After three months of drama, suspense and emotion, the transfer window has finally come to an end.
First things first, in my opinion this transfer window was a real shambles. It promised to be so much, but it turned out to be a giant ball of frustration, hurt, and disappointment. Many players of whom lived in the fans’ hearts departed, and the pain was not helped by a lack of incomings. The window was a great opportunity as a club to really bolster the squad, to gain quality in depth. But we failed in grasping the chance. No surprises there.
So going back to the opening of the window; we all knew what we wanted. A winger, a striker and a centre-back. The first we were granted was our winger. Fresh from the flanks of Hull City came along Robbie Brady. A very promising player with pace and skill in abundance. A player capable of playing anywhere down that left-side with confidence.
However, this transfer opened my eyes to read past the lines. The transfer took weeks with silly bids being flung left, right and centre. The club were messing around with the deal, they were not being clinical in making the process smooth and free-flowing. McNally and co. knew Brady was their man, but they faffed around and continually failed to reach valuations. Numerous bids were launched before they eventually reached the asking price.
The lack of urgency and professionalism was certainly a sign of things to come for the Norwich recruitment team…
Following on from the deal that saw Brady sign, Norwich faced little other than rejection and failure. For the next two months, fans watched our club attempt to sign many strikers with names flooding into the pool of rumours quicker than you could wish.
The first of those name was Dieumerci Mbokani: a Congolese player with strength and experience. A player we all wanted, but the deal faded due to errors from the board and recruitment team. I’ll come back to that one.
Joaquin Larrivey was next. A powerful striker with experience and goals in abundance – a player I would have liked to wear the yellow and green jersey. However, he was turned away quickly upon meeting one Alex Neil. The search continued.
Next it was Gayle, then Murray, then Destro, and even Walters. Gayle was rumoured to be a target for Norwich, but a formal ‘bid’ was never reported. Did Norwich really want Gayle when they attempted to sign him on deadline day? That’s a story I shall come on to.
As for Destro, the failure was down to a mixture of the club’s diabolical negotiations and the player’s lack of interest. He was also crossed off the list. As the options became narrow, the Canaries turned to Walters. Talk of a lack of ambition. I’m one of many fans who feels we would be better off without Walters than with. But a move never materialised for him.
It was reported that Stoke wanted £3 million for the Irish international, so we offered £2 million and refused to pay the extra one-million pounds. What does that suggest? That Norwich were either being tight and childish or too big for their boots.
So it was approaching deadline day. We had so far been successful in bringing in Mulumbu, Dorrans, Brady, Kean and Wisdom.
But we still had some business which needed seeing to. With just two days to go the club still required a centre-back and striker. But before that could happen the club looked to ship out a player loved by all. First to take the exit door was van Wolfswinkel. A player who is adored by almost all Norwich fans, perhaps not for his ability but for commitment to the cause. It was thought by many, including myself, that Ricky van Wolfswinkel would go on to finally prove his worth at Norwich. But unfortunately, the Dutchman was sent out on loan leading to widespread heartbreak and disappointment, again. Just like the last time when fans saw ‘one of the nicest men in football’ dismissed. I think that it is a real shame as I feel that Wolfswinkel could have gone on to put a real display on this season. But now we will never know with the club turning up their noses at the player and dismissing him.
But with RvW departing on loan, it freed up space for the arrival of a striker. After months of rumours Norwich finally signed their number nine. Enter Dieumerci Mbokani! Having been linked since the window’s start, the ‘beast’ finally signed for City within the last 24 hours of the window.
I think he has everything we need. He is a target man with pace, power and clinical finishing. But I question why the move took so long – he clearly cannot have been Neil’s number one choice as the deal could have happened a matter of months ago. Either way, Mbokani is a Norwich player and I am excited to see what he can bring to the table.
Deadline day. With 16 hours to go, Norwich still needed another striker and a centre-half. After two months, a centre-back had still not been recruited. Koulibaly was a player I would have loved to see join Norwich. We had bids of up to £8 million rejected, but Napoli wanted an extra three million. Did we pay it? Stupidly, no we didn’t. The board backed out of signing a much needed top draw centre-back, leaving it all to do on deadline day! Going into the final 18 hours we all expected 2 or 3 more signings. A centre-back, striker and maybe a winger. But yet again, we were let down. Disappointed. Hurt. Worried. Broken. With an hour to go it seemed there were to be no more incomings, but there were to be a few more turns before the window’s closure…
Bradley Johnson, a fans’ favourite, made a shock exit to Derby. How could the board so such a thing? I was deeply saddened by his departure, but what angered me most was the way the board let him go without putting the money to good use. I feel the fee has not been used in ways beneficial to our survival in the Premier League.
There was a last ditch attempt to bring Gayle to the club, but we failed. Again. It is strange as we wanted Gayle a few months ago, so why did the board leave it so late only to miss out on the striker?
For weeks I knew the business had to be completed before the latter stages of the window and I was right! The board faffed around and were not incisive enough, leading to an absolute calamity of an end to the window hence the panic addition of Matt Jarvis, who could come good for Norwich, but we shall see. With no significant incomings to numb the pain, the departures of players such as Odjidja-Ofoe, Ricky, Johnson and Andreu were tough blows for fans to take.
So what was the cause of what I would say is one of the worst transfer windows to date in recent history? The board? The manager? The Chief Exec? No. It mainly lies in my eyes with our Head of Recruitment and Analysis, Lee Darnbrough. A man who worked with Burnley last season and attracted little good business in the transfer window leading to their relegation. He has done the same here. His lack of quality is what has seen us scramble in every negotiation. The man behind our failure unmasked! If anyone is to blame for prolonged transfers and a lack of incisiveness it is Darnbrough.
All I can say is we have to believe. Be positive. I reckon we have a great player in Mbokani and it is something we can all get excited about! Jarvis could also come good. Two seasons ago he was prolific and becoming a real talent, however, last year he was stricken by injury. Give the lad a chance, I think he could turn out to be something we don’t expect.
Let’s get behind the boys who are at the club and not dwell on those who didn’t make it. OTBC.
Do you agree with Cameron Doran? Leave a comment below.
