Case for the defence – does Paul Lambert need to lavish millions on a load of new defenders?

Despite lashing out on six new faces as Norwich City get ready to start their first Premier League campaign in seven years, most Canaries fans are waiting for Paul Lambert to sign a defender.
Ritchie De Laet has been snapped up on a season-long loan, but with two strikers, two wide men and a defensive midfielder coming through the entrance door with him this summer, there are concerns that more cover at the back is needed.
Or is it?
Norwich have eight defenders on their books that would be considered good enough for the first team and in a 25-man Premier League squad that would certainly be sufficient.
Premier League teams in the last decade have started to use full backs in an ever more advanced level. The likes of Ashley Cole, Gareth Bale, Leighton Baines and the Da Silva brothers at Manchester United have rewritten what it means to be a modern full back.
Pacey and adventurous they are a crucial part of Premier League attacks – to the extent that Bale is now used as a midfielder.
Norwich’s success at getting out of the Championship last season was noticeable for the impact of their full backs. Russell Martin popped up with five goals and carried City forward down the right. When Marc Tierney signed at the turn of the year he did the same down the left.
Both are sure to go into the season as first choice full backs and cover for Tierney would naturally come from Adam Drury, City’s most experienced player now in his tenth year at the club.
Norwich’s two friendlies over the last four days have seen impressive performances from right back George Francomb, pictured, and left-sided player Josh Dawkin so the cover extends further down too.
Dawkin, who scored twice against Wroxham on Tuesday is a midfielder, but his rampaging combative qualities could equally be at home as a modern Premier League full back.
With two full backs on either side plus possibly Dawkin, that leaves four centre halves.
Elliott Ward and Leon Barnett looked good in the centre of defence until Leon popped his hamstring against Reading and Zak Whitbread slotted effortlessly into the team. De Laet can play in the centre if needed, although he is usually employed as a right back.
I think he’d have to go some to oust Russell Martin from the starting line-up – remember it was De Laet who totally lost the flight of David Fox’s cross that Simeon Jackson nodded home at Portsmouth back in May.
Paul Lambert said at the start of the summer that there would be seven new players and speculation is rife that an experience top flight defender – Titus Bramble, Matthew Upson or James Tomkins – is that seventh signing.
If no defender comes, I think City aren’t too far short of what they need in terms of numbers at the back. Back in 2004 Gary Doherty wasn’t signed until August 20, so that’s still a month of where we are today.
With six weeks to go until the transfer deadline window shuts, Lambert will probably wait and see how the defence handles the games against Wigan and Stoke before shoring up the defence in time for the Chelsea game if needed.

Norwich's big Premier League season kicks off with 7-0 friendly romp over Gorleston

Norwich City’s Premier League season is under way after a comfortable 7-0 win at a wet and soggy Emerald Park with plenty of Paul Lambert’s summer signing son show.
Last season my football-watching campaign was bookended by a trip to Anderlecht at the end of July and a seat at the Champions League final at Wembley to end it. This season will end in over a year’s time at the Olympic 2012 football final also at Wembley and it started today at Gorleston of all places.
Norwich put out a really strong team, making multiple substitutions and, barring Anthony Pilkington, most of Lambert’s squad were on show.
I’ve not been to Emerald Park before and after shelling out the questionable £15 for a ticket I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a great little ground and the fact that it was covered all the way round was a huge plus on a very grey Norfolk afternoon.
City started with Chris Martin and Grant Holt up front with David Fox and Wes Hoolahan pulling the strings in midfield and it was clear early on that this was to be one of those days when it was a question of how many goals the strikers would pick up.
The scoring started early with Holt bundling home the opener and soon after Zak Whitbread made it 2-0 with a header from a corner. City were creating chances at will and after a crude hack on Martin which looked initially worrying enough for Paul Lambert to leave his dugout seat and prowl along the touchline, Holt hit his second form the penalty spot.
After half an hour Holt and Martin were replaced by Steve Morison and Simeon Jackson and the Canadian looked by far the liveliest of the pair. Korey smith drilled home a fourth from long range and Jackson re-directed Morison’s goal-bound header to make it 5-0 at the break.
Plenty of fresh faces joined the action in the second half – John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Leon Barnett, Elliot Ward, Elliott Bennett, Andrew Crofts, Andrew Surman and Bradley Johnson who was perhaps the most impressive player of the second 45 minutes.
The former Leeds player’s shooting skills are well known and he must have had four or five cracks at the Gorleston goal, one of which made it 6-0 with plenty of time left on the clock.
Morison and Jackson made way for the third new striker partnership of the afternoon on the hour as James Vaughan and Aaron Wilbraham came on and both seemed intent on getting their name on the scoresheet.
I do feel a bit sorry for Wilbraham who was picked up at an important time in the Championship season and you feel won’t have much of a part to play in the Premier League. In fairness he did struggle to score against Gorleston and you worry if that really is the case what good he’d be if he needed to come on in the Premier League.
Wilbraham did score the seventh, so credit to him for that, but I think it may be a good move for both player and club if was sent out on a season-long loan.
All in all a great game, lovely to see City in action today after a 10-week break and can’t wait for the build up to the news season to get ever more intense ahead of the Wigan clash four weeks today.

Is it morally wrong to make a sportsman play a game on the tenth anniversary of 9/11?

Norwich City fans have this week been reminded of one of the irritating aspects of the Premier League as four of their opening dozen games have been moved for television coverage.
While it may no more than a minor inconvenience for most fans, the home game against West Bromwich Albion now kicks off on Sunday, September 11 at 1.30pm.
That match will be played at exactly the same time as the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the USA back in 2001, and for Norwich’s American central defender Zak Whitbread it’s sure to an extremely emotional day, whether he plays or not.
All across the USA there will be memorial services as there are every anniversary, but this one is special – ten years is always a massive yardstick and will be given extra poignancy this year following the death of Osama bin Laden.
For Americans all over the world the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center is etched in their memory, and that time in the UK is 1.46pm, so that means Zak Whitbread will either be entering the 16th minute of the Premier League clash or sitting in the stands watching the game.
Whitbread was just 17 when the attacks happened and has never played a first team game on September 11 since 2001. While it may not seem that bigger deal for us Brits, it’s a bit like being made to play at 11am on Remembrance Sunday – no league games ever take place then.
I think it would be totally understandable if he asked not to play in the WBA game, like most Americans of his age it is the biggest thing to happen in their lives and I believe he should be allowed to not play.
Of course he may not even make the bench, let alone the first team, but I think Sky have presented the club with a bit of a dilemma by moving this fixture.
I’m a huge Norwich fan and will of course be in my Jarrold Stand seat for this match, but I am sure I am not the only Canaries follower who has a mind that expands far further than events at Carrow Road. If Norwich weren’t playing I would be at home watching the memorial service, thinking back to 2001 and paying my own respects and thinking back to how I felt that day.
Ironically I was on a ten-day holiday with my mate Gordon in Italy and we’d planned to watch loads of football and go to the Grand Prix.
After watching AC Milan on Sunday, September 9, we took a train to Genoa which is where I was on the 11th. The following day we travelled to Parma ahead of their UEFA Cup match against HJK Helsinki on the 13th but the game was postponed – for security reasons and as a mark of respect for those who died.

Happy shopper - how Paul Lambert is way ahead of Nigel Worthington in the summer sales

Paul Lambert has been the second busiest Premier League manager this summer making five permanent signings and one on loan since the end of last season.
It’s in sharp contrast both to the other promoted duo of Swansea and QPR who have made just two signings between them (both Swansea) and to the summer of 2004 when Norwich City fans last went on their summer holidays with a Premier League season in front of them.
By July 11, 2004, with Greece’s recent Euro 2004 victory fresh in the memory, Nigel Worthington had made just two signings, grabbing David Bentley on a season long loan from Arsenal on June 3 and signing Youseff Safri (pictured) from Coventry in a £500,000 deal on June 24.
By contrast between May 27 and today, Paul Lambert has snapped up James Vaughan, Steve Morison, Elliott Bennett, Bradley Johnson and Anthony Pilkington, plus signed Ritchie De Laet on a season-long loan.
So we’ve got four more players already in place than the summer of 2004 and only Sunderland’s Steve Bruce has been busier, signing nine players so far.
Five Premier League clubs, Chelsea, QPR, Everton, Stoke and Aston Villa have yet to sign anyone and three further clubs, Tottenham, Bolton and Blackburn have each signed one player yet not spent any cash. Norwich have signed more players on their own than half the teams in the Premier League!
Whether this makes us better prepared for the forthcoming campaign is anybody’s guess, but Paul Lambert has certainly done just what he did last term and got in and out with his business early.
The signings he’s made so far certainly look great players for the future, though there is still plenty of time for him to sign more players, and perhaps, like Nigel Worthington, they’ll be players with more experience.
Wednesday will be the seventh anniversary of the £250,000 signing of Simon Charlton from Bolton who was soon followed into Carrow Road by veteran Dane Thomas Helveg who signed on a free from Inter on July 22.
Mattias Jonsson signed from Brondby on August 5 2004 and with the season already underway, Worthington made Gary Doherty his last summer signing, snapping up the then 24 year-old from Tottenham on August 20.
With 51 days until the transfer deadline closes, it’s clear that Lambert is way ahead of Worthington in the transfer market as he attempts to do what Worthy couldn’t do and keep Norwich in the top flight for two successive seasons.

Good to see Littlest Hobo Earnshaw heading home to Cardiff

Former Norwich City striker Rob Earnshaw has returned to where it all began for him with a move back to Cardiff.
For a player who is just 30 and been a favourite of fans at the half dozen clubs he has called home this is surely the final chance to prove his true potential.
Earnshaw’s career has been strange in that for all the plaudits he’s had handed on him – not to mention the fact he’s scored hat-tricks in all four divisions, both domestic cups and for Wales – he’s struggled to stay longer than three seasons at any of his clubs his played with since leaving Cardiff.
Anyone who remembers 80s TV show The Littlest Hobo will be familiar with a dog that turns up in all sorts of situations hoping to do his bit to keep them out of trouble.
And that certainly applies to Earnie - what’s even more strange is that his career has largely been spent in the upper reaches of the Championship and he’s been transferred for over £12million.
Many managers have seen something in Earnshaw that’s made them want to sign the Zambia-born player but he’s perhaps been a little unlucky at the clubs he’s played for in that he’s been a victim of circumstance as a series of gaffers have signed him when they needed goals and he’s been expected to deliver.
Both West Brom and Derby bought him to the Premier League when they needed a striker to keep them up, while Norwich bought him on the same day they sold Dean Ashton for a record fee.
At Cardiff originally he had a glorious seven years, racking up an impressive 86 goals in 147 league starts.
When West Brom decided that he was the man needed to keep them in the Premier League in August 2004, Earnie finally had a crack at the big time. He was just 23 then and after signing just before the transfer deadline had a tough start, having to wait until November 6, 2004 for his first goals in the top flight, when he netted twice at Southampton.
Earnshaw’s goals that season did well to keep West Brom up – his goals earned them a point against Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United, but arguably the high point of his career came on March 19, 2005 when he netted that top flight hat-trick at Charlton.
The following season wasn’t so good for Earnshaw, just one more Premier League goal came in a 4-0 win over Everton in November 2005 and then, just after Norwich had sold Dean Ashton to West Ham, Earnshaw was drafted in as his replacement.
Norwich fans saw their big, powerful, awkward striker Ashton replaced by someone half a foot shorter and probably half as light as the former Crewe man. It took a while for Canaries followers to be convinced of the Welsh striker.
His debut came on February 5, 2006 in the home defeat to Ipswich and he went on to score eight goals for the Carrow Road club that season under Nigel Worthington.
Earnshaw’s big season with Norwich was the 2006/07 season and he started the season like a house on fire, scoring goals left, right and centre. His brace against Barnsley at the end of August 2006 put City top of the Championship, and he went on to score three more in September.
On October 1, 2006 Earnshaw scored the goal in a game Carrow Road will never forget – the televised 4-1 home loss to Burnley that spelt the end of Nigel Worthington’s reign as manager.
Peter Grant replaced him and Earnie found a rich scoring spell in November/December 2006 with seven goals in eight games including the winner at former club West Brom.
Three more goals came in 2007 before newly promoted Derby decided Earnie was the man they needed to keep them in the Premier League.
To say his Derby spell was a disaster is an understatement, just one league goal in 25 appearances which came in the penultimate game of the season, a 6-2 home defeat by Arsenal.
Despite that poor record Nottingham Forest paid £2.5 million for him three summers ago and he repaid them with 35 goals in 98 games.
And now he’s back at Cardiff and it’s great to see football’s hobo head home. He’s been popular at most clubs he’s played with (well maybe not Derby) and for whatever reason he’s never really settled in at any of his old clubs.
Just like Craig Bellamy, the man he’s set to replace at Cardiff, he seems to be heading back to somewhere that really appreciates him.
I for one would love to see Earnie get one more crack at the top flight with Cardiff in 2012/13, I know he’d get a warm reception at Carrow Road if that happens.

I've got the new Errea Norwich City home shirt - here's what I think of it and some close-up pictures

Norwich City fans were certainly eager to see the new home shirt for the forthcoming Premier League season judging by the demand online since the successful Championship season ended in May.
I picked up my shirt in Norwich yesterday and I've got to say I really like it. I thought I'd review it on here with a few pictures, some of them close ups of what fans who haven't yet picked up the shirt can look forward to. Hopefully if you haven't managed to pick one up yet this will whet your appetite for when you do.
The shirt is available now from the club shops at Carrow Road and in the Castle Mall. It's £45 for an adult shirt and there are plenty left in stock at the moment. I got mine from Castle Mall and they had lots of different sizes right up to 4XL for all the, ahem, large fans.
I'm well built and just under 6ft and the XL shirt fits me nicely. Some fans have said the neck on the shirt is a little tight and I agree, it really is. I think after wearing it for a bit it will loosen but it does certainly feel a little tight and the material is like a kit from the 80s.
So if you've got a larger neck you may want to go up a size - I'd be interested to know what other people who have purchased the shirt think on this.
The Errea shirt is the same sort of Brazilian yellow to last seasons which I for one am all in favour of compared to the darker shade of yellow of the 2008-2010 kit. That looks really murky compared to the kits of last season and to new season's offer.
The design is smart and simple but one thing I noticed is that both the Errea and Norwich City logos seem quite high up on the shirt, certainly they seem to be higher up than ever before and that could be because the Aviva logo is so big.
I know teams in Spain put larger sponsor logos on their shirts to maximise the size on TV and the Aviva logo seems to me to be much bigger than last season.
There are some nice touches - a Levis-style Errea tab on the right side of the shirt which is something Umbro used to do, the words 'Creato in Italia' inside the neck of the shirt and the words 'On The Ball City' embroidered on the back of the shirt.
The material is a bit like those World Cup shirts from 1970 with small holes in it, and the two patches under the arms are almost mesh-like, for soaking up under-arm sweat! That should be just perfect for that nail-biting away win at Stamford Bridge next month!
I paid an extra £6 to get the Premier League patches on the side - there's a 10 per cent discount for season ticket holders so these are just 75p each if you factor that in. They can put them on for you while you wait in the shop - although one of them hasn't been put on very well as the shirt wasn't flat at the time and it has a ripple through it.
Only a minor blemish though. The shirt itself is lovely and I look forward to wearing it at Premier League grounds up and down the country in the coming season.