AspRover

I'd say that this window we did the acceptable bare minimum. We didn't weaken the squad, tying certain players down to longer contracts will be of great benefit one way or the other and I'm cautiously optimistic about the few players we did bring in. No more than that though. Not a disaster - it's easy to imagine a worse window (selling Mulgrew or Lenihan without adequate replacements etc.) - but it'd be a stretch to say that it was a particularly good one.

Regarding the Palmer miss, I kinda always think that if that kind of thing happens once its a case of 'at least he got in the right place at the right time'. I'll start to worry if he's missing those game in game out without scoring but for now, on his debut with plenty of expectations, I'll give him the benefit.

People said the same about Chelsea, under the management of bright up and coming Mourinho and backed by Abramovic's seemingly bottomless money pit, they looked like they could win everything for the next ten years. Didn't really happen. (I mean they won quite a bit, but so did others).

With that starting line up the point was always really 'do they look outclassed?' win lose or draw. If that 11, weaker than we ended last season with due to the loss of Armstrong, can hold it's own against a fairly established team in this division then we might do OK over the whole season, particularly when the new signings (and hopefully a few more new signings) get up and running. That should be the weakest starting 11 we have all season. A point is annoying, we should have held on, but the team mostly looked OK. Good to see Dack taking the step up in his stride too.

The new Norwich kit is... something I actually think with a better sponsor it would transcend into one of those 'out there but I like it' shirts, but they've managed to get a giant sponsor in completely the wrong colours with a cat paw print in it, so we're into joke shirt territory.

Didn't we have that black and red halved shirt two seasons in a row? I seem to remember that there was a window between the two seasons where we were between shirt sponsors and you could pick them up without a sponsor. I'm 90% sure I have one somewhere. Getting rid of the bet24 dartboard massively improved the shirt.

Sterling still looks like an 18 year old on the verge of becoming a world beater. He has plenty of skill but still somehow lacks the awareness or ability to read the game and make the right decisions. That normally comes with age, problem is that he's 24 or something now and it still doesn't seem to have clicked.

Historically promoted clubs don't find it too difficult to sell on the players that got them promoted. Hell, we bought a few (Evans etc.) on the grounds of 'they know how to win promotion' - so it doesn't really matter. We're in the championship for the moment, if they're good enough to win at this level then great, but if it turns out they're not up to premiership standards then flog em and replace em when we get there.

Are we applying for one of the spots in the revamped Women's super league one or two next season does anyone know? It'd be hard to justify us not getting in after a treble winning season.

I was walking between Charing cross and Embankment when I was told the game was off by a rover walking in the other direction. Mind you, I did live in south London at the time, so can't grumble too much.

Objectively, I know that without Smallwood Dack doesn't get the freedom to do what he does, and I know that Charlie's leadership and experience steadies the ship (and it's been a very long time since I've expected goals whenever we've won a free kick in the way I do when he picks the ball up) but heart over head Dack is just magic at this level. I'm not sure of the last time we had an attacking player in his prime who just looked too good for the opposition (relative to the division) almost whenever he was on the pitch, Bellamy maybe? They are definitely the three though. And I think it reflects very well that two of them were new signings this season. Better recruitment than we've had in a while.

I mean, I agree with you. I was just trying to work out the thinking behind the quotes in that interview.

If there's the option for the club to extend for another 12 months built to the deal he signed then presumably that can just be triggered without offering a new contract? If so I guess you could read TMs comments as saying that we're not going to lose him on a free at the end of this season so we can afford to see how he does over the rest of the season?

Caddis and Conway have both played for Scotland, but aren't in the squad at the moment. There are a couple of youth internationals I think, but that's the total of it at the moment.

Can't help but feel it wont be his last job in football. He could well just rinse and repeat the job he's just had - wait until January for one of the clubs in the relegation zone to pay him silly money with a big bonus to keep them up, work for 5 months and then walk away. He could probably make a few million a year that way and still have seven months off.