An emerging pattern.

[Salopian 1]

Nearly all the reported transfer targets this month seem to have been players who have not played much this season, and who presumably would like regular football.It probably indicates that they do not rank high in their present manager''s preferences, and a signing may be more likely.

The only interest we can be sure about is Gutierrez, of course., but this week-end we have Lovenkranz and Taylor. Previously there was Ciani, and others.

You might think that a player underrated by his present club may not actually be very good, but the question is why we are going down this route.

Does Hughton fancy that he can turn round under-performing players? Perhaps he''s better at this than the other way round, such as reducing prolific scorers to non-scorers, but I jest.

Does the club feel that what we need is a few cheaper players as a back-up to the squad they are pinning their hopes on?

Is Hughton operating on a very tight budget? This could be either self-imposed, as we know he does not favour signing in January, or imposed on him by the club who lack confidence in him and are reluctant to spend big money on players who may go in a "fire sale" when we are relegated?

Is it possible that such players are desperate to play and re-establish their careers, whereas those with ambitions are less likely to consider Norwich because of our performances this season?

It could be a mixture of reasons, but there does seem a pattern.

[TCCANARY 263]

 

The only pattern is that some agents are leaking stories to the press linking us to their players and you''re falling for it.

 

 

[Jim Smith 2,314]

The other pattern is that most of those linked have played for Hughton before which could suggest he is trying to get a few more senior players in the dressing room who are loyal to him/buy into how he does things

[Indy 3,283]

Not really we have only actually signed one player on loan so far, the rest is just rumours with no foundations, as the club have not confirmed any of these links!

 

The pattern is the norm for us over the past three seasons, being linked with high profile players at the start then we end up with a Becchio last minute!

 

I don''t expect too much as we are in a relegation fight, we don''t have huge finances and we did most of our spending in the summer.

[Sussexyellow 55]

To me the "pattern" is that we are a small fish in the big pool that we currently swim in. As such it is difficult to attract the better quality players we would like. Plus as has been pointed out on here many times, financially we are also lightweights in this division, so we can not make ourselves attractive by offering shedloads of money.

Possibly we have enquired and got nowhere. As the end of the window nears attention is turned to looking at what might be available/possible rather than what would really like. Always a bit of a disappointment.

However we may have to face the fact we may not do much business in this window. Hoots has consistently said that business will only be done if it is right for Norwich. Personally I hope that we will not do any deals that smack of desperation.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

I believe brendon Rodgers has the right attitude when he said any signing would have to improve Liverpool if not he would look at bringing younger players into first team not just sign squad fillers !

this is where I think we should be looking progress or youth no squad fillers

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

I think another aspect that should not be overlooked is the fact that, in the Prem, certainly, it is so tight at both ends that for once, EVERYBODY will still have something to play for, even in March, most probably . So whereas some of the middle ranking teams (and indeed some of the bigger ones), have, in the past decided that they can start thinning their squads out around this time of year, this season, it''s a case of all hands to the pump.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

This may be getting out of date today but the Daily Mail list for this window has only 13 full transfers completed and 11 loan deals (including ours for Gutierrez).

[Buh 0]

Why is it easier to sign players that are out of favour than ones performing to a high standard every week in the January window?

What a mystery eh!?

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

If you want to buy someone in the January window, you either have to agree to pay over the odds, or find someone who is basically out of favour at his existing club.   Or wait until they''ve been able to recruit a replacement that they would prefer to have instead of the player you are buying from them.  So you sometimes get a chain of moves which happen once the first link is finalised, often near the end of the window.

 

That''s the difference from the summer window when everyone is looking to get their squad together for the new season.  In January, if the player you want is in demand at his current club, then buying him will leave them with a gap at a crucial time of the season.

 

So Mata would never have gone to Man U if he wasn''t out of favour at Chelsea.

 

And as Villa have found with Wes, a target can be not a first team regular but the club can still be reluctant to let a squad player go.

 

So targeting players who are out of favour is only sensible, assuming of course that you think you can get them to play well better.  I guess this applies to both Turner and Bassong really, when we bought them.