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Yellow and Green

Reflecting on the Recruitment

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It's fair to say that the recruitment has been fairly disastrous and, for me, it has been the main reason why we have suffered so badly this season. We have had a lot of games where we deserved to get something from the game, however we just lacked quality at either end of the pitch. Twenty-two losses have gradually eroded our confidence and the performances have reflected this.

A lot has been made of the individual signings and why they have failed, and I would like to step back, look at the wider strategy and try to understand what went wrong.

In the previous two years that Webber has been at the club, we clearly didn't have much money and the plan seemed to be to promote the youth team players and scour the lower leagues across the continent in order to find good value for money. The idea was that we were giving these players an opportunity  - by giving them a chance at a bigger club, they would fight to prove that they deserve to play for us.

 

This season, having been promoted to the PL, offered more freedom in the transfer market. I read something a couple of weeks ago in Michael Bailey's Athletic article that I found interesting: "Some close to the club feel Norwich stepped away from how they made decisions on the previous season's signings. Others feel there was no alternative".

Looking at the types of players that we brought in, it seems that we sought to bring in more established players from clubs operating in the top leagues across the continent. Instead of signing players from Braunschweig, Paderborn and Darmstadt, players were coming from Sevilla, Schalke and Man City. On paper, it makes sense and, coupled with the minimal transfer fees, it would have been a masterstroke if even half of them had been a success. 

 

So why hasn't it worked? There could be a range of reasons - which we'll probably never know - that could include injuries, adapting to the PL, attitude or by just being kept out of the team. 

I think it is interesting to note that most of the 'big-names' that Norwich signed in previous seasons haven't worked out - and our recruitment has been a major issue each time we've been relegated. The only time we stayed up was when we signed the likes of Pilkington, Bennett and Morrison. 

Holt, Hoolahan and Pukki have performed a million times better than Naismith, RVW and Amadou (he would have costed us 10m) and I'm interested to know people's thoughts as to why that has consistently been the case throughout our history.

For me, it goes back to what Webber said when he first joined: It is better to bring in a player who you have given an opportunity to, rather than a player who feels like he is doing us a favour by joining us. I think it is difficult for a club like us - yo-yoing between the PL and the Championship - to consistently find players who are 1) good enough to improve our squad; 2) at a smaller club/league; 3) affordable. 

 

I do sympathise with Webber - in hindsight it hasn't worked but most fans were satisfied with our transfer dealings by August 1st, although there were grumblings that we didn't spend any money. I do think that he will reflect on this and learn from his mistakes. The signings completed for next season (Sinani, Sitti, McCullum) seem to suggest that we have reverted back to our previous strategy, which is a plus.

 

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Some good points but i think we can look back on history over a long period to reflect upon our demise as being no great surprise. I always think that a squad that gets you promoted will have the upside of desire but will be playing at a more demanding level and will score less goals and let more in. Given that we let in well over 50 goals in the championship and did little or nothing to improve the squad in that area i am actually surprised that we did not let more in. Looking at the championship goals that w e scored 4 or 5 players in midfield chipped in, this season Cantwell apart non of the midfield have made the jump up certainly in terms of goal scoring. Pukki started very well but we burnt him out  there was no back up or alternative option. Nowdays good championship players will cost you well over£20 look at Maupay and Jarrod Bowen  they have both made significant contributions to their clubs in the bottom half of the table, if as a promoted club you cannot even add two or three top quality hungry championship players you are not really giving yourself much of a chance. We have been fantastic at developing youngsters that will go on to have good careers but youngsters as part of their development will make mistakes, lapses in confidence  and form which is why you need a back bone of more mature professionals  such as Grant Holt, Ricky Lambert etc. In truth given that we spent virtually nothing in terms of contracted players we never gave our self a chance , which is a shame as in many games there was not much in it, but we couldnt get that second goal that would edge a point or turn a draw into a win.

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When so little was spent I wouldn’t call recruitment ‘disastrous’ as the club hasn’t committed large amounts of money to contracts or ongoing fees it will struggle to pay in the future. 

The recruitment though, pretty much to a man, has not added anything to the first team squad. This is the real issue. There are different circumstances why each different signing hasn’t worked out. Like Webber’s previous windows each signing was a bit of a gamble. Players with chequered pasts - either performance or injury related - and to survive the club needed those dice roles to land on 6s, but in many cases they came up 1s. 

The only transfer I really think could have worked out is Amadou, but he never seemed to get a fair chance with Farke. I can’t remember him ever being awful in a game and he was excellent against Man City. Norwich could have really used him at the moment with defensive injuries. 
 

One area that Farke needs to work on is squad management - to become a top manager he needs to make all the players in his squad feel included even if this means giving them an extra chance here or there. 
 

Luckily Norwich won’t be saddled with any players that are a drain on resources at the beginning of next season, unlike clubs like Bournemouth and Villa who are likely to come down with Norwich. If Villa get relegated then you can really point to a ‘disastrous’ recruitment history rather than Norwich’s ‘bad’ recruitment. 
 

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14 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

When so little was spent I wouldn’t call recruitment ‘disastrous’ as the club hasn’t committed large amounts of money to contracts or ongoing fees it will struggle to pay in the future. 

The recruitment though, pretty much to a man, has not added anything to the first team squad. This is the real issue. There are different circumstances why each different signing hasn’t worked out. Like Webber’s previous windows each signing was a bit of a gamble. Players with chequered pasts - either performance or injury related - and to survive the club needed those dice roles to land on 6s, but in many cases they came up 1s. 

The only transfer I really think could have worked out is Amadou, but he never seemed to get a fair chance with Farke. I can’t remember him ever being awful in a game and he was excellent against Man City. Norwich could have really used him at the moment with defensive injuries. 
 

One area that Farke needs to work on is squad management - to become a top manager he needs to make all the players in his squad feel included even if this means giving them an extra chance here or there. 
 

Luckily Norwich won’t be saddled with any players that are a drain on resources at the beginning of next season, unlike clubs like Bournemouth and Villa who are likely to come down with Norwich. If Villa get relegated then you can really point to a ‘disastrous’ recruitment history rather than Norwich’s ‘bad’ recruitment. 
 

Rational, common sense appraisal as usual Bethno.  It seems to me that the more real knowledge people have about the game, the less emotive the post. 

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30 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

When so little was spent I wouldn’t call recruitment ‘disastrous’ as the club hasn’t committed large amounts of money to contracts or ongoing fees it will struggle to pay in the future. 

The recruitment though, pretty much to a man, has not added anything to the first team squad. This is the real issue. There are different circumstances why each different signing hasn’t worked out. Like Webber’s previous windows each signing was a bit of a gamble. Players with chequered pasts - either performance or injury related - and to survive the club needed those dice roles to land on 6s, but in many cases they came up 1s. 

The only transfer I really think could have worked out is Amadou, but he never seemed to get a fair chance with Farke. I can’t remember him ever being awful in a game and he was excellent against Man City. Norwich could have really used him at the moment with defensive injuries. 
 

One area that Farke needs to work on is squad management - to become a top manager he needs to make all the players in his squad feel included even if this means giving them an extra chance here or there. 
 

Luckily Norwich won’t be saddled with any players that are a drain on resources at the beginning of next season, unlike clubs like Bournemouth and Villa who are likely to come down with Norwich. If Villa get relegated then you can really point to a ‘disastrous’ recruitment history rather than Norwich’s ‘bad’ recruitment. 
 

I agree but I do think we fundamentally pursued the wrong strategy over the summer.

I know I'm banging a very old drum here but would it have really been such a huge risk for the club to spent £30m on 2-3 players rather than chucking a smaller amount down the loan black hole? 

If we trust Webber as a talent spotter you'd have to think any players he signed wouldn't end up being millstones around the neck of the club but assets that we can either use next season or sell on even in the Championship. 

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58 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

When so little was spent I wouldn’t call recruitment ‘disastrous’ as the club hasn’t committed large amounts of money to contracts or ongoing fees it will struggle to pay in the future. 

The recruitment though, pretty much to a man, has not added anything to the first team squad. This is the real issue. There are different circumstances why each different signing hasn’t worked out. Like Webber’s previous windows each signing was a bit of a gamble. Players with chequered pasts - either performance or injury related - and to survive the club needed those dice roles to land on 6s, but in many cases they came up 1s. 

The only transfer I really think could have worked out is Amadou, but he never seemed to get a fair chance with Farke. I can’t remember him ever being awful in a game and he was excellent against Man City. Norwich could have really used him at the moment with defensive injuries. 
 

One area that Farke needs to work on is squad management - to become a top manager he needs to make all the players in his squad feel included even if this means giving them an extra chance here or there. 
 

Luckily Norwich won’t be saddled with any players that are a drain on resources at the beginning of next season, unlike clubs like Bournemouth and Villa who are likely to come down with Norwich. If Villa get relegated then you can really point to a ‘disastrous’ recruitment history rather than Norwich’s ‘bad’ recruitment. 
 

'Disastrous' was maybe the wrong word but the general point of the intro, as you actually mentioned, is that none of the signings particularly improved the first team - thus contributing to the results this season. 

I was going to mention the fact that we spent little money, however I didn't think it was that important to the point that I was making.

 

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With so little invested in the playing squad your recruitment has to be bang on with a very little margin for error but Byram apart last summer and January have not been good enough by a long chalk.

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46 minutes ago, king canary said:

I agree but I do think we fundamentally pursued the wrong strategy over the summer.

I know I'm banging a very old drum here but would it have really been such a huge risk for the club to spent £30m on 2-3 players rather than chucking a smaller amount down the loan black hole? 

If we trust Webber as a talent spotter you'd have to think any players he signed wouldn't end up being millstones around the neck of the club but assets that we can either use next season or sell on even in the Championship. 

I think 'Bethnal has it spot on.

In relation to your comment in bold, I guess it depends if we felt any were worth the 'gamble' or not. Apparently we thought Claude-Marice was worth the gamble, maybe we didn't find anyone else who we thought we definitely wouldn't lose big money on if it all went pear shaped? 

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1 hour ago, king canary said:

I agree but I do think we fundamentally pursued the wrong strategy over the summer.

I know I'm banging a very old drum here but would it have really been such a huge risk for the club to spent £30m on 2-3 players rather than chucking a smaller amount down the loan black hole? 

If we trust Webber as a talent spotter you'd have to think any players he signed wouldn't end up being millstones around the neck of the club but assets that we can either use next season or sell on even in the Championship. 

I was very much of this view as well in the summer, and probably still have it now. 
 

I suppose without really knowing who was available and affordable, in fees and wages, we will never be able to truly judge what Norwich could have done. 
 

It was refreshing to see Webber come out and say that Norwich has got it wrong. Others in the past have tried to make straw man arguments that obvious failures were in fact okay. 
 

I look forward to seeing what Webber can do transfer wise this summer - the early signs look at least interesting. I hope for a fairly large overhaul to be honest - I think trying to rely on those who did it before to be able to motivate themselves again would be risky. Especially as Norwich will go into next season as one of the favourites for promotion and that can be heavy baggage. 

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1 hour ago, king canary said:

I agree but I do think we fundamentally pursued the wrong strategy over the summer.

I know I'm banging a very old drum here but would it have really been such a huge risk for the club to spent £30m on 2-3 players rather than chucking a smaller amount down the loan black hole? 

If we trust Webber as a talent spotter you'd have to think any players he signed wouldn't end up being millstones around the neck of the club but assets that we can either use next season or sell on even in the Championship. 

I agree totally. There is nothing to be ashamed of in being a yo yo club and preparing for possible relegation at the outset. If we had forked out say £40m for Maupay and or Bowen they were young proven hungry championship players, they would either have come off in which case we may have stayed up or sold them on at a profit or we would have been relegated in which case we would have two top notch championship ship players that we could either sell for on or about what we paid or build another promotion capaign around. The nightmare scenario is spending lots of money on older players with no resale value or foreign players with no English experience eg RVW  possibly no one wants when you get relegated and you are stuck with them on high wages

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7 minutes ago, Yorkshire Canary said:

I agree totally. There is nothing to be ashamed of in being a yo yo club and preparing for possible relegation at the outset. If we had forked out say £40m for Maupay and or Bowen they were young proven hungry championship players, they would either have come off in which case we may have stayed up or sold them on at a profit or we would have been relegated in which case we would have two top notch championship ship players that we could either sell for on or about what we paid or build another promotion capaign around. The nightmare scenario is spending lots of money on older players with no resale value or foreign players with no English experience eg RVW  possibly no one wants when you get relegated and you are stuck with them on high wages

I actually think the RvW window is an example of a decent recruitment strategy in general.

Fer didn't set the world alight but was sold for a profit.

Redmond became a key piece of our first team and was again sold for a decent profit.

Olsson became a key piece of the first team and was sold for a small profit eventually.

Hooper was a solid player in our Championship season and we sold him for a small loss. 

RvW was really the only total bomb and even he was farmed out on loan and we got his wages covered. 

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33 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I was very much of this view as well in the summer, and probably still have it now. 
 

I suppose without really knowing who was available and affordable, in fees and wages, we will never be able to truly judge what Norwich could have done. 
 

It was refreshing to see Webber come out and say that Norwich has got it wrong. Others in the past have tried to make straw man arguments that obvious failures were in fact okay. 
 

I look forward to seeing what Webber can do transfer wise this summer - the early signs look at least interesting. I hope for a fairly large overhaul to be honest - I think trying to rely on those who did it before to be able to motivate themselves again would be risky. Especially as Norwich will go into next season as one of the favourites for promotion and that can be heavy baggage. 

Totally agree- I think the McCallum and Sitti signings show the right sort of focus going forward. Also interesting to see the Mirror running a stroy today saying all our players have a full 50% wage cut in their contracts as I was slightly concerned that players like Trybull and Steipermann might have ended up on wages that are too big to shift for players of their ability.

I just hope the club realises that if we do go back up we're going to need to take some calculated risks to try and avoid a repeat of this season. 

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13 minutes ago, king canary said:

Totally agree- I think the McCallum and Sitti signings show the right sort of focus going forward. Also interesting to see the Mirror running a stroy today saying all our players have a full 50% wage cut in their contracts as I was slightly concerned that players like Trybull and Steipermann might have ended up on wages that are too big to shift for players of their ability.

I just hope the club realises that if we do go back up we're going to need to take some calculated risks to try and avoid a repeat of this season. 

I agree with both these quotes.

I am happy that we may sell players on, you should always sell at the optimum value, Bradley Johnson, the 2 Murphy's if the chance presents itself. We cannot afford another oliveira or Naismith etc.

So glad to hear contracts have been sensible for players who also had their standout season, they maximised their potential that season. I certainly dont think they would get to the same level 2 years on as they have never shown that before they arrived at carrow road.

I am impressed with the recruitment McCallum, sitting, Sinai etc and hope much more continues as we do need players to move for £££ reasons and also as they wont be as motivated. If we can get £20million plus for a few players brilliant. I am not saying they will but they could well get the move and also show that they are playing at their optimum level, but rather someone else finds that out after shelling big bucks.

I also feel we need a few players who came in 2 to 3 seasons to see that they will be squad players as we will have resources to build a promotion chasing team.

We will need to change tactics a little as with personnel changes that makes sense. Byram for Aaron's is a cracking replacement who add strong leadership, experience and still potential to get better.

Idah for drmic, drmic may have to sit back with Idah rightly chosen as a second choice striker. That is how good his development has been that he could knock a swiss international out of the line up.

 

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They know they got it wrong this year. They gambled in such a way that you only needed one or two things to go right for a real chance, but almost zero actually came off. 

I think we banked on our high level of technical skill and securing all of our players to good deals (so if they excelled we would get top dollar) but the reality of the PL is you have to earn the right to attack by being responsible at the back, or you will get flattened. 

I think, as I've said on another thread, that psychologically we got two key points wrong. We assumed that the players and fans could endure a season of losing, just because; and we kept beating the 'we expect to finish last and get relegated" drum. I think since January, when I understand the squad got a bit fractured for a number of reasons, we haven't looked like a team fighting for our lives to stay up. Fearless is valuable, but fear of failure is equally so.

I would expect the next transfer window will see us make the squad physically stronger and more athletic, at the cost of a little of our technical va-va-voom. That isn't to say we will put a team of bloggers together, but you can teach a Tettey to pass the ball; you can't teach a Cantwell to have bigger shoulders and be a yard quicker. I think in turn we will become more defensively sound, as we were the only ones to turn up to a sword fight without a shield this season.

 

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3 hours ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

The only transfer I really think could have worked out is Amadou, but he never seemed to get a fair chance with Farke. I can’t remember him ever being awful in a game and he was excellent against Man City. Norwich could have really used him at the moment with defensive injuries. 

Villa at home and Burnley away? He wasn't great at Palace away either.

Amadou struck me as a player who was either excellent (Man City, Bournemouth, Arsenal) or dreadful (see above).

Admittedly, he was only played in his best position in one of those six games.

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2 hours ago, TIL 1010 said:

With so little invested in the playing squad your recruitment has to be bang on with a very little margin for error but Byram apart last summer and January have not been good enough by a long chalk.

Even with Byram you have to say it is ‘qualified’ by the fact he will end the season having played well under 50% of games.  His ability has never been in doubt, but his injury record has; hopefully he’s ready to go for next season and we’ll see more of him.

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17 minutes ago, Mason 47 said:

I would expect the next transfer window will see us make the squad physically stronger and more athletic, at the cost of a little of our technical va-va-voom. That isn't to say we will put a team of bloggers together, but you can teach a Tettey to pass the ball; you can't teach a Cantwell to have bigger shoulders and be a yard quicker. I think in turn we will become more defensively sound, as we were the only ones to turn up to a sword fight without a shield this season.

 

I really hope you're right about this- but important not only do we bring in players like those but also that the Head Coach actually uses them. Amadou was a great example of a player who Farke just didn't seem to fancy but would have bought some actual physicality to our midfield.

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1 hour ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I look forward to seeing what Webber can do transfer wise this summer - the early signs look at least interesting. I hope for a fairly large overhaul to be honest - I think trying to rely on those who did it before to be able to motivate themselves again would be risky. Especially as Norwich will go into next season as one of the favourites for promotion and that can be heavy baggage. 

Yeah assuming Tettey and Rupp are sticking around, there's a block of players in or past their prime: Leitner, Trybull, McLean, Klose, Stiepermann with two years left and Vrancic with one year left. All solid players that could do a job in the Championship, but at the same time guys who aren't likely to get further contract extensions and guys we'd be looking to replace assuming we returned to the Premiership. I can definitely see motivation being an issue.

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26 minutes ago, king canary said:

I really hope you're right about this- but important not only do we bring in players like those but also that the Head Coach actually uses them. Amadou was a great example of a player who Farke just didn't seem to fancy but would have bought some actual physicality to our midfield.

Amadou remains a mystery to me. Based on the noises coming out of the club, in January we were almost back to a full complement of club-owned centre backs and it had been concluded that he wouldn't be able to oust Tettey from the defensive role as he didn't have the passing game; we wanted to keep him but were honest in saying he probably wasn't going to play, and he wanted to go somewhere he would start games.

It just seems odd that, despite the defensive injuries, that we hadn't worked out firstly through scouting but secondly in training that he wasn't going to have the passing game to make a difference in our midfield until halfway through the season.

At any rate, I am of the belief that we are where we are because when Farke & Webber looked at the squad last summer they saw the good parts, the bad, and it was essentially a choice between gambling the money on trying to plug the gaps or spending a bit less and doubling-down on what made us successful. As we've seen this season, they chose wrong. There's another thread around here someplace where posters are hurling stats at each other like chimps, but the takeaway for me backs up what I've said- we're pretty much the league-losers in getting corners, winning headers, headed goals, and crosses. As an amateur FM data analyst, that says to me we're looking at a team who either doesn't play with any love for wingers or forwards who can't head, and in general is smaller and weaker than most of their opponents so probably plays a more technical, passing game.

Now, it's very easy for me to say these things being as this is literally the real-life case; but I believe Farke and his team see the same things and that is why we went the directions we have. I don't believe if we bought a barnstorming winger who got to the byline to cross it 30 times a game that you would see us improve on our headed goals very much, if at all- Teemu has scored 2.5% of his goals for us with his head, incidentally the same amount as he's scored with his chest. I believe the lack of centrebacks available this year will have massively skewed the 'aerial duels won' stat and is reasonable to point at as the reason Kenny has cemented himself as one of the central midfielders, as he is our best in that discipline.

I could be reading into things in completely the wrong direction, but for my money you can see the why & how of Farke's decisions in this data which says to me they're seeing similar things. If I'm right, that should mean a revolution in the playing staff this window that will address the obvious flawed areas as we have been taught, without a shadow of a doubt, that doubling-down on being an open, expansive, diminutive attacking outfit at PL level will get you flattened if you don't build from a solid defensive base. Again, not that we're suddenly going to morph into 'Stoke City+', simply a greater emphasis on players that can help build that structure and let the attacking players do their thing.

Edited by Mason 47

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From his time at Norwich so far it is clear that Farke is a manager who has his method and philosophy and is not going to err from that. He is a not a pragmatist. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a manger - many of the best are of a similar mindset - Klopp and Pep are both the same. The problem is, when managing Norwich you have to be able to maximise every drop from every player - especially when trying to survive in the Prem. 

With Amadou it is pretty clear that he wasn’t particularly high up on Norwich’s list of targets but is when they got to. It is probably where the weakness of the Director of Football model comes in, a player is brought in who the manager may not have high opinions. At least it was a loan and no great amount of money was spent on a player who would be hard to shift. 
 

More than who the club sign this summer the interesting thing will he who leaves. I wouldn’t be too upset or surprised to see Stipermann, Vrancic, Leitner and Trybull all go as the club looks to establish a new core to the team. 

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It is obviously a difficult one with regards to the loan players...

On one hand it is frustrating too see us invest money (and loan fees are not insignificant) in players that have not helped the club achieve any goals this season and will be jumping ship immediately after relegation. In hindsight this has effectively been money down the drain and I think we would all have rather seen money invested in first team players that are going to give the squad a boost next season.

On the other hand it is a relief that none of the players the recruitment team identified for these loans actually were signed properly. Duda, Amadou and Roberts would likely have cost upwards of 50m for all three if we had gone for them on permanent moves in the summer. From what we've seen, this would have been a cataclysmic use of that amount of money.

When it comes down to it, the players we have brought in this season for the first team have not been good enough. Too many failed loan players sent back to their clubs early and the few permanents have not contributed enough. 

Our recruitment team were deservedly lavished with praise for their work last season. They set the standards high and hence I do not think it is unfair to say they have dropped the ball this season.

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8 hours ago, Yorkshire Canary said:

Some good points but i think we can look back on history over a long period to reflect upon our demise as being no great surprise. I always think that a squad that gets you promoted will have the upside of desire but will be playing at a more demanding level and will score less goals and let more in. Given that we let in well over 50 goals in the championship and did little or nothing to improve the squad in that area i am actually surprised that we did not let more in. Looking at the championship goals that w e scored 4 or 5 players in midfield chipped in, this season Cantwell apart non of the midfield have made the jump up certainly in terms of goal scoring. Pukki started very well but we burnt him out  there was no back up or alternative option. Nowdays good championship players will cost you well over£20 look at Maupay and Jarrod Bowen  they have both made significant contributions to their clubs in the bottom half of the table, if as a promoted club you cannot even add two or three top quality hungry championship players you are not really giving yourself much of a chance. We have been fantastic at developing youngsters that will go on to have good careers but youngsters as part of their development will make mistakes, lapses in confidence  and form which is why you need a back bone of more mature professionals  such as Grant Holt, Ricky Lambert etc. In truth given that we spent virtually nothing in terms of contracted players we never gave our self a chance , which is a shame as in many games there was not much in it, but we couldnt get that second goal that would edge a point or turn a draw into a win.

Very good post Yorkshire, I couldn't agree more. The lack of back ups and alternatives were very apparent. because of this and the fact that we relied too heavily on our , very talented but inexperienced youngsters , along with bad luck...we had one of the poorest seasons I can remember. Yes it was Premier League, but it was very , very poor...

Losing becomes an habit ... so I am quite fearful of our next season in the Championship...the hardest league to get out of...

Edited by ROBFLECK
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5 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

From his time at Norwich so far it is clear that Farke is a manager who has his method and philosophy and is not going to err from that. He is a not a pragmatist. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a manger - many of the best are of a similar mindset - Klopp and Pep are both the same. The problem is, when managing Norwich you have to be able to maximise every drop from every player - especially when trying to survive in the Prem. 

I do agree, and I don't expect to see a total shift away from the dynamic passing game that Farke got such praise for on the way up last year. I just think we'll see more athletic players brought in an 'encourage' them to play our way.

For me, you look at any below the top couple (who don't need to) and the bottom couple (who don't know how) and every team in the PL has a defensive mindset that sees 7-9 players prioritise getting back into a compact defensive shape when the ball is lost and not won back within that 6 second window, which makes them very difficult to break down passing through the middle. Southampton since the restart have been champions in this regard. I see it as both a discipline but also an athleticism issue, as teams are usually set defensively before we've even crossed the halfway line, and as seen against Brighton they can break from those lines an awful lot quicker than we can retreat. For their goal at the weekend, when Klose loses possession we have 7 players ahead of the ball and by the time Mooy (who isn't a fast player) crosses the ball 7 seconds later we're playing 4 v 4 facing our own goal- Farkeball or no Farkeball, I just can't believe that they won't do anything to try and level us up in this regard having been so starkly second-best this year.

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