“Allow me to play devil’s advocate.”
All too often, when a player is signed for Norwich City, they are immediately written off as a bad signing.
Yet again this is the case with our most recent acquisition, John Hartson.
The Welshman has signed on loan until the New Year from Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion, and in my eyes has been given unnecessary criticism before he has had the chance to pull on the yellow and green strip.
Hartson has shown two things during his career. One of them, admittedly not to my benefit as I am trying to defend him, is he has a reputation as ‘a bit of a nutter`.
Just ask Eyal Berkovic, who Hartson booted in the face at training during his West Ham days.
But as well as being the controversial hard man everyone loves to hate, there is a key element to John Hartson which makes me happy with the signing – he scores goals.
I dare you to tell me we don’t need someone who finds the back of the net regularly, especially as we have not looked like coming close to scoring since David Strihavka netted against Crystal Palace on the 15th September.
We need something different up front and Hartson certainly is that – it might just be the difference between us slipping deeper into relegation danger and starting to climb the table over the next few games.
A brace for Hartson on Saturday in a victory over Bristol City, along with a new manager on the way, will hopefully be the start of a change in fortune for us goal-starved Canary fans.
One doubt I do have about Hartson is whether he will get the service from our midfield.
With Huckerby not on top of his game, Croft in and out of the team and a distinct lack of creativity from the likes of Russell, Jarvis and Brellier, it is a team Hartson may not relish playing in.
But if we can get that bit extra from Hucks and co under a new manager, considering our current plight, we couldn’t hope for a better man than Hartson to be on the end of some decent service.
I’ll leave you with one final thought.
Remember when Dion signed? Everyone criticised Worthy for ‘a backward step’ and signing a player who was ‘passed it’.
Fast forward a year and in many peoples eyes he should be the first name on the team sheet. He has been one of our shrewdest signings since relegation from the Premiership in 2005.
I’m not saying Hartson will have the same success, but he could get those few goals to set us on the road to recovery.
All I ask is that we give the former Arsenal and Celtic striker (who incidentally is six years younger than Dion) a chance to prove he can do a job for Norwich City.
If he scores a goal against Bristol City and that’s all he does for us, at least he would have ended one of the biggest goal droughts in our history.
Good luck John I say, and please remind us what it is like to celebrate a goal.
Roon