constant pressure from the Spurs fans but still manages 22 appearances in a less than succesful 2003-04 season; current international, and obviously has potential otherwise Spurs would not have signed him in the first place. Also gave him an improved contract last year by all accounts. I remember a few years back when Norwich gave debuts to Greg Downs and Kevin Bond. They were awful for the first few months, but both developed and matured into very good players and real assetts. With a bit of confidence, and a lot of backing from the supporters, this could work out to be a good signing.

[shortfatb 0]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What a negative, ungrateful bunch of Norwich and Peterboroughs we''ve become. Delusions of grandeur or what. Just to put it in perspective see below from a contributor on the tractor boys message board.

"A 24 year old Rep of Ireland international from Spurs. They have agreed a fee, but not signed him yet, he''s due in Norwich for talks tomorrow.

But we have Tony Dinning!"

[westoncanary. 0]

Remember the other Spurs misfits? Crook, Culverhouse, Bowen & McVeigh? This guy could be the "Aldi" Chris Sutton. Defender & Striker in one. Trust Worthy guys. OTBC

[Being Jan Kristiansen... 0]

He is a better player than Primus (younger, regular international, more top flight experiance) so im pretty happy with his signing.

Worthy has a habit of helping to rediscover a players potential (Hux, Crouch, the whole of the mid-90s NCFC team!).

As someone else said there is no chance of us signing the finished article.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

I have to say I have just sat and read all the messages on this thread, and I am, quite honestly, disgusted to be associated with some of the stuff that has been written. Gary Doherty may not be the player you all wanted us to sign, but he IS the player Worthy wanted - therefore, if he signs for us (if he reads this MB he certainly won''t), he becomes one of us. He is the kind of player who will sweat blood for the cause, and exactly fits the mould for what we need to stay up this season.

Add Doc to our squad and see how much felxibility we have within it - how many other clubs have that luxury?

[kev g 0]

IF HE''S GOOD ENOUGH FOR WORTHY , THEN WHO ARE WE TO COMPLAIN WHICH ONE OF YOU HAS RECENTLY MANAGED A STRUGGLING FIRST DIVISION AND TURNED THEM INTO THE TEAM WE NOW HAVE IN THE "PREMIERSHIP"

WELL DONE WORTHY
(RANT OVER THANKS)

[Hayden 0]

er, wasn''t Huckerby also ''dodgy'' when he came here?

and look what happened with that one. Never seen him play so won''t comment, apart form the fact that if he needs the fans behind him then thats what we have to do, why ruin a Nige signing by panning him?

give him a chance, if he is poor then every boo boy out there can have a new Rivers to slag off which will really help the club won''t it

[irishcanary 0]

Having watched him play live for Ireland on a number of times, He always looked much better playing for them then he did for Spurs. Maybe the Irish managers could motivate him more. My only concern is this must surely mean the end for Malky.

[irishcanary 0]

NW on tv today saying he bought him as centre half

[Dirty Lyle 0]

Once the Doc signs we will have the whole GB & Ire international set. Assuming Greeno gets his deserved cap soon we will have current international players from all the home nations and Eire.

Knowing NW''s track record I am amazed at some posters willingness to write the Doc off. NW can make underperformers achieve (Rivers, the exception which proves the rule). Doc was a star at TH until he broke his leg. It took him some time to recover, naturally enough. During that period the Spurs fans, starved of success, made him their scapegoat - much as we did with Rivers and Easton. This had the effect of knocking his confidence, he is still only 24 but his ability nor his commitment (which not even his harshest TH critic has doubted) has not been affected.

If we are patient and support him he will gain in confidence and thrive becoming the player he was promising to be before his injury. We have signed a very good player with height and some pace who will be an excellent acquisition for years to come.

Support+Patience=Confidence

Confidence means Premiership 2005/6

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

I don''t believe this! Some fans are writing the poor sod off before he''s even had his medical!! How many times has Worthy let us down? Not very many. He''s obviously done his homework and knows what he''s doing.

I should think if a Crewe fan came on here a month ago and asked our views on Rivers a lot of us would laugh him off the site. Look at Rivers now. Just because a player isn''t having the best of the times with fans at the moment doesn''t mean he''s c**p!!

Keep the faith

[sparky 0]

Jez,Rich i now feel like putting a noose around my neck.....from what i''ve read he doe''snt seem a bad player and lets remember most of the time worthy knows who to sign and secondly get the best out of them......CAN WE ALL GIVE THE GUY A CHANCE PLEASE,AND STOP BEING SO BLOODY NEGATIVE!!......COMMENTS WELCOME WHEN HE''S PLAYED 6 MONTHS WITH US.

[rich 0]

okay lets look at this another way,before the signing what would you say the club had in defence. we had malky and fleming, big strong defenders who give their all for city. what would you say the club was missing, young, fast pacy defenders. what would you say the club had sign a big strong defender who''ll give his all for the club.

see that''s the problem we just bought a player the same as we''ve got. It isn''t giving us more options, it''s giving us more of the same. that''s my main concern.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Didn''t get to finish what I was going to say cos my brekkie was ready so... ;-)

IMO Spurs fans have one of the biggest ego''s in football. They feel they are a bigger club than they actually are and it is their RIGHT to be in the top 6. If a player isn''t performing how they think he should I would have thought they round on him pretty bloody quickly!

Any player who has player consistantly and solidly for a mid table Prem club for several years must be worth a look. He will know the Premiership game like the back of his hand, just like Charlton. In Doherty and Charlton we have two experienced and talented central defenders who will help us stay up.

Keep the faith

[Marty 0]

To reiterate what many people are saying, give the guy a chance, i''m ashamed to be a Norwich fan when i see some of the abuse written already and he hasn''t even kicked a ball. I thought our fans were better than that. As for the guy saying we should have got Dean Richards, as it ever crossed your mind that he was either too expensive or wouldn''t want to take a step down and come to an un-proven premiership club like Norwich. We should be a little more realistic and fair. For all you so called Norwich fans that think we are as bigger draw as Man U , Arsenal etc. your supporting the wrong club! our options are more limited, let''s suppost the manager whatever and hope he''s made another shrewd signing. I know one thing for sure, if fans get on the backs of new signings it''s not going to help them settle.
Be patient and stop thinking we are too good for some proven premiership players.

When are we bidding for Zidane?