The Shola Saga rumbles on…

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle has revealed that West Brom have dropped their interest in long term Norwich City target Shola Ameobi. Ameobi, who Keegan is keen to get off his wage budget, has been linked with Ipswich, Norwich, West Brom and Hull – with Ipswich at one point having virtually signed him, then Norwich apparently being his destination and most recently, West Brom looking likely to snag the Nigerian born front man.

However, with West Brom now cooling their interest, it could well mean that Norwich (and maybe Ipswich) are back with a shout.  I think he’d be a class signing – tall, strong, powerful, quick and an eye for goal. All we know is that Shola is going to move – but it’s a question of where with Premiership suitors failing to follow up their interest.

Gow: 48 hours to decide

While not even close to rivalling the Shola Ameobi saga, the Alan Gow saga is starting to rumble into action with the papers ooop norf saying that Roeder has given Gow a 48 hour deadline to decide on his future. Apparently, Gow has received good contract terms from us – better, apparently than what he’s currently on at Rangers and what was offered at Burnley.

However, Gow is reported to be wanting a pay off from Rangers that represents the rest of his pay as agreed in the contract before he will leave. Rangers, obviously, are refusing to pay up.

It seems it was a former Norwich striker who recommended Gow to us and Kevin Drinkell believes a move to Norwich would now be in the best interests of Gow – and for what it’s worth, I believe Gow would be very popular at Norwich and carve this division apart with his clever, play maker style abilities. He’d get paid well and play regularly – and if the only thing stopping him completing the move is this dispute with Rangers rather than him genuinely not wanting to come, then with respect, Gow really should move on.

He would be a great signing for us, perhaps even better than the signing of Hoolahan – but it would be just as good a move for him as it would for us.

Let’s hope tomorrow brings more news.

The Hoolahan has landed

Finally, after weeks, no, months of speculation Norwich City today announced the signing of Wes Hoolahan on a 3 year deal.

Hoolahan, who will without a doubt draw comparisons with former left winger Darren Huckerby, was one of the most exciting players to visit Carrow Road last season, causing all sorts of problems for the Canaries defence. Fortunately, our defenders can breath easy this season, and watch in glee as Hoolahan tears opposition defences up wearing a yellow and green jersey.

Hoolahan is exactly the sort of player that we want to see at Carrow Road – exciting, talented and young, he will give Norwich fans something to look forward to in the season ahead, without a doubt. Well done Glenn, and more like this please.

Go away for a few days, and it all happens!

Plenty of stuff to tell you about here; we’ll start at the concrete stuff and work our way down.

Let’s start with Rangers Alan Gow. Gow, a 6′ tall attacking midfielder, was earlier this month linked with a move to Burnley as part of the Kyle Lafferty deal. However, Gow realised he didn’t want to live in the cess-pit that is Burnley and turned down their advances. This seemingly alerted Roeder and co. to Gow’s availability and swiftly swooped to sign the midfielder. Here is the Pink Un article on the matter.

Nothing official about Gow has yet been announced, but it is expected the move will be confirmed within the next 48 hours. If he signs, Gow could be the proper replacement for Dickson Etuhu we’ve been chasing for some time.

Next up is our friend, Wes Hoolahan. Those of you who have followed this online saga will know that it’s the club’s worst kept secret that he has signed for City some weeks ago now and we’re just waiting on the official word that all is signed, sealed and delivered. This moment is now reported to be close which again would be a superb signing and the replacement for Darren Huckerby we all wanted. If Gow and Hoolahan are in the bag, you have to say that our midfield looks as strong as it has for some time.

However, those two are not all. According to Roeder, we are expected to complete the signings of three or four new players within the next 24/48 hours. If Gow and Hoolahan are two, then it’ll be interesting to see who the others are. One possibility is Wigan’s Antoine Sibierski, who has been told he can leave for free. Sibierski would be a top class signing, the sort of player who would really do well in this division without a doubt – and his history with Roeder makes this a distinct possibility.

That same article also describes interest for Sutton Utds 17 year old free scoring Jerson Dos Santos. Dos Santos has been linked with a number of clubs including Charlton and Brentford. Obviously, if he signs, he will probably be a future prospect rather than a first team regular, but it’s worth a quick mention.

Finally, and perhaps the most exciting news of all, is Delia’s little hint of investment at the club this summer.  This interview from Delia at the Royal Norfolk show suggests that the club may well have received investment during the summer – but aren’t shouting it from the rooftops. “There are certain clubs who shout very loudly about all the money they’ve got, they have to pay a lot of money for players.” Got to love Delia!

Wow. It looks as if Ameobi could be on his way.

This afternoon, Ricky Bilverstone of Canary Corner published an article claiming that Shola Ameobi was close to becoming a Norwich player. It was an article that was understandably ignored in Norwich City circles – no way could Norwich City pay the fee required to sign Shola.

But with the Daily Mail now lending far more credability to the rumour – and describing the deal as “on the brink” of being completed, Norwich fans are frankly shocked that we may well be landing Shola Ameobi for one of the most expensive fees ever paid by Norwich City.

This is a story that stretches back on so far, when Norwich were apparently keen on signing Shola on loan from Newcastle soon after Roeder joins. Apparently, we were close to bringing him in then – and had it not been for then Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce blocking the move, he would have joined so rumours say.

Since then, Shola has had very little opportunity under him and replacement Kevin Keegan. In fact, Keegan went so far as to say that Ameobi had not developed sufficiently for him. It was no surprise when Shola was loaned out to Stoke. However, injury ended his involvement and sunk any hope of the deal being made permenant for the reported £4million.

Shola returned to Newcastle and was placed on the transfer list. Nothing more was heard until one day, Norwich were linked once more with Ameobi’s agent saying he would be interested in a move to Carrow Road. However, on that day, reports emerged of Ipswich having a bid accepted for £3.5mil.

As it turned out, Ipswich had only registered their interest not a bid. But quickly other suitors came out of the woodwork. Hull and West Brom quickly followed in registering their interest.

Nothing, though happened. Mostly, everyone assumed, because as Jim Magilton said, Ameobi was off getting hitched. But reports tonight have suggested that perhaps things are more advanced than thought. Not only have we had a bid accepted, but apparently we’re on the verge of completing the move.

Without a doubt, this is a huge risk on our behalf if true. £3.5mil for us is an absolute fortune – it’s the equivalent of the figures being bandied around for Kaka, Ronaldo and Torres. And his injury record is more than a little disconcerting. But facts cannot be disputed – and under Roeder, Shola proved himself a more than capable goalscorer in the Premiership. Let alone the Championship.

If he can stay fit and follow in the footsteps of fellow Newcastle trainee Michael Chopra, Ameobi would be a great signing for any side here. And it would represent a really ambitious move on our behalf to go out and sign him.

More as it emerges – but tomorrow promises to be an interesting day.

First Signing Close says Roeder. Radio Norfolk says Sammy Clingan to sign imminently.

So, it seems as if the first signing is finally near. After awaiting exceptionally patiently (it seems years since the last game!) Roeder has told the Official Website that the first signing is close and that four or five will follow shortly after.

And if that’s not enough, Radio Norfolk have learnt through sources in the Midlands that Nottingham Forest midfielder, Sammy Clingan is set to sign for Norwich. Clingan, rumoured to be interesting Ipswich and QPR as well as considering an offer from Forest, is a Northern Irish international midfielder. Beyond that, we don’t know an awful lot about him.

Still, this is an exciting time for Norwich fans, who no doubt will be eagerly anticipating who it is Roeder has got nearly signed, sealed and delivered.

The fixtures are released! Coventry away is our starting fixture…

For some absurd reason, the fixture list is not allowed to be reproduced. However, here is a link to the full list on the Pink Un.

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The First Fixture!

Concentrating fully on August, though, I have to say it’s not a bad start. Coventry away and Blackpool at home are two distinctly winnable fixtures you’d feel – and Cardiff away is usually a fixture we do well in. Birmingham at home will be difficult, but looking at the business end, you have to feel if we’re down there scrapping for our lives or even up there trying to get those vital points to get us into the places that count, then the run of Birmingham away at the end of March then Sheffield Wednesday at home, Swansea away, Watford at home, Ipswich away, Reading at home during April and finally Charlton away at the start of May does not bode well.

Still, you work with what you’re giving. We have the fixtures, now we need the team to play them. And on that, expect news pretty soon…

Belgian Buffel: The Latest Link

The tabloid papers usually leave the most spectacular or most reliable rumours for their regular sunday paper – and this sunday, the People don’t disappoint, linking us with Rangers unwanted midfielder Thomas Buffel.

Buffel is described as an attacking midfielder who has played internationally for Belgium. His record of 11 goals in 62 games isn’t a bad one, although you have to remember this is in the Scottish Premiership, where with the exception of Rangers and Celtic, you and I could probably score a goal. He also has a bit of a history with injuries, which could well be a concern.

I’m sure people are also thinking “Ian Murray” when it comes to this transfer. Murray came, unwanted, from Rangers – and proved to be one of Peter Grant’s very worst signings. He was terrible as a left back and only slightly better as a center half. Of course, it is always a gamble getting players from the Scottish Premiership for exactly this reason – they can’t cope with the pace of the Championship.

But in this case, Buffel is supposed to be a talented player and often described as a talented play maker. He would be available very cheaply – more than likely for free – and is well known to want away badly from Rangers.

As usual, we shall wait and see what happens.

So, finally we know why the Hoolahan deal is delayed

…and it’s down to a legal wrangling between Blackpool and Livingston according to the Pink Un. There’s a bit of history here, so get ready for a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I’ll begin.

A long time ago, in a county far, far away, small time League One club Blackpool signed Livingston winger Wes Hoolahan on loan. The deal involved paying Livi monthly payments and allowed for the transfer to be made permenant for the price of £75,000.00.

Sure enough, Hoolahan moved to Blackpool and set League One alight. Surprise, surprise, Blackpool won promotion and the first thing they did was make efforts to make Hoolahan’s signing permenant.

However, Livingston refused to sanction the deal. As it happens, Blackpool paid some of the loan fees due during the loan late. They claimed this breached the loan deal and the £75,000.00 fee agreed to make the deal permenant was now null and void. Surprise surprise, they wanted more – £250,000.00 to be precise.

This went to the FA and Scottish FA and was quickly thrown upstairs to FIFA. They agreed that this would need resolving, but gave special dispensation for Hoolahan to play for Blackpool in their first Championship season. Now, Hoolahan wants to sign for us – and a deal has been agreed between us, Blackpool and Hoolahan himself.

It’s just Livingston standing in the way.

What’s most likely to happen is that FIFA will rule that Blackpool owe Livingston X amount from the transfer to Norwich – which would resolve the situation. However, as everything in the legal world, this will take time to sort. Hopefully, though, things can be resolved pretty promptly to allow Hoolahan to join us – he would definitely be a great signing.

Rumour XI – Take Three!

Not quite so many rumours flying around concerning Norwich as before, but still enough to have to add to our ever increasing rumour eleven. So here we go;

GK : Lukaz Fabianski – Bit of a tenuous link this one. See the previous rumour XI for why.
DR : Jack Cork / Gavin Hoyte
DL : Ian Harte
DC : Martin Taylor
DC : Kaspars Gorkss
MR : Marceo Rigters / James Brown
ML : Matty Etherington / Wes Hoolahan
MC : Kevin McDonald / Barry Nicholson / Sammy Clingan
MC : David Bell / Gary Roberts
FW : Marlon King / Ched Evans / Shola Ameobi / Richard Offiong / Freddy Eastwood / Andy Carroll
FW : Gregor Rasiak / Martin Paterson / Jermaine Beckford / Clinton Morrison / Andy Cole / Antoine Sibierski

So the number of strikers linked have now breached into double figures – but alarmingly,  links to defenders are rather short coming. I appreciate, of course, that getting good defenders is difficult, but it is the area of the squad that, IMO, needs the greatest work.

Oh well, as always we continue to wait, see and hope.