Norwich City Transfers: 5 Reasons Wes Hoolahan Should Be Allowed To Leave

4. Chris Hughton Clearly Sees Him As A Fringe Player (Five Starts This Season)

One of the big reasons why it€™s hard to create a big argument for keeping the player is because Chris Hughton doesn€™t seem to rate him as an integral part of his team. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Hoolahan has only started five of Norwich€™s 23 games this season. In the games that he has played in €“ his contribution has been just one assist. Further stats from this season include 1 shot, 0.6 key passes, 1.4 dribbles per game and an average rating of just 6.47, but despite those stats a lot of fans would like to see him play more. However, the manager is the one that is making the decisions €“ and he obviously doesn€™t feel the need to use him more often. In fact, most of the games that he has played in has been as a result of other injuries that has forced the manager€™s hand. What€™s interesting here is the fact that the manager seems so determined to keep a player that doesn€™t seem to be in his plans. I do sometimes think with Hughton that he is constantly concerned with upsetting fans, which is why he sometimes does things to appease them such as playing two strikers. Hughton will be painfully aware on the popularity of the Irish playmaker amongst the fans as David McNally also is; the fact of the matter is it won€™t go down well if he suddenly leaves. However, they must have a better reason to retain him than merely the worry of upsetting fans.