Bovril

Breaks the journey up from Norwich to Liverpool. Half-way stop.

Very surprised by their line-up (and also pleased we avoided Lampard being here). Everton fans have been crying for Coleman to be replaced for two years now, Saint-Max destroyed Coleman + every other player in a blue shirt. They are in real trouble.

In a word, we're much more 'pragmatic' under Smith, which you need to be in our current position. Should we ever get ourselves established into a Brighton-type position then we can bring back Farke and the more entertaining style. Unfortunately given the financial disparities and the quality of players that correlates with that, Farke wasn't suited to playing the uglier side of the game (sometimes referred to as s***housery) which you need to in a relegation fight.

The very worst possible draw we could have got. We'll lose, the players get knackered, 12 hour mid-week return journey that reduces preparation time for a big home game against Brentford. Oh, and the players/fans would have done the exact same journey just two weeks prior. Horrific.

A modern-day Adam Drury. Might not grab the headlines but will give you consistent performances and never let you down.

There couldn't have been a more uninspiring draw. There would be more riding on a pre-season game then this.

Chelsea, Arsenal, and Brighton rumoured to be the clubs.

He technically has 18 months left on his contract (the club hold a right to extend his current expiring contract in the summer by + 12 months) and hence the £11m fee. Without that additional year clause, the fee would be close to £5m or under I'd imagine.

Quite the opposite for me... Bournemouth is a decent place to live in the UK. No settling in period (in terms of food/housing/culture/language etc.) needed. He's joining a team with a very strong chance of getting promoted who are backed with decent money so likely decent wages. I'd also say at this point there's a far greater chance than 50/50 that Norwich and Bournemouth will be switching positions next year. It's a great move for him and a lucky opportunity that has arisen given what has transpired this year. I also feel upper Champ/lower Prem is his natural level.

Passed a medical at Bournemouth. Loan with option to buy if Bournemouth promoted. (Source: The Athletic) Bournemouth have reached an agreement to sign Todd Cantwell on loan from Norwich City with an option to buy as they line up a series of targets for transfer deadline day. Norwich have allowed Cantwell, 23, to join Bournemouth after falling out of favour this season at Carrow Road. The midfielder, whose contract expires at the end of the season, has his medical at lunchtime today and will join permanently on a long-term contract if they are promoted. Olympiakos are still interested in a loan too but don’t have an agreement with Norwich.

If we do go down, then obviously we would prefer to go down with Watford & Burnley. If we stay up, then Newcastle have failed. A win-win scenario for us. The nightmare scenario would be going down with Newcastle together.

With players returning from illness/covid/injury, we actually have a bloated squad and need to get rid of a couple before we bring anymore in. As all the official channels have started, only expect to see an IN if we get a major OUT (e.g. Cantwell) and that is looking slim right now. The back to back wins have taken some of that pressure off for now.

The club did a lot of great work in the late 90's in getting Under 18's into the ground on a regular basis who then as a consequence grew up as Norwich fans rather than Manchester United/Arsenal fans. Those same fans are now the reason the club has a big loyal season-ticket base but I worry the current Under 18's haven't had the same access in which to build up their 'live' experience, both in terms of access to tickets and affordable seating. This could then hurt us 10 years down the line from now.

A run of games is definitely needed to both a) improve consistency b) develop relationships/respect with the players Similar to teachers in that regard. When a new teacher arrives at a school, students are always initially sceptical and cautious. Over-time as teacher/student gets to know each other better, respect can develop and less negative behaviour arises and when it does, it can often be resolved in a calmer manner. It's the same with referees. Players will see Michael Oliver, and it won't stop them questioning his decisions but they will respect what he has to say as he has now developed that level of respect/communication through experience (remember when we had him for Norwich vs Reading and he sent Holt off? He's improved massively since then). EDIT: The reason we get the worse referees are that we are in an unfortunate position of being a good 'training ground' for referees. Refereeing a match at Carrow Road isn't going to be bring as much pressure onto the referee as refereeing at Elland Road or Anfield for example.

(Source: The Athletic) This was posted in Ornstein's transfer mailbag on January 7th. "After Daniel Farke’s team were relegated, Cantwell probably would have got a switch had it not been for the market uncertainty created by COVID-19. Despite relations with the Norwich hierarchy becoming strained, he played a significant role in securing an immediate return to the top flight and would have been expected to shine again this season. Unfortunately for both parties, that did not happen under Farke and nor has it since the German was replaced as head coach by Dean Smith — not helped by a family health issue that affected Cantwell’s availability for a period of time." Clearly there is a background issue affecting him which shouldn't be speculated about in the public domain and hence the 'illness' route both Farke and Smith have taken. The sooner he gets a move away from the club the better for all parties really. Hopefully whatever the real reason, it clears up for everyone.

Exactly this. Lees-Melou was knicking balls further up the pitch, now he’s playing virtually on his own box. As a result we have to lump it long clear and Pukki/Idah getting outmuscled.

Interesting to know that Raptor.

A sling could mean anything in relation to an arm/shoulder/elbow injury - it certainly doesn't automatically mean his arm is broken. There could be a light sprain for example (rest for a couple of days), could be a dislocated shoulder (couple of weeks) or worst-case a nasty elbow injury/severely broken bone (couple of months). My guess was looking at him in real-time and the treatment he received and able to carry on for the last few minutes, is that it is some sort of sprain/dislocation. Race to be fit for Watford for sure, but if he misses that, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't back for the next league game at home to Palace.

Rondon starting instead of Richarlison helped us massively.

Football Manager (however they do it) tend to be fairly accurate with their wages. Using this as a source, and it's obvious caveats, we have the lowest wage budget in the division. This is closely followed by Brentford and then a jump to the likes of Watford. CLUB Transfer Budget (£) Wage Budget (£) Arsenal 10.000.000 2.443.020 Aston Villa 20.000.000 1.513.090 Brighton 15.000.000 1.183.080 Burnley 10.000.000 1.257.870 Chelsea 40.000.000 4.011.840 Crystal Palace 1.800.000 1.505.630 Everton 2.000.000 2.030.510 Brentford1 2.000.000 857.770 Leeds Utd 10.000.000 1.118.830 Leicester 10.000.000 2.345.070 Liverpool 20.000.000 3.989.390 Man Utd 30.000.000 4.689.320 Manchester City 100.000.000 3.942.110 Newcastle 200.000.000 1.498.870 Norwich 10.000.000 739.870 Southampton 5.000.000 1.431.050 Tottenham 15.000.000 2.261.740 Watford 2.000.000 1.033.810 West Ham 8.000.000 1.667.640 Wolves 20.000.000 1.497.300

Agreed, by far his best match this season. A positive to take out of the match and hopefully something he can build upon against Everton.

Positives: Idah, Williams, Hanley Negatives: The usual so no need to repeat in terms of names and lack of quality. We really need a midfield general to run the team.

Tzolis looked really exciting against Bournemouth reserves. Ever since stealing and missing that penalty and subsequent dressing down from Farke, he's offered absolutely nothing.

Can't cover the ground enough, looked completely gone from 65minutes. Atleast Mclean has a decent engine on him.

We lose the game in the centre of the pitch every single game, just simply don't have anywhere near the quality needed. As a result of this we get constantly overran (the players not being athletic/strong enough) and eventually the opposition will score. As bad as Gibson was for the goal, he already had to defend 3 or 4 similar scenarios because the midfield in Mclean and Lees-Melou just can't do anything. There's nobody to replace those two with, Sorenson is very similar in levels to those two. Game over I'm afraid.