WBA THINKING OF BIDDING FOR CROFT

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="Cobain18"]

Croft tries very hard but struggles to find a player in yellow with his passes, always hits the first man on crosses, runs the ball into dead ends and is generally wasteful. WBA can have him for £500.000. Can we please start playing Bell (who can deliver a good ball) in his position (right wing). People complain when he doesn''t play as well as expected, yet he plays the majority of his games left wing which is not his position.

 

Redknapp once said part of his success was down to playing players in their positions and said you would be amazed how many managers play players out of position. Bell is a prime example and I honestly believe would be a better option than Croft. This is not a dig at Croft because he gives everything to the cause; I just don''t think he''s a vital as people make out. He''s scored 2 very good goals this season but does not score enough for me either. I would like to keep him in our squad but if we are being offered 500.000 for him then please take it!

[/quote]ah, at last - somebody who can see that crofty is all about running fruitlessly up and down the wing - he carries about as much threat as a UN peacekeeping force...coupled with the equally unproductive (but worshipped -why?) semmy and we have a winger who can''t create chances and a defender who can''t stop crosses...having seen the goals from saturday on TV now - bell''s cross for the 4 th city goals was no fluke - he received the ball, saw nothing on - went on the outside, looked up and deliberately crossed precisely to a gaggle of city players,,,superb...a clear example of bell using his obvious football brain to craft a goal opportunity through knowing when to deliver a killer ball, and in what fashion, and to whom///hand on heart - does anyone feel crofty could do the same???he''s had but 10 mins on his favoured right wing since his initial introduction as a subsititute...more please///however, where crofty does win hands down, is his ability to be more direct and to run at players - and he needs to do this as much as he can to be a live danger imo...theres more from him to come as he gets stronger and older...but for now - i''d rather keep the boy here for now,,,but if wba or another came in with a silly bid he''d have to go...simply to part-fund a new cb, rb and striker...

[? 20]

I think you hit the nail on the head with start to that last paragraph, LGT.

Bell may well be a better crosser of the ball than Crofty, but it''s a damn sight easier to put in a good cross when you''re standing around doing not much more than waiting for the ball to come to you than it is to cross it after running full pelt past a full back.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user=""]

I think you hit the nail on the head with start to that last paragraph, LGT.

Bell may well be a better crosser of the ball than Crofty, but it''s a damn sight easier to put in a good cross when you''re standing around doing not much more than waiting for the ball to come to you than it is to cross it after running full pelt past a full back.

[/quote]sure, they are completely different players - and so give different options, and are both worth keeping therefore...but with crooky as coach - he''ll be drooling over bells ball skills and technical ability - make no mistake,,,he''ll also be drawing comparisons between bell and his old team mate dave phillips...

[silver fox 0]

Croft has been one of the most consistent players this season, and if several others had put in the same commitment then we wouldn''t be where we are now.  He seems to have sorted out the fitness issue he had, and I for one will be disappointed if we let him go, especially for only £500k.

[Sing up the river end 0]

Hope he goes he is like a headless chicken.He is a bit like Forest Gump he can run but that is about it.Can''t pass,cross or shoot

[city-till-i-die 7]

[quote user="Sing up the river end "]Hope he goes he is like a headless chicken.He is a bit like Forest Gump he can run but that is about it.Can''t pass,cross or shoot
[/quote]GOAL AGAINST IP*HIT

[O.T.B.C 0]

He does offer us an outlet from defence, he does run and run but not a lot else. One thing though, he was fitter and argubly played better under GR than ever before.

[hogesar 9,709]

"WBA ARE THINKING OF MAKING A £500 K BID FOR LEE CROFT"Well maybe, but i could just as easily be thinking about buying out the club, or robbing a bank, or winning the lottery. Doesn''t mean i''m going to do it. :)

[Branston Pickle 3,669]

[quote user="city-till-i-die"][quote user="Sing up the river end "]Hope he goes he is like a headless chicken.He is a bit like Forest Gump he can run but that is about it.Can''t pass,cross or shoot
[/quote]GOAL AGAINST IP*HIT[/quote]

That is one (fantastic as it was) long-range shot scored in his entire Norwich career to date, though - the more usual thing is for him to lean back and pile it into the stands!

IMO he is a 100% effort player - you know you will get nothing less from him, but unfortunately he just doesn''t quite deliver often enough, you just get the feeling he''ll either run out of steam, beat himself or launch a poor cross (...infact, he is pretty much what Man City fans said of him when he signed).

As to whether we should sell, I''m in two minds.

One the one hand, if a side wants to come in for him at something in the region of what we paid for him, with only 6 months left on his contract, I''d be inclined to bite their hands off as we need urgent strengthening elsewhere. 

Though on the other hand, if I thought Chippy being here would rub some of his passing/crossing ability off onto him, I''d be quite desperate to keep him - 100% effort with increased ability and Croft could be a very decent weapon.

 

[? 20]

Again, for the Crofty doubters:

Who, in our squad, has set up more goals than Crofty this season?

Honestly, i''m asking. I don''t know the answer, but i''d put my house on it being... erm, no one!

And if Croft is our top ''assister'' then that''s not bad for a player who can''t pass, cross or shoot, but can only run... :op

[Stevee Wonder 0]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[Stevee Wonder 0]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[Stevee Wonder 0]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[Stevee Wonder 0]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[pete_norw 0]

[quote user="Stevee Wonder"]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[/quote]

Well its that time again when everyone is shouting about getting rid of players, who will cover Bell if he is injured and we don''t have Croft anymore, Gunny hasn''t brought anyone in yet and you want players to go, Now IMHO we should keep Croft as I feel Chippy will get the best out of him and Bell, Hoolahoop will also improve, forget the getting rid of. untill the Summer but I think Croft will be staying  

[GJP 79]

[quote user="silver fox"]Croft has been one of the most consistent players this season, and if several others had put in the same commitment then we wouldn''t be where we are now.  He seems to have sorted out the fitness issue he had, and I for one will be disappointed if we let him go, especially for only £500k.[/quote]

I would also be very disappointed if we let him go.

Unfortunately it''ll probably only be when he leaves that some people will realise what a good player he is. All the talk of him having no end product and running around like a headless chicken etc etc is a load of tosh. He regularly puts the ball into the right areas, shame people don''t see it or don''t want to see it.

Hopefully we''ll keep him because we won''t get a better right winger than him.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="Stevee Wonder"]

I''ll take you up on that bet. And take your house too :-)

Top of the assists for the season is DAVID BELL with 7. And Lee Croft has just 2.

http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Assists/0,,10355~200810355,00.html

So if we''re going on those stats, Bell is miles better.

However, I do agree, it would terrible to lose Crofty. But it would be much (well, £500,000) worse to lose him at the end of the season. So if they can''t come to an agreement quickly, it would be best to sell him before he goes on free. But I hope he stays.

[/quote]sure - games are won by putting the ball in the oppositions net, while keeping it out of yours...i''d like both boys here - but if bells ankle injury allows - he would get the nod to start ahead of crofty for me...

[GJP 79]

David Bell has been so lazy and so inconsistent (injury or no injury) I''m not quite sure what has impressed people so much. He can''t take people on, he doesn''t fight to win the ball back when he gives it away cheaply (which he does quite a bit). His deliveries are meant to be the strong part of his game but he hits as many bad as he does good.

I''m sure can be a better player than what we''ve seen so far but there''s no sign at all he''ll get close being good enough to replace Lee Croft.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="GJP"]

 he''ll get close being good enough

[/quote]

*he''ll get close to being good enough

[? 20]

Bell has 7 assists?! How?!

Good god, i should wake up when watching the games, obviously.

Fair play though, you can come and get the keys some time this week... ;o)

[Branston Pickle 3,669]

...well in the "assists" stakes, Bell got one (Rusty''s) last week having been on the pitch a couple of minutes whereas Croft didn''t get any having been on the pitch for most of the game.  Bell does have a good delivery at dead-ball situations, so perhaps a couple have come from those....though for me that does rather sum Croft up: he should be one of the best crossers in the club yet never seems to take corners or free-kicks - it is as if we can''t trust his delivery, when it ought to actually be better than the other players.

[ZLF 274]

Just backs up everything I have ever seen about croft (and semmy to a lesser degree)  Both look so exciting when they surge forward, until they run out of pitch before they realise,  lose possession with a poor pass,  lose control while they run with it,  or forget what the purpose of football is.   That Fozzy and Bell have more assists despite less time on the pitch, let alone on the ball, says how ineffective croft truly is.  Sell him to Utd ;-)

What do fans want?  Bemoaning inconsistent lazy bell despite creating directly 7 goals,  or cheery another failed burst of speed with no end product?  The latter it seems.  As my grandad used to say about Terry Bly,  I dont rate him,  all he does is put the ball in the back of the net!!

[Sir Daz<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR>Sir Daz 0]

We cant afford to let croft go now. We are a poor team up to our necks in a relegation fight. To let one of our better performers go at this time would make our poor team weaker and be tantamount to throwing in the towel.

Unfortunately this means i fully expect the board to let him go. 

[Canary02 III 0]

Gunn may decide that with Bell (linked again today with a move to Coventry for around £800,000) and Croft he has two very good players playing for one position and that if he could get cash for one that goes towards a striker and a defender to bolster the squad then he''d be silly not to. Plus with Croft being out of contract in the summer anyway it might be the smart move.

Personally, I rate Crofty and I''d prefer him to stay, but I can see a situation emerging where it might be prudent to cash in on the one position we have genuine quality cover in.

[singing canary 0]

agreed , i think croft cost us 500k or 600k

that money would buy andy bishop and tiny!!!

[astrodyne 0]

But by the time we take into account the agent''s and other miscellaneous costs that Mr Doncaster continually reminds us about, what are we going to get for our £500k ??

[ZLF 274]

is he one of our better performers?  Or is he only acceptable because the team mates are worse?

12 assists and 8 goals in 3 seasons and 116 appearances for an attacking midfielder?  Is an impact on one game in 6 good enough?   What levels of mediocrity must we accept?

[singing canary 0]

didnt think of that!!! , really depend on if he wants to stay , i hope so now roeder has gone.

i was told from a very reliable source if roeder was still here he wouldnt be, now the situation has changed , i really dont know.

[Mark .Y. 352]

[quote user="astrodyne"]But by the time we take into account the agent''s and other miscellaneous costs that Mr Doncaster continually reminds us about, what are we going to get for our £500k ??
[/quote]

Some new crockery...............

 

Mark .Y.

 

[Jim Smith 2,325]

I think that given a run on the right Bell could be good there but he does not give us the same counter attacking threat that Croft does so it would be a shame if he went. I heard from a pretty reliable source that Crofty was likely to go on a free in the summer but then again that was when Roeder was the manager. Maybe if the atmosphere improves under gunn he will have a change of heart. If he is eying up a free transfer in the summer though you could not blame the club if they took the £500K now given that we have another decent right winger in the squad.