In a Deadline Day full of record-smashing transfer fees, sex toys poking pundits and tweets from an “unknown Norwich insider,” Neil Adams closed the window with precision and effectiveness City has lacked in the past.
Adams and the board assembled a squad better than it had when the transfer window opened, an impressive feat for a freshly relegated side fighting off tasty offers from Premier League clubs.
While midfielders Robert Snodgrass and Leroy Fer departed Carrow Road for more top-flight football, City received record fees to add to the already debt-free accounts.
And even on the last day, as rumours swirled that Gary Hooper and Nathaniel Redmond were on their way out, the manager kept them at Norwich while he sent Andrew Surman back to Bournemouth—permanently, and Luciano Becchio to Rotherham until January.
All too often City fans neglect this point, but retaining John Ruddy as goalkeeper was a huge step forward towards promotion, as Adams kept the keeper who remains a strong candidate in the back for the Three Lions.
Perhaps what’s more impressive, though, was Adam’s swiftness to sign players to bolster the roster and actually create competition for the team sheet, something foreign during the reign of former manager Chris Hughton.
He purchased inexpensive and experienced players who were familiar with the grueling Championship season and already had a taste of promotion: Gary O’Neil in July and both Jos Hooiveld and Miquel on Deadline Day.
Add former Stoke striker Cameron Jerome and Sunderland centreback Carlos Cuellar into the mix, as well as the Belgian-international Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, and Adams arguably turned Norwich into a more powerful team that is had during its three-year stint in the Premier League.
It’s fitting the man who led the U-18 Canaries to their first FA Cup title was also the man to beef up the squad list with young talent, bringing in Miquel from Arsenal, Falkirk-starlet Conor McGrandles and Lewis Thompson, who was sent back out to Swindon on a season-long loan.
Essentially, Adams has brought depth to every position (other than right back, though Russell Martin could find himself back on the right) and has yielded the strongest side in the Championship.
Adams didn’t pick up three points on Deadline Day, but he picked up a side that will expect nothing short of automatic promotion. And to Canary supporters, that’s exactly the Deadline Day it needed.
