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GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary

The Stephen Hughes conundrum?

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One year on from his signing and I for one am still not totally sure quite what type of midfielder we have here. After Lambert''s decision to change the role of the ''base'' of the diamond from the midfield destroyer of Russell to that of a distributor with the signing of Fox, Hughes may have been within his rights to feel that he should have been first in line for this new role.

It was reported when we signed him that he was earning 7k a week, can anyone ever see a time when he will be first choice whilst he is at Norwich and in what position?....or might he be better served moving to a club where he is first choice?

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Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

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I think the right hand side of the diamond suited him best. Good player, hope he can deliver this season.

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Stephen Hughes isn''t good enough......He did a few ok things last year, but we had (and now have even more) more players who did a lot more....

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[quote user="I am a Banana"]

Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

?!?!? , seen any pre-season games?

 

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Hes a moody * is what i learned from today, i know its a long time for them but at least give something back to the fans

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

?!?!? , seen any pre-season games?

 

[/quote]Yeah but Crofts is a much more like Rusty than Fox is, so i''m sure either of them could....Ideally the middle three will be : Surman, Crofts, Smith.....

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[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

Silly ''Nana.

[/quote]

[:$]

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[quote user="Gingerpele"][quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

?!?!? , seen any pre-season games?

 

[/quote]

Yeah but Crofts is a much more like Rusty than Fox is, so i''m sure either of them could....Ideally the middle three will be : Surman, Crofts, Smith.....
[/quote]no i haven''t seen any pre season games.

But i thought we signed crofts as a replacement for rusty?

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That was the impression when we signed them ''Nana but Fox has been playing the base and Crofts has been playing on the right with Surman on the left and Hoolahan at the top.

It''s worked very well because Fox and Surman can really pick a pass and Crofts has been coming inside and breaking up plays with R. Martin trying to overlap.

Our midfield looks really really strong. Even stronger than last season. K. Smith is going to have a very tough time breaking back into this midfield I believe.

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[quote user="I am a Banana"][quote user="Gingerpele"][quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

?!?!? , seen any pre-season games?

 

[/quote]

Yeah but Crofts is a much more like Rusty than Fox is, so i''m sure either of them could....Ideally the middle three will be : Surman, Crofts, Smith.....
[/quote]no i haven''t seen any pre season games.

But i thought we signed crofts as a replacement for rusty?

[/quote]

I think we all thought that, but it would appear to be Fox in that role, Crofts seemingly is more box to box , and on yesterday''s evidence looked impressive in doing so.

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If it wasn''t for his cross, we wouldn''t have beaten the scum. So I am happy with his contribution to the club. [<:o)]

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[quote user="I am a Banana"][quote user="Gingerpele"][quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Im not sure where he will feature, btu he is a quality player and is certainly nice to have him avaliabkle to fill in.

i also believe that crofts plays at the bottom of the diamond not fox?

[/quote]

?!?!? , seen any pre-season games?

 

[/quote]

Yeah but Crofts is a much more like Rusty than Fox is, so i''m sure either of them could....Ideally the middle three will be : Surman, Crofts, Smith.....
[/quote]no i haven''t seen any pre season games.

But i thought we signed crofts as a replacement for rusty?

[/quote]

The thing is when you look at a timeline of events it doesn''t add up. We signed Crofts a long time before we heard the final word on the Russell saga. Also when you look at last season Lambert often played Lappin, Russell and Smith as the three midfield players, arguably three player who''s strengths are in their defencive play.

I think if you look at when we signed Fox - that was when he made the decision not to bother with Russell anymore and to plug the hole left with another player. Unlike other managers we have had, Lambert doesn''t seemed fussed about finding exact replacements, he finds a player with strengths that could suit a position and the works with it.

Whilst Fox may not be the hustle bustle that Rusty was he certainly reads the game well and does anything he can to intercept a pass even if its just to get a toe end on it to hold up an attack for a few secconds by getting an oppo player to check their stride. He is better at picking it up off the back four as well, making himself available for a pass at every given oppertunity and then distributes it well. Like I have said elsewhere, a bit like how Crook used to play.

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The way I see it is that we now have a very competitive midfield area, and Lambert has seen that a player at the base of the diamond may need to be more of a ''play-maker'' than a ''destroyer'' in the Championship.

It looks to me as if Fox may be first choice at the base, but Crofts, K.Smith or even Gill could fill in, then I would say Crofts has staked an excellent claim for the Right sided player, with K.Smith and Hughes again covering. Surman will clearly be first choice left side with Lappin covering there. Hoolahan is almost untouchable at the top of the diamond but I think either McNamee, Surman or possibly Chris Martin could also play in that role (albeit slightly differently).

I think what we have is a very adaptable midfield with lots of choice. This is not including Tudur Jones if he stays and Adeyemi to come back from loan, as well as Dawkin who has a big future. There is the possibility of going 4-4-2 or 4-1-3-2 with these players. A super job by Lambert.

The Midfield is probably the best area of our team, which is just what you need in the Championship, the strikers will get enough goals with these players behind them and as long as we can shore up a little more at the back we should be fine!

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

One year on from his signing and I for one am still not totally sure quite what type of midfielder we have here. After Lambert''s decision to change the role of the ''base'' of the diamond from the midfield destroyer of Russell to that of a distributor with the signing of Fox, Hughes may have been within his rights to feel that he should have been first in line for this new role.

It was reported when we signed him that he was earning 7k a week, can anyone ever see a time when he will be first choice whilst he is at Norwich and in what position?....or might he be better served moving to a club where he is first choice?

[/quote]

I''m not sure either. Early last season it seemed we only played well when Hughes played. He was a huge influence and I thought he was a really good signing. Remember the MKDons game where we totally ran the show until Chadwick did for Hughes. His injury changed the game. Russell wasn''t even on the scene at that time. I''m not sure what type of midfielder he is either. Whenever I''ve seen him at the base of the diamond he drops so deep he''s nearly another centre back. I am now not sure we will find out because it doesn''t seem he''s first choice for any position. I think he''s a really good footballer but I''m beginning to think he never gets a run of games simply because of fitness issues. 

I doubt he''s on anything like 7k though because we signed him after relegation to League One.

 

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I think the guy is a class act, but I can''t quite see where he fits in. If he could string together 10 - 15 games I''m sure he''s win any doubters over, because his poor performances last season seemed to come from lack of match fitness. I expect he may be on the move this month.

As for his wages I think Gunny said just after he''d signed that the reported wages were a load of old tosh!

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During the majority of last season we hit a winning midfield formula of Lappin,Russell,Smith, an whilst we were winning there could be no justification in changing it. However this summer Lambert has claerly identied that department of the team that needed strengthening the most, bringing in 3 midfielders to possibly replace the aforementoned 3 from last season. That presumably puts Hughes even further down the pecking order?. We keep hearing that he''s a good player but would Lambert have really gone out and signed another three midfielders if he thought that there was an adequate player already here?

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