City striker Jamie Cureton was today to be found playing a very canny game with the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper – refusing to be drawn on just what level of threat the Norfolk club might pose to Leeds United's own promotion hopes.
That Simon Grayson's side will be one of the teams to beat is not in doubt. The former Blackpool chief came within a whisker of giving the Yorkshire side a big day-out at Wembley.
And with a full summer in which to tweak and twiddle some more, so the long-suffering Leeds faithful can look forward to the new campaign with fresh hope.
But will newly-relegated City pose a serious threat? Or will they, too, find life in League One all-too difficult to acclimatise to immediately?
Cureton was playing his cards close to his chest. 'Let's just wait and see…' was the general gist of the piece this evening.
“Any club with a big profile will be expected to do well in this league, and that's only natural,” said the 33-year-old, whose loan spell at Barnsley last season gave him a taste of Yorkshire life.
“I've no doubt that Leeds will try to make the running and, realistically, a club like Norwich should have the legs to do the same, but it's a bit too early for us to be absolutely certain about what we can achieve,” he added, well aware that this summer's wheeling and dealing was far from over.
Matt Gill, Owain Tudur Jones and Michael Nelson might all have walked through the door, but so one or two have yet to walk out of it – in particular, the likes of Sammy Clingan and Wes Hoolahan reportedly coveted by Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace respectively.
“The club need a lot of fresh faces and I'd imagine that a fair number will go in the opposite direction as well.
“I'm confident that the manager will get it right, but it's going to be easier to make an assessment on August 8,” said Cureton, when the Canaries play host to another one of his former employers – Colchester United.
“I'd be very surprised if by that stage we're not brimming with confidence and backing ourselves, but I think it's fair to say that other clubs are probably in a better position than us at the moment.”
Teams, in short, who haven't been heading south for the last five seasons; teams on the rise are the ones to fear – the MK Dons being the obvious example.
Cureton will certainly have felt the pain of relegation more than most; his heart has always pumped yellow and green. Last season, however, the bounce and belief that underpinned his game was somehow missing as Championship goals proved all-too hard to come by.
Quite what sort of time and space he'll find in League One is another matter. But until either a Liam Dickinson or a Warren Feeney arrives to bolster Bryan Gunn's strike options, so Cureton is likely to be given every chance to prove his worth once more.
“It's hard not to feel down about relegation, but I hope that's blown away now,” Cureton told the newspaper.
“We'll find out for sure when the players start training on Monday and it's important that the atmosphere is good from the word go. We need to get our heads around this division as soon as possible because it can take time to adapt to it.”
Having done the rounds with the Bristol Rovers and the Swindon Towns, Cureton knows what this level of football demands.
“I've played at this level many times before and it seems to me that the league's more competitive than it's ever been,” he said.
“When Leeds came down two years ago, they found their feet straight away and that's the challenge for the three clubs who've been relegated this time. I know we're going to be under pressure because we're a big fish in this league.
“The same goes for Charlton, and big things will be expected of them. The one thing we can't do is be complacent ? to assume that because we're Norwich we're going to do well.”
The trick was to be ready – to hit the ground running on August 8 and not be left on the starting blocks.
Interestingly, City's pre-season preparations start four days earlier than those of Grayson's Leeds United.
“I think we need to keep our focus on having a good summer and making sure that everything's in place,” said Cureton.
?I don't think predictions are sensible when there's a lot of work still to be done, but if everything's right then we can set our sights very high.”
Leave a Reply