rock bus

I'm sorry cant agree with this, the team (players and management) have had the whole pre season (and let's be honest most of last season) to prepare for the rough and tumble of the championship. To not be up for it for the first game of the season and show neither the required fight or skills is not acceptable. As far as showing Smith respect, i was always told you need to earn respect and he has done nothing here to do that.

They’ve been excellent all tournament and brilliant to see us finally win something. and a bit sweeter beating the Germans. fantastic performance and let’s hope womens game kicks off even further as a result. over to you Mr Southgate…follow that!

100% agree with this. Absolutely disgusting that we have thrown everything away that had been achieved over previous years. It’s not just even the style of play, its the ethos and togetherness. club seems a total mess and we’ve lost our way again

Unfortunately the absolute worse is Dean Smith as manager!!

Not when you think Grealish went for £100m!

I think this is right and to be fair to Webber (which no one seems to want to) I expect that’s what he tried last season. Presumably he took a calculated risk that ar lease 2 or 3 of Rashica, PLM, Tzolis, Sargent, Normann and Williams would’ve turned out to be premier league quality. As bad as last season was, 2 real quality players with the squad as it stood might have been able to avoid relegation. Obviously it turned out that absolutely none of them were at premier league standard (at least not yet) so in hindsight looks like a disaster. Although it may have still been a better decision; than putting all our money on 2 known premier league players and they end up being a disaster a La Naismith and us being relegated with the addition of them being a chain around our neck. At least with Webbers gamble we could ditch William and Normann, got some money back on PLM and there is at least some potential in Rashica, Sargent and Tzolis. Don’t get me wrong i was fuming at our pathetic performance last season, but with time to reflect and calm down together with building hope for this season I can at least perhaps understand what Webber was trying to do.

Oh no….not sure I can stick a Tory Pm being a Norwich fan. Mind you that explains why we are looking at all these young South American players and not worrying about the work permit issue!!

Looks very exciting and should bring some much needed excitement to the start of the season. but are we all getting excited a bit prematurely? Is there any concrete evidence he is coming or just journalists picking up on each other after one tweet?

Love Onel as a character but have to be honest if we end up relying on him this year we will be in trouble. He just has zero end product, hardly shined last year in what in theory should be weaker squads than ours. We really should’ve moved on in terms of squad quality for Hernandez.

I dont think anyone would be complaining about either of the new signings IF they were fit to play and could hit the ground running. The concenr is that Sara has been injured and has had no pre season or chance to join in the team. There seems to be a real risk that Hayden will be a crock. Therefore we are starting with a midfield which is weaker than last season (and that was our biggest weakness anyhow!)

Not very optimistic .. can see mid table mediocracy which will in fact be terrible for our business model. It could change if the 2 midfield signings actually work out and players like Cantwell, Rashica, Sargent step up to the plate or one of the younger players has a stand out season. As per my own previous thread, I'm not convinced by Smith but hope he can prove me wrong.

Isnt that the case with every single manager and every single team? Not sure our injury issues have been much worse than any team would face at points during a normal season. It might point to a weak squad but the type of manager we need is one that can get the maximum out of the players we have and indeed make them better players - either through training, tactics or motivation. My concern about Smith is that he hasn't made us any better in any capacity and we are less cohesive now than we ever were under Farke.

Because that worked so well with Naismith? and why on earth did we buy Buendia and Pukki...never heard of either of them -bit part players in minor leagues and Pukki couldnt even make it at Celtic...total waste of money 😉

All of the players mentioned may be potential alternatives for Pukki (although i actually have the most doubts about Idah) but none of them are replacements for Pukki. They will require the team formation and approach to be changed. For that reason, I'd still like us to get a striker in the similar style to Pukki who can be used as a sub for a tiring Pukki and will eventually be his successor (I cant see any of our current crop being anywhere near good enough to be our main striker -ever!)

Think that is was we are doing!! Players all listed are at best average championship players who I don’t particularly rate or want. I want us to be replacing those with more talented players who can improve with the result of being promoted and then having a fighting chance of starting up. Smith is the manger version of those players.,,A bang average championship manager and not the step up from Farke I was hoping for

I’ve no idea why people still think Idah will come good. He had a couple of decent games last season but exactly the same could be said about Sargent. He looked rubbish in his appearances in the championship before that and always totally lost when playing for Ireland. I honestly can’t see what he adds, he can’t use his strength, limited pace, no eye for goal, poor positioning, and poor control…honestly baffles me why he is seen as such a prospect.

I know we’re still in pre season but I’m really struggling to get behind smith. As some mentioned in the match thread today, it’s not about the results but the apparent continued lack of understanding about what style and formation we are building to. It still just looks like a bunch of individuals with no sense of cohesion. I honestly don’t think he has a clue which players are his starting 11 or the formation. Even the transfers in and out seem totally haphazard. He also has the unfair problem of following such a loved and charismatic manager. That’s totally not his fault but he feels like a stop gap girlfriend you’ll use to get over your ex before you find the next right one. it’s not what I want but I’d be very surprised if he is still our manager at Christmas

Whilst I think you’re probably right I don’t think he’ll get a premier league team going for him…he’s now failed with Brighton and us. European top league maybe but expect he could at least earn as much with us…maybe more with a big promotion bonus

I’m agree and really hoping he will thrive there (and get a contract signed!)

Has Normann signed for anyone yet? Could he step in for PLM.? I know potentially a sick note but before last season (and for a few games during it) we’d all be saying that was a big signing and a major upgrade on PLM. Just a thought!

For me the blame lies with both Farke and Smith for continuingly playing him when everybody could see he was a bit pants and well out of his depth.

I think the issue is that it will be extremely hard to get a player in of the quality we need if they are just going to be 4th choice. Personally I'd like to see Tomkinson being given the opportunity so we are developing our own players rather than another team (if its a loan) or just paying for an old warhorse to sit on the sidelines. In an emergency I have no doubts that Sorenson or Byram could do a job for a while in the championship.

I wasnt really looking forward to the new season until I watched the Marseille game in full,. Now stupidly got my hopes up for a great season where we once again storm the championship (and with the added bonus of the resurrection of Todd Cantwell's career!)

Interesting they show so much of the medical/fitness work ..obviously a non subtle attempt by the club to suggest he is not a crock! Must be so hard joining a new club with all the people to meet and especially when you dont speak the language - fans will need to give him time to adapt I expect.

Totally agree, never forget that moment when he was lying on the ground and just threw his body at the ball to get his head in the way. Great guy