So, who is out of the door?

[Canaryboy]

With the arrival of Wisdom I make that 25 senior players. 

We are allowed to register a squad of 25. 

Meanwhile I'm seeing Norwich fans saying that we need to bring in more players. Personally I'd be happy with around three new signings, and as long as one of those is a centre back I'll choose Lafferty, Van Wolfswinkel and Turner to miss out. 

If we can't sign a centre back I'd keep Turner, and sacrifice Tony Andreu. 

But any player coming in means one senior player losing a place in the 25. 

So, how many more signings do you need, and which players do you want to leave to accommodate them? 

Saying that we need more signings is a lot easier than deciding which players we lose to make room for them! 

 

[Scott]

Either Turner or Ryan Bennett will probably end up going, lafferty is probably a definite, andreu has featured loads in pre season so I reckon he'll be in there... You are right though it's easy to say what players we want, but a lot harder to decide who we don't want!

 

[Indy_Bones]

I'd expect Turner and Lafferty to be the first two names, possible RvW if a decent offer comes in, maybe E.Bennett if he can't prove he can work at RB and possibly even R.Bennett if AN doesn't think he's good enough to cover for Martin/Bassong.

I still have concerns about Grabban at this level, but unless a club make an offer I can't see us looking to particularly offload.

 

[KeiranShikari]

Lafferty, Wolf, Turner if we get another CB [doubt we will] and perhaps O'Neil. 

No chance that Andreu will be left out, has looked good in pre season. Same with Grabban, he'll play a big part for us next season. I can't see us leaving EB out even though I probably would try to move him on.

 

[GJP]

Wouldn't lose much sleep if we got rid of Hooper.

Can't see Andreu playing but can't see him going either.

 

[Din]

Am I right in saying that under 21's don't need to be included in the 25 man squad? So Redmond, Toffolo, Thompson and the Murphy's wouldn't need to be included? Right now we have:

GK: Ruddy, Rudd. 

DF: Whittaker, Martin, Turner, Olsson, R.Bennett, Bassong, Wisdom, (Toffolo)

MF: Johnson, Howson, Andreu, Hoolahan, E.Bennett, Mulumbu, Tettey, O'Neil, Odjidja, Dorrans, Brady (Redmond, Josh, Jacob, McGrandles, Thompson)

ST: Grabban, Lafferty, Jerome, Hooper, Van Wolfswinkel (Loza)

If we sell Lafferty and Turner, that comes to 23, and AN has stated that he wants another goalkeeper, left-back, and striker. Sign all 3 of those and that'll come to 26, so that would mean that 1 more player from our current squad would have to go, unless one of the new players coming in was 21 or less.

 

[Canaryboy]

Am I right in saying that under 21's don't need to be included in the 25 man squad? So Redmond, Toffolo, Thompson and the Murphy's wouldn't need to be included? 

Yes, that is correct, but it still comes to 25 (all those you listed).

So its now one in, one out. 

If Alex Neil wants another keeper though, does that mean he'll loan Rudd out or he wants three in the squad? 

 

[KeiranShikari]

Think he'll want 3 keepers in the squad. Might loan Rudd out with a recall clause, of course.

 

[Beauseant]

Given that the expected arrivals are a keeper and a striker I would guess we might let Rudd out on a short term loan and get shot of Lafferty. No chance of Andreu going; Neil rates him and he has needed a full preseason to bulk up.

 

[KeiranShikari]

It was glimpses but Andreu looks like he might have what it takes to give Wes a run for his money. Quite a nice little surprise. Of course this is only based on a bit of preseason football.

 

[Canaryboy]

Think he'll want 3 keepers in the squad. Might loan Rudd out with a recall clause, of course.

You can't put them back in the 25 if you recall them though. If they aren't in the squad come 2nd September or whenever the cutoff date is, you can't put them back in the 25 until 1st January.

 

[KeiranShikari]

 I thought they had gotten rid of that rule tbh.

 

[GJP]

It was glimpses but Andreu looks like he might have what it takes to give Wes a run for his money. Quite a nice little surprise. Of course this is only based on a bit of preseason football.

Yeah, I wouldn't read much into it.

I think he'll largely be on the fringes if the big guns stay fit.

 

[Din]

It still confuses me a little as to why people would happily see Hooper leave. Of all our strikers he is without doubt the best suited to the Premier League, and is by far and away our best finisher. If he was up front with Jerome I'd be extremely confident that he could get 10-15 goals, as on paper the two balance each other perfectly. It's just unfortunate in a way that we might not ever see that tested due to Wes' excellent form (assuming he carries it on into the Premier League). Even if Neil isn't going to try it, you won't find many better options to have on the bench to get you a goal than him at many of the sides around us.

The only way I'd be relatively happy with Hooper leaving would be if it was in exchange with Van Dijk. But even then I'd much rather we bought him instead of using Hooper.

 

[GJP]

He's just not that great. Good Championship striker and a lower level Prem squad player. That's where Hooper is and he hasn't got enough to be more than that.

 

[Canaryboy]

Add me to the list of people who want to see Hooper stay another year. Its all good saying that he isn't great, and just a "good Championship striker", maybe he is but what else do we have at the club?

Lewis Grabban seriously struggled in the Championship for long periods. He isn't Premier league standard. 

Van Wolfswinkel has already tried and failed in the Premier League. I just can't see how that's going to change much. 

I do tip Jerome to carry his form into this season, I think he'll have a honeymoon period and I think he'll hit double figures.

But even if Hooper is merely a lower Premier League squad player, even scoring half a dozen goals last time around puts him at 2nd in the pecking order for now in terms of proven ability at this level. 

I'd fully support the club upgrading the striking department, but I really can't see us spending big money on that position this summer. Unless we are going to go and splash the cash on a quality replacement I'd like Hooper to stay for now. He'll grab us a few goals. 

His recent retweet though suggests to me that he wants out. I've got a feeling that we may be bringing in a new striker, and that it will be Jerome, Grabban, RVW + one more, probably a target man. 

Shame because I honestly believe that Hooper can do everything that RVW can, plus a little more. Just don't understand what RVW brings to the table, he just isn't clinical enough, can't hold the ball up, doesn't have the pace to get behind the defence. If I have a straight choice between Hooper and RVW I'd be choosing Hooper every time.

 

[GJP]

I think Hooper is a decent enough player and probably the best finisher at the club. I just think Jerome and Grabban offer more for the team.

Everyone knows he's got a few goals in him at Championship level so I'd see him as the best way of bringing in a bit of extra cash (more so than RVW and Lafferty) to sign someone better.

 

[Din]

He's just not that great. Good Championship striker and a lower level Prem squad player. That's where Hooper is and he hasn't got enough to be more than that.

The thing is though, people always talk about how although RvW's performances weren't good enough, he would've definitely scored more goals if it wasn't for Hughton's awful style. Hooper scored 8 goals that season. If Van Wolfswinkel had scored 8 goals that season, then people would've said that it was almost completely down to Hughton's style that he didn't score more, and that in a more attacking style he would've comfortably got into double figures. So why don't people say the same about Hooper? It's not even like he suited Hughton's style more, because he didn't. I'm certain that in a different style of football, Hooper would've flourished that first season. The fact he managed to score 8 says what a superb goalscorer he is, and if played regularly alongside a Jerome for example, he could do very well this season, and I hope he does.

 

[Canaryboy]

The thing is though, people always talk about how although RvW's performances weren't good enough, he would've definitely scored more goals if it wasn't for Hughton's awful style. Hooper scored 8 goals that season. If Van Wolfswinkel had scored 8 goals that season, then people would've said that it was almost completely down to Hughton's style that he didn't score more, and that in a more attacking style he would've comfortably got into double figures. So why don't people say the same about Hooper? It's not even like he suited Hughton's style more, because he didn't. I'm certain that in a different style of football, Hooper would've flourished that first season. The fact he managed to score 8 says what a superb goalscorer he is, and if played regularly alongside a Jerome for example, he could do very well this season, and I hope he does.

Spot on.

Every argument I see which supports the view that RVW suffered as a result of Hughton's tactics can also apply to Hooper.

Didn't get enough chances = Hooper didn't get too many either.

Prefers outswingers or balls across the box from the byeline = Don't you think Hooper does too?

Suffered a confidence crisis = Hooper looked to suffer the same in the second half of the season.

I do think RVW would do a bit better in an Alex Neil team, but I also think the same applies to Hooper. Weren't an easy season for him either. All of our strikers were generally left isolated and we played that silly inverted winger system, completely depriving them of any sort of service.

 

[KeiranShikari]

All strikers and forward players will do better in Neil's team. Defenders too probably. 

Hooper would be great if he was a bit more aggressive. Still firmly in the keep him camp, our most instinctive finisher by a long shot.