Van Wolfswinkel...

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.

[city4eva 207]

[quote user="AJ"]I can''t remember Iwan hitting 20 goals in his first season, he didn''t turn out too bad though...[/quote]

He got 7 though

[lake district canary 4,530]

[quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.[/quote]

There are one or two people pushing this "likely to be a change of manager" line.  Why?  Who says he is at risk?  If we stay up for the second season in a row under this manager, as seems quite possible, why on earth is it "likely" that he is going anywhere??

[grefstad 0]

[quote] It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.[/quote]

RvW will not be gone. He is on a long contract, got a hefty price tag, and we will not cut our losses on a 25yr old in his first season in English football.

Look at De Jong at Newcastle. Prolific scorer in previous seasons and other leagues, not getting a sniff at Newcastle.

RvW will come good, but he needs better service, and he needs wingers who can beat a man.

We simply need more pace in the team, and even though Snodgrass is a decent winger, imho we need more pace on the right, both the RB and the RW.

If Hoolahan leaves, Snodgrass can play in the hole.

A change of manager and playing system would likely do RvW (and Hooper) the world of good.

[Guest]

I thought his movement off the ball was excellent yesterday.  Even if his finishing wasn''t.  But he did find the space to create those chances.He''s lacking confidence in front of goal and really needs to bundle one in to change that.I believe there is potential there. Whether he fulfils it is another question.

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.[/quote]

There are one or two people pushing this "likely to be a change of manager" line.  Why?  Who says he is at risk?  If we stay up for the second season in a row under this manager, as seems quite possible, why on earth is it "likely" that he is going anywhere??

[/quote]C''mon LDC get your head out of the sand for once.The performances, over the last two seasons as a whole, have not been good enough. By good enough I don''t mean not getting relegated - which I''d agree was a big plus in the manager''s favour last year and looks likely to be achieved again this time  - but when watching games something to enjoy not endure. ( note I have said as a whole so please don''t use the smattering of decent performances over that period as a defence)'' One or two '' pushing for a change ? Maybe I''ve missed something but since Christmas 2012 if I''m not mistaken there has been a growing call for a new manager.When it''s recently been echoed within the local media of all places things must be bad.

[lake district canary 4,530]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."][quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.[/quote]There are one or two people pushing this "likely to be a change of manager" line.  Why?  Who says he is at risk?  If we stay up for the second season in a row under this manager, as seems quite possible, why on earth is it "likely" that he is going anywhere??[/quote]C''mon LDC get your head out of the sand for once.The performances, over the last two seasons as a whole, have not been good enough. By good enough I don''t mean not getting relegated - which I''d agree was a big plus in the manager''s favour last year and looks likely to be achieved again this time  - but when watching games something to enjoy not endure. ( note I have said as a whole so please don''t use the smattering of decent performances over that period as a defence)'' One or two '' pushing for a change ? Maybe I''ve missed something but since Christmas 2012 if I''m not mistaken there has been a growing call for a new manager.When it''s recently been echoed within the local media of all places things must be bad.[/quote]

I don''t object to people wanting a change.  I object to people saying a change is "likely" or "its going to happen".  It just isn''t likely - if we stay up.

I also get really frustrated with comments about what has been happening over "two seasons".    The best thing any building process can show is progress.   You don''t build a house and keep harping back to how difficult it was digging the foundations.  You move on from that and carry on with building the walls, roof  and inside fittings.   As things progress you can start to admire and imagine what the finished house will look like.   What progress do I see?   Work on the defence last season, improved attacking and more chances created this season - and a some good performances since after the Fulham result on Boxing Day, culminating in 12  points out of  18 in the last six  home games, with good performances at Cardiff and West Ham, albeit without the goals we deserved. 

Now, I am quite happy to reminisce about last season - and I will point out the good run and the performances that took us to 11th place, as well as the difficult period after Christmas when we appeared to lose confidence.   I am more than happy to refer to the difficulties earlier this season, injuries, new players etc.  But what matters to me is what happens now.   If you want to harp on about the past that''s fine.  But I won''t.  To me we have recently put in really good efforts at home - and I include Stoke in that, for all the fact that we drew - Stoke are no mugs.   Away is harder, but we tried to play the right way at Cardiff, West Ham and Aston Villa.  Southampton was poor. 

So overall the picture is much better than  the picture some people are still putting about.  You may not have enjoyed everything in the last two seasons, but at  I wish people would take THEIR heads out of the sand and see what is happening in the present and not wallowing in the dim and distant past. 

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

If Hughton is kept on then I think it is even more unlikely that RVW will be sold, given how much work Hughton put into tempting him here.

I think that Hughton has done well over the last two years on the transfer market, but I do not have a lot of confidence in his ability to build a good team, nor to know how to use those players to their best abilities.

I do believe that staying in the Prem is by far the biggest priority, but this is an entertainment business too, and all too often this season - and last season, the entertainment has been poor.

I cannot choose which dim and distant past to stop wallowing in. I will have to try and work out which was the first game I saw at Carrow Road. It would have been in October, either 1967 or 1968, and we lost 2-1.

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="......and Smith must score."][quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]It would seem likely that there will be a change of manager at the end of the season.

It is also likely that we will not have Elmander and Becchio in our squad next season, which leaves us with two current squad strikers, or one if we sell RVW.

I am in the keep RVW camp. Hopefully a new manager will come in who will build his plans around Hooper and RVW, using them as an either/or and concentrating on giving them service.[/quote]There are one or two people pushing this "likely to be a change of manager" line.  Why?  Who says he is at risk?  If we stay up for the second season in a row under this manager, as seems quite possible, why on earth is it "likely" that he is going anywhere??[/quote]C''mon LDC get your head out of the sand for once.The performances, over the last two seasons as a whole, have not been good enough. By good enough I don''t mean not getting relegated - which I''d agree was a big plus in the manager''s favour last year and looks likely to be achieved again this time  - but when watching games something to enjoy not endure. ( note I have said as a whole so please don''t use the smattering of decent performances over that period as a defence)'' One or two '' pushing for a change ? Maybe I''ve missed something but since Christmas 2012 if I''m not mistaken there has been a growing call for a new manager.When it''s recently been echoed within the local media of all places things must be bad.[/quote]

I don''t object to people wanting a change.  I object to people saying a change is "likely" or "its going to happen".  It just isn''t likely - if we stay up.

I also get really frustrated with comments about what has been happening over "two seasons".    The best thing any building process can show is progress.   You don''t build a house and keep harping back to how difficult it was digging the foundations.  You move on from that and carry on with building the walls, roof  and inside fittings.   As things progress you can start to admire and imagine what the finished house will look like.   What progress do I see?   Work on the defence last season, improved attacking and more chances created this season - and a some good performances since after the Fulham result on Boxing Day, culminating in 12  points out of  18 in the last six  home games, with good performances at Cardiff and West Ham, albeit without the goals we deserved. 

Now, I am quite happy to reminisce about last season - and I will point out the good run and the performances that took us to 11th place, as well as the difficult period after Christmas when we appeared to lose confidence.   I am more than happy to refer to the difficulties earlier this season, injuries, new players etc.  But what matters to me is what happens now.   If you want to harp on about the past that''s fine.  But I won''t.  To me we have recently put in really good efforts at home - and I include Stoke in that, for all the fact that we drew - Stoke are no mugs.   Away is harder, but we tried to play the right way at Cardiff, West Ham and Aston Villa.  Southampton was poor. 

So overall the picture is much better than  the picture some people are still putting about.  You may not have enjoyed everything in the last two seasons, but at  I wish people would take THEIR heads out of the sand and see what is happening in the present and not wallowing in the dim and distant past. 

[/quote]I do admire how you stick to your guns LDC - and I appreciate that football is all about opinions - but you really are in a very small minority who think real progress has been made during Chris Hughton''s tenure.We were back to our best yesterday, albeit against very limited opposition, and there was a real '' feelgood factor '' during the game, and, afterwards when we learned that ALL the teams around us had lost. It made for a very pleasant Saturday evening. The problem is that days like yesterday are so rarely followed up in subsequent matches. For the record I fancy us to beat Swansea because we always do but had it been any other opposition I wouldn''t be confident at all.To judge if progress has been made it''s hardly wallowing in the '' dim and distant '' past to look back at the manager''s record over two seasons. It can''t be based on a patchy improvement over the last couple of months and one great result yesterday. True, despite some nervy performances our home results have been pretty good this term but equally our away performances have, on the whole, been dire.The results have been even worse. By Norwich standards a lot of money has been spent on what on what most agree are quality players but we haven''t seen any consistent improvement over what was a miserable post-Christmas period last season to justify that outlay.We now look a reasonable bet to stay up but do you seriously think that at the end of the season David McNally & Co will look back on the manager''s whole time at Carrow Road and say genuine progress has been made?

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]..........

I cannot choose which dim and distant past to stop wallowing in. I will have to try and work out which was the first game I saw at Carrow Road. It would have been in October, either 1967 or 1968, and we lost 2-1.[/quote]In case you''re still scratching your head THB according to my '' bible '' - Canary Citizens - it would have been against Hull City.They were our nearest thing to a local derby back then.

[whoareyou? 0]

If anyone thinks changing manager is going to change the style of play very much in terms of entertainment then i think they may have a very long wait as long as we are in the Premier League.I do think though we could have a change of ethos in SOME games. I think yesterday showed we do have enough decent players to be able to take the game to some of the other Premier League teams.

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

Thank you "...and Smith must score" - if pushed I would have said "Hull?", but it was so very long ago.

Which year?

[NCFCgardener 0]

Form is temporary, class is permanent, get off his back, he will come good.

Norwich play a style of football that he has probably not experienced in his career, he is new to the league and was disrupted by injury. He has also had very few clear cut chances, he had more chances on Sat that he has probably had in total all season.

Sat was his best performance so far and he was unlucky, missed one good chance and a good save by keeper for the other.

I''m predicting a goal against Swansea, then another 4/5 by end of the season....

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]He doesn''t keep missing sitters though does he, that was his first decent chance in months.[/quote]I do love the fact that even when someone is sticking up for our stuttering record signing striker the most positive thing they can think to say is "that was his first decent chance in months".Says a lot about his first season as a whole.

[lake district canary 4,530]

[quote user="Holtcantshoot"][quote user="Mr Brownstone"]He doesn''t keep missing sitters though does he, that was his first decent chance in months.[/quote]I do love the fact that even when someone is sticking up for our stuttering record signing striker the most positive thing they can think to say is "that was his first decent chance in months".Says a lot about his first season as a whole.[/quote]

His shot at Villa was on target and led to Snodgrass scoring.   His harassing against Tottenham led to the goal too.  He is doing a good job and will score as he settles and gets fitter.  People seem to forget he had a long lay off in the earlier part of the season.     People are not robots and neither are players.  He gives everything when out there on the pitch - and that proves he has heart too.   We have to be patient and quality will shine through with time, fitness and confidence.

[El Convento 14]

I''m afraid they were both misses - the keeper shouldn''t have had a chance with the header.

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="Trevor Hockeys Beard"]Thank you "...and Smith must score" - if pushed I would have said "Hull?", but it was so very long ago.

Which year?[/quote]Sorry THB..........forgot to include the most important bit.( doh )It was Sat 5th Ocober 1968. To fill in the nerdy bits it was 1-1 at HT, Hugh Curran scored our goal and the attendance was a healthy 17,985.I was there too but needless to say can''t remember a thing about it.......[:D]

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Holtcantshoot"][quote user="Mr Brownstone"]He doesn''t keep missing sitters though does he, that was his first decent chance in months.[/quote]I do love the fact that even when someone is sticking up for our stuttering record signing striker the most positive thing they can think to say is "that was his first decent chance in months".Says a lot about his first season as a whole.[/quote]

His shot at Villa was on target and led to Snodgrass scoring.   His harassing against Tottenham led to the goal too.  He is doing a good job and will score as he settles and gets fitter.  People seem to forget he had a long lay off in the earlier part of the season.     People are not robots and neither are players.  He gives everything when out there on the pitch - and that proves he has heart too.   We have to be patient and quality will shine through with time, fitness and confidence.

[/quote]Hmm, I agree that quality will shine through with time and confidence. Not sure I agree that we have to be patient though. If the club does find another player they think could do a better job as a striker in a 4-5-1 in the summer the club doesn''t owe RVW anything. If we''re in the premier league next year even if we gave him back to Sporting Lisbon clearing his wage bill alone would allow us to give any striker from the Championship downwards a chance in the Premier League as well as further afield. Can''t say we''d be gambling much with his 1 goal a season either.

[Ray 111]

It is my opinion that the lad needs to do two things that are within his control;

1) Bulk up a bit in his upper body, not that I''ve seen him without his shirt on, but I feel he needs to be able to shrug off defenders easier.

2) Improve his first touch, but that may be linked with his perceived lack of confidence and may therefore improve if his confidence level is improved.

Whether or not these are being worked on now, who knows, or more to the point I don''t, but certainly could be in the close season.

Outside of his control is the style of football we play, however if he does these two things I think he will be more suited to the game in the Premier League and will go on to become a goal scorer of some note, if he doesn''t then.......

[Balloo 0]

[quote user="Herman "]Thought he had a good game today, missed a sitter yes, but he only needs one to get his confidence going. He''s a keep for next season.[/quote]Exactly! He is working hard and is so low on confidence that just a single goal will spark his game. It was good to see the fans give him such good applause on Saturday when he was substituted because at least they appreciated his effort and work rate for the team

[Balloo 0]

[quote user="Ray"]It is my opinion that the lad needs to do two things that are within his control;

1) Bulk up a bit in his upper body, not that I''ve seen him without his shirt on, but I feel he needs to be able to shrug off defenders easier.

2) Improve his first touch, but that may be linked with his perceived lack of confidence and may therefore improve if his confidence level is improved.

Whether or not these are being worked on now, who knows, or more to the point I don''t, but certainly could be in the close season.

Outside of his control is the style of football we play, however if he does these two things I think he will be more suited to the game in the Premier League and will go on to become a goal scorer of some note, if he doesn''t then.......[/quote]Good post and completely agree.The sitter he missed was created by a ball being whipped in across for him to run on to, in my opinion that`s where we`ve been lacking because Redmond cuts in from the left and Snoddy cuts in rom the right, for Wolfswinkel to thrive I feel we need more balls from the byline being whipped in in front of him

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

[quote user="Balloo"][quote user="Ray"]It is my opinion that the lad needs to do two things that are within his control;

1) Bulk up a bit in his upper body, not that I''ve seen him without his shirt on, but I feel he needs to be able to shrug off defenders easier.

2) Improve his first touch, but that may be linked with his perceived lack of confidence and may therefore improve if his confidence level is improved.

Whether or not these are being worked on now, who knows, or more to the point I don''t, but certainly could be in the close season.

Outside of his control is the style of football we play, however if he does these two things I think he will be more suited to the game in the Premier League and will go on to become a goal scorer of some note, if he doesn''t then.......[/quote]Good post and completely agree.The sitter he missed was created by a ball being whipped in across for him to run on to, in my opinion that`s where we`ve been lacking because Redmond cuts in from the left and Snoddy cuts in rom the right, for Wolfswinkel to thrive I feel we need more balls from the byline being whipped in in front of him[/quote]I agree with all of this. He has been back from injury for some time now, but still plays as if he''s worried about hurting himself again. His first touch is extremely sloppy for a player of such pedigree. He''s obviously got a lot of talent looking at his career so far, but we can only give him so long to adapt to the pace of the Premiership before we have to cut our losses. In time I''d like to see him in Elmander''s role (if he can bulk up a bit), as he likes coming deep into midfield to link the play. With Hooper buzzing around on the shoulder of the last defender and Wolf linking the play and bursting into the box from deeper, it could be a great partnership.

[grefstad 0]

Agreed that the whipped cross from Hoolahan is just what RvW needs.

Sadly, I think another striker, even Elmander, would have put it away, as it seems RvW just pulled out of the "soon-to-come" crash with the keeper if he had gone for it 100%.

I dont think a more "bulky" forward would have shrinked from that challenge. Imagine Holty in that position. The keeper would likely have been sprawling in the net after Holty had bundled both the ball (first), and then the keeper over the line :)

[Syteanric 1]

a striker not scoring needs to be getting assists.

 

Ricky doesn''t contribue in either category... I have wanted it to work for him but 2 sitters missed yet again and 1 goal in nearly 22/23 matches... not good enough.

[splutcho 173]

Well whatever your opinion either way, I think we''ll be seeing him again next season (assuming we stay up). I doubt anyone is more frustrated with Ricky Van Wolfswinkel than Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, and I''d imagine he''ll be desperate to get a good summer under his belt and come out firing next year.

Whether you like him or not I think we can all agree that,

a) His attitude is spot on, and fits in with the rest of the squad.

b) His quality before he came here

Personally I think it is all set up for him to be our main man next year, but I can see why people are frustrated, and I know people defending him do sound like a broken record every week. If it carries on like this next year, then he''ll probably be off in January.

[KeelansGlove 0]

I think he had a great game on Saturday , not only worked hard but was effective. I can see improvement over the last month or so, just needs a couple of goals to settle the nerves.

Maybe more games where the tactics allow us to get forward to support him.

Look at the stats of every single striker at NCFC over the last 2 seasons and get off his back.

Hopefully we will have a manager who understands the importance of putting opponents under pressure next season if his initials are CH is yet to be seen.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

I think he''s coming on, the jury''s still out on whether he will succeed in the Prem, it''s impossible to say at the moment.  Also I agree with the comments that he was tentative going for that cross whipped in because he felt he was about to get clattered by the keeper.

 

Looking back I remember when we drew 1-1 at Liverpool under Lambert, and thinking then that Suarez missed a whole bunch of sitters in that game.  Strikers are so much about confidence.  Sometimes it just takes a goal or two and the self-belief is there, I really hope it does but if he carries on the same for the rest of the season it would be a tough call over the summer for the club.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]

a striker not scoring needs to be getting assists.

 

Ricky doesn''t contribue in either category... I have wanted it to work for him but 2 sitters missed yet again and 1 goal in nearly 22/23 matches... not good enough.

[/quote]

They are sitters for a striker playing with confidence infront of goal. The header was clearly a case of him trying too hard.

 

I don''t believe they were misses through lack of ability, they were misses through lack of confidence.

 

 

[nutty nigel 7,506]

[quote user="KeelansGlove"]I think he had a great game on Saturday , not only worked hard but was effective. I can see improvement over the last month or so, just needs a couple of goals to settle the nerves.

Maybe more games where the tactics allow us to get forward to support him.

Look at the stats of every single striker at NCFC over the last 2 seasons and get off his back.

Hopefully we will have a manager who understands the importance of putting opponents under pressure next season if his initials are CH is yet to be seen.[/quote]

 

So it''s Hughton''s fault he missed those chances? I think you need help Glovey...

 

 

[KeelansGlove 0]

You know what I mean Nutty and yes I believe its Hughtons fault he has had so few chances that he still has so little confidence in front of goal.

You can of course give me the details of all the strikers that have flourished under Hughton in the last 2 seasons to prove your point.