I confess I’m a bit baffled by the Norris hate. Think what you like about him on the pitch but some of the personal stuff said about him seems a bit OTT and mainly guesswork to my mind. I’ve not met him personally but members of my family have and they said he was a great bloke. Very chatty and amenable. Also seen him interacting with other fans at a cup game + various kids in the Family stand during the season same as any other player. There have been plenty of players in the past who were fairly quiet characters and I’m sure Will won’t be the last. My opinion of him as our 1st choice GK is another matter but as for the rest of it I’m certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and get behind him. And yes I may be a bit of a soft old sod but I fully believe in supporting ALL of our players while they wear the shirt
We have met him a few times at various event and he is great with the kids. Unfortunately, that doesn’t warrant you being good enough to be first choice keeper. The reasons I think he is our number 1 are as follows:
- He is coachable and understands/takes on instructions
- The way we play the ball out, he is actually VERY good at. Rolling the ball under his foot and changing the direction of play in one movement. His long range distribution remains highly questionable.
- Whilst he is not the best, he is definitely not the worst goalkeeper at this level, and has the experience of higher level too.
- We hate it when opposition goalkeepers go down to waste time, but he does it very well. Taking the sting out the game when necessary to help the TEAM. It is not nice to watch, but until there is a rule change, it is there to be exploited - and he plays it like a pantomime.
Fred was also completely knackered at the end, as soon as the final while went he sat straight down. Didn’t have his best game but he had given everything that he had. Compare that to the Fred we had under Dodds. Just shows that the players give their all for Michael Duff.
This Norris stuff is amazing.
Norris is a decent enough keeper at this level and is the best we have in the building at the moment.
For the Gasroom, Wycombe goalkeepers are always crap, can’t kick, distribute or organise their defences don’t instill confidence and have a mistake in them… until they move to other teams.
I never thought Norris was that much of an improvement on Franco, and his arrival interview ‘I’m here to contribute…’ whilst looking like he wanted to kill the interviewer was a tad odd but as others have said, he’s a decent League One goalie. Not sure who the last laugh a minute one we had was.
I’ve never met him, he’s not kicked my dog or made my kids cry so I cannot comment on his interpersonal skills, but if he can stay ‘injury’ free and get us to the playoffs he’s fine by me.
Thinking about those tough away games we have left… we beat Bolton, Huddersfield, Lincoln and Stockport away last season.
That alone makes me think we won’t repeat the same feat this year.
But if we did….
Sam Bell has a pace, which we were short of at the time. His first touch was either sublime or terrible, a player with limitations. I’d take him on a free, but wouldn’t fork out either a large transfer fee or salary for him.
[quote=“Ozzie_the_Relaxed, post:415, topic:759”]
Really good to see Lowe come in the Vere post match to be interviewed by @oilysailor, you don’t see many footballers use the word “fortuitously” do you?
… I don’t think so
This Norris stuff is absolutely mad. Should we put Timmy Mallet in goal for better fan engagement?
Does every footballer need to be a bantering japester, laying out whoppee cushions in the dugout and sporting a squirting button hole?
This is reminiscent of the complaints on here that Anis Mehmeti failed to play with a smile on his face.
Agreed with all of the above, Tommy Doherty was another one that used to get complaints about a lack of badge-kissing and geeing up the crowd.
Simply none of that matters to me, if he’s the quiet type then so be it.
I don’t have any confidence in Norris to make a save when anyone goes through one on one, his attitude has always seemed off to me and I think it was Luton away when we conceded a goal that he completely just gave up on, he may not of been able to do anything about it, but he should still make it look like he at least cares and wants to stop the goal
Yes, I thought the same, yes it was a lost cause but I was absolutely seething that he just visibly gave up on it.
I think there’s a distinction between the above (which is utterly unacceptable) and some of the more general slating Norris has been getting for not having much of a rapport with the fans, though.
Norris clearly splits opinion here.
My view is he’s a solid keeper, who’s a great shot stopper, and likes a bit of shithousery (or too much!). He worries me in the air a little and is definitely punch first, but overall, I think he’s a good keeper.
He’s very left footed so it does get a bit ‘squeaky bum’ when a pass back is rifled to his right hand side but he has some decent ball skills to feet.
He and the terrace have never bonded, and they probably never will. But as others have mentioned, he does interact off the pitch and he’s always willing to say something on Darcie’s vids.
He seems to be well thought of by Duff and is very much of the ‘professional’ mode rather than emotional and badge kissing.
And not everyone likes ‘hugs’. I suspect his payment back to us fans are clean sheets and 3 points. Too late now for Van Sas, we’re at the business end of the season.
Tommy Doc was brilliant. I’ve never seen a player who genuinely disliked football as much as he did.
On the “Matchday Rewind” videos that the club often post on its YouTube channel I’ve noticed a couple of times after the game Norris standing outside the changing room and embracing every player before they go back inside.
Whereas some here would prefer to focus on the fact he is ignoring the fans and walking off the pitch before the rest of his teammates, perhaps he’s actually showing some leadership skills
He seems ok to me and as long as he wears the Wycombe shirt I will support him. He does have a few errors in him but so do a lot of keepers in the EFL etc.
Players who smile too much aggravate the drone army too.
So there’s a very fine line between acceptable facial expressionies allowed.
One of my all time favourite players
He’d be very close to a spot in an all time Wycombe XI. Absolutely brilliant footballer
On the Norris flip side, CBM seems to be a real good team player. Always seemingly getting on with all.