NORWICH CITY SEASON PREVIEW: Forward thinking on summer spending shows Hughton's top-half ambition



Club at a glance

Manager: Chris Houghton

Captain: Sebastian Bassong

Stadium: Carrow Road

Capacity: 27,244

Last season’s finish: 11th

Official club website: canaries.co.uk/

Story of the summer…

Chris Hughton has tweaked his squad this summer, particularly up front. Out goes Grant Holt and in comes club record signing, and the excellently named, Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The Dutchman will be expected to bolster Norwich’s goals tally – only Stoke and relegated QPR scored less last season. Hughton followed this up by signing Leroy Fer, Gary Hooper and Nathan Redmond as the Canaries show ambition to move up the Premier League table.



Manager’s main challenge…

Keeping Norwich consistent. Last season they started shakily, hit a purple patch mid-season then won just one game in 16. Only a late-season return to form eased relegation nerves.



Ambition: Norwich boosted their forward line with a club record spend of £8.6m for Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Hiccups on horizon…

Not quite on the horizon but Norwich will want to be safe before the end of the season. They play Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in their final four games.

First name on the team sheet…

Wes Hoolahan – Hughton will want, and need, his creative spark to feed van Wolfswinkel.

Creative spark: Chris Hughton will want Wes Hoolahan available all season

Youngsters to watch...

The Murphy twins Age: 18 Positions: Winger Twitter: @joshmurphy65 and @JacobMurphy95

Twin brothers Joshua and Jacob propelled Norwich to FA Youth Cup victory in May. Situated on either wing, they possess almost telepathic connection but individually can inflict damage on defences. Think Raheem Sterling. Pre-season has been impressive, Josh scored on the USA tour while Jacob bagged four in a 5-1 win at Tooting & Mitcham.



Pre-season quote…

‘Fortunately for us we have had two good seasons since we got back in the Premier League. We need the same mentality, but we have no targets other than to finish the highest we can.’ – Chris Hughton



Top Tweeter

Ricky van Wolfswinkel - @RvWolfswinkel9 Elaborately named Dutchman tweets in English



Incoming: Norwich also beat off competition from other Premier League clubs to sign Leroy Fer

Ins: Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon, £8.6m), Javier Garrido (Lazio, undisclosed), Nathan Redmond (Birmingham, undisclosed), Martin Olsson (Blackburn, undisclosed), Carlo Nash (Stoke, free), Leroy Fer (FC Twente, undisclosed), Gary Hooper (Celtic, £5m)



Outs: Grant Holt (Wigan, £4m), James Vaughan (Huddersfield, undisclosed), Leon Barnett (Wigan, £500,000) Jed Steer (Aston Villa, free), Chris Martin (Derby, free), Marc Tierney (Bolton, free), Simeon Jackson (Eintracht Braunschweig, free), Korey Smith (Oldham, free), Elliott Ward (Bournemouth, free), Tom Adeyemi (Birmingham, free), George Francomb (AFC Wimbledon, free), Lee Camp (released), Declan Rudd (Preston, loan), Andrew Surman (Bournemouth, loan)



New kit

New kit, bright future and fresh hope. Norwich defied many expectations to comfortably beat relegation after Chris Hughton took over from the successful Paul Lambert, and now they have much to look forward to.

The Canaries defeated Chelsea to win the FA Youth Cup but an even younger generation look set for Carrow Road stardom.

Kit makers Errea are in their third season supplying Hughton's outfit and to celebrate the release of their new strip, the Italian designers produced a highly amusing promotional video showing the youth of today running rings around top stars such as John Ruddy and Bradley Johnson.

It's a tidy effort from Errea, who have made big changes to the kit with added green, but it's simple enough to remain easy on the eye. After all, no one wants a repeat of the awful design from 1992-1994.

Price: £45

New buy: Hughton will also expect £5m acquisition from Celtic, Gary Hooper, to contribute goal

Stats from 2012-13 season ...

Robert Snodgrass scored the most goals from direct free-kicks in the Premier League in 2012-13 (3). The last player to score more in a single PL season was Cristiano Ronaldo – four in 2008-09.

Norwich hit the woodwork just seven times in 2012-13, a joint-low with Sunderland and Wigan.

The Canaries were the only Premier League team not credited with a fast break goal this term.

Grant Holt conceded more fouls than any other PL player in 2012-13 (82).

Bradley Johnson was one of only four players to be booked 10 times in the PL in 2012-13.

32 per cent of Norwich City’s goals in 2012-13 were headers; a league-high proportion.

Norwich scored 12 goals from free kick scenarios (direct and indirect); a league-high.

A league-low proportion of just 15.5 per cent of the goals Norwich conceded in 2012-13 were from set pieces.

Brink of the first team: Jacob Murphy (left) in pre-season action after impressing in Norwich's successful Youth Cup campaign last season

Where do I buy tickets and how much do they cost?

Tickets can be bought through the official website, via phone, 0844 8261902 or at the stadium box office, which is open 9-5 Monday to Friday. Category A £35-£55 Category B £25-£45



Pre-season results

July 19 Dorados De Sinaloa (Raley Field, Sacramento) - won 3-0

July 22 San Jose Earthquakes (Buck Shaw Stadium, California) - lost 0-1

July 26 Portland Timbers (Jeld-Wen Field, Portland) - lost 0-1

July 30 Brighton (Amex Stadium) - drew 1-1

August 2 Braga (AXA Stadium, Braga) - drew 2-2

August 6 Real Sociedad (Carrow Road) - drew 1-1

August 10 Panathinaikos (Carrow Road) - won 2-0

