Yellow and Green

I'd argue that he's been the best impact sub since he joined in 2018. Whilst his goal and assist stats are fairly average (half off the bench, I'd imagine), it's not the only way to measure his impact. He is a progressive player who looks to head towards goal. Even things like progressing the ball up the pitch or winning a corner, he plays with positivity and gets the crowd going whenever he comes on. The first sentence isn't ideal though, and reflects the inadequate recruitment over the past few seasons. I'd like to keep him next year but we need additions in the forward areas. The options on our bench have often been poor this season.

Yep we need to give them time. Important to remember how young these guys are, moving abroad and settling in. It takes time. You can see he's got something about him. The transfer strategy was always to reduce the age profile of the squad and sign younger players. No one was complaining before the international break... better to bemoan the injuries rather than blame the players struggling for form.

1) Many were suggesting that we should start with five at the back (albeit not with four CBs). 2) The unused subs were Mair, Mahovo, Springett and and unfit Fassnacht... I'd sugest they wouldn't have made much difference.

What would you have done? Who would you have brought on and what sysytem would you have played? Your options are Springett, an unfit Fassnacht, Mahovo or Mair.

The starting XI stepped up today, with a dominating performance in the first 60 minutes. Once our legs went and we had to make changes, that's when we struggled. To blame the subs is harsh. This is where the injuries to McLean, Nunez etc. came to the fore. Our only midfielder on the bench was Forson, forcing us to bring three defenders on. This isn't anytime to blame JHT. We should've easily beaten Cardiff, who are distinctly average, but he did the best that he could with a bench full of defenders and teenagers.

He'll need to sign a new contract before we can start thinking about the mega bucks..

Thanks @Bethnal Yellow and Green. Any idea why we'd be more exciting than the clubs with mega money, Brighton and Brentford etc? I'm sure it's MA led but why are we onto something that the big boys can't tap into?

Happened to come across this podcast on Youtube. It's an interview with Sam Radford, one of the data scientists at Norwich. It's an interesting listen into an area of the club that doesn't often get much exposure. If you want to get straight to the Norwich chat, skip to the 20 minute mark.

My only concern is if Sargent gets injured. We're 25 goals down from last season with Rowe and Sara gone, and I'm not sure who is going to replace them. Fingers crossed Crnac adapts and lives up to his price tag. One issue from last year is that we often had very little on the bench to really impact the game. Assuming we stick with today's starting XI and everyone's fit, our bench could be: Long Cordobra Fisher Slimane Schwartau Gordon Hernandez Barnes One of Hanley / Hills / Sorensen / Gibbs / Fassnacht / Forsyth From that list, you'd expect Slimane, Schwartau, Gordon and Hernandez to positively influence a game as a sub. Most positions have good competition, and we're not short on numbers. As mentioned, we'll probably be reliant on Crnac stepping up is Sarge gets injured.

It's been the same in the other games. You can see he's adapting to the physicality because he always looks to the ref, expecting a foul. He'll get there eventually. Same with Crnac.

Yep he looks like he's got a bit of everything - a great buy for 1.4 million. I like Forson but he's getting knocked off the ball too easily. Still early days and I'm sure he'll adapt.

This window was difficult for the club. They knew that they wanted to lower the average age of the squad but they didn't expect Idah, Rowe and Kamara to all throw their toys out of the pram. Whilst they'll be gutted to lose those players, I guess it gave them more budget to invest in players who actually want to be here and who fit into Thorup's system. A few thoughts: - Individually, all of the signings look really positive. They all seem to be young, forward thinking players who will hopefully contribute to an entertaining, attacking minded team. - Now that Sara and Rowe have gone, I'm not hugely sure where the goals are going to come from if (when) Sargent gets injured. - I like the fact that all of the new signings are under 24. Last year's recruitment was poor and really went against what the club should be aiming to achieve. It'll be interesting to see how the likes of Hanley, Duffy and Barnes handle being on the sidelines. - I don't think we loaned out as many players as we were hoping to. Unless I'm mistaken, the likes of Hills, Tompkinson, Warner, Springett, Reneke, Welch etc will be stuck in the u23s for another season. For reference, according to the club's website: GK - Gunn, Long RB - Stacey, Fisher LB - Doyle, Chrisene CB - Cordobra, Duffy, Hanley, Hills, Warner CM - McLean, Nunez, Forson, Slimane, Schwartau, Gibbs, Sorensen LM - Sainz, Hernandez RM - Gordon, Fassnacht, Forsyth CF - Sargent, Crnac, Barnes

One positive to note is that he'll be able to adapt relatively quickly, having played in England for a year already. Crnac, Schwartau etc will take time, which isn't ideal.

A decent fan video evaluating Slimani's situation. A few points that have been mentioned already on here - one thing that he did mention was that the few games that Slimani did start were against the bigger sides.

Any idea why Norwich are (on the surface) slow to capitalise on the Japanese market so far? My only guess is that they're concentrating their attention on South America and the usual markets..