rock bus

I loved Daniel as well and his persistence with this was blooming frustrating but having said that Smith's tactic of us hoofing it out (mainly to the ineffectual Sargent) doesnt seem to have led to any improvement!

I've no idea whether Zoe Ward has the necessary skills and abilities to be an effective board member but I must say the timing of this does stink a bit. Given we are going through a terrible season where at least a large portion of the blame sits on Webber's shoulders this seems like a poor decision timing wise and will do nothing more than further agitate the fans. At a point where we are divided more than ever over the last 4 years it really doesn't seem a wise move. For me it shows the kind of lack of commercial, 'political', PR sense that ironically I thought Webber's role was meant to prevent. I suspect we all want to be part of a 'family' club but that is from a fans perspective, the actual running of the club should be highly professional.

Totally agree, the delight that people seem to be getting from even the suggestion that he isnt a star performer at Bournemouth is sad. It's a shame it ended badly for him here (something he has to share at least some of the blame for) but I enjoyed the way he played for us most of the time and hope he goes on to have a great career. Why anyone would want anything else for a local lad is bemusing to me.

Maybe that's how Kenny keeps getting picked...he's covering his face with his snood so Smith cant see who the idiot is that keeps giving the ball away, meandering around the pitch not tackling and then just points and moans at the others!!

Thanks for your contribution Stuart (or Zoe!) Only 1/2 joking... Webber has done some brilliant things for the club and we are certainly far better off in many ways than we were before he arrived. However, he has really messed up with our signings this year and the consequences could be horrendous. A bit like Farke, he has been found wanting in moving us to the next level and his position should at least be at risk or we will never achieve our ambition to remain in the premier league for a sustained period.

Rupp is a useful player but not really at the standard we need if we actually want to make a better fight of it IF we are promoted. Sargent may be young but I sadly think he is missing some of the key skills to be a premier league (or even championship) player. ie ball control, awareness, weight of pass, vision. Many of these arent things which come with age and cant be taught. Have a look at some of the top young players (eg Greenwood, Foden etc) they have these capabilities despite their age. They may be the exceptions but even the likes of Cantwell, Aarons, Omobamidele and most recently Rowe show that some qualities are not age related. Sargent certainly give his all and cant be faulted for his desire and determination but if we could sell him I would.. but sadly the reality is we paid so far over the odds for him that we wont be able to offload.

This is so true. Honestly think Farke will be my favourite manager of all time nb favourite not best. I’m 49 so have lived through some better and much more successful managers. But he just had a charm about him that willed you to hope that he was successful. Something that players and fans shared and led to a couple of wonderful seasons where we played probably the best football I’ve ever seen Norwich play (admittedly I have wiped my memory of disastrous premier campaigns…but at least the last one had the Man City win…this one has offered nothing).

Whoever replaced Farke was going to struggle to win the hearts of the fans as even at the end when we knew he wasn’t good enough we all still loved Farke. we might as well now use Smith as the fall guy, let him see out this torrid end of the season and then bring someone new in to inspire the squad and the fans. No, I don’t mean Farke but someone new with a bit of spark and fire about him

Why has our ‘star’ signing disappeared from the squad? I know few weeks ago there was comment from Smith re loss of confidence but how on earth is omitting him from squad going to help? Especially a squad that apart from Rashica and Rowe has no creative outlet at all. My confidence would disappear if I was not being selected ahead of Placheta, Sargent and Dowel! have the pink un journalist challenged smith on this (not likely as they challenge about as well as McLean and Gilmour!) or has it just been on pink un+? We’re relegated now so if he genuinely is one for the future let’s get him involved now and playing. At least if we spend these last few games getting him use to the English game then he might come good next season. we should use remaining games to prepare for the championship.

Not sure why I’m bothering but anyone have a small river to watch it on?

Hanley has clearly been our best centre back all season so can’t see why he should be dropped. We’re bad enough defending aerial balls/set pieces with him so dread to 5hink what we’d be like without him!

I think this is probably pretty close to the answer. As a club we are not prepared to 'gamble' our future on staying in the premier league (and I'm not necessarily saying that's a wrong decision). This inevitably means we are sending out the message (unintentionally) that whilst it would be 'nice' to avoid relegation we actually expect to be back in the championship. That means that existing players who know they probably aren't premier league class (hello Mr McLean and Gibson) aren't under any pressure to up their game and bust a gut so they can remain at the club. Perhaps more importantly we will only attract players who would be willing to settle for one season in premier league but also happy in Championship on top wages (Rupp, Krul, Hanley, MLP, Dowell) or players who will stay one season and then move on (Rashica, Normann). Perhaps most importantly, it means we wont attract a highly ambitious manager who is demanding on the club (transfer funds) or players (because he accepts Championship is just as ok a level for him as them)... so we end up with Smith. Of course, if we were to really go for it and put everything on the line to stay up we may end up with a much better class of manager and squad. There would also be huge pressure and demands on them to perform and be successful. All with the caveat that if it didnt work then we are up a creek without a paddle.

Bit of an enigma PLM. Struggles to get into our very poor midfield which is worrying. Seems to get dropped at every opportunity by smith to accommodate Gilmour and McLean even after a decent performance. It’s a bit frustrating he hasn’t been given a decent run in the team as certainly signs he could add some quality if not strength to the team.

What must players like Rowe, Rashica, Rupp, Tzolis , sorrenson and Cantwell (actually he’ll be p’ing himself with laughter) feel like watching this bunch of useless idiots being selected ahead of them? pathetic and embarrassing, seriously would look at sacking smith now

Completely forgotten about Tzolis! Beginning to make the wolf look like a better investment.

that’s a really odd line up, not sure about it but suppose at least he’s trying something. how the hell McLean still plays is unbelievable!

I should perhaps reiterate that I am not anti 'British manager' and perhaps the better term would have been a more 'traditional' manager? My main point is that I am struggling to see what Smith's ethos is in terms of playing style. I am also really concerned that rather than building on what Farke achieved with the club we have basically just thrown it all away and now seem to be starting afresh. Maybe that is something you always have to do when you sack your manager but I am sure that was the vision sold to us when Webber came in.

I should say at the outset that this isn't necessarily a dig at Dean Smith himself and neither am I suggesting we should've kept Farke. But I do wonder if the club has taken a backward step by appointing Smith. Smith is probably not a bad manager and he is being hampered by a squad that is clearly not premier league standard. He has also had to cope with our ongoing bad luck ie Covid/injuries. Despite this, I am not convinced that there are enough (any) signs he is capable of getting any more out of the squad...a la Lambert. What concerns me even more than this though is that with the appointment of Farke and Webber's position the club had made an important step in terms of showing a more modern and constructive approach to the management of the club: Farke himself brought a different style of play based on skill and possession with a defined methodology that was meant to thread right through all playing levels. At the moment under Smith I'm struggling to see what our style of play even is (this may be just because he doesn't have the players to suit his style). We were adopting a non domestic transfer and scouting policy - allowing us to fully exploit the opportunities where we can acquire better prospects for less money given the strength of the English league even at championship level. The concept was also that you could swap out the Manager and/or the Sporting Director without a total upheaval of the coaching staff and/or philosophy -something that plainly didn't happen. Succession planning would mean identified replacements who will continue the strategy of the club - again didn't happen as Smith wasn't available at time of Farke' sacking. Whilst Webber may always have liked him I cant believe he knew he would become available and we clearly didnt have a lined up Manager as should've been the case. I now fear that we are heading towards the championship with a very 'traditional' British manager and coach with no defined playing style or a strategy to get us promoted again. We had managed to re-establish our identity as a club and as a result the Management, team, club and supporters all seemed totally united. Now we appear to be more disjointed than ever and I fear this bodes for a really long spell in the championship (or worse, if Smith cant sort the squad out).

Whilst I broadly agree with the sentiment if the OP, as others have said Williams has probably been the best player this year and you can’t accuse him of a lack of commitment. That Loanee Skipp didn’t do too bad for us last season either. You can’t just right off the loan option (even if Gilmour is a total waste of space!)

Webber is a business entrepreneur who rather fell in to football and has had great success until now. Sadly like Farke, our owners and the players he is not premier league quality. let’s thank him for what he has done and ditch him before next season. Bring in someone else to sort the business side and let Smith, Shakey and Neil Adam’s find the players

Rupp played on Wednesday and looked better than McLean

Yes, unfortunately Smith will! God knows why though!

I don’t think that’s controversial, exactly the team I’d pick.

I've been calling for Byram to start instead of Aarons for weeks. Having seen the way Byram dealt robustly with the Liverpool players and continually got across to the wingers to block crosses (ironically only one he missed did lead to 1st goal but that was as much due to inept marking in the box) I'm even more convinced he should be starting.

Whilst it feels so wrong ..I tend to agree. Pukki has been off form and doesnt necessarily suit Smiths game or the players he is playing. Sadly, I'm not sure Sargent is anywhere near an adequate replacement. But whilst agreeing, I'm not sure Brentford is the game to take that disruptive risk (last night definitely was!)