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The Engineer

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Posts posted by The Engineer


  1. Don't get the whole 'easy' option remarks as he's mates with Webber (well I do, it's simply a cheap shot at Webber). Does it not make sense to appoint someone who has proven they have done it in both the Championship and Premier League and can deliver the attacking brand of football we crave?! 

    • Like 4

  2.  

    It seems as though Dean Smith may have been rather busy over the past couple of days travelling to New York - obviously I'm sure with today's world he could've fitted in a Zoom meeting but this doesn't look like a man about to take charge of another Premier League side over the weekend... Mind you, as has been reported on this board Frank is in Dubai at the moment so who knows!

     

    For me, Sky Sports is reporting this (the Dean Smith interview) to try and stay relevant, try and break their own 'exclusives' because they've simply been pipped to the post by talks***e and need the clicks and views for some sort of credibility claim to hold the throne of sports news...

     


  3. Great appointment in my opinion. In terms of him vs Knutsen, I believe Frank's playing style a lot easier and quicker to implement than Knutsen's and therefore giving us a better chance to stay up. Will be interesting to see if he uses his generally more defensively sound 3-4-3 as his base formation which may be more suited than his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 attack which has been very defensively frail and used when he is in charge of a team expected to be stronger than most opponenets.

    If he uses the 3-4-3 then it'll be interesting to see what he's learnt from Tuchel given he's got a better song in that system from the same players. Gives way to a Normann-Gilmour double-six which could be a very good watch! With Tzolis and Todd as the inside forwards...

    • Like 2

  4. Just going to point out about the 'wealthier than owners' stuff. Is everyone forgetting Delia & Michael own a football club worth at least £56M at the last valuation? Assets count as wealth, right?....

     

    On another note, stoked with Lampard - I'm sure he'll have reflected and learnt a lot since Chelsea - particularly comparing how Tuchel has managed to get a better song out of the same 11 when playing 3-4-3. 


  5. After leaning over the 'Farke Out' fence in the immediate aftermath of the weekend, I have simmered down and even managed to provide myself with some derranged form of optimism. Well, I'm still not actually optimistic but feel slightly less negative about it all.

     

    Less  negative point 1 - We have played 7 of the current top 10, plus Watford (weird bogey team) and Burnley away (a notoriously difficult place to go).

     

    Less negative point 2 - From the corresponding fixtures in 2018/19 we have done better in 3/9 (ARS (A); BUR (A); BHA (H)), worse in 4/9 (LIV (H); LEI (H); EVE (A); CHE (A)) and the same in 2/9 (MCY (A); WAT (H)). From my recollection, at the time 2 years ago we were all saying it's not about the games against the bigger teams but the games against the teams around us. We have, so far, done better at that this season. Plus, the wins agains Everton and Leicester could be viewed as 'bonus' points, the points you're not really expected to make but always get a few each season - they're just yet to happen this season (I say with devine belief... I think).

     

    Less negative point 3 - We were in the games against Leicester, Arsenal, Everton, Burnley and Brighton. I can't comment on Watford as I didn't see that one but I'm sure someone else would llike to clear that up. We have, again, fallen on the wrong side of results which naturally, is very annoying.

     

    Less negative point 4 - We were woeful on Saturday, truly truly woeful. However, I also remember feeling rather abjected in Farke's first season in the Championship. We didn't play well that season, however, Webber stated we really weren't far off finding 'it' in terms of the numbers and then 'it' suddenly clicked the season after. In the PL last time, we played well and were in most games and were considered the 'best team to be relegated' despite our points total and ignoring the final 5 games of the season when we were terrible. We couldn't score and we couldn't defend. At least we appear to have perhaps corrected the defending this time around (against teams around us) and I feel like we are getting close to the click. Perhaps the half-time formation switch on Saturday is the way to go to get more attacking whilst having the defensive resolve? 3-4-3 / 5-2-3. But with Tzolis/Todd/Rashica supporting Pukki or Sargaent. Who knows, but I feel we are close. And this is trademark Farke, if the system doesn't work we look terrible but once we have it then we suddenly look good, it's just that missing piece and then maybe we'd be more competitive.

     

    Less negative point 5 - The next 5 games are huge, there's simply no understating that. In the corresponding fixtures last time (swapping Leeds for Bournmouth and Brentford for Villa), we took 4 points. Whilst it is tempting to take the plunge now and go in a new direction in a desperate bid ahead of the next 5, equally, what if we did find the magic link this week? I think Farke deserves that chance, he looks like he is trying to learn and adapt from mistakes last time and that is encouraging. It didn't work last time so why go with the same failed methods?

     

    So for now, I'm climbing down the fence. Of course that will probably change if the next month doesn't go well!

     


  6. 13 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

    Chelsea putting tickets back on sale to members tomorrow on the basis we took a reduced allocation and returned some unsold tickets. According to a post on Facebook. 

    https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/10/07/norwich-home-ticket-update

    Straight from the horses mouth. I'm thoroughly peeved! Why have we taken a smaller allocation when ew've sold out in Group 3?!?!?!

    Is this part of the club's financials as we have to pay for the away tickets and any unsold goes down on us??


  7. Unfortunately not this season due to finances in the 18/19 season...

     

    Have been surprised how easy it has been to get away tickets this season mind - until now! In group 4 and I'm intruiged to know how many people cumulative are in groups 1-3. Over 2500 clearly!

     

    On the point of being well supported at away games, that has also been my understanding but this season appears to have been poor by contrast to other seasons. We had a small allocation at Man City which struggled to sell, Arsenal struggled to sell, Everton and Burnley didn't sell out... So it seams strange that Chelsea and Brentford have sold out so quickly!


  8. Just rang the ticket office to confirm as there appears to have been a bit of conufsion about this one - all sold out and the club are not looking at securing more tickets. Hugely annoying we've suddenly decided to start taking away fans this season after a 0-0 draw at Burnley! 😆

     

    Anyhow, if anyone ends up with two tickets going then please let me know!


  9. 2 hours ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

    It is a lot of money . Friend in the upper Barclay has bought a ticket .  But the key is he has bought it , so the old supply and demand argument applies

    Personally I see it as inevitable to being in the prem. I do find the sneaky “booking fees” very annoying though that just seems like an add on to me. You can’t actually buy a £ 48 ticket there is a “web sales fee” of £1 . 
     

     

    The web sales fee is infuriating! However, you avoid it by ringing the ticket office instead, which is at least free now!...


  10. I think its a disgrace the club have shamelessly promoted this launch using the 'For our heroes' with no actual link to anything except the colour is a little bit like one of the nurse tunics... Which if it was designed to be, then surely they would've mentioned that in the launch article? You might've thought they'd give a sleeve sponsor to a charity, or a small donation per shirt sale at a minimum. 

     

    So to summarise, how is it actually 'For the heroes' apart from using them in a shameless PR move?

     

    And, all that said I actually quite like the kit.

     

    "Never **** on the old blue and white..."

    • Like 2

  11. Forgive me if this has already been posted/answered, I did search but found nothing... 

    Timm Klose got a straight red, no? If so, then why has he only got a one-match suspension, as reported? Shouldn't this be three? Have I missed something in the rules? 

     


  12. LDC, in the words of Daniel Farke "Ignore the noise".

     

    Love the optimism, though like myself perhaps we're too often consumed by blind optimism through the trials and tribulations that is football. That said, I predict us to reach 33 points (history saying that is not enough) going into our final game. With Man City having already nailed down second spot, and having to play the FA Cup final and Champions League final in the following two weeks post-season, perhaps playing a fringe team and opening up a stronger chance for the win - taking us to 36 points and scraping survival by the barest of margins!

     

    Furthermore, in the "mini-league" we have 4 home games and 1 away game left. Plus home games against Everton and Southampton to come. Start taking points from those around us and we're in with a shout. It can't be underestimated just how important this weekend is.

     

    WE ARE STAYING UP!!!

     

    (my word I hope this ages well...) 

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