Webbers full interview, out now

[Jim Smith 2,339]

6 minutes ago, Duncan Edwards said:

Accept it or not. It happened. Go back and find the threads on here. Watford was what? Game 5?

Maybe you’re fortunate and only attend with optimists, if that were true though, I’d fully have expected you to move. 😁😉

I don't think the fans gave up though, let alone "went after them" as he claims. If the fans had given up then they would not have been demanding Farke be replaced on the basis it was felt we were underperforming. The levels of criticism up until Brentford at home were remarkably low. Would have been significantly worse at almost any other club. 

[Duncan Edwards 2,261]

3 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I don't think the fans gave up though, let alone "went after them" as he claims. If the fans had given up then they would not have been demanding Farke be replaced on the basis it was felt we were underperforming. The levels of criticism up until Brentford at home were remarkably low. Would have been significantly worse at almost any other club. 

Again, stop conflating fans with all fans. By no means did all fans give up. By no means did all fans go after the club. By no means were all fans demanding Farke was sacked. Significant amounts did one, some or all three. I can include myself within it, I left early at Brentford at home; I didn’t even leave early against Colchester. I lasted longer than plenty getting to that stage of the season before inwardly losing the faith. 

[komakino 274]

6 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I don't think the fans gave up though, let alone "went after them" as he claims. If the fans had given up then they would not have been demanding Farke be replaced on the basis it was felt we were underperforming. The levels of criticism up until Brentford at home were remarkably low. Would have been significantly worse at almost any other club. 

Agreed. I do wonder that Webber's arguably arrogant and deflective nature is because he is given too much control by the club. No other football club or business would tolerate such divisive behaviour from an employee. 

[Highland Canary 76]

The majority of fans at CR seem entirely content  with the outcome of the season, including the matches referred to above. The apparent lack of ambition appears well aligned to that of the board or maybe it has become conditioned by the board. Whatever, that’s why there is only a tiny minority of fans advocating change.

[The Real Buh 3,479]

3 minutes ago, Highland Canary said:

The majority of fans at CR seem entirely content  with the outcome of the season, including the matches referred to above. The apparent lack of ambition appears well aligned to that of the board or maybe it has become conditioned by the board. Whatever, that’s why there is only a tiny minority of fans advocating change.

The swing from “on the fence” to “get these çûnts out of my club” was pretty rapid at the end of last year.

there’s a significant middle ground of people who are right on the edge of going full guerrilla

They don’t put something together quick in 2 or 3 games next season and it’s going to be full damage control from them blaming us for everything as usual.

Balls in your court Webber. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by The Real Buh

[The Real Buh 3,479]

Btw Webber wasn’t even at the last two home games because someone called him a name

Coward, fûck off up your hill

[Duncan Edwards 2,261]

10 minutes ago, The Real Buh said:

Btw Webber wasn’t even at the last two home games because someone called him a name

Coward, fûck off up your hill

He was rehearsing his interview. 

[king canary 7,654]

39 minutes ago, Duncan Edwards said:

Again, stop conflating fans with all fans. By no means did all fans give up. By no means did all fans go after the club. By no means were all fans demanding Farke was sacked. Significant amounts did one, some or all three. I can include myself within it, I left early at Brentford at home; I didn’t even leave early against Colchester. I lasted longer than plenty getting to that stage of the season before inwardly losing the faith. 

Webbers quote is 'the fans gave up' though isn't it? Not some, or a few or a number of, just 'the fans.' 

This interview is basically in house PR, if he wanted to say 'a minority' of the fans gave up he could easily have clarified it or edited that quote a bit. 

I get what you're saying but you're drawing a distinction that Webber himself didn't bother to make.

[Badger 2,412]

2 hours ago, king canary said:

I think the final line shows where we differ and why I've no interest in getting to this debate again. I wasn't missing your points, we've just gone over them about 500 times and I'm not being dragged into another circular debate.

I thought you might say this but the original point stands - gambling in the market has left the clubs in a weaker position rather than a stronger one as is obvious from their subsequent league positions. The evidence is there to see it for all those that chose to be objective.

[Badger 2,412]

2 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

Did I not read that Farke had asked for 3 key positions to be filled but Webber decided we needed more coverage due to training methods causing more injuries than would normally have been expected?

If that was the case, and apologies if not, then the failure is solely on his shoulders and he should go... not that he will as he thinks he is doing us a favour being here...

I think that you are right about Farke's request and Webber certainly is responsible. Whether he should go or not depends upon whether we think there was any mitigation at the time/ or whether we feel that we can definitely recruit a better DoF at present. It's obviously a cliché but it's the future that's important now, not the past.

Given the PR disaster that Webber has been recently and apparently unsigned contract, sacking Webber would certainly be the easy thing to do.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

1 hour ago, Duncan Edwards said:

Accept it or not. It happened. Go back and find the threads on here. Watford was what? Game 5?

I don't really see what that proves though. Plenty of fans on here also surrendered to Brentford last season in the title race and when we faltered at the start of the season culminating in the loss against Derby. Did the fans 'give up' then too?

Surely Webber is talking about the fans in the stands watching live, which IMO makes his comments grossly unfair as the support has remained as loyal and supportive could possibly be expected given the **** that's been served up (albeit understandably quiet). The team has gave us nothing to get us out of our seats all season, its a two way street which has been running one way for most of the season (see the Leicester away game as an example)... He should acknowledge this 100% before making any comment on the level of support. Its like he expects Carrow Road to be absolutely bouncing after picking up 2 points in our first 10(?) games and scoring about 3 goals in that time too...

He does later go on to praise fans so its not all bad, I'm just surprised he felt the need to make ANY potentially inflammatory comment.

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,425]

Alice Piper by the way 🥰

[Duncan Edwards 2,261]

35 minutes ago, Hank shoots Skyler said:

I don't really see what that proves though. Plenty of fans on here also surrendered to Brentford last season in the title race and when we faltered at the start of the season culminating in the loss against Derby. Did the fans 'give up' then too?

Surely Webber is talking about the fans in the stands watching live, which IMO makes his comments grossly unfair as the support has remained as loyal and supportive could possibly be expected given the **** that's been served up (albeit understandably quiet). The team has gave us nothing to get us out of our seats all season, its a two way street which has been running one way for most of the season (see the Leicester away game as an example)... He should acknowledge this 100% before making any comment on the level of support. Its like he expects Carrow Road to be absolutely bouncing after picking up 2 points in our first 10(?) games and scoring about 3 goals in that time too...

He does later go on to praise fans so its not all bad, I'm just surprised he felt the need to make ANY potentially inflammatory comment.

What it proves is that some of our fans definitely chucked it in very quickly. And, in fairness, they weren’t wrong were they? I mean, the Derby stuff posted on here was plain daft but we were comfortably relegated (which he also acknowledges). He references the title winning season too, so I think he felt the club had more “credit in the bank”. Maybe if we had experienced that properly, in person, they might have. I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that would have been the case. 

But yeah, it’s a two way thing for sure and certainly by the **** end of the season Carrow Road was as flat and devoid of belief as I’ve ever known it. It’s hard to think of when it was really buoyant, Southampton/Everton maybe? 

Anyway, it’s clear that different people are taking/picking up/interpreting different things from the interview. I’m not particularly arsed that he said fans gave up because I think some did (we all had to in the end), I think his praise of the loyalty that’s been shown in the face of that season is fair. Other people are pretty clear that they think his “criticism” of the fans is tone deaf and that he’s a muppet🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Sure bet I’m not going to change anyones mind!! Maybe I’m just a bit immune to it, post-Brentford I made a conscious decision to stop getting angry about it all. 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

5 minutes ago, Duncan Edwards said:

What it proves is that some of our fans definitely chucked it in very quickly. And, in fairness, they weren’t wrong were they? I mean, the Derby stuff posted on here was plain daft but we were comfortably relegated (which he also acknowledges). He references the title winning season too, so I think he felt the club had more “credit in the bank”. Maybe if we had experienced that properly, in person, they might have. I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that would have been the case. 

But yeah, it’s a two way thing for sure and certainly by the **** end of the season Carrow Road was as flat and devoid of belief as I’ve ever known it. It’s hard to think of when it was really buoyant, Southampton/Everton maybe? 

Anyway, it’s clear that different people are taking/picking up/interpreting different things from the interview. I’m not particularly arsed that he said fans gave up because I think some did (we all had to in the end), I think his praise of the loyalty that’s been shown in the face of that season is fair. Other people are pretty clear that they think his “criticism” of the fans is tone deaf and that he’s a muppet🤷🏻‍♂️

Sure bet I’m not going to change anyones mind!! Maybe I’m just a bit immune to it, post-Brentford I made a conscious decision to stop getting angry about it all. 

If that's what he was getting at then I'd agree that he is technically right, but it still feels like a totally moot point. Its no different to any other fanbase - it feels immaterial at best and totally insignificant at worst...

And yes maybe we did have more fans who gave up sooner this season than other clubs, but that's only because performances on the pitch were proportionally worse - not as a result of the nature of our fans on their own accord. I didn't even know what I was meant to cheer anymore toward the end of the season!

It is a bit unfortunate that fans don't then give him the credit for the subsequent compliments, but if I insulted you and complimented you which one is going to stick with you more....Best bet would've been to not do any insulting whatsoever - surely that was possible.

He knows full fell that the press / fans will take soundbites / off the cuff comments and hone in on them, and was even asked to comment about the last batch of soundbites from the last interview (the 90% comment etc). Looks like he'll have a load more to clear up again for the next one. When will he learn?

And to be clear, I like honesty, and I'd get the fan digs and stuff if I felt he had a point, even if it did ruffle some feathers in the fanbase, but he doesn't have a leg to stand on trying to make any kind of dig at fans. So it doesn't come across as 'authentic' or 'honest' to me, just the delusions of an egotist who appears to be in denial about the apathetic atmosphere around the club right now and the club's and his role in it...

[shefcanary 2,444]

Wonder what Anastassio thinks of Stu and his PR?

[Duncan Edwards 2,261]

18 minutes ago, Hank shoots Skyler said:

If that's what he was getting at then I'd agree that he is technically right, but it still feels like a totally moot point. Its no different to any other fanbase - it feels immaterial at best and totally insignificant at worst...

And yes maybe we did have more fans who gave up sooner this season than other clubs, but that's only because performances on the pitch were proportionally worse - not as a result of the nature of our fans on their own accord. I didn't even know what I was meant to cheer anymore toward the end of the season!

It is a bit unfortunate that fans don't then give him the credit for the subsequent compliments, but if I insulted you and complimented you which one is going to stick with you more....Best bet would've been to not do any insulting whatsoever - surely that was possible.

He knows full fell that the press / fans will take soundbites / off the cuff comments and hone in on them, and was even asked to comment about the last batch of soundbites from the last interview (the 90% comment etc). Looks like he'll have a load more to clear up again for the next one. When will he learn?

And to be clear, I like honesty, and I'd get the fan digs and stuff if I felt he had a point, even if it did ruffle some feathers in the fanbase, but he doesn't have a leg to stand on trying to make any kind of dig at fans. So it doesn't come across as 'authentic' or 'honest' to me, just the delusions of an egotist who appears to be in denial about the apathetic atmosphere around the club right now and the club's and his role in it...

As I said, different folk interpret things differently and that’s fine. 👍

[wcorkcanary 4,337]

3 hours ago, The Real Buh said:

The swing from “on the fence” to “get these **s out of my club” was pretty rapid at the end of last year.

there’s a significant middle ground of people who are right on the edge of going full guerrilla

They don’t put something together quick in 2 or 3 games next season and it’s going to be full damage control from them blaming us for everything as usual.

Balls in your court Webber. 

Ha ha ha!! You make it sound as if someone's actually gonna DO SOMETHING,rather than complain.

[Mengo 825]

 

On 27/05/2022 at 13:33, shefcanary said:

Wonder what Anastassio thinks of Stu and his PR?

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Mengo

[SwearyCanary 1,179]

10 hours ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Thanks for saving me a job! 

Is it not Norwich bringing up the average though, is it 4 relegations for us in that final 10 years?

Fair point, although not intentionally 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

5 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

As I said, different folk interpret things differently and that’s fine. 👍

Absolutely. I think all it comes down to is a simple question really; do you think the fans gave more, as much, or less than could be expected of them based on the performances and results on the pitch?

 Personally I think the fans gave at least as much, indeed probably a fair bit more, than could’ve been expected of them, so IMO him making any comment about any section of the fans is pretty out of line.

If you think the fans could and should have done more to support the team then I could understand why you’d be more forgiving of Webber. But I’m miles away…

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

It’s easy to say the fans gave up but Watford was as damaging-a-day as the 6-0 Fulham or 7-1 Colchester defeats. It had been built up, this was our first winnable game, Watford we’re also on a terrible run and obviously we came up ahead of them last season so this was the chance to get our season running and we were just awful. We could have easily been 3-0 down at half time, Pukki’s equaliser was celebrated wildly but all the half time talk around me in the Barclay was about how poor we’d been and how lucky we were to still be in the game. We needed a strong second half, to come out fighting and instead we surrendered. We were weak, clueless and disorganised and nobody could argue the result was unfair. A lot of belief drained from people that day. 

[wcorkcanary 4,337]

8 hours ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

It’s easy to say the fans gave up but Watford was as damaging-a-day as the 6-0 Fulham or 7-1 Colchester defeats. It had been built up, this was our first winnable game, Watford we’re also on a terrible run and obviously we came up ahead of them last season so this was the chance to get our season running and we were just awful. We could have easily been 3-0 down at half time, Pukki’s equaliser was celebrated wildly but all the half time talk around me in the Barclay was about how poor we’d been and how lucky we were to still be in the game. We needed a strong second half, to come out fighting and instead we surrendered. We were weak, clueless and disorganised and nobody could argue the result was unfair. A lot of belief drained from people that day. 

Yes, I didn't sleep for a week. I was bereft, no point to my existence. Nearly took a long walk off a short pier. 

[Bucks 14]

On 26/05/2022 at 12:10, TheRock said:

"Fans gave up quickly" - No, they really didn't, they turned up in good numbers home and away, and rallied behind Dean Smith after the Farke sacking. A rather throw-away comment.

"Everyone came after us" - Why are you even engaging, biting and allowing the team to read the negative media? Focus on on the team.

 

"if it goes wrong we wont have a football club" - That old chestnut, the typical sob story. Why don't the club publicly appeal for external investment then, if the shareholders cannot afford to run the business then maybe they should consider listing it for sale?

 

"Im glad I sacked Farke when I did" - I am lost for words at this comment. How can you be proud of sacking your manager moments after a season-changing win?

You really have twisted what he said haven't you!??? 

Having to deal with 26,000 experts like yourself week in week out must be an absolute nightmare. 

Webber didn't want what happened to happen, but he ultimately takes the rap because that is his job and what he is paid for.

He's probably working with one of the most vague strategic briefs in the league because of the owners and their investment limitations and their desire to keep the club almost as a family heirloom, yet expecting or wanting to maintain Premier League status.

 

 

 

[Mello Yello 2,302]

1 hour ago, Bucks said:

You really have twisted what he said haven't you!??? 

Having to deal with 26,000 experts like yourself week in week out must be an absolute nightmare. 

Webber didn't want what happened to happen, but he ultimately takes the rap because that is his job and what he is paid for.

He's probably working with one of the most vague strategic briefs in the league because of the owners and their investment limitations and their desire to keep the club almost as a family heirloom, yet expecting or wanting to maintain Premier League status.

 

 

 

Stu's between a rock an' a hard place....Still learning the ropes.....

[hertfordyellow 460]

1 hour ago, Bucks said:

You really have twisted what he said haven't you!??? 

Having to deal with 26,000 experts like yourself week in week out must be an absolute nightmare. 

Webber didn't want what happened to happen, but he ultimately takes the rap because that is his job and what he is paid for.

He's probably working with one of the most vague strategic briefs in the league because of the owners and their investment limitations and their desire to keep the club almost as a family heirloom, yet expecting or wanting to maintain Premier League status.

 

 

 

But the point is he didn’t take the rap, that’s the whole point. He blamed the fans, fixtures, COVID, Farke, injuries but not the signings and not himself.

[Bucks 14]

1 minute ago, hertfordyellow said:

But the point is he didn’t take the rap, that’s the whole point. He blamed the fans, fixtures, COVID, Farke, injuries but not the signings and not himself.

He has explained the timing of key decisions and the thinking behind them. 

You have the wonderful benefit of hindsight, but I suspect that with the same set of circumstances he would make the same decisions for the same reasons. 

He is paid to make decisions for a club which doesn't afford him the luxury of being able to keep the best players or to spend £70 million on a striker after xmas. He is either hamstrung by the owners not wanting to compromise the log-term future of the club, or being put in a position where yo-yoing is part of the plan. 

I suspect his frustration is with the fans that don't really think about or have any inkling of what hoops a club of our size has to jump through just to survive in the PL. 

 

[Mello Yello 2,302]

Well we'll see where we are as a club the back end of July.....Developments over the next couple o' months will be fairly interesting.....

Who goes, who stays and who comes in....So until then....

 

[hertfordyellow 460]

2 minutes ago, Bucks said:

He has explained the timing of key decisions and the thinking behind them. 

You have the wonderful benefit of hindsight, but I suspect that with the same set of circumstances he would make the same decisions for the same reasons. 

He is paid to make decisions for a club which doesn't afford him the luxury of being able to keep the best players or to spend £70 million on a striker after xmas. He is either hamstrung by the owners not wanting to compromise the log-term future of the club, or being put in a position where yo-yoing is part of the plan. 

I suspect his frustration is with the fans that don't really think about or have any inkling of what hoops a club of our size has to jump through just to survive in the PL. 

 

I personally think you are being very generous. It is tough to stay up. I expected to be in a relegation fight. That said there are a lot of average teams in that league. We were so far off the level to survive. I expected us to at least be in the mix rather than near constantly adrift. I can forgive being out classed by Spurs, I don’t forgive the acceptance of defeat almost from kick off and the lack of collective pride. It was the nature of the season that is unacceptable, relegation was always a possible outcome but the manner of the relegation is exceedingly embarrassing. Fans feel like fools because they defended the club from those that wrote them off at the start, only to be proven wrong spectacularly.

[Mello Yello 2,302]

As I said earlier...Stu used a lot of 'We' and 'Us' and very few 'I'.....

[Bucks 14]

7 minutes ago, hertfordyellow said:

I personally think you are being very generous. It is tough to stay up. I expected to be in a relegation fight. That said there are a lot of average teams in that league. We were so far off the level to survive. I expected us to at least be in the mix rather than near constantly adrift. I can forgive being out classed by Spurs, I don’t forgive the acceptance of defeat almost from kick off and the lack of collective pride. It was the nature of the season that is unacceptable, relegation was always a possible outcome but the manner of the relegation is exceedingly embarrassing. Fans feel like fools because they defended the club from those that wrote them off at the start, only to be proven wrong spectacularly.

Maybe I am being generous, but I do sincerely believe that absolutely no-one would have wanted or expected the outcome we all had to endure.

Positivity beats negativity hands down in my book and in the knowledge that Webber isn't going to be replaced any time soon, we should at least respect that decision and try to start the new season with a clean slate as regards our collective attitude to the board etc.  A continuation of the malaise which has set in between the club and its fanbase would create a huge obstacle for the manager and playing staff going into a challenging campaign and it is unfamiliar and unwelcome at a club like our own.

I suspect everyone at the club will be working hard to correct what has happened on and off the field of play.