Abu Kamara interview

[Satriales 710]

Speaks well for a young lad. Winning the L1 title is fantastic experience for him. 

 

 

[cambridgeshire canary 6,876]

The fact we have been able to interview him would seem to be a good sign..

[Paul101 94]

5 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

The fact we have been able to interview him would seem to be a good sign..

why???

his contract is with Norwich which will include all media actvities

[chicken 2,687]

Worth noting there is a pinkun piece on what Wagner has to say about him too. He highly rates him and is looking forwards to working with him over the summer. Same with Barden. No matter the league at that point. 

[canarycop 212]

1 hour ago, chicken said:

Worth noting there is a pinkun piece on what Wagner has to say about him too. He highly rates him and is looking forwards to working with him over the summer. Same with Barden. No matter the league at that point. 

That's if Wagner is still here. 

[chicken 2,687]

Just now, canarycop said:

That's if Wagner is still here. 

I very much doubt that the club would be making plans for the summer including Wagner, and for Wagner to be talking about them if the plan wasn't to continue with him as head coach.

I don't think there is much evidence at all to suggest otherwise.

Unless of course Wagner has been told to run those lines out about various different players and him still being here... for... erm, integrity for the play-offs? 

[Monty13 2,294]

2 hours ago, chicken said:

I very much doubt that the club would be making plans for the summer including Wagner, and for Wagner to be talking about them if the plan wasn't to continue with him as head coach.

I don't think there is much evidence at all to suggest otherwise.

Unless of course Wagner has been told to run those lines out about various different players and him still being here... for... erm, integrity for the play-offs? 

If he’s not in the plans for the summer he’s not likely to know yet.

[RobJames 905]

Another testament to the cracking work being done at Colney.

Not only bringing players like Kamara through, but having a scouting network that identifies promising youngsters from outside the club to unknowns as with Sara, Nunez and Saintz - much as with Buendia and to an extent Maddison.

Wagner is embedded in that set up. And the idea he will not be here next season is beyond absurd

[JonnyJonnyRowe 554]

5 hours ago, RobJames said:

Another testament to the cracking work being done at Colney.

Not only bringing players like Kamara through, but having a scouting network that identifies promising youngsters from outside the club to unknowns as with Sara, Nunez and Saintz - much as with Buendia and to an extent Maddison.

None of these players were "unknowns"

Nunez was a Chilean International, Sainz had played 40 games in La Liga, one of the strongest leagues in the world, and Sara played for Sao Pualo in front of almost 50,000 people a game?

[Feedthewolf 4,946]

Controversial maybe, but I think he'd make a natural replacement for Jonny Rowe. I think Rowe is the most dispensable of our top players; he's injury-prone, struggles to complete 90 minutes and only has half a season of first-team action where he looked really good. If we do have to sell anyone this summer to balance the books, I'd be looking to cash in on the 'young and English' premium, plus his England U21s appearances, to get as much for him as possible and draft Abu in as his replacement.

I know that Rowe has played predominantly on the left for us and Kamara predominantly on the right for Portsmouth, but those 'narrow winger' positions are relatively interchangeable, and having Abu instead of Rowe wouldn't weaken us as much as some might think, while further strengthening the pathway from the Academy to the first team.

Don't get me wrong, I like Rowe a lot and I'd much rather keep him, but I don't think he'd leave as much of a yawning chasm in our team as if we sold Sarge, Sara or even Sainz or Nunez.

[chicken 2,687]

7 hours ago, Monty13 said:

If he’s not in the plans for the summer he’s not likely to know yet.

I think it'd take a very brave person to sack a manager who clearly has the players behind him and has turned around a side and got them into the play-offs whilst not having the main goal threat for half a season almost. As well as not being able to play the two best outright wingers in Rowe and Sainz in the same game for the majority of the season either.

Not only that, but you'd not tell the manager and let them make plans with players?

Not impossible, but it'd be a bit bizarre.

[BroadstairsR 2,232]

11 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

Controversial maybe, but I think he'd make a natural replacement for Jonny Rowe. I think Rowe is the most dispensable of our top players; he's injury-prone, struggles to complete 90 minutes and only has half a season of first-team action where he looked really good. If we do have to sell anyone this summer to balance the books, I'd be looking to cash in on the 'young and English' premium, plus his England U21s appearances, to get as much for him as possible and draft Abu in as his replacement.

I know that Rowe has played predominantly on the left for us and Kamara predominantly on the right for Portsmouth, but those 'narrow winger' positions are relatively interchangeable, and having Abu instead of Rowe wouldn't weaken us as much as some might think, while further strengthening the pathway from the Academy to the first team.

Don't get me wrong, I like Rowe a lot and I'd much rather keep him, but I don't think he'd leave as much of a yawning chasm in our team as if we sold Sarge, Sara or even Sainz or Nunez.

Perhaps you'll change your view if binner-bashing Rowe springs back into life during the play-offs and resurrects his goal scoring ability.

He's just come back after injury, after all.

Surely he'll fetch more of a fee if he continues his progress at City? 

[Jason Shackell’s Limp Tack 81]

1 hour ago, JonnyJonnyRowe said:

None of these players were "unknowns"

Nunez was a Chilean International, Sainz had played 40 games in La Liga, one of the strongest leagues in the world, and Sara played for Sao Pualo in front of almost 50,000 people a game?

To be fair, 'unknown' is probably fair on Nunez. Doubt many fans outside of Chile were aware of him. I wasn't and load of my family are Universidad Catolica fans. The point stands that the scouting network are earning their corn. I think his full debut for La Roja was after we signed him but hazy on dates. 🤔

[Capt. Pants 4,334]

Well Wagner's hardly likely to say he has no opinion on him because he doesn't know if he'll be in the job next season!

Wagner has history on dropping little soundbites, like he has the support of Delia, so I wouldn't read much into that.

But back to the player, this is a great example of a loan working for club and player. Hopefully this isn't a repeat of the Mumba situation and he wants out if he isn't in our first team squad plans for next season.

[S_81 925]

24 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

Perhaps you'll change your view if binner-bashing Rowe springs back into life during the play-offs and resurrects his goal scoring ability.

He's just come back after injury, after all.

Surely he'll fetch more of a fee if he continues his progress at City? 

That’s why there will be bids this summer - as they can likely get him cheaper than what he may go for a year later. 

[BroadstairsR 2,232]

2 minutes ago, S_81 said:

That’s why there will be bids this summer - as they can likely get him cheaper than what he may go for a year later. 

Omo all over again?

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,907]

37 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

I know that Rowe has played predominantly on the left for us and Kamara predominantly on the right for Portsmouth, but those 'narrow winger' positions are relatively interchangeable, and having Abu instead of Rowe wouldn't weaken us as much as some might think, while further strengthening the pathway from the Academy to the first team.

With Sainz having the left wing position nailed down and being a winger who does seem to specialise in one particular flank, and Rowe being comfortable on either side, I think that if Rowe has a future here, he will be playing mostly on the right.

I see what you're saying about him being the most dispensable though; even though he's an incredibly effective player with a very high G/A per 90, we haven't missed him as much during his absence as we have with others.

 

21 minutes ago, Jason Shackell’s Limp Tack said:

To be fair, 'unknown' is probably fair on Nunez. Doubt many fans outside of Chile were aware of him. I wasn't and load of my family are Universidad Catolica fans. The point stands that the scouting network are earning their corn. I think his full debut for La Roja was after we signed him but hazy on dates. 🤔

His senior debut was the year before he joined us, and I think he had about ten caps by the time he signed here.

[Monty13 2,294]

1 hour ago, chicken said:

I think it'd take a very brave person to sack a manager who clearly has the players behind him and has turned around a side and got them into the play-offs whilst not having the main goal threat for half a season almost. As well as not being able to play the two best outright wingers in Rowe and Sainz in the same game for the majority of the season either.

Not only that, but you'd not tell the manager and let them make plans with players?

Not impossible, but it'd be a bit bizarre.

I didn’t comment on whether it’s likely to happen. I purely commented on the fact he’s very unlikely to have been informed if it was the plan.

[yellowrider120 798]

7 hours ago, RobJames said:

Another testament to the cracking work being done at Colney.

Not only bringing players like Kamara through, but having a scouting network that identifies promising youngsters from outside the club to unknowns as with Sara, Nunez and Saintz - much as with Buendia and to an extent Maddison.

Wagner is embedded in that set up. And the idea he will not be here next season is beyond absurd

But not beyond the likelihood of a 'departure by mutual consent' should we fail to get promotion. 

[Feedthewolf 4,946]

2 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

Perhaps you'll change your view if binner-bashing Rowe springs back into life during the play-offs and resurrects his goal scoring ability.

He's just come back after injury, after all.

Surely he'll fetch more of a fee if he continues his progress at City? 

That could apply to any of our young and talented players, though. I only said that if we have to sell someone to balance the books, I think Rowe offers the best financial return compared against the gap he'd leave behind. Obviously I'd much rather he – and all our prized assets – continued their development here.

Sadly I think that if we fail to secure promotion, Sara will be the one pushing the hardest for a move up the ladder.

[chicken 2,687]

5 hours ago, yellowrider120 said:

But not beyond the likelihood of a 'departure by mutual consent' should we fail to get promotion. 

Why though?

The only reason you'd possibly entertain the idea is if you intend to essentially start again. That would mean selling Sargent, Rowe, Sara and anyone else that can attract a big fee. Bring in a new manager and start from scratch.

That's before those out of contract are added to the list.

At this point in time, I'm not sure I can see that happening.

I'd struggle to see the logic in getting rid of a manager who's brought out quite a lot, if not the best, out of a group of players our own fans predicted 'mid table at best'. And potentially play-offs. After one full season.

There may well be primising coaches elsewhere, but nothing is guaranteed. The only reason this is being mentioned at all is some fans still refusing to accept that he might be a decent coach. It's Webber-tainted. If Knapper hd appointed him, I guarantee most of those people would be demanding he's given more time.

 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,655]

Tough one isn't it.

Knapper will want 'his man' in place, most Sporting Directors do. If Knapper had appointed Wagner I don't think anyone would really be questioning if he'd be around after the summer as he would be the coach Knapper picked, rather than inherited. 

Does Wagner fit with the soundbites we have heard from Attanasio and Knapper on style, youth players and player development? The easy and obvious answer is; no. 

Does this mean he'll definitely be sacked? Also, no. 

We don't know enough about Knapper yet to know how he'll go about business (or if Attanasio will be a much more vocal and interventionist owner than Delia and MWJ). If Knapper doesn't think Wagner is the right manager for the longterm then keeping hold of him for anything other than convenience is not great leadership. 

Ultimately, if the club want to develop this 'player trading model' that Attanasio has talked about on several occasions, having a coach with a pretty poor track record of using youth players, or developing senior players, isn't going to work out.

If there is going to be a big churn in the squad (which will almost certainly happen if promotion isn't achieved) that is the exact moment you want to replace the head coach. The worst decision would be for Norwich to undergo the squad overhaul, based on bringing in young, raw players to develop and then stick with Wagner when that isn't his forte. If Knapper isn't going to back Wagner with the squad he needs, and everyone isn't pulling in the same direction, then you need to make changes. 

 

[Google Bot 3,391]

21 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

The fact we have been able to interview him would seem to be a good sign..

Mumba had exactly the same kind of interview after getting promoted with Plymouth. 

[Robert N. LiM 4,667]

On 02/05/2024 at 16:07, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

If there is going to be a big churn in the squad (which will almost certainly happen if promotion isn't achieved) that is the exact moment you want to replace the head coach

Great post, Bethnal. Agree with all of it. Do you agree that the picture gets murkier if we get promoted? Changing coach at that point would be a very bold thing for a first time SD to do. Sir Humphrey would call it 'courageous'.

Edited May 4 by Robert N. LiM
Typos

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,655]

On 04/05/2024 at 11:29, Robert N. LiM said:

Great post, Bethnal. Agree with all of it. Do you agree that the picture gets murkier if we get promoted? Changing coach at that point would be a very bold thing for a first time SD to do. Sir Humphrey would call it 'courageous'.

If Norwich go up there is no way Wagner goes. 

I would imagine the overhaul would be less pronounced if promoted tbh. Mainly as players like Sara, Sargent and Rowe would definitely be staying. I also suspect that the strategy if promoted would align more with how Wagner would want his squad to look. Lighter on young talent and more established players. 

I suspect Norwich would look to what Brighton did after they were promoted with Hughtom. They brought in players in their late/mid twenties to make an immediate contribution before leaning into younger players to flip for profit should they manage to stay up. If Norwich don't get promoted I suspect they will move to this model quicker. Not that it means it will be an entire starting XI of young players, just that it will be more of the focus. 

[Soldier on 172]

On 02/05/2024 at 16:07, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Tough one isn't it.

Knapper will want 'his man' in place, most Sporting Directors do. If Knapper had appointed Wagner I don't think anyone would really be questioning if he'd be around after the summer as he would be the coach Knapper picked, rather than inherited. 

Does Wagner fit with the soundbites we have heard from Attanasio and Knapper on style, youth players and player development? The easy and obvious answer is; no. 

Does this mean he'll definitely be sacked? Also, no. 

We don't know enough about Knapper yet to know how he'll go about business (or if Attanasio will be a much more vocal and interventionist owner than Delia and MWJ). If Knapper doesn't think Wagner is the right manager for the longterm then keeping hold of him for anything other than convenience is not great leadership. 

Ultimately, if the club want to develop this 'player trading model' that Attanasio has talked about on several occasions, having a coach with a pretty poor track record of using youth players, or developing senior players, isn't going to work out.

If there is going to be a big churn in the squad (which will almost certainly happen if promotion isn't achieved) that is the exact moment you want to replace the head coach. The worst decision would be for Norwich to undergo the squad overhaul, based on bringing in young, raw players to develop and then stick with Wagner when that isn't his forte. If Knapper isn't going to back Wagner with the squad he needs, and everyone isn't pulling in the same direction, then you need to make changes. 

 

Good post Bethnal I cannot see in which would Wagner suits knapper”s stated football ethos. In January he thinned out the squad so youngster got more of an opportunity (Wagner hasn’t used them). He signed SVH as another option and Wagner has barely used him. Whether they can agree on a mutual termination or he will need to be sacked is the big question.

i also though it interesting that in his post match summing up on Saturday Wagner sang the praises of Stuart Webber and his summer recruitment . No mention of Ben Knapper at all. Maybe I’m reading too much into it ?!

will be an interesting summer. This is the first window where Attanasio and knappers model comes into play. You would imagine we will be investing in young and hungry players again rather than Duffy, Batth etc 

[ScotCan 0]

On 02/05/2024 at 08:39, Jason Shackell’s Limp Tack said:

To be fair, 'unknown' is probably fair on Nunez. Doubt many fans outside of Chile were aware of him. I wasn't and load of my family are Universidad Catolica fans. The point stands that the scouting network are earning their corn. I think his full debut for La Roja was after we signed him but hazy on dates. 🤔

Nunez made his debut for Chile against Colombia on 9 September 2021 and signed for City in August 2022. I don't think that he could have been described as an unknown quantity at that stage and would be surprised if he were not on the radar of Universidad Catolica fans. The news at the time of his signing was that he was a Chilean international from a top club in that country.

Edited May 7 by ScotCan

[Google Bot 3,391]

1 hour ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I also suspect that the strategy if promoted would align more with how Wagner would want his squad to look. Lighter on young talent and more established players. 

I don't see Wagner inherently equating us to being light on young talent in a negative sense which most people allude to, as you say, we'd hopefully be light on raw untested talent but that's how it should be if you want to compete and not undermine yourself.  There's more chance of raising squad value when you're not getting twonked each week.

As I see it, this seasons approach was through necessity with Webber and Wagner developing a squad based on identifying last seasons weaknesses to address, all while targeting £20m of incoming player sales in the process.  (As he mentioned post Birmingham).

Rowe, McCallum, Sainz, Sarge, Sara and Nunez have all been really important players to us this season, all under 24.  And I see them all as young talent learning the league(s), but then I read that Wagner doesn't like youngsters which confuses me.

I know very little of Wagner's approach at Young Boys, but with Huddersfield I think of players such as Mooy, Wells, Kachunga, Wells, Palmer and Billing coming through, Ward in goal.  And none of those were old at the time either.

I really like Wagner, it's his in-game substitutions that frustrate me the most.  But he's done a great job with the players fit, i'd definitely keep him here if we fail in the playoffs.   Knapper has no established Sporting Director background and so I see no reason Wagner couldn't be 'his man' if the ideals fit.

However, I noted Wagner praising Webber a lot after the Brum game which could be due to Webber being hospitalised following his climb, but there was no praise towards Knapper there, so I think he may be done whatever happens end of season.

[Soldier on 172]

10 minutes ago, Google Bot said:

I don't see Wagner inherently equating us to being light on young talent in a negative sense which most people allude to, as you say, we'd hopefully be light on raw untested talent but that's how it should be if you want to compete and not undermine yourself.  There's more chance of raising squad value when you're not getting twonked each week.

As I see it, this seasons approach was through necessity with Webber and Wagner developing a squad based on identifying last seasons weaknesses to address, all while targeting £20m of incoming player sales in the process.  (As he mentioned post Birmingham).

Rowe, McCallum, Sainz, Sarge, Sara and Nunez have all been really important players to us this season, all under 24.  And I see them all as young talent learning the league(s), but then I read that Wagner doesn't like youngsters which confuses me.

I know very little of Wagner's approach at Young Boys, but with Huddersfield I think of players such as Mooy, Wells, Kachunga, Wells, Palmer and Billing coming through, Ward in goal.  And none of those were old at the time either.

I really like Wagner, it's his in-game substitutions that frustrate me the most.  But he's done a great job with the players fit, i'd definitely keep him here if we fail in the playoffs.   Knapper has no established Sporting Director background and so I see no reason Wagner couldn't be 'his man' if the ideals fit.

However, I noted Wagner praising Webber a lot after the Brum game which could be due to Webber being hospitalised following his climb, but there was no praise towards Knapper there, so I think he may be done whatever happens end of season.

The ideals don’t fit though based on a) knappers “wants us to be the protagonists” arsenal style of play. B) pathway and minutes for likes of Ken Aboh C) the one signing Knapper has made SVH Wagner seemingly refuses to use ?!

[king canary 7,705]

3 minutes ago, Google Bot said:

I don't see Wagner inherently equating us to being light on young talent in a negative sense which most people allude to, as you say, we'd hopefully be light on raw untested talent but that's how it should be if you want to compete and not undermine yourself.  There's more chance of raising squad value when you're not getting twonked each week.

As I see it, this seasons approach was through necessity with Webber and Wagner developing a squad based on identifying last seasons weaknesses to address, all while targeting £20m of incoming player sales in the process.  (As he mentioned post Birmingham).

Rowe, McCallum, Sainz, Sarge, Sara and Nunez have all been really important players to us this season, all under 24.  And I see them all as young talent learning the league(s), but then I read that Wagner doesn't like youngsters which confuses me.

I know very little of Wagner's approach at Young Boys, but with Huddersfield I think of players such as Mooy, Wells, Kachunga, Wells, Palmer and Billing coming through, Ward in goal.  And none of those were old at the time either.

I really like Wagner, it's his in-game substitutions that frustrate me the most.  But he's done a great job with the players fit, i'd definitely keep him here if we fail in the playoffs.   Knapper has no established Sporting Director background and so I see no reason Wagner couldn't be 'his man' if the ideals fit.

However, I noted Wagner praising Webber a lot after the Brum game which could be due to Webber being hospitalised following his climb, but there was no praise towards Knapper there, so I think he may be done whatever happens end of season.

There is a difference between bringing through young players from the academy and playing players who are a bit younger.

Sainz- 40 games in La Liga and 30+ in the top Turkish division before he joined us.

Nunez- an established Chilean international before he joined us

Sara- 70 odd games in the Brazilian top flight before he joined

Sargent- US international, nearly 100 odd top flight appearances before Wagner was his manager.

Rowe is really the only player he can claim to have developed since he's been here. Playing a bunch of 23/24 year olds with lots of experience isn't the same as developing youngsters.