New signing alert…
Frustration at City’s lack of new signings has started to seep out in some quarters but with the transfer window only having been officially open for two days these fears are a little premature. And besides, the Friday unveiling of Alan Irvine as the new first-team coach could potentially be City’s best piece of business of the summer.
Alex Neil by his own admission had more than a wobble or two last season and for a spell veered too far his gut; his natural inclination to play the game on the front foot having been thrashed to within an inch of its life on that fateful afternoon on Tyneside.
Yet from the outside looking in there appeared to me no-one there with the gravitas to question his decision to flip-flop thereon in between ‘Leicester’ and ‘Swansea’; Frankie McAvoy looks to be an assistant in every sense of the word – a decent one I’m sure – and Gary Holt’s technical area experience was only slightly further down the line than the manager’s.
It cried out for a voice of experience and but for the changing personal circumstances of Joe Royle a couple of seasons ago we may have had one. But Irvine ticks that box. He also has “willingness and drive” according to the manager; qualities that Neil seeks in abundance.
Having learnt his managerial trade via a series of coaching roles – including at Newcastle and Everton – he first dipped his toe into the managerial waters at Preston, where he took them to the 2008/09 Championship play-offs.
Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom, via a stop-off as part of Everton’s academy, were next on his managerial CV – both ending prematurely – and his most recent appointment was as assistant to that Lambert bloke at Blackburn.
That neither succeeded as they’d hoped was largely due to the state of flux that the Lancashire club finds itself by virtue of the lovable Venkys.
Tellingly there was an almost universal approval of Irvine’s arrival – a rarity indeed – and so while we await the first new face of the summer on the green stuff, the first new one in the dugout looks a good one.
Burton here we come (no, not the Pirelli)…
On Tuesday the first-team squad head to St George’s Park for five days of training culminating in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Walsall. We’re not alone, it’s a pre-season route taken by many. In theory a fine idea.
As a sporting facility it looks incredible – state-of-the-art and some – but having been forced to endure England’s embarrassing end to Euro 2016 we can only hope there’s nothing in the air at the FA’s footballing HQ that will impact on the psyche of Alex’s squad.
For all of City’s faults last season – and let’s be honest, there were plenty – seldom did they deliver anything as dispiriting and gut-less as that second half performance against Iceland. In fact, seldom can I recall any team in any game delivering a showing of such ineptitude.
The brain-freeze that appeared to grip every single member of team and coaching staff was as difficult to watch as it was to comprehend, and while it was Roy Hodgson who deservedly fell on his sword the wrongs go much deeper and are so widespread it’s impossible to narrow them down to just a few salient points.
Jamie Carragher’s knee-jerk piece in the Daily Mail in which he blamed the national team’s consistent failings on the “Academy Generation” held water for four days until Wales – whose players entered the game through that very same route – Cruyff-turned that theory into touch in exhilarating fashion.
Luckily for us all the FA are put together a committee to examine and address the failings of the national team (Danny Mills awaits the call) and just because we’ve done that exact same thing since we failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, let’s not assume this one will be yet another futile act. *It will*
For me (here I go being all Danny Mills) one small part of the ongoing problem is that so few English players play abroad, such is the level of cash sloshing around the higher echelons of English football. With little incentive to leave these shores to earn a living, very few do.
Instead they stay in the comfort of an environment that does little but tell them that the English way is the best way. It isn’t. And in doing so they deny themselves the opportunity to experience different footballing philosophies and cultures, and make themselves more rounded human beings.
But that’s just one gripe of many. I’ll leave the rest to Danny.
New kit. No furore?
We live in strange times. 2016 has been rotten and odd in equal measures. The abnormal is rapidly becoming the normal. But nothing is stranger than what occurred at 9:00am on Friday.
City’s new kit was unveiled and… get this… people liked it!
Okay, some may have questioned the size of the Aviva Community Fund logo and I heard a peep or two about the collar being of a slightly odd cut but on the whole it was a veritable triumph, particularly compared to the meltdown that followed the launch of the ‘half and half with odd yellow box’ vintage.
To the unqualified eye it looks like a nice, simple design that will encourage people to buy and wear the shirt. To the professional however it’s “a combination of historical kits from the Club’s history mixed with a modern flair”. It’s also a “lifestyle kit which has a complete look… and has a modern, stylish and retro feel”.
So now you know.
(Don’t ) move Klose…
I’m still of the opinion that, regrettably, we won’t have the services of Timm Klose to call upon when the season kicks off but with every passing day said Swiss international seems to further endear himself to Norfolk and its people.
Those of an age who can frequent Snapchat without fear of ridicule and embarrassment inform me that Master Klose is an avid ‘chatter’ who regularly engages with his public, and everything points to him having fully embraced all that Norwich and Norfolk has to offer.
Whether that will be sufficient to keep him here when the big bucks come calling is a moot point for now but in addition to being a bloody good centre-back Klose is a character in a game that now actually has very few of them.
It’d be great if he hung around… on many levels.
“ON THE BALL CITY…”
Frustration at the yearly torpor is “seeping in” to more that. Just “some quarters”. The same people that were telling us last year to “calm down” are co I g out to play again. Of course, last year they were spot on weren’t they? The loss of Redmond and Brady can be borne, however the sale of Klose would put the tin hat on any premier league ambitions the club has. I use the word ambitions advisedly,
Maybe some of the problem with the England squad is, they don’t play knockout football much. Most of the premier clubs use the second string for cup games, and the first 11 are spared and kept for the league only. They never seem to get up for a game, give very monotone prematch interviews, and I think they just don’t get it because there is always the next game to move onto.
I think Graham Parker (2) may have a very good point. How much worse will that mentality get if (when) they eventually make the Premier League a closed shop, with no promotion or relegation from/to the Championship?
I believe Alan Irvine worked with Tony Spearing at West Brom, so if you’ve got a coaching-scouting axis that are familiar with each other that can only be good. These are two of the key people who established the Baggies in the PL so surely cannot be bad for us? I like the shirt too:-) Gary Gowers is spot on with the Klose comments. It’s a shame the guy has to be used like a bit of litmus paper, but his future would seem to go hand-in-hand with that of NCFC itself. Crucial to retain him. Nathan has gone and Brady will inevitably follow but Timm K is the best CB I’ve seen here since John Newsome. My heart says he’ll stay until January and just now I’d rather ignore what my head keeps telling me! A good read on a Monday morning.
Let’s be fair to the people moaning about the kit last summer. It was bloody awful. The new one looks great, though.
The arrival of Irvine takes me back to the weird scenario with Mike Phelan, a very experienced coach who could’ve been an ideal foil for Alex Neil. He also could’ve been a good shout for the manager’s job, but perhaps that was the problem. Does anyone know what he’s doing now? Similarly to Phelan, Irvine has far greater experience than Neil. This should be a good thing, as long as there aren’t any internal power struggles.
Kloses wages are allegedly very high for Norwich, which are unsustainable in The Championship. I have no problem with the club selling players, but when they sell good players and don’t replace them (Johnson being an obvious one last summer).
Redmond & Brady will bring in close to £20M alone which I do not expect a penny will be spent from. Additional funds from Klose plus one or two others will be spent to some degree, but the ‘theory’ that McNally maxed the club out in January I believe is a very true one. The club cannot afford Klose.
Irvine’s appointment is a shrewd one, but the club will have to sniff out some emerging – and therefore cheap – talent because I don’t think the funds are there to make significant signings this season.
At least the kit is good!
Please Mr Klose if you are reading this give us until Christmas if we do not look like we are in a position for a premiership return then by all means look for a January move. And I ask that of all the players who are here show some loyalty and restore my faith in football and footballers in general !!!!!!!!!
Regarding Team ? England , it seems obvious te me that while the team selection may be questionable at times ( & of personal opinion ) it has been the tactics that are the problem.
How many times under Hodgson do you see crosses coming in from the byline( like Wales did for their 3 rd goal ) Not many.More often than not the ball comes in from the ‘ inside foreward position ‘ towards the defenders & goalkeeper & away from the foreward. That may be fine with players such as Messi & Suarez etc to time their runs & who have the ball skills to contral & finish , but alas England do not possess players like that. The British game is more dependant on strength & muscle. Allied with passion , organisation & commitment this can succeed as Wales (& Iceland ) have proved Unfortunately it appears England are trying to perform like a Rolls Royce , equipped with the engine of a Ford Focus.
Ben K (5) Mike Phelan went to work with his old Canary teammate Steve Bruce at Hull and got a promotion with them. Quite happy, therefore, to work as an assistant, would have been, you could assume, happy with the same role at Norwich under Neil.
But no room for him once Frankie McAvoy came in.
Irvine is a good appointment. My one concern regarding him is that he is, should Neil depart, a ‘ready made’ caretaker cum full time Manager in waiting-much like Worthington was once upon a time-and his relative failings as Blackpool boss didn’t put anyone off.