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Are we getting better?

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[quote user="Essjayess"]
We are a WIP, hence i wont compare our present squad to any previous one. What i do see is two summer windows and one winter window where the playing staff, maybe only Alex Tettey apart, thats completely and utterly been overhauled, Russ Martin leaving just about the last vestige of the old squad finally gone from those promotion / relegation years.
Looking back on last season, despite it all, i think DF did a good job getting us in mid table, considering all the changes that happened. This last summer window i think  surpassed all my expectations in getting some good players into the club, looking at our squad now, i think it has the makings and potential to not only get better but in fact much better. But lets not forget there is still a lot of gelling to be done on the pitch still, thats why i think DF''s  real job is only just beginning, as the team itself can only now be called a DF team.
Are we getting better?..depends what aspect of the club you think about and what previous time or era you compare it with. But for sure a couple of areas where we are getting better is at Colney, which is getting its much needed upgrade, and in the academy products that are getting into the first team squad. Those two things by themselves are a big big improvement on recent seasons.
[/quote]
Agree with every word of this. ^^^
The main problem for some people is this - some people are still affected by a combination of
a) The Hughton era and tension of trying to stay in the PL
b) The disappointment of not getting back under Neil the second time
c) The rebuild which they see as a cheap option rather than being able to buy more expensive players. 
All this done against a background of thinking the board are getting it wrong all the time. Even the promotion under Neil was done under a cloud of people thinking everything was wrong that season with Adams being in charge and having to find someone else.
If you think like that it is no wonder that you are down on the club all the time.  You cannot even recognise that the board has changed and developed and that the club is evolving and developing.   It mght not be your favourite idea of how the club should be because you want to have lots of money to spend on lots of expensive players, but the truth is there is development, we are getting better and the results will improve as the team gells and gets more instinctiveness into their play. 
I suppose if you are a little bit older, you probably take your resentment back to the Grant/Roeder time too, but then their was even less money around and we were deeply in debt - so even if you don''t think things on the pitch are improving or are likely to improve, you might recognise that the health of the club in that sense has improved tenfold since those days, we have good players on the books and not a team of loanees, we have a developing academy and a policy and willingness to bring players through and we have the finances to be sustainable on all fronts.
So added to having a plan that is being acted upon for the first team and that is being implemented throughout the club, you might see that there is cohesiveness, development, financial responsibilty, leadership that has placed footballing descisions with football people and overall a club that is just about as healthy a club as it could be.  That needs to be translated on to the pitch - of course it does and things there will develop how they will - but if it is possible for people to put aside what has happened long in the past and just recognise the developments and changes that have happened more recently, they might just climb on board and appreciate what is being attempted.
You can''t make an omlette without breaking eggs and things on the pitch might take more time to come right, but in terms of development the club is in an improving and healthy situation. We now just need a few good results to kick us on and really get our season going.
Or you can just be down on the whole club and everyone and everything to do with it.........but is that realistic?

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Or, to summarise spot on posts by Essjayess and LDC, if the question is: Are posters on here showing better understanding of the project on which the club is currently embarked than they did fifteen months ago? the answer, sadly, in the case of many, has to be NO. 

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"Or, to summarise spot on posts by Essjayess and LDC, if the question is: Are posters on here showing better understanding of the project on which the club is currently embarked than they did fifteen months ago? the answer, sadly, in the case of many, has to be NO."

To further summarise ''are more posters agreeing with me than they were? No, so clearly they don''t understand football like I do and must be talked down to.''

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Hi Westcoast,

My opinion of the situation is different to yours, I think that most/many posters/supporters do have a better and (thoughtful) understanding (and appreciation) of ''the project'', however, I also think that they are coming/have come to the conclusion that the wrong people/person are/is implementing it and it is this, which fuels the disparity of views.

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I agree with that Ray.

I also feel that our business in the transfer market has been very good for the most part and taking into account that signing a Bale or even a Wolfswinkle is off the menu.

Critics might think that they could do better but there seems to be a lot of decent expertise in our hunt for players (Buendia, McClean, Hernandez) and the signatures of both Rhodes and Krul suggest that it is not stuck in mud.

I sense that you are honing into the idea that Daniel Farke might just be the weakest link.

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I was quite happy to admit to being blown away last season, it was pure magic from Farke. Maybe I could see something that many others couldn''t?
We seem to be having a little pause for breath at the moment as new players bed in, but I''m sure that our ''dark period'' (1998-2017) will soon be a distant memory.
Over to you Mr Farke.........

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"I was quite happy to admit to being blown away last season, it was pure magic from Farke."

I have to ask, what were you seeing that blew you away last season?

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Guest
I have to ask, what were you seeing that blew you away last season?

The top of his boyfriend''s head

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Broadstairs i sense that you are honing into the idea that Daniel Farke might just be the weakest link.

I Totally Agree

The signings haven been good as they were cheap in line with wages etc ( webber )

Training ground and Academy coaching / scouts etc all been put in place

The Finance side has been sorted out so we can now operate withing budget ( stone )

The only thing is 1 st team results and that is Farke

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@Ray
Hi Ray,
Pace king canary, my post wasn''t about football as such, it was about evaluative questions, answers to which are relative to the criteria applied. Even a pedigree cat scores badly at a dog show. Are City getting better? How is Daniel Farke doing? What show are they entered in? I''m with Essjayess and LDC as regards what the show is.

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[:O] Let''s try that again.
 @Ray
Hi Ray,
Pace king canary, my post wasn''t about football as such, it was about evaluative questions, answers to which are relative to the criteria applied. Even a pedigree cat scores badly at a dog show. Are City getting better? How is Daniel Farke doing? What show are they entered in? I''m with Essjayess and LDC as regards what the show is.

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Hi Westcoast,

I''ve just returned home from a boozy night out in my local with an expat friend who lives in Las Vegas, so will reply more soberly sometime tomorrow.

Take care.

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No, we are not getting better. I hope the team succeed under Farke, but so far the opposite is shown. So the answer is no, we are not getting better.

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[quote user="Ray"]Hi Westcoast,

My opinion of the situation is different to yours, I think that most/many posters/supporters do have a better and (thoughtful) understanding (and appreciation) of ''the project'', however, I also think that they are coming/have come to the conclusion that the wrong people/person are/is implementing it and it is this, which fuels the disparity of views.[/quote]
I do have, and always have had, a thoughtful understanding of "the project" but that doesn''t mean that I think it''s going to work.
In fact, I''m totally convinced that it isn''t going to work and by the end of this season, or if not the one after, Farke & Webber will be gone.

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[quote user="he"]No, we are not getting better. I hope the team succeed under Farke, but so far the opposite is shown. So the answer is no, we are not getting better.[/quote] This perfectly illustrates my point. What is your criterion of "success"? Is that the criterion to use when assessing how well the team and Farke himself are currently doing? What do you think Farke''s brief is? To get us as high up the league table as he can, at all costs, no matter what?  

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Hi Westcoast,

Awake, sober and no ill effects – result.

You ask a series of questions in your last post and I will provide answers from my point of view.

Question: ‘What is your criterion of success and is this the criterion used to judge the team and Farke’.

Answering the second part of your question first, yes, the criterion is the one by which I judge the team and Farke and I add, the one by which I judge the club in its entirety.

The criterion, is a simple one, as a supporter and paying customer I want to be entertained, assuming I am, then I feel I am getting value for money, if massive success follows then even better. That said, if massive failure follows then I would find that difficult to accept but I do believe if I am entertained by a team playing attractive football then it is unlikely massive failure will result. From my perspective, entertainment is key to keeping attendances high, I do not know what the income from supporters is in total, tickets sales, food and drink sales, shirt sales, corporate, etc. etc. but I am guessing it is currently quite a high percentage of our income. Taking an extreme, what would our income be if all supporters felt they were not getting value for money and walked away, another guess but probably not enough to maintain a Championship club, Academy Cat 1, etc. etc.

Question: What do I think Farke’s brief is? I have no idea, but I would like it to be along the lines of my previous answer.

Referring back to my criterion, am I being entertained – No, well not by NCFC anyway, some may be, I am not. Based on what I know (or indeed don’t know, his brief, etc.) Farke is certainly not setting out to entertain. If a coach, even in training sessions, insists on possession and safety first by sideways passing and berates any player daring something different, and only has a few differing training session when compared to other coaches, then I would suggest this instils fear and boredom within the squad, consequently entertainment, or my version of it, is very unlikely to follow.

Are we getting better, again, based on my criterion – No and if we do not, then at an average of 0.833 points per game we will end up with 38-39 points and almost definitely relegated, of course I sincerely hope we improve and I also sincerely hope this is by playing entertaining and attractive football, I just have my concerns this will not happen given the ‘current’ mindset of Farke, or indeed, the ‘current’ brief.

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without Whittaker we would not have gone up that year stats wise better than olson but one walks on water and one was hounded out of the club

he couldn''t defend for toffee but was excellent going forward

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