Questionable futures

[Yellow Fever]

Whilst I think none of those departures are not surprising as such, the one I wonder about is Cuellar. At the moment we have Martin who plays at RB and CB, and then Ryan Bennett, Bassong and Miquel. Should we expect another CB/FB to come in (given the loss of Garrido as well). 

 

[KeiranShikari]

Oh I'm almost certain that a couple of defenders will be coming in.

I don't think Neil fancies Turner and I'd be surprised if he went with Toffolo as the backup left back. 

 

[Yellow Fever]

That's true KS, but Whittaker, Miquel and even BJ can play at LB if need be. The key is fitting it all into a 25 man squad.

 

[KeiranShikari]

I think the league is far too competitive for us to be going in with a situation like that. They might be able to ''do a job'' but I don't think I'd fancy their chances against  most premier league final thirds.

Squad is pretty big right now so I'm sure it'll continue to be trimmed down. Be it loan or transfer I honestly wouldn't be too surprised to see anybody outside of the usual matchday squad leave.

 

[Canaryboy]

Just a thought, but West Ham bought that Hamilton left back in January but with him not joining West Ham until this July. Stephen Hendrie I think his name was. 

Sam Allardyce has now left, so I wonder whether Alex Neil is hoping that their new manager doesn't fancy him? 

 

[Yellow Fever]

AN said that much as he likes Hendrie, he's a long way off this level yet. It could happen though.

 

[CanaryNath]

A good start to the summer. Those 4 senior players leaving will free up squad space but also wages.

Let's see who is brought in at CB/FB now.

 

[It's Character Forming]

I guess us having Becchio did mean he wasn't playing for Leeds when we won Elland Road this year but the deal was always about offloading Morison. Becchio had the bad luck to join us under a manager who had no idea about strikers, and he obviously didn't do anything to persuade the next 2 managers to give him a go. Glad he can finally move on.

 

[morty]

I still don't get why Becchio turned out to be so bad. The season we bought him he was scoring for fun.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I still don't get why Becchio turned out to be so bad. The season we bought him he was scoring for fun.

Yes, I think the Becchio thing will mystify me for a long time to come. Glad its finally over though

 

[morty]

Yeah, me too. And it irks me still when people shrug their shoulders and blame Hughton. The actual mechanics of putting a ball in a net has little to do with whoever is sat in the dugout. As negative as the tactics may have been I doubt his match orders consisted of "yeah, stay away from that goal thing Luciano, don't go scoring"

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

The Becchio thing had nothing to do with Hughton. If the guy had played half a season and couldnt hit the broad side of a barn then maybe you would ask questions, but the baffling thing is that he never got picked. And consistently by 3 different managers. So there was clearly something we are not privvy to that was driving that.

Lack of professionalism? Attitude? Poor trainer?

Its not about what he did on the pitch because he never got there. Im guessing he made about 5 appearences in total?

 

[morty]

I saw him turn out for the u21's a few times and he couldn't have looked less interested, so you could well be right.

 

[It's Character Forming]

I don't think Hughton turned Becchio into a bad player, it was more the case that when he joined, the team were struggling to create opportunities for out strikers thanks to Hughton's style of play, and Becchio had a relatively small number of chances to get into the team, when he didn't do anything special.  Also I really think Hughton doesn't understand the striker's part of the game, evidenced by him spending a fortune on RVW and Hooper, who just didn't fit in with the style of play that Hughton was using.  And my guess is that Hughton couldn't really help strikers in training who were struggling on the pitch.

With hindsight it would have been worth giving Becchio a decent run in the team last January, but at the time the margins were so slim that Hughton probably didn't feel he could take any sort of gamble, also having spent so much on RVW I wonder if he felt he had to persevere with him ?

 

[morty]

Didn't we employ a striking coach, do I remember that right?

 

[Canaryboy]

I feel a little bit sorry for Becchio to be honest, he's wasted what should have been his peak years as a striker, and only got two starts here. I can remember when he came on as a sub against West Brom and played that awesome one-two with Howson who smashed it into the back of the net. 

He could/should probably feel a little hard done by not to have been given an opportunity last season considering how long we persevered with Elmander and RVW, who were both terrible for most of the season. Elmander seemed to get a little better in the last couple of months. 
 

Hughton once came out and said that Becchio was a good trainer so don't think the attitude thing was a major issue. Hughton just didn't rate him, probably given up on making it here by the time Adams took over. Then he tried twice to leave to join Leeds but the move was blocked. Hope he goes and bangs in some goals for a couple of seasons, he's a decent player in the Championship!

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

That moment with Howson is probably most peoples enduring memory of him in a Norwich shirt. You would have thought Becchio would be just the type of player we needed in Hughtons system - he showed in that moment that he was capable of bringing others into play, and after having played with (Im sure) Howson, Snodgrass and BJ before, he would already have a good understanding of his team-mates.

If he had wasted his opportunities I might have understood things, but from the moment we signed him he was right at the bottom of the pecking order. You'd have thought a new signing would have been given some chances, but they never came. Quite baffling.

What is salient though is that no Norwich manager ever turned to him. Even Neil preferred Morris and Loza to Becchio. The guy was clearly doing something wrong for this level of consistency. Wonder if we'll ever find out?

 

[Din]

I have to say I do feel a little sympathy for Becchio. Did he really get a fair opportunity? Probably not. However in the dozen or so appearances he did make he was just so far off the pace. I remember one game, I can't remember the opposition, where we were either losing or drawing, either way we were looking for a goal, and we bought him on and he just completely ruined any momentum we had. He tried to take on players in stupid positions rather than pass it, and lost the ball so many times. In the few opportunities he did get he looked so poor, and I'm a little bit amazed he stuck around for nearly 3 seasons.

 

[Killiecanary]

Here's a thought in what passes for my mind these days...

Do we all think John Ruddy will still be a Norwich player come the stat of the next season?

I know it sounds a bit daft but here is the train of thought...

Since AN arrived JR has generally not been anywhere near the standards he set in his early years with us. More importantly he made mistakes at crucial times this season that I think cost us points (Derby springs to mind) Given we missed promotion by such a little margin I would be surprised if AN didn't give some time over to reviewing where those points went and I think you would have to say that Ruddy would be responsible for a few of them.

Is there any chance that if anyone comes in with a decent bid for Ruddy - as Chelsea did a year ago - might AN not be too fussed to take the cash and look to bring in his own keeper?

As is say, just a passing thought in my very small brain!

 

[ZLF]

Reflecting on Ruddys season my view was he started well and ensured we won games in spite of the defence.  However his confidence was eroded by the constant changes and errors from the back 4 in front of him and he was at his worst from Nov - Jan.   The changes in keeper coach probably undermined that too    

Since Neil has been here the stable back four and re-introduction of Bassong as help restore his confidence. It has taken some time to improve and he has made more crucial save than errors recently,  although the errors are still there. He is not yet back to his best, as he himself recently admitted.

What Neil is thinking I dare not second guess (I dont want one of his glares!)  but personally I would stick with Ruddy.    He has a place on the plane to the euros to aim for with precious real competition beyond  hart - so I expect him to want first team football and to up his game.