Young and Hungry

[CambridgeCanary 0]

With all the debate about various proposed new additions, I began to stand back from the specifics and look at the general principle.   Young and hungry have been lumped together and led to various posters arguing that players like Bullard and Bowyer do not meet that profile.   It is not a new issue.   I recollect John Bond deciding not to sign Peter Lorimer from Leeds after meeting him and concluding that he just wanted one last pay day.   Sadly because he was an idol of mine, Martin Chivers also fell into that category here and need I mention (can I bear to mention???) Tony Cottee!!!

It seems to me that young and hungry are linked together a bit like sex and violence and are equally two different things.   Young players are not necessairily hungry; witness Francis Jeffers.   Conversely, we have experience here of older players who were very definately hungry.   Did any City player ever fight more for the cause than Martin Peters?   Also other examples spring to mind like Mike Channon, David Williams and Joe Royle.  All veterans who came not to fade out of the limelight but to seize the opportunity for one last challenge.   All did us proud and are remembered fondly.

Whilst we want young and hungry players, I am not adverse to the occasional older hungry player.   of the current candidates, Bullard seems to me to have shown at Hull and at Ipswich that he will still give his all.   As a hungry older player with a lot of experience and ability, he may have something worthwhile to offer.

 

[Row D Seat 7 0]

I think we should sign Young, but never heard of Hungry. Does he play in the same team as Benson & Hedges?

[When Saturday Comes 0]

Lambert said exactly this in the Vaughan press conference yesterday.

Basically that you can be an older player and still be hungry.

[Norfolk Mustard 94]

I agree - the managerial skill is sorting the wheat from the chaff. PL seems to be better than most in than department!

[ChelmsfordCanary 0]

I agree, with all comments I feel that whilst we need to think about the future with young hungry players you need a good solid, older, experienced player to offer that much needed experience of premiership football.

I believe that Lambert has got it spot on, we need not be stupid and buy ''named'' players with huge salaries, then we are looking for short sharp instant success we may not be able to maintain.

Building the Norwich team we truely love may take some seasons of ''yo yo''ing'' but we need to ensure each year we build and get stronger. Happy so far with James Vaughan, lets hope for a few more players either out to make a name for themselves or proove a point, thus helping us achieve our season goal of staying up.

 

[211203 0]

Dion Dublin !

[ChelmsfordCanary 0]

Steen Nedergaard!

[Grant Holt is a Monster 0]

Agree that hungry is by far the more important criteria of the two. Mackail-Smith, Morrison and Whittingham are all late 20''s but all have that "this could be my last chance at Premiership football" attitude burning inside. The queries come with players who have been there, and done that already for the last 5 or 6 years who wouldn''t have touched us a couple of years ago but who''ll make do now they think that Little Norwich will give them a game when a bigger or more established club wouldn''t any more.

[Howson is now! 0]

[quote user="Canary Call Special Needs Admin"]

Agree that hungry is by far the more important criteria of the two. Mackail-Smith, Morrison and Whittingham are all late 20''s but all have that "this could be my last chance at Premiership football" attitude burning inside. The queries come with players who have been there, and done that already for the last 5 or 6 years who wouldn''t have touched us a couple of years ago but who''ll make do now they think that Little Norwich will give them a game when a bigger or more established club wouldn''t any more.

[/quote]

But surely that still shows that they have a desire to play at the top level?

Jimmy Bullard was quoted as saying "I just want to play football." Now I''m just using him as an example as he is one that I saw say it myself, but there must a lot of players out there that do "just want to play football?" I know the numbers are dwindling by the day but there will always be older heads that believe they could still add quality to a "lesser team" which let''s face it we have been for years.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Apparently, Lambert is lining up a couple of youth team players from Budapest.

[crabbycanary 2]

There are plenty of examples of footballers who are happy to pick up their wages whilst putting out minimal effort, so there may be  a case for someone like Bullard who does eem to have enthusiasm in abundance.

PL will have the character insights on players that we do not have, and I totally trust him to pick the right players no matter what the age. This doeds contradict what I said before about not having any player, over 30, here, but I would suggest that Bullard is an exception not the rule