Football has become a Computer Game

[curious yellow 184]

I really don't want to hear another statistic or another buzz phrase, it's becoming more like a business meeting than a match discussion. 

What is the point of the fake crowd  noise? - to disguise what is otherwise a non-event. 

When the league was set up we were supposed to play teams home and away.The statistics do not show that we have played lost our home advantage for vital games. 

The compassion has gone, as has the love of the underdog. What people like Woodhouse and Cascarino have been saying is more like abuse than criticism. 

The mental health of the players will have suffered after this twice weekly humiliation. It doesn't help when the General Manager mocks players for showing emotion. 

Even ex Norwich players have been harsh on certain of our current team. This only encourages idiots like the one who recently abused Drmic. 

In addition it seems like officials are programed to punish us whenever they can. Its been an awful season, particularly because last season was so good. 

[cambridgeshire canary 7,798]

Given the mass amounts of cash being injected into the game there really arent too much underdogs anymore, least in the top leagues.

 

How long do we reckon it's gonna be until we see a player sold for 500 million? Feel like we might head that way one day..

[Canary Wundaboy 1,423]

"The compassion has gone"? We've been atrocious since the restart, one of the worst EPL teams in history. The media aren't just going to let that go, that's not how modern football works, everyone wants their pound of flesh and it's our deserved turn to be the feast. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,328]

40 minutes ago, curious yellow said:

The mental health of the players will have suffered after this twice weekly humiliation. It doesn't help when the General Manager mocks players for showing emotion. 

Even ex Norwich players have been harsh on certain of our current team. This only encourages idiots like the one who recently abused Drmic. 

Oh cry me a f-cking river.

There are thousands of people who have had their cancer treatment indefinitely postponed.

We've had ICU nurses wearing PPE for 12 hour shifts jamming tubes down peoples throats.

We're going to have millions of people unemployed, who will find that the food banks are empty (many of them are).

Yes mental health can affect anybody, but plenty of people more worthy of my sympathy than a group of millionaires who have had their pride hurt. The truth is that a few of them don't look like they really give a sh*t. 

You say that the General Manager may have hurt some feelings, I'm more worried that we may have an appalling lack of discipline. Can't think why else Todd Cantwell would be warming up whilst checking his social media, or why Emi Buendia would find his red card funny.

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by TeemuVanBasten

[curious yellow 184]

10 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

"The compassion has gone"? We've been atrocious since the restart, one of the worst EPL teams in history. The media aren't just going to let that go, that's not how modern football works, everyone wants their pound of flesh and it's our deserved turn to be the feast. 

The question they should be asking is why we have been so bad. 

The answer is that the restart has been particularly unfair to us and has taken away important factors that we can use to our advantage. 

They cannot emphasize this because this is their livelihood. 

[yellow_belly 227]

9 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Oh cry me a f-cking river.

There are thousands of people who have had their cancer treatment indefinitely postponed.

We've had ICU nurses wearing PPE for 12 hour shifts jamming tubes down peoples throats.

We're going to have millions of people unemployed, who will find that the food banks are empty (many of them are).

Yes mental health can affect anybody, but plenty of people more worthy of my sympathy than a group of millionaires who have had their pride hurt. The truth is that a few of them don't look like they really give a sh*t. 

You say that the General Manager may have hurt some feelings, I'm more worried that we may have an appalling lack of discipline. Can't think why else Todd Cantwell would be warming up whilst checking his social media, or why Emi Buendia would find his red card funny.

 

All true. Good post 

 

thanks for a sensible prospective 

[Canary Wundaboy 1,423]

26 minutes ago, curious yellow said:

The question they should be asking is why we have been so bad. 

The answer is that the restart has been particularly unfair to us and has taken away important factors that we can use to our advantage. 

They cannot emphasize this because this is their livelihood. 

We've been so bad because without the crowds all you've ended up with is which 11 v 11 is better. Which team is stronger, faster, more clever, can defend better and score more goals. We've been bad because in every single way you can judge the merits of a team in the Premier League, we've come up worse. The restart has particularly affected us only because we're too reliant on it to bridge the gap, without it we don't look at all like a side worthy on our Premier League place. That's just reality.

[Mello Yello 2,572]

43 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Oh cry me a f-cking river.

There are thousands of people who have had their cancer treatment indefinitely postponed.

We've had ICU nurses wearing PPE for 12 hour shifts jamming tubes down peoples throats.

We're going to have millions of people unemployed, who will find that the food banks are empty (many of them are).

Yes mental health can affect anybody, but plenty of people more worthy of my sympathy than a group of millionaires who have had their pride hurt. The truth is that a few of them don't look like they really give a sh*t. 

You say that the General Manager may have hurt some feelings, I'm more worried that we may have an appalling lack of discipline. Can't think why else Todd Cantwell would be warming up whilst checking his social media, or why Emi Buendia would find his red card funny.

 

Good skills from Todd though....Multi taskin' an' still able to kick a ball.....Any curious onlooking Prem Manager would also be suitably impressed....

[curious yellow 184]

1 hour ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Oh cry me a f-cking river.

There are thousands of people who have had their cancer treatment indefinitely postponed.

We've had ICU nurses wearing PPE for 12 hour shifts jamming tubes down peoples throats.

We're going to have millions of people unemployed, who will find that the food banks are empty (many of them are).

Yes mental health can affect anybody, but plenty of people more worthy of my sympathy than a group of millionaires who have had their pride hurt. The truth is that a few of them don't look like they really give a sh*t. 

You say that the General Manager may have hurt some feelings, I'm more worried that we may have an appalling lack of discipline. Can't think why else Todd Cantwell would be warming up whilst checking his social media, or why Emi Buendia would find his red card funny.

 

Sorry that upset you TVB. 

How stupid of me to think that this is a football forum and a players 's mental state affects their performance. 

Of course we were relegated because Cantwell looked at his phone during the warm up - good detective work. 

Evidently, when we conceded the goals, Cantwell was on Instagram, Buendia was having a beer and a laugh with his mates and Krul was on Dateline. 

[curious yellow 184]

52 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

We've been so bad because without the crowds all you've ended up with is which 11 v 11 is better. Which team is stronger, faster, more clever, can defend better and score more goals. We've been bad because in every single way you can judge the merits of a team in the Premier League, we've come up worse. The restart has particularly affected us only because we're too reliant on it to bridge the gap, without it we don't look at all like a side worthy on our Premier League place. That's just reality.

I don't disagree that we were poor after the break. But isn't the crowd an important part of football? 

Without the crowd, as you say, it's 11 v 11 - richest team wins.Much like a computer game. 

[Disco Dales Jockstrap 1,959]

Todd had better hope Roy Keane doesn't see this - he'll hunt him down and rip out his spine.

OTBC

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I more offended about Cantwell's mask than him looking at a phone while doing the pre-warm up kick about on the pitch. The same people who get worried about such pictures are the ones who complain that players wear headphones or have done something new with their hair. Ultimately these things are meaningless as to whether they are good at football or not.

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

10 minutes ago, curious yellow said:

I don't disagree that we were poor after the break. But isn't the crowd an important part of football? 

Without the crowd, as you say, it's 11 v 11 - richest team wins.Much like a computer game. 

Wycombe broke that trend as did Northampton by winning promotions. Norwich fans really should stop making desperate excuses for being so dire on the return. 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

2 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Wycombe broke that trend as did Northampton by winning promotions. Norwich fans really should stop making desperate excuses for being so dire on the return. 

It is undeniable that being behind closed doors has changed how games are played - home advantage has been wiped away.

It is impossible to say whether results would have been different if lockdown had never happened but I'm sure it can't have helped Norwich (especially the injuries they sustained during that, although you could argue that is a self inflicted wound).

What is true though that Norwich were being hailed as 'the best bottom team ever' to now being 'the worst Norwich team ever' either side of lockdown. While both statements are probably not true, for me, there will always be a big asterisk next to this season due to lockdown. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,328]

1 hour ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I more offended about Cantwell's mask than him looking at a phone while doing the pre-warm up kick about on the pitch. The same people who get worried about such pictures are the ones who complain that players wear headphones or have done something new with their hair. Ultimately these things are meaningless as to whether they are good at football or not.

I'm quite surprised you find that photo normal, as somebody who I believe is involved in football. 

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,328]

1 hour ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

What is true though that Norwich were being hailed as 'the best bottom team ever' 

You mean, one person said it (Danny Murphy) and Norwich fans took that as gospel and bought into the myth, as if Danny f-cking Murphy of all people is some sort of footballing genius. The bloke is a Talksport presenter.

He was also very critical of us taking furlough money, yet the exact same people on this forum who parroted the "best bottom team ever" line had no problem at all with us furloughing and were prepared to ignore his comments on that one. 

Edited July 20, 2020 by TeemuVanBasten

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

Just now, TeemuVanBasten said:

I'm quite surprised you find that photo normal, as somebody who I believe is involved in football. 

 

It is very normal. I'm sure I've seen plenty of players kicking a ball about on the pitch phone in hand. They are certainly on their phones in the dressing room, so can't see the problem with it to be honest. Coaches encourage players to relax before a game, for many that involves looking at their phones - such is modern life.

 

3 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

You mean, one person said it (Danny Murphy) and Norwich fans took that as gospel, as if Danny f-cking Murphy of all people is some sort of footballing genius. The bloke is a Talksport presenter. 

It wasn't just Danny Murphy who said it - in pretty much every analysis of the Premier League I read/listened to Norwich were praised for their performance. As I said I don't think it is necessarily true but it is just a sign that pre-lockdown things didn't seem as terrible as they do now. 

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

Tony Cascarino doesn’t think it. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,328]

14 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

pre-lockdown things didn't seem as terrible as they do now. 

That's true, so what went wrong?

What happened between the start of lockdown and the end of lockdown to make this bunch of players look so bad?

Some look like they've lost all of their confidence, others just look like they don't want to be here.

What wrong wrong, and who is to blame? 

Why did we come back looking so unfit compared with Southampton? It looked like we were playing our first pre-season friendly, Southampton were rearing to go and looked like they were playing the first game of the season. 

Did we get our preparations wrong? Did other teams work harder on fitness during lockdown?

How can it be possible that we could come back looking so poor only for Farke to say that he wouldn't have done anything differently? 

Webber said that we'd made mistakes. What mistakes exactly? What mistakes did he make that Farke doesn't accept had anything to do with him?

One thing I am glad about is the way that Webber is often straight to the point. The truth will out, we'll find out which players decided during lockdown that they were offski. We'll find out who the tool downers are, who didn't keep up their fitness regime and come back in shape, and they'll pay the price by damaging the legacy they gained last season. Even if its Pukki. I'm looking forward to finding out who the white flag wavers are, and who the dressing room disrupters are.,

Because something went terribly wrong and whoever is responsible shouldn't be afforded the pathetic excuses that people are giving them on here. All teams have lost their home fans and had to try and stay fit in lockdown, it was a level playing field.

When the final ball has been kicked this season I just want to know which players in that group should lose our respect. Some of the performances recently have reminded me of our Fulham capitulation under Worthington. 

Not be good enough is forgivable, the complete lack of effort and passion we've seen at times recently is not. Its natural that we want to know the cause of that.

Edited July 20, 2020 by TeemuVanBasten

[TIL 1010 5,246]

23 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

That's true, so what went wrong?

What happened between the start of lockdown and the end of lockdown to make this bunch of players look so bad?

Some look like they've lost all of their confidence, others just look like they don't want to be here.

What wrong wrong, and who is to blame? 

Why did we come back looking so unfit compared with Southampton? It looked like we were playing our first pre-season friendly, Southampton were rearing to go and looked like they were playing the first game of the season. 

Did we get our preparations wrong? Did other teams work harder on fitness during lockdown?

How can it be possible that we could come back looking so poor only for Farke to say that he wouldn't have done anything differently? 

Webber said that we'd made mistakes. What mistakes exactly? What mistakes did he make that Farke doesn't accept had anything to do with him?

One thing I am glad about is the way that Webber is often straight to the point. The truth will out, we'll find out which players decided during lockdown that they were offski. We'll find out who the tool downers are, who didn't keep up their fitness regime and come back in shape, and they'll pay the price by damaging the legacy they gained last season. Even if its Pukki. I'm looking forward to finding out who the white flag wavers are, and who the dressing room disrupters are.,

Because something went terribly wrong and whoever is responsible shouldn't be afforded the pathetic excuses that people are giving them on here. All teams have lost their home fans and had to try and stay fit in lockdown, it was a level playing field.

When the final ball has been kicked this season I just want to know which players in that group should lose our respect. Some of the performances recently have reminded me of our Fulham capitulation under Worthington. 

Not be good enough is forgivable, the complete lack of effort and passion we've seen at times recently is not. Its natural that we want to know the cause of that.

Great post TVB as i think you have covered everything that needs to be answered.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I don't know the ins and outs of what went wrong over lockdown. I suspect some of it was avoidable and some of it wasn't.

I do think Norwich overtrain their players, Webber talked about how they get everyone very 'close to the line' regarding fitness - personally I think they cross that line too often and it results in injuries. I hope Norwich have a proper review of how they managed training and fitness this season and see if the injuries sustained could have been avoided or not. 

I think part of the unavoidable is down to the loss of home advantage, it is far more important to teams at the bottom of the league who often rely on it to scrap their way out of a relegation battle. While home support can be a double edged sword it may have helped Norwich get over the line against Everton or Brighton, or a hostile crowd could have turned on Watford after Emi's goal, we will never know.

I also think, with Norwich all but confirmed to be relegated pre-lockdown, players came back with a negative mindset. 3 months to stew on how relegation is almost a certainty and just wanting to focus on next season must have had a demoralising effect (you can also see it at Villa and Bournemouth who have barely been better than Norwich). 

Not everything has to be someone's fault - we don't have to have some pariah we can throw rotten fruit and veg at and say 'it's all their fault, let's sack them'. I trust in Webber and Farke's judgement to pick the bones out of what went right and what went wrong this season and make improvements. I'm also prepared to excuse why things may not have been done well over lockdown, as it is an unprecedented situation, some clubs were always likely to handle it better than others. I doubt anyone can, hand on heart, say they knew exactly what to do and that it would definitely be the right thing. 

Finally, I think we have just witnessed a Premier League season (pre-lockdown) with the highest quality level. You can see there wasn't any really awful team in the league this season. Premier League clubs used to be rich and dumb, unfortunately they are now becoming rich and smart - a scary prospect for all Championship clubs who hope to one day be promoted.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Bethnal Yellow and Green

[Number9 272]

40 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I don't know the ins and outs of what went wrong over lockdown. I suspect some of it was avoidable and some of it wasn't.

I do think Norwich overtrain their players, Webber talked about how they get everyone very 'close to the line' regarding fitness - personally I think they cross that line too often and it results in injuries. I hope Norwich have a proper review of how they managed training and fitness this season and see if the injuries sustained could have been avoided or not. 

I think part of the unavoidable is down to the loss of home advantage, it is far more important to teams at the bottom of the league who often rely on it to scrap their way out of a relegation battle. While home support can be a double edged sword it may have helped Norwich get over the line against Everton or Brighton, or a hostile crowd could have turned on Watford after Emi's goal, we will never know.

I also think, with Norwich all but confirmed to be relegated pre-lockdown, players came back with a negative mindset. 3 months to stew on how relegation is almost a certainty and just wanting to focus on next season must have had a demoralising effect (you can also see it at Villa and Bournemouth who have barely been better than Norwich). 

Not everything has to be someone's fault - we don't have to have some pariah we can throw rotten fruit and veg at and say 'it's all their fault, let's sack them'. I trust in Webber and Farke's judgement to pick the bones out of what went right and what went wrong this season and make improvements. I'm also prepared to excuse why things may not have been done well over lockdown, as it is an unprecedented situation, some clubs were always likely to handle it better than others. I doubt anyone can, hand on heart, say they knew exactly what to do and that it would definitely be the right thing. 

Finally, I think we have just witnessed a Premier League season (pre-lockdown) with the highest quality level. You can see there wasn't any really awful team in the league this season. Premier League clubs used to be rich and dumb, unfortunately they are now becoming rich and smart - a scary prospect for all Championship clubs who hope to one day be promoted.

I imagined that Farke would spend time on the phone with players guiding their mindset, to help them be on the right page when it restarted.

 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

2 minutes ago, Number9 said:

I imagined that Farke would spend time on the phone with players guiding their mindset, to help them be on the right page when it restarted.

 

I'm sure Farke and the club were in constant contact with the players - but there is only so much that can be done on the phone or Zoom. 

[hogesar 10,762]

57 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I don't know the ins and outs of what went wrong over lockdown. I suspect some of it was avoidable and some of it wasn't.

I do think Norwich overtrain their players, Webber talked about how they get everyone very 'close to the line' regarding fitness - personally I think they cross that line too often and it results in injuries. I hope Norwich have a proper review of how they managed training and fitness this season and see if the injuries sustained could have been avoided or not. 

I think part of the unavoidable is down to the loss of home advantage, it is far more important to teams at the bottom of the league who often rely on it to scrap their way out of a relegation battle. While home support can be a double edged sword it may have helped Norwich get over the line against Everton or Brighton, or a hostile crowd could have turned on Watford after Emi's goal, we will never know.

I also think, with Norwich all but confirmed to be relegated pre-lockdown, players came back with a negative mindset. 3 months to stew on how relegation is almost a certainty and just wanting to focus on next season must have had a demoralising effect (you can also see it at Villa and Bournemouth who have barely been better than Norwich). 

Not everything has to be someone's fault - we don't have to have some pariah we can throw rotten fruit and veg at and say 'it's all their fault, let's sack them'. I trust in Webber and Farke's judgement to pick the bones out of what went right and what went wrong this season and make improvements. I'm also prepared to excuse why things may not have been done well over lockdown, as it is an unprecedented situation, some clubs were always likely to handle it better than others. I doubt anyone can, hand on heart, say they knew exactly what to do and that it would definitely be the right thing. 

Finally, I think we have just witnessed a Premier League season (pre-lockdown) with the highest quality level. You can see there wasn't any really awful team in the league this season. Premier League clubs used to be rich and dumb, unfortunately they are now becoming rich and smart - a scary prospect for all Championship clubs who hope to one day be promoted.

Post of the day. Possibly week. Possibly month. Possibly entire lockdown.