Why o why

[bahay18]

Didn't we sign Ollie Norwood .

[SuffolkWhite]

Because Seri and Anquissa are much much better players!!!! On second thoughts why oh why didn't buy Norwood 😭

[The Rational Fan]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

[Twig]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

Great player? I must have been watching in a parrallel universe.  Great in some fantasy football game perhaps but not in the real world.

[Woolly Mammoth]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

It is impossible to make a rational statement whilst sniffing glue.

[RaySmith]

Norwood was in situ, had proved himself playing for us, as a grafter and decent team player - so of course, the logical thing was to get rid of him, and buy unproven foreign imports for huge amounts, and stick them all straight into the team!!!

[jarv]

I agree. One of a few ex Fulham player performing well in the premier league. I posted a comment about Targett which many disagreed with.
Also Dan Burn had a fine game today against Arsenal. Surprised the heck out of me but he was good.

oh dear oh dear.

[The Rational Fan]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

It is impossible to make a rational statement whilst sniffing glue.

We bought Anguissa for £23m (€29m) and Villarreal have an option to buy him at £25m at the end of the season. Villarreal currently think he is a bargain at that price and they are planning to exercise but it's still wait and see, maybe they are sniffing glue or maybe we need to stop blaming recruitment and start asking questions.

One good question is: Why when players like Norwood and Anguissa leave Fulham for teams marginally  better than Fulham they go from "bench players at Fulham" to "Stars of a Team better than Fulham"?

Meanwhile players like Knockaert and Arter are joining us from similar teams to us, then going from starters to bench players.

[JoelH5]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

It is impossible to make a rational statement whilst sniffing glue.

We bought Anguissa for £23m (€29m) and Villarreal have an option to buy him at £25m at the end of the season. Villarreal currently think he is a bargain at that price and they are planning to exercise but it's still wait and see, maybe they are sniffing glue or maybe we need to stop blaming recruitment and start asking questions.

One good question is: Why when players like Norwood and Anguissa leave Fulham for teams marginally  better than Fulham they go from "bench players at Fulham" to "Stars of a Team better than Fulham"?

Meanwhile players like Knockaert and Arter are joining us from similar teams to us, then going from starters to bench players.

Different systems?

[Hugh Gentry]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

It is impossible to make a rational statement whilst sniffing glue.

We bought Anguissa for £23m (€29m) and Villarreal have an option to buy him at £25m at the end of the season. Villarreal currently think he is a bargain at that price and they are planning to exercise but it's still wait and see, maybe they are sniffing glue or maybe we need to stop blaming recruitment and start asking questions.

One good question is: Why when players like Norwood and Anguissa leave Fulham for teams marginally  better than Fulham they go from "bench players at Fulham" to "Stars of a Team better than Fulham"?

Meanwhile players like Knockaert and Arter are joining us from similar teams to us, then going from starters to bench players.

Mitrovic

[colinwhite]

Norwood couldnt get in our starting line up regularly.and was 4th man. Decent player though,and we certainly were not the first club to come to the conclusion that he was not quite up to the premiership.
Like most players,a lot better when a regular starter, something he never managed with us.Which by the way was down to Slavisa Jokanovic, so it w´should be his judgement being questioned ,not just TKs !!!

[Whitestone]

Norwood seems to have found his place at Sheffield United whereas neither Fulham or Brighton considered him to be on their want list for the Premier League. Probably no surprise really because he was never a first choice pick at either team in their respective promotion seasons, so it is perhaps understandable that Brighton loaned him to us and we chose not to sign him following promotion.

Looking at Sheffield United as a whole their manager Chris Wilder seems to have improved quite a few players who who are excelling at the higher level so maybe that's the difference.

[Count Flapula]

Good teams are about more than one player - Ollie did a good job for us but the midfield 3 of KMac, Stefjo and TC had a much better balance for us in the system we were playing (the 23 games unbeaten around the time TC came back to fitness is tangible proof of this). KMac breaking up play / providing the defensive cover / physical presence when starting attacks; Stefjo covering the pitch with his energy / playing an important part in our pressing game and chipping in with goals; TC our playmaker and creator, as well as a important goal scorer.

Ollie was always a steady and able deputy with a decent range of passing and set piece delivery, but wasn't strong enough to dislodge KMac / mobile enough to dislodge Stefjo / creative enough to challenge TC for the system we played. Actually even though he is playing in a team that is thriving (some might say punching above their weight) in the Prem, I still think he would struggle to get into our current starting XI given the players we have and the system we are playing.

That's not taking away anything from him as an individual - he just needed a team which had a system better suited to him and seems he's now found a suitable home. He did a good job for us and I wish him well.

[Riverside]

We tried to sign him in the Jan window when he was with us
But like Targett over the summer could not agree a price

Delighted that both are doing well

As I am that Burn is thriving too .

[RaySmith]

Yes, Count Flapula, but Stef Jo and KMac hardly featured for us in the Prem either, and surely Ollie had been a good  squad  member  as  an able back up for these players.

But, what were  seen as better quality players were bought, and  Slavisa decided to play them all immediately, though they'd hardly even met each or other or the rest of the team, - didn't seem to think the team that had  won us promotion was good enough for the Prem.

Maybe if the new players had been integrated gradually, and had to earn their place in the team, the outcome may have been different

[KJS]

We approached Brighton with an offer for Norwood but they rejected it so we had to look elsewhere it's as simple as that!!

[Bassey the warrior]

Maybe he was overpriced? He was a squad player for us in the Championship, so wouldn't have made sense to pay £10m or more.

[toshes mate]

Using the principle of Occam's Razor the test of any player is how they play for the team they are currently in.  It matters not what happened before that are even after it unless the player was, or is,  in that team's squad but didn't or isn't get game time which isn't related to injury or fitness problems.  I do believe there is an argument that some players signed for last season's PL campaign just didn't try hard enough to play for anyone and that becomes an issue that may be a different measure against Occam's Razor.

Norwood, Targett, Kalas, etc., were all worth fighting for in comparison to what came along comparatively easily, IMO.

[S.F.Sorrow]

At the end of the season, Anguissa will be sold for more than he bought him. He is a great player just cannot play in a Fulham Jersey.

It is impossible to make a rational statement whilst sniffing glue.

We bought Anguissa for £23m (€29m) and Villarreal have an option to buy him at £25m at the end of the season. Villarreal currently think he is a bargain at that price and they are planning to exercise but it's still wait and see, maybe they are sniffing glue or maybe we need to stop blaming recruitment and start asking questions.

One good question is: Why when players like Norwood and Anguissa leave Fulham for teams marginally  better than Fulham they go from "bench players at Fulham" to "Stars of a Team better than Fulham"?

Meanwhile players like Knockaert and Arter are joining us from similar teams to us, then going from starters to bench players.

A couple of possible answers could be:

1) We may have too much focus on good stats rather than getting players that will instantly fit into our formation/tactics. If players need time to adapt to new roles we can't expect them to perform at their best from the start of the season. Players will underperform and the team will start poorly every season.

2) We rely far too much on loans. We never get enough stability in the squad. Every season will require a massive rebuild, the team won't click until we're halfway through the season. Players will underperform when the team underperforms.

3) We buy players far too late EVERY transfer window. Player don't get a chance to settle in before they're forced into the starting 11. We are NEVER ready for the start of the season. Again: Players will underperform.

4) We sign injured/unfit players and basically just get them into shape for their next club, or in the case of loans for their parent club. Players will underperform, or in some cases hardly perform at all.

Basically, it looks like other clubs are better at recruiting players that will actually fit into their system and in time to be ready for the season.


As for Norwood his passing was never really good enough for Joka's style of football. Anyone who thinks we should have signed him needs to re-watch some of the games he played IMO. He was an important squad player for us and always gave 100% but he often looked a bit out of his depth. We didn't start winning regularly until Cairney was back from injury and Norwood on the bench. Sheffield Utd is probably a far better match for Norwood

Anguissa was a case of not giving him time to adapt to a new role before throwing him to the wolves. He was beginning to look like a great player near the end of the season but he was HORRIBLE at the start. That makes it failed recruitment strategy and a good job from our coaching staff IMO. If we had kept him I would have given recruitment some credit but of course they got rid of him when he started too look great.

[Steven Ageroad]

He always took a stonking penalty kick!