Looks like Dejan's off

[Rustys 1st Touch 0]

With the announcement of Doherty as captain and Nelson as vice captain we can safely assume Dejan is off. If Stefanovic was staying surely he would have been given at least a vice captaincy role.Seems a shame because I would have liked to see somebody at the back who was able to distribute the ball without aimlessly hoofing and also somebody with experience of organising the back four.Money talks I guess but I''d pick Stefanovic over Nelson, Doc and Askou put together.

[CANARY CHARGE 0]

[quote user="Rusty''s 1st Touch"]With the announcement of Doherty as captain and Nelson as vice captain we can safely assume Dejan is off. If Stefanovic was staying surely he would have been given at least a vice captaincy role.

Seems a shame because I would have liked to see somebody at the back who was able to distribute the ball without aimlessly hoofing and also somebody with experience of organising the back four.

 

he was injuryed towards last season, he still has to prove himself....watch this space!

[Canary02 III 0]

Agree with OP.

Stefanovic''s absence from all friendlies despite all the early pre-season talk about him being back in training must mean he''s looking at other clubs either by his choice or ours.

Pity, because he is undoubtedly the best centre back we have (when fit) but I can understand if his wages are as restrictive as they are reported to be.

[Canary Ascent 0]

A good player on his day but at his age with the serious injury he has just had and the money he must be on I wouldn''t be too worried if he went. He''s not going to be fit for the start of the season is he?

Askou looks solid at the back and able to distribute the ball, I''d personally like to see some of Stefanovic''s money spent on him!

[The Chirp 0]

totally disagree with the OP. He would be my last choice. We need to build for the future and all the other centre backs at this club are decent and still improving. Dejan was once an excellent player... Now however, he is old (for a pro player) has a serious knee injury, is on high wages and probably slower than the rest. It''s a shame but i would rather he went and askou signed. We have Dumic, Stephens, OTJ and Spillane who can play there aswell.

[Rum Ol Boy 0]

tough one really, Dejan looked our best defender last preseason but injuries have really put his career on the back burner. I love the capture of Nelson, IMO I would have selected him as a fresh team captain ahead of Doc........if Askou was to sign with us I''d like to see Nelson and Askou at the back with Doc on the bench...........won''t happen though! 

[Lineo 0]

without being racist, how easily understandable is Dejan''s accent and english? If it''s unclear, then surely you''d rather put somebody who is fluent as a captain

[Rustys 1st Touch 0]

I don''t think Dumic, Stephens, OTJ and Spillane are in the same class as Stefanovic so he would be ahead of them in the pecking order.Every time a new player signs for Norwich he is automatically made out to be the best thing since sliced bread. Stefanovic was a breath of fresh air last season, instead of the usual panic stations at the back he was calm and controlled on the ball.Answer me this do you think Doherty is better than Stefanovic? Discounting the injury but in the games played by both last season? Why aren''t we seriously contemplating offloading Doherty he''s been the one constant in the last five years of disappointment and yet he is given a new contract and the captaincy. We''ve seen what the Doc has to offer and he has been an incredible disappointment. Why not give Dejan a chance this season instead of shipping him out the nearest exit. Offload Doherty thats what I say.

[shortfatb 0]

[quote user="Rum ol boy"]tough one really, Dejan looked our best defender last preseason but injuries have really put his career on the back burner. I love the capture of Nelson, IMO I would have selected him as a fresh team captain ahead of Doc........if Askou was to sign with us I''d like to see Nelson and Askou at the back with Doc on the bench...........won''t happen though! [/quote]I thought he looked more comfortable on the ball than anyone here since Martin Peters, but I bet he still gave more penalties away last season than our much maligned Ranga Captain.

[Barclay Kid 0]

Stefanovic Only Has A Year Left On His Contract, And He Is 34!! Whereas Doc, Nelson And Gill Are Younger And So Maybe Gunn Wanted Someone Who Could Commit A ''Longer'' Future To Norwich? 

[ACE 0]

Too expensive, too crocked, still unproven as a City player. With Askou being offered a contract it looks like Dejan is off.  Sad, but he is a big wage an unreliable fitness wise.  Think you are also being unfair on the Doc who has had to play with different centre backs last season and had to cover the failing Otesemobor all season. Add to that the fact that the defence got NO cover from the midfield last season, and I think the Doc-bashing is becoming a mite unrealistic.

[Rustys 1st Touch 0]

[quote user="Lineo"]without being racist, how easily understandable is Dejan''s accent and english? If it''s unclear, then surely you''d rather put somebody who is fluent as a captain[/quote]Stefanovic has played in England for about ten years so there is no problem with communication at the back

[O.T.B.C 0]

Depending on the wages, I would keep him, very experienced and before he got injured and had steady partner, he was good and showed a lot of composure.

[I am a Banana 0]

Would we be better paying him about 2k a week, then an extra 2k if he plays?

he still makes 2 months wages for the average person!

[USAcanary 0]

One problem not disscussed is the fact we are going to be up against more "direct" teams who will counter skill by humping long balls into the box.

At 5 11" Dejan is by far the smallest central defender we have.

I must admit its strange that for the first time in a while we are actually saying we have too many players in certain positions.......

[CanaryJames 0]

Odd how a former POTY Doherty, who had a very good season last year (for the 2nd or 3rd year running), and should have been in a straight two-way battle with Clingan for the POTY last season (in my opinion) gets such relentless and undue criticism when he''s actually a very capable player.

Meanwhile, the ageing Stefanovic on probably considerably higher wages plays a dozen or so matches for us, gives away 3 or 4 penalties, gets sent off a couple of times, gets a horrible injury which rules himself out for at least the remainder of said season, but is regarded as some kind of footballing god. Yet if Doherty does even a fraction of that he gets a barrage of criticism!

Now I''m not saying Dejan wasn''t a good player, but in all honesty, I wasn''t overly impressed by him before he got his injury, so the chances of him coming back and being able to produce better form than he''d already showed are limited IMO.

[Rustys 1st Touch 0]

[quote user="ACE"]I think the Doc-bashing is becoming a mite unrealistic.[/quote]It''s not Doc bashing its just criticism of him as a football player. In my opinion he isn''t better than Stefanovic as a defender.

[AshManning87 0]

We will be keeping all 4. Gunn said himself when Askou 1st arrived that he already has 3 CB and does not really need a 4th so he will really need to prove his worth. It only takes 1 injury and we are down to 3 plus Spillane if needs be.

It is about time we have competition for positions and I am getting excited to see players who are actually contracted to the club :)

[Its only my opinion 0]

In my oppinion stefanovic and docherty would be the most worrying partnership possible. they both prefer to rugby takle or bearhug. stafanovic is to small couldn''t win a header he was cool on the ball sometimes far to cool holdng on to it for far to long in a dangerous position to just side foot it to the nearest full back who would  by that time be under pressure to just hoof it away. doherty did actually look one of our best players towards the end of last season but how bad was our team towards the end of last season we are talking about the best defender in a team that was leaking goals left right and centre.  I wouldnt complain if they both went long as we got a half descent fee for doherty so we could get a good player with the money saving on both there wages plus the cash..

[Rum Ol Boy 0]

[quote user="ACE"]Too expensive, too crocked, still unproven as a City player.

With Askou being offered a contract it looks like Dejan is off.  Sad, but he is a big wage an unreliable fitness wise. 

Think you are also being unfair on the Doc who has had to play with different centre backs last season and had to cover the failing Otesemobor all season. Add to that the fact that the defence got NO cover from the midfield last season, and I think the Doc-bashing is becoming a mite unrealistic.

[/quote]

 

show me one post from above that bashes Doc?? I said I''d rather have Nelson as captain but thats my opinion. I don''t personally rate Doc, he gets the wrong side of defenders a lot of the time, flaps his arms all over the attacking player and hisdistribution is shocking but I think he''ll add important experience and depth to the back line at this level.

Maybe you''re putting the cat among the pigeons

 

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Rum ol boy"]

 I don''t personally rate Doc, 

1- he gets the wrong side of defenders a lot of the time,

2 - flaps his arms all over the attacking player

3 - and hisdistribution is shocking

4 - but I think he''ll add important experience

[/quote]

1 - rarely does he get the wrong side of defenders. His reading of the game is good, he usually comes to meet the ball.

2 - didn''t realise football was a non-contact sport. It makes it a nice day out for strikers if the defenders don''t bother to put them under any physical pressure. You don''t think Nelson, Stefanovic, Askou, Ferdinand, Terry, Nesta etc etc are going to grab shirts and tussle a bit? They all do it, Doherty is no different at all.

3 - how often does he give the ball away when he''s not under pressure? Sure it''s lovely if a defender can ping a dozen perfect 50 yard diagonal balls every game but very few can do it and it''s hardly essential. Just keeping possession of the ball is essential. The simple ball. Just basic football, that works.

4 - true

[KingsLynnCanary 0]

Did Stefanovic not say a few months ago that he had taken a pay cut to stay with the club? Why would they re negotiate his deal if they didn''t want him to stay. I don''t think he''ll be going anywhere in this transfer window.

[Shaker 0]

Spot on CanaryJames, all this slating of the ginger one is getting more than a bit boring now while as you rightly state the footballing genius Dejan who played what 12/13 games got sent off, gave away penalties and was seriously lacking any pace is the answer to all our defensive problems.

[Lambo 0]

Stefanovic will still be a Norwich player next season, i think he knows however that he''s not going to be able to play 46 games in whats a very physical league at his age and coming off his injury.

Thats why it''s essential we do sign a 4th CB.

As for Doc i like him, he''s not pretty but i think he gets the job done, him and Nelson will be effective in this league.

[USAcanary 0]

[quote user="KingsLynnCanary"]Did Stefanovic not say a few months ago that he had taken a pay cut to stay with the club? Why would they re negotiate his deal if they didn''t want him to stay. I don''t think he''ll be going anywhere in this transfer window.
[/quote]

You need to re-read the article...............

We did not re-negotiate........... he had a clause in his contract that he would take a cut in wages if we were relegated.

I think we may be looking to loan him out if (a) we sign Askou and (b) we dont have any injuries in that position.

With 7 subs we need at least 3 central defenders on game day.

The irony is that opening day last year it looked like we had a ton of options at CB with Dejan, Kennedy, Doc and Shacks.

We ended up with Drury having to play at CB in some games..........

CB is a very physical position, lots of injuries happen. 

[matt crowhurst 0]

Im going to be controversial here and say YES i do think Doherty is better than Stefanovic. I know he has his critics but he has been one of our most consistent performers in the last 2 years, fully deserves the captaincy as it brings the best out of him, has more pace than people give him credit for and if you look at the stats esp when tiny taylor was here we conceded more goals when Doc was out of the team, cant be a coincidence And who can forget the amount of penalties Stefanovic gave away when in the team at the start of last season. I think Doc gets a lot of undue criticism when he in fact he saved us on many occasions last yearDont worry got the tin hat on!!!!!!!!!!

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="The Chirp"]totally disagree with the OP. He would be my last choice. We need to build for the future and all the other centre backs at this club are decent and still improving. Dejan was once an excellent player... Now however, he is old (for a pro player) has a serious knee injury, is on high wages and probably slower than the rest. It''s a shame but i would rather he went and askou signed. We have Dumic, Stephens, OTJ and Spillane who can play there aswell. [/quote]Entirely agree with this, his time has gone now and he''s an expensive reserve/substitute so if we can get him off the wage bill and get a bit of cash, let''s do it.

[hugoagogo 0]

 

 

Just leave doc alone you are just like the clueless few who groan and moan every time he gets the ball yet you excuse any thing underpar from that slow ,positionless ,scottish twot lappin.

Doc is the only defender who could hold his head up after last seasons shambles

[hugoagogo 0]

[quote user="matt crowhurst"]Im going to be controversial here and say YES i do think Doherty is better than Stefanovic.

I know he has his critics but he has been one of our most consistent performers in the last 2 years, fully deserves the captaincy as it brings the best out of him, has more pace than people give him credit for and if you look at the stats esp when tiny taylor was here we conceded more goals when Doc was out of the team, cant be a coincidence

And who can forget the amount of penalties Stefanovic gave away when in the team at the start of last season. I think Doc gets a lot of undue criticism when he in fact he saved us on many occasions last year

Dont worry got the tin hat on!!!!!!!!!!
[/quote]

total aggrement with you ,Doc bashers get off his back

[hugoagogo 0]

*agreement*