• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

James Norwood

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Winner of North West National League Player of the Year. Well deserved for his performances in the last sixteen months.
 
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I'm pleased for him. He worked hard last season and hasn't had much luck with injuries or referees this term.
 

drwhoman

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I agree BBTC. If his conversion rate was better I am sure he would be playing in a higher league. Not sure how they are going to fit him. Mangan and Cook into the same team. I imagine one or all of them will sit on the bench from time to time.
 

Boz

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He's done well. Think he preferred the lone striker role, but his conversion rate not as good as Cook's. I'd expect a Norwood/Cook partnership to be the norm once his ban ends, until Mangan regains full fitness, AM a bit rusty at the weekend. After that, it's nice to have options :D
 

Ian

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It will be great to have a choice between Cook, Mangan and Norwood who are three of the best strikers in this league. Lets hope they all stay relatively injury free and we get some great goals of out them.
 
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I agree BBTC. If his conversion rate was better I am sure he would be playing in a higher league. Not sure how they are going to fit him. Mangan and Cook into the same team. I imagine one or all of them will sit on the bench from time to time.
I agree. It's good Micky will have options, although I expect most of the time at least one will be injured, suspended or off form. When they are all available, having a third striker on the bench would be a real luxury. And don't forget we've got Almond, Stephenson and Connor Jennings who can play there too.
 
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I'm glad to be able to resurrect this thread after the great news that James has signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal, tying him up until summer 2019. That shows some faith in the player, but it is also shows continuing commitment by the owners and management in the long-term future of the club. Remember, just two years ago, most deals were to the end of the season and even last year few players were offered more than a year. It's quite a risk giving long-term deals, as we really don't know which division we'll be playing in and therefore how much income the club is likely to have. But clearly the club sees James as an EFL player and he has confidence that he can become one with Rovers.

All our first-team strikers are now on long term deals, but all our senior defenders are out of contract next summer, as are some midfielders. No doubt we should see some more contract extensions in the coming weeks, although I expect some of the older senior players may be leaving whether or not we get promoted.
 

Cowshed Kid

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It shows faith and trust on the part of both club and player.
Excellent news.
Had he gone, I think the best he would have managed initially would have been a lower L1 club. And how many of them are bigger than us with better support? Few.
Be nice if we are trying to keep him at a L1 club in 2 years time! ;)
 

Sparky

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Well pleased about this and credit to MP.

When Mangan signed I did wonder whether Nors would have his nose out of joint as Andy is a favourite of Mickey's plus we have Cookie too. Nors was the no.1 one striker last season and now he's one of 3.

I wouldn't have been surprised if other national league clubs or L2 teams may have been sniffing around him, especially as he was out of contract at the end of the season and has a good goalscoring record albeit all at this level mainly. If I were a struggling L2 club I would have taken a punt on him.

After the signing of Tollit this is more good news.
 

Boz

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Agreed this is good news in that James believes Rovers are going places and wants to stay, plus long-term thinking by the club in making the offer.
 
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When I saw this thread my first (horrible) thought was that we had sold him ! I won't repeat what everyone else has said, but this is great news. James has looked a bit out of sorts in the last couple of games, but is clearly still loving his time at the club. You have to give Mellon a lot of credit for keeping our many big name players, and big egos, happy.

This deal demonstrates how financially stable the club is. As someone commented above, I can't imagine many League One clubs handing out three year contracts.
 

bigmart

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Fantastic news this, very happy he has agreed to stay he can see we are on the up long may it continue
 

Ian

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When Mangan signed I did wonder whether Nors would have his nose out of joint as Andy is a favourite of Mickey's plus we have Cookie too. Nors was the no.1 one striker last season and now he's one of 3.
And last season we were saying the opposite and how much we were reliant on him scoring all our goals! To have three very good strikers at this level is great competition for the guys and keeps them fresh. Made up he's signed, he's one of my fav Rovers players.
 
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Having played four games for Exeter early in his career, James is clearly ambitious to get back into the Football League. He was when he signed for us and he still is now. Although he was signed by Brabin, he is clearly now a fan of Micky's. Great news.
 

Gray

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I follow Nors on twitter and saw the post just a few minutes after he'd posted it, agree it was very poor judgement.

Statement from the club indicates a slapped wrist and the whole squad being dragged in to attend a PFA equality workshop today (Nors will be popular!).

Hopefully the media find something more interesting to report on and don't force the owners' hand.

Just another day supporting Tranmere Rovers!
 
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After the problems we've had over the last five years, I'd be more than happy if this was the worst bit of bad publicity the club has this season. A day out at the workshop might actually work well to further build team spirit, although Norwood will get banter on this for months!
 
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What is most disturbing about this is that 90% of the intellectuals on the Cowsheds website don't see any problem with Norwood's behaviour at all. Then again, that does not come as a huge surprise after the anti-semitic chanting we were subjected to from an element of our 'followers' on the train coming back from Lincoln.

Don't let anyone tell you that racism/homophobia/misogyny are not still issues in football culture.
 

Ian

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I'd have thought he'd have more sense..
 
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