Naaaaarch

Not been paying the closest attention to his BMG side but if it appears to be similar to his first season here, stuttering. If I was Farke I'd be pointing that out. He's a very system heavy manager so his form could be down to not having the right type of player, of course I don't know if that's the case. Would obviously take him back in a heartbeat if things went wrong here. Of course that's unlikely so we could just sack Webber and give him that role, he always spoke about how he fell into management after originally wanting to be a sporting director. Also, this goal. Sara has gone from looking like £6m wasted to one of the best midfielders in the division.

Good player but genuinely not one we've not missed in the slightest since he left. We're pretty rich in talent when it comes to the wide/10 positions. He's better than Cantwell has been for the last 2 years though I'll give you that.

He was so unimpressed with the gym at Colney he decided to not bother with fitness work for the rest of his time here. It all makes sense now. Jokes aside whilst it probably wasn't what he was used to at Villa our training ground is of a pretty decent standard these days. The camerawork in that makes it look as if he's peering into a cupboard but it's actually a pretty nice gym over two floors with with all the modernity you would expect. We've even got some sci-fi looking cryo-pods too which I'm sure are vital for footballers. Norwich don't really have the cash to do it all in one go so they've been developing the facility step by step. I believe this stuff is going over this coming summer. https://www.canaries.co.uk/content/club-unveils-future-plans-for-lotus-training-centre-development

Nah, he's not missed much through injury. I'm assuming his form has been patchy for any number of reasons. Smith (and Wagner until yesterday) didn't really use a number 10 which is obviously his natural position. He's adapting to a new country and he also played a lot of games for his club in Chile before moving so there's probably some fatigue issues. He's one of quite a few players in our squad that would probably benefit from Norwich not getting promoted this season. In the first 2 of those 9 games we had a caretaker manager who essentially set up in the same way as Smith. The only real tactical difference in those games was that we were hitting it long instead of trying to play through. Wagner has started with 4 wins, 2 losses and a draw in the league, one loss to by far the best side in the league. I think my assertion that we're a good team with confidence issues is backed up by the fact we either been scoring in 3s and 4s or not scoring at all. The reason people didn't like Smith, for the most part, was the quality of football. It was clear even when we were getting results for a run that it wouldn't sustain without a major improvement. Obviously the improvement didn't come, we got worse and he got fired. Most of the games we won under Smith were on moments of individual quality and not team performances. Away from pure footballing stuff there were other things that wouldn't have mattered anywhere near as much as if the football was any sort of good. Fans never took to him as a person, basically. He never really tried to forge a relationship with inside the stadium, basic things like going over and applauding the fans at the end of a game. Always gave off the impression that he didn't really want to be here which is probably true. Whilst that didn't bother me I always found it weird as if you ever met him out and about he was a lovely bloke. I think 'lost the dressing room' is a bit of a cliché but it was clear that there wasn't much love for Smith within the squad. We've already had various interviews where players have implied that they're much happier in the current setup (training methodology as well as tactical stuff). Jordan Hugill also did an interview on his exit where he spoke about Smith making and breaking promises to him, essentially stringing him along. He claimed Sargent was a winger so he was in the 3 strikers but when it came down to it he played Sargent up top. Then he would apparently have him travel to games where he wasn't making the bench instead of letting him stay with his wife who was almost due. You'll always have unhappy squad players but apparently he was told that he'd get a chance if he put in the performances in pre season, JH was by far our best striker in pre season. Take the point on not beating any top sides, has been that way all season. Off the top of my head the best side we've beaten were Sunderland and we really didn't deserve that win. On our current trajectory of performance that will change. The overall quality in the league is way below where it was before Covid crippled finances. This Norwich side is not a 'playoffs at best' side. Some truth to that. Turning around a relegation super tanker is pretty hard. He needed the quick start.

To be fair to agent Lambert they got even worse after him with Paul Cook. They've seemingly got themselves a bit of a gem in Kieran McKenna but it's Ipswich so they'll probably still blow themselves up in the playoffs. If he doesn't promote with them this season I can't imagine it'll be long before he's picked up by a Championship side. Tribalism aside it does seem that Town are getting a lot more things right behind the scenes these days. I believe they're building towards a category 1 academy as well as other facilities and of course they've been spending quite a lot on their squad. Even if it's not this season I can't imagine it'll be long before they're out of League 1.

Last season, sure, the squad wasn't good enough. Nobody really blamed Smith for that, that was all on Stuart Webber. This year however the issue has been fragile confidence and the inability to turn around negative momentum. Smith was obviously a big part of that. It would be way easier to take if it really was a simple quality issue. Give Kompany this set of players and Smith Burnley's and the table would look significantly different. A squad made up of our second string and loaned out players would probably be around the playoffs under decent management. That being said I have no idea if we'll end up being promotion material this season. If we can get over the mental block that we seem to suffer when things aren't going out way in games then we will. If not then even if we make the playoffs I wouldn't expect us to do anything once the pressure is on.

Unfortunately for Smith even during the fabled 9 game unbeaten run performances were rarely there. There was hope that those results would breed confidence but instead results caught up with performances. You can point at the position in the table and pat him on the back all you want but things were obviously going one way. Our board, more than most in football, have always given their managers the benefit of the doubt. We should have been rid of Smith before the World Cup break. Wagner's start has been somewhat feast or famine on the pitch but things appear to be moving in the right direction. There's been significant improvements when it comes to style, identity and a lot of individual players. There's clearly still an issue with confidence and consistency but I don't think the most optimistic of Norwich fans were expecting an instant fix here. I don't know if you've seen the stats but our 'individual errors leading to shots' numbers are something else. - https://theathletic.com/4156895/2023/02/06/norwich-errors-krul-burnley/

Nah, Smith was genuinely doing an atrocious job. I know you don't want to hear that said about a local son but it was the truth. We've been good under Wagner so far but the Burnley match probably came a few weeks early for us if we were going to realistically put up a fight. Fitness throughout our squad is still clearly not yet where it needs to be. As well as fitness the wingers we had available (Dowell and Hernandez) are good for games where we're on the front foot but I'm sure Wagner would have rather been playing the new/recalled players (Marquinos from Arsenal and Tzolis) for a game like this. Even with out suicidal tenancies most sides in the league won't be able cope with a high pressing Norwich team. Thankfully Burnley are the only team like Burnley in the division this year. Our next 7 our 8 games are against middle/lower end teams, one would imagine we'll be a lot better equipped to take on Sheffield United after that.

Oh I'm not one of those Norwich fans claiming that Ramsey's position in the team was completely undeserved or straight up nepotism, I think the whole situation was a lot more nuanced than that. I just don't think he'd have been made creator and chief under any other manager. I actually think we'd have gotten a lot more out of Ramsey had we played him in a 3, probably centrally, behind the striker. The most obvious positive in his game was his natural ability to find space. Reality is, we've not missed him since he's gone back despite his okay numbers.

Interesting. I wonder if he recovered a lot more rapidly than predicted or his injury wasn't as bad as we were lead to believe. Granted I can see why Villa would recall once Smith was gone. It's unlikely the next manager, whoever that would be, would have deployed him as the main creative lynchpin in the team like Smith was.

Players in roles that fit their game. Tactically playing to the strengths of the best striker and pair of attacking wing backs in the division. Playing with intensity and disrupting opponents high up the pitch. It would seem that it's only taken a week to fix most of our on field problems. He's even got Kieran Dowell running which something I never thought I'd see. Dead cat bounce? Perhaps but probably not. I think common sense has just finally prevailed.

Some here would say he's had the last 14 months off. Jokes aside he absolutely shouldn't jump at the first job that comes his way. I think what he needs to do most is rediscover what he had at Brentford when it comes to a distinct style of play.

Buendia's base position here was the right side of the front 4 but in reality he had the freedom to go and play whatever he wanted. It's why if you check out a highlights vid he's just as likely to be pinging in an assist from left back as he is from the right wing. A lot of the success he had was down to his instinctive ability to find and exploit space. Surprised to see complaints about giving the ball away cheaply, something he was always on at his teammates for. I guess the difference is we never saw a low on confidence Emi buendia.

All things considered it's pretty brave from Webber, an appointment that will naturally attract a lot of low hanging criticism from the fanbase. You can say it's lazy or he's appointing a mate but the reality is if this appointment fails it falls way harder on Webber than it would if he just appointed somebody new. Ironically he got a lot of criticism for hiring Farke when he got here too - 'he's just a 1 trick pony hiring the Dortmund 2 coach again'. I can certainly see the logic of the appointment. They know each other's methodology inside out. He's had success in this division with far less resources. After 14 months of Smith and Shakey our players are unfit to the point where they're blowing after 30 mins, Wagner's German schooling will demand a lot more than that. Cult of personality, wish that was less important but the players, club and fans probably need somebody to rally around if they're going to do anything special this year. Even with the mitigating circumstances (Schalke were a basket case behind the scenes and Young Boys were apparently selling players from under his feet) his last 2 jobs will have gone down as failures. He probably needs to succeed in this job almost as much as Webber needs him to. A more interesting appointment than it appears at first glance.

Supposedly only 1 of the 3 or 4 we've been interviewing have actually been on the bookies' lists. That's almost certainly Wagner so we're at least safe from a majority of the nonsense candidates that you'll have seen mentioned.

most of our players. posted in the wrong thread so just editing this here.

I hadn't actually seen the Tweets from the clubs, certainly more definitive than the rumblings we'd heard earlier in the week. Decent player but it makes sense that he'd go back. The most obvious gaps in our squad are DM (our other loanee Hayden is permanently injured it seems) and on the wing. I guess that really depends on the new manager's system though.

I don't even think a significant spend is needed in January. Ideally there would be some movement in the squad (I'd imagine we'll be sending Ramsey back here, full time and not just for his recovery, and recycling tha loan spot for instance) but It's a change in impetus that's needed. We need a manager to come in and light fires under players like Alex Neil did in 2014-15. Easier said than done of course but historically we are pretty good at getting out of this division.

You are correct, we need to pick a lane and then fully commit to staying in it. We were so good at that for the first 3-4 seasons of the Stuart Webber/Daniel Farke reign, unsurprisingly around when this 'Oh, Norwich are surprisingly good' thread popped up. I think the first Farke Premier League season scarred Webber and changed how has approached building the squad when it really needn't have anywhere near as much. I don't actually think we have to spend loads more, we just have to change our approach to spending. Next time we're promoted we need to sign 3 players that improve our 11 instead of 11 that improve our squad. If you work smartly It generally doesn't cost loads to build a competitive Championship squad so we should be okay here too. Promotion via playoffs this season will still be the goal but I don't think that should be the next manager's deciding factor on if he's here next season. We have to start thinking longer term again.

To an extent I agree, we are weaker than when we scored 97 and 94 points in our 2 previous Championship seasons. Based on what I've seen though I still think there is still more than enough in this squad to be competing at a much higher level than we have been. The Championship's standard as a whole is also way down on were it was prior to Covid ravaging the finances of most clubs. It's possible we're suffering with some sort of relegation fatigue but until we play a system that fits our players and we're still awful I'm not going to buy that. We lost some games and have been playing without confidence for most of the season Whilst the squad isn't in an ideal place i think a majority of our problems are upstairs. I would be shocked if we aren't reverting to 4231 with the next manager so I guess it won't take long before we find out which one of us is right here. That being said even if we do turn it around this year there will likely still be a fairly significant churn next season. Pukki, Cantwell, Dowell, Byram, Sinani, Hernandez, Hugil, McGovern plus the loanees are all out of contract and I can't see us reupping many of them, if any. That's a decent chunk of wage by our standard (Pukki on his full £50k+ p/w Premier League wage this year due how his extension played out).

Thought this place might have enjoyed that. I'd say it's still 2 decent performances relative to what's gone before. Clear that there's no confidence in the side right bow but yeah, 2 more wasted home games. I will never understand why we've stuck with 433 so long when we've obviously not got the players for it. Our lack of a real DM (Hayden hasn't been fit) and quick winger makes the system pointless. With Sargent and Idah we've arguably got 2 strikers that would have worked well in Smith's team but both of them have been shunted out wide for the sake of Pukki who doesn't really fit this game.

My point was that the Norwich job catches managers off guard. Most will naturally go into it with preconceived ideas about the club and the area. They think of the plucky underdog sides in the 80s and 90s, the nice celebrity chef owner, decent if not a tad soft football and probably long away trips without a motorway. What they don't consider is that Norfolk is a 1 club county of a decent sized population and not a huge amount else to do. It's very much a fishbowl type scenario here. There are certainly far bigger clubs than Norwich where that isn't the case. That's not even taking into consideration expectation levels which obviously isn't always a part of the equation but it at the moment. Coincidentally moves are being made towards ownership changing hands here. We were recently bought into by an American businessman, a guy named Mark Attanasio, who owns the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. He and his family are clearly being groomed to take the reigns in the short/medium term. Delia and Michael Wynn-Jones have always been insistent that they wouldn't just sell to the highest bidder and would only pass it onto somebody with similar values. They've obviously seen the landscape of football ownership change first hand over the last 25 years and they clearly fear the thought of Norwich City FC becoming a soulless husk. Reading between the lines and looking at how they run their MLB side we aren't going to be signing superstars but when we do next promote we shouldn't be as hamstrung by our uncompetitive wage budget.

I think future employers will look at Smith's job here more through the lense of what his successor achieves than what he did/didn't. I don't think the 'we were 5th' line holds much water when we dropped to 10th last night without playing and are closer to the bottom than the top when it comes to points. If the next manager fails too then it's easier to write of as were this season's basket case, akin to last season's WBA. That being said he's an English manager with a mostly positive track record, he'll not struggle to get a new job. I assume it'll be an upwardly mobile Championship club. It will have been a learning experience though that's for sure, one that most managers face much earlier in their careers. He also wouldn't be the first manager to be surprised at how intense the Norwich job can be.

Yeah, Hassenhuttl would be perfect if we had the cash and he had less of an ego. Too big for Southampton isn't he? No chance, sadly. Tim Walter is the name doing the rounds today. Youngish manager at Hamburg, has done well in all of his jobs thus far. No idea what his style of play looks like but it seems far more a Webber hire than Wilder or Bruce.

It was an appointment that made a lot of sense on paper. We're somewhere in-between the projects he had at Brentford and Villa and we needed parts of what he brought to both of those. In the end nothing worked out, nothing improved and this will go down as a wasted year at NCFC and for Smith (massive bag of cash aside). He didn't even seem to be that popular in the dressing room which is one of the things I thought was guaranteed with Smith. A few players he directly managed as well as about half of the development side 'liked' the news that he'd been sacked on social media. I'm guessing they weren't celebrating his time in charge. I think it's safe to say we're going to see a significant bump in enthusiasm on the pitch tomorrow night. His relationship with fans here was always strained before turning outright weird at the end. If you met him in the Sainsbury's car park or one of those meet and greet events they put on for the kids then you'd have nothing but a lovely interaction with the guy. However when it came to football he and the Norwich fans just never clicked. He never really tried to cultivate anything with the fans with fans, he seemingly didn't believe in the simple stuff like thanking away fans for traveling and so on. More than that though I think it was incessant quoting of stats when questioned on bad performances - 'We might have just lost our 4th game in 5 but look at how many times we inserted ourselves into the opposition half'. Yeah, okay Dean. His press after the last couple of games was pretty extraordinary. The comments about a narrative being against him and fans taking joy in bad results was nuts. He mentioned people doing it for likes and follows which could have made sense if thousands of fans in the stadium weren't letting him know how they felt. Respect that he doubled down on it though in one of the later press sections though, I think he wanted New Years off. Not sure if any of you saw it but the last thing he said to our press was along the lines of 'things haven't gone well, I'm the villain'. I thought it was a pretty poetic end even if he didn't mean it that way.