Beefy is a legend

Well done the Throstles. A proper football club.

Personally I like to drive to Westfield Stratford and get the tube from there. There is an enormous, safe, car park there and it's less than 2 hours driving on a decent traffic run. Highbury & Islington tube station is the best one for their ground. Some good pubs just by the station.

We've been good for him. He's been brilliant for us. The perfect fit as a manager for our club. I do wonder how much cake he really eats though...

No manager has built the kind of legacy that Farke (and to a huge degree Webber) are going to be responsible for. They have built this club back from the ground up. What we are doing in the academy now is outstanding and the production line of talent has safeguarded our future and allowed tremendous investment into the first team. I remember last year saying on Twitter that Farke is the best manager we've ever had. I stand by that comment and then some. Is he perfect? No. Are there things I'd like to see us do better at first team level? Yes. I want to see us add real steel to the defensive side of our game. But there's no one I would rather have in charge of our club.

My opinion is that the test for Farke and Webber is can they improve the NCFC squad each season. If they are doing that then even if we go down this year, they should stay. There is no doubt in my mind that we have improved the squad every year since they took charge. Whatever happens this season, they should both stay.

I've read the same. It was one of the reasons why the deal may have been done so quickly and that Villa became the preferred club to sell to. It was crucial to allow us to get the funds in early in the window to do all of our business without having to worry too much about when instalments of PL cash would come. It would also have encouraged us to do the deal at a slightly lower price than if matters had dragged on later into the window. A bird in the hand is worth two in the cabbage patch etc...

As and when someone from the Smith clan cashes in, and who knows when or if that might happen, there is no telling what the club might be worth at that time.

Even if the club is more valuable than when they purchased it, that is totally irrelevant if they don't sell it. And they have no intention of doing so because their ownership of NCFC has never been motivated by making money. They've only ever lost money by offering interest free loans and, at one stage, buying players out of their own pocket. See Cedric Anselin.

I didn't say that I expect them to be successful. Just saying what their intention is. It looks a hell of a task to turn a profit from that football club.

Yeah as Bonzo says, the plan in the short term will be to make losses with the objective of reaching the Premier League to produce a return on the investment. It's a plan that is somewhat unlikely to come to fruition, hence a high risk investment, but could produce good returns within a relatively short number of years.

It doesn't really work like that. It's an enormous pension fund and the fund is placed into a large number of investments with varying levels of risk. Most of it will be in very safe ventures. A small portion in high risk ventures like ITFC.

I've followed quite a bit of 'their' transfer window and media coverage. To be honest, it would appear that they've done pretty well in their recruitment. In particular, the lad Fraser from MK, Celina and Morsy are impressive signings for an L1 club. They still have some issues defensively which has hampered them in the early part of the season but I suspect they are going to have a strong season once the squad beds in. That said, they've given most of their rivals a 7+ point advantage and so automatics isn't going to be an easy task even with only 5 games gone. If they fail in the playoffs then a significant amount of investment will have gone towards another unsuccessful season and a fourth year in L1 will beckon. With Sheff Weds and Sunderland going well I do think top two will be tough to achieve for them. If Berahino comes off he will be streets ahead of that division. I don't see much to criticise thus far in what Ashton has done though.

Kenny is one of the first names on my teamsheet. He has the precise qualities of combativeness and aerial strength that the squad is short of overall. Plus he's a natural left footer. Kenny and Normann definite starters in that midfield three for me.

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/canaries-ncfc-timm-klose-contract-agreement-8285866 😎

I think the best way to look at this is to ask - if this NCFC squad played 38 times over the course of 9 months against the squad from two years ago, which squad would win more? I don't think that there is any doubt that the current squad would win more.

Not necessarily true. A 'mutual consent' termination could happen whereby we pay a proportion of the remaining contract up front, releasing Klose from any further obligation to be in Norfolk and to train at Colney etc. It would depend on factors including how keen Klose is to return to his homeland.

Whilst we've used 4-3-2-1 in the first three games, it's by no means certain that we will do so against the 'bottom half' sides in the league. It is conceivable that we will use a 5-3-2 or 4-2-3-1 in those games, in which case we need all 5 centre halves and we will need Dowell and Idah. We need to be flexible and we will need everyone to play a part especially when a few injuries and suspensions kick in. Apart from possibly Klose agreeing a termination of contract I don't see any other exits happening.

Yep I make you right. I see this squad as deeper than two years ago and I do think we are a few games away from seeing Sargent starting games and Tzolis getting his bow. The big if is sorting out that defensive midfield three. I'd like to see whatever CDM we sign playing with Mclean left and Gilmour/PLM right. That feels like it will give us a better balance defensively. I am pretty positive that performances are going to gradually improve from here and the proof will come when those more winnable games come into view, being Watford, Brighton, Burnley foremost. 10-12 games in is when I think we will have a decent idea of whether we are going to be competitive this year.

There are definitely some similar problems to last time in my view. Most of them in midfield. We don't protect the full backs enough and we don't have the necessary power and athleticism to defend the central areas properly at this level. We let Trybull and Leitner go for reasons associated with that, but I don't see Gilmour as any better at that side of the game. However, it would be premature to judge after 3 games against top 6 sides, before the window has shut. A CDM addition will be coming, we will have two weeks to work on the shape and personnel. There's a very long way to go. The plus is that we do, in my view, have greater squad depth. Sargent and Rashica, and also Idah, impressed me today and I think we will be able to change the way we play much more this time around. Plus Tzolis is waiting in the wings. Sargent looks a huge upgrade on Hugill. In the end 11 goals conceded in 3 games is the glaring stat and improving our defensive game is imperative. We will go down if we don't. But there's no way to draw strong conclusions from these 3 games and I would delicately suggest that the naysayers reserve some degree of judgment until we've played 10-12 games. Beefy

That isn't the way it works. Clubs don't guarantee loan signings appearances. What the owning club generally does is introduce penalties for fewer appearances that essentially make the loan more expensive.

I get the sense at the moment that we are being underrated by most supporters and media that aren't 'in the know' and are simply harking back to our performances post-lockdown two years ago. Part of that, I think, is because we didn't change the XI much in the first two games and so folk will have seen the same old names of Pukki, Cantwell, Hanley, Aarons, Rupp, Krul and will have thought that we are the same side as last time and bound to go down again as a result. I'm quietly confident that we are going to product some results that will surprise many in the coming weeks. Especially when we get our CDM in. Because we've signed 5 or 6 players now who have really improved the squad. When they are fully up to speed after the international break I'm very excited to see how we go because I think we are going to bloody some noses.

Agree with a few of the other posters that I think Mclean will come in and there's a good chance Williams does too. I then think that Tzolis and Sargent are pushing hard for inclusion at expense of Rashica and then either Todd or Pukki. I don't see any other changes at this point. Beefy's team v Leicester is Krul Max Gibbo Hanley Williams Mclean Gilmour Lees-Melou Sargent Pukki Cantwell Wouldn't be unhappy to see Tzolis handed a PL debut though.

In other words, we recruited well. It can be done. It has been. We can do it again. By the way, in the second season we stayed up under Hughton, Grant Holt scored 8 goals. A solid contribution but I couldn't pin our survival on him alone. Snodgrass scored 6, Pilkington 5. The defence did well that year.

Ok but someone needs to explain how we stayed up for two seasons a decade ago.

The result today was pretty irrelevant because we were almost certain to lose. The worry is the lack of physicality which is what did for us two years ago. We aren't hard to play against, we don't disrupt the opposition enough. Todd, Rashica, PLM, Gilmour - how many of them are going to put in a tough tackle and contribute in a really meaningful way defensively? The real worry is in a few weeks time when we go to Turf Moor because that's the sort of game where we do need to be competitive and the side that played today would just get bullied by Burnley. The positive is that we still have time to sign a CDM and that Sargent looks like a starter who will add some physicality. We need that badly. I'm a bit disappointed that we jettisoned Trybull and Leitner for not being athletic enough but, for me, I'm not sure Gilmour or PLM look any stronger. PLM is a tall lad but I haven't seen him put in too many tackles so far. There's still loads of time to get things right but just a few worrying signs for me so far.