Ollie Norwood

[Jim Chimmerney]

What happens if he is a better player in the Prem than the Championship?

Can he step up?

No one knows yet - hopefully we'll find out, but do you not think he is deserving of that chance? Same applies to Fleck.

UTB

2 managers have let him go very quickly in the Prem so either they didn't think he'd cut it or, quite possibly more likely, bought what they thought were better players. He certainly wouldn't get the same time and space in the Prem and there's obvoiously better players to mark him out of the game, but an interesting one.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

At the risk of playing devils advocate, I do wonder why the other teams whom he's got promoted have ditched him?

You are possibly correct - but those other managers might be wrong. (Fulham and Brighton)

No one actually knows whether Norwood can do well as he hasn't been tried.

What is crystal clear to me, is our team is better than the constituent parts. I reckon Leeds and Villa has better individual players but it looks like we'll do both of them to promotion.

The danger is that our team ethic is blown apart by what is needed in the Prem, as we all know it's about quality.

For me, Norwood deserves the opportunity and him personally he has something to prove to his original doubters.

UTB

 

[Mesut Özil's Lawnmower]

At the risk of playing devils advocate, I do wonder why the other teams whom he's got promoted have ditched him?

Moving on to bigger and better, better fits etc, we could easily say that about a good majority of our current squad already, some players just don’t continue to work out with other teams or they eventually find a place to settle down where they truly peak, different managers bring different things out of players

Look at what we’ve done with the likes of Leon, Billy and Didsy, all 3 had some of, if not their best scoring seasons with us

O’Connell and Egan both supposedly terrible CBs for Brentford

Just how football goes, for all we know Norwood could be just as immense in the prem, or he might fall flat, will just have to wait and see if we go up but I think many of our current team would be given the chance to prove themselves first, maybe bar the likes of Duffy who are getting older and if a better option is available with whatever money we have would be good to upgrade to a younger version

 

[s4-blade]

2 managers have let him go very quickly in the Prem so either they didn't think he'd cut it or, quite possibly more likely, bought what they thought were better players. He certainly wouldn't get the same time and space in the Prem and there's obvoiously better players to mark him out of the game, but an interesting one.

Have you seen half the prem? He’ll get double the time and space

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Moving on to bigger and better, better fits etc, we could easily say that about a good majority of our current squad already, some players just don’t continue to work out with other teams or they eventually find a place to settle down where they truly peak, different managers bring different things out of players

Look at what we’ve done with the likes of Leon, Billy and Didsy, all 3 had some of, if not their best scoring seasons with us

O’Connell and Egan both supposedly terrible CBs for Brentford

Just how football goes, for all we know Norwood could be just as immense in the prem, or he might fall flat, will just have to wait and see if we go up but I think many of our current team would be given the chance to prove themselves first, maybe bar the likes of Duffy who are getting older and if a better option is available with whatever money we have would be good to upgrade to a younger version

Well written - it's why some of our players will succeed and some sadly won't.

We shouldn't do a Fulham, but if we have limited funds, Norwood simply has to be one of the players we take into the prem and expecting him to be in 1st starting eleven.

The discussions we were having yesterday going to Hull, was how many players we would need next season. Between us all it was 4 or 5, but Norwood wasn't one for change.

UTB

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Well written - it's why some of our players will succeed and some sadly won't.

We shouldn't do a Fulham, but if we have limited funds, Norwood simply has to be one of the players we take into the prem and expecting him to be in 1st starting eleven.

The discussions we were having yesterday going to Hull, was how many players we would need next season. Between us all it was 4 or 5, but Norwood wasn't one for change.

UTB

Cheers Chris but personnaly I think you Knilly should keep this stuff closer to yer chest.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Cheers Chris but personnaly I think you Knilly should keep this stuff closer to yer chest.

Mr Wilder should already know his targets and will have known for quite a while now.

Hopefully the smaller Premiership list will be dusted off and the "championship" list will be confined to the shredder come Sunday afternoon

UTB

 

[BladeFisher]

This will be his 3rd promotion to prem in 3 seasons with 3 different teams(fingers crossed) gotta be some kind of record?

Well if CW gets us up it'll be 3 promotions in 4 years. Does that make him the best EFL manager?

 

[Blade56]

What happens if he is a better player in the Prem than the Championship?

Can he step up?

No one knows yet - hopefully we'll find out, but do you not think he is deserving of that chance? Same applies to Fleck.

UTB

Think he earned and deserved the chance before he came to us. Difference is we will give him a chance.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Think he earned and deserved the chance before he came to us. Difference is we will give him a chance.

For me yes. One of the questions I am asking fellow Blades fans is how many and which positions to change/alter/upgrade for next season if we are in the Prem.

We only have limited funds. I know my choices and Norwood wouldn't be one of them. We can't afford to change all (like Fulham) or would I want to damage the team ethic, continuity or formation

So - i'll throw the question to you - and it's a genuine question with no catches - how many and which positions?

UTB

 

[GrayBlade]

Moving on to bigger and better, better fits etc, we could easily say that about a good majority of our current squad already, some players just don’t continue to work out with other teams or they eventually find a place to settle down where they truly peak, different managers bring different things out of players

Look at what we’ve done with the likes of Leon, Billy and Didsy, all 3 had some of, if not their best scoring seasons with us

O’Connell and Egan both supposedly terrible CBs for Brentford

Just how football goes, for all we know Norwood could be just as immense in the prem, or he might fall flat, will just have to wait and see if we go up but I think many of our current team would be given the chance to prove themselves first, maybe bar the likes of Duffy who are getting older and if a better option is available with whatever money we have would be good to upgrade to a younger version

Agreed. Monty and Morgan for instance definitely seemed better players in the top tier.

 

[GrayBlade]

I think we should revisit this topic IF we get promoted guys, not just be because we’re not there yet but because (with me anyway) it just doesn’t sit right to talk about binning players who are currently working their bollox off to get us up their. Does that make me a softie?

 

[PokerBlade]

Fulham went up and spent money on midfielders leaving Norwood behind. Fulham also spent in excess of £100m in order to make him surplus to requirements. Fulham probably aren't feeling like they've made many great decisions.

If and when we're in the Prem, I fully expect Wilder to stick to his cautious approach when it comes to new signings. We'll give players a chance to step up, and we'll supplement the squad with players he believes can improve us.

Will it work? Who knows, but I'd be willing to bet Norwood would finally get his chance.

 

[Anston Blade]

Regardless of the division we are in next season I think the constant evolution we have seen under Wilder will continue and 5-6 new players will be signed.. All will be to improve the first team squad but some will go straight to the first team while others will improve the competition for places.

it's hard to predict how some of the players will fare in the PL (I had concerns about the likes of Basham and, Sharp when we got to the Championship) but all the regulars from this season have earned the right to have the first crack of the whip in pre-season.

 

[Blade56]

So - i'll throw the question to you - and it's a genuine question with no catches - how many and which positions?

UTB

Wouldn't enter into that debate. It's to early and disrespectful to the current players to debate getting rid of them if they get us promoted.

 

[dogboys]

One Friday night in October or November in the Copthorne bar before a home game I got talking to a random bloke who used to play for Brighton when they weren't great, wouldn't tell me his name, was up with a youth team staying at the hotel from somewhere near London. I said to him that after the way he had started for us I was surprised no one had stuck with Norwood and kept him on as a squad player in the Premier League. He said "you'd be surprised at the jump up to the premier League athletically."
He went on to tell me that he was Chris and Alans' agent.
As such, I think should we go up, the less athletic will be moved on is my guess. Seems a shame if that occurs in one way as, just with the league one title winners, it would be nice to see all these players achieve their dream of playing in the Premier League with us.
I may be talking rubbish and some random bloke was taking me for a ride. We will see. Either way, there are worse positions to be in as a club.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

One Friday night in October or November in the Copthorne bar before a home game I got talking to a random bloke who used to play for Brighton when they weren't great, wouldn't tell me his name, was up with a youth team staying at the hotel from somewhere near London. I said to him that after the way he had started for us I was surprised no one had stuck with Norwood and kept him on as a squad player in the Premier League. He said "you'd be surprised at the jump up to the premier League athletically."
He went on to tell me that he was Chris and Alans' agent.
As such, I think should we go up, the less athletic will be moved on is my guess. Seems a shame if that occurs in one way as, just with the league one title winners, it would be nice to see all these players achieve their dream of playing in the Premier League with us.
I may be talking rubbish and some random bloke was taking me for a ride. We will see. Either way, there are worse positions to be in as a club.

He used to have a lot more hair.

 

[Harrisblade]

Regardless of the division we are in next season I think the constant evolution we have seen under Wilder will continue and 5-6 new players will be signed.. All will be to improve the first team squad but some will go straight to the first team while others will improve the competition for places.

it's hard to predict how some of the players will fare in the PL (I had concerns about the likes of Basham and, Sharp when we got to the Championship) but all the regulars from this season have earned the right to have the first crack of the whip in pre-season.

I'd like to suggest that the management team (all of them) who got us this far are at least given a full season to try to continue the good work!

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Wouldn't enter into that debate. It's to early and disrespectful to the current players to debate getting rid of them if they get us promoted.

yes, good answer - you are probably right.

UTB

 

[Champagneblade]

I think we should revisit this topic IF we get promoted guys, not just be because we’re not there yet but because (with me anyway) it just doesn’t sit right to talk about binning players who are currently working their bollox off to get us up their. Does that make me a softie?

Agree. Park this knee until the next two weekends have passed.

Let's not forget, we only got a point down there and they have no pressure on them at all now.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Agreed. Monty and Morgan for instance definitely seemed better players in the top tier.

Good point .

When we were promoted under Warnock , I had a mental list of at least six players who I thought had no chance of cutting it at the top level and those two were very high on that list . As it turned out , both of them coped admirably and , as a consequence , I have no fears that most of our existing squad will be similarly capable .

My feeling is that three quality signings plus a couple of back ups could be enough for us to make a really good fist of playing in the Prem and cause a few upsets along the way .

UTB .

 

[ucandomagic]

One Friday night in October or November in the Copthorne bar before a home game I got talking to a random bloke who used to play for Brighton when they weren't great, wouldn't tell me his name, was up with a youth team staying at the hotel from somewhere near London. I said to him that after the way he had started for us I was surprised no one had stuck with Norwood and kept him on as a squad player in the Premier League. He said "you'd be surprised at the jump up to the premier League athletically."
He went on to tell me that he was Chris and Alans' agent.
As such, I think should we go up, the less athletic will be moved on is my guess. Seems a shame if that occurs in one way as, just with the league one title winners, it would be nice to see all these players achieve their dream of playing in the Premier League with us.
I may be talking rubbish and some random bloke was taking me for a ride. We will see. Either way, there are worse positions to be in as a club.

Chris’s agent is called Pete Smith - he played at Brighton when Chris had a short spell there. He’s from Wolverhampton way - as is his best mate. Interestingly his mate goes drinking in Cheshire with Bruce, as his father-in-law is Bruce’s neighbour. Small world!

 

[PittsburghBlade]

For the record I think Norwood will be invaluable to us if we go up just as he has been since he walked through the door. Other teams systems, style and tactics all complimented him but ours is driven through him and with him at the heart of it.

With the additional fact that Wilder does pretty well with players who have something to prove and providing him the right system in which he can pressure well in small areas and close quarters which he does magnificently. This is not as easy to do from a 4-4-2 or a lot of combination formations that don't have the additional body in midfield who can cover the man the "presser" is leaving to get the ball. Norwood does this well because often there is 3 in there together who all understand how to shift, transition and move into a shape that allows players the freedom to press high up the pitch and win the ball back in good areas which is what Norwood along with Fleck and Duffy do very well. That's because of fantastic coaching, fitting players with certain attributes for specific roles and players really buying into what the coaching staff are implementing.

 

[guancheblade]

At the risk of upsetting a fair few, but I can't help but feel Norwood, especially over the last couple of months, is our most overrated player.

 

[Stanthemanfan]

At the risk of upsetting a fair few, but I can't help but feel Norwood, especially over the last couple of months, is our most overrated player.

I wouldn't say overated he's just not quite on it at the mo
ie not fukin Reight good just alreight!

 

[Silent Blade]

Chris’s agent is called Pete Smith - he played at Brighton when Chris had a short spell there. He’s from Wolverhampton way - as is his best mate. Interestingly his mate goes drinking in Cheshire with Bruce, as his father-in-law is Bruce’s neighbour. Small world!

On the right

 

[PittsburghBlade]

At the risk of upsetting a fair few, but I can't help but feel Norwood, especially over the last couple of months, is our most overrated player.

Lol what a moron.

 

[guancheblade]

Lol what a moron.

You can still be good AND be overrated!

 

[Once a Blade..]

You can still be good AND be overrated!

You can still be a moron and, well, a MORON

 

[Mojo]

Well last time we went up we signed Legsofwood and played him every game with Monty in midfield so I'm sure we can do better than that IF we go up.