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KeelansGlove

Come in No10 your time is up.

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I think the single most important think Norwich need to do this summer is to get a top class Second Striker/Attacking midfielder to play behind RVW with goals and passes in his locker. Without this and with 4-5-1 already etched in stone as the one formation we can play we run the serious risk of  yet another season of limited goals. Rvw an be isolated and double marked. Pilks injured or out of form. Wes and Snoddy needing a written invitation to shoot in open play. Whatever happened to the Wes from league 1 ?

Yes of course we have very limited cover up front and need to address this too but I cant see one let alone 2 players in our squad to play this role. I think the rest of the squad looks great and personally don''t think we need further additions anywhere else.

At least up front we can pray we get no injuries in behind we have no such luxury. Butterfield, Redmond or Elliot Bennett (one good game in this position) ? Wes to remember where the goal is ?

I think this player can truly make or break our season.

But I''ve been wrong before.

 

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Although it is not written anywhere I think most of us agree that CH will play this system this season and thus the need for a decent SS/AM is paramount. We have tried for Toivonen and Quagliarella and I''m sure that we have other targets already being worked on. We were never going to get all our first choices straight away and I fear we may have to be patient on this one.

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With the introduction of Fer I''d hope that would allow Howson to play that role. If he can find the form of the end of last season (and the season before, why does he only seem to turn on for the last few games?), coupled with the ability of Fer playing behind him, I think that would be a good Midfield: -

   Tetty/Johnson - Fer
Snoddy - Howson - Pilks

Thats pretty strong. Then with Redmond, Butterfield and Hoolahan all having the ability to play there aswell, I don''t think we as light on the ground as people think.

Thats why for me, a striker should still be taking priority. Either that or a player like Quags who can play both roles...

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Still yet to be convinced with Howson was one of his biggest critics, for much of the season we would have been better off with a scarecrow wearing his shirt then suddenly he becomes a world beater for the last month. Lets hope he''s the one that turns up this year.

I think he is more suited to a traditional CM playing 4-4-2 (alongside Fer would be great) not sure I see us playing this too often this year and I don''t recall him being used by Norwich in the advanced role but I guess time will tell. I think the key to this position is 3 fold: goals (minimum 8-10) Assists and passes and importantly goal threat. If defenders think this player will be likely to shoot and/or score they will have to seriously mark him hopefully giving RVW enough space to get goals.

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I have high hopes for Butterfield, as well. Unlike some, I saw the fact that Hughton gave him a place on the bench on the last game of the season as a sign of intent - "you''ve had a rough time, but you are in my plans".

Could it be Fer and Butterfield (described by Barnsley fans as ''like Scholes'') as the midfield pairing of choice by the end of next season?

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Nothing new here, it''s clear we need a ''schemer'' or a ''trequarista'' sort of player and/or a ''target man'' or a ''complete forward''/ ''second striker'' player. We just have to keep faith in the management to find us that/ them player(s). Here''s to hoping they arrive soon.

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[quote user="writeronthestorm"]I have high hopes for Butterfield - [/quote]

Based on what?

 

I don''t know loads about Butterfield other than he''s meant to have had one maybe two good seasons for a small club in the Championship.

 

But it seems other people know that he''s potentially something special.

 

I''m not saying he definitely won''t be a good player but I just don''t really get where all this "hype" has come from.

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[quote user="KeelansGlove"]

Still yet to be convinced with Howson was one of his biggest critics, for much of the season we would have been better off with a scarecrow wearing his shirt then suddenly he becomes a world beater for the last month. Lets hope he''s the one that turns up this year.

[/quote]

I thought Howson generally played well last season even if the role he was being asked to play didn''t suit his strengths.

 

A target of a lot of unfair criticism, in my opinion.

 

Very good player.

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[quote user="GJP"][quote user="KeelansGlove"]Still yet to be convinced with Howson was one of his biggest critics, for much of the season we would have been better off with a scarecrow wearing his shirt then suddenly he becomes a world beater for the last month. Lets hope he''s the one that turns up this year. [/quote]I thought Howson generally played well last season even if the role he was being asked to play didn''t suit his strengths.A target of a lot of unfair criticism, in my opinion.Very good player.[/quote]

Singling out individual players from last season is difficult.  They struggled to create chances collectively, in the second half of the season.  A team playing well (as against WBA and Man City) gives your better players more of a chance to shine.    The fact that Howson did shine in that situation shows that he has the necessary class and ability. 

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[quote user="GJP"][quote user="KeelansGlove"]

Still yet to be convinced with Howson was one of his biggest critics, for much of the season we would have been better off with a scarecrow wearing his shirt then suddenly he becomes a world beater for the last month. Lets hope he''s the one that turns up this year.

[/quote]

I thought Howson generally played well last season even if the role he was being asked to play didn''t suit his strengths.

 

A target of a lot of unfair criticism, in my opinion.

 

Very good player.

[/quote]

 

He took his turn in the "scapegoat game"

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It shows nothing of the sort. even a stopped clock is right twice a day! Ive seen some really poor footballers have a few good games over the years I''ve supported city.

Howson was really good in the last 4 games or so of the season but REALLY anonymous prior to that. I wont bother repeating my rants of a midfielder that doesn''t tackle pass run or shoot but is allegedly playing really well from last season.

If you were happy with the performances he put in earlier in the season you were presumably also happy with the dull pedestrian performances the team put in last season and easily pleased.

I really hope the end of last season has given him confidence and he comes back that player.  

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[quote user="KeelansGlove"]

Howson was really good in the last 4 games or so of the season but REALLY anonymous prior to that. I wont bother repeating my rants of a midfielder that doesn''t tackle pass run or shoot but is allegedly playing really well from last season.

If you were happy with the performances he put in earlier in the season you were presumably also happy with the dull pedestrian performances the team put in last season and easily pleased.

[/quote]

Before the shackles came off a bit and he was allowed to show that he was really about Howson had been playing a role that didn''t allow him to show off the more eye-catching side of his game. He often had to check his run and hold back when his instinct would have been to push forward.

 

He''d spent a lot of time working very hard trying to cut supply lines etc. Which is just the way it is in midfield, especially at that level. A lot of the work has to be done without the ball - if that''s what you''re being asked to do. But that kind of hard work isn''t always recognised by the people in the stands. Against Everton, for example, we won the game and Kamara got the headlines but Howson had run his nuts off trying to keep Everton out of it.

 

I hope it''ll become increasingly obvious just how good he is.

 

 

 

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[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="writeronthestorm"]I have high hopes for Butterfield - [/quote]

Based on what?

 

I don''t know loads about Butterfield other than he''s meant to have had one maybe two good seasons for a small club in the Championship.

 

But it seems other people know that he''s potentially something special.

 

I''m not saying he definitely won''t be a good player but I just don''t really get where all this "hype" has come from.

[/quote]

Reports of his displays for barnsley and seeing him play a few time when he was with them.  He seems to have good vision, good with both feet, has an eye for a goal and a pass and he works hard with or without the ball. Must admit, I didn''t see anything of his loan spell at Bolton, so I have no idea if his injury has affected his game.

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Having watched both of the MLS friendlies at sill o''clock in the morning (sleep I will never get back !)

My point has been proved by 2 pedestrian gutless performances where we barely mustered a shot.

The one exception being Redmond who looked good and wasn''t afraid to have a go.

Before anyone says anything yes only a meaningless friendly but we were unable to exert any pressure in 180+ minutes of football

Perhaps with Fer and RVW on the pitch at the same time things would be better, but as a general rule we leave our striker isolated with no support coming from midfield. Butterfield looked marginally better than Wes but neither wold have me rushing to put a bet on Ncfc to get 3 points.

I think without a number 10 there is a real chance of us having to witness games like this again this season.

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We do need more in midfield and for the vast majority of last season the Johnson howson combination weak and over run defensively and ineffective at passing and creating with a heavy losing result ratio because of it. Bj looked the better of the pair

Fer is a start but he and we need better. And the rest need to improve or leave

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We do have good attacking options. Our problem was winning the ball back and getting it to the front 4

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ZLF wrote - "We do have good attacking options. Our problem was winning the ball back and getting it to the front 4"

And CH has addressed that issue with the capture of Fer. The only issue being who plays alongside him in CM.

As for the main gist of this topic it seems that it is our top priority at the moment judging by Paddy Davitt''s post match interview with CH.

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That''s good because I can''t see Hughton playing 4-4-2

and 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-1-1 needs the central player not only to link with the striker but be probably the second most likely player on the pitch to score. With the possible exception of Fer who we have not really seen enough of to judge I don''t think we have this player.

I have no idea why I got up to watch the friendly this morning but I wish I hadn''t bothered (just like most of the team apparently) we created almost nothing and also put no pressure on our opponents again. I know it means nothing but part of me worries we may have to again endure gutless games like the one against Newcastle last year where they were so poor they were just waiting for us to beat them but we couldn''t put a decent attack together. 

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Found this video of him on youtube, created by a big Barnsley supporter by the looks of it, who creates a lot of videos for them and has his own blog.

I still believe he''s the real deal. Saw enough of him myself living up North, and attending the odd Barnsley game with a friend there.

Whether he can cut it at this level remains to be seen, but I''d like to see him given at least that opportunity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1SFBTPMsz4

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I haven''t seen all of the pre-season friendlies, but am not overly worried by the results. While not exactly confidence boosting - having two defeats should give them a real kick up the backside. Also having two fairly lack-lustre attacking performances should alert us to get the balance of the team right for when the games that matter begin. I also think the attacking situation is not just about personnel, but the mindset of the team. One of Hughtons weaknesses is he seems hesitant in encouraging players to get forward in numbers in an effort to be more solid defensively. I think you want to be aiming to get 4 or even 5 in and around the box in attacks, last season we were often lucky if we got 2 or 3. However better to be aware these deficiencies exist now than sometime in October. If we end up sorting out our problems even before the new season begins, this could actually end up being a PERFECT pre-season.

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I am still concerned that we appear to have done nothing to address this situation yet.

Whilst we looked good from time to time on Saturday and here is no question we have added some real class to our squad the lack of a second primary goal threat made things easy for Martinez to nullify 12 touch RVW.

I hope Fer is an answer but think he is more of a box to box player likely to chip in with a few goals from deep (like Howson)

Pilkington and Redmond may well chip in with a few but I really cannot see a player in our squad currently that can pull the team together and chip in with 10 or more goals.

Playing Hooper behind RVW may be an exciting option although from memory this was not tried during any of the pre season games so is probably too attacking for Hughton.

Many things were different on Saturday sadly some were very much the same.

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The syatem that was played for most of last season is not etched in stone. Expect more changes this season.

The main reason we never played two up front last season was that we never had two good enough!

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I was at the Portland friendly (obviously) and thought the team played very well in the first half. Totally different from what I saw against Everton though. Yes, the formation was the same, but they looked more hesitant on the ball and the passes were hasty. Didn''t see that at all on Saturday. Probably just playing with an added degree of caution during the friendly; as is prudent of course.

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