Highland Canary

Neither Webber nor Farke are the fundamental issue here.

0-2 Norwich with meaningless possession until the 10th minute when Leeds score. Second one around the 50th. Much booing follows. Why? I don’t know. Farke much more likely to take us back up again.

Relief that Webber is sticking with Farke. Can’t think of any coach more likely to bring us up again next season. Our issues are nothing to do with Webber and Farke. They go to the cost of recruiting and, more significantly, paying wages appropriate to quality PL level players. If, and until, that changes we’re very unlikely to finish above 20th.

Can’t believe the groundswell of opinion around disposing of Farke. I can’t think of a coach more likely to bring us back up. Or is the belief that our business model is compatible with a PL club? No manager* would keep a Norwich team in the PL with our budget. The league has moved on. *if there is a potential exception, for example Ranieri, our budget would preclude access to that level of quality of in any case.

Probably with Neil Adams and Bryan Gunn as support - you really couldn’t make that up! And to think people want Farke’s head! He’d be off to Swansea and they’d be back up the PL in a shot! Our position is hopeless - at least in tier one - with our current business model but why not stick with someone who has certainly got the measure of the championship?

Watford, and arguably Brentford, have the necessary wealth that would enable them to support their clubs in tier two if the worst was to happen but, importantly with that safety cushion in place which doesn’t exist at Norwich, can invest in the wages of the players and/or the quality of the manager, consistent with a PL set up. That, simply, is not the case for us. We always have to be mindful we’re only a Maddison away from administration.

I think this is exactly the point H. The vision of the owners is absolutely aligned with the views of the majority of our supporters. Although there ‘s a bit of noise on forums such as this one, arguably, this is a based on a subset of fans more invested in football than a typical Norwich fan. I think the the majority view is that they are entirely happy with being a PL embarrassment so long as we compete effectively in the championship. Along the way hopefully they can access a ‘match pick’ at Arsenal every now and again. My view is that we are doomed to a cycle of failure with our current business model. But, I accept, that is a minority perspective.

Our main problem is that the PL is evolving and getting better year on year. Our business model is simply not appropriate to this new reality. So, it’s not Webber’s, Farke’s or, indeed, the players’ fault. We need new investment if we want to be anything other than a national laughing stock.

Sadly, sacking Farke will not make a jot of difference to the outcome of our season. The players at his disposal are simply not of the same quality as at our competitor clubs. That circumstance goes to our business model and the owners’ wealth. Until this changes we will remain locked in a cycle of PL failure.

I think that’s right. Noticeable change since Everton. We were on the lower tier and tbh the faces were pretty familiar so slightly different perspective in that regard. I’m not in the Farke out camp but I accept that FCR might be somewhat edgy if Leeds do a job on us too.

Farke and Webber are not the problem. The financial resource at their disposal is.

I don’t think anyone could keep us up. Farke’s record suggests he would be a better choice next season. But without proper investment we’ll finish 20th again. That’s where attention should be focussed, not on the coach, unless the limit of our ambition is simply to be an embarrassment to the PL.

Apologies Purple if my attempt at irony has been lost in translation. I obviously need to practise.

Probably no football can ever change its ownership and Norwich City is in the uniquely privileged situation that it can never change hands. Presumably, if no formal offer has ever been made in the past that also precludes the future too.

Farke in + new investment in

Interestingly, more boos at full time. Those that were left appeared to be firmly in the Farke out camp. Experience suggests that the away fans tend to turn first. Sad to see. He’s achieved so much with so little. The problem is elsewhere. As, indeed, is the solution.

Goes fundamentally to the business model which is simply incompatible with a PL set up. If there’s disquiet I would suggest that it’s additional investment that is needed and a culture/ambition of wanting to compete in tier one.

Oh dear - some around us booing at half time - didn’t think that was allowed… few more Farke outs too than at Everton. Sad because he’s not the problem.

The quality of the PL was lower during the Lambert era, fun though it was. Financial power is so much more important. Quality of player acquisition is critical. The club’s business model simply doesn’t work in today’s PL. To compete we desperately need new investment. However, the supporter base seems entirely content to fail continually. The ambition, such that it is, of the majority seems limited to being a big fish in the chump pond. That can change quickly of course - look what happened to Sunderland and Leeds. The latter team of course has now financial muscle to compete in the PL again.

This is exactly the point - if and until we have the resource to buy and pay the wages of PL quality players we will end up exactly where we deserve to be back in the chumps. And without any goodwill from the wider football community. A club seemingly happy to take the parachute payments but with no ambition to compete.

Webber and Farke have done the best they can in the context of an ownership who simply don’t have the finances to compete in the PL. This is why we see penny pinching on the one hand, for instance over the Chelsea tickets, or the purchase of players not of PL quality. The only outcome will be a 20th finish again with the likelihood of accruing points or goals in double figures looking at best remote.

But Alex - we failed to score, and at home, once again. If the plan was some sort of attacking masterstroke it most clearly failed. I don’t blame Webber, Farke or the players - we simply lack quality - that responsibility sits with the board and its business model.

If that was the ‘right’ direction it can only lead downwards. Two goals in eight matches. Five at the back at home. 35% possession. Fiasco.

Simply lacked the quality to win the game. That’s opportunities against Leicester, Watford and Brighton squandered. Two goals in eight games. 36% possession at home. Only proper investment will yield PL survival.

Away numbers are definitely in decline though - many gaps around us at Burnley, certainly also seen more Norwich fans at Everton in the past, and definitely fewer on the road even as compared to the dire away days under CH.