David Norris; Deadwood or Valuable Hybrid?

If any particular area of the Leeds United squad lacks quality, it is the centre of midfield. For years the Whites have lacked a central midfielder with the passing range of Dacourt, the grit of David Batty or the brilliance of Bowyer. This seems poor given the nature of our current squad, which contains more players in this position than anywhere else. The abundance of weak central midfielders in the squad, combining with an apparent need to sell players before bringing in new ones, has therefore led to public demand to get rid of some of them. For obvious reasons, Michael Brown is the fans’ favourite to be first out of the door but getting rid of him is tricky; there are approximately no clubs in English football that require a footballer befitting Brown’s character. This is where most fans would now turn to David Norris as the central midfield scapegoat; the man they most class as “deadwood” and the man they are looking to off-load. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Ever since Norris made his debut as captain against Shrewsbury Town have I supported the Lincolnshire born centre midfield player. Nowadays, in the club’s current position, hard work, tenacity, determination and ability to give their all are all valued characteristics of our players and despite his perhaps lack of natural ball-playing ability, Norris offers all of these things. He’s a man with experience, half a footballing brain and someone who can chip in with the odd goal or shot on target. In a midfield alongside players with a slightly wider passing range, Norris can flourish, offering something different to the alternative options in his position. He will never win a game himself by taking on three defenders and finishing from the edge of the area. He doesn’t perhaps have the work-rate of Paul Green, the passing range of Luke Murphy or the tough tackling of Rodolph Austin. However, his game is made up of small aspects of all of these players, which creates an ageing yet valuable hybrid that is a lot more useful than anyone gives him credit for. The average Leeds United fan can be forgiven for not falling in love with him, but let’s look at the research.

The ex-Pompey midfielder started twenty seven league games last season, in which the Whites took forty points, winning eleven, drawing seven and losing nine. In the nineteen games he didn’t start, Leeds managed twenty one points, winning six, drawing only three and losing a staggering ten. It doesn’t look anything amazingly remarkable until you look at the average point-score and what this would work out as across the season. With Norris starting, the Whites picked up an average of just under 1.5 points a game, which over the course of a season would equate to 68 points. When he was benched or dropped altogether, Leeds managed just 1.1 points a game which would give 50 points across a whole season. Had the Whites picked up 68 points, they’d have battled it out with Leicester City on goal difference for a place in the play-offs. If they’d managed just 50, they’d have finished 23^rd and would be set to face trips to Gillingham and Crawley come August 3^rd.

With Norris in the starting line-up, Leeds won 41% of their league games. In and amongst these eleven wins were some of Leeds’ better performances, namely gritty wins against some of the Championship’s leading teams such as Crystal Palace and Leicester or more sparkling wins such as the one away at Huddersfield Town, a game in which Norris scored. There were also a number of games in which Norris started where the Whites were unlucky not to win. Late equalisers for both Crystal Palace and Leicester prevented two vital back to back away wins, whilst another last minute equaliser, this time for Blackburn in September halted one of Leeds’ best run of results all season. In short his energy and passion for the club, in my opinion, contributed to our better performances, performances which epitomized everything that makes Leeds United what it is. The eagerness to chase down every ball in games such as Wolves and Blackburn at home was something that was missed in games when he didn’t feature, and I always thought we looked a better side when he made the starting eleven. Similarly to Paul Green, what he does lack in star quality, he makes up for in energy and work rate.

Injury and Neil Warnock’s long-standing love affair with Michael Brown prevented Norris from starting more games last year, but I’m not talking about last year. I’m using last year’s facts to look forward. Norris’ future at Leeds is looking in doubt, with rumours suggesting that new manager Brian McDermott is set to off-load him in order to bring in one of his long-standing targets. Bournemouth are rumoured to be interested and the majority of Leeds fans would be happy to see him go. Some might even offer to drive him down to the South coast. I wouldn’t. Losing Norris wouldn’t be like losing Snodgrass, but I would miss him. If rumours are to be believed, Bournemouth could be set to sign a strong asset; a valuable hybrid that certainly can play a part in Championship football this season.