is crofts a replacement for Rusty?

[Syteanric 1]

similar players it seems from reading the pinkun report.Is crofts coming in to replace the departing Russell? he would be a good signing i think.

[TheGoogler 604]

Quite possibly. He is a similar sort of player, good in the tackle and decent pass.

[Greg Downs Hairpiece 0]

Anybody thought he stood out in games v the Mighty Yellows?

[TheGoogler 604]

Can''t say he did. I was impressed, however, back when he played for Gillingham

[kdncfc 0]

Don''t think that he''s the calibre of player to transform us into a top six championship team,probably just a rumour that the edp have got from somewhere.

[TheGoogler 604]

[quote user="kdncfc"]Don''t think that he''s the calibre of player to transform us into a top six championship team,probably just a rumour that the edp have got from somewhere.[/quote]

Says who? Anthony Gerrard, signed for Cardiff from Walsall. He''s proven himself to be a top six Championship player despite coming from an average league one club. DJ Campbell, scoring for fun with Blackpool. We all know where he came from. Meanwhile, clubs like Derby, Middlesborough and Ipswich rot in the lower reaches of the Championship because they''ve bought in big expensive players who don''t really want to play for the club.

A team of hungry, capable players are exactly what we need. I think Crofts would fit this description.

[kdncfc 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"][quote user="kdncfc"]Don''t think that he''s the calibre of player to transform us into a top six championship team,probably just a rumour that the edp have got from somewhere.[/quote]

Says who? Anthony Gerrard, signed for Cardiff from Walsall. He''s proven himself to be a top six Championship player despite coming from an average league one club. DJ Campbell, scoring for fun with Blackpool. We all know where he came from. Meanwhile, clubs like Derby, Middlesborough and Ipswich rot in the lower reaches of the Championship because they''ve bought in big expensive players who don''t really want to play for the club.

A team of hungry, capable players are exactly what we need. I think Crofts would fit this description.[/quote]We do need a team of young hungry players with ability and from what I''ve seen of him I''m not convinced he has enough ability to take us where we want to go, you do and if this is true then so does Lambert. All about opinions, let''s hope yours is right and mines wide of the mark..

[AndyCanary 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"] Says who? Anthony Gerrard, signed for Cardiff from Walsall. He''s proven himself to be a top six Championship player despite coming from an average league one club. DJ Campbell, scoring for fun with Blackpool. We all know where he came from. Meanwhile, clubs like Derby, Middlesborough and Ipswich rot in the lower reaches of the Championship because they''ve bought in big expensive players who don''t really want to play for the club.

A team of hungry, capable players are exactly what we need. I think Crofts would fit this description.[/quote]+1!

[kdncfc 0]

From a Brighton forum    I''m sorry, but if crofts is being targeted as norwich''s main midfield man then they may as well be relegated now. This is not a criticism of Norwich, but if I was one of their fans and heard this news I would not be optimistic in the slightest.
Again only one persons opinion and to be fair there are some on there that rate him highly but he has only performed in league one so none of us really know whether he''d be good enough for the championship.

[Trent Canary 0]

A slightly more balanced view..http://northstandchat.com/showthread.php?t=175445Doubt this one will come to anything. If it does then cant say ive seen him play, Lambert seems to have a good eye though.

[Mike 68]

Strange being as he''s their captain and was voted player of the season

[freddyf105 0]

Sounds like the sort of player Lambet will be going for. From what we''ve seen of him, and from his pevious history, he likes to buy players from leagues that he knows well (Martin-was captain of peterborough in league 1, Mcnamee, Forster- was on loan in league 1, Whitbread, Johnsn) so I think someone like Crofts could be a possibility.

[kdncfc 0]

[quote user="Mike Grant"]Strange being as he''s their captain and was voted player of the season[/quote]I''d guess it''s a similar scenario to what we''ve had here with Doherty, even though he has been good in league 1 some of them don''t think he''d be any good in the championship.

[Greg Downs Hairpiece 0]

The forum is interesting...Thanks Trent C.

[TheGoogler 604]

kd, I''m not saying he''d be a success or anything. I''m saying that players can often make that step up in calibre even when not expected too. Just because he''s not some hot shot from the Prem/Champ doesn''t preclude him from being able to make that step up.

[Joanna Grey 0]

What would Brighton fans know about being in the Championship?

[kdncfc 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"]kd, I''m not saying he''d be a success or anything. I''m saying that players can often make that step up in calibre even when not expected too. Just because he''s not some hot shot from the Prem/Champ doesn''t preclude him from being able to make that step up.[/quote]In reality even Lambert doesn''t know for certain whether a lower league player will make the grade in a higher division and the whole thing is a bit of a gamble, sometimes they work out and sometimes they don''t but for such a vital position in the team I''d feel more comfortable if we brought in a proven championship performer tbh.

[Mike 68]

I''d rather we bought in someone hungry to succeed & with the right mentality to improve. I don''t want another journeyman.

[kdncfc 0]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]What would Brighton fans know about being in the Championship?[/quote]They''ve probably seen enough of the play off games in the last week to know that the standard of football at the top end of the championship is far better than league 1.

[Jim Smith 2,610]

[quote user="Trent Canary"]A slightly more balanced view..

http://northstandchat.com/showthread.php?t=175445

Doubt this one will come to anything. If it does then cant say ive seen him play, Lambert seems to have a good eye though.
[/quote]

 

Does lambert have a "good eye" though? For me, the quality opf his signings is the one area i''ve yet to be convinced. i am reassured that I believe he can sees which positions need stregthening quicker than many of his predecessors and obviously Fraser Forster was a good signing but for me R Martin, Rose and Elliot are all not good enough (did a job granted but not great players), Oli looks to have some talent but is far from the finished article and the jury is out somewhat on Macnamee. Maybe he had no resources but I don''t think he''s been fantastic in the transfer market so far. This summer will be the real test of his eye but for me losing Rusty and replacing him with a relatively unheard of league 1 midfielder would not be the most positive start to the summer (even though Crofts may turn out to be good).

[First Wizard 0]

In the EDP it said to compliment Rusty, not  nessaseraily replace him!

''Lambert is already looking for a possible successor, or someone to play alongside the experienced midfielder should he decide to stay put''

[ncfc90 0]

Rather have Jimmy Abdou

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

A true test of how players are is if they are voted by the fans as player of the year. He looks a good target at a good age and seems to score a few more than our current crop, Hollahan apart. Good league 1 players will i think feature highly in our signings

[Old Shuck 291]

Thing is, our own Croft was voted POTS and then buggered off to a "higher level", no-one was bothered when that happened and no-one has heard of him since!

[AJ 1,359]

Lambert knows exactly what he is doing, and like others have said, I don''t think this will come to much.

I''m pretty sure he''ll play his cards close to his chest and wait until later in the close season

[ref89 0]

Not strange at all.  As we are all know aware, League One is a step down from the Championship in terms of quality.Look at Gill last season, Exeter forums were saying how he would never just be a reserve for us as he was pivotal in their team - and he may as well have not been here.I think some people have forgotten how much of a higher quality league we are in next season.

[quote user="Mike Grant"]Strange being as he''s their captain and was voted player of the season[/quote]

[ref89 0]

I think the players he got in were just good enough to to the job asked of them.  I dont think he was looking long term with any of them.  Mcnamee and Oli are not going to cut it in the Championship for example and will spend their time in the reserves.[quote user="Jim Smith"]

[quote user="Trent Canary"]A slightly more balanced view..http://northstandchat.com/showthread.php?t=175445Doubt this one will come to anything. If it does then cant say ive seen him play, Lambert seems to have a good eye though.[/quote]

 

Does lambert have a "good eye" though? For me, the quality opf his signings is the one area i''ve yet to be convinced. i am reassured that I believe he can sees which positions need stregthening quicker than many of his predecessors and obviously Fraser Forster was a good signing but for me R Martin, Rose and Elliot are all not good enough (did a job granted but not great players), Oli looks to have some talent but is far from the finished article and the jury is out somewhat on Macnamee. Maybe he had no resources but I don''t think he''s been fantastic in the transfer market so far. This summer will be the real test of his eye but for me losing Rusty and replacing him with a relatively unheard of league 1 midfielder would not be the most positive start to the summer (even though Crofts may turn out to be good).

[/quote]

[Trent Canary 0]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]

[quote user="Trent Canary"]A slightly more balanced view..http://northstandchat.com/showthread.php?t=175445Doubt this one will come to anything. If it does then cant say ive seen him play, Lambert seems to have a good eye though.[/quote]

Does lambert have a "good eye" though? For me, the quality opf his signings is the one area i''ve yet to be convinced. i am reassured that I believe he can sees which positions need stregthening quicker than many of his predecessors and obviously Fraser Forster was a good signing but for me R Martin, Rose and Elliot are all not good enough (did a job granted but not great players), Oli looks to have some talent but is far from the finished article and the jury is out somewhat on Macnamee. Maybe he had no resources but I don''t think he''s been fantastic in the transfer market so far. This summer will be the real test of his eye but for me losing Rusty and replacing him with a relatively unheard of league 1 midfielder would not be the most positive start to the summer (even though Crofts may turn out to be good).

[/quote]They were good enough for league one which was what we needed. Does he have an eye for championship players? No idea... Looking forward to finding out!But as mentioned before, I doubt this Crofts rumour has any substance to it.

[Yelloow Since 72 56]

With Doherty gone, and Rusty possibly on his way, City are looking short of CCC quality and experience and I can''t see that adding more League 1 players unproven at CCC level is going to help that. I also have similar concerns about Lambert''s recruitment so far. Would Crofts add much more than we already have in Gill, OTJ and Adeyemi? (and Rusty if he doesn''t move on?). Not convinced, personally and I still think we could come to rue dumping Doherty in the way we did with Malky. This all suggests a struggle next year to me, and we haven''t seen Lambert with a struggling team yet (memories of Roeder going to pieces after Clark left). I hope I''m wrong about this, but my confidence is dropping.

[TheNewBoy 0]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]A true test of how players are is if they are voted by the fans as player of the year. He looks a good target at a good age and seems to score a few more than our current crop, Hollahan apart. Good league 1 players will i think feature highly in our signings[/quote]

Well Matt Gill was the Exeter player of the year, Lee Croft was our last player of the year, I''m sure that there are plenty more examples that I could give too.