FKANorwichExile

He could probably still get a game if he packs his boots

If we were going to revert to blue and white, the time was last season. Fresh start after the Morris debacle and all that. Although I'd be a fan of a splash of blue ala the 93-94 Auto Windscreen kits.

Interesting hearing him say how highly former players speak of Warne. So much for "Warne can't inspire signings" eh?

He speaks really well, and I hope he can bring some of that calm intelligence to the backline! Good signing!

The home shirt was rubbish, but fair play to Umbro for giving us something bespoke at the last second. Quality wise, theyre no worse than most these days. Plus the black and green kit was class.

I'm loving this wave of positivity, better enjoy it until we flog Knight off cheap and the sky comes crashing down again. It sure is fun seeing good players at the peaks of their careers coming in.

Saka is one of those players that is a real joy to watch, whoever he's playing for. It's crazy he's only 21.

1 hour ago, Srg said:

Channel 4 need to stop with this Andros Townsend experiment. 

I guess it's just me that quotes enjoys his commentary. He's miles better than frauds like Keown. Give him some media training and teach him to cut out the "more deeper"'s and he'll be fine.

Cashing in before he's out of contract next year seems the obvious thing to do. Shame Burnley had to get all forward thinking, the used to love overpaying for our players. A nice bidding war for Knight funds an entire new midfield and a striker.

What I took from this:

He's got confirmed signings, had to check with PR people whether they'd been announced yet and was told to keep his trap shut. Probably Sonny Bradley?

He's charismatic, but in an utterly bizarre kind of way. You'll either love the guy or he'll drive you nuts in minutes.

It's not running for the sake of it, cites Port Vale game etc. It doesn't mean the players are going to like it.

Much said about the 20-22 man squad, but I'm assuming that's first team ready players, with players like Rooney and Oduroh outside of that.

Overall, positive and has belated a few of my pre-season jitters.

21 minutes ago, JJH said:

Seems Roberts gets very mixed reviews from you lot.

As a LB in a back four or a CB in a back 3 I’d be happy with him. Wouldn’t be as a wing back.

 

He's really interesting as a player. He clearly wants to play the Pep-style inverted wingback and Rosenior brought him in to do so, and that's been when he's at his best. He's not going to be getting to the byline and whipping in crosses. I also very rarely remember him getting caught out of position defensively. He's not a highlight reel player but he's clearly got potential and I'd love to see him here to see what he could be. His best position is unfortunately left sided CB, which is where our squad is strongest, so despite being an excellent pickup if we were to grab him, he's probably not a priority.

Won't miss his horrendous goatee though!

Looks like we're not the only fanbase getting antsy about transfers at least.

We're gonna be left with just Collins, aren't we?

It gets a bit Gogglebox-ey, but I do like visiting forums where fans are discussing threads from our forum. They don't half get riled up sometimes.

I could understand him going to Notts, it's a blow but he's earned it and he deserves to end his career at his hometown team.

But if it's moving on to a Championship team after we essentially saved his career (he said himself that he was set to retire until he got the call) then that's a real kick in the nuts.

Honestly reckon he's stirring up interest because he wants 2 years and we're only willing to offer one, but you'd hope he feels we've earned another shot. I'd give him the keys to the stadium if he wanted.

Malcolm Christie did ok for a non league striker. Even Kelle Roos has made himself a good career. You could argue we've had more success buying from non league and from Ireland than we have from picking up released players from clubs higher up the pyramid.

Hell, I remember seeing Bryson playing for Clyde and thinking "there's a bargain there". If even I can spot a player up there (and my record of writing off players instantly is abysmal), then sending an analyst or scout up is surely worth the gamble. What's the downside?

For me, Bird needs to be played with a defensive minded player alongside him. The fabled "double pivot" that all the amateur tacticians rave about. It enables him to receive the ball deep, pick a pass and move forward into the space he's created whilst the workhorse stays back and gives him a bit more cover. He didn't have a great season because Hourihane is the opposite of that sort of player and wants to be on the edge of the opposition box. Add that to a team with 0 pace effectively doubling the area he needed to cover and you have a recipe for disaster.

The problem with that is that Warne likes the back 3, and that doesn't leave room for the double pivot unless you're Pep and have Rodri and Stones available. I simply don't believe we'll see the best from him unless we go back to the 4-2-3-1 and add a holding player alongside him. The majority of his best performances have been with Bielik or pre-covid Rooney, and both offered the ability to cover when he stepped forward or vice-versa.

I might be misremembering, but didn't our good run of form start when we shifted Knight into the middle and Smith to RB? He didn't have a ground breaking season, but he also played 10 different positions. I think he's the one player that could really flourish under Warne, assuming Warne gets the players he wants for the roles around him.

If we don't need to sell, we should hang on to the home grown players. Their values will be at the lowest ebb after a season in the doldrums and if we do go up, Knight goes from £2m to £6m over night.

Bielik, despite how good he could be for us, sadly just has to go. You can't pay a league one player that sort of money.

Vyner would be an excellent signing, assuming Warne is sticking with the back three. Fits perfectly on the right side of the three and can cover rwb if needed. Latiibeaudiere and Kalas would be good shouts but will probably get Championship deals. Sonny Bradley coming straight in as captain makes a great deal of sense to me. Without King Curt, we don't have a leader in the team and he'd fit the bill.

But then again, you could make a good case for us signing any defender on the market because we have one natural CB in the squad...

23 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

I would go:

Old Big ‘Ed

Dave Mackay

Arthur Cox

The Bald Eagle

Billy Davies

Steve Mac

George Burley

I'm still confident that if Schteeve hadn't mentally checked out with the Newcastle move, he'd have gotten us up and kept us there. We were looking like the real deal.

3 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Chelsea at home as well.  Robbed in that one.  

By the time of Jewells double training sessions and stellar January of flogging two midfielders who kept us competitive but losing by the odd goal and replacing them with players last had a good game in the 90's, it was appalling.

It was flogging Oakley and Jones that told me he didn't have the foggiest. Oakley had probably been out best player and had proven Prem quality, and Jones could be frustrating but had a real touch of class about him. We spent the cash on a headless chicken who the fans openly (and rightly) despised. Clueless.

3 hours ago, NottsRam77 said:

Great post and agree, i was never a johnson fan. But that was probably becuase i was oh so aware we had spunked such a massive amount on him and players of his ilk we’re appearing at other clubs for a fraction of the stupid money we shelled out for him 

Yep, for sure. We've got a horrendous record when it comes to spending big, and that's across decades. We got one good season out of Vydra, and scraped a profit. Lawrence was sporadic but you could argue we got our £5m worth,but we're going all the way back to 2000 and Strupar for the last time a solid chunk of change was actually good, and he didn't even have a back.

1 hour ago, Terry Hennessy said:

I see Clarke Harris has been transfer listed with a year left in his contract at Posh...seems a strange one..

 

Mate of mine is a Posh fan, and says he's basically a flat track bully. Says he's fantastic for league one, but was useless in the Champ and is not too down on the idea of him going, and that was before they lost to Wednesday.

If imagine he's out of our price range and a Championship team will be in for him, but if we're finding Project: Promotion, him and Didzy would be disgustingly good together.

Dunno about you lot, but I feel a bit sick every time Ollie Watkins scores. Exeter trying to demand an extra chunk of cash assuming we'd blindly cough it up, then accepting a lower bid from Brentford when we wouldn't. Assuming I'm remembering this even vaguely accurately, of course.

A half-crippled Miles Addison absolutely bossing Newcastle away comes to mind. I swore he'd be England captain after that game.

There have been few players that have confused me as much as the football genius. Like, how was he so bad that he eventually went full circle and became an undroppable, pivotal player for the team with so little actual footballing ability?

He epitomised the Bald Eagle years of meshing incredible technical players with players who could do the graft for them. You could sum up his job as "win the ball, give it to Chico, repeat" and it just worked.