SAVVY_MONKEY thinks Paul Lambert has a big decision to make tomorrow when it comes to naming his strikers.
After drawing criticism from many quarters, including the excellent Lee Dixon on MOTD2, it won`t only be James Vaughan that is feeling slightly bruised following the bad-tempered meeting with West Brom. It seems that choosing our strike force is not the simple job it once was.
Holt and Martin have clearly been Lambert`s first choice pairing so far. Certainly they`ve been ahead of Morison, Jackson and Wilbraham, with the pecking order yet to be decided as far as the hapless Vaughan is concerned.
Chris Martin is one of those divisive players. Some fans love to see a local lad doing well; he`s clearly got spirit and tenacity, as well as a superb shot and a decent footballing brain. However, there are some doubters. He is by no means the most popular player, is not blessed with great place, nor is he a real poacher.
Lambert himself would echo these views having mostly picked Martin ahead of Jackson at the start of last season and then barely giving him a place on the bench as he returned to fitness when promotion was confirmed. He hasn`t played badly in the first four games, neither has he pulled up any trees. He will be a lucky man to be given another run out against Bolton or Sunderland and perhaps Lambert will feel he owes the others a chance to freshen things up.
If you assume Captain Holt is a shoe-in (and for me he has enough equity to have at least 4 or 5 more ineffective games yet), then it`s a three-way fight with Martin for the other role.
Jackson is clearly going to have to bide his time, as he has done admirably for his entire Canary career. You get the feeling that if called upon he would put everything into it, but is he really good enough to hold down a starting place? I suspect not, which is why Lambert spent so much money on James Vaughan.
Vaughan might just be the real deal. He has the advantage of pace, is strong, tall(ish) and has natural ability in abundance as illustrated by his teenage goal scoring feats. If Lambert continues to use the 4-4-2 formation (I`m not convinced he will by the way), a fully fit Vaughan would seem the perfect foil for Holt`s rough and tumble.
Steve Morison has not really had much of a chance to impress yet, and is arguably too similar a player to play with Holt. Missing the best chance of the game against Chelsea has not helped his cause. However, he does possess a bit more pace and has the necessary aggression to make his mark at this level.
Whether the manager bought him as back-up or a successor, time will tell. However, if it was the latter and there really was a £2.5m offer from Leicester for the Big Man, then I would have thought that the calculating McNally might have been a little tempted.
Part of me (a small part, mind) wonders if we`ll look back at the season in May and regret not taking the money for Holt and re-investing it in big wages for a proven Premiership striker. After all, you`re only as good as your strikers, as QPR fans watching the Newcastle game on Monday will agree, that would just not be the Norwich way though, been there tried that.
Certainly the West Brom game was the most disappointing so far, and we`re possibly all feeling a little negative. There`s still plenty of time for Holt to make his mark on the big boys and plenty of time for the 10 behind him to take shape. It just doesn`t seem that we know who these 10 names should be – or even the formation they`ll play.
Lambert does often pull rabbits out of the hat. Or maybe it`s a magic wand he has. The guy does have powers not of this world. Think game one in 2009/10, think Colchester away or better still, think 1p5wich. It`s time for one of those magical days again. Over to you, PL.
OTBC!
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