Wagner style of play completely alien to what knapper wants

[Soldier on 160]

Which begs the question. Why an earth is he still here ?

Even if we win we look turgid.

[TIL 1010 4,748]

We have a style of play, really ?

[JonnyJonnyRowe 446]

I'm more bemused by why Webber filled the squad with a load of old carthorses, some on multi year deals, and then helped identify his replacement who wants to play attractive football.

I don't know if it is a final duck you from Webber or whether it is just another sign that he'd completely lost the plot and gone a bit mental.

[The Real Buh 3,439]

1 minute ago, JonnyJonnyRowe said:

I'm more bemused by why Webber filled the squad with a load of old carthorses, some on multi year deals, and then helped identify his replacement who wants to play attractive football.

I don't know if it is a final duck you from Webber or whether it is just another sign that he'd completely lost the plot and gone a bit mental.

He was never really that good.

reminder, we have the guy who assembled this squad a guard of honour when he left.

[The Bristol Nest 514]

Do we know what Knapper wants? 

I am going to be patient and see if he has a plan. 

[JonnyJonnyRowe 446]

Just now, The Real Buh said:

reminder, we have the guy who assembled this squad a guard of honour when he left.

I'm sure Duffy, Forshaw and Barnes were more than happy to thank the man who gave them the contracts that nobody else in the league would.

Clearly Barnes came here because we were prepared to offer him 2 years, and Duffy 3 years, both probably a year longer than anything else on the table. Forshaw probably saved from his swansong at Donny.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,763]

Fully fit squad + january transfer opening window should signal a good time for a new manager

Not holding my breath

[norwich canary 73]

Knapper hopelessly out of his depth he clearly doesn’t know what to do 

complete clear out from top to bottom required

[Monty13 2,235]

Let’s ****ing hope so.

This may be effective at times but it’s dire.

[Monty13 2,235]

14 minutes ago, JonnyJonnyRowe said:

I'm more bemused by why Webber filled the squad with a load of old carthorses, some on multi year deals, and then helped identify his replacement who wants to play attractive football.

I don't know if it is a final duck you from Webber or whether it is just another sign that he'd completely lost the plot and gone a bit mental.

Just more gambling and losing from a guy that had been on a losing streak for a while in my opinion.

He rolled the dice on selling Emi and lost and he’s just been chasing wilder bets trying to recover that ever since.

[S_81 801]

Who’s to say that if Knapper said sack tonight that those sanctioning the decision would even agree. Delia seems very fond of nice guy David. And at the AGM said Knapper was only just in the door. Im sure her fan club will be along soon to say that Knapper has complete autonomy. But does he? Now? 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

If knapper really was a dynamic stats man- we would already have a different manager. Sadly he seems to have been chosen to undo the power base Webber formed and be the boards yes man. So it’s down to delia again…

[Capt. Pants 4,238]

We don't know that for sure though. This latest incarnation of Wagnerball stems from when Knapper started. To be fair it brought about decent results albeit against poor teams and a slightly fortuitous draw at Ipswich, but it's quickly unravelled again. I just hope Wagner isn't merely following orders because if so it's even worse than we thought.

[JonnyJonnyRowe 446]

9 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

Just more gambling and losing from a guy that had been on a losing streak for a while in my opinion.

He rolled the dice on selling Emi and lost and he’s just been chasing wilder bets trying to recover that ever since.

Took a wild punt on Tsoliz and Rashica with the Buendia money, and then tried to cover his own back when it was clear they weren't up to scratch by blaming Farke for not getting the best out of them and making him the fall guy.

That was obvious to many at the time, and he should have lost his job at the end of that season when the managerial change resulted in no improvement. His successor should then have had the parachute payments to work with.

[S_81 801]

Just now, JonnyJonnyRowe said:

Took a wild punt on Tsoliz and Rashica with the Buendia money, and then tried to cover his own back when it was clear they weren't up to scratch by blaming Farke for not getting the best out of them and making him the fall guy.

That was obvious to many at the time, and he should have lost his job at the end of that season when the managerial change resulted in no improvement. His successor should then have had the parachute payments to work with.

Delia is to blame. He even took the pi55 out of the club in the national press with that 90% stuff. That’s how complacent and arrogant he’d got. 

[Canario 205]

Screw what Knapper wants!!! Can any Norwich fan want a side set up like this?!

[Monty13 2,235]

41 minutes ago, S_81 said:

Delia is to blame. He even took the pi55 out of the club in the national press with that 90% stuff. That’s how complacent and arrogant he’d got. 

The amount of people defending the 90% stuff at the time blew my mind. Some of the stuff he said in that interview was inexcusable for a guy in his position, especially considering how poor we were.

Yet people were championing him as some great example of work life balance or somehow being one of the few people in existence to take on two massive undertakings and focus on both of them to the level needed with no detriment to the day job one.

That interview was a massive red flag as to where we were headed and why.

[JonnyJonnyRowe 446]

17 minutes ago, Canario said:

Screw what Knapper wants!!! Can any Norwich fan want a side set up like this?!

I'm sure Knapper didn't spend 13 years at Arsenal only to come out of that dreaming of building a team full of old cloggers playing hoofball.

[nutty nigel 7,537]

2 hours ago, S_81 said:

Who’s to say that if Knapper said sack tonight that those sanctioning the decision would even agree. Delia seems very fond of nice guy David. And at the AGM said Knapper was only just in the door. Im sure her fan club will be along soon to say that Knapper has complete autonomy. But does he? Now? 

Webber was reporting to Attanasio in the summer so that's what I expect Knapper is doing. Wagner was reporting to Webber so I expect Wagner is reporting to Knapper now.

[canarybubbles 1,921]

5 hours ago, nutty nigel said:

Webber was reporting to Attanasio in the summer so that's what I expect Knapper is doing. Wagner was reporting to Webber so I expect Wagner is reporting to Knapper now.

Then Delia should keep her nose out and should definitely not be making Knapper's job more difficult than it already is, just because she's resentful about the fans (in her view) forcing out her beloved Stuart.

[FCC 76]

I have a bad feeling Knapper is another very poor signing, but the one that will do the most damage.  

[canarybubbles 1,921]

3 minutes ago, FCC said:

I have a bad feeling Knapper is another very poor signing, but the one that will do the most damage.  

Much, much too early to make any kind of evaluation. Time will tell, but he has to be able to get on with his job without Delia sticking her nose in.

[kenfoggo 247]

By keeping Wagner in place as Head Coach Knapper is signalling his acceptance of his style and approach. What we see on the pitch MUST be what our Sporting Director is content with, otherwise he would have replaced Wagner already. 
By extension Knapper must also endorse the pitiful, pathetic, ponderous, old, slow, talentless, turgid, inept, clueless squad that is allowed to pull on the strip and cross the line onto the field of play. Last night 7 of the starting 11 were over the age of 30 and only 2 were below the age of 25. No wonder we look slow, knackered and exhausted after 20 minutes. Ashley Barnes , aged 34 , looked tired after the pre-match warm up and if I saw him on a full bus I would stand up and offer the poor soul my seat.

it is beyond obvious that this is all completely unacceptable.

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,278]

Knapper is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was said at the time, we’d have to suffer another bad run under his watch  for him to have fair justification to remove Wagner. A bad run we all knew would come, and has now started.

The board have put Knapper in this position by not removing Wagner before his arrival…. Now it’s having a damaging effect on Knapper with supporters already questioning his judgement.

Knapper needs to act decisively.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Creedence Clearwater Couto

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,278]

Also, Knapper doesn’t come across as ruthless enough for the role. A good addition with his skill set, no doubt. But this club lacks authority, a McNally type. Sadly, this is by design too.

[Jim Smith 2,322]

1 minute ago, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

Also, Knapper doesn’t come across as ruthless enough for the role. A good addition with his skill set, no doubt. But this club lacks authority, a McNally type. Sadly, this is by design too.

Yes. It may not be the case but it doesn’t feel like Knapper has the same authority at the club that Webber had. It would not surprise me at all if his role has been slightly downgraded from the one Stewart had which seemed to give him almost entirely free rein over all football elements of the club. 

[norwich canary 73]

50 minutes ago, FCC said:

I have a bad feeling Knapper is another very poor signing, but the one that will do the most damage.  

He clearly is looks like a little boy lost everytime you see him.

the sheer look of panic on his face when he is in public is clear evidence he has bitten off more than he can chew 

[City 2nd 191]

9 hours ago, The Bristol Nest said:

Do we know what Knapper wants? 

I am going to be patient and see if he has a plan. 

Wagner! Unfortunately. Just like Delia!

[nutty nigel 7,537]

5 hours ago, canarybubbles said:

Then Delia should keep her nose out and should definitely not be making Knapper's job more difficult than it already is, just because she's resentful about the fans (in her view) forcing out her beloved Stuart.

You're living in the past. 

[sgncfc 1,228]

It's surely way too early to judge Knapper. He is a month into a huge job. Those of us who have seen Wagner's teams for 12 months are in no doubt that he and his coaches are now completely clueless. I can't recall such a tactically inept and mentally weak team since Bryan Gunn was in charge. The set up is always useless unless we score first, and even then we have no ability to close a game down. We're constantly relying on bits of magic to get points rather than any kind of plan, and against good teams those bits of magic are much harder to pull off.

I genuinely don't blame the players; I think they are busting their guts trying to play a system which leaves them questioning where they should be. Our full backs in particular are completely confused about what they should be doing and where they should be.

We don't tackle; we don't close down space; we don't stop crosses and we are always outnumbered in midfield. These are very basic tactical issues which are ingrained in footballers from the age of 6. But we don't do them. So we are trying to re-educate players who are not particularly good, on the job. 

We have a coach who drops Rowe (a weapon) in favour of freshening up the wide area with Fassnacht (clearly not a weapon) and plays Gibson (who can't pass) at CB instead of the rejuvenated Mclean (who can) so weakening both the CB pairing and the midfield at the same time. 

We should not and will not make the playoffs whatever Knapper does now. The issue is how quickly we can get to 50 points and not get relegated. Then hopefully Knapper will make the change and begin the planning for next year under a young, ambitious coach using some of what we have plus some young, ambitious players. I'd like to think we will get rid of Barnes, Baath, Duffy, Giannoulis, Fassnacht, Long, Gibson, Hernandez etc. There must a few million in wages saved amongst that lot.