Our problems don't really lie in our strikers' ability to score, as strange as that may seem - Hooper has proven that he is capable of putting away substantial number of chances given to him. The problem lies with giving him the chances. Given that Defoe relies entirely on others to create the chances, as good a finisher as he is, I don't think an unfit and ageing Defoe will add much that Hooper doesn't already.
Spot-on Rob. Given opportunities Hooper can put them away - we just need to create more chances more often.
Another name to conjur with: http://carrowroad.net/cnews/index.php?post=the-mill-starts-with-abdisalam-ibrahim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim Competition for Fer?
A bit o/t but I see Kozak has broken his leg in training at Villa and is out for the season. Big blow for them with Benteke not on form and no other recognised striker on the books.
Like Fer, he wants to play like Yaya Toure. He was pretty close to the source then! Having Tettey here might also help, given the Norwegian connection.
I think Hoolahan type players is the idea, people like Christian Eriksen, Coutinho, Mata...but cheaper! Fully agree, we're fine for strikers, we need people to make the chances. Defoe's also too similar to what we have. You could argue we're missing a target man a bit, Elmander's not as good as Holt at that, but I'd rather solve that issue with getting our side to pass than signing someone we can play route one to. Yeah, he went Man City>Lazio>Norwich, I don't think Garrido's actually a bad footballer, he's ok on the ball, but his lack of pace and poor positioning let him down against opposition wingers. £250-300k for a young midfielder who was a mainstay for a title winning Norwegian side? He's an extra body in midfield and if top French clubs are interested, he'd be very cheap cover if nothing else. Looking at Stromgodset's season, he was played centrally in a 4-4-2, and as a (sorry Carrabuh....) box-to-box midfielder in a 4-3-3. Looking at Stromgodset, on statistics alone I like the look of their defensive midfielder Stefan Johansen. He's played deeper than Ibrahim, but returned 5 goals and 8 assists in 34 games to Ibrahims 2 goals and 3 assists in 32 games. Johansen is also 22, and valued at £1.9m.
Berbatov has just stuck a picture on facebook saying "Could fire Arsenal to the title" over a picture of himself. Either something's happening or he's desperate for a move.
Looking into it, apparently Berbatov has a sponsorship agreement with a sports news site where he automatically uploads a picture to facebook of the first picture from each article they write. Seems they've written something speculative and the picture's gone directly on facebook.
Looks like a loan extension could be on the cards for Dani: http://www.clubcall.com/norwich-city/boro-open-canaries-defender-talks-1689798.html?