The "Narrative"

[It's Character Forming 1,164]

A complaint by DS and others seems to be that the fans are buying into a "narrative" rather than (presumably) seeing the good work he's doing.

I'm not sure what the "narrative" is meant to be exactly.  My view is as follows :

 

1.  DS came in fairly early last season and, looking at it overall, he failed to improve over the very poor start we had under DF.

2.  This season after a very poor start, he and the team put together a very good run of results.  However, many of the fans were concerned that the results came from unconvincing performances against teams from lower down the table.  They were worried that, sooner or later, the results would turn down to reflect the performances and that we might do less well against better teams when we came to play them.

3.  Those fears have been borne out.

4.  When DS went away for the World Cup break, he said he knew what needed doing with the players and that the team would come back a "different animal" after the break.

5.  But after the re-start, there are as yet no signs of improvement.

 

I wonder if others have ideas about the narrative we're supposed to be following ?

[Carn 71]

He wants us to believe the narrative that we just think he's fat and drinks tea out of a mug and that's why we all don't like him. He refuses to face the reality that the football is ****e and this team is capable of so much better.

[Petriix 2,849]

Let's spin it on its head. Dean Smith has his own narrative which he's trying to sell - probably to himself as much as anyone else: that he's midway through a project which is attempting to transform the team (from a delicate bunch of lads who try to be too pretty and only know how to play one way to a dynamic and athletic group of men capable of holding their own in the Premier League).

He thinks we're doing just fine - although it could obviously be better, we're doing all the right things and have been unlucky yet we're still in the playoff places. Unfortunately the fans haven't bought into his style and many (who never wanted him in the first place) were just waiting for a bit of a blip before becoming abusive. 

Of course the truth remains somewhere in the middle. What Smith doesn't seem able to admit is that our form has nosedived, we have performed badly against top sides and we look like we're going backwards. And this isn't just a temporary blip because it's been going on since the end of September. 

What exactly do you expect him to say? 

[hogesar 9,722]

2 minutes ago, Petriix said:

Let's spin it on its head. Dean Smith has his own narrative which he's trying to sell - probably to himself as much as anyone else: that he's midway through a project which is attempting to transform the team (from a delicate bunch of lads who try to be too pretty and only know how to play one way to a dynamic and athletic group of men capable of holding their own in the Premier League).

He thinks we're doing just fine - although it could obviously be better, we're doing all the right things and have been unlucky yet we're still in the playoff places. Unfortunately the fans haven't bought into his style and many (who never wanted him in the first place) were just waiting for a bit of a blip before becoming abusive. 

Of course the truth remains somewhere in the middle. What Smith doesn't seem able to admit is that our form has nosedived, we have performed badly against top sides and we look like we're going backwards. And this isn't just a temporary blip because it's been going on since the end of September. 

What exactly do you expect him to say? 

Yes our form is bad and on top of that, the performances are too. But he's not said anything wrong, although like you I think he should, even if it involves criticising the players more, acknowledge the poor run of form

[KeiranShikari 1,426]

The style of play being poor is the narrative in the eyes of Smith, he then went on about shot stats afterwards iirc. He jumped on fans for wanting to see a downturn in results because it fits that perceived narrative. I think most are just like you and me and could see it coming a mile off and are not taking joy from it. 

Basically it's a load of rubbish because he himself has said plenty of times that we need to be better. He said today that we obviously want to be playing fast, free flowing football which suggests that he knows we are not (you'd hope so, right).

I honestly think he might just be a bit thick or perhaps not great with words whilst under pressure. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by KeiranShikari

[hogesar 9,722]

25 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

The style of play being poor is the narrative in the eyes of Smith, he then went on about shot stats afterwards iirc. He jumped on fans for wanting to see a downturn in results because it fits that perceived narrative. I think most are just like you and me and could see it coming a mile off and are not taking joy from it. 

Basically it's a load of rubbish because he himself has said plenty of times that we need to be better. He said today that we obviously want to be playing fast, free flowing football which suggests that he knows we are not (you'd hope so, right).

I honestly think he might just be a bit thick or perhaps not great with words whilst under pressure. 

Nope, he's just being asked repeated questions on it and rightly / wrongly is trying to defend and protect his players at the same time.

Would be worth looking into his past a bit more, and some of the University speeches he's done, if you genuinely think he might be thick.

[KeiranShikari 1,426]

8 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Nope, he's just being asked repeated questions on it and rightly / wrongly is trying to defend and protect his players at the same time.

Would be worth looking into his past a bit more, and some of the University speeches he's done, if you genuinely think he might be thick.

I watched one of those and listened to a podcast he did when it was announced that we'd hired him. I wasn't particularly impressed with him back then. He stuck me as a typical manager robot that had listened to a few episodes of that Jake Humphrey podcast. Thick might have been harsh though.

Also not sure about the protecting his players line. After the last game he protected himself by shifting the fan reaction onto his players.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

The Blackburn game summed it up for me. They had taken a mauling the week before whereas we had taken three points away to Swansea. Who should be the most confident? It wasn't us. We just went through the motions and Blackburn had numbers in defence and then in attack. We just don't move the ball quick enough. Its a bit like DFs first season when we looked to have possession but couldn't get it into forward areas quick enough.

I believe its midfield and the players are not happy with their positions or roles.

[kenfoggo 247]

The “ narrative “ that Dean Smith is trying to make us believe is that he is good at his job. He appears to believe that Norwich Supporters are all country bumpkins with no eyes to see what is going on. He has turned a squad of capable Championship players into stumbling, inept , failing, under confident bunglers. THAT is how good a Head Coach he is. 3 points at home from a possible 21, THAT is how good his coaching is. A freebie holiday in Tampa to come back a “different animal”, that is how incompetent he is. Do not treat me with such contempt and disrespect, win some games convincingly and we may start to believe your own trumpeting. Until then , you are on borrowed time.

Edited December 23, 2022 by kenfoggo

[Capt. Pants 4,274]

If he were a bit more open, honest and conciliatory in his media responses I believe he would get far better acceptance from supporters. For example he insists on protecting the players when the reality is they are equally to blame in my view. Some have underformed, made stupid errors, lacked effort, lacked fitness. I see no harm in him calling this out tbh. After all we're constantly doing it on this forum. I wish he would.

There's also the possibility that he has been told what to say and how to say it.

I honestly believe there is a better version of Dean Smith than the one we are seeing. Something is really not right with our club. I can't believe how it's gone wrong so badly, so quickly.

 

[Ulfotto 641]

27 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

 

I believe its midfield and the players are not happy with their positions or roles.

The issue with the midfield it’s been revolving door for the last three years. we have had an entirely different midfield in each of the last three years. This cannot be a good thing for continuity.

[SwearyCanary 1,179]

1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

If he were a bit more open, honest and conciliatory in his media responses I believe he would get far better acceptance from supporters. For example he insists on protecting the players when the reality is they are equally to blame in my view. Some have underformed, made stupid errors, lacked effort, lacked fitness. I see no harm in him calling this out tbh. After all we're constantly doing it on this forum. I wish he would.

There's also the possibility that he has been told what to say and how to say it.

I honestly believe there is a better version of Dean Smith than the one we are seeing. Something is really not right with our club. I can't believe how it's gone wrong so badly, so quickly.

 

If his grasp on the dressing room is tenuous then this would be a speedy exit if he laid blame at their door. I’m not saying he is struggling in the dressing room, but the players are definitely not an ally he can afford to lose the support of at this juncture 

[Mackrel829 21]

I just have no idea what the identity of the team is. What are we trying to achieve each time we step out onto the pitch? Whilst you'd expect tactics to change to suit each opposition, there has to be some consistency in terms of style of play and overall philosophy. There's none.

When Dean Smith was first appointed, I was very pleased and more than willing to give him some time to put his stamp on the team. He doesn't seem to have done that at all though, and he's had plenty of time now.

Look at Burnley. Kompany has come in and completely changed the way they play. It's a complete turnaround based on how they played in the prem and he's had far less time. I think I've watched two Burnley games this year and I know exactly how they're trying to play. I have no idea what our style of play is.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

8 hours ago, hogesar said:

Yes our form is bad and on top of that, the performances are too. But he's not said anything wrong, although like you I think he should, even if it involves criticising the players more, acknowledge the poor run of form

Has he at any stage, after any poor performance, admitted his own culpability and said something like "hands up, I got this one wrong", because I can't ever remember it ever happening. I don't think criticising the players would be a good idea, if he never does, sounds like a way of losing the dressing room - if he hasn't already.

[chicken 2,640]

11 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

A complaint by DS and others seems to be that the fans are buying into a "narrative" rather than (presumably) seeing the good work he's doing.

I'm not sure what the "narrative" is meant to be exactly.  My view is as follows :

 

1.  DS came in fairly early last season and, looking at it overall, he failed to improve over the very poor start we had under DF.

2.  This season after a very poor start, he and the team put together a very good run of results.  However, many of the fans were concerned that the results came from unconvincing performances against teams from lower down the table.  They were worried that, sooner or later, the results would turn down to reflect the performances and that we might do less well against better teams when we came to play them.

3.  Those fears have been borne out.

4.  When DS went away for the World Cup break, he said he knew what needed doing with the players and that the team would come back a "different animal" after the break.

5.  But after the re-start, there are as yet no signs of improvement.

 

I wonder if others have ideas about the narrative we're supposed to be following ?

I have to say, I think this is probably a good example of the "narrative" in some senses.

1. Depends upon what you mean by "failed to improve". Farke took 11 games to total 5pts. Smith took his first three, with 11pts in his first 11 games - albeit including 6 losses. That average over a season would have put us there or there abouts. Covid, injuries etc played their part and he "failed" to keep us up. Though, in fairness, some of the most level headed and consistent posters on here said before Farke went that they couldn't see anything from that group of players to suggest we could get the 38pts required to stay up at that time. That to me suggests that to expect Smith to best more than a point a game average to stay up was a mammoth task - it needed that across the season (1pt a game, 38pts is there or there abouts).

2. Ah yes, the old "the false position" in the table cr@p. We were inconsistent even in that run. We won games that perhaps we didn't deserve to as much as games we should have won but ended up drawing. Even in recent games there have been chances to go two or three ahead before half time but somehow we go in 1-0 down. Nothing is pretty, it's disjointed, it's inconsistent and it's rarely the same problem from one week to the next. Some weeks we are defensively good, some weeks we are not, sometimes we have the chances but don't tuck them away, some weeks we have one and score.

3. See 2, those fears weren't really borne out. We have gotten worse, and the stats bare that out really. I would say confidence is low in that when we do have good spells, which we have had fewer of recently, we can't seem to make anything of it, and then we let in team goals or goals from mistakes like Gibson's.

4&5. Yeah, I mean, I would say before the world cup Smith was probably relieved to be getting a break and felt he needed more time with this squad and could re-energise and revitalise them. It most certainly didn't happen, and we certainly don't appear to have sorted the possession and chance creation aspect of it.

Honestly, the number one issue is that Smith, for whatever reason, simply cannot get this team performing consistent as a team rather than a disjointed, inconsistent group of players. It's looked pretty at times, but not enough to convince anyone that it can be sustained for anything like 60% of a game when we have possession, should we even hit that mark. It's not about last season anymore, the squad is different, the opposition is different. It's not good enough now and results are starting to slide. It's that simple.

Smith is referring to the narrative of when he was appointed. But at the end of the day, who cares? Who cares what narrative he thinks the fans have? He's admitted in saying that, that better results would have put whatever that narrative is to bed. It's up to him and the players to make their own narrative. And right now, his is a chain of poorly chosen words with the very minimal interaction he has with the press.

Webber said ignore the noise... Smith apparently hasn't got the message and is poorly trying to describe the noise and the sources of it which only goes to make more of a disconnect between him and the fans, which is the last thing he needs right now. Disappointing is an understatement.
 

[chicken 2,640]

9 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

The Blackburn game summed it up for me. They had taken a mauling the week before whereas we had taken three points away to Swansea. Who should be the most confident? It wasn't us. We just went through the motions and Blackburn had numbers in defence and then in attack. We just don't move the ball quick enough. Its a bit like DFs first season when we looked to have possession but couldn't get it into forward areas quick enough.

I believe its midfield and the players are not happy with their positions or roles.

The one thing you could always say about Farke was that if we lost, he would somehow re-galvanise the players and we'd be back throwing punches the next game as if the last was merely a stumble. I think a lot was down to the squads we had under Farke too, but you just don't get that from Smith.

[repman 635]

At this point the rot has set in and everyone knows it. The fans have turned against the coaching staff and even if we won every game left this season I'm not sure they'd get back on board. The players too may have doubts over the coaching staff too. While it is undoubtedly true that we need to be better off the ball if we ever want to succeed in the PL, it's clear that to have success in this league we need to be better in possession than we currently are. During the Blackburn game both Aarons and Pukki got frustrated, which I would say is reasonably out of character for them. They're 2 players who know what it takes to get out of this division, and they're smart enough to know what we're doing right now is not that. It's possible that the players, like the fans and possibly even the upper levels of management, believed that the world cup break would lead to some positive changes. The break gave time on the training pitch that you never usually get, however the 2 games post break suggest that no major steps have been made. 

[canarydan23 4,060]

18 hours ago, hogesar said:

Nope, he's just being asked repeated questions on it and rightly / wrongly is trying to defend and protect his players at the same time.

Would be worth looking into his past a bit more, and some of the University speeches he's done, if you genuinely think he might be thick.

Are there any others beyond the one he did at Birmingham University a few years ago? If so, I'd be happy to give them a watch. If that is the only one, have you actually watched it? There's nothing impressive in it at all, I'd struggle to fathom how anyone would watch that and think, "Yeah, this is a real stand out from the crowd sort of guy". At times it was more like a best man speech than an informative lecture on organisational culture. Which is an interesting topic in itself given that the majority view among the fans is, and has been for a while, that he has come in and wrecked the culture of the club.

It certainly supports the narrative that he's a nice guy and one who cares about his players, particularly young ones, but it doesn't do much to quell the concerns that he's not the sharpest tool in the box.

[It's Character Forming 1,164]

7 hours ago, chicken said:

I have to say, I think this is probably a good example of the "narrative" in some senses.

1. Depends upon what you mean by "failed to improve". Farke took 11 games to total 5pts. Smith took his first three, with 11pts in his first 11 games - albeit including 6 losses. That average over a season would have put us there or there abouts. Covid, injuries etc played their part and he "failed" to keep us up. Though, in fairness, some of the most level headed and consistent posters on here said before Farke went that they couldn't see anything from that group of players to suggest we could get the 38pts required to stay up at that time. That to me suggests that to expect Smith to best more than a point a game average to stay up was a mammoth task - it needed that across the season (1pt a game, 38pts is there or there abouts).

2. Ah yes, the old "the false position" in the table cr@p. We were inconsistent even in that run. We won games that perhaps we didn't deserve to as much as games we should have won but ended up drawing. Even in recent games there have been chances to go two or three ahead before half time but somehow we go in 1-0 down. Nothing is pretty, it's disjointed, it's inconsistent and it's rarely the same problem from one week to the next. Some weeks we are defensively good, some weeks we are not, sometimes we have the chances but don't tuck them away, some weeks we have one and score.

3. See 2, those fears weren't really borne out. We have gotten worse, and the stats bare that out really. I would say confidence is low in that when we do have good spells, which we have had fewer of recently, we can't seem to make anything of it, and then we let in team goals or goals from mistakes like Gibson's.

4&5. Yeah, I mean, I would say before the world cup Smith was probably relieved to be getting a break and felt he needed more time with this squad and could re-energise and revitalise them. It most certainly didn't happen, and we certainly don't appear to have sorted the possession and chance creation aspect of it.

Honestly, the number one issue is that Smith, for whatever reason, simply cannot get this team performing consistent as a team rather than a disjointed, inconsistent group of players. It's looked pretty at times, but not enough to convince anyone that it can be sustained for anything like 60% of a game when we have possession, should we even hit that mark. It's not about last season anymore, the squad is different, the opposition is different. It's not good enough now and results are starting to slide. It's that simple.

Smith is referring to the narrative of when he was appointed. But at the end of the day, who cares? Who cares what narrative he thinks the fans have? He's admitted in saying that, that better results would have put whatever that narrative is to bed. It's up to him and the players to make their own narrative. And right now, his is a chain of poorly chosen words with the very minimal interaction he has with the press.

Webber said ignore the noise... Smith apparently hasn't got the message and is poorly trying to describe the noise and the sources of it which only goes to make more of a disconnect between him and the fans, which is the last thing he needs right now. Disappointing is an understatement.
 

I agree with a lot of what you say but the big thing for me is the concerns people were expressing when we were on the winning streak. I do think those concerns have been borne out. Actually, I think things now are worse than I thought they might become. In that our form is now dire and it’s likely we’ll drop out of the playoff spaces.

 

right now it actually reminds me a lot of 1995 when our results went off a cliff mid season.

[By Hook or Ian crook 917]

19 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

A complaint by DS and others seems to be that the fans are buying into a "narrative" rather than (presumably) seeing the good work he's doing.

I'm not sure what the "narrative" is meant to be exactly.  My view is as follows :

 

1.  DS came in fairly early last season and, looking at it overall, he failed to improve over the very poor start we had under DF.

2.  This season after a very poor start, he and the team put together a very good run of results.  However, many of the fans were concerned that the results came from unconvincing performances against teams from lower down the table.  They were worried that, sooner or later, the results would turn down to reflect the performances and that we might do less well against better teams when we came to play them.

3.  Those fears have been borne out.

4.  When DS went away for the World Cup break, he said he knew what needed doing with the players and that the team would come back a "different animal" after the break.

5.  But after the re-start, there are as yet no signs of improvement.

 

I wonder if others have ideas about the narrative we're supposed to be following ?

6 of Farke’s first 10 games before he was sacked last season were against the seasons before top 7. If you look at points per game against sides outside the top 7 Farke averaged more points per game than Smith. 
 

The only narrative being said by people is they one they can see with their eyes. That is that the team is being poorly coached, the recruitment has been woeful and our style of play seems to just be to pass the ball backwards all the time for the sake of possession. 
 

If you want to know how badly the players are being coached watche Nunez when he first came and how he sprayed passes around and ran about. Then watch him now like the life has been sucked out of him. 

[sonyc 5,541]

I've pondered over Smith's comments a few times this last week (it's been a quiet week 😅) and this word "narrative" just stands out as an outlier to me, a word I just don't think he would use ordinarily. He speaks (usually) in very plain terms and it rarely varies, watching him reply in post match interviews. 

My belief therefore is that the word 'narrative' is a received one. And I'm sure everyone will know the source. It's from the box of management speak isn't it? Like 'journey' is used a lot more. Every important person is on one. "Ignore the noise" is another phrase. Deano has been speaking with Stuart. Stuart has told him with his serious head on, that some fans will always be negative and that they haven't got over Daniel Farke yet. The narrative has been written by Stuart Webber. And the coach has used it.

It's often the way with players post match. They say stuff the manager has just said in the dressing room. 

In terms of our play though I think we might all ponder for a long time to discover what narratives are playing out. Though the OP has tried to determine them gamely. I don't think DS knows exactly what his narrative is. Probably, like Neil Warnock once said, he simply wants to win games. I think DS has that simplistic view (and by the way it's fine by me). It has and hasn't worked!

And for me, if there is a 'narrative' it's that our players have the potential to be a strong team but they don't know how. Only in moments have they found cohesion. 

I think Dean should leave comments like narratives to others. It doesn't suit him. Stuart's inner narrative is the man who conquers Everest. Norwich City is now far too low down for the likes of him.

[kenfoggo 247]

I think the Dean Smith topic has now been talked out to a conclusion that he has lost the Supporters, that he has already left the Club in spirit (if he ever really committed)  and that he has no tools in his box to fix the malaise and poor form in the squad. We will most likely limp on this season with more of the same because there is no will to change either the Head Coach or the downward trajectory.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,577]

20 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

A complaint by DS and others seems to be that the fans are buying into a "narrative" rather than (presumably) seeing the good work he's doing.

I'm not sure what the "narrative" is meant to be exactly.  My view is as follows :

 

1.  DS came in fairly early last season and, looking at it overall, he failed to improve over the very poor start we had under DF.

2.  This season after a very poor start, he and the team put together a very good run of results.  However, many of the fans were concerned that the results came from unconvincing performances against teams from lower down the table.  They were worried that, sooner or later, the results would turn down to reflect the performances and that we might do less well against better teams when we came to play them.

3.  Those fears have been borne out.

4.  When DS went away for the World Cup break, he said he knew what needed doing with the players and that the team would come back a "different animal" after the break.

5.  But after the re-start, there are as yet no signs of improvement.

 

I wonder if others have ideas about the narrative we're supposed to be following ?

A narrative is simply creating a coherent story. In this context, it means focussing on observations/facts/opinions that support the story that you want to tell and ignoring any facts that might contradict or undermine it.

It's basically what lawyers and politicians do.

[kenfoggo 247]

“Narrative” seems an odd word to use . I don’t think that the Supporters have a “narrative “. They are just sick of paying their hard earned to watch dross and they are voicing their disappointment and discontent.  In the meanwhile Dean Smith plods on “doing his best” and determinedly ignoring any criticism and it seems just hoping things will improve miraculously on their own. The “different animal” he promised after the Tampa jaunt has not manifested itself and we can expect more of the same that we witnessed against Blackburn. He has obviously, after 14 months in the post, exhausted all the tools in his box and has no new philosophy or direction to offer. He has lost me as a Supporter by attempting to deflect his own inability to get the squad to play effectively by blaming the fans, which is unforgivable. I wish him well but I cannot envisage a change in fortunes with him in charge.

[sonyc 5,541]

2 minutes ago, kenfoggo said:

. I don’t think that the Supporters have a “narrative “.

Quite correct. It's a nonsense. How can 25,000 plus (hundreds of thousands probably if you include non attending supporters) have a 'narrative'?

 

[chicken 2,640]

10 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

I agree with a lot of what you say but the big thing for me is the concerns people were expressing when we were on the winning streak. I do think those concerns have been borne out. Actually, I think things now are worse than I thought they might become. In that our form is now dire and it’s likely we’ll drop out of the playoff spaces.

 

right now it actually reminds me a lot of 1995 when our results went off a cliff mid season.

No, the comments, rather than concerns, were that we weren't dominating games, that we weren't creating chances and that we were in a "false position".

I argued against those points at the time, as did many others. It wasn't that we weren't dominating sides, we often had more possession, it also wasn't that we weren't creating chances - XG supported that though many folks dislike it, and there really is no such thing as a "false position" because the "table never lies".

The suggestion by people at the time was that it was purely "luck". The other aspect of the concerns at that time, are yet to be borne out - that we would be lucky to finish mid-table.

We're still top six, so essentially, so far, none of those "concerns" are yet to be borne out.

Our home form is dire, away form less so. Some people point to beating teams in the top six, or top half of the table. The former isn't actually as essential as people make out. We were promoted as Champions in 2019 with three wins in ten games against the other five teams to finish inside the top six.

I think 2020-21 was better... We lost twice to Bournemouth who finished 6th, Brentford we drew and won, Watford we lost twice, lost and won against Swansea, drew and won against Barnsley. So in total we lost 5, drew two and won 3. Pretty similar then.

And as I said, if people could actually stick to one argument during that period of unbeaten games, we could argue that they were borne out, but there were just too many and the flipped and flopped about more than Flipper in an entire series. Usually because the concerns in games were about as consistent as first busses at the moment.

And that's the actual point, that is the actual concern - nothing else. That people have seen flashes of the potential of this side, but that we cannot be consistent across a single game, let alone more than one of them. At times we still manage to cut teams open, but our finishing lets us down. In others our passing is poor but we'll fashion a goal somehow. In some games everything lets us down. The formation seems disjointed at times, it's changed, then we look ok for a game, then we look poor again, then the formation is changed again, etc etc etc.

The only thing borne out right now is that it's looking increasingly like Smith cannot get a tune out of this squad. Which, like with Farke, leaves a choice to be made and that's either this is the best tune we can expect out of this motley crew, or that they most certainly are up to a far better sound and it is the conductor that needs to get the boot. The main issue being that without consistency no one can say, hand on heart, where they think we'll finish.

Even some of the most solidly and consistently pro-Smith-out posters on here have said that he could continue in post due to being in the top six and get us into the play offs and possibly even to promotion, but that it doesn't mitigate how poorly we appear to be doing it.

I think that is possibly the best summary. We could end up anywhere, another 11 game unbeaten run could yet see us challenge the top 2. There is no argument we are not capable of it, because we did it earlier in the season. However, we are equally capable of poor results that could see us slide out of the top six and if the current trend continues, we'll have a manager with about as many supporters as he can hold mugs of tea... 

[chicken 2,640]

9 hours ago, sonyc said:

Quite correct. It's a nonsense. How can 25,000 plus (hundreds of thousands probably if you include non attending supporters) have a 'narrative'?

That's incorrect - he said "some supporters". However, I think he failed to realise the number of people who are actually getting narked with what is being served up at Carrow Road and how they reached their conclusions. Tbh, that's even more damning as it suggests he hasn't got a clue of the vibe and views of the supporters in the stands or how they came to the opinion they held. It also suggests he has felt that he hasn't had the support of "some" fans since the start... which to me is actually quite worrying - it suggests it has been on his mind and that he is frustrated about it. 

[Petriix 2,849]

3 hours ago, chicken said:

I think that is possibly the best summary. We could end up anywhere, another 11 game unbeaten run could yet see us challenge the top 2. There is no argument we are not capable of it, because we did it earlier in the season. However, we are equally capable of poor results that could see us slide out of the top six and if the current trend continues, we'll have a manager with about as many supporters as he can hold mugs of tea... 

Here's the thing though, while we're currently in the top six, momentum is enormous in football. We have won three out of our last 12 games. We're basically falling like a stone that's been tossed up into the air: first it slows down before reaching the zenith of its flight then accelerating towards the ground.

Its going to take a significant momentum switch just to stop the rot before we can begin to think about heading back towards the top of the table. We're equidistant from the bottom three and the top two. At this point hanging on to a playoff place is less likely than a mid-table finish.

Hopefully we will improve, but it's not a given. Something needs to change.

[canarybubbles 1,937]

19 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

A narrative is simply creating a coherent story. In this context, it means focussing on observations/facts/opinions that support the story that you want to tell and ignoring any facts that might contradict or undermine it.

It's basically what lawyers and politicians do.

 

This modern use of 'narrative' began in literary and critical theory (there is a branch of this called narratology) and moved from there into psychology and sociology because it fitted very nicely into many key ideas in these fields. Sadly, this use of 'narrative' then got taken up by self-help gurus and management-babble types, who are never slow to find pretentious ways to state the obvious in order to boost their careers, and from there it has spread out into general culture. Saying 'the fans have a narrative' sounds much more profound than simply saying 'the fans don't like me' or 'the fans are biased against me'.

I remember one place where I worked HR arranged a workshop with a management guru who came in and told us all about Foucault and how following his ideas could make us more effective in the workplace. Foucault, FFS!

[Petriix 2,849]

Let's call it the narrativity.