Wagner isn't any better than Smith.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,874]

There, I said it. And you know what's worse?

 

Wagner is Webbers best mate so we could go and lose every match the rest of this season 0-5 and Wagner would still be our manager next season.

[Jim Smith 2,365]

I have to say after a good start I’ve been disappointed with him. In mitigation, the injuries have been awful (Dowell I think really hurts us) and he’s not been able to build his own squad. So I think you have to allow him to do that.

That said, there are one or two decent coaches available right now so if Webber leaves (as I hope he will) there is a part of me that would be tempted to twist again as my concern with Wagner is I cannot really see how he is trying to get us to play.

[S_81 925]

Dreadful squad but tend to agree that he’s proven to be no better than Smith. Bar his outlook / honesty. Not that either is making a difference to results. 

[Helsinki canary 244]

Other than a very good run a Huddersfield manager, inconsistent results has been the hallmark of all his previous appointments - the stats are there to see 

[canarybubbles 1,959]

Do you really believe this, Cambridge, or is it just your usual attention-seeking?

[Capt. Pants 4,330]

He looked visibly shell shocked last night.

I was expecting more from him tbh. I'm still not sure on his preferred formation or playing style.

He'll be under pressure to get off to a good start next season.

[Peregrine Shorts 348]

He needs to settle on a formation and stick with it, two strikers isn’t the answer

[Samwam27 535]

Whats baffling is our inconsistency. Wagner has a really poor squad to play with, and whilst Smith was more consistently poor with results, under Wagner he has managed to select a squad, make them play and get superb results at Millwall & Blackburn.

It's the dire awfulness of the following games (Huddersfiled & Rotheram) that's baffling that we can look good and then look so poor.

I think we have to give Wagner the summer to (hopefully) pick the players he wants signed (yes I really think Webbers credit and time has truly run its course, but our little ole Norwich will never sack him) and rebuild. If it isn't happening next season then Webber and Wagner should leave and we focus on infrastructure rebuild of the club, not the players. 

Looking for hungry up and coming youngsters from lower leagues, and build through academy seems our long term goal

It's a shame under Smith we didn't try to get Archer, as it shows loans can work (& Ramsey did look good for us until his injury/departure)

[S_81 925]

Get rid of Webber and bring his 12 month contract to an end. 

[AJ 1,235]

I think since Farke we've not seen anyone take this squad by the scruff of the neck and do something different. Farke came in and set out exactly how things were going to be, the way we were going to play etc. Smith and Wagner have just continued to put square pegs in round holes but a lot of that does come down to Webber's terrible recruitment unfortunately. We do have some progress in Sara and potentially Nunes but the overall squad is so poorly balanced and thin in quality. 

 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,614]

Farke was a decent manager, Smith was a decent manager, Wagner's a decent manager. None of them can play the game for the players. We need a summer rebuild... on the pitch rather than off of it.

[Walcombe canary 69]

David Wagner has to be given the Summer Transfer Window, and up until Christmas. Too early to call him out. He is playing with cards already dealt. The pressure is on The Dealer, Stuart Webber. He must get it absolutely Spot On this summer. This is his Mountain to climb. No other - OTBC

[Keith Scott 256]

I would say he's worse than Smith personally. Tactically he is absolutely clueless. Can see why his record at Schalke was such an abomination. Another Webber masterstroke.

Owners out. Webber out. Wagner out.

Reset this shambles of a club.

All the best.

Big Keith Scott. In.

[PurpleCanary 5,604]

1 hour ago, Walcombe canary said:

David Wagner has to be given the Summer Transfer Window, and up until Christmas. Too early to call him out. He is playing with cards already dealt. The pressure is on The Dealer, Stuart Webber. He must get it absolutely Spot On this summer. This is his Mountain to climb. No other - OTBC

Looking for a positive - any positive - I take some slight heart from this comment last night (before the match started) from Southwell:

"The standards and intensity Wagner demands are huge."

[Commonsense 674]

1 hour ago, Peregrine Shorts said:

He needs to settle on a formation and stick with it, two strikers isn’t the answer

That’s true, but it’s also fair to say that he consistently chose Hanley, Gibson and Kenny when they were fit. Our defensive problems are partly a result to all 3 being injured, and show how wrong posters on here were when they wanted to drop the experienced players and bring younger ones in.

[Helsinki canary 244]

1 hour ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

Farke was a decent manager, Smith was a decent manager, Wagner's a decent manager. None of them can play the game for the players. We need a summer rebuild... on the pitch rather than off of it.

Agree we need an on field rebuild but the Webbers also need to be replaced 

[Commonsense 674]

10 minutes ago, Keith Scott said:

I would say he's worse than Smith personally. Tactically he is absolutely clueless. Can see why his record at Schalke was such an abomination. Another Webber masterstroke.

Owners out. Webber out. Wagner out.

Reset this shambles of a club.

All the best.

Big Keith Scott. In.

At last a post which we can all unanimously oppose. Big Keith Scott should be nowhere near our club in any capacity whatsoever. 

[mrdi 382]

1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

He looked visibly shell shocked last night.

I was expecting more from him tbh. I'm still not sure on his preferred formation or playing style.

He'll be under pressure to get off to a good start next season.

I don’t think he’ll still be here come August. 

[CDMullins 456]

I'm not entirely sure what he's supposed to do,

He's tried playing with Teemu,

He's tried playing without Teemu,

He's tried playing without Teemu and Sarg together,

He's tried Idah,

He's been forced to play Teemu and Sarg together again,

He's tried Hernandez, over tried Marquinhos

The one player who 'could' make a difference going forward who hasn't had a fair shot is Tzolis.

He's tried Mac,

Tried Giannoulis,

Brought back Gibbs

Had no options at CB

 

Whilst I agree most performances have been under par,

I'm not sure what he could do differently?

[CDMullins 456]

4 minutes ago, mrdi said:

I don’t think he’ll still be here come August. 

Then you're utterly deluded.

[The Real Buh 3,493]

Nobody’s going to make this group of players work. It’s a write off.

Need a root and stem clean up of our whole leadership structure

 

[mrdi 382]

4 minutes ago, CDMullins said:

Then you're utterly deluded.

Haha, what makes you so cocksure, Jarvis? 

[CDMullins 456]

12 minutes ago, The Real Buh said:

Nobody’s going to make this group of players work. It’s a write off.

Need a root and stem clean up of our whole leadership structure

 

Same group of players that have won 2 Championships at a canter?

[littleyellowbirdie 2,614]

13 minutes ago, The Real Buh said:

Nobody’s going to make this group of players work. It’s a write off.

Need a root and stem clean up of our whole leadership structure

 

I love how you've successfully identified the group of players as the problem and then prescribed changing everything other than the group of players as the solution.

Edited April 15, 2023 by littleyellowbirdie

[Branston Pickle 3,742]

1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

He looked visibly shell shocked last night.

I was expecting more from him tbh. I'm still not sure on his preferred formation or playing style.

He'll be under pressure to get off to a good start next season.

Indeed. There’s definitely nothing that looks like a definitive style, other than the constant passing back/around to the keeper, which is a ‘thing’ nowadays. And we still seem wedded to things that don’t work.

But you have to give him some slack - he would obviously work on things over the summer and get some guys in and out of the squad to fit what he wants.  He has to be given a chance to do that and we have to keep our fingers crossed that it works.

[Nexus_Canary 1,046]

Lol he's way better than Smith.

 

[CDMullins 456]

17 minutes ago, mrdi said:

Haha, what makes you so cocksure, Jarvis? 

Obvious reasons tbh.

[Michael Starr 523]

7 minutes ago, CDMullins said:

Same group of players that have won 2 Championships at a canter?

Thanks to Buendia, Skipp, forward momentum and players plucked from lower levels who overperformed. Now we're stuck with dead wood and out of form players.

[Michael Starr 523]

To hit on Wagner is ridiculous. What can he do right now? It does highlight that Smith wasn't necessarily the issue too. although he didn't do himself favours with his outbursts.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,905]

I said at the time that I wasn't massively enthused by his appointment and that out of all the candidates, he'd have been somewhere in the middle of my list. 

Based on that, it's probably turned out as I expected so far. His points-per-game is a little bit better than Smith and he does seem to have a clearer idea of what he's trying to do, and in his defence, he was brought in at a time when games were coming thick and fast so it's much tougher to implement his plans.

He needs to be given a full summer to shape the squad how he wants and to instill his ideas into the players during a full preseason. We can't really judge him properly until the autumn.