Norwich City vs Brum ( away) Saturday 27th August.

[Din]

To be honest Martin used to be a good right back. Throughout the Lambert years he was superb in all 3 divisions and for the next 2 years under Hughton he was decent, as was Whittaker, even though he was in and out of the side.

After we were relegated though and Neil Adams took over, Russell Martin decided that he wanted to be used as a centre back, and Adams (presumably wanting to keep his captain happy) obliged. Doing that completely ruined Martin. Even at Championship level he's not good enough to play centre back, and a lot of the time he looked out of his depth. Don't know what happened to him but doing that clearly just messed him up altogether because since then he's looked useless at right back as well, where he used to look very good. As for Whittaker, I can't even explain it seeing as he was decent for 2 years at right back under Hughton but has looked useless ever since despite playing the exact same position. He was consistantly 7 out of 10 under Alex Neil for half a season in the Championship, but that aside he has been absolutely woeful and has cost us God knows how many points and even Alex Neil who was a big fan of his in the Championship, worked out he was a liability and only played him a handful of times last season.

Neither player is good enough tbh. It's all too well as well keeping them as back-up, but what if Pinto next game gets and injury that rules him out for 6 months? 

 

[Canaryboy]

what if Pinto next game gets and injury that rules him out for 6 months? 

Could say that about a lot of players / positions at a lot of clubs though. Much more serious would be Olsson being ruled out for 6 months, where we'd be down to just Toffolo.

Losing a key player isn't as serious in this league as it is in the league above though,  don't have to name a 25 and can loan players from Premier League clubs. 

 

[Din]

Could say that about a lot of players / positions at a lot of clubs though. Much more serious would be Olsson being ruled out for 6 months, where we'd be down to just Toffolo.

Losing a key player isn't as serious in this league as it is in the league above though,  don't have to name a 25 and can loan players from Premier League clubs. 

If we were to lose Olsson though then Brady could always play there, even if he is better up the pitch. I think with the exception of right back and centre back we have good enough cover in every other position.

 

[OldRobert]

Two small points:

One, it wouldn't surprise me if Delia would like to see Martin as a future manager hence the 2 year contract. He's always been popular in the Boardroom and

Two you can forget about loans, should there be any long term injuries:

Last season, Premier League clubs sent out just under 200 players on loan, with the vast majority of them going to the lower reaches of the English pyramid. But those deals are set to become a thing of the past and that will affect every club, from the summit of the Premier League to the bottom of League Two. From the 2016-17 season, Fifa has abolished emergency loans, meaning all transfers, temporary or otherwise, must be conducted during the aforementioned windows.