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If these two don't make them want to change their mind and go back to America then nothing will.

**** gives interview to another ****. Shock horror.

People warned weeks ago we were in a false league position based on the teams we’d played when we were 2nd but some people refused to believe the cold truth, that was obvious to most who have a modicum of football knowledge, that we were miles off where we needed to be. Mid table is about right with the standard we’ve been shown.

Ignoring somebody only to click on the option to read what you wanted to ignore and then reply to it. Brilliant. 😂

Here it is:

If we’re going to start on people’s driving habits: - Drivers who sit in the middle lane. Even worse are those who sit in lane three on a four lane motorway. My blood pressure is rising as I type this 😡😡😡 - People who don’t follow lane markings on roundabouts but do their best to drive in a straight line. - Motorway drivers who overtake you and then slow down, forcing you to then overtake them. Extra points if they do it again a few minutes later. - Motorway drivers who catch you up in a faster lane, then sit on your shoulder, matching your speed so you are forced to brake if you need to move past a slower vehicle in your lane. - Drivers who sit in the middle of the road at a junction blocking cars behind them turning the other way. - Drivers who don’t realise that if they have their front side lights on, that doesn’t mean their rear lights are in, so are barely visible in twilight or fog (obviously dependent on the model of car). Why is this even possible? - Ditherers at junctions, roundabouts especially. They end up sticking out into the road as they can’t resist edging out every few seconds. I could go on… I used to drive 25,000+ miles a year, mainly for work. I must have become less tolerant during lockdown because it I had to do it now, I think I would self-combust. …. and breath …

Like many/ most (?), I am far from convinced about Smith but I agree that given our history dismissal at this stage seems unlikely. I suspect most disinterested parties would consider it "harsh." If the poor form continued into December and we dropped out of the top 6, it could be a different story however. Smith has really nailed his colours to the mast by saying that "we have to be a different animal when we come back:" if we are not, a pretty quick sacking would be justified as he will have demonstrated that he is unable to do anything about it.

I’m sorry but I don’t get the argument that we should be doing better with the group of players we have. Who are these quality players we have? We have a bunch of players who have failed hopelessly twice in the premier league. Probably many of them don’t want to go back there and many are out of contract next year as well. Confidence is brittle as you would expect from a team that concede over 80 goals last season. I’m unclear on who people are referring to when people say we have too much quality we simply don’t. We have lots of good championship players hence we are a good championship team hovering around the playoffs.

Doubt some of our woke fans would accept him ...we've fans who took offence to a gambling firm's advert

Webber has spent the last couple of weeks having off-the-record chats with potential managers to replace Smith and has reached a gentleman's agreement with someone more inspiring, Smith is sacked today, the new manager joins the players in Tampa, and has three weeks to work with them and pass on his vision. In our universe, Webber has been buying his mountaineering gear, Smith has been buying dollars, Delia's in her wine cellar, and the club has been finalising two more codes of conduct for fans who ask awkward questions and aren't decorous enough during match days.

Thought it would be interesting to look at where we were sat when we made previous managerial changes... Farke- sacked while 20th in the Premier League Alex Neil- sacked while 8th in the league, 9 points off the top 6 Neil Adams- resigned while 7th and 3 points off the play offs Chris Hughton- sacked while 17th, 5 points above relegation Bryan Gunn- sacked while 24th in League One after one game Glenn Roeder- sacked while 21st in the Championship Peter Grant- resigned while 22nd in the Championship Nigel Worthington- sacked while 17th in the Championship The obvious point here is that sacking a manager currently sat in the the top 6 and 6 points off 2nd would be a fairly sizable departure from our historic way of doing things, certainly when there is still more than half a season to go. We're a club with a tradition of giving managers time (at times too much of it!) and I can totally understand the argument from the clubs perspective that right now we're very much in the promotion mix which would likely have been the aim at the start of the season, even if I'm underwhelmed by some of the results/performances.

Bees make honey. Wasps make marmite. Nuff said

This a bit OT for a NCFC forum mind 😂

Both said Utd players off to the World Cup over other players is a joke. Rashford rather than Toney particularly.

Officially, I believe the Last Post was only played where there was a cenotaph or monument to the dead. Originally it was only to signal inspections but has used since WWI as a symbol of respect to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. The two minute silence was not originally just a silence but a halt to all activity which would naturally include a silence. Its not meant to be a pain in the aris and reluctantly observed but a tribute that should gratefully given

Brexit ‘to blame for austerity budget’, as London stock market overtaken by Paris – business live https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/nov/14/joules-administrators-cost-of-living-business-confidence-recession-rightmove-business-live Lisa Abramowicz @lisaabramowicz1 London has lost its rank as Europe’s biggest stock market to Paris. The gap between the two markets has been narrowing since the Brexit vote in 2016. https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-14/london-loses-its-crown-of-biggest-european-stock-market-to-paris… 9:41 am · 14 Nov 2022·Twitter Web App

If anything this season reminds me of the next season with Adams. We started off very well but gradually started to drift, had a top squad for the level that everyone agreed was underperforming and it never felt like we were going to catch fire with him in charge.

To follow the metaphor through: it's always going to be the same animal unless you change its head. We really do need to be a different animal so there's only one course of action.

Nobody, just nobody can argue with that analysis of what went on Saturday. Smith and his gang of sidekicks overflowing in the home dugout are and were aabsolutely clueless.

Totally on-board with this. And appreciate your posts as not being like the binary and reactionary stuff posted on most subjects. I can't work out how much of this poor form (running back into Farke's time) is due to the manager/s or this group of players as a unit. It's been a running theme throughout the season that we have a period of domination in the game followed by a totally unfathomable malaise. The pendulum swings in every game and no one can expect to dominate for the entirety, but how much is caused by on-pitch decisions as opposed to overall strategy? While the Barclay cheered Sara's name he totally forgot he needed to cover for Max Aarons, just as a for instance. These are on-pitch issues that are not something a manager can solve, it's not u10s football.

I think the title is wrong. These are not sobering stats, they are reasons not to be sober!

I suppose it should be regarded as an achievement that he took his hands out of his pockets.

Hayden is one of the reasons I hold out some hope for the rest of the season. Although his fitness isn't yet 100%, he is the only player in the squad with the natural nous to sit at the back of midfield a la Tettey and break up the play. He's strong, he's a ball winner, and he's shown in flashes that he has the potential to fill that DM gap that has been so glaring for so long. Having that at our disposal should mean more turnovers of possession, quicker shuttling of the ball to the more creative midfield players, and the potential for the fullbacks to get forward more quickly and more often (we saw this in the first half against QPR).

Totally agree. Really regular good performers you have Pukki, Sargent, Ramsey, McLean, Aarons, and Hanley who stand out for me. Giannioulis is pretty decent. Cantwell, Sara, Nunez, Hayden, MacAllum, Byram, are all curate's eggish in that they all have flashes like there's more to come from them with time and work. That's the limit of the standout/half way stand out players for me. The idea that this is a group that should be world beaters, or even Championship beaters, without some serious work is just nonsense.

Anyone of our starting XI pretty much walks straight into a team in this league. It's not about the potential of our players. The issue is they are being held back by a manager who for some reason just cannot get them to play. Sometimes it happens in football and it's happened to far better coaches than Smith. Unfortunately he needs to go sooner rather than later.

Honestly, if robins hadn't played for us would anyone be looking at him?? Loads of managers out there. Let's look wider

It’s totally not bs. I’ll explain why it’s not, all wins give 3 points but not all teams are of equal quality. You still get 3 points for beating the 24th side as you do for beating the 1st side. If a team beats the bottom 3 they get the same points as a team that beats the top 3 but which team would you say is strongest? Everyone with common sense would say the one who’s beaten the top 3 is the better side by the weight of quality of opponents beaten. I’m sure you understand that concept. You can think we’ve been soft if you wish but 2 seasons ago at this level we only conceded 36 goals in the entire season when we are at 23 now and we are not even half way through. Our recruitment in midfield absolutely has been woeful. Although I hold hope for Gibbs, Hayden, Sara and Nunez.

Stats don’t matter, if he was walking any tightrope before the World Cup he’d be gone today. Webber is clearly behind him and I think his stubbornness will see Smith here till the end of the season where no promotion will probably see them both gone with big restructuring for the club.

For all the hate they get they produce some of the most watchable content of the club. We’re lucky to have them.

Defensive central midfield - We only have Hayden. Creative central midfield - Nunez, Sara, Dowell, Sinani and Cantwell are inconsistent from one moment to the next.

Can you imagine if an England player actually knew enough about history to say this kind of thing at all ... ?

Was probably me!

Bit hard for most European nations to gripe about stealing resources from Africa, to be fair.

And now China is going and ""colonising"" lots of Africa via unpayable debt traps and resource stealing as you said, yet oddly enough hardly anybody seems to care about it and I think we all know it's going to end very badly for Africa and the african people in the long run

True but this applies to all Championship teams and most (if not all) do not have the bloated squad number we do. We should be able to 'rotate' for example. Others do not have that luxury quite probably?

There's only so much training they can do as you as the body needs to recover in order for the adaptations to occur and fitness to improve. Just as important will be training the mind; there seems to be a mental fragility with the current players and the Head Coach! Hopefully this is also scheduled in the programme.

Drivers that use rear fog lights, despite me being able to see the tail lights of a car 500 yards in front of them, Grrr

I hate it when people quote a really long post, but this is so brilliant I'm just bumping it to the top of the board so anyone who hasn't read it can. A really clear-eyed assessment of our current squad.

This is a long post and is fairly challenging. My apologies to those who might find it also tedious. I have been lurking more or less undetected in this Forum for over a year – and I still know nothing about football in general or NCFC except what I read here. What I do read is often interesting and stimulating. Mr Parma and the Purple One are amongst half a dozen others right at then top of the scale by both criteria, for which due thanks, sirs, and to your like-minded colleagues. You know who you are. Parma's original posting is full of the sort of insight into the workings of the NCFC which makes fascinating reading. From my own experience I wonder if a rather wider viewpoint might be useful. WARNING – it contains Management Consultancy Speak, so if you don’t like that look away now (you probably won’t waste much of your life if you do). When I read the letters in this Forum I think I see evidence of a troubled and schismatic organisation, failing to motivate and energise its employees; failing to meet the expectations of its customers and inside which there are both blame laying and evasion of responsibility. If that is the case maybe it is worthwhile to consider how this might have happened and what if anything is possible to be done about it. Now for the Consultancy Speak: Every successful organisation has a clear purpose which is known to everybody involved. This purpose must be set by those who lead the company Once this is known then Constancy of Purpose is vital If the purpose is seen as important and valuable, employee motivation and voluntary energisation comes with the territory. If the purpose is known, clearly understood and valued by the employees they have no need to ask anybody what to do, they already know. The Management’s job is then to make it easier to do this than do anything else. · If the leaders of the organisation consider a change of purpose, any decision to do so is fraught with potentially serious difficulties and should only be made after very deep thought and diligent analysis. · Once the decision is made, several actions are essential: - o The new purpose must be made clear to everybody in the organisation itself and equally importantly to the customers o The whole organisational structure must be analysed and if necessary reordered to meet the new situation o This is very likely to mean changes both to management personnel and processes. o It will also probably mean replacement or retraining of all or some of the workforce o This will certainly mean trauma to all concerned. o It is also highly likely to cause animosity and resentment. This is where I step away from relatively comfortable ground and enter the unfamiliar (to me) land of NCFC. In doing so I rely solely on all those who post on here. If I am mistaken in my inferences I know I can rely on your wise and generous corrections. I think you have told me that until just a few years ago the owners’ purpose was that NCFC would be in the top 26 football clubs in England and Purpose always decides behaviour. Maybe I can purloin and comprehensively misquote a certain statement from elsewhere, which I hope is pertinent:- “We play good football here. We will win if we can, lose if we must – but we will always play good football” Several things follow from such a Corinthian stance: - Many supporters (the customers) have enjoyed these values and would like to see a return to them Achieving 26th position is a success, 27th is a failure Such a wide target zone gives a lot of scope to be recognised as successful Within these criteria Daniel Farke was successful The same breadth of possible acceptable outcomes allows for properly ethical behaviour both in the Boardroom and on the pitch NCFC customers have traditionally valued this behaviour. Maybe for you it is a “Unique Selling Point”? (It would be for me, but what do I know?) Then, if I have understood it correctly, the purpose was somehow changed to “We will always be a Premier League Club”. On the face of it this is a relatively small and subtle change from a field of 26 to one of 20 and so does not make much difference but I wonder if you agree with me that this is by no means so, because Purpose always decides behaviour. In the EPL the behaviour is different because the purpose is different. This post is already long enough and I doubt whether there is any need to expound on the egregious financial, moral and ethical mores of EPL clubs, which you probably know more about than I do. However, is that the environment in which you want your club to exist? If that scene is desirable then the present behaviour must change, the now inappropriate leadership must change, the management must change, the employees must change and the customers must be content with the outcome. When the purpose of NCFC was seemingly changed did anybody look into the necessary concomitant changes to support the essential revision of management structure? In this revised context Daniel Farke was judged a failure. Did he ever have a chance? Does Dean Smith now? In business it is always fatal to allow ambition to exceed capability. If you have the ambition you must provide the capability. (For confirmation refer to Icarus). You can be sure that this is familiar territory for Michael Attenasio. It will be most interesting to see how he deals with it. The picture I have in my head of NCFC is of a man standing with one foot on a boat and the other on the bank while the skipper has just cast off the mooring ropes. His choices are to jump either way or fall in the water. My best to all, DJD

I'm not sure it is that much worse to be honest, Portugal was the largest trafficker of African slaves for example...

Oooh, I've never loathed a sports personality as much as I do Verstappen! Good driver, but a whining brat with not a gram of class or grace.

I also wonder if this break is also a reason they are thinking not to sack Smith. If they believe in him you can argue a break where he can work on his tactics and tempo with the whole squad may be just what he needs. Preseason he didn't have a chance to involve Sara, Hayden and Nunez and we also Rashica as part of our plans at that point. I'm not advocating for it but I can see the argument that if he can get his squad fit and better drilled through this break then we may come out looking different but I think it may turn pretty quickly if we come out slowly in December.

I think everything was just crammed into such a short space of time, and they probably did too much. We had the armed forces veterans come out on the side of the pitch, Attannasio introduced to the fans (this should probably have been done at half time), the 'minutes silence'. The game then kicked off at 15.06.

We are never all going to agree so I will chuck in my two penneth. For me the reason we aren't Burnley is simply coaching. I don't wish to keep banging the same drum but Deano is not doing well with our club. That is a fact. I don't think I have read so many negative posts about any coach when we are in the top six. That tells me something for a start. And lets not get into the some are miserable and some are happy argument. Its irrelevant. What we witnessed Saturday was the first four or five minutes of Boro showing us how they would play. We then took control with pacy, attacking football with Ramsey and Sara linking well, Kenny bursting forward and Hayden doing what we wanted and sitting comfortably. We scored, could of had another and then the lights went out. What happened? We all saw it. We took our boot off Boro's throat and let them dictate for virtually the rest of the game. Then we had to revert to our two attacking midfield players having to chase Boro players. Neither of them are good at that. The diamond formation showed its limitations as McCallum came under pressure having to mark two players at times and they overlapped him at will. We all saw it so why didn't our coach? And we all know a decent side can score against us and it was no surprise when they equalised. And the game then turned completely apart from a brief episode thanks to Max attacking them.Then the, for me anyway, embarrassing substitutions was the final straw. The ridiculous change of Teemu for Onel was bad enough and I accept Sarge was probably injured and they didn't want to ruin his WC, but to see poor old Hugill looking like a bull looking for a Matador in the hope that he could lay it off to Hanley was farcical. That wasn't a coach with a plan, that was clueless, desperate and pathetic. I feel we have some good players who have showed they can play but only in patches. We need them to be coached by someone who has a plan or tactic like Carrick has given Boro. I don't think Deano can.

You are very perceptive and clearly know the club very well! The bit in italics is very pertinent. That guy they paraded in front of a camera to deny any 'disconnect' was a clear case in point as is (of course) the absurd banning of the local media. Unfortunately we know that it could be many months before any action is taken re D Smith (manager). Only when it's mathematically impossible to at least reach the play offs might the 'powers that be' decide that something needs to be done. Bet we'll get the blame though for 'creating a poisonous atmosphere' and 'not getting behind Dean and Craig' or some such rubbish like that!

Again unseasonably warm here in Norwich so still no need for woolly hat and gloves for the ride down to CR. It was announced that Mark Attanasio was here with his family and they received generous applause when introduced to the crowd. Before kick off we were treated to a splendid Rememberance Day rendition of The Last Post from a member of the City staff and as the last strains died away I couldn't help but wonder if there might not be something of a prophetic message hidden here. Boro certainly began with a bang and a City player had barely touched the ball before a cross from the right was nodded narrowly over the bar. I was aware that Boro had come into a run of good form and from the off they looked neat and tidy and comfortable in possession. City finally got some decent play going after five minutes when Ramsey got the better of a tackle in centre field and made progress towards goal. Pukki was available to his left and a nice ball left him with a chance that on other days he would have netted with ease but he's lost a bit of sharpness this season and could only direct the ball at the keepers legs and away. A couple of minutes later the lively Sara combined with Max down the City right and a cut back slipped beyond Pukki only for Kenny to clip the ball across to Sargent who's powerful low strike found the far corner. City were buzzing now and the visitors needed all hands to the pump to prevent a second goal. More neat play down the right led to Ramsey dragging the ball past a couple of defenders before unleashing an on target effort that Steffen in the Boro goal could only parry and a defender had to nod away with Pukki lurking. A good opening twenty minutes ought to have brought more than one goal but Boro survived the onslaught and began to get the reward for some decent possession. Thankfully crosses in to the box were being well dealt with by the City central defence at this stage but the margin of comfort was rather slim. The home side still appeared to carry the greater threat in front of goal and Sara nearly sneaked a second when turning on Kenny's knockdown and scuffing the ball just over the top. You could feel thethe crowd beginning to get edgey as the balance of play continued to alter in Boro's favour and I for one was more than happy to herarthe halftime whistle and preserve the lead. I expect they got a bit of a rocket in the dressing room because they set off the second period at a faster clip and only a flying save by Steffen prevented Josh Sargent from nailing a second. Unfortunately the home side couldn't sustain it and Boro were soon back dominating proceedings as the City were forced to back pedal. A couple of times crosses went right across the City six yard line without anyone getting a touch and it was plain to see something had to give. Only a brilliant interception by Sara saved the day as Boro strikers were lining up on a cut back from the right. I don't try to second guess tactics but it seemed to me that we needed a better grip in midfield where Boro were now totally dominant, indeed at times it looked like a Premier team toying with a Championship side. A change had to come and on the hour Onel replaced Pukki. I doubt if I was the only one bemused by this decision for it did nothing to alter the direction of travel. Five minutes later the inevitable equaliser came and nobody present could deny that it was fullty deserved. A nothing ball into midfield was picked up by Howson and he quickly found McGree who volled a glorious strike into the top corner leaving Gunn with no chance. I could only see the game going one way after this although to their credit, with Cantwell and Gianoullis coming on for Ramsey and McCallum we did look a little more dangerous. Sara had a shot brilliantly turned away by Steffen and the Max Aarons effort from inside the box whizzed just the wrong side of the post. The Onel really should have done better when put in on the left but tried one too many swerves and lost the ball. With six minutes added there was still time but for a long while I had felt that it would be our net that bulged and it duly transpired as two Boro players came away down the right against one defender and when a hard low cross came in I wasn't surpised to see Crooks turn it past Gunn from close range. Boro players naturally milked the time added but even so Onel had another great opportunity but nobody was shocked when he blazed it wide. Hanley went up front for the final knockings but this is not a season where the ball falls kindly for late goals to be scored and on the balance of play today Boro were good value for their win. I repeat what I said a couple of weeks ago, this doesn't look to me like a team that is going to win automatic promotion although playoffs remain possible. Far too many points are being lost from winning positions and too many decent chances are being squandered. And I still don't understand the thinking in the first round of substitutions. Sara my MOM, Max was also good today. McCallum got caught out in the second half and Ramsey seems to fade out of things once we go on the back foot. What Attanasio thought I can't imagine but that Last bloody Post turned out to be prophetic after all.

We could be. We could have been back then. There's been a lot of criticism about Smith not being a continuation of Farke but in truth that continuation was already off track when we started life without Emi. Both with the signings and systems post Emi transition has proved difficult for Farke, Webber and Smith.

Can’t stand Chris Reeve, his sycophancy in front of guests and name dropping makes it almost unwatchable - but to be fair this is huge

It's simply not possible to play at that pace for 90 minutes, regardless of what they plan. It's why teams put their foot on the ball, passing sideways and back. 'Resting on the ball' is a huge part of the game and a massive part of how Farke was able to dominate this league. Remember all those late goals? It was because we'd reserved more energy than our opponents by making them chase shadows for 90 minutes. Football is about so much more than just running around at a high intensity. You have to be intelligent about how and when you spend your energy.