DREADFUL

[Clever Farke 65]

23 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

You think that will crossover into the quality of the PL?? How come he couldn’t do that last season then?

Last season wasn’t his squad. This season learning to get the result over the line. Regarding quality we aren’t  going to outplay teams and dominate possession in the prem like Farke hoped we would, especially away but we need to nick enough results to make a difference.  Keeping clean sheets is a good start. 1-0 away from home, lovely. 

[All the Germans 1,084]

I appreciate that I am different from the majority of football fans, I watch to be entertained and the winning, whilst important, is not the ultimate. I would much rather watch a Farke team lose, than a Hughton team win. Every time. 

This is not entertaining, in the slightest. I appreciate that we won, but that doesn;t mean it wasn't utterly, utterly rubbish football. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

[Branston Pickle 3,698]

24 minutes ago, Clever Farke said:

Probably, was watching Morocco and listening to Norwich game. In fairness it didn’t sound like we were outplayed but dug in and sat on a 1-0 against a team that likes to keep the ball but didn’t create that much against us. 

Spot on imo.  Tbh it was one of those where the result mattered most and we scored early so didn’t have to be particularly attacking, we’ve seen it loads of times over the years both for and against us.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

57 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

Outplayed?  Wow - are you muddling the Morocco game with ours? 

We were totally outplayed.

[city4eva 215]

1 hour ago, Branston Pickle said:

Dreadful? Wow. We won 1-0 away at a strongly fancied Swansea who created hardly anything. I’ll take that any day of the week in any season.

I didn’t watch the game but the stats show Swansea with 7 shots on target and us 2, that doesn’t read like they created hardly anything but as I said I don’t watch it so the stats may lie 

[BigFish 1,988]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

We were totally outplayed.

But strangely won?

Edited December 10, 2022 by BigFish

[hogesar 9,766]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

We were totally outplayed.

We weren't totally outplayed. A home side that keeps the ball well against all teams in this league did that, but not much more. It was the definition of a hard graft away performance.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,604]

3 hours ago, unique said:

So…..what has changed?

We still look nothing like a football team.

Still, at least the players have had a nice jolly in Florida…….

So don't care. Only thing I'm interested in is promotion. Then I'm interested in staying up by hook or by crook. Then I'll start to take an interest in how pretty it looks.

Away win against a top 10 side; great stuff.

Edited December 10, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Shining White 15]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

We were totally outplayed.

Just back as I don’t live in Norfolk. First half Angus grabbed one on the line and also tipped a curling free kick out of the top corner. Second half didn’t see much as the ball barely ventured down our end of the ground. Second half we couldn’t get hold of the ball at all - utterly dire. Still, it’s goals that count. We move on, 3 points better off than this time yesterday

but yes, we were outplayed

Edited December 10, 2022 by Shining White

[BigFish 1,988]

1 hour ago, BigFish said:

But strangely won?

 

[CDMullins 446]

I've never seen a defence win in a game of attack v defence,

 

Until today.

[Steve White 24]

Get the point that it is 3 points away from home but the football was dire! A little over 20 years ago clubs had a manager and a trainer. Now we have than plus others such as attacking, defence and set piece coach as well as dieticians etc - and they still turn up and play as if they have never seen each other.If anyone things football and footballers are better nowadays they are deluded.

[Shining White 15]

9 hours ago, CDMullins said:

I've never seen a defence win in a game of attack v defence,

 

Until today.

The all-important xG says we lost 

2.32 - 0.60

However Swans fans coming out of the ground called us “well organised”

Whatever we all think of Dean Smith’s football (there was only one half-hearted “Dean Smith’s green-yellow army” chant all day) its 3 more points and a clean sheet

Edited December 11, 2022 by Shining White

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

13 hours ago, BigFish said:

But strangely won?

It was down to a toothless Swansea. If they get a good striker then they could challenge. If they don't then its mid table for them.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

13 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

So don't care. Only thing I'm interested in is promotion. Then I'm interested in staying up by hook or by crook. Then I'll start to take an interest in how pretty it looks.

Away win against a top 10 side; great stuff.

That is not a comment I would expect from you LYB. To me you seem very analytical in your outlook and I wouldn't believe you thought the end justified the means.

[Michael Starr 522]

Swansea = A snake without fanks

Norwich = An awkward snake handler celebrating how they owned the snake.

Just wait till the snake handler handles the next bunch of snakes, who do have fanks.

 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,604]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

That is not a comment I would expect from you LYB. To me you seem very analytical in your outlook and I wouldn't believe you thought the end justified the means.

I see where you're coming from, but one of the things I've taken from the Farke era is that really elegant and enjoyable football at Championship level is an end in itself rather than a means to progress. Unlike 10 years ago, the gap in standards between the Premier League and Championship is now so great that you can't reasonably expect to preserve much in transitioning from the Championship to the Premier League.

The biggest thing I love about Norwich is that it invested so much for so long in trying to find a way to establish itself in the Premier League through a self-financing approach. But I think there's a consensus that this is now an unachievable dream, which has led us to a point where most people are simply apathetic. If we'd kept Daniel Farke, and we'd returned to the really fun Championship football that we've seen the last couple of seasons, would many people be really enjoying it with the knowledge in the back of their minds that the most likely outcome is that we'll not be  remotely competitive enough at Premier League level and we'd be straight down again?

I think this is the sadness you see on Smith and Wynn-Jones face every time you see them on camera these days: There's no hope any more among a lot of fans and a growing refusal to take any pleasure from anything because of that. I suppose you could even say the club now has a collective depression.

So the only way forward I see is to look at the big picture, which is that we now do have access to the investment needed to survive at Premier League level and perhaps progress to be a decent side at Premier League level, which means that the most important thing about this season and the coming two or three seasons isn't just promotion, but promotion, then overseeing a substantial squad revamp and style overhaul that leads to survival and progression.

Against that backdrop, I would say I'm unhappy and disappointed with the outcome of the last month's break, and also slightly angry that we apparently have really highly paid players that refuse to be vaccinated with miniscule risks to them in order to properly participate in a training exercise at such an important juncture; if ever there was evidence of 'no passion' from the players then I'd say it's that.

I'd also add that I was very very sad about the dismissal of Farke at the time he was dismissed, but also recognise that we have got into a rut that consists of extreme yo-yoing that really does seem to run a risk of killing any enjoyment of anything. I also think that his somewhat mediocre performance at Borussia Monchengladbach shows that we should treasure the good memories of his time with us without getting too hung up on the fact that we've moved on to a new manager who I still don't think is being regarded fairly because of the fond memories of Farke.

I remember on occasions we've had bad runs where I've tried to point out positives where the phrase 'it's a results business' has been used to try and kill off any arguments not to sack a manager; if that applies when results are bad, then that also has to apply when they're good, and three points against a top 10 side moving us a bit closer towards the auto slots is a good result.

And we still have the rest of the season to go to hope to see something enjoyable click into place. We had to wait a long time with Daniel Farke before things got really enjoyable as well, after all.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,805]

We're all looking for something that just isnt there

This is us under these players and manager we're not going to start playing "better" than this with these players and manager

So , I'm now prepared to take any win however it comes.

I'd rather rather be feeling like I do tiday after a win than the anger post Middlesbrough

Edited December 11, 2022 by GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary

[Shining White 15]

33 minutes ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

We're all looking for something that just isnt there

This is us under these players and manager we're not going to start playing "better" than this with these players and manager

So , I'm now prepared to take any win however it comes.

I'd rather rather be feeling like I do tiday after a win than the anger post Middlesbrough

Problem for me is that there’s a huge difference between calmly controlling the game to see out a 1-0 win, and spending 45 minutes unable to string 2 passes together and turning over possession every time we try to control the ball in the middle or final third of the pitch, as happened yesterday afternoon. It was a stressful watch with the nagging inevitability of an equaliser about to come at any moment.

[A Load of Squit 5,223]

4 minutes ago, Shining White said:

Problem for me is that there’s a huge difference between calmly controlling the game to see out a 1-0 win, and spending 45 minutes unable to string 2 passes together and turning over possession every time we try to control the ball in the middle or final third of the pitch, as happened yesterday afternoon. It was a stressful watch with the nagging inevitability of an equaliser about to come at any moment.

Has the meaning of this word changed?

 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

19 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

Has the meaning of this word changed?

 

Probably the wrong word but I doubt there many who didn't think it was likely to happen given our defensive frailties. But luckily for us, they really are toothless up front. And Hanley and Gibson along with Gunny (who absolutely really is No1now) coped with the crosses. And Swansea never really tried a shot at goal unless pressurised.

[Branston Pickle 3,698]

24 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

Has the meaning of this word changed?

 

Seems so, but so many words are misused these days that their meaning is all but lost.

Swansea never came particularly close to scoring, other than the pinball effort from a corner (I believe) in the first half.  Gunn made no other saves of note.  It was a bog-average game, but we won and I’ll take it.

[Branston Pickle 3,698]

5 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Probably the wrong word but I doubt there many who didn't think it was likely to happen given our defensive frailties. But luckily for us, they really are toothless up front. And Hanley and Gibson along with Gunny (who absolutely really is No1now) coped with the crosses. And Swansea never really tried a shot at goal unless pressurised.

I watched the entire game other than the first two minutes. There were few moments when I thought we might concede. It was not a great game, but we won, and move on.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 minute ago, Branston Pickle said:

I watched the entire game other than the first two minutes. There were few moments when I thought we might concede. It was not a great game, but we won, and move on.

That is where we differ. All makes good reading on the subject. And I have to say I admired what Russ is doing at Swansea. Really neat, precise and accurate football. But they badly need at least one striker. And don't forget, prior to the break they hadn't won in five.

But the fact is incontrovertible, we picked up the win so I am glad that while all of us are happy others have a greater level of happiness.

[Mengo 825]

2 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

That is where we differ. All makes good reading on the subject. And I have to say I admired what Russ is doing at Swansea. Really neat, precise and accurate football. But they badly need at least one striker. And don't forget, prior to the break they hadn't won in five.

But the fact is incontrovertible, we picked up the win so I am glad that while all of us are happy others have a greater level of happiness.

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Mengo

[hogesar 9,766]

1 hour ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

We're all looking for something that just isnt there

This is us under these players and manager we're not going to start playing "better" than this with these players and manager

So , I'm now prepared to take any win however it comes.

I'd rather rather be feeling like I do tiday after a win than the anger post Middlesbrough

Well, you were very confident in stating we would be midtable in a couple weeks.

Could be another to add to the list of bad takes..

[Branston Pickle 3,698]

13 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

That is where we differ. All makes good reading on the subject. And I have to say I admired what Russ is doing at Swansea. Really neat, precise and accurate football. But they badly need at least one striker. And don't forget, prior to the break they hadn't won in five.

But the fact is incontrovertible, we picked up the win so I am glad that while all of us are happy others have a greater level of happiness.

I’m pretty sure they’d not lost at home since early September, though - stats and all that!

I doubt there’s anyone here who wouldn’t like us to play better/be more convincing.  I’m always torn between whether it’s better seeing us play well (and maybe losing), or being average and winning - there’s times when the latter is fine.

The odd thing is that some are convinced that this is Smith’s style and we will only see ‘stodge’ under him, but I am 100% sure it’s not - his sides are usually far more expansive. It’s a strange one.  Russ is definitely one to keep an eye on though.

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Branston Pickle

[Shining White 15]

1 hour ago, Branston Pickle said:

I watched the entire game other than the first two minutes. There were few moments when I thought we might concede. It was not a great game, but we won, and move on.

Personally I spent the last 30 minutes expecting to see the far end net bulge, but maybe that wasn’t helped by being stood so far away from the action. Gunn certainly only had two good stops to make - the goalmouth scramble and the later curling free kick. Everything else was straight at him so it wasn’t his most difficult day at the office.

like I have said elsewhere, it’s 3 more points to the total and we move on

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,805]

54 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Well, you were very confident in stating we would be midtable in a couple weeks.

Could be another to add to the list of bad takes..

List?

and yes we could easily still be

[Danke bitte 967]

2 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I also think that his somewhat mediocre performance at Borussia Monchengladbach shows that we should treasure the good memories of his time with us without getting too hung up on the fact that we've moved on to a new manager who I still don't think is being regarded fairly because of the fond memories of Farke.

Really good post. But this bit stuck out for me. We had some amazing times under Farke and I think that’s raised expectation levels beyond where we actually find ourselves. Farkeball worked wonderfully in the Champ but came apart in the Prem. So where does the club go? It attempts to be more pragmatic in Smith’s appointment and thus far it remains unconvincing. Should we find ourselves back in the Prem with (potentially) more access to funding meaning we don’t miss out on the Ajer’s of the world we might be more competitive. I won’t lie, it’s galling to watch B’Mouth, Fulham and Brentford all making a fist of things than we ever did but again their strength lies in the access to deeper pockets than ours meaning adding ballast where they could.