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The man who brought us Farke, cleared our debts, achieved promotion well before anyone considered possible, and has improved the club's real estate and player's training facilities to top PL standard. Yes! He should be sacked if you know of a director of football who has a blemish free record and something that approaches Webber's. So the answer is no.

A little while ago Mr Parma was kind enough to refer to an earlier post of mine: - "@Don J Demorr pointed out the key roles of Boards and Non-Executive Boards was and is to recognise capability, capacity, sporting and financial ceilings and apply strategy and tactics accordingly." Yes, I did but perhaps the circumstances are much more complicated than we can deal with in a simple one-shot response in these limited pages. I will try to broaden the discussion in a manner that doesn’t intrude into the world of football, of which I know little. I’ll just look at the more normal field of working in or on organisational structures, wherein I think maybe I can get away with pretending to know at least something. As the redoubtable Parma implies, such people apply their skills in the service of their employers. As such, they will certainly have Contracts of Employment and maybe also Terms of Reference. These control and constrain their actions. I would be fascinated to know whether these have been changed since the apparent change of purpose from “Top 26” to “Top 17” (Thanks for the improvement here, Mr Essex). I think they should have been if they haven’t because the purpose has changed and purpose defines behaviour. Maybe what is taking place is an unexplained behavioural change. In the “Top 26” space Mr Farke felt free to achieve his appointed objective whilst playing attractive and admired football. Once the “Top 17” becomes the governing constraint the motivation changes and the accumulation of points rules above all else. After the change he was no longer free because the club sought to join the whole egregious charade of money dominated elite “sport”, which is no longer sport at all. He “failed” in these terms and was dismissed. The EPL is only one element of the whole spectrum of professional sport which is now almost defined in terms of financial and ethical corruption, bribery, chemically enhanced performance, cheating, pressurisation or suborning of officials, simulation, gambling and general foul play. It is now becoming beneath contempt, in my view and I can’t watch much of it these days. I wonder if the Terms of Reference of Dean Smith and Stuart Webber include any requirement for them to provide “Attractive Football”. If they don’t and if they are to be deemed to have failed because of their failure to gather “points” then it would not be surprising if that influenced their behaviour. Purpose defines behaviour. So it looks as if the NCFC corporate objective is to garner “points”. In direct contrast the vociferous cohort of Carrow Road customers are not protesting about the lack of points, they are becoming incandescent about the banality of the on-field product, which, seems to be "neither nowt nor summat”, as my grandad would have said. I think there is indeed strong evidence of a serious disconnection within NCFC between what looks like an inadequately understood, planned and resourced ambition of somebody in authority (who, exactly?) and the paying customers, which is displayed as profound public dissatisfaction with two people who are possibly (or possibly not, how could I know?) the victims of poor corporate management. Maybe the objective is laid on them without being supported by the financial, personnel, planning or organisational resources for success to be possible. If indeed they are victims it follows that the removal either or both of them will change nothing - just as nothing changed when Daniel Farke was dismissed. A wonderful Norfolk neighbour, who is even older than I am and has been a dedicated Canary for more than 70 years gave me the opinion (I won’t attempt to reproduce his accent) that: - “ I don’t know what they're all a-playin’ at. We hint no more than a damn good Second Division team. Why don’t we just all settle down and play some good football” Best to all, Don

I think the big thing to note from that table regarding the 2 big outliers at the top (Boro and WBA) is that both those sides started off very poorly and have now started to pick up under new managers. Both of their previous managers were sacked due to this underperformance, and the new managers seem to be getting their teams up the league which is where you would say their squads belong. Their big problems early on was the simple fact they kept on conceding the first goal. Baseball, the most data efficient sport, has 162 games per season and each player will come to the plate maybe 500 times a year. The data set for that can therefore equal out over time. Basketball, a more similar game to football in the sense that it's an 'invasion' sport, will see at least 80+ shots per game in an 82 game season. In Norwich's games this season there has been on average 25 shots per game. The average goals per game this season in the championship is 2.44, conceding 1 stacks the odds against you winning that game right away. It's why looking at xG in a vacuum can be bad. If a team started every game 1-0 down then they would probably have a very good xG, owing to the fact their opponents would have less reason to attack when they have a lead to sit on. Over the course of the season the xG table and league table will converge to a strong degree but there will always be a few outliers. xG basically posits the theory that if you have more shots, in better positions, than your opponents then you will have a better chance of winning the game. Unfortunately (and fortunately!) football really isn't that easy, in fact the beauty of football is probably how unfair it is. If we wanted the game to be truly fair we would have long seasons like baseball, or we would play for longer than 90 minutes, or even play until a side has a 3 goal lead. All these would be 'fairer' barometers for ranking the best teams but that's not the way the sport works. There's 2 points I'd raise against this. 1. xG is generally a good way of assessing team performance, if you were a manager putting together your side then you might have Le Tissier in the team scoring from distance, but what if he gets injured? You'd much rather a side which created 5 shots inside the box than outside of it. 2. While you can remember the great goals Le Tissier scored, what you probably won't remember is the number of shots that went into row Z. Over time I'm sure it would've balanced out in terms of xG.

Every time I’ve seen him this season, he’s worked his socks off…. Has been our best pressing option all season yet still can’t get a game! Be in my first eleven, no doubt! Good work on and off the park, top man!

Brilliantly laid out and reasoned FDW. I agree. I think people calling for wholesale sweeping change are passionate but certainly push the argument too far. Those that suggest the club is badly run largely are poorly informed. If the magic wand was waved overnight, I very much doubt anyone coming here would have to do much to the footballing side of the infrastructure. We have a fantastic set up and we have an academy that is helping to identify youth targets to add to those here and bring them through with the real potential to contribute to the senior squad. Financially, we don't do badly either, from what I can make out of the accounts, in terms of generating income as a club away from TV rights etc. Much of that is due to the passionate supporters on match days at Carrow Road and then spending money on non-match days for merch or in one of the clubs restaurants as well as evenings with speakers such as ex players etc. I've said elsewhere that I would give Webber the chance to put it right with the managers position. As we know, these things are not an exact science. I really do believe that Farke and Webber arrived at the perfect moment of next to no expectations, a new young manager and a young director of football in a new system that had been mentioned in the years prior (as early as Worthington I believe, I think Hamilton was meant to make that step up and Worthington to operate as a head coach). First season was ropey and folks heavily criticised those involved that first season. They were ruthless though. And I think it's fair to say that both Farke and Webber could be utterly ruthless and save no time for sentiment. That can cut both ways but for the most part the players that departed only had good things to say about it all. I still hold to the issue not being Farke going, hindsight is a wonderful beast, and we only really lament his departure because the feeling is he wouldn't have done any worse than Smith last season (in getting us relegated at least), but that he would have gotten us performing better this season. We don't know that and can never predict that. For me, the two biggest questions come around the contract given to Farke and then Smith's appointment. At the time I didn't have an issue with Smith being appointed. Certainly no worse than Lampard who was known to have been lined up for an interview but cancelled when it was clear we were after Smith. The only area where I think things may be more progressed than we realise is with Attanasio. Purple may be able to shed more light on this, or even perhaps Parma. My personal feelings are that there is simply no way that they were in discussions for somewhere between 4-6 months on just some investment. I think there is more to this, I think there is a road map, a plan. Aggressive take-overs are a desperate thing, they can divide people. When you consider the nature of the fanbase that are committed to home and away support in person, you wouldn't want to wreck that by bulldozing your way in. I believe the vast majority of the support have a lot of time for Delia and Michael and the hard work they have put into the club along with their passion, blood, sweat and tears etc. I feel most though, do feel it is time for that chapter to come to a close and for someone else to take the rains. Again, it doesn't have to be nasty, and I don't think Attanasio wants it to be. It would not shock me at all if this time next year we are talking about Attanasio and his company being the owners of our club, it really wouldn't. It might take longer, but I think the plan is there, and that it could be sped up if the powers that be felt it was time for change. Lastly, spend. It's interesting to see people talking about a loan that is offset against future payments for players and parachute payments etc. Many criticising how this impacts our spending whilst these payments are directed into paying back the loan. It was exactly the sort of thing people were demanding in years gone by, such as our first promotion with Webber and Farke, to generate funds to spend on the playing staff. Perhaps now, people will see how that can make a risky situation even more so.

Welcome to Rays Funds, supported by Turner European Consulting and Cavell Healthcare. I hope you all have the best Christmas. You PUPs are having a brilliant December where despite the reduced selection you’ve added more money than any other month. Have a wonderful time with your family and friends. And of course our massive thanks and a Merry Christmas to PUPanon2 and our wonderful sponsors Turner European Consulting and Cavell Healthcare. This week we have @twidio in our Christmas final six hot seat. Twidio’s having yet another good season with 13/19 68% winning picks at a profitability of 1.8. He’s also a previous final six winner so let’s help him find a festive winning six with our very best selections from the games played on Sat, Sun or Mon of this weekend that are listed on Bet 365. There’s a full programme on Boxing Day but are also games on Saturday and even Christmas Day for those who like the obscure hunting grounds. I’ll be making the final selections for City’s game at Luton on Boxing Day. So please help me with some great options that are listed on Bet 365 or Bill Hill. For more information on our sponsors take a look at their websites below :- http://www.turnereuropeanconsulting.com/ https://www.cavellhealthcare.co.uk/ Now I’ll hand the thread over to Twidio. Remember there’s no pressure because we are all going to be doing our best to help you to success. We all stand together with the single aim of raising money for the Community Sports Foundation and our fabulous Downs Syndrome and pan-disability boys and girls. Good luck all you PUPs... take it away Ryan the thread is yours.......🙃... ** Hopefully I can add new totals and an updated Arrdee's Honours Board tomorrow when I'm hoping last week's six will be settled... Stop Press... Last week's acca has been settled. It paid £73.15. Well done @gregt now up to four final six wins 👏🥳🎉...

According to this tweet, we've signed Thalisson Gabriel from our feeder club Coritiba. A 20-year-old centre back, has only started one match for them. Fee of around 4m Brazilian real, which is around £650,000. Would make sense, I guess, especially if we're looking to switch to three at the back – with only Gibson, Hanley and Omo having significant first-team experience. Lucas, our Brazilian Canary friend, has been asking about him on Twitter, and one reply said: "Good defender, here at Coritiba he had few opportunities in the professional ranks (also due to his young age and slight physique), but he played a lot of youth football. If he eats protein and pumps some iron, he has everything to become a defender at the level that English football demands." "Good defender, tall and fast," said another. Another said that he thought the transfer fee was too low. In case anyone puts any stock in that kind of thing, here's his FM23 profile. EDIT: he was one of the players who came on trial in the summer, so we've obviously been keeping tabs on him and think he has enough potential to warrant a permanent move.

As I have mentioned before only ill health or worse will prevent me going to Carrow Rd. Norwich City are my team/club for me renewing is not conditional on who is at the helm and the social side of match days is very important to me. After the abysmal showing against Blackburn, we endured 1.5 hours in the cold at Norwich Bus station because the bus we intended to catch did not turn up, "was it worth it?" Mrs Boadicea asked, "if you are just talking about just the game then no, but if you are talking about catching up with friends, the chat, laughs, banter and the sausage and chips before heading for the bus, hell yes" I replied........

Attention seeking poster in attention seeking post about an attention seeker’s attention seeking article shock……🤔

I'm concerned whether his heart will go on if Smith gets the boot.

Yes, Sonyc - we used to call it a "peeing in the welly" document. It makes you feel nice and warm, but.... And, err - "Too old", you say? in 2002 I was already four years into my retirement!

Thank you Shef and Essex. I had not seen this annual report until just now. I have seen similar things before, where the main objective seems to be to make the reader feel warm and comfortable that the far-sighted management has a strong hand on the tiller. For a (very long retired) specialist in the subject matter, whereas I'm sure the intent is wholly well-meant the text is not a strategy (look it up) and there is no plan (look it up). What there is an unquantified directional wish-list of attractive and highly desirable outcomes but there is a very long way to go before the rubber hits the road. These posts are lengthy because you folk are smart people with strong interests and the subject matter is complex. Pleased don't apologise, I am perfectly capable of making it worse! If there is any appetite for it I can deconstruct the Annual Report and provide an analysis of how to get from where you are to where you want to be - but it will be lengthy and hard going in places. All at no cost (except for your time and mine). Don't suppose anybody with any responsibility for the outcome would either be aware of it take any notice if they did, though! Best, D

Thanks @Don J Demorr. Forgive me but my turn to post a long response. If the only corporate strategy is to be Top 17, with the delivery being "points", then my previous concern over corporate governance has really only reared itself a couple of times this season - the executive as you imply continue to deliver. But the difference between delivering on this strategy and not achieving it is now wafer thin and just one bad result away from manifesting. Indeed you could say if Coventry and Millwall win their games in hand, albeit the latter have to by 5 clear goals, we are already outside the play-offs and the strategy looks like being delayed by at least a season. BUT, I thought it interesting to underline why I feel a clear lack of corporate governance has actually caused the delivery of the Club's strategy to be woeful, by reference to the recent annual report that states: "Strategic Plan - Our infinite purpose: To make our football club and community better today than it was yesterday. While we focus on winning on the pitch we must remember that this only represents a moment in time and that every game we play is finite. We must consider our infinite purpose - this reflects a club that has been part of our community to be a part of our community in all the years to come." "Our vision: To be an ESTABLISHED Premier League club, driven by our PROUD, PASSIONATE football community. Achieved by WORKING COLLABORATIVELY to create a FINANCIALLY STABLE CLUB while striving to remain COMPETITIVE through the effective RECRUITMENT and sale of players and the CONTINUED GROWTH of off-field revenues." "Our strategic priorities: To develop our football teams - Improve on-pitch performance and mentality; Create better squad availability, efficiency and value; Prioritise player and coach development and pathways; Increase squad value. To create financial growth - Increase efficiency and profitability across all work areas; Increase player productivity; Maximise controllable income. To develop our people - Encourage professional and personal development; Recruit high performing individuals; Be open to exploring new ideas. To improve the club infrastructure - Improve the experience of everyone we interact with; Improve our physical facilities; Develop our work in safeguarding, EDI, health & safety, and sustainability. To inspire & support our community - Improve community engagement; Boost mental health; Promote social mobility by supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable groups; Drive inclusion for people with disabilities." Words the cynics may say, are just that - words. But the words above are the declared strategy of the club. In my view (and am happy for others to challenge this) but the priorities highlighted above are not being met, if anything the current situation at the club is weakening the chances of them ever being met in a reasonable timeframe with the current Executive. One would hope that corporate governance was strong enough within the club that the Board have a frank and open discussion on the evidence supporting the performance against these priorities with the executives, challenging them on how they propose to reverse the current trends. I'm just not convinced that the Board is able to do this in its current set-up. Attanasio, once fully ingrained in the ways of the club may well do so. If anyone thinks "the football club and community is better" than, say, at the beginning of the last EPL season (no more than 18 months ago) then please present the evidence. As @The Real Buh succinctly states, to achieve the corporate strategy as declared increasingly needs "a root and stem clear out". By re-presenting a couple of strategic priorities this can be done by "recruiting high performing individuals" and be "open to exploring new ideas", I'd argue implying a change in a the executive officers sooner rather than later. Time for Mark & Mike to start stepping up to the plate?

Here’s the man scoring, great close up camera work for the time. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gttNX8C8GfM

20 years ago today since Joe died, I’ll be listening to a lot of The Clash later 👍

He probably has a good idea of what one looks like undressed as well. Biden supports Ukraine so the MAGA right don't support them. And with their proven links to Putin, it comes as no surprise.

So if we don't know what the issues are, why are you so down on him? Every time he has played this season he has worked hard and tried his best within our useless midfield to get passes going at pace. And the long awaited Messiah Hayden has not improved the side at all. No, Todd isn't a DM but Gibbs could be and with him, Todd, Nunez and Ramsey in the middle it would probably improve things.

The lessons of twentieth history are that negotiation with megalomaniac dictators and appeasing them with trade offs of other country's land is precisely the way to create much greater instability and devastation in the near future. Let Hitler take the Sudetenland and a few other bits, and let him stand on his Berlin balcony and declare victory for the German nation, then we can all rest easy in our beds knowing his desires have been sated. The same naivety struck when Putin was allowed to annex parts of Georgia and the Crimea. Putin will never rest while Ukraine remains an independent country, he has made more than enough statements claiming its illegitimacy and its existential threat to Russian security. Allow him victory in Ukraine then you best prepare for war in Moldova and Romania etc, etc. While it is the clear will of the Ukrainian people to defend their homeland, it is the duty of western democratic countries to support its cause with everything in their power. Failure to do so would not only be an ethical failure but a failure in international diplomacy and practical self-interest for all who wish to promote the cause of democracy and self-determination.

I can concur with a lot of that. Also https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/dec/21/brexit-deal-not-boosted-business-uk-firms UKCA marking is just the latest 'cut your nose off to spite your face' absurdity. I can only assume that the so called 'deal' was written by people without the slightest understanding of economics or trade on the UK side. Brexit - A lesson for the world in stupidity.

The thoughts from business on Brexit. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64052849

I think if you want to keep the conversation about Webber, he came in full of bullish frankness and apparent straight talking, rubbishing the previous regime and setting forth a clear vision. Now we have no vision, the club is in full on lockdown against scrutiny (has been since things started to come off the rails) and a lot of what was said by Webber about the previous regime is starting to look familiar about his. The media is now laughably off message, because they have no reason to be on message. Listening to Bailey he quite hilariously clearly doesn’t care anymore which is actually quite refreshing. The Pinkun lads are fair but also scathing of the club in many aspects. Was it worth it, just because egos were bruised? Edit: As for the Attanasio’s I don’t think they care about Webber. You don’t invest in and look to take on a sporting project caring about such short lived things. They aren’t buying Norwich because Webber is here and I suspect at some point they will be more hands on and I can’t see such a savvy businessman being content with such an odd arrangement as we currently have between the Webbers.

It was a choice to sell him. That's a fact. Whether or not keeping him would have reneged on a previously made pledge (though I seem to recall Webber saying in an interview that this wasn't the case) or run a genuine risk of Buendia refusing to play or not putting a shift in, but the fact is he was under contract and we had the ability to reject any and all offers we received for him. Webber chose to accept an offer. He then chose to spend the augmented transfer kitty on quantity over quality (allegedly against Farke's wishes, but that's another topic entirely) and in doing all but guaranteed yet another swift return to the Championship. Though this relegation did not come with the excuse that we'd only spent £750k. We outspent both teams we came up with and made ourselves worse than them. That alone is enough for me to expect Webber's removal. That's before you look at the atrocious handling of Farke's dismissal. Before you question whether sacking him was correct given the fact that it was largely Webber's, not Farke's, failings that caused our malaise. Before you question the unplanned, and now clearly incorrect, appointment of Farke's successor. Before you deal with the fact that many lay people said at the time what a bizarre appointment it was. Before you ponder the toxic environment that has triggered an exodus of off-field staff from the club. Before you consider the commitment issues his Everest campaign inevitably prompt. Before you consider the fact that we massively outspent our two fellow relegated teams in the summer window and yet find ourselves behind both of them. Considerably behind one of them. It's just failure upon failure upon failure for the past 18 months. The damage these failures have caused is huge. Can we really risk allowing him another 6 months to monumentally balls up even more?

You don't sit near me in Block K Row W do you?!! Similar stupid Gibson hater behind me. Last Saturday it was..........'don't give it to him for Christ's sake, he''ll only go and f----ing lose it'. I totally agree that Gibson has had a tough time last season when he made some gaffs and there have been one or two this season but he is a top professional who has never had anything but good things to say of our club and fans. He speaks more sense in interviews than the rest of the Tools put together!

Such a weird one with Gibson, isn't it. He was called up to the England squad while he was at Middlesbrough, then Burnley paid £15m for him and it was an absolute disaster there. He doesn't seem to have ever fully recovered his form or confidence since. Still only 29, but looks a million miles from being the excellent PL defender he once was.

I think the problem the 'West' for lack of a better word has with Putin is that much as HF states all have tried to 'understand' Putin, give him the benefit of the doubt or appease. It simply didn't work. You can not forever go appeasing an expansionist state whatever the myths it tells itself (I hold Israel to the same standards by the way. No annexations are legal based on very ancient or misleading history) It is also very clear that the majority of the Ukrainian people do not wish to be ruled or be run by Putin's Russia. If they are prepared to fight for that, then we should most certainly support them. One day Putin will be gone and Russia may then, if it wishes, start to find a way back into international society. The only question is really what damage, like Stalin, Putin does to Russia and its neighbours in the interim.

Hello PUPs and merry Christmas 🎄 I’m very excited to do the final six and really hope we can have another winning selection over the Christmas weekend! I will be posting my final six Friday night. Good luck everyone!

This one is using the xG results from each game to award points, the one posted at the top is net xG.

Pep is well known for being incredibly detailed and arguably too complex in his player instructions. The complete opposite. In fact one criticism is his absolute attention to detail in tactical analysis and detailed instructions impact on a players natural flair. I think you've just made a lot up without any sort of evidence. Please do some simple online reading about Pep first.

You “believe” and “get the impression”. Basically you’re telling us what you think without any evidence along with a few self-fulfilling prophecies (“the best managers will…”). Plus Smith actually said that the coaching team were trying to get the players to think more for themselves which directly contradicts what you say is going on at the club. Sorry to be blunt but there’s so much nonsense on this board and this thread in particular, your post tipped me over the edge.

No of course not. Stupid idea. Give him the chance to repair the damage he did with the Farke/Smith change - which was motivated by pressure to do something to stay in the PL - and he's proven at this level. You can't sack everyone - just let those above Smith get on with what they have to do - they know the fans have turned and it will all work out. Webber is no fool, an ego, yes, but no fool.

More sportwashing from a club whose owner has "allegedly" been involved in human trafficking.

tonight will be fun 🙂

The table I posted above has xG (for), xGA (conceded) and xG points (number of points our xG suggest we should have). Table is sorted by xG points.

I haven't but you've prompted me to look up a link to future launches. https://starwalk.space/en/news/spacex-starlink-satellites-night-sky-visibility-guide#starlink-4-37-december-17-2022 And it's the best time now with dark skies (and moon just gone for a while). I missed the summer 'display'. As an aside, the Quarantids meteor shower starts just after Christmas with a maximum display around 3rd or 4th January of about 100 per hour. Should be quite visible. Look towards the Plough (or Big Dipper - whatever people know it by).

It's what some people were calling for. It was never a good idea. I don't think it was the same people who are now concerned about the loan repayments. It's the people who blame Delia for being too poor. I'll go with the "let's let Webber appoint the new coach" argument. But there's a genuine fear that Webber himself has more control over the playing side of things than one might assume and that causes two problems: 1) it makes sacking Dean Smith less likely and 2) it means sacking him won't actually fix the fundamental issue. Maybe it also makes sacking Smith less important, but Webber isn't likely to sack himself. So it comes down to the simple question of whether Webber will recognise the need to change the approach or if he's too stubborn to admit it yet. And, of course, there's the unlikely possibility that we'll scrape up through the playoffs and lots of us will look a bit silly. That's my preferred option, but I genuinely think we're more likely to end up in League One than the Premier League while Dean Smith is here.

You hear some fans talking about how many shots we've had as a reason we should have won a game and this is crazy without knowing how good the chances were. XG is more accurate for this but you still have so many other factors to consider. What if Matt LeTissier was playing today. So many of his goals were from what XG would count as very small chances and very few were from very high scoring chances. I'm sure the XG from a team with him in it might be next to nothing but he could still walk away with a match ball.

Sports journalists are there to serve their readers not the club. If any journalists have actually misrepresented the club (not just said things they didn’t want to) put up or shut up about it. The thin skin shown when the club has come under legitimate criticism from those two publications is pathetic and a battle the club will never win. I’ve noticed they are now cosying up to the TNC boys as an alternative, see how long that lasts.

I wish Dean Smith well in his next job. For me he has already left the building and is just ambling towards his expected payout for cutting short his contract. I cannot respect a single thing he says after his words about coming back from Tampa as a new animal, about still being able to turn things around and get the Supporters onside . It is simply laughable. He has had 14 months in the job and there seems to me no signs of improvement in any aspect of play at the Club. Why continue with this farce? “ Fortunately our next game is away” … said no true Norwich Supporter ever.

Unfortunately many on here are ignorant of such matters and openly dismiss Robins as either (or both) ...........'too old' and 'we don't want anybody who has a previous association with the club'!!. Some Yellows really need to 'give their heads a wobble' as their obsession with Farke shows no sign of abating and is potentially seriously damaging to the club. The vitriolic campaign against Smith is (in the eyes of some) justified because he had the bare faced cheek to step into the shoes of the great German God. Sure, lets sack Smith and THEN WHAT!? Give the next poor sod a few games before the moans and jeers start again and we turn on him as well?

Agreed. And to add more detail to the metaphor, he got us a 3-0 lead in the first half. But at this very moment we're only 3-2 up and under the cosh. Keep with Smith and fail to go up this season and we're basically at 3-3. Arguably 4-3 down.

Well at least your consistent. A lot of the people who were belittling those whose concerns were not allayed by Swansea, despite the result, were the same people quoting xG at us when we weren't getting results at the start of the season. As long as you're being consistent, I don't mind people being a disciple of this malarkey. But it is malarkey; given that after 23 games, half a season, teams are generally were they deserve to be, this table shows as much. Middlesbrough deserve to be in the bottom half. Burnley deserve to be top, not 5th. Blackburn are genuine playoff contenders and shouldn't be sitting one place above the drop zone. That there are so many outliers shows it's not really an accurate measure of anything.

A right mix ... Soft rock (I love the breathless singing voice of this woman. Live version here - Low Light is the song), some smooth jazz and finishing with some nice funk.

Coventry before their game tonight

We aren't really playing out from the back are we? There's a difference between playing out from the back while using your keeper as an extra man and passing the ball back to your keeper because its the easy way out.

If we appoint Sean Dyche we might as well burn Colney to the ground and disband the academy. Appalling long-ball dinosaur, harking back to the dark days in the 1980s of Charles Hughes and POMO (worth a Google if you've not encountered the work of this charlatan). Dyche is a great bloke and a great character, by all accounts, but the absolute antithesis of what we've been trying to build for the past five years.

Gosh some of you are hard on the TNC lads ... I for one think they bring something fun and useful to the broader Norwich City community and appreciate their efforts. Also ... it doesn't take much poking around YouTube to find that these sorts of fan-created video channels get FAR worse than TNC for most other clubs. I like them! To the video in question and points ... I think both presented their points well? Kudos to Chris for calling out some truly dreadful football and also to Jack for saying otherwise. We can have nuance and debate. Or at least we should!

Exactly, they created very little and it took two massive deflections - one off a free-kick early on, and another as we tried pushing higher up. Nine times out of ten, that game ends up a drab 0-0. The fundamental problem was simply that we were far too ponderous in possession and they were able to keep us relatively far from goal with good work rate and organisation, but in terms of stopping them playing we did do quite well. There's nothing wrong with keeping the ball for prolonged periods as not only can they not score, you can also largely (but not always) determine the space in which the game is being played. The problem is when you don't use that as the basis to attack at speed and change the pace of the game. It was boring simply as it was so bloody one-paced.

I wouldn't be jumping on McKenna just yet simply because he has one of the strongest squads in the league and as a result I'm not sure he's doing anything mightily impressive. It's the same as Schumacher at Plymouth. Getting a squad to play to it's level will get us promoted, but it won't keep us in the PL unless we suddenly sign a whole new squad that matches the talent level of most other PL clubs. It's easier said than done as Smith is failing to do it right now. If Mckenna/Schumacher get their sides promoted and then do well in the Championship it would be time to take notice, until then I'd hold off them.