Malky had to go.

[nycanary 1]

Malky going to West Ham is an emotional blow....just like Iwan.But this was the right decision. Why:a. Wasn''t certain whether he was up to Prem standards. Frankly, premiership standards are actually higher than most international matchups that happened this week.b. His contract was up in 10 months. Means either extend his contract, let him go on a Bosman, or sell him now. Clearly, he''s getting on in years and an extension was not the right path for Norwich to take for the long-term so what are you going to do...let him go on a Bosman? Take the money. But purely because of the transfer, I now have no doubt that we''ll be seeing Malky in the Prem next season with the Hammers.

[nolegs 0]

NYC I can see the logic,but it still hurts that he wasn''t even given a chance to prove himself in the prem

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

Sorry but I just dont understand your logic. If we are only going to play players that we are certain are premiership standard then we are going to field a team on Sunday of Hucks and Charlton, possibly with Green behind them.

Malky was our best defender last year, and looks to have improved even further, but apparently isnt worth considering this year - crackers.

I''ve read an awful lot of whingeing on this board about our failure to sign yet another striker despite the fact that we''ve had no problem in scoring in our opening games. The reason we''re in the bottom three is that our extremely mean defence of last year has been converted from the best defence in the division into the worst in the division - OK different division but, Arsenal apart, it doesnt alter the fact that we''ve let in a lot of very preventable goals.

Finally your point about his contract doesnt cut it either - if he were to make any contribution at all to keeping us up this season it would be far more valuble than the £200k or £300k we could get for him now.

[Branston Pickle 3,631]

Yeah - I guess being honest he prob had to go; I doubt any of us really thought he''d quite be up to the Permiership.....but it is a shame he didn''t actually get the chance to try to prove us all wrong; nor did he get a ''final game'' for us like Iwan did - but Malky did as much as anyone to gt us into the Premiershiop, so it is a bit sad....I just hope he realises how much we appreciate what he did for us!! 

Still, c''est la vie in football, I guess - and you never know, perhaps West Ham will do it and we''ll see him next season?!

[blacko 0]

Sadly NY you have hit the nail on the head. Its a real shame, I still think he could have done a job for us.

[FatMan Fat 0]

Sorry but I dont get the bit about Malky getting on in years - he is 32!  Does that mean Flem and Edworthy have to go as well? Why did we bother signing Helvig and Charlton - they are both older than Malky!!

[rainbow 0]

i think malky lacks a bit of pace but he makes up for that with his commitment and no one can deny that! no question in my opinion he has done enough to warrant a place in the squad

[BedsCanary 0]

No, Malkay wasn''t given the chance to prove himself in the Premier but neither was Iwan.

And with our lack of height up front we could do with having him back please Gillingham

[gazzathegreat 0]

i have tried to keep out of this one as much as possible, but finally i have had to say something!

i am absolutely furious about the goings on concerning malky -  i know i am only a fan, and am not privileged to anything that goes on behind the scenes - but why wasn''t he even given a chance to prove himself, if (as happened with iwan) it was thought he was absolutely incapable of premiership football why didn''t he go in the summer (if the club are that desperate to save every penny) would have saved a couple of months wages there!

why is holt in the team then, he is no better in his relative position than malky was! 

To cap it all, we just blindly cancel a testimonial game for poor old notty for an england  U19 international.  Words sometimes fail me, where does loyalty lie?  Not at Carrow Road at present it seems.

[GMF 735]

Whilst we are never going to know all the facts surrounding the Malky transfer, certain points are clear.

For a start, Iwan was out of contract in the summer, Malky wasn''t and Worthy clearly believed then that he still had a roll to play at the club, otherwise he would have found himself in a similar situation to Easton (released by mutual consent) or Briggs (out on loan).

Over the summer we have signed a number of other players to increase our central defensive options. Time will tell whether these are better alternatives to Malky.

One thing is certain however. Malky was injured in preseason, so others took his place and have certainly not let themselves down. With the best will in the world, Malky can not be considered as an automatic choice for centre back.

Coventry wanted to take Malky on loan at first. This was turned down, so they came back with an offer for a transfer. With Malky out of contract in the summer, and no guarantee that it would be renewed, it probably suited both parties to seek a permanent deal.

I''m not saying that I necessarily agree with all of the above happenings, but football can be a cruel game at times.

OTBC.

[Stockholm Canary 0]

Gotta say I was shocked. Also seems weird that we are selling a "reserve" player to West Ham. That wasn''t something I expected a few years back.

But would we have offered a new contract to a 33 year old Malky? Doubt it.

Would he have played much? Doubt it, seems like Doherty and Charlton are ahead of him. Druy and Helveg can play there AND Worthy obviously rates Shackell, who has to get given some games at some point it he''s going to make it.

Why did we not fix this prior to the deadline? Injury perhaps?

Oh well, another hero moves on. It''s the price of playing in the Prem. 

[shropshire canary 0]

We bought him for 350k 6 years ago and sell him for 300k having had all that we have had in terms of performances, memories etc. Not bad business, as sad as it is.

It''s almost certainly best for Malky too - more chance of exploiting Scotlands lack of options and getting some more international caps at the media darlings of Upton Park than Canary reserve fixtures/occasional call ups from the bench.

I''m sure he knows this and will be pleased with the opportunity: don''t read too much into the media release comments - remember the c**p when Hucks was/wasn''t joining!

[Splendid Rush 0]

I think there was some sentimentality in Worthy''s decision - he wanted Malky to have first team opportunities to further his international career and he could not offer him this at City.

To compare this to Iwan''s tranfer is naive though.  Iwan was clearly not Premiership quility, whereas Malky could arguably cut it.  I think it is a shame, but this is football, we don''t owe him a living.

One of his quotes did annoy me though: ""West Ham is a massive club and when I was told the club was accepting offers for me, you look onwards and upwards, and I jumped at the chance to come here," " - I believe the Coca Cola Championship is a downwards direction Malcolm.

[machoman 0]

Sadly I think maybe part of this saga has to do with Worthy''s dealings in the transfer market. Worthy obviously banked on getting Primus and to my mind let that non-transfer drag on far too long - hence he couldn''t offload Malky until he''d finally got round to looking elsewhere, buying extra cover in the shape of the Doc.

Personally I''m in 2 minds about Malky - I have never rated him due to his lack of pace - however, to at least be able to put an experienced back-up defender in the team he was probably worth keeping for a tad longer. As for West Ham I don''t read much into that - if I put myself in his position - and wanted and needed to play regularly anywhere other than reserve football - I''d say the same.

[nolegs 0]

[quote]Sadly I think maybe part of this saga has to do with Worthy''s dealings in the transfer market. Worthy obviously banked on getting Primus and to my mind let that non-transfer drag on far too long - hen...[/quote]

Machoman, you beggar belief!you never rated him ? how did we get to where we are ....oh yeah some stalwart defending and some timely priceless goals, a trip to specsavers might be in order the cateracts are obviously giving problems!!

[susie b 0]

The title of this thread is ''Malky had to go''.  I think that if he asked Worthy whether he was going to get regular first-team football this season, and if he got the reply I think we can all guess at, then the thread title is correct, sad though I am to say it.  The man will always be a real hero in my eyes, just like Iwan will.

I would imagine, having watched him give his all for the cause, that Malky is passionate about the game and takes immense pride in his performances, hence it is likely that some real heat-of-the-moment stuff went on in Worthy''s office, with the latter being left in no doubt that Malky felt let down and would be far from happy to play reserve team football or warm the bench if lucky.  I don''t doubt that Malky is being honest when he says he didn''t ask for a transfer, but he probably didn''t leave Worthy much room to manoeuvre in that it would not be good for the overall team spirit if someone so clearly discontent with the situation remained, hence the offers that were accepted this week.  (Bearing in mind the length left on his contract and the unlikelihood of it being extended just added to the urgency of getting a deal sorted out, I believe).  Whether the club handled it well or not we could debate into the wee small hours and still not resolve for we don''t know how things have really unfolded.  In all probability we will never know the whole truth.

Anyway, I''m sure we all wish Malky the very best of luck.  He''ll get a huge welcome when he returns to FCR and will always be remembered for the great memories he has given us.  It is such a shame that he won''t get the chance to play in the Prem for us after working so hard to get us there, but there are clearly those who are in a much better position than any of us to make the difficult decisions.  That''s what they are paid to do and I, for one, wouldn''t want their job for a king''s ransom! 

[machoman 0]

Nolegs, sorry you couldn''t seem to actually quote the part of my post that you then attacked. Sorry also my personal opinion offends you so much - there have been many such comments on Malky''s strengths and weaknesses over the last few days - why pick on mine? I was under the impression that opinions were what we all had an inviolate right to - and I will stick by MY opinion. I didn''t ask you or anybody else to agree or otherwise- nor is your opinion any more valid than mine - it is what it is - a personal belief.

I''m sure if everyone on this board was asked to rate players we would get about 100 different lists of who people did and didn''t rate - none would be right or wrong.

My opinion of Malky is not based on him as a one man team - we got to where we are because he''s one defender and one goalscorer from a squad - and if you''d read the whole of my post, you would have noted that I actually wanted to keep him and the benefit of his experience for a little longer in that squad. 

[nolegs 0]

Macho I read your thread carefully,and I still don''t understand how you didn''t rate a player who gave such a commited sterling service to the club.

[Canaries4ever 0]

Can see your point.

 

Canaries4ever    www.ontheballcity.co.uk

[machoman 0]

Yup so carefully you didn''t notice the bit where I explicitly stated that I didn''t rate Malky because of his lack of pace

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

I think, unfotunately, ny is right.  IMO it''s the right decison for the player and the club.  He''s gone to West Ham and I think he''ll do well there at the back.  It''s sad to see a city legend move on, but thats the realities of football.