The lad Lafferty.

[morty]

Scored a pretty good goal for the U21's against Man U last night.

Time to give him a start, or is he realistically only still a bench option?

 

[eatonparkboy]

Probably only if we think neither of the two strikers ahead of him in the pecking order are playing well.

That is pretty hard to tell at the moment as the last two games have seen a change in emphasis. I do feel for our strikers at the moment as we don't quite have the class behind them to make their life easier. As soon as Mbokani got the ball on Saturday, he disappeared in a swarm of blue shirts. And the rest of the time he was asked to outjump Zouma or Terry and that isn't easy.

And I don't imagine much change Sunday, maybe Wes or somebody might push further forward as it is a home game. But if we have the same lack of possession at the weekend, I don't think it would matter if Lafferty started to be honest.

 

[Canaryboy]

I wish that Lafferty was a target man who was better with his head and holding the ball up, he's 6ft 4.5 inches and looks like he should be that player. 

A good analogy of Kyle Lafferty playing as a left winger for us last season was perhaps Wladimir Klitscho trying to box like Prince Naseem.

I'd imagine a Wilbraham or Kenwyn Jones type player (basically a poor mans Andy Carroll?) would be a handy player to sometimes launch balls at for 10 or 15 minutes if chasing an equaliser. 

But Lafferty just isn't that player. He looks like he should be, but he isn't, I know that we have to be fair and acknowledge that he hasn't had many chances through the middle but I don't really understand what he offers us that the players above him can't. A tendency to rise to the occasion and score in big games perhaps? 

 

[KeiranShikari]

Mbokani and Jerome have been good so...

 

[morty]

I think the mantra here is that if you keep pushing you have to make it impossible for the manager to leave you out.

Whilst I see what Jerome and Mbokani, they are very similar, and I don't think it would hurt to have a different option.

 

[Canaryboy]

I think we'll be bringing in a striker in January, probably Dwight Gayle or Patrick Bamford, and Lafferty will be off on loan to get games before Euro 2016.

 

[GAWA#1]

I am a massive Northern Ireland fan so I have seen plenty of Kyle Lafferty recently and I cannot understand how he doesn't get a game for Norwich City. He was pretty much the sole reason we qualified for Euro 2016, he was immense. Big, strong, quick, good in the air, hold the ball up and most importantly score goals. If any of you saw his goals versus Greece (away) and Finland x 2 (home) you will know what I mean. Granted in the past he hasn't fulfilled his potential or had a great goal return, but I believe he has all the attributes to be a decent player at Premier League level and seems to have really matured in his play and performances this last 18 months. He is surely worth a run in the team given how poor the returns of Jerome and Mbokani are. As an outsider (albeit with a keen interest in Northern Ireland's talisman's form and fitness) looking in, I believe that there must be some kind of personality clash with Alex Neil going back to when Lafferty was at Rangers and Neil at Hamilton Accies. I would love to know Norwich City fans thoughts as over here in Northern Ireland we are perplexed how Big Kyle can't get a game!?!

 

[morty]

I think, the thing is, he is unproven at Premiership level. And you're right, there may be a wee question over his attitude, he's a loveable daft lad type, and maybe Alex Neil would just like to see a bit more work from him. We pretty much play one central striker, and its a role that really requires you to put a shift in.

I think what happens next is very much up to Kyle Lafferty, not Alex Neil.

 

[Dubai Mark]

I just haven't seen enough of him,  plus I dont have a huge problem with Mbokhani or Jerome and feel we need goals from more players at this level if we dont have and cant avoud a 20 million striker.

 

[It's Character Forming]

Realistically he's 3rd in the pecking order, Mbokani has got a decent goal return from his time on the pitch, and Jerome is such a powerful and quick player with a good work rate that he offers something important to the team which Lafferty wouldn't, even if he's not got many goals.

The other concern is his attitude.  I remember the cup game away at Shrewsbury under Adams when he totally lost his head and ended up getting subbed to stop him getting sent off.  I think AN would have zero tolerance for that sort of thing, so Lafferty may have to work to get over that sort of preconception.

So as long as Jerome and Mbokani are both available for a game, has he done enough to get on the bench yet ?  Given how well he's been scoring when he has got game time, I wonder if it is time.

 

[hogesar]

I think, the thing is, he is unproven at Premiership level. And you're right, there may be a wee question over his attitude, he's a loveable daft lad type, and maybe Alex Neil would just like to see a bit more work from him. We pretty much play one central striker, and its a role that really requires you to put a shift in.

I think what happens next is very much up to Kyle Lafferty, not Alex Neil.

To be fair, whilst I'm not a massive Lafferty fan, I think Lafferty is doing everything asked of him. That is, scoring in the games he gets the opportunity to play. Be that international, cup matches or u21 matches he is doing his job.

Problem is, Mbokani hasn't really done anything wrong and has looked useful for us. I can't see him getting ahead of him. Then Jerome who, whilst not the best finisher, is probably quicker and stronger than Lafferty and is proven at being able to play the lone striker role. 

So Lafferty is unfortunate, but may get a chance of the bench.

 

[ZLF]

Bench is the limit at the moment,   Dave and. Jerome are just better and its not helped that he was so anonymous  in his one short 13 mins appearance.  

 

[GAWA#1]

It is good to hear all the feedback about Lafferty and his situation at Norwich from guys who see their team week in week out. With regards Kyle's attitude I think in the past I would agree with what some of you are saying. I remember a few years back in a Northern Ireland v Portugal game he came on as a sub and was sent off within no time with a stupid, horrendous tackle. But this campaign he has matured and picked up three bookings, none of which should have been bookings in that he lent on defenders who rolled about and he got a yellow card, much in the way Crouch at Stoke always got penalised too harshly, if you know what I mean. 

At Northern Ireland we play one up top and someone off the front in the way you guys do with Hoolahan. Big Kyle has been immense in that role and I think he could do very well for you guys too. Being honest he could do the same job as Jerome and Mbokani and I believe offer a goal threat. Surely he would be worth a shot to see what he can do? ZLF says he was anonymous in a 13 minute cameo but realistically who can do much in that time?

I don't mean to be on here telling you guys who should be playing for your team, you lot are passionate supporters and see things far better than I do as an outsider. I just have a very close interest as Kyle in my opinion deserves a chance due to his stellar international performances.

 

[Canaryboy]

GAWA#1 we haven't actually seen him much through the middle. 

He came in last summer and played half a season as some sort of wide forward / wide target man and he looked really uncomfortable in that position and we saw flashes of him being a bit of a liability with his aggressive challenges. I know he was used wide left for Rangers and often for Burnley, I think our previous manager signed him with the intention of playing him out left rather than through the middle. 

He also signed two strikers, and we had Gary Hooper here already. So there just wasn't really any scope to give Lafferty a go through the middle. Last season we had Hooper, Jerome and Grabban in rotation and all three finished the season having scored more league goals than Lafferty has ever scored in any season for any club including Rangers in the SPL. That's the reality of the situation, there really wasn't any valid justification to keep Lafferty for the second half of last season and play him through the middle, because there wasn't ever a stage when our other three strikers or the team as a whole were struggling for goals, it was a promoted team with three strikers in double figures.  

You say that he could do the same job as Jerome and Mbokani and that he may be "worth a shot", and perhaps we'd also be saying that if Jerome and Mbokani were playing poorly, but they are doing well and so we aren't looking for some sort of magic bullet.

I like him as a personality and I do feel a bit sorry for him, he was signed by one manager to fit a system which didn't really work out for us, and which he didn't really ever look comfortable playing in the role he was given, and then we replaced that manager with one who plays a high pressing game who just didn't fancy him as a player and seems like strikers of a certain mold (we fans don't seem to have an issue with, because we rate Jerome and Mbokani and like the way we play football under Alex Neil). 

It isn't just Lafferty who doesn't fit the mold for this manager but also Gary Hooper who hasn't had a sniff this season and struggled for games in the league below, and if Gary Hooper were Northern Irish he'd probably be a prolific international striker and you'd be on here saying he was worth a shot too, go and look at how many goals Hooper has scored in his career. That's a player of real quality too. 

I don't think it is a personal problem that Alex Neil has with Lafferty at all to be honest, if it were he'd of been out on his arse long ago. Alex Neil is a Celtic fan, but that hasn't stopped him playing Steven Whittaker and hasn't stopped him shipping out a Celtic legend (Hooper), I just don't think he is his type of striker in a one striker system and that he doesn't rate him as one of his best strikers, and to be frank I think most Norwich fans would agree with that assessment. 

In short, I just don't think he's going to get many minutes here and will be out on loan again to the division below in January to get plenty of football before the Euro's. He just plays in a position where there really aren't any problems that Lafferty could realistically solve, now if he were a central defender then it would be a different question, as that's where we are lacking real quality. 

Remember that David Healy and he was never Premier League quality either, or never managed to prove it at least.

 

[ZLF]

for me lafferty is a good committed player with the right attitude and a far better option than say hooper.   I just beleive based on what I have seen that the two incumbents are better and he is on a par with grabban;   as such I simply dont see much reason to start him

I agree 13 mins is nothing and impossible to impress with - but that is likely to remain his place over the rest of the season

 

[Gaffer]

Clearly all over for Laffery. Mr Bad Attitude gets a start against Arsenal and Laffs isn't even on the bench.

 

[kirku]

I am a massive Northern Ireland fan so I have seen plenty of Kyle Lafferty recently and I cannot understand how he doesn't get a game for Norwich City. He was pretty much the sole reason we qualified for Euro 2016, he was immense. Big, strong, quick, good in the air, hold the ball up and most importantly score goals. If any of you saw his goals versus Greece (away) and Finland x 2 (home) you will know what I mean. Granted in the past he hasn't fulfilled his potential or had a great goal return, but I believe he has all the attributes to be a decent player at Premier League level and seems to have really matured in his play and performances this last 18 months. He is surely worth a run in the team given how poor the returns of Jerome and Mbokani are. As an outsider (albeit with a keen interest in Northern Ireland's talisman's form and fitness) looking in, I believe that there must be some kind of personality clash with Alex Neil going back to when Lafferty was at Rangers and Neil at Hamilton Accies. I would love to know Norwich City fans thoughts as over here in Northern Ireland we are perplexed how Big Kyle can't get a game!?!

On the basis of what I've seen for Norwich, Mbokani is head and shoulders a better footballer than Laffs and Jerome is much more effective at playing the 'defensive forward' role.

Prior to today, the only reason he should've been ahead of Grabban was Grabban's antics. Neil seems to have forgiven, if not forgotten, and that's good enough for me (even though I've never really rated Lewis).

That means that Laffs is 4th choice for Norwich, and rightly so.

 

[morty]

I didn't see the lineups, did Lafferty make the bench this week?

 

[brhdodds]

Nope, Grabban started with Jerome coming on in the 85th and Mbokani an unused sub.

 

[morty]

Ah cheers, am working away, caught some of the match on telly but didn't see the lineups.