Positivity, Signings and Playing Style

[Foreveryella 0]

Read a lot about Adams'' appointment being underwhelming,the cheap option etc and whilst I initially had this reaction, as the dust has settled and with the first two signings i am feeling very positive towards the appointment and the season!! This could obviously change after the first few matches!!

The reasons for my optimism, as the board have rightly acknowledged, Adams was handed a poison chalice, yet against 3 of biggest clubs in europe, admittedly 1 was like a pre season friendly, we equipped ourselves very well and you could see there was a clear game plan and tactics for that specific game rather than the same monotonous, boring, lets not lose mentality under hughton. Even against Fulham, ok they were a relegation rival but winning away games in the Prem is a very hard task, if we had taken our chances and on balance of play we should have got something out of the game. Against Liverpool, we reminded me very much of Chile in the world cup. We picked our moments, we pressed high as a team, had good tempo, when we attacked we committed players forward and had really intent and energy about our performances, something which was missing for almost 2 seasons!! Its very hard to change style of play and get a mangers message across mid season let alone 5 games from the end!! What I also liked about Adams which gives me more encouragement than anything else, he wasn''t afraid to drop supposed big names and big egos in our squad. Righlty so on performances, Bassong was no where to be seen, Wes was completely dropped from squad, Pilks no where to be seen, RVW last day of season for Loza. Whilst a lot of these decisions were warranted, for a novice manager to make them is a positive sign and sign he is not afraid to make big decisions which can only be beneficial to the club going forward. I for one and very positive and excited for the coming season, with a full pre-season under his belt I think we will definitely see a high tempo, pressing high, attacking style next season, dare I say under, much like we did under Mr Lambert!! Throw into the mix 3 or 4 very exciting youngsters who could get opportunities!!

I''ve read a saying the signing show a lack of ambition and we should be throwing money at Rhodes etc. Yes he is a good goalscorer in this division, worth the money Blackburn are talking, certainly not!! Any better than Hooper or RVW in terms of their records and leagues theyve done it in, probably not!! Put Grabban and Lafferty into the squad and options we already have, i''m pretty sure anyone in the championship would love to have the options we have, we''ve signed a player who was player of the season for Palermo in a promotion season, good pedigree and with Rangers being my second team ive seen what he can do!! He often fulfilled a role on the left as well so can provide an option there if Adams players what appears to be his most favoured formation that he played with youth team of 4-3-3. And Grabban who has improved for the last 3 seasons, improving his numbers but also the type of goals he scores, there''s predatory goals, headers, as well as absolute worldies form 20-30 yards, certainly a type of player we dont have at present. If he is as hungry and eager to kick on with his career as he says and wants to get to the prem, putting his on the pitch with better players will only improve him as a player and he is certainly a player on the up!! 3 mill in todays market with our financial siltation, could well be a bargain as well!!

I look at previous striker purchases as well and put it into context. All the hype when we signed Cureton, RVW and Hooper this season, all fans were excited by these signings and neither of them have worked out as yet!! Go back to signings like Svensson, McKenzie, Simeon Jackson, maybe even Holt and Roberts. no fan was throwing out the red carpet jumping for joy, making outrageous statements with these signings yet value for money and what they done for the club, is priceless!! Can only judge a player on what they do on the pitch but I certainly dont get the negativity from some around the signings, especially coming off the back of what they did last season and the fact both offer something different to the calibre of player we have!!!

Sorry for the long thread!! No one can predict who we will sign or lose before the start of the season, add 1 or 2 more players to the spine of the team, a leader as we have been missing a big personality and go to man since holt left preferably in central defence or midfield and I think we will have a very exciting and enjoyable season. Maybe my positivity is delusion as I also thought England would do well in the world cup!!!!!

[the bristol nest 0]

I could not agree more. There was also the disciplinary issues that he dealt with so impressively according to the board. Good post.

[whoareyou? 0]

My biggest concern is that now Snodgrass has gone, we could see an exodus of the players we signed last summer. I honestly thought Snodgrass would stay but if we lose RvW, Hooper and Fer as well, things are not quite as rosy as they appear now.

[Foreveryella 0]

Agreed, but I can''t see all 3 going!!

Fer is technically and ability wise the best player I''ve seen at Norwich since Ashton, but whether it be the pace of the prem and the adjustment to the English game, attitude or fitness or whatever reason he went missing and didnt control games for too long a spells last season. A midfield with surman, johnson, howson, tettey and possibly wes should be enough or is certainly good enough to compete in this league and im certain we will sign more of a ball playing central player whether we keep fer or not or whether adams sees surman playing that role as he did as Bournemouth who is very good technically.

even if we lose a hooper or rvw now, we still have very good options for this league again and cannot see us struggling to score goals again!! Compare the competition to places in this squad to when we went up under a lambert and i dont think theres any norwich fan who could argue our squad is definitely better!! Just need someone to step up and be the leader and go to man as Holt was!!

Whilst I really rate snodgrass and no one can argue with his work rate and commitment and desire to win i think the way Adams wants to play, high tempo, direct, get at teams style I dont think snodgrass necessarily fits that style, he slows play down a lot, always cuts back onto left foot and makes it hard for forwards to read what hes going to do, so many times last year when we got behind full backs rvw would make runs on defenders shoulders for the ball to be whipped across the box and it never came early, by the time the ball was delivered he was always ahead of the ball as snodgrass especially and redmond as well would always cut back and delay playing the ball, meaning its harder to attack and always attacking the ball from a standing position. With players like elliott bennett and hopefully a more finished article in redmond as he plays for under 21s with freedom and josh murphy, we will have pace and directness and can see our play being very exciting. 7+ million for snodgrass, Id have driven him there myself!!

[Paul101 93]

Thank you god for that

Iam not the only one who thought a lot of the so called sitters RVW missed ended up behind him as he ran in

The team is shaping up nicely and we will be strong at the start of the season

if that translates into wins who knows but on paper we are looking better

[Yelloow Since 72 54]

Agree with all of this. Adams clearly has a vision of a pacey, quick passing, attacking style of play that simply wouldn''t suit Snods, however much I like him as a player. For the money from his sale, City get two new pacey strikers, both of whom can play wide as well, when needed. Add to that Olsson, Redmond, Bennett, the Murphy twins and Jamar Loza and suddenly there''s plenty of pace in the squad compared to one or two players last year. Lots to look forward to, IMO.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

You may turn out to be right yella, but I''m just wondering why you think that there''s likely to be any sort of connection re this.? I''m assuming that all these players have been taken with individual contracts and terms, and all have their own individual career plans , personal circumstances etc. So I''m not too sure why Snodgrass''s departure makes it any more or less likely that, say, Fer will follow him out .

[Foreveryella 0]

i dont think there is any connection at all, as you say every player will have their own agenda and career path and whilst we dont want any passengers or any player who doesnt want to be here. were in a good, powerful position where we dont have to sell any player so cant be held to ransom!! I dont think we will sell any player who adams wants here next year.

For a lot of the players who are being linked with a move away i cant really see any benefit long term for them leaving!! Why does ruddy want to sit on the bench, fer a lot of potential but is he going to get in a decent prem team on last yers performances? Back to 2nd rate european league? might not be financially advantageous an could be back in the prem with us in a season. Olsson to west ham i can see, no major loss IMO, replaceable, RVW to some european side, makes sense if we can recoup most the cost and move on

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

Fair enough. I see what you are saying. The bottom line is (and, frankly should ALWAYS be) that we only want people here who want to play and do their best for NCFC. If, for example Olsson is approached by West Ham, has his head turned and is constantly fretting as to whether he''s be better off potentially playing PL football for them, then he''s not really much use to Neil Adams, to my mind.

[Yelloow Since 72 54]

All the rumours about Olsson to West Ham have dried up long ago. It may happen, but there''s no indication that it will. Similarly, RvW could be tempted to say PSV on loan, but wouldn''t he then always be seen as a failure in England? A lot will depend on how much players buy into Adams'' avowed attacking style and a chance to return to the PL next year. If things do go wrong, there is always the January window.

[iron_stan 0]

[quote user="whoareyou"]My biggest concern is that now Snodgrass has gone, we could see an exodus of the players we signed last summer. I honestly thought Snodgrass would stay but if we lose RvW, Hooper and Fer as well, things are not quite as rosy as they appear now.

[/quote]the club is taking a 50% hit on its incomeplayers will be soldthe big question is who and how many.im happy snodgrass is going, we will see a much more balanced team with players playing in the correct positions, hughton sacrificed the balance of the team for one player. I think we will also lose Fer, Olsson, Bassong and one of the strikers, letting hooper go would be retarded, pay him what he wants he will score for fun in this division.the other one we dont want to let go is redmond, future england international and will be a 20 million player in two or three seasons

[Salopian 1]

I too am confident with the new manager and the signings so far.

I think that we shall see what Adams promised - quick attractive attacking football. I''m not going over the top and predicting promotion, - there are other good teams in the division, but I think that we may encounter a revelation, after the last two years of struggle.

I hope that the optimism is shared by the players, - it certainly seems to be by the two new signings. I suspect that Adams will be able to motivate the squad.

Hold on to your hats!