In all my years following Norwich City rarely can I remember a figure who has played so little, and yet been so divisive amongst fans as Kyle Lafferty. For some they see him as the only hope in our fight against relegation, for others he is a poor player out of his depth, and part of a recent culture of poor signings at the club.
It is no secret that one of our main problems this season has been finding the back of the net, and yet despite these problems Mr Lafferty is still nowhere nearer the first team. Our strike force this season has contributed just 8 goals (Mbokani 4, Jerome 3, Naismith 1) in 57 games or almost 1 goal every 7 games.
Yet here, barely making a match day squad, is a player who top scored for his country in Euro 2016 qualifying with 7 goals in 10 games. A man who scored more than Christiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard and Klas-Jan Huntelaar in qualifying.
It’s when you scratch beneath the surface that this impressive record starts to fall down a little. Of Lafferty’s 7 goal haul, 2 were scored against the mighty Faroe islands, 2 against Finland, 2 against Hungary and 1 against Greece. Or the teams currently ranked 93rd, 46th, 19th and 39th respectively in the latest FIFA rankings.
Away from the international scene, Lafferty’s club record is equally as poor. In a career that has taken in the dizzy heights of Sion, Rangers, Palermo and Burnley he has scored 61 goals in 273 games or 1 goal every 4.5 games. Whilst this is better than our current first team strikers, the quality of the opposition has to be taken into consideration. The standard of the SPL has always been questionable, especially considering he played for 1 of the giants in Rangers. Sion play in the Swiss league, Palermo were in Serie B at his time there, and Burnley the championship when he started his career.
So not only is his scoring record not particularly impressive, its been played out in the lower leagues against substandard opposition.
Some fans have claimed that there is a personal reason for Lafferty not playing and that Alex Neil doesn’t like him so he won’t play him. Whilst I don’t believe our manager would rather risk losing his job than play Lafferty, I do believe Alex Neil neither likes him nor rates him. Neil is well known for his strict rules and disciplinarian approach. Lafferty is famed for exactly the opposite indeed according to the Irish Post, Palermo Chairman Maurizio Zamparini is quoted as calling “Lafferty an unmanageable womaniser“.
I think for these exact reasons Lafferty won’t get near the first team. For all Jerome’s lack of goals, it is his work ethic that keeps him in the team. If Lafferty has shown any hint of the indiscretions he was linked with at Palermo at Norwich, then he’ll only have himself to blame.
Whatever your personal opinion it seems clear that Kyle Lafferty is destined to move on in the summer, barely kicking a ball in anger for Norwich City. His career is that of a lower league journeyman, and it seems his next chapter is about to be written.
