Peanuts

Mrs Peanuts and I drove straight to the ground from Stansted after a lovely few days in Europe, bookended by two miserable games. We needn't have bothered, but we have kids and busy lives and going to the football is time we spend together as a couple so we just keep turning up.

I had thought I read something once when McNally went that Delia and Michael thought he had too much power and they didn't want one person running the show again. It feels very much like Webber (either or both) have been running the show for quite a while now and have been (not so) quietly running the club into the ground. I think his success with Farke, Pukki, Buendia (the signing not the selling) have too long overshadowed his very major shortcomings. He talks a very very good game but I'm not sure there's a great deal of substance there. Zoe is clearly the front of that particular pantomime horse. I'm also not sure how usual it is for a sporting director to have such a high profile? Maybe I don't follow wider football as much as some, but I'd be hard pressed to name the sporting director of any other club. The handover thing is weird too - is Knapper still at Arsenal? Surely he's on gardening leave if it's been announced he's leaving, if so just get him in now. The whole thing seems like an arrangement to suit Stu and his ego.

Yes number one target, just like Dean Smith... Sadly the tame local media won't call this obvious **** out.

I don't know really with Sara. He's definitely got quality about him that none of our other players have, barring Rowe, but I don't think he has enough influence on games. Maybe it's the tactics - I'd play him further forward with Forshaw alongside Kenny - but presumably the manager knows best. Last night I thought he was hiding a bit, maybe he's had enough or has seen the writing on the wall and has one eye on January.

"Somebody once said that climbing Everest is a challenge, but the bigger challenge would be to climb it and not tell anybody." Definitely a challenge too far for Webber.

Liked Bailey's question about the drink driving incident, obviously making sure those bridges with the club are well and truly burned.

I've said before that the mistake we made with Smith was appointing a manager on the way down rather than on the way up. With Farke, Neil and Lambert Norwich was their big opportunity. I'm not sure that applies to Wagner. Perhaps you could argue it's his big opportunity to prove that Huddersfield wasn't a fluke as his career since has been pretty unremarkable. I feel a bit meh about him, but probably better than a celebrity big name or dinosaur journeyman.

He doesn't really address the main criticism that the style of play is both unattractive and largely ineffective. Our last two championship seasons we played much better football and won more games. It's not entitlement or feeling we have a divine right to win the Championship that has fans questioning why after another season of Premier League money and a squad with several £10 million plus players we're performing much worse than before, in terms of both results and performances. There seems to be this strawman argument that if we played badly but won every week nobody would complain, but of course teams that play as poorly as we do never manage to win every week. Without change we are going to keep sinking further down the league table.

Love to see this type of content from the club. Comes across as a really great character with all the mental and physical attributes to succeed. I've been critical of his touch and technique, but never doubted his work rate or commitment. Also, was Deano channeling Farke with his black Boss polo shirt?

Might have been a bit of contact but their player went down like he’d been shot. If that was a penalty we should have had two for the handball.

Kind of odd to take one sentence out of context like that. Yes, unless a manager retires or dies in service then they will inevitably move onto another club. I'd have thought that was self-evident. It's the preceding sentence that provides the context, ie. that he doesn't particularly care about the opportunity at Norwich and it is/was just another job to him. I am contrasting this with Farke, Neil and Lambert for whom managing Norwich was the pinnacle of their managerial careers at the time and and represented a huge opportunity for them.

Said it before, but this is what we get for appointing a journeyman of a manager. He couldn't care less. If he gets sacked it'll be on to the next club. He's a pound shop Steve Bruce. We need someone up and coming, hungry for success and grateful to be given the opportunity to manage Norwich City. Like Farke. Or Alex Neil. Or Paul Lambert. These were managers on their way up when they came to us, not on their way down like Smith is.

Ah good, so his return should be seamless then 🤣 Seriously though, we've enough in attack to get a result even if we're a bit dodgy at the back (aren't we always?)

Yeah I don't think anyone is saying people don't have a right to feel sad or show their grief or whatever. But by the same token the rest of us who aren't particularly fussed just want to enjoy the football. Presumably if any club felt that their players or staff were too overcome with grief to play/work those games only could have been postponed and the rest go ahead. If people think it's disrespectful to play a football match don't go.

Presumably boiling the bacon is healthier than grilling or frying?

I assume the players can keep the shirt if it's a memorable game or they want to give it to a friend or relative but if the shirts aren't reused they should be auctioned off with proceeds to the CSF or academy or some other worthy cause. Mrs Peanuts once paid a rather large sum of money for a worn shirt that she keeps in a box only taking it out occasionally to sniff or gently caress the midsection.

I've been critical of his touch and footballing ability in the past, although never doubted his attitude, work rate and physical attributes, but really pleased to see him getting goals. It was great to see for the second goal that he could have squared it to Sinani for a tap but had the confidence to finish it himself.

At the ground I felt like Dowell was quite anonymous, but watching the highlights he did seem like he was much more involved. I think Dowell was just doing the simple stuff playing quick neat passes and progressing us forward. Nunez had some nice touches for sure but I felt he was maybe trying a little too hard at times and faded a bit towards the end. In contrast Cantwell seemed much more physical and covered a lot of ground. I'd have rated all three a 7 I think.

I've been really impressed with Sinani so far. He can create and score goals and has a bit of physicality about him too. Rashica clearly is a decent footballer but hasn't had much impact since he's been here.

I wonder if this American 'takeover' ever happens if they will bring in someone new to replace Webber? I get the feeling his heart isn't really in it any more, hence all this mountain climbing ****. There was a time when he was the rising star being linked to the top job at Manchester United but with two immediate Premier League relegations on his CV I doubt any big club would be interested now. He's presumably on good money with his wife on the board and he's altogether too comfy here. Despite all his "I'm leaving in a year" rubbish (how many years ago was that now?) I expect he'll be here until he's sacked.

I don't think it's as simple as that. It's easy to say that we dominated against Hull for long periods and created plenty of chances but were unlucky/lacked confidence/didn't take them etc. but the stats tell a slightly different story. We had 18 shots with 12 on target for an xG of 1.41. This suggests that although we created plenty of chances they were of very low quality. If you take out Ramsey's open goal miss (xG 0.56) it makes the quality of our other chances look even worse. It's no better at the other end. Hull had only 30% possession yet managed 13 shots for an xG of 1.25. Ignoring their two goals they got off 8 shots inside our box. We're fragile at the back and struggle to score goals. Plus ca change etc.

I'm no tactical expert but it does seem like we had much more success in the Championship playing 4-2-3-1 and we certainly have the players for it (injuries allowing). I know we can't turn back the clock, but I reckon this side under Farke would still have won the Championship two seasons ago:

I read somewhere once that Smith was supposed to be a modern progressive manager but to me he comes across as very old school, like a pound shop Steve Bruce. My complaint about his appointment is that he was very much a manager on the way down whereas previously (Farke, Neil, Lambert) we'd gone for managers on their way up or those with something to prove. I don't get the sense that Smith is trying to build something here or sees it as his opportunity to prove his doubters wrong. It takes time to reflect and learn from your failures and it feels like he's using his time with us to do that and then his next job will be his attempt at a comeback. You can say the same about some of our players, particularly Rashica who came straight from a relegated side and again doesn't play like someone with something to prove. Then you've got the likes of Hanley who is a competent enough defender on his day but certainly not the inspirational figure you want to see as Captain, and McClean who is just an average Championship journeyman now. Maybe it's blasphemy to say it, but even Pukki looks like he's going through the motions at this point. Our recent success was a combination of so many things but chief among them was a manager with a defined style of play and a squad of players that bought into what he was trying to do and played like they had something to prove. We need a manager and players who are hungry for success and eager to prove themselves and grateful to Norwich for giving them that opportunity. Right now we've got too many journeyman, has-beens and never-weres in the squad and the coaching staff.

Watching the video of Tzolis scoring for Twente I thought their number 9 looked decent 😉

They are a couple of great goals, no doubt. But having watched Tzolis live he was terrible in his last few appearances for us, actually far worse in person than from highlights. He jogged around the pitch barely touched the ball and had zero impact on the game. He didn't look fit and I have no idea if he was unsettled or what was going on in his mind, but clearly something went wrong for such a talented player to be sidelined and then loaned out. Wish him luck and hopefully he has a successful loan and comes back to do a job for us next season.