Premiership preview, table prediction: 20. Norwich

Norwich City

Nickname: The Canaries

Ground: Carrow Road

Capacity: 26034

Manager: Paul Lambert

Squad:

·         Goalkeepers 1 John Ruddy 13 Declan Rudd ·         Defenders 2 Russell Martin 3 Adam Drury 6 Zak Whitbread 20 Leon Barnett 22 Elliott Ward 23 Marc Tierney 24 Ritchie de Laet 25 Kyle Naughton 28 George Francomb Steven Smith

·         Midfielders 4 Bradley Johnson 7 Andrew Crofts 11 Andrew Surman 12 Anthony Pilkington 15 David Fox 17 Elliott Bennett 18 Korey Smith 19 Simon Lappin 27 Tom Adeyemi 29 Josh Dawkin 34 Matt Ball Stephen Hughes

·         Forwards 5 Steve Morison 8 James Vaughan 9 Grant Holt 10 Simeon Jackson 16 Chris Martin 21 Aaron Wilbraham Cody McDonald Oli Johnson

Pre-Season Fixtures/Results

July 16 vs Gorleston 7-0 – Holt (2), Whitbread, Smith, Jackson, Johnson, Wilbraham

July 21 vs Sparta Gottingen/RSV Gottingen 8-0 – Vaughan (2), Jackson, Francomb, Morison, Bennett, Ward (2)

July 23 vs Nordhausen/Regional Select XI 11-0 – Morison, Hoolahan, Crofts, Wilbraham, Surman, Martin, Jackson (2), Holt (2), Johnson

July 26 vs Crystal Palace 0-1

July 28 vs Southend United 0-0

July 30 vs Coventry City 3-0 Wilbraham, Morison, Bennett

August 3 vs Real Zaragoza 1-1 De Laet

August 6 vs Parma 3-0 – Surman (2), Holt

Manager Paul Lambert and his guys did one hell of a season last year, and were therefore rewarded with premiership football this season. But even with 10 signings during the summer, I can’t see Norwich staying up, in what looks to be the hardest premiership season ever. When you look at the signings Lambert have made it’s not much premiership quality or experience in the players, so if they manage to stay up in the premiership I would say it is one of the biggest achievements in the history of the league.

Players in:

07/11 Tom Adeyemi MF

07/11 Elliott Bennett MF

07/11 Ritchie De Laet DF

07/11 Bradley Johnson MF

07/11 Cody McDonald FW

07/11 Steve Morison FW

07/11 Kyle Naughton DF

07/11 Anthony Pilkington MF

07/11 Steven Smith DF

07/11 James Vaughan FW                               

Players out:

07/11 Owain Tudur-Jones MF

06/11 Rob Edwards DF

06/11 Matthew Gill MF

06/11 Henri Lansbury MF

To make things even harder for Lambert and Norwich they have been struggling with a lot of injuries in the pre-season. “Paul Lambert accepts the loss of striker James Vaughan and defender Elliott Ward for the start of Norwich's Premier League campaign is a blow”. Heading into the premiership against another bottom side from last season, Wigan, they will be needing points straight away to have any hopes of staying up.

Most likely starting line up for Norwich next weekend:

          John Ruddy

Russell Martin             Zak Whitbread        Marc Tierney       Ritchie de Laet

Elliott Bennett             Andrew Surman        David Fox           Wes Hoolahan

                                       Grant Holt            Simeon Jackson              

When you look at the squad and the starting lineup for Norwich you don’t see much premiership experience or much quality. The Canaries have a great home crowd that will help them picking up points at home, and I think Grant Holt will score 10-12 goals this season. But I can’t see them getting enough points away from home. I think Paul Lambert is a great coach, but I can’t see him producing a miracle and make water into whine.  I’m sorry to say but in my opinion the Canaries are just on a short visit to the premiership this season.

Manchester City to swoop Wesley Sneijder infront of United and Sir Alex Ferguson!?

Wesley Sneijder

Rumors are starting to spread around the internet that Manchester City has signed Wesley Sneijder for €36million. This is interesting news, and would send the hatred between Manchester United and Manchester City to new a dimension.

Alex Ferguson has played down the rumors of United being on the verge of signing Sneijder or any other creative midfielder. Even though the fans have been screaming for more creativity in the midfield after Premiership legend Paul Scholes retired after last season.

Ferguson often play down roomers even though they are true or not, and I can’t personally see Ferguson not getting a creative player into the squad before the transfer window closes. And I bet one of the players he has tried to get a hold of is Sneijder.

Sir Alex Ferguson

 
So I don’t think it’s just the United fans that will be disappointed to see the talented Dutchman joining rival club City right infront of Sir Alex. But let’s see if the rumors are true or not this time. If it is true I expect some big disappointment coming from the red side of Manchester.

Chelsea closing in on Romelu Lukaku deal!

Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea has reached an agreement with Anderlecht for the signing of striker Romelu Lukaku for a fee thought to be in the region of £19million.

The 18-year-old has been linked with the Blues throughout the summer and scored 16 goals in 37 league appearances last season and already has two to his name in two games in the current campaign for the Brussels club.

Chelsea Football Club

In my oppinon Chelsea have made a good deal, but I can’t see Romelu Lukaku making a regular starting spot in a strong Chelsea team fighting for titles this season. But looking into the future I think this is a great signing for Chelsea.

Andre Villas-Boas

What I’m curious about now is which striker is heading out of London now? Andre Villas-Boas now have Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Nicolas Anelka and soon Romelu Lukaku to choose from. I can’t see him be needing six’s strikers, and not to mention how to keep so many strikers happy. I think atleast Anelka is heading out, but I guess the only striker who is shure to stick around at the bridge is Torres. The rest might either be heading on loan or traded away soon.

Fantasy Football Leagues

Only a weak until the premiership starts, and it’s time for us fans to join the fun in making a dream team or a “fantasy team”.

If you are looking for some fantasy fun, I would love if you joined my private league at:

http://fantasyfootball.metro.co.uk

My league is named:  premierleaguespot

 

It is free to play and for those who want more serious play, you can join leagues and bet money on the site as well. But my league is free, so I hope to see you join me in the fun for the season 2011/12.

JUAN MATA LOOKING FOR A MOVE TO ENGLISH FOOTBALL?

Juan Mata

Just a few hours after his father leaked information about his son wanting to move to English football, Valencia technical secretary Bralui Vazquez told that star midfielder Juan Mata is keen to stay at the Spanish side.
Braliu told the press ; "I hope that he will stay with Valencia and I think he will do so. We have not received any offers for him so far," Vazquez told regional sports daily SuperDeporte.
"However, we have a back-up plan in case he leaves. That's not just the case for Juan, though. We have a plan like that for every player. We have to be prepared if something happens."


Reading between the lines I would say that Mata is looking to make a swap to English football, and my bet would be that Arsenal is the club for him. Knowing that the player has been linked to several clubs in the past weeks, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham, he would prefer Arsenal and City. His father confirmed that his son only would join a club that could give him champion’s league football. If you ask me, Valencia technical secretary Bralui Vazquez is just trying to make Mata more expensive, knowing that Man City is looking to bid out contenders.

Arsène Wenger

The reason why I think he will choose Arsenal is fear of adapting to English football and struggle with playing regular football at Man City. And at the moment I think Wenger is looking to strengthen his side and get in a few more signings to try and please Nasri and Fabregas, and show that the club has interest in winning things again.

Roberto Mancini

So let’s see if I’m right on this one, but I would predict a move for Mata to England in the week to come, and I think he will prefer Arsenal.

Aguero to Man City…. Tevez to stay or leave for South-America?

Sergio Aguero has announced on his Twitter account that he has joined Manchester City from Atletico Madrid. Aguero, underwent a medical at City on Wednesday ahead of a proposed transfer thought to be in the region of £40 million. It is reported he will put pen-to-paper on a five-year contract.

 

City shows yet again big muscles and even though the transfer is not official from the club yet, it could be finalized within days or even hours. This could of course mean one brilliant Argentina striker in, and one out. City talisman Tevez has been reported unsettled and looking for a transfer back to South-America. But on a footballfan point of view one could hope to see both Tevez and Aguero making Argentina dynamite up front for Man City this season.

One could also speculate if Manchini and Man City is trying to integrate and make Tevez more happy by bringing in fellow countryman Aguero?

With or without Tevez to me City will be hard to cope with this season, and they will be one of the biggest if not the biggest favorite to win the championship. I don’t think we have seen the last signing for Man City in this transfer window.

The words come from goalkeeping coach Eric Steele, but he claims the Spaniard's "calmness" will help him settle at Manchester United.





The young Spaniard has big boots to fill after Edwin van der Sar retired at the end of last season. At just 20 years of age, and carrying an £18.3million price-tag, De Gea will need to find his feet quickly if he is to make the grade at Old Trafford.





My question…”is De Gea ready for one of the biggest teams in the world?“





My answer is no not at the moment. If you ask me he is of course one of the biggest goalkeepingtalents in the world. But if you ask me no goalkeeper at the age of 20 is ready to step in for a major big club and be the chief that United needs in goal. Not only was Edwin van der Sar a world class goalkeeper, he was also a “general“ in the Man. Utd defense. One of the most important skills for a world class goalkeeper is the feet work, and Edwin van der Sar was one of the best in the world at this.





De Gea has none of the best qualities that Edwin van der Sar had. And if the rumors are correct that he is struggling with the language, he will need more time to adapt to English football. This is time that United don’t have if they are to succeed in defending their title this season. So I think they might be in trouble this season, like they were when Peter Schmeichel left the club.





The premiership will be tougher than ever before and I think the goalkeeping situation might give United and Sir Alex Ferguson some problems. But let’s see if I’m wrong with this one.