How optimistic are you towards our upcoming season?

[Unhinged Canary 375]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Amusing given one of Farkes biggest criticisms was that he had no plan B when things went wrong 

He did, however, have a plan A. 

We seem to be struggling to decide on that at the moment.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Unhinged Canary
Rogue letter.

[TIL 1010 4,737]

Not particularly postive reading so far after 30 posts so i will have to say i am not overly optimistic that we will trouble the promotion spots.

[Canaries north 151]

I can't work out if I should be optimistic or not but I am edging towards not. We still have the best striker in the division but I really don't see how he will work in this team. I have the most strange feeling we will be ok but Pukki will take more of a back seat and Idah or Hugill will end up playing more as they suit the other players we have. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Canaries north

[unique 435]

We have not addressed one of last season’s biggest issues - creating and scoring goals.

Last year’s impotent midfield has so far been replaced by……midfielders who don’t score goals.

We are relying on Cantwell getting over his issues and not supplying Pukki with blanks.

Half of our defence - Krul, Aarons and Hanley have been the mainstays of a defence that for the past two seasons have concede goals for fun.

How the hell have we been installed as one of the favourites? Makes no sense.

Edited July 27, 2022 by unique

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

33 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

I’ve always thought we were at our best when we had that one player who could get their foot on the ball, unlock opponents and make us tick.

Wes, Maddison, Buendia in the last 10 years.

I don’t see that player in this squad and it’s my biggest concern. I’m not optimistic without that additional transfer or someone stepping up which I haven’t seen so far.

Last time we had Skipp, Buendia and a fired up Cantwell. This time we have no one capable of doing the Skipp role anywhere near as good or consistently, no creative spark anywhere near as good as Buendia and Cantwell the jury is out... it won't be Smiths fault, it will be Webbers if we fail. Last chance for the world beating sporting director and his 90% effort.

[YellowCanary 11]

Depends on expectations usually optimistic but not this season,too much falling on Pukkis shoulders again,Just missing out on play offs sad to say 

 

 

[stratton canary 134]

Need a good start then hopefully everything & everyone will fall into place, if we don't start we'll ( which we hardly ever do) then the frustrations will return, But what do I know? 🙄 

Come on City, prove me wrong please!!!!!!! 

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,135]

This Championship is of a really poor standard right now. Even with our issues if we stay relatively injury free in key areas, Smith can get us motivated and we find a way to create a handful of chances for Pukki every game we should certainly finish top 6. I think we won't lose many but they'll be a lot more draws this time around as we're just not as free scoring. I see us finishing in the play offs after a slow start on about 80 to 85 points. 

[Indy 3,297]

We’ll start slow, Smith will be sacked by November and Robins will lead us on a massive run to the top! Champions……..Sargent top scorer and Cantwell signing a new 5 year deal! Woohooo! 💛💚🤪🤪

[TheGunnShow 5,937]

4 hours ago, hepphep said:

Bit more worried than on start of pre-season. I feel we should've been able to create more chances in addition to those crosses to Hugill against the opponents we played. Sara and Hayden might help with that, but I dont have impression of either as very creative players.

 

It's not due to the creativity of Hayden and Sara, it's what they can do defensively to free up our creative players to be more creative.

[Channon’s Windmill 326]

Slow start, not convinced in Smith or the relatively same squad that could suffer PTSD from last Season. Just miss out on the play offs, 7th or 8th. Just think the Goals For will be an issue. Will caveat that the window is still opens and my view could change if we get a couple in who are fit and ready to change the midfield balance (still think either Aaron’s or Rachita have to go to finance this) . OTBC

[BroadstairsR 2,161]

28 minutes ago, stratton canary said:

Need a good start then hopefully everything & everyone will fall into place, if we don't start we'll ( which we hardly ever do) then the frustrations will return, But what do I know? 🙄 

Come on City, prove me wrong please!!!!!!! 

It is always more difficult to predict the Championship pre-season than it is the Premier League. With the PL you can, give or take a bit, predict the whole outcome, whilst the Chumps is more of a lottery.

A good start is vital, as we learned to our cost last season when we knew we were in for a tough time. Nil points scenario.

It has been said that our start is quite benign. According to the Guardian predictions, this would seem to be the case. From our first six fixtures, we face four teams tipped for the relegation scrap: Cardiff, Hull, Sunderland and Wigan. Then we have Birmingham, who are hot tipped to struggle as well.

Of course things never work out as expected, but if we haven't accumulated at least 12 points from the first six games, then the portends are bad.  

[Badger 2,405]

"Hopeful"  is the word I would chose, but I'd prefer to wait until the window closes really before judging our chances.

We'll have a better idea still, by November.  

[lake district canary 4,531]

3 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

4 hours ago, lake district canary said:

Not sure at this stage, I'm not sure Smith has the X factor that Farke had when turning a losing mentality into a winning one over the summer of the last relegation. I guess it depends largely on the players and how much they believe, but then that is what managers are for, to instill belief.

Amusing given one of Farkes biggest criticisms was that he had no plan B when things went wrong 

Indeed, Farke was by no means perfect, but no-one can deny he turned the mentality round after an awful season, with a record haul of points. Smith has to turn the mentality round too - the team has to get used to winning again and pre-season was not particularly encouraging from that point of view.

[Monty13 2,231]

1 hour ago, Kenny Foggo said:

Last time we had Skipp, Buendia and a fired up Cantwell. This time we have no one capable of doing the Skipp role anywhere near as good or consistently, no creative spark anywhere near as good as Buendia and Cantwell the jury is out... it won't be Smiths fault, it will be Webbers if we fail. Last chance for the world beating sporting director and his 90% effort.

I think Hayden if fit is a pretty good Skipp replacement, about as good as we could get to be honest but it’ll be a while before we see him.

I agree though don’t see where the vision is coming from, where the assists and throughballs are.

Midfield/Attacking Midfield still looks under resourced.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

56 minutes ago, Badger said:

"Hopeful"  is the word I would chose, but I'd prefer to wait until the window closes really before judging our chances.

We'll have a better idea still, by November.  

Fair point. Though I fear the window will see more major outgoings rather than major incomings. Expect Rashica to depart and possibly one other.

[1902 1,167]

2 hours ago, unique said:

We have not addressed one of last season’s biggest issues - creating and scoring goals.

Last year’s impotent midfield has so far been replaced by……midfielders who don’t score goals.

We are relying on Cantwell getting over his issues and not supplying Pukki with blanks.

Half of our defence - Krul, Aarons and Hanley have been the mainstays of a defence that for the past two seasons have concede goals for fun.

How the hell have we been installed as one of the favourites? Makes no sense.

You seem to have missed the whole 'dropping down a league' thing. 

Last year Mitrovic scored 43 goals in the championship. He has scored 3 in the premier league the season before.

To say we can't score goals is bizarre because we literally have no idea what Sargent or Rashica can do at this level. Dowell, Cantwell and Idah all are in very different places in their careers and we are (or should be) unsure about them. To say we haven't fixed it implies a problem that may not even exist in this division. 

As for a midfielders who don't score goals. We have signed a holding midfielder and a box to box (who has scored a goal every six games in his career, so a fairly normal amount). What were you expecting? 

The midfield was regarded as impotent because it was overrun, couldn't hold onto or regain possession and couldn't effectively advance the ball up the pitch, not because it didn't score enough.

As for the defence. What are you on about! In 2020/21, we had the second best defence in the league.

Edited July 27, 2022 by 1902

[Essjayess 307]

6 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

You got a good feeling? Or are you one of the people on here who seem to think we are doomed? Or anything in-between?

Depends..are you just talking about the team only and where they will finish in the Champs or about the whole club in general for the coming season?

As your topic does not specify that i will just go with the club as a whole as that is what i always look at. City as a club financially seem to be in much better shape than most in the Champs, thx to the Board and Mr. Webber, to we may have board changes involving the Milwaukee connection, that is a WIP it seems. Player numbers  to have seemed to be more than trimmed, which had to be done of course.

As for on the pitch, its so so very hard to tell. I would be gobsmacked if we achieved promotion for the 3rd time on the bounce...history  shows its never happened before. In DF's first season we finished mid table and that lot down the road even managed to drag above us by a hairs breadth...my only gauranteed optimism on that is we will be higher than them still come end season. Overall im optimistic for the club as a whole in the coming season but unknown about  the pitch side of it..its far to early to be  one thing or another, but hope is what fans always have...thats the killer aint it.

 

[hairpie 7]

white flag last season and we seem to repeat mistakes in transfer market (big money gambled on foreign unproven in premier league, or injury prone).  

[norfolkngood 1,086]

3 hours ago, Monty13 said:

I’ve always thought we were at our best when we had that one player who could get their foot on the ball, unlock opponents and make us tick.

Wes, Maddison, Buendia in the last 10 years.

I don’t see that player in this squad and it’s my biggest concern. I’m not optimistic without that additional transfer or someone stepping up which I haven’t seen so far.

i would like a Real Passer in Midfield 

someone ian crook style to pick out pukki / wide players and unlock defences / control the play

my midfield would be Hayden breaking play up / Sara more box to box then a playmaker 

Mclean on the bench as he can fill for all 3 if needed 

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

3 hours ago, unique said:

We have not addressed one of last season’s biggest issues - creating and scoring goals.

Last year’s impotent midfield has so far been replaced by……midfielders who don’t score goals.

We are relying on Cantwell getting over his issues and not supplying Pukki with blanks.

Half of our defence - Krul, Aarons and Hanley have been the mainstays of a defence that for the past two seasons have concede goals for fun.

How the hell have we been installed as one of the favourites? Makes no sense.

Just pundits who don't understand how good Buendia is, basically.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

16 minutes ago, norfolkngood said:

i would like a Real Passer in Midfield 

someone ian crook style to pick out pukki / wide players and unlock defences / control the play

my midfield would be Hayden breaking play up / Sara more box to box then a playmaker 

Mclean on the bench as he can fill for all 3 if needed 

Crook had immense wingers to aim for with his long diagonals though. Dale Gordon, David Phillips... and the best of them all... Ruel Fox.

[canarybubbles 1,915]

So many non-yellow pundits are predicting that we will win the league again, but that's probably just laziness and lack of real knowledge about our club (just as most of us lack knowledge of theirs). Personally I am expecting 9th or so after a disappointing start.

My biggest worry is that Pukki has hardly ever looked integrated in the team under Smith, even if somehow he managed to get eleven goals last season, and the same was true of his couple of games in pre-season. Cantwell could theoretically provide the link from midfield but can we rely on him? If neither Cantwell nor Dowell can come up with the creativity required, I suspect Plan B may even become Plan A at some stage and we'll see a lot more than we expected of Hugill.

Like it seems many on here, I am trying to get optimistic about the season ahead, but it's an effort. We just look like a side that has run out of inspiration.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

1 hour ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Crook had immense wingers to aim for with his long diagonals though. Dale Gordon, David Phillips... and the best of them all... Ruel Fox.

i loved Ruel Fox old fashioned winger such Pace ! how ever much would he be worth today 

 

[Canary dwarf 221]

I think automatic, probably second, gk strong , defence strong,midfield average,attack strong , should be good enough for second , however  expect us too have a slow start, but once deano and Shakey work out what are best side is we'll kick on .😄

Edited July 27, 2022 by Canary dwarf

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

44 minutes ago, norfolkngood said:

i loved Ruel Fox old fashioned winger such Pace ! how ever much would he be worth today 

I always say that Beundia was our best right winger since Ruel Fox, and mean it, he was class. Talk about end product as well, Sutton had it easy with Fox in the team.

[Canary dwarf 221]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

I always say that Beundia was our best right winger since Ruel Fox, and mean it, he was class. Talk about end product as well, Sutton had it easy with Fox in the team.

Yeah he also had crook with his amazing vision and passing .😃

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

11 minutes ago, Canary dwarf said:

Yeah he also had crook with his amazing vision and passing .😃

Crossing was David Phillips best attribute as well, and Bowen had a wand of a left foot too. What a team.

A bit annoying that opposition fans always mention Jeremy Goss, he was a mediocre member of that great team.

I cringed a few years back in Farkes first promotion season when some on here claimed it was Norwichs best ever team, by and large not fit to clean their boots. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[Canary dwarf 221]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Crossing was David Phillips best attribute as well, and I think Bowen had a wand of a left foot too. What a team.

A bit annoying that opposition fans always mention Jeremy Goss, he was a mediocre member of that great team.

He was a average at best player that just seemed to have a couple of good seasons , before becoming mediocre again.a bit like Bryan Gunn two awesome seasons in 10.😬

[SwearyCanary 1,179]

Computer says……. 
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/supercomputer-predicts-how-championship-promotion-race-will-unfold-for-sheffield-united-middlesbrough-huddersfield-town-burnley-west-brom-norwich-city-and-watford-ahead-of-opening-day-3784231?page=6