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Rusty starts to figure ever larger in Roeder's thinking. No Clingan; no Sibi in the New Year; he needs him

17th September 2008 By Latest News Leave a Comment

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Stop the clock right now and register your votes now for this year's 'Player of the Season' and my suspicion would be that two players would already figure large.

On-loan Celtic centre-half John Kennedy would find many a friend given the way that he has barely put a foot wrong since his arrival this summer from north of the border.

But on the basis of the Norfolk public always having a soft spot for 'one of their own' and the fact that football fans the world over always love a trier, I'd plump my money on Darel Russell walking off with any autumnal Barry Butler Memorial Trophy award.

Already high on the popularity charts after his early goal-scoring exploits against Colchester in pre-season and then again against Blackpool and Birmingham City, the 27-year-old's play-through-the-pain routine at Plymouth this weekend following a secret double hernia operation in Germany just ten days before would certainly win this vote.

He might even have done enough to win the manager's nod as well given the way that Glenn Roeder was waming to Russell's versatility ahead of this evening's home clash with Queen's Park Rangers.

For if Russell thought that his stand-in stints at striker were just a one-off as everyone waited for Antoine Sibierski to arrive in that 'big 'un' slot, he may be mistaken.

Roeder appears to have more plans for Russell The Striker.

“I could easily see Russell and Sibierski playing up front together,” the City chief told the official site, swiftly reminding everyone that Arturo Lupoli was still the man in possession following his three goals in as many games.

“There's absolutely no problem with Lupoli at all, it's just that Rusty has shown us that he can play up there and not just as a stand-in – a couple of those performances were as good as any of his best performances in midfield.”

That, of course, is where Russell's heart still lies. Bang in the heart of that midfield.

However, three into two doesn't go after this summer's arrival of Sammy Clingan from Nottingham Forest. For with Mark Fotheringham still enjoying wearing the captain's armband, to pair Clingan with Russell on his return from injury would be a big politcal decision by the Canary boss. And, in fairness, one that Fotheringham himself would ill-deserve having found himself in the Championship 'Team of the Week' of late.

And once the as-yet unseen David Bell comes 'on stream' on the right-hand side of that midfield, offering Russell a gig away on the right isn't an easy option either.

But there is little doubt that Roeder is starting to appreciate Russell's attitude and ability more and more – look at it one way and he did all concerned a big favour on Saturday in what was a big, big game for the Canaries.

Others would have given it the full 'Oooh, it's still a bit sore, gaffer…' routine and sat it out, leaving Fotheringham and AN Other to dig for victory at Home Park. Who AN Other might have been was the subject of much pre-match speculation – Luke Chadwick, Troy Achibald-Henville, Matty Pattison…

And whilst Roeder had clearly been taken by the efforts of that same someone in that week's practice game, the impression remained that it would have been a case of banging something of a square peg into a round hole. Not ideal for Plymouth (a). Hence the manager's delight – and gratitude – when Russell rose from his sick bed to claim that central midfield berth as his own.

Whether or not Roeder is already thinking three weeks ahead for when Clingan returns is an interesting question; whether Russell himself would view a start as a striker as due reward for his own efforts is another interesting one.

But the manager remains impressed; the lad can do me a job…. is clearly the thought in Roeder's head. Spin the clock forward three months to the New Year transfer window when Sibierski is due to return to Wigan and with the on-going uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the Canaries and the ?1.5 million hole that lies therein and the manager may be left with little or no alternative but to make do and mend.

“There'll be football judges who will say he's probably done better as a striker – and it was a really pleasant surprise to see how well he's done through the middle,” added Roeder.

“And I thought he retained possession really well – sometimes I don't think he always does that in midfield. And he's got that physical presence as well and he's got such high energy levels. He wouldn't be nice to play against.”

With a bumper, 25,000-strong crowd expected tonight, the strong suspicion remains that Roeder will stick with the Lupoli-Sibierski combo that worked so well on its debut at Home Park.

What may well, however, underpin his whole Russell thinking is whether or not the 34-year-old Frenchman has three such high-tempo games within a week in him; that with Sheffield United due at Carrow Road on Saturday, has his on-loan Premiership striker got enough juice in the tank to keep him going?

Lacking that regular match sharpness from his spell on the sidelines at the JJB, Roeder could already be thinking of putting Russell on stand-by for a striker's role against the Blades. All of which, in Clingan's on-going absence, will need AN Other to be ready to step in alongside Fotheringham on Saturday.


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