Drmić responds to the rumours and speculation about his place at the club

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

10 hours ago, Petriix said:

We won't ever know the exact details but sometimes these things are down to contractual obligations. I recall Rob Green went public with something about his contract (don't remember which club but after he left us) where he couldn't be selected because it would trigger a massive bonus payment which the club didn't want to pay.

Drmic may have all sorts of clauses in his contract which make it much more affordable to keep him out of the team. We are not party to that information.

On the surface, however, it does seem ludicrous that we aren't talking steps to bring him back into the team given the injury situation.

If its contractual lets ask him to halve his appearance fee, in return for tripling his win bonus and goal bonus.

Throw in an assist bonus so he doesn't resort to Oliveira style pot shots to try and get the goal bonus, then we might have a player who looks like he can be a-rsed. 

On a serious note though, Drmic was clearly a tool downer at the end of last season. I don't want him in the first team, lets give a chance to one of the two young strikers we had on the bench.

I'm less convinced about the young keeper.... behind Archie Mair who just shipped 6 for King's Lynn. We should sign a cheap third choice keeper, Lonergan or Alnwick or similar, to do a Carlo Nash / Paul Crichton job for the season, pair it with mentoring a youngster. 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

5 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Although according to Mick Dennis on Facebook we couldn’t add Drmic to the squad til January anyway in which case this whole debate is academic as we won’t need him then. 

If that is fact  Jimbo, and I'm not doubting it btw  , then lets all drop this esoteric navel gazing and back the team that's selected. Either we believe  the management is doing it's best... .or we believe  otherwise, quite simple really. 

[The Real Buh 3,423]

12 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

And that's that then. For all those wondering if he would be called up with the striker injury issues there's your answer you asked for.

Is he deadlifting like 20Kg here? No wonder nobody wants him.

[hogesar 9,618]

57 minutes ago, Dr Greenthumb said:

It gives an indication he wants to play though. Which makes it a real shame.

I dont agree. All it does is argue the point hes injured which is probably for any prospective clubs knowledge rather than wanting to play for us. His agent was pretty clear pre season that Drmic didn't want to play championship football.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

9 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I dont agree. All it does is argue the point hes injured which is probably for any prospective clubs knowledge rather than wanting to play for us. His agent was pretty clear pre season that Drmic didn't want to play championship football.

In fact, its exactly this kind of public disclosure of ONE SIDE of a problem that may be why Drmic is deemed surplus to requirements.

[curious yellow 184]

Absolutism? No bad apples?  I know Farke  is German but I can't see this as Delia's idea on how the club should be run.

Punishment is needed if a player steps badly out of line but bad performances should lead to the player being left out of the team, burning all the bridges seems over the top.

Compare the treatment given to these three to that given to Buendia and Cantwell. I don't think we've any divine right to know what they did wrong and I'm not really interested but in the past Farke has been very open and honest why players are not playing, now he appears to be covering up and Drmic's comments are a challenge to tell the truth.

I get the impression that Farke would prefer to have the players available for selection, I imagine they are all still friendly with the rest of the squad. I notice Rupp replied to Drmic's clown post.

Things are going well at the moment and there is no reason to complain. I'm just worried that a few bad results caused by a weakened squad, could cause problems that are going to be difficult to put right. 

I also have sympathy for the players concerned who have contributed to some great times at the club, and wish them all the best with their careers and lives.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,131]

Poor me I'm so sad that nobody wants me to play football and I can sit on my ar5e collecting 20k a week while most of the general population are having to put themselves and their family at risk by working low paying jobs through a pandemic. 

 

Here's a thought. if it's so unbearable not being able to play football, why don't you take a pay cut and join a club more befitting your current ability? Of course you won't though! He'd much rather carry on earning obscene amounts of money for doing nothing while whining about it. The guy is a pr4t and we're better off without him 

 

[jaywick_canery 28]

9 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

Poor me I'm so sad that nobody wants me to play football and I can sit on my ar5e collecting 20k a week while most of the general population are having to put themselves and their family at risk by working low paying jobs through a pandemic. 

 

Here's a thought. if it's so unbearable not being able to play football, why don't you take a pay cut and join a club more befitting your current ability? Of course you won't though! He'd much rather carry on earning obscene amounts of money for doing nothing while whining about it. The guy is a pr4t and we're better off without him 

 

Expect a slow ballad from him shortly.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

1 hour ago, YellowSubmarine said:

Patience is needed with those two, again another tough decision. We’re top of the league and throwing two kids straight in and piling expectations on them might not be right for their development.If they come in and don’t produce it’s a long way back to wind fans over if they eventually do become permanent first team players

 

You wouldn’t put a trainee Spark into a situation where he had to do a full rewrire on his own only a week into the Job. 

The point is we wouldn’t be piling expectations on then. Everyone knows it’s an emergency, we have no other option and that anything we get from them is a bonus. He’d have no qualms chucking in Idah though. Is Omotoye really that far behind Idah that we can’t use him in an emergency like this to run around and make their defence work a bit? Our U23s are a decent side this year. 

[Peanuts 150]

1 hour ago, The Real Buh said:

Is he deadlifting like 20Kg here? No wonder nobody wants him.

It's clearly a posed photo. His form is terrible and maybe it's the angle but his calves look thinner than my forearms.

[Dr Greenthumb 746]

1 hour ago, hogesar said:

I dont agree. All it does is argue the point hes injured which is probably for any prospective clubs knowledge rather than wanting to play for us. His agent was pretty clear pre season that Drmic didn't want to play championship football.

Sarr didn’t want to drop to the championship with Watford and he is playing every week now. Players are humans, like us and can change their mind on things. Cantwell is another example of agent stirring the pot too.

[Coneys Knee 941]

From a little snippet that I heard at the time of his post lockdown sending off, I’m not too sure the senior pros would want drmic back in any case regardless if fitness. Think him returning might do more harm than good.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

3 minutes ago, Coneys Knee said:

From a little snippet that I heard at the time of his post lockdown sending off, I’m not too sure the senior pros would want drmic back in any case regardless if fitness. Think him returning might do more harm than good.

Any salacious gossip to share?

[YellowSubmarine 39]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

The point is we wouldn’t be piling expectations on then. Everyone knows it’s an emergency, we have no other option and that anything we get from them is a bonus. He’d have no qualms chucking in Idah though. Is Omotoye really that far behind Idah that we can’t use him in an emergency like this to run around and make their defence work a bit? Our U23s are a decent side this year. 

Idah is a full Ireland international and scored goals in the first team already,  I’d say he’s levels above Omotoye at the moment. 
 

Of course the pressure would be on, you’d have people on here moaning they hadn’t scored because “they regularly score at u23 level” Im not saying they shouldn’t be involved, just not thrown into it
 

 

[Coneys Knee 941]

32 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

Any salacious gossip to share?

As always, it’s hard to know if there’s any truth in the matter but I think there was a bit of a bust up between some or the senior pros and him after his sending off at the end of the prem season. In a nutshell I think he basically didn’t give a monkeys and refused to apologise and a few (quite rightly) took umbridge.

if true of course!! 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

4 hours ago, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

You don’t have to guess if you can ‘read the book’. Think about what you know to be true. 

Norwich have a massive injury crisis. Drmić and Leitner are well-paid, established players who have either been important at Norwich or at a higher level. Neither can get on a reduced bench of 6, with 5 of those players untried Academy youngsters who Farke did not use vs Coventry despite some clearly tiring players on the field. 

In the ‘old days’ you could control players, discipline them, fine them and control their contracts. It would have been meaningful punishment financially and a risk to your career.  Now you cannot meaningfully do much of that at all. 

Particularly at a club like Norwich, you (Farke and Webber) have limited disciplinary measures. Money or fines have little resonance almost after a young players first contract. 

You want to create a tight knit unit, a unified squad, there are players you don’t need immediately who you’ll really need and have to rely on at some point in the near future. The (very difficult) skill is keeping numbers 12-20 happy and ready. Young players see this process as an opportunity, their moment to breakthrough. Older, experienced players see it as a demotion, an insult, their career on the wane,  not what they signed up for, not what they were told, promised, they know careers are short.

So what to do?

The Farkes and Webbers of this world often look for ‘set piece’ control opportunities. The psychology of male groups tends to be re-inforced and defined most brutally and decisively by who you exclude, not who you include.

Thus - given all of the above - you tend to see ‘names’ (who are conveniently higher profile, though not immediately strategically central) ostracised to make real the only threat or power of the modern coach: removing a players chance to play. 

This is an expensive gambit, though it is Napoleon shooting a random General. It works because it is seen to work. It actually must be maintained even - especially - in times of greatest need, or the very premise - the entire principle of key crack unit team -  is a house of cards and everything the coach says is then up for question, mutable. 

I suspect that Farke - and especially Webber - view this kind of absolutism as fundamental to discipline, control and hard-won harmony. That it also polishes power buttons and shines superiority stripes will be a pleasing side bonus. 

Parma

All well and good Parma. I do follow this.

But... 

Surely there comes a time where Farke must draw a line under all of that and make an exception? 

If say we were to lose even more senior players and youngsters - would Farke turn to Drmic then? Surely he would. Surely there comes a point where the short term benefit of having a senior striker available trumps the potential long term risks of playing the out-of-sorts individual.

I personally would’ve expected us to already be over this ‘line’. Resorting to Stiepermann upfront for a full 90 minutes, and as a result playing Vrancic for another full 90 in an advanced position severely hamstrung us towards the end of that game yesterday. 

I think not using Drmic potentially had a tangible impact on our points total, all in the name of authority and power and long term intangibles which we can’t ever be completely clear on.

If I were a player I would not feel like the coach’s power and authority is undermined by using Drmic in an absolute emergency. In fact, I would question the stubbornness of a regime that is willing to shoot itself in the foot in the name of power!

What precedent to the other players is being set by playing him simply in such exceptional circumstances? There isn’t one, is there?

Not to mention that playing him now may actually make it easier to shift him on in the future! 

Of course, Drmic could also just be a massive **** as others have suggested - but that’s not the basis of your post so I’m following your assumption here!

Whatever it is, it has to be something really major as it just doesn’t add up for me otherwise. Your post doesn’t justify it for me unfortunately!

[Harry53 207]

15 hours ago, Hank shoots Skyler said:

I get why we wanted to let him go over the summer, but does isolating him to quite this extent prove anything? 

Right now he is collecting dust as a footballer, which not only means the wages (still very high I imagine) we pay him are going completely down the drain, but also we stand to generate very little interest in the player from other clubs. Aren't we shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit with the overly stubborn nature of totally freezing the player out? Could we not have kept him at least at arm's length so we could use him in the event of an absolute catatrophe - like we are in now? If we actually played him he'd also be in the shop window for potential suitors. 

I really don't see how Drmic would be an inferior option to Stiepermann. Or at least a 70-minutes-into-a-game Stiepermann who could barely move beyond the centre circle!

Why doesn't he  Just agree to terminate contract, take the money and go home to find a club? 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

7 minutes ago, Coneys Knee said:

As always, it’s hard to know if there’s any truth in the matter but I think there was a bit of a bust up between some or the senior pros and him after his sending off at the end of the prem season. In a nutshell I think he basically didn’t give a monkeys and refused to apologise and a few (quite rightly) took umbridge.

if true of course!! 

Well I’m glad I posted that massive response to Parma before reading this... 😆

If indeed true, then the decision makes sense.

However my rebuttal to Parma still stands if only playing Devil’s advocate to his post... scraping the barrel a bit! 

[TIL 1010 4,722]

8 minutes ago, Coneys Knee said:

As always, it’s hard to know if there’s any truth in the matter but I think there was a bit of a bust up between some or the senior pros and him after his sending off at the end of the prem season. In a nutshell I think he basically didn’t give a monkeys and refused to apologise and a few (quite rightly) took umbridge.

if true of course!! 

If what you say is true then it looks like both Farke and Drmic have been somewhat economical with the truth.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,219]

11 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

If what you say is true then it looks like both Farke and Drmic have been somewhat economical with the truth.

Til, Football is - and always has been - economical with the truth. 

To that extent @Hank shoots Skylerif all the parameters were in favour of your argument then all bets would be off, all principles ridden roughshod over, a Damoscean conversion would occur, teammates would make warm noises on Social, new horizons would appear...

...It is sacred until it isn’t.

Judging when, how, who, what...when the maths (just) turns in your favour...that is the job.

Parma

Edited November 29, 2020 by Parma Ham's gone mouldy

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

Hopefully this will work. This is what Mick Dennis posted on fb. Apologies if already posted somewhere 

[Dr Greenthumb 746]

5 minutes ago, Fiery Zac said:

Hopefully this will work. This is what Mick Dennis posted on fb. Apologies if already posted somewhere 

Didn’t Farke say he “legally could play” if they wanted him to though?

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

A few assumptions made but does seem that TT just wants to play football (and had enough interest in him to be able to do so), Leitner and Drmic couldn’t agree terms with other clubs (money!) or there simply weren’t any interested at all (unlikely).

[hogesar 9,618]

1 hour ago, Hank shoots Skyler said:

All well and good Parma. I do follow this.

But... 

Surely there comes a time where Farke must draw a line under all of that and make an exception? 

If say we were to lose even more senior players and youngsters - would Farke turn to Drmic then? Surely he would. Surely there comes a point where the short term benefit of having a senior striker available trumps the potential long term risks of playing the out-of-sorts individual.

I personally would’ve expected us to already be over this ‘line’. Resorting to Stiepermann upfront for a full 90 minutes, and as a result playing Vrancic for another full 90 in an advanced position severely hamstrung us towards the end of that game yesterday. 

I think not using Drmic potentially had a tangible impact on our points total, all in the name of authority and power and long term intangibles which we can’t ever be completely clear on.

If I were a player I would not feel like the coach’s power and authority is undermined by using Drmic in an absolute emergency. In fact, I would question the stubbornness of a regime that is willing to shoot itself in the foot in the name of power!

What precedent to the other players is being set by playing him simply in such exceptional circumstances? There isn’t one, is there?

Not to mention that playing him now may actually make it easier to shift him on in the future! 

Of course, Drmic could also just be a massive **** as others have suggested - but that’s not the basis of your post so I’m following your assumption here!

Whatever it is, it has to be something really major as it just doesn’t add up for me otherwise. Your post doesn’t justify it for me unfortunately!

As soon as you 'make an exception' you lose the credibility you built up in the first place. 

[hogesar 9,618]

40 minutes ago, Dr Greenthumb said:

Didn’t Farke say he “legally could play” if they wanted him to though?

He didn't say when he would be available if so.

Again, we don't know the circumstances. Someone posted above that Drmic caused a rift in the squad for not apologising for the sending off. I can see why Farke would hold strong on this if that were true as its fundamental to the philosophy Farke and Webber have instilled throughout the club.

[Michael Starr 519]

It’s crazy. We’re paying for an international experienced striker but don’t use him. It’s beneficial to both. It gives him value again and offers us another option. Ego’s should be put aside.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Michael Starr

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

1 hour ago, Fiery Zac said:

Hopefully this will work. This is what Mick Dennis posted on fb. Apologies if already posted somewhere 

Good find Zac!

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

21 minutes ago, hogesar said:

As soon as you 'make an exception' you lose the credibility you built up in the first place. 

I don’t think so - not in the exceptional circumstances we are facing. If for instance Farke randomly decided to throw in Drmic because our other strikers were simply out of form - I would agree that the credibility would be undermined.

However in the instance of playing Drmic just because we literally have no one else available and are forced to play Vrancic and Stiepermann in unnatural advanced positions for the full 90 minutes if not, then I don’t really see what is being undermined - other than the team’s chances of winning the match. 

However all of that can be put to one side now as it looks like there is registration reasoning behind the decision in any case.

[hogesar 9,618]

15 minutes ago, Michael Starr said:

It’s crazy. We’re paying for an international experienced striker but don’t use him. It’s beneficial to both. It gives him value again and offers us another option. Ego’s should be put aside.

It doesn't have to be about egos. It can be about the core fundamentals Webber and Farke have built the entire club on now, which im sure they see as much bigger and more important than one player - they have to look long term and potential problems arising down the line etc. Its very easy for us fans to say PLAY HIM when we don't have to deal with any of the politics in and around that.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,219]

1 hour ago, Dr Greenthumb said:

Didn’t Farke say he “legally could play” if they wanted him to though?

Indeed. There are multiple exceptional circumstances, plus amendments and replacements, in the EFL rules as Mick Dennis knows perfectly well. 

A neat non-sequitur, verging on the disingenuous. He (probably correctly) sees his meal ticket as chief independent club public defender in all circumstances. Career Economics rather than empirical journalism. I don’t blame him and many envy his role I’m sure. 

Drmić is one of the best paid players at NCFC. So the question is why he is not in the 25 man list, not what the rules are on the lists themselves. That is mis-direction. 

Parma 

Addendum: Note also that Norwich bought Jordan Hugill for a significant sum. He was not considered a first XI player, so is an expensive Plan B in context of Norwich. Norwich cannot really afford - or need - Pukki plus Drmić plus Hugill plus Idah in the Championship. Ergo Norwich planned for life without Drmić post-Premier and showed no interest in amending this strategy even at the end of the window. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Parma Ham's gone mouldy