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Anyone know who the rest of the consortium are?

"Why can't we be.... wait a minute...."

yep absolutely mental isn’t it? 🤣😂 Ill take Farkes commensense over anyone on here thanks

Norwich City lose. Norwich City win.

Yeah, saw us win with a clean sheet xoxo

Very good post, and a lot of valid points. I suspect the correct argument will only be borne out of the results of the season, and given how things are going so far, I think it's fair to accept there is a method in Farke's seeming madness. I also think his use of substitutions seems to have improved this season, as has been shown by the match-winning changes he made several times earlier on in the season. Ultimately, as a manager, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Had Farke brought someone on earlier and they struggled to adjust to the pace at a crucial time, or the cohesion of the squad had been upset so much that we ended up losing the game, he would have been smashed for it. Equally, he could have bought on Idah/Dowell earlier and we went on to win the game comfortably. Given that we had more than enough chances to win this and the Coventry game by a larger margin, yet still couldn't take our chances with probably our strongest 11, makes me doubt whether it's Farke's substitutions that are the reason for this. What does get my goat is when people act as if game management and substitutions is simple, and that Farke is an idiot who should just bring fresh legs on when things are getting a bit tight. I get that we are all fans, and some probably handle the pressure of a tight 1-0 game against Rotherham better than others, but I genuinely can't understand people who try and act as if it's basic stuff Farke is missing. There are, presumably, all other sorts of factors Farke is thinking about - squad cohesion, testing the key players within these pressure situations, match freshness and other things we are not privy to. Maybe, just maybe, given our current position in the table, is it not possible that Farke's "lack" of substitutions and determination to reduce rotation as much as possible are a major factor as to why we are where we are?! Anyway, I suspect none of us will ever be able to prove or disprove this one way or the other, but people pretending that because they have played a few seasons of Football Manager or watched Norwich for decades that this substitution malarkey is straightforward, easy and that he's "doing it wrong" is very silly IMO.

A version of the PL with no VAR definitely. This league is only fun when you're too good for it like we currently are, spend a few seasons in this division and we'd be dragged down to the others clubs level. Has everybody forgotten what it was like in the mid 2000's? Give me scraping for survival in the top league over floundering in this division with absolute donkeys wearing the shirt

I'm quite impressed how Brentford have managed to turn it round.

Why aren't they Norwich? And why aren't we one of them so we can say "Why aren't we Norwich?"

Another great example of the limitations stats have when it comes to giving the full picture occurred today. Emi plays a through ball to Pukki. Two Rotherham players move to cut it out, but are put off by a lovely feint by Cantwell who moves towards the ball, before letting it run. The ball goes through to Pukki who takes it on and scores. The stats show an Emi assist and nothing for Todd - yet in reality Todd's dummy is just as important in making the goal as Emi's original through ball.

Apparently this new Ipswich beer is bitter but still goes down well. No cans or kegs though, they only bottle it.

This Which is why many posters, myself included, are more inclined to trust the opinion of the league-winning coach, who is widely regarded as the best we've had in decades, over RandomPoster123, whose main footballing achievement was once winning a game of SWOS on the Amiga.

Good post. But how can you be proven wrong? I often want to see a sub made and am disappointed when none is forthcoming or the sub isn't what I called for. But I don't question Farke's ability or game management because he doesn't agree with me.

Strange comment because they didn’t and imo never looked like doing so. Their best chance...the one that Aarons blocked? I didn’t think Vrancic was too bad today, especially compared to other recent games (when he has been taken off early) and at 1-0 his creativity was needed and potentially more so had Rotherham somehow have scored. My honest opinion as the game was going on..I couldn’t think of an obvious change to make. I disagreed with those saying we looked knackered, didn’t see that from anyone. Also at only 1-0 it was right to keep our best, most creative players on the pitch, and if they all felt ok then why not? Rotherham didn’t look like scoring so we were managing the game perfectly and therefore why risk a change to disrupt the flow? Dowell for Vrancic could have been made but wasn’t essential for our control on the game and we didn’t need to go chasing a second goal.

HMRC perhaps?

It's football - you're not meant to be comfortable watching a football match you numpty!! If you want to be comfortable wrap yourself up in a warm blanket, make yourself a nice milky drink, close your eyes and drift off to sleep - until the end of the season would be nice.

I guess that's this tv football for you. In the stadium today the supporters would have been awesome. In the stadium it's all about getting those three points. The final whistle would have heralded massive celebrations with supporters singing "we're going to win the league". The final whistle just heralds relief and then moans on ifollow. **** I miss it.

It's always deemed a poor league if we get promoted. Don't forget we weren't even the best team a week ago🙃

We are seven points clear mate. DF has more knowledge in his little finger nail than you have in your brain.

Having a great start to his Barnsley career. All the best to the lad

The season so far has seen so many of our players putting in fantastic performances week in week out. The team as a whole, as Chris Goreham said last night to Farke are a 'well oiled machine'. I can't remember a season where I have felt so confident in our defence, and not that nervous with a 1 goal lead (although that may be more to do with us not being in the stadium). I genuinely believe that the key man in all of this has been Oliver Skipp, and I know he has been in for plenty of praise but for a 20 year old he is quite simply outstanding. We have been crying out for a player in his mould ever since the promotion to the Premier League under Lambert in 2011. I can't remember the amount of summers that have gone where people have asked for a good DM to be signed, who not only shields the defence but has the quality to then spring attacks with accurate passing and dribbling. Tettey was the option signed by Hughton, and he's done a good job over the years, but he's not in the same league as Skipp. I don't think it's that ridiculous to state that if we'd have had a player like Skipp under Hughton, we'd probably have done a far better job of staying up. He would have been a great addition to the style of football we were playing at the time. Under Farke after 18/19 it was obvious we needed a player like that in the summer before venturing on another season of Premier League football. Webber thought Amadou could be that man, but injuries and I'm assuming attitude quickly put paid to that. Again I don't think it's silly to say that with Skipp (or a similar player) in the team last season, we would have done a better job of staying up - especially after Project Restart. His ball retention is fantastic, his defensive maturity is quite amazing for someone so young, and his ability to bring the ball forward is also second to none. I doubt we'll be able to sign him in the long term, but another season on loan would be great. The real shame will be when he inevitably returns to Spurs and we have to replace him. Sorensen may be that option, but I genuinely believe Skipp will be a world class player and a regular England starter within the next few years. Brilliant.

On an off-topic note - cut my teeth on the Amiga and develop commercial software these days. What a machine! You probably know this, but SWOS developer Jon Hare is an avid Norwich supporter...

I have no idea how anyone could have watched today's match and think we were lucky to win it. Bizarre!

Thanks for the reply. For what it's worth, in general I think you are a really good poster and more than likely I over-reacted to some heat-of-the-moment posts in the match thread, so I do apologise for that as it was pretty unnecessary on my part. However, there has definitely been a repeated theme of posts and commentary regarding Farke making poor substitutions, not being aware of the depth he has on the bench, or being stubborn and unwilling to make substitutions to bring fresh legs on. To me, these are basics which every elite coach must be aware of - and IMO, given his track record, he deserves a little more benefit of the doubt. Look - I know we all get frustrated and non-plussed at his "passive" approach to substitutions at times, and I do understand this viewpoint if we were losing games, or not in the position we are in the league table. But, I really do find it flabbergasting that people really think Farke is missing an obvious trick given his track record and our current league position, and consider it far more likely he knows a hell of a lot more about what he needs to do to get out of this division that we do.

This is the point. Farke has a method, a plan. The team is superfit. He plays his best 11. If they don't shape up they don't play. They are drilled and organised. He is squeezing every drop of competitive advantage. Rotation weakens this. Premature substituitions weaken this.

And we haven't conceded a first half goal at Carrow Rd for 628 minutes (longest run in 70 years!)....and our longest unbeaten run at home (15 games) for 35 years!

I think the clue is in your question: when we are " winning narrowly" Farke is reticent to upset the balance of the team if it doesn't look like we are going to concede. He tends to make substitutions if we are chasing a winner, or a well on top, or because of player injury/excessive fatigue. Remember the home game v Coventry when we lost 2 points after substitutions. So far he has an excellent record on substitutions so I for one am happy to endorse it.

I think what is left to say is that if it doesn't work next time, then it would be fair to criticise the tactics then. Is that fair to all? i must admit I use the old cliche of one game at a time. Its all about the performance on the day. Say what you see at the time. If we play well then say so and praise them. If we play poorly, then criticise. Don't defend the indefensible but don't find fault when there is none..

No. It's not called projection. Happy to help.

I can’t see how the decision to delay the substitutions can be criticised. Maybe we would have done better had they been made, maybe we would have done worse but one thing is for sure. We wouldn’t have gained any extra points! When you’re losing then yes, make substitutions to change the game and hopefully turn it in your favour. It’s worth a go. When you’re winning why take any risks, unless it looks like the game is slipping away? Farke clearly felt comfortable that the players on the pitch would be able to stop Rotherham from scoring. He was right.

Rotherham made five changes and they still lost.........

Darts player Kevin "The Artist" Painter has been in takeover talks 😉

Get St John's Ambulance on standby; this post could cause aneurysm to a couple of posters on here.

I would have made the same decisions as Farke: The game was finely balanced. Changes could turn the game in our favour. They could turn the game in Rotherham's favour (if we don't get settled quick enough). Rotherham wern't particularly dangerous outside set pieces, so it wasn't urgent to make a change. The only obvious change was Vrancic coming off. You have two options: like-for-like with Dowell or change our shape (e.g. Tettey). Being frank, Dowell has not really shown he's capable of controlling the game yet. Further, he's not particularly workman like and from what little we've seen not that great in the air (bizarrely Mario isn't too bad in the air). Bringing Tettey on breaks the balance of the midfield and we saw that at the end where we just were trying to play out the minutes. Besides Tettey is notoriously awful defending set pieces and that was arguably Rotherham's biggest threat. Another change was bringing Pukki off - but he was still getting sniffs at goal and I'd much rather him upfront than Idah (with the greatest respect to Adam, he's unlikely to fashion a chance on his own). Also, Rotherham wern't playing out from the back much, so there was little chasing for Pukki to do. The only other change was to take one of Cantwell or Buendia off (taking both would really stymie our creativity). Buendia is a workhorse so it didn't feel necessary. Cantwell is our weakest player in the air and has lower stamina than the other midfielders. But he was arguably our best player on the ball second half and the one most controlling the flow. You could have brought Hernandez on, but he does give the ball away and has less discipline than Cantwell. Rupp was probably the obvious choice as he's tidy on the ball, won't give it away and is better defensively. Neither would have particularly helped defending set pieces however. In short, I'd have made the same changes as Farke. Though I'd space them out more for game management purposes.

No problem with disagreement, and I don't have to resort to insults to get my point across. What I do have is a problem with fans who seem to think someone like Farke doesn't know the basics of football management, like game management and making substitutions and proclaim it in such an arrogant and condescending manner. As you say, it's a discussion forum and you are free to make whatever criticisms you like. Equally, I believe that makes me able to call such people out whenever I think it is appropriate. Or do you think you are free to say whatever you like without people responding? If you think that makes me a "berk" then I think that perhaps you are the one who doesn't understand the concept of discussion within a forum.

Irrelevant, Brentford won the league a week and a half ago...

We won 1-0. We're top of the league by 7 points! He wants his best players on the pitch for a longer time.

Yep Amazing how it’s always the ref, fact we can’t put a game to bed

Yes he is... "How do you spell hairband..."

If half his foots over the line where’s the other half ?

Gah, Hourihane is becoming a massive pain in the ****.

Care to revise your ridiculous opinion?

Brentford stop taking the knee - promptly lose three games in a row. I imagine they'll soon start taking the knee again. 🙂

Elvis Hammond

Can't agree with that! Was never going to happen for him here in that he just was'nt cut out to be main striker on his own in a Hughton style team. Would have been great in a Farke team.

Saham? ....near Watton I believe

Amusing as it may be to refer back to rather rash posts from years ago, and it is, is this a serious claim that the £'s value is positive indicator of the UK's welbeing? It is totally unsurprising that the UK has had the largest fall in economic output and the highest death rate of any comparable country. The reason can be found in the three big drags on the economy: Covid, Brexit & ten years of Conservative austerity. The economy was already hollowed out before Brexit and Covid with low wages, low skills, low investment, declining public services and rising inequality. Many refuse to except this and hide behind the virus and it's impacts. Sunak is shielding this with massive public borrowing. The markets are betting on the vaccine rollout bringing the UK a earlier recovery than other nations led by a consumer boom of pent up demand. For reasons above this is likely to be short lived and rather make the economy worse rather than better. As soon as Sunak stops the furlough scheme redundancies will let rip. Those without savings will suffer most and inequality will rise. The negative impact of Brexit on UK productivity will then be more evident. Other nations will catch up vaccine wise and an over valued £ will only hinder UK exporters who are already struggling with the massive increase of paperwork when trading with the UK's major partner.

Quite a few on this forum are demanding Dowell to start. What is it about Dowell that makes people think he's so good ?? - when his poor performances suggest otherwise. Is it because he's from Everton or is it the video clips of him scoring against "open" defences ? With the pack hard on our coat-tails it's not a time to play the "dirt-trackers" - we can't afford to drop any points whatsoever. Opposition clubs are setup to press and defend against you in title chasing situations, not play openly as if against a bottom half team. Totally different - can Dowell cope with a defence set out like a checker board ? The opposition will not be backing off and letting you run at them. Vrancic although out of position, has shown that he has the skill to be productive in this environment. If there is a better player available than Vrancic then fair enough - but there is too much noice on here for a sub-standard player to start just because of his reputation. Rotherham are going to be tough - could be just one priceless goal in it so it could take one piece of magic to get pass them - you don't sacrifice points for the sake of giving reserves gametime ! Someone please enlighten me !

After arguably the best overall performances of the season (taking into the conditions on Wednesday) why would anyone want to change the team? Just my opinion but I don’t think you can change a team that’s performed so well over the last couple of matches.

I tend to go with it's a 'team ' game and we are better than the sum of its parts. All players compliment each other at present and offer different things. I would leave as is and only change if somebody is having a stinker. As you note Dowell is yet to impress yet we know what Vrancic is capable of too many times to quote and is very often the link up or indeed critical pass. A couple of less eye catchy games will soon pass. Leave well alone! 3 points please.