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Nah. We'll just call him Dave

I have heard a number of people argue that even though we don't have a lot of money, if we had just gambled on 15-20 million this season we would have had a chance. I think people are really overestimating what that kind of money gets you, especially being a Premiership team. If you take a look on Wikipedia at say Southampton, Brighton, Wolves, Burnley, West Ham, Bournemouth, Sheffield Utd and review their squad, you will see that they have a number of players who were bought for £10-18 million. A number of them aren't really setting the league alight. Trust me, you will be surprised at just how many there were. Once you factor in signing on bonus, wages, agent fees etc 15 million is about right for one Premiership player. The Murphy brothers have had no impact on this league at all and they were near this figure. Things have changed over the last 5 -10 years. You aren't going to out scout other Premiership teams, if someone is good and available we would face competition meaning a bidding war. Add to the fact that teams see the Premiership as a cash cow. The richest league in the world means you have to pay premium because... you billionaires can afford it. Truthfully, were we one quality player away from survival? No we were well short unfortunately. Also what is the impact of someone joining on 60k when everyone else is on 15k? Could it have changed how much players were asking for when we renewed their contracts last summer? My opinion is, while it is frustrating to admit, we had to do what was right for the club long term and that was to not overstretch again at a point when we had made so much progress in recovering from past mistakes.

Norwich had Amadou who was suppose to be emergency centre back cover beyond the 4 dedicated centre backs. Norwich had just got through a whole Championship season, which has more games and less rest periods, with 4 centre backs. Getting yet another centre back wasn't needed, without the benefit of hindsight. Especially as in any normal season a 5th centre back wouldn't get anywhere near the first team and would have spent the season being grumpy in the background and ultimately wanting to leave like Amadou. As for whether Norwich could have improved the first team for £15m? Unquestionably they could have done - but they could have also spent £15m, still got relegated and now being carrying that legacy on into the Championship.At times this season it felt like Norwich were really close to being good enough to survive, just lacked either a little something at the back or up front. A goal scoring 10 could have dramatically changed this season - whether they could have found one for £15m is the unknown - it looks like Webber felt they couldn't.

An almost solitary shining light in an otherwise dark season and a worthy winner of the player of the season award. Todd Cantwell and Alex Tettey take second and third place respectively. Hard to argue with any of those awards

The club has a longer term plan, one that is certainly not a sit or bust as some numpties expect. The idea that we take on ever greater debt to stay up..... in order to service that debt is beyond stupidity, and is a Ponzi scheme in all but name. Unsustainable, that when it does finally collapse the club goes down with it

For future reference Shem-e-swav pwa-het-a

Why do our fans go on about spending all £140m, we had a way better team than Villa last year, but it needed strengthening, we all knew that and Webber failed to do it, so the point is that we could and should have spent some of our "pot of gold" received for promotion. For this I can only blame the board and Stuart "we are so lucky to have him" Webber.

I agree with much of this, however I think a lot of his negatives can be put down to a lack of quality/options in the squad. His attacking ethos is great, however the players have let us down - we've made so many individual mistakes this year, often leaving us exposed on the counter. Many fans have said that he is inflexible... this season, our defensive injuries have meant that we have to play four at the back. We have had no real back up to Pukki, so our playing style has to suit the way that he plays (through balls). This lack of a plan b has seriously hampered us and teams sussed us out the second time they played us. Again, I think it is the lack of options in the squad, rather than Farke's decisions. Zonal marking - we have one of the smallest squads in the league. It can work but we need the players to do their jobs. Late subs - I get frustrated when it clearly needs changing, and he leaves it until the 83rd minute to make his first sub. Having said that, he has been more proactive recently. Crosses - We never cross the ball into the box, yet concede a shed load of goals when it's us defending them. I don't know if it is Farke's philosophy or just that Pukki doesnt score headers, but it is clearly a dimension that we need to add to our attacking play. In general, I agree with Webber, he is an excellent coach who hasn't had the quality required at his disposal. I'm surprised that he hasn't been more blunt about this in his press confrences.

Norwich back in for Denis Man according to our friend in Romania - reports that Norwich have bid £8m for him. Could be the owner trying to create a bidding war of course.

😂 Yes indeed, its been pretty clear from the start that Johnson and Cummings never had any genuine intention of striking a deal and very unusually for this utterly inept government this appears to be one (and only) area that is going to plan. Just a pity that they still can't break the habit of lying all the time - they could have told the truth and given themselves, businesses, in fact everyone a year to prepare for trading under WTO rules but instead we are going to end up with another almighty shambles in the UK because the UK Government isn't going to be ready, the UK Border Force isn't going to be ready, nor UK businesses or even UK holidaymakers! Come Jan 1st 2021 only the EU will be ready to work with the new relationship, or more accurately the lack of one, and we will be landed with another huge dollop of self-inflicted grief. We really have become the stupid country.

Id be curious to know the name of a club who have nailed every signing they have ever made? 'Massive failure yet again'... I mean, it wasn't a 20 million pound move was it? We took a punt of a lad looking good for a Lincoln on the up and it didn't work out, I'd say thats about the 50% chance we could have expected. It doesn't matter who we have in charge or how much money we have to spend, this will happen, don't let a poor summer/jan window cloud that.

Yes, he dissed both of them on the way to drop off Drmic and Rupp in 1p5wich. Yesterday he cromered Vrancic and Buendia, sheringhamed Klose and Zimmermann and who he yarmouthed is being kept a secret in case they sue the club for cruelty.

Timm didn't want to come back and didn't expect to have to come back. He thought that the Premier League would be too fast and too demanding for him. In the circumstances he has shown what a brilliant character he is, and I fully expect Daniel or Stuart to explain this once the season has finished. He truly put the team ahead of himself. He could easily have said he wasn't right, but he responded like the man he is.

People have started saying Raggett is a better player so yes, people are being unfair. Either that or football-stupid.

Facebook is a horrible place for an NCFC fan at the moment. Surge of people saying 'look at Villa. If we had spent £150m we would have stayed up'. What irony. If that had happened, Villa would have gone down and been financially wrecked. So the very stick that people are hitting City with only proves the lunacy of spending beyond your means. A love a good circular argument 🙂

Fair points. It'll be interesting to see to what extent Farke is prepared to change it up based on the harsh lessons from this season. I love the guy, but he does seem pretty strongly wedded to his style of football. I'd love to see him develop more tactical weapons in his arsenal, rather than just expecting to walk the league again playing the exact same formation and style that worked last time. A little bit of contingency planning will go a long way to securing us promotion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-53505572 What a bunch of idiots. The worst fans in world football. No way should they have a parade thru the city after this. They've lost that right by yet again behaving like utter ****

How much better is this than the prem. Championship is infinitely more exciting.

The hardest league to get out of. The most exciting league for fans - EPL dead n buried 😃

Quite right ! I go in the Kings Arms opposite pre match . You can take fish and chips in . Meet brother in law and a couple of mates and our sons if they’re home . Great choice of beer , have several pints , always come out far more optimistic 😀 . That stuff is magic . Then that great walk down by the old city walls , and Carrow Road appears below ...... bloody magnificent. Gets me every time .

I did question recently whether he was finished or just unfit, or both. Still don't know the answer. But lots of people seem to have decided that its definitely the former and want to see him bombed out. I wouldn't be so quick to write him off, he probably isn't the player he was but we're seeing a player who has had a huge injury lay off come straight back into the side in the best league in the world, probably sooner than his manager and medical staff would have liked and into a side which is void of any confidence. I just remember that we were writing Tettey off every summer and yet every season he'd come in and have at least one spell of good form which impressed people, and has just shown up players much younger than him in the best league in the world. I'm not going to say we have a "young squad" as that seems to be a complete myth, but we do have a young defence and our squad probably will look younger next season. You need leaders and people with experience in that mix. With a bit more match sharpness I think Klose could be an asset next season in the Championship as a squad player, even if its largely in the dressing room, Rhodes and Hanley mostly sat on the bench last season (well, second half for Rhodes anyway) yet Farke and Webber both considered them really important to the squad. Granted his salary probably doesn't reflect the status of Championship squad player, and he's far too injury prone, he's probably on more money than he's now worth, but I'm not convinced he'll look out of the depth in that league if he can stay fit! At least willing to wait and see and give him a chance, he's not a player who has ever been blessed with loads of pace so how much could that injury really impact him unless it reoccurs? Seems more likely that his problems are psychological / confidence related?

It could be like when we had Hucks... Green catches a corner and without looking, launches it up the wing for Hucks to run on to. Was such a devastating move to have in our locker. Dad just text me saying Placheta did 30m in 3.8 seconds. Thats not far off Olympic 100m speed over 30m (Linford Christie ran it in 3.19 for example). In the entire nfl combine (the elite college players who are moving up to nfl), the fastest anyone ran last year was a 3.82. Its really elite speed. Fifa 20 has him faster than Sterling and Salah (he's 22nd fastest player on the game) (for what thats worth)

The issue for Pukki this season is simply that the bulk of our possession has been in our own half which has meant that neither Cantwell nor Buendia have been able to deliver the volume of line breaking passes they did last season because they are back helping out defensively. For Pukki to be effective we need a platform of possession in the opponents half in order for Cantwell and Buendia to work their magic. We've rarely had that. Pukki is good at running into spaces on angled runs to through balls and most of this is from short passes in and around the box. Secondly we have lacked an effective number 10 who would be another supply line to our striker. Thirdly, opposition coaches are wise to how we play and in the Premiership they are much more astute tactically and the defensive manpower is of a far higher quality. Most negate Pukki by isolating him mainly by pressing us high. They know Pukki is our main goal threat and they prepare for him specifically. Once teams had worked us out we had no real plan B. We had to play through the press which did work sometimes but it always takes a lot of passes to move the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and each pass risks a turnover in possession. Without the ball most sides we played had the quality to play around our press and as a result we rarely won ball in the opponents half. Eventually teams worked out that they could just throw numbers forward against us as West Ham did. It looks like Farke is well aware of all of these issues, firstly because he's been toying with 442 which that means opponents have less manpower to commit to the press and his other solution is different players- Sorensen for example has a good record for long passing and Placheta has a lot of pace which will give us more options against the high press because of the threat of the ball over the top. The big question is who our number 10 will be. We have the scope to be a much more effective attacking force this season than we were when we went up last year because a season of Premiership football has forced us to address these points. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The solution isn't to replace Pukki the solution is to beat the press and get Pukki into the game by not to allowing the opposition to keep him at arms length. I expect us to score more goals this year than we did in our last Championship season. Other teams are going to hate playing us.

Dean Ashton was signed 15 years ago. Grant Holt had many games at Championship level and was one of the best players in the league. How much would one of the best Championship strikers cost us today? 15 million? 20? Grant Holt played for Forest in the Championship but then dropped down to L1 with Shrewsbury for a meagre £170K. So there is nothing to say there isn't a reasonably priced striker in the EFL leagues just itching to join a club like us.

Duda is worth £25m in the same way Ben Godfrey is worth £50m.

Ondrezj Duda is valued at £25 million pounds. That's it. That's the post.

Sorry Im not having this, its far too sensible of an opinion to have. What we need is the mystery buyer who has been offering to buy Norwich from Delia for the last 15 years to finally be allowed to swoop in and spend the tune of, oh I don't know, £120 million? That sort of money would mean we could be certain of maybe getting 17th spot on Sunday, the last day of the season. Provided we win. I think we were a CB and a number 10 away from staying up. We are probably 2 seasons of development and 4 signings (CB, CDM, AM and ST) from being able to push for a 10th-15th spot.

That 'gamble' is dependent on us having the money to meet the transfer payments and the wage bill if we were relegated. The last relegation demonstrated the dangers of that delusion. Sadly there are those unwilling to accept our position in the grand scheme of things - hence the continual whining

What top centre half would have joined to (probably) be behind Klose, Zimmerman, Godfrey and Hanley? The problem was the ridiculous injuries to those players.

Boris burnt the oven ready deal.

Hello, Polish lad. Look forward to finding you a nice one-syllable nickname! 🙂 GOALKEEPERS H 1 Tim Krul (born 3.4.88, age 32): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) 33 Michael McGovern (born 12.7.84, age 36): signed until 2021 (contract signed in April 2019) H 38 Aston Oxborough (born 9.5.98, age 22): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in March 2020) DEFENDERS H Sam McCallum (born 2.9.00, age 19): signed until 2024 (contract signed in January 2020) H 2 Max Aarons (born 4.1.00, age 20): signed until 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 3 Sam Byram (born 16.9.93, age 26): signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 6 Christoph Zimmermann (born 12.1.93, age 27): signed until 2023 with club option to 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 4 Ben Godfrey (born 15.1.98, age 22): signed until 2023 (contract signed in June 2019) 15 Timm Klose (born 9.5.88, age 32): signed until 2022 (contract signed in May 2019) 16 Philip Heise (born 20.6.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in January 2019) H 5 Grant Hanley (born 20.11.91, age 28): signed until 2023 (contract signed in November 2018) H 12 Jamal Lewis (born 25.1.98, age 22): signed until 2023 (contract signed in October 2018) MIDFIELDERS 27 Alex Tettey (born 4.4.86, age 34): signed until 2021 (contract signed in February 2020) 7 Lukas Rupp (born 8.1.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in January 2020) 8 Mario Vrancic (born 23.5.89, age 31): signed until 2021 (contract signed in July 2019) 19 Tom Trybull (born 9.3.93, age 27): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 17 Emi Buendia (born 25.12.96, age 23): signed until 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 14 Todd Cantwell (born 27.2.98, age 22): signed until 2022 (contract signed in July 2019) 23 Kenny McLean (born 8.1.92, age 28): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) 11 Onel Hernandez (born 1.2.93, age 27): signed until 2023 (contract signed in June 2019) 18 Marco Stiepermann (born 9.2.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in May 2019) H 34 Louis Thompson (born 19.12.94, age 25): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in October 2018) 10 Moritz Leitner (born 8.12.92, age 27): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2018) Melvin Sitti (born 14.2.00, age 20) signed until 2024 (contract signed in January 2020) Danel Sinani (born 5.4.97, age 23) signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2020) Jacob Lungi Sørensen (born 3.3.98, age 22) signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2020) Przemysław Płacheta (born 23.3.98, age 22) signed until 2024 (contract signed in July 2020) FORWARDS 35 Adam Idah (born 11.2.01, age 19): signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 22 Teemu Pukki (born 29.3.90, age 30): signed until 2022 (contract signed in July 2019) 20 Josip Drmic (born 8.8.92, age 27): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) H Carlton Morris (born 16.12.95, age 24): signed until 2021 (contract signed in May 2019) Finally, here are all the squad members listed by year of contract expiry, with (+1) indicating we have the option of an extra year: 2021 McGovern, Vrancic, Morris, Tettey 2022 Krul, Klose, Heise, Trybull (+1), Cantwell, McLean, Stiepermann, Thompson (+1), Leitner, Pukki, Drmic, Rupp, Oxborough (+1) 2023 Byram, Zimmermann (+1), Godfrey, Hanley, Lewis, Hernandez, Idah, Sinani, Sørensen 2024 Aarons, Buendia, McCallum, Sitti, Płacheta

Excellent. Look forward to seeing him in the Przem the season after next.

I think the thing that is shocking is that there has been such a complete lack of interest, scrutiny, lack of stewardship ....(as mentioned on Newsnight it is a systemic issue). The government has been asleep at the wheel and presumably intentionally, and if so, it is dereliction of duty....if not, it is gross incompetence. There is a deep principle here. It ought to be deeply troubling for the whole population about who governs us. I could speak of Brexit, but let me put that aside - it is indefensible.

Chris Frantz has a book out Looks like the Talking Heads reunion is scheduled for sometime after the sun goes red giant

Do West Brom stick or twist? Come on Brentford.

Better that watching overpaid primadonas- end to end, proper footie

Baggies winning. Play offs for Brentford. Have to say Barnsley look more like the team in 3rd.

An opportunity to show they practice what they preach, but it won’t happen. Look at when Liverpool sealed it, and also when Leeds sealed promotion. Barely a mention from the FA/Leagues.

It is indeed. Putting TVs above the urinals was a winner. We took a couple of clients there in January for pre drinks before Middletons and were serenaded by a tramp on crack with a guitar. It was a bit awkward until I introduced him to the clients as my boss's Dad.

No i'm saying he isn't worth the punt because as of 2019 there was no indication he would add anything to the squad that Idah didn't. Idah absolutely smashed Coventry in the cup who are a top league one side. Idah is too good for league one, thats the level Toney is at now. My point is that if we were going to spend money to really compete in the Premiership then its 50 million+. There is no point moaning about not spending 15 million because in truth it is pennies in this division. I don't believe if we spent just a bit more, our season would have changed, we would have had to have spent a lot more. You might have been caught in the cross fire of my frustration with this board, I still stand by what I said even if I wasn't directing at you personally.

Nutty, just found in my spam file an email from a 'TISLON 999' promising unspecified financial rewards if I displace Kathy from top spot in either (but apparently very much preferably both) of the leagues. Of course I will try to find a winning choice, but I fail to see how I can induce Kathy to pick a loser. Anyway, I thought you as our trusted arbiter of the PUPs ought to be made aware of this odd development.🤓

so many fans who will go through so many YESSS and shiiittt moments as they re-act to the scores coming in a great night ahead for the ghouls among us 😛

I'll try again. Were we one centre back short of staying up? It's hard to look at that squad and say yes. If thats the case then we were a number of Premiership players short of competing. So how much would a number of Premiership players cost? Sheffield broke their transfer record three times this season, nearly 45 million on three players. Even then one of them has been sent out on loan. Thats the myth i'm talking about. If we needed 50 million+ to even has a slim chance, then 15 million isn't going to make a dent.

He also has a bit of physicality which we know is needed to get the ball back. I love getting in signings early, we need any signing to settle get used to the style and build a rapport and cohesion with the guys. We also need 'greedy' and players who are showing confidence, some of the goals are half chances in those videos and we all know that in the champ you may get 2-3 half chances as a midfielder so with confidence you can take them. The prem you get 1 chance and you have to strike the ball first time, many of our players took a touch too many. You have to snap at chances, in the champ you get more chances and more time, so get confidence early and it can lead to a good season if a few players get on these runs. Keep the new signings coming in.

Yes, it has always been obvious that there has never been any attempts to get a deal. It's why I have challenged Swindon a while ago asking whether he would have ever voted for a Brexit without a deal (he wouldn't and indeed on many occasions has been very confident there would be one). Maybe there will be a late deal? I doubt it though. I don't think you have to be a psychologist or a counsellor to see through Johnson's words. But lots of people do, or are deferential and simply believe in what is said. We look like we are going to be one very isolated country. The idea of the UK being 'exceptional' is part of some (probably mythical) bygone age, associated with our colonialist past. There is a lot to be proud about being English / British but isolationism is diminishing for our identity. Britain has long been a melting pot of diverse communities and the language and culture adapts well. Now, I am of the view that your term "stupid country" is sad but realistic.

Parsammyslore Plakeeeta as he will be called on Canary Call.

"For years now @michaelgove has promised no dilution of food and animal welfare standards as a result of Brexit. Last night he voted against an amendment that would have guaranteed that. I'm not surprised. Just think it's worth acknowledging that he is, straight up, a liar." Jay Rayner.

Lets hammer those disgusting clubs in the lower leagues. Can't have those upstarts bending or breaking rules. They should behave like all the EPL clubs. Pillars of Virtue one and all.