Norwich Refurbishment

In order to improve our club as a whole, these are the five players who I think should be leaving in the summer.

1.       Very regretfully Simeon Jackson. I absolutely love Jackson as a person and a footballer, as he is passionate and focused, and as a club we owe a lot to him as he really was one of the most important people in bringing us up from the Championship. However, Norwich is no longer the place for him and whichever team is lucky enough to get him will have an absolute star in their team. It will also be great to see him play some regular football rather than seeing him on the bench all the time.   

2.       George Francomb. He just will not be missed or remembered. A youngster who has not grabbed the opportunity and it seems he would rather be playing golf and being a little minion to Holt. The less said about him the better.

3.       Jacob Butterfield. An unfortunate injury has stopped him playing but with the great strength we have in the midfield I just do not think he will be able to come back into the first team with the class or skill we need. He is not popular with the fans and in fact when he was on the bench against Man City he was booed when his name was announced, something I have not heard before! The club does not need him around and on a personality level he does not seem to fit in with the rest of the team and the club ethics and, similarly to Francomb, he also does not seem to appreciate the chance that he has been given and spends more time tweeting about his hair.

4.       “Mad Marc” Tierney. He is another one that the club owes a lot to in helping us get to the Premiership. Another player loved by the fans that will be very fondly remembered. However, the signing of Garrido on a permanent contract means that he will just not get a look in and, similarly to Jackson, I would rather he get regular football at another club.

5.       Grant Holt. This may shock some people but over the second half of the season he was not himself; he had a bad attitude on and off the pitch. However, in the last couple of matches he really pulled his finger out but for me that is too little too late. We can only thank him for everything he has done for us and he will forever be a NCFC hero but I think his time has come and it would be best for him to leave at this stage. It is no secret that he is a real family man and by moving his family back up to Carlisle it would make sense for him to head that way too, maybe to Celtic? It’s Russell Martin for captain for me.

5 players in (realistically!)

This is a hard question. I feel like I should include a player from Leeds, as they to seem to be our feeder club somewhat, but we already have enough and we need to branch out. I do not know what Chris Hughton has up his sleeves this year but I have faith in him. Look at two massive signings when he came in last year; Bassong and Snodgrass who got 1^st and 2^nd place in Player of the Season. This is a man that clearly knows what he is doing, backed up by the early signing in January of Ricky vanWolfswinkel who arrives to us in July.

1.       Gary Hooper. I personally don’t think it is great to beg for people and we have already tried and failed with Hooper. Personally I do not see the massive obsession with him but I am in the minority here. This build up around him could work in one of two ways...

2.       Arouna Kone. Mentioned by Hughton as a top striker I imagine when it became clear that Wigan were going down he would have him on his list. At £4.4 million (source – Transfer Markt.co.uk) he would be a real steal. He is a big presence on the pitch and could be exactly what we are looking for. However, I am not all that sure he would fit in with the club and I can see him being a bit of a diva! 

3.       Bakary Sako. Currently playing for Wolves but this fact should not put people off as look at some of the other players we have got from Championship sides and what they have become, most notably Snodgrass, Martin and Johnson. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a player grow and with someone as versatile as him the future looks bright for him.

4.       Daniel Pacheco. Again rumours are flying around about this guy. I cannot see it happening but it would be a dream if these rumours did come true. In his previous spell at NCFC he was extremely popular and there are a lot of people, including myself, that would love to see him back especially if it was on a free loan as has been suggested. I cannot see him being a regular starter but he would be a great option to have on the bench and a possible impact sub. This would be his time to prove that he is a premiership player.

5.       Lewis McGugan. A young player with tons of energy and potential. He is out of contract so really is a possibility and he has been liked with Cardiff, so there is no reason why we cannot go for him too. He is a great attacking midfielder and proven goal scorer in the Championship so with the right training which Hughton and the coaching team can clearly provide there is no reason why he could not become a Premiership player.

Emily Ward (@emilyward1990)