Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Tetteys Jig

Damien Francis Interview

Recommended Posts

http://www.norwich.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=327788

some interesting answers there.

I just added him on twitter too. He says he''s impressed with Redmond signing along with the rest and also says we are a quality centre back short still.

In my eyes, he''s not to blame for our relegation, Worthy cracked under the pressure and Francis was one of the victims of that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
He was a disgrace along with a few other players against Fulham, and I don''t like the way that he tries to palm that off on Worthington. There were several players who had no interest in winning that game and he was one of them. Not a fan. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="The New Boy"]He was a disgrace along with a few other players against Fulham, and I don''t like the way that he tries to palm that off on Worthington. There were several players who had no interest in winning that game and he was one of them. Not a fan. [/quote]"ok chaps, we are playing in the biggest and best league in the world... chance of earning millions, against world class talent and furthering ourselves as players... lets not give a sh!t today and get relegated instead...."we weren''t good enough over 38 games... Worthington needs to take a large chunk of the blame, as did the board for putting their heads in the sand.Francis was a good player for us... We haven''t replaced him until now (Fer)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thought you''d comment on this thread, Jas - you''ve always had a bit to say about DF. I agree, he was a great player for us and this interview show''s he''s a very decent and honest chap. He sounds quietly confident we''re in for a good season too...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Francis was my favourite player at the time. we were always a better side with him in it. Looking back now it does seem that the team just lost its way during the season. no one really is 100% to blame.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="The New Boy"]He was a disgrace along with a few other players against Fulham, and I don''t like the way that he tries to palm that off on Worthington. There were several players who had no interest in winning that game and he was one of them. Not a fan. [/quote]"ok chaps, we are playing in the biggest and best league in the world... chance of earning millions, against world class talent and furthering ourselves as players... lets not give a sh!t today and get relegated instead...."we weren''t good enough over 38 games... Worthington needs to take a large chunk of the blame, as did the board for putting their heads in the sand.Francis was a good player for us... We haven''t replaced him until now (Fer)[/quote]
Well you are right that we weren''t good enough over 38 games, but there were players who lost no money through relegation and Francis was one of them. I refer you to this:

Dean: Probably a bit of disappointment, probably, but I think that a lot of players left, didn''t they?

Hucks: Yeah.

Dean: ''Cause as a squad, a lot of players left. And I think that was the main reason

Hucks: Yeah. We lost Green early on. Obviously, the foreign contingent kind of left.

Dean: We had people like people Bents that left, And, did Damien leave?

Hucks: Damien left, yeah. Obviously he just downed tools.

Dean: Mmm

Hucks: So, there was a little bit of unrest, but I still really fancied us.

And I also refer you to this:

Dean: Well, I dunno. I can''t speak for other people. But it was horrible, wasn''t it? In the dressing room.

Hucks: Yeah. I''m going to be a little bit more outspoken than that.

Dean: I honestly can''t remember. I actually can''t remember what people were like.

Hucks: For me, and I''m not just saying this because you left, but I think that a few in the dressing room weren''t that bothered if we went down.

Dean: Probably some had moves lined up!

Hucks: That''s what I thought. And I can remember after the game, I think Nigel came in and went, ‘Well done lads, you''ve gave it your best over the season’. And I went mental – I said, ‘We haven''t have a good season. We''ve just been embarrassed in front of everyone on national TV, and some people should be ashamed. You know, some players might not get the chance to play in the Premier League again. Like, no disrespect or anything but players like Flem and Ads – they''d maybe never get the chance to play in the Premier League again. And I just thought that some players in there, you know, let everyone down.

And if it is OK with you I will retain my respect for Hucks and Ashton. If I could choose "a few" who didn''t look bothered in the Fulham game then Francis would the first name on my list.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
We don''t really know what went on behind the scenes New Boy but we do know that Hucks got on very well with Worthy and from Damien''s interview we can see that Worthy and himself did not completely see eye to eye, so don''t think it''s a case of downing tools deliberately, just one of those things sadly - many reasons why employees are not peak performers when things are strained with the employers. He was a great player for us, no question and you can tell by the interview he''s a very decent chap hence he''d be happy to shake Worthy''s hand if he saw him now and have a chat (''no bad blood'' as he put it). Without his contributions we''d have long been relegated before Fulham anyway...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="Alex "]We don''t really know what went on behind the scenes New Boy but we do know that Hucks got on very well with Worthy and from Damien''s interview we can see that Worthy and himself did not completely see eye to eye, so don''t think it''s a case of downing tools deliberately, just one of those things sadly - many reasons why employees are not peak performers when things are strained with the employers. He was a great player for us, no question and you can tell by the interview he''s a very decent chap hence he''d be happy to shake Worthy''s hand if he saw him now and have a chat (''no bad blood'' as he put it). Without his contributions we''d have long been relegated before Fulham anyway...[/quote]
Weren''t he on some TV show a few years back, that one where they look at houses in the UK and abroad and then decide whether to move or stay? He and his missus bought a big paid in America I think, obviously they didn''t settle. 
I''m never going to be a fan of Francis so no point in going over it again, we can''t all agree on everything. He was a good player though, when he could be bothered.
Somebody above said that we never replaced him. That isn''t true, we signed Dickson Etuhu who was also a very good player in the Francis mould who could stick the ball in the back of the net.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]Francis was my favourite player at the time. we were always a better side with him in it. Looking back now it does seem that the team just lost its way during the season. no one really is 100% to blame.[/quote]
Well not quite,  you can''t get away from the fact in put in a half arsed performance against Fulham. And he looked like he didn''t give a crap.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Wasn''t he smiling/laughing as the players left the pitch as well?

Anyhow, it was more than just Francis responsible for our relegation. Even if he had put in 100% effort at Fulham it is entirely possible we would still have lost the game. The whole team failed to win a single away game all season; why should that change on the last day? They didn''t even win a home game until a third of the way through the season.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My recollection of DF is that he was a good player but too infrequently and had the habit of fading in and out of games. I remember being frustrated at this back then. Fulham was just the epitome of that tendency. In his interview he comes across well but clearly all was not right between him and NW, that will not have helped. However as Chip identified we were pretty awful away from home that season in any event despite having some pretty good players. I don''t feel as strongly as TNB about Francis but nor do I look back with any fondness for him.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="Tumbleweed"]

I don''t feel as strongly as TNB about Francis but nor do I look back with any fondness for him.

[/quote]
I remember running out of Wetherspoons (Lloyds as it was called them) with tears streaming down my face at 3-0 down (I was drunk) and my 45 minute walk home was the longest 45 minutes of my life. I was disgusted with some of the players. Will never forget it. Later watched the whole game back, worst City performance I''ve ever witnessed. 
All I can say is that it is a good job it weren''t a home game because we would have had the ''Fulham Two Thousand'' and they wouldn''t have been running to the manager. Gosh I''m getting emotional just thinking about it, which is silly because we are flying now, it all worked out OK in the end. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The Fulham game I remember more vividly than Colchester, bizarrely. I was actually at Kew Gardens taking the family for a long planned trip there and meeting London-based friends but as I was walking round trying to take an interest in plants (!) and stuff I was getting updates and getting more and more depressed.  I felt like trampling the pansies. Didn''t help that one of the friends was a Fulham supporter.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Wasn''t at the Fulham match and I know lots of people say Francis went awol - but for me he was always a very good and often pivotal player in our side - and I agree with JAS that we never really replaced him. As for Etuhu - a decent player IMO (tho loads of my mates would disagree) but never ever as influential as Francis.

A manager has to take much of the responsibility for motivating his players so that all players work for each other but sometimes personal problems are such that they cannot be sorted.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Was a very solid and reliable player for us up until January in the premiership campaign.

It was rumoured other clubs had made bids for him then and possibly took his mind away from playing for us.

The real problem we had was that we had such a thin squad in terms of quality in depth that we couldn''t afford to drop him and knock him back into shape.

Fulham wasn''t just his fault, there were a few players that day who just didn''t have the fight.

As for not replacing him, we did - with Etuhu, who was also good for us. The problem is, we were not able to replicate the feat of the promotion campaign, which the more I look at it, the more I feel it was a bit like Redgrave''s last gold medal.

An aging squad out for one last horrah. The team spirit and organisation meant that Huckerby and co came into a very solid team that could provide a launchpad for them.

The problem we had - and Worthington even identified it, was that we were not really ready for the premiership. We were not equipped well enough with either players or funds. And we did bloody well in many respects, to finish within a good shout of staying up.

Francis was but merely one working cog in a system that was constantly under pressure and strain.

What makes that season worse is what followed. Worthington managed to persuade quite a few of the better players to remain - something a lot of people give him little credit for. We kept the likes of Safri and Huckerby and even Ashton and Green for a while. He also managed to get in good replacements in Etuhu and Earnshaw when players did move on.

But the managers that followed him quickly moved those players on for whatever reasons - costs or personality clashes etc.

Roeder gets a lot of stick but I seem to remember Grant moved on the real backbone of the squad we had back then in Safri and Earnshaw and replaced them with the likes of Brellier.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...