Joe Pateman on Norwich City signing and Gabriel Sara role

Many clubs around us have seized the opportunity to bolster their squads, with Hull City and Middlesbrough in particular adding Championship and Premier League talents to their ranks and increasing optimism amongst their supporters.

Norwich City’s first transfer window under new sporting director Ben Knapper has seen minimal, but perhaps significant, activity.

Adam Idah will finally get the loan stint that he has very much needed for at least three seasons, and Sydney van Hooijdonk becomes our 11th player to hail from the Netherlands, meaning some freshness will be added to our striking options.

The signing of a new striker will mostly ignite a surge of excitement and expectation amongst fans. In a wave of collective optimism, many of us will be wondering if the Dutchman will bring that additional firepower to turn us into genuine play-off contenders. At this stage, we dare to dream.

Van Hooijdonk’s 16-goal haul in the Eredivisie last season placed him third in that league's top scorers list. That personal tally was over a third of Heerenveen’s goals across the whole season, as they finished eighth in Holland’s top league. SvH also hit the back of the net on three occasions in the KNVB Cup.

Spookily, in the season prior to last, it was a familiar face that finished as the third top-scorer in the Dutch league with the same goal return -  Ricky van Wolfwinkel. Let’s hope that is not an omen of things to come.

Having watched SvH’s Heerenveen highlights on YouTube, which I suspect many of us have, the type of goals the six foot two inch forward scored were exactly the sort of goals I feel that we are lacking.

There were plenty of tap-ins showing quick thinking and that wonderful knack of being in the right place at the right time, the right place mainly being in or around the six-yard box. These are those instinctive goals that we simply don’t score enough for. Of course, highlights aren’t a key indication, but they're all most of us have to go off.

It also bodes well for us that six of van Hooijdonk’s goals during his loan spells at Heerenveen were headers, something that our supply line will find appetizing. Only Cardiff (11) have scored more headers than Norwich (10) this season in the Championship.

Gabriel Sara struggled to make his mark at Anfield - where will he be asked to play against Coventry this weekend? (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Chief Canary creator Gabriel Sara should be relishing the prospect of adding to his impressive nine assists with his new team-mate. Only one of Idah’s six Championship goals was courtesy of supply by the Brazilian, with most of the now Celtic striker's goals coming from bursting runs on the break. Those clever little balls in the box that the Norwich number 17 provides could be the perfect foil for van Hooijdonk. Sara has more assists so far this season than Emi Buendia had at this stage in either of his Championship campaigns for the club - he would need just eight more to overtake Buendia’s record of 16.

Whether that number 10 role is the most suitable for Sara, I just don’t know. In his previous two games in that position - although Elland Road and Anfield are not the easiest of visits - he often seemed to be out of the game and unable to really make his mark. It will be really interesting to see what David Wagner opts to do with him when we host Coventry this weekend.

Personally, I think Sara can be more effective in joining the attack from a deeper position with a full view and a better vision of what is ahead of him. While his defensive responsibilities may seem like a waste for such a creative player, his performances have been one of the shining lights in such a mixed Championship campaign.

So, the squad is finalised, and while play-off hope might kill us, right now it’s all we have to aim for with almost two-thirds of the season completed.