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CanaryChris

We need to talk about Efan

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Is anyone else sick of Efan Ekoku's mindless drivel, infrequently interspersed with derogatory comments about Norwich? 

I know our last match was not great, but for a man who used to wear the vaulted yellow and green, he seems utterly clueless about our club. One glaring instance of his utter incompetence and lack of understanding regarding our club was this little gem: "If I were a Norwich City fan, I would be really concerned about the number of goals being scored against them."

Perhaps he was hibernating between the months of August 2018 and May 2019 and did not see that the way we play means we concede goals, but we score plenty too. There was also the cringe worthy correction when told he was the last man to score a hat-trick for Norwich in the Prem since Pukki and he said "I scored four." 

Seriously just Effin Eff of Efan.

 

Rant over...

Edited by CanaryChris

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I have listened to Efan's comments for the last 2 games and I have no issues with him at all.

I have not heard any " derogatory comments about Norwich"

To be fair he is only telling it like it is.

It is his job to be objective, impartial and comment on the game as he sees it.

Isn't everyone, including Farke & Co, "concerned about the number of goals being scored against"

I fail to see how that comment can be described as "utter incompetence and lack of understanding regarding our Club"

I think he's actually one of the better summarisers and just because he played for us it doesn't mean that he should be biased in our favour.

And why wouldn't he point out that he scored 4 and not 3?

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5 hours ago, CanaryChris said:

Is anyone else sick of Efan Ekoku's mindless drivel, infrequently interspersed with derogatory comments about Norwich? 

I know our last match was not great, but for a man who used to wear the vaulted yellow and green...

Sounds like he's for the high jump.....

 

 

 

I'll get my coat

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14 minutes ago, king canary said:

I'm a Norwich fan and I'm concerned about the amount we're conceding.

Ditto.

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He's been rubbing me up the wrong way as well.  Nothing egregious, just little snipes here and there.  It's like we're married.

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38 minutes ago, king canary said:

I swear some on here would claim the league table is biased for having us in 19th.

Are we 19th? Blimey, I've been avoiding looking at it but would have guessed higher. It must be rigged. 

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4 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Are we 19th? Blimey, I've been avoiding looking at it but would have guessed higher. It must be rigged. 

Clearly is. Bloody biased Premier League.

We are a point off 12th though.

 

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Very few commentators will have seen us play much. And I expect they will just be saying what they see. Some of them get on my nerves at times as they are so boring. They are not suited to entertain us.

But we must get away from the idea that every ex Norwich player didn't play for other teams and may well have not enjoyed their time at the club, particularly if spectators were getting on their backs.

And the opportunity just arises for the lil' ole Naarridge brigade to pipe up.

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1 hour ago, king canary said:

I'm a Norwich fan and I'm concerned about the amount we're conceding.

Not just conceding but the amount of clear chances we’re  giving away. West Ham could easily have had five or six

Edited by JF

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To be fair, I'm a Norwich City fan and I'm concerned about the amount of goals being scored against us plus the number of chances teams are creating against us so I don't see much wrong with that statement from Efan. I know the way we play means that teams will get chances against us but we have to tighten up a bit, somehow.

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I seem to remember that when he was playing for Sheff Wed against us (circa 2001/2) he got some barracking from the fans near where I sit, he seemed surprised (and I have to say i was also surprised) to the point he turned to them and basically asked/gestured "what have I done?", maybe he has never forgotten that.........

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15 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

To be fair, I'm a Norwich City fan and I'm concerned about the amount of goals being scored against us plus the number of chances teams are creating against us so I don't see much wrong with that statement from Efan. I know the way we play means that teams will get chances against us but we have to tighten up a bit, somehow.

I'm not overly concerned at the moment.  Yes, Wet Spam scored two against us, but we didn't score and if we had the game would have been in the balance.  With this Norwich team, scoring goals is the main way we are going to get points.  

We are not going to win many games 1-0, although that happened several times last season away from home, so we need to be scoring goals and not get bogged down with defending.  The second goal on Saturday was down to a mistake by a midfielder, TC - and he has to learn from that - and if it had stayed 1-0, we might have been able to exert a little more pressure on the opposition.

It's small margins and we haven't done too badly in the four games we have had so far in what is a huge learning curve for our players.   The defending issue is a collective one - we are always going to concede a goal or two at this level and the defence really only were at fault for one goal against West Ham - we have to be scoring goals and as much as I like Todd Cantwell, he is not good enough - yet - in front of goal, not just the headed miss, but shooting a over the bar several times this season already.  Pukki can't do it all on his own and Todd, Emi and Stiepermann have to contribute more in the way of a goal threat.

It's goals for that will do it for us, not goals against. 

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3 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

I'm not overly concerned at the moment.  Yes, Wet Spam scored two against us, but we didn't score and if we had the game would have been in the balance.  With this Norwich team, scoring goals is the main way we are going to get points.  

 

But that kind of is the concern- if you need to score 2 or 3 goals a game to get points that is difficult to sustain over a season. 

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3 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

 

 

It's goals for that will do it for us, not goals against. 

Without Pukki we are in big trouble up front and with the defence we are in big trouble at the back.

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If our defending isn't a problem, if people are happy with it and if people are confident that we are going to score 2 or 3 goals every week (and win), then why do we have so many threads, and hundreds of posts, about defending, defenders, sweepers, style of play and formations.

I very much doubt that Farke will be preaching the same message as LDC about not getting bogged down with defending because any coach worth his money will know that it is something that needs improving and quickly.

 

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8 minutes ago, Making Plans said:

If our defending isn't a problem, if people are happy with it and if people are confident that we are going to score 2 or 3 goals every week (and win), then why do we have so many threads, and hundreds of posts, about defending, defenders, sweepers, style of play and formations.

I very much doubt that Farke will be preaching the same message as LDC about not getting bogged down with defending because any coach worth his money will know that it is something that needs improving and quickly.

 

The mantra from the club is that we will stick with the way we are playing.   Alex Neil gave in to his principles and changed the way we play to be more defensive - it didn't work then, neither will it work now.

There is no secret to what we need to do, neither does it involve big changes. What we can do is cut down on the mistakes - Todd's on Saturday for instance which led directly to a goal.  It's down to individuals to learn and improve.  The quality we have is there and if we play at our best we will be a match for anyone - but we did not play at our best on Saturday and got beaten. 

What we need to improve is what we do, not what we don't do.  Better decision making, taking care of the ball more, better awareness of the shape of the team 100% of the time so there are less opportunities and spaces for opposition to exploit.  Last season we got away with things up to a point, but what the last match showed is that we are not going to get away with mistakes this season.  That is the learning curve we are on and will need to step up.  Nothing needs to change in overall tactics and attitude - we just need to do what we do, but better.

 

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I've always liked Efan Ekoku as a commentator. He seems to know what he's talking about and he's more eloquent than most ex-players turned commentators, whilst being very calm in his manner and doesn't try to attract all the attention on him.

Some people are just taking exception to all forms of national media because they aren't featuring us as much as Liverpool and Man Utd and they are daring to say negative things about us.

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29 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

The mantra from the club is that we will stick with the way we are playing.  

 

At no stage in my post did I suggest that we change the way we play or change our the style of play so why have you, Mr LDC, decided to start you post with a comment that suggests that I did.

Surely it is possible to retain our style of play whilst at the same time improve our defending, which can be done without becoming more defensive.

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2 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

I've always liked Efan Ekoku as a commentator. He seems to know what he's talking about and he's more eloquent than most ex-players turned commentators, whilst being very calm in his manner and doesn't try to attract all the attention on him.

Some people are just taking exception to all forms of national media because they aren't featuring us as much as Liverpool and Man Utd and they are daring to say negative things about us.

I'm not. I understand the media thing and I find it embarrassing that our fans think there is some kind of agenda against us. I just think he's a rubbish commentator and disagree with a lot of his comments.

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1 minute ago, Making Plans said:

At no stage in my post did I suggest that we change the way we play or change our the style of play so why have you, Mr LDC, decided to start you post with a comment that suggests that I did.

Surely it is possible to retain our style of play whilst at the same time improve our defending, which can be done without becoming more defensive.

If we play more defensively, which is what you seem to be suggesting, then that is a change of style.  If you do not mean that, then you presumably agree with me that all we need to do is to carry on as we have been doing, but simply to do it better.

 

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Just now, All the Germans said:

I'm not. I understand the media thing and I find it embarrassing that our fans think there is some kind of agenda against us.

I just think he's a rubbish commentator and disagree with a lot of his comments.

I agree wholeheartedly with the bit in italics, but disagree with the underlined part.

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8 minutes ago, Making Plans said:

At no stage in my post did I suggest that we change the way we play or change our the style of play so why have you, Mr LDC, decided to start you post with a comment that suggests that I did.

Surely it is possible to retain our style of play whilst at the same time improve our defending, which can be done without becoming more defensive.

 

5 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

If we play more defensively, which is what you seem to be suggesting, then that is a change of style.  If you do not mean that, then you presumably agree with me that all we need to do is to carry on as we have been doing, but simply to do it better.

 

We can, and in my opinion should, continue the way we are playing but can improve defensively at the same time.

A lot of the goals we've conceded have been as a result of defensive errors, such as the first one against West Ham. Aarons needs to position himself better and Godfrey needs to mark his man better (although Godfrey has improved a lot already in this aspect). This doesn't need a change of style, it just needs young players to learn, develop defensive instincts and gain experience. I'd give them time to do that and if they're still struggling with it in a couple of months, then maybe we can look at tweaking the style to give them more protection.

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1 minute ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

 

We can, and in my opinion should, continue the way we are playing but can improve defensively at the same time.

A lot of the goals we've conceded have been as a result of defensive errors, such as the first one against West Ham. Aarons needs to position himself better and Godfrey needs to mark his man better (although Godfrey has improved a lot already in this aspect). This doesn't need a change of style, it just needs young players to learn, develop defensive instincts and gain experience. I'd give them time to do that and if they're still struggling with it in a couple of months, then maybe we can look at tweaking the style to give them more protection.

Think you're leaving out Buendia who also played his part. When Masuka comes forward Emi either needs to go with him or pick up the winger he's overlapping. He kind of does neither so they do a simple give and go under little pressure and exploit Aarons being positioned too wide. 

Midfield needs to do there bit more to help our fullbacks especially.

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1 minute ago, king canary said:

Think you're leaving out Buendia who also played his part. When Masuka comes forward Emi either needs to go with him or pick up the winger he's overlapping. He kind of does neither so they do a simple give and go under little pressure and exploit Aarons being positioned too wide. 

Midfield needs to do there bit more to help our fullbacks especially.

Yeah, that's another example. I wasn't being exhaustive with my list of errors but just giving some examples of how our young players can learn these things and improve moving forward, either from the coaching staff or by figuring it out for themselves.

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I'm not concerned about the amount of goals we're conceding - maybe the type of goals we're conceding is a bit disappointing but equally we've had a 4th choice CB for our premier league introduction. We've also played Liverpool and Chelsea. I watched Arsenal keep 11 men behind the ball against Liverpool and they could have easily lost by 5 or 6 goals - in the end they only ended up one better than us. And that's Arsenal.

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