Still a lot to do

[The Great Mass Debater 1,078]

I dont think we're too far away personally. Im happy with the defence. It looks like Mumba will be back-up for Aarons and Byram or Mumba or even Sorenson felt to be able to deputise for Giannoulis, else they wouldnt have allowed MaCallum to go. Centre-backs are fine in my opinion, we seem to have confidence in Omobamidele so 4 is fine and I think they're all good enough.

I think we desperately need some muscle in midfield stiill. Id love an absolute animal, if such a thing exists. A defensive midfielder with some aggression, bite and physicality.

Another striker is needed I think. Idah is a wild card. Hugill probably not Premiership standard. But we only need 3 strikers so we only need another striker if we move Hugill on.

But aside from that I think we're nearly there to be honest

[Thingy 36]

The season starts next Saturday and the squad still has the same weaknesses. 

[AJ 1,218]

On 17/07/2021 at 11:03, The Great Mass Debater said:

I dont think we're too far away personally. Im happy with the defence. It looks like Mumba will be back-up for Aarons and Byram or Mumba or even Sorenson felt to be able to deputise for Giannoulis, else they wouldnt have allowed MaCallum to go. Centre-backs are fine in my opinion, we seem to have confidence in Omobamidele so 4 is fine and I think they're all good enough.

I think we desperately need some muscle in midfield stiill. Id love an absolute animal, if such a thing exists. A defensive midfielder with some aggression, bite and physicality.

Another striker is needed I think. Idah is a wild card. Hugill probably not Premiership standard. But we only need 3 strikers so we only need another striker if we move Hugill on.

But aside from that I think we're nearly there to be honest

I'd agree with this, predominantly. I think our defence is sorted as long as Aaron's stays. CBs we still have Klose on the books don't we? So there's 5th emergency option if we need him.

I do agree with midfield, it's likely we are going with PLM, Gilmour and then a battle between McLean and Rupp for the final spot, with Sorensen in the mix too so we could definitely do with another solid DM with a bit of bite. Is Bradley Johnson doing much these days? I think the club are still hoping something might materialise with Skipp, if Kane leaves it could trigger a domino of several large value signings, and one of their weakest areas at the moment is CM/DM. 

As for Strikers, I do agree but it's that ever impossible conundrum of signing a player who can guarantee you double figures and who would be happy to start as 2nd fiddle to Pukki. Generally that's only going to be a very young striker, like Idah, or an older player that wants one last crack at the Premier League. I think in pre-season Idah has shown enough to deserve a crack at it, and we know Hugill will be a part of the squad so I think we will go as we are with the plan to sign more goalscoring talent across the board (PLM, Rashica, and potentially the young Greek chap)

[The Bristol Nest 513]

On 14/07/2021 at 13:41, Big Vince said:

Agreed. Relying on Pukki alone will be a disaster as he was worked out last time round and hardly scored in the second half of the season. He can only score one type of goal running off the last defender. A big ask to expect the boy Idah to have his breakthrough season in the EPL! And even if he did, Delia would soon be rubbing her hands in glee to see how much she could get for him to keep the fund-selfing model ticking over nicely. Hugill not EPL. Everyone including the player knows that. Hence Forest interest.

At the back. Giannoulis unproven in EPL. Gibson too slow. Hanley no good at this level. Zimmermann no good at this level. Aarons no good as a defender. Was turned inside out by boy Danjuma last season.

Still need to spend another £120 million to scrape into 17th. The step up from 21st to 17th is massive. Even clubs like Brighton and Burnley are miles ahead in their development and every time Delia has one of her many relegations the club just falls further behind.

Aaron's no good as a defender? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[chicken 2,604]

3 hours ago, Thingy said:

The season starts next Saturday and the squad still has the same weaknesses. 

It doesn't as some of the weaknesses don't exist.

First off, the issue wasn't just that Pukki had a broken foot last time in the premier league, but that other than Cantwell, no one was really scoring consistently from midfield or elsewhere. 

When you play a lone striker as we do, you really do need your AMs to step up and get their fair share. Lees-Melou will take on shots from distance, something we have lacked since Howson... and the odd bolt out of the blue from Tettey. Vrancic could score those, but wasn't so great in other areas we needed him to be good in.

Rashica scores goals. Dowell scores goals, 5 in 10 towards the end of last season. We're heading in the right direction. More pace, more goals, definitely more height and more strength.

Yes, we can still build on that, but I am quietly confident, though I will only get happy when those bodies are over the line and at the club.

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,409]

If Delia has many relegations, then by the same logic, she must also have many promotions.

[corbs 147]

Only scores one type of goal ?

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 hour ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

If Delia has many relegations, then by the same logic, she must also have many promotions.

The relegations happened because of her, but the promotions happened despite her. Get with the agenda! 😉

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

55 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

The relegations happened because of her, but the promotions happened despite her. Get with the agenda! 😉

Or in the sensible world - it is empirical evidence that the glass ceiling with this funding model/investment level is top of the championship without being able to kick on

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 minute ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Or in the sensible world - it is empirical evidence that the glass ceiling with this funding model/investment level is top of the championship without being able to kick on

So that means we have zero chance of 'kicking on' and surviving this season? May as well just chuck my season ticket at Farke now, then.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

No - there is a chance we will over perform and stay up. But certainly our wage structure and transfer budget and investment level is much lower than all the other teams. So it certainly won’t be easy and we will have to box clever

the difference, I guess, between keeping Buendia and adding our summer signings on top - as opposed to having had to sell him in order to fund them. 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

3 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

No - there is a chance we will over perform and stay up. But certainly our wage structure and transfer budget and investment level is much lower than all the other teams. So it certainly won’t be easy and we will have to box clever

the difference, I guess, between keeping Buendia and adding our summer signings on top - as opposed to having had to sell him in order to fund them. 

Well that's a much more balanced statement than your previous one, Deano. Of course our budget/investment level is lower than all the other teams, that is definitely an empirical fact. Surely you can see that the model under Webber and Farke is totally different to any model that came before it? There's plenty of stuff to be positive about in the way the club's being run, and if we stay up this season it should be a cause for great celebration, not a grudging acceptance that we've somehow broken through the glass ceiling. 

What Farke and Webber have achieved so far is more than enough for me to give them the grace of seeing how this window, and then this season, pans out. You used the phrase "box clever"; let's wait and see if we can.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

Oh I am full of huge appreciation for what Farke and Webber have done/ they have worked miracles truth be told. I would just love to send them into the fight with a gun and see how far they could take us if their hands were not perpetually tied on promotion 

[Bill 1,788]

8 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

No - there is a chance we will over perform and stay up. But certainly our wage structure and transfer budget and investment level is much lower than all the other teams. So it certainly won’t be easy and we will have to box clever

the difference, I guess, between keeping Buendia and adding our summer signings on top - as opposed to having had to sell him in order to fund them. 

another heroic attempt to get it wrong, as you confuse cause with effect

we did not have to sell Buendia - he was always going to move, as will Cantwell and Aarons at some stage

if your nonsense had any validity then we would have already sold one or both of them to allow us to fund the purchase of other players

whereas it is a case of when they go we will have extra funds

 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

2 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Oh I am full of huge appreciation for what Farke and Webber have done/ they have worked miracles truth be told. I would just love to send them into the fight with a gun and see how far they could take us if their hands were not perpetually tied on promotion 

Sure thing, fair enough buddy. I think our transfer budget would be very different if not for Covid; the amount of revenue that has been siphoned out of the game due to the pandemic has caused everybody hardship. I think if it wasn't for Covid, we'd have been a lot more aggressive in the market. And we still might be aggressive, so let's see what the window holds.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

10 hours ago, Feedthewolf said:

Sure thing, fair enough buddy. I think our transfer budget would be very different if not for Covid; the amount of revenue that has been siphoned out of the game due to the pandemic has caused everybody hardship. I think if it wasn't for Covid, we'd have been a lot more aggressive in the market. And we still might be aggressive, so let's see what the window holds.

I struggle to accept that fully/ given that the hit happened to all clubs so did not disadvantage us unfairly compared to others 

Interesting article here that shows my views are not quite as rare and unwarranted as many on this forum imagine https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2021/08/03/no-panic-stations-yet-but-lets-not-kid-ourselves-the-prep-has-gone-as-planned/?fbclid=IwAR2N_P08R64EBNwMg4n90tE_8eNTgYd8uVKycdbUmnwhq-FWb163QKLTVTo

[Herman 9,713]

Have we got to put up with your negativity all season or is there something else you can do to keep yourself occupied?

[cornish sam 944]

The empirical evidence actually has us definitely spending more than at least Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, newcastle and probably more than Southampton, palace, Brentford, wolves, West ham, Brighton and liverpool so far this window. Yes our wages almost certainly as high, but the model has given us the freedom to spend what we have despite covid.

[horsefly 4,287]

11 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Oh I am full of huge appreciation for what Farke and Webber have done/ they have worked miracles truth be told. I would just love to send them into the fight with a gun and see how far they could take us if their hands were not perpetually tied on promotion 

What a pile of tripe! So Farke is so stupid he signed a contract extension despite having "his hands perpetually tied behind his back" (must have been forced to put the pen in his mouth).

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

36 minutes ago, cornish sam said:

The empirical evidence actually has us definitely spending more than at least Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, newcastle and probably more than Southampton, palace, Brentford, wolves, West ham, Brighton and liverpool so far this window. Yes our wages almost certainly as high, but the model has given us the freedom to spend what we have despite covid.

Our spend was due to selling our star player, Buendia, having already lost our best player from last season in skipp. So let’s at least acknowledge the loss of our best ball winner and chance creator - neither of which have yet been replaced - before patting ourselves on the back for being more ambitious than Chelsea?!!! Honestly you couldn’t make it up!! 

[cornish sam 944]

1 minute ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Our spend was due to selling our star player, Buendia, having already lost our best player from last season in skipp. So let’s at least acknowledge the loss of our best ball winner and chance creator - neither of which have yet been replaced - before patting ourselves on the back for being more ambitious than Chelsea?!!! Honestly you couldn’t make it up!! 

And villa have sold graelish, spurs look like they're losing kane, Dortmund have sold Sancho and quite possibly haaland. Selling good players is not a sign of a lack of ambition, what you do after selling them shows what the ambition is.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

2 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

I struggle to accept that fully/ given that the hit happened to all clubs so did not disadvantage us unfairly compared to others 

Interesting article here that shows my views are not quite as rare and unwarranted as many on this forum imagine https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2021/08/03/no-panic-stations-yet-but-lets-not-kid-ourselves-the-prep-has-gone-as-planned/?fbclid=IwAR2N_P08R64EBNwMg4n90tE_8eNTgYd8uVKycdbUmnwhq-FWb163QKLTVTo

I'm not saying it disadvantaged us more than others Deano, I'm just saying that it has negatively affected everyone and has made the transfer market in general a lot more cautious.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

12 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

I'm not saying it disadvantaged us more than others Deano, I'm just saying that it has negatively affected everyone and has made the transfer market in general a lot more cautious.

Agree with that. The next two weeks are crucial as to whether we navigate it or fall at the first hurdle - but at least things are starting to move now 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

3 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Agree with that. The next two weeks are crucial as to whether we navigate it or fall at the first hurdle - but at least things are starting to move now 

Yep! Keep your nerve buddy, we might just surprise you 🙂

[Thingy 36]

On 13/07/2021 at 13:32, Thingy said:

A) Too much reliance upon Pukki to score goals.

B) Haven't got any solid defensive midfielders.

C) Need central defenders who are better in the air.

D) Lack of full-backs.

Nothing has changed since i wrote that.

[Thingy 36]

On 13/07/2021 at 13:32, Thingy said:

A) Too much reliance upon Pukki to score goals.

B) Haven't got any solid defensive midfielders.

C) Need central defenders who are better in the air.

D) Lack of full-backs.

Unfortunately, my post on 13th of July still seems accurate.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

On 14/07/2021 at 18:02, Dean Coneys boots said:

I may be wrong but it feels as if we have lost out on our main targets (as always happens at this level) and are now therefore reverting to fingers crossed and lower targets.

 

So linked with Ajer at start of summer- but now being pipped to the post by Brentford to that one - so told instead that Omabamadile is just fine. It worries me truth be told. 
 

So far I see us being a little weaker than last year minus emi and Skipp in terms of starting xi but clearing out dead wood and strengthening depth. Which would be great if we were still in champs but we are not. Without defensive reinforcements and big reliable cdm i fear we will be no better than last time round. After all most of the team at the same as it stands 
 

 

Feel vindicated reading this 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

58 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Feel vindicated reading this 

Let's do the pledge then Bootsie.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

Ha- risky as football can change quickly, tell you what I will take you up on the points but not the goals. 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Just now, Dean Coneys boots said:

Ha- risky as football can change quickly, tell you what I will take you up on the points but not the goals. 

Top man Bootsie👍👍