So, just how horrific was our Hallowe’en? The absence of Nelson Oliveira and the late withdrawal of Yanic Wildschut for personal reasons did not help to blow away any cobwebs left over from Derby, that’s for sure.
The ghost of Jacob Marley Watkins flicking a header fractionally the wrong side of the post was enough to give us the creeps.
The spectre of failure to deal with set pieces returned to haunt us twice on All Hallows Eve, and members of Upper Barclay D Block had a heated half-time discussion about whether zonal marking should be permanently exorcised from Colney. That Willy Boly and Leo Bonatini simply had too much space for a brace of clinical finishes was something we all agreed on.
The sight of John Ruddy and Ryan Bennett as revenants resplendent in their Wolves kits (doubtless complete with bulging wallets) was eerie. However it must be said neither were over-employed. Bennett looked good in a back three and something very spooky appears to have happened to Ruddy since he left us: he seems to have lost a couple of kilos and his kicking, both place and from hand, was immaculate.
A tired and depleted squad were always going to be in a bit of bother against one of the – if not the – richest sides in the Championship.
But enough already. Let’s admit that we lost to a bloody good side. And they were. Wolves broke with pace and intent, often forcing Timm Klose and Grant Hanley too far apart for my liking. Nuno Espirito Santo and his boys are the best outfit I have seen this season by a country mile and even at this early stage I will say that they will be promoted, presuming they do not implode.
Much has been made elsewhere about the difference in financial resources between the two clubs. They paid £16 million for their 20-year-old midfielder – Ruben Neves; about seven times more than we paid for James Maddison. Who is the better player? Only time will tell. But if our James continues to develop along the lines he is currently, he will be sold when the price is right. That’s how it is for us these days.
We all acknowledge we are a work in progress and with our sensible hats on, I believe very few of us expect promotion at the end of this season. There are better sides than us in the Championship and we saw one of those on Tuesday night.
One thing that does concern me is a lack of pace in the squad. Yes, Josh is quick, Yanic can be powerful and direct and when Ivo Pinto bombs on he does so with alacrity. But that’s it. The way Wolves bore down on us, mob handed at times, and occasionally through the middle, was something we can only dream of replicating.
We can look back to Darren Eadie, Ruel Fox, Efan Ekoku and the mighty Hucks as genuine speed merchants who scared the living out of opposition defences. Apart from what I perceive to be an underperforming Josh Murphy we have no-one of that ilk any more. And as for the “fox in the box” he must have gone to earth because I’ve seen no sign of him for a few seasons now.
But Stuart Webber said it would take a few transfer windows to get to where he wants us to be, so I guess patience remains the key.
I’m not reading too much into the recent announcement of a £2.7million loss last season. I’m no expert, but that figure is a little bit less than I actually expected. An awful lot of severance money has been spent (interesting that Alex Neil’s compensatory figure remains “confidential”) so I’m not too dismayed.
And nor am I distressed about being beaten by a better side. I couldn’t fault the effort, unlike last season.
There are many miles left in this journey and I feel the quicker the Alexes (Pritchard and Tettey) return, the easier it will become. Sorting Nelson out is also a priority as I am sure Daniel Farke is well aware.
I guess the Wolves reality check should be taken as one of those things that go bump in the night when you’re an evolving squad.
Never say MFW doesn’t pay its debts. It was a pleasure buy Don Harold a pint at the Bell and to meet him and his friends before the game. Cheers for your help, Don.
I am puzzled by Stuart Webber’s comments that it will take a few transfer windows to be where he wants to be. If we stay in the Championship for a couple more years then we are likely to have sold the likes of Murphy, Pritchard and Maddison in order to remain “debt free”. Our finances will mean that recruitment will be restricted to a couple of young annual loanees, freebies and players with very low transfer fees.
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Yes, it’s a hard circle to square.
I think the comparatively massive wages paid out last season and some truly poor signings (Jarvis, Naismith and possibly Wildschut) are the major reason we are where we are.
The compo paid to Alex Neil and the others is an understandable course of action, but the amount paid to Moxey for such a short term of “service” makes my blood boil.
But contracts are contracts: you sign ’em, you adhere to ’em. I’ve also heard that from the end of this season our wage cap (five figures a week is apparently unlikely) is going to be, erm, restrictive in terms of the calibre of player we will be likely to attract and I agree with your vision of the future.
It looks like the Academy or bust. Bringing through a brace of Murphys every few years will not be enough unless we get outside investment – and that’s highly unlikely to happen in the foreseeable.
A good comment and thank you.
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As we are all too aware – if we don’t go up this season, then it’s a given that Maddison will be sold for a hefty fee (he recently extended his contract until 2021!!!) and I feel Pritchard may go too.
On the negative side, I see that both Naismith and Jerome are with us until 2019 (unless we can offload both/either for a pittance), but on the positive side, I feel we have some very promising youngsters currently playing for the Under 23s.
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The crop of recruits – all signed by Neil or Adams – that interest me are the “Shrewsbury Lads” – Ben Godfrey, Carlton Morrris, Eboue Adams – plus Remi Matthews and Todd Cantwell.
Carlton is the only one I’ve seen enough of to form an opinion on. Could he perform the Jerome role? Quite possibly – they’re not that dissimilar in style.
But as you say, the few remaining “high earners” are the millstone round our neck, if not only because it’s virtually impossible to offload them and will be for some time – ie end of contract..
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I’m lucky in that I’ve been to see most of the Under 23 games since the beginning of this year, so witnessed Maddison earn penalties against Dinamo Zagreb and the emergence of Middleton, who as Hucks was his coach until he turned 17, his style of play is not dissimilar and he also tracks back when the ball is lost. Carlton I feel is an excellent prospect, as are Godfrey, Phillips and Adams. Whenever I’ve seen Abrahams play, he has looked very impressive too, so let’s hope that they are soon ready to make that step up and we can keep Jerome as a sub, as opposed to our main ‘extra midfielder!!!’
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You hit the nail on the head there Pab. I’m dreading the window because it will mean a further weakening of our squad in line with smiths “self funding” (non investment) policy,
Webbers assertion that he needs several windows to get the squad the way he wants it is odd. The loss of Nelson, Pritchard, Maddison et al can’t be dressed up as anything other than a downgrade of epic proportions. Last January we were spoon fed some guff about rotten apples and disruptive influences such as Brady and Ollson being let go for the good of the team. Twenty million quid income was quietly swept under the carpet.
Losing good players is not a “positive”
Fact.
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Chris, as you might remember I was one of the first in line to lambast the Board. I still feel like that deep down.
But as they are finally sniffing at least a little oxygen I feel they deserve a break until we see how project Farke works out.
The flat refusal of outside investment (unless a season ticket holder in Stowmarket wins the EuroMillions) continues to frighten me.
But let’s continue to give things a chance – we’ve no choice.
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Absolutely agree Martin and I recall your taking the board to task. Like you I want nothing more than to see Farke take us up this season, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief if he achieves this miracle.
The repeated failures and bad decisions plus the frequent public indiscretions allied to the new whiff of political spin on very utterance by the club has eroded my trust in the ownership to zero and nothing will change that,
I believe that if Farke doesn’t work out the board will have no room for further manoeuvre and like it or not will come under increasingly concerted pressure.
Ed alludes to the under 23s and is correct in pointing out the excellent prospects developing there. If new money is needed simply to keep these boys and others in green and yellow then I won’t accept any argument against it. The eleven on the pitch is the only thing I care about at carrow road.
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It’s a good article Martin, and now that we’ve moved on to All Souls day, I would say realistic. What is good to see is that Webber seems to have no problem in facing the ghosts of the past, one of which is our expensive and comparatively unproductive academy. And that’s also part of the answer to your comment Pab, is that Webber expects our academy both to produce more players in the next few years for the first time, as well as to become a revenue generator rather than consumer, which it has been (although Jacob’s fee can be said to have recouped something from the academy’s outlay).
Huddersfield remains a model, which Webber was responsible for establishing, of how to reach the PL without parachute payments. There is no doubt that Webber was horrified by our wage structure when he arrived, as I think many of us are to learn how poor City seems to have been in inserting downsizing clauses in player’s contracts, should we fall out of the PL. Should it come to it, I think he will do his best not to sell Maddison and Pritchard at the same time, so that at least one remains to support the nurturing of further players coming through like Todd Cantwell. Although we might all see it as desirable that we are promoted at the end of this season, before the finances really have to be trimmed, at the same time, we do have imbalances remaining in our squad that are clearly going to make this a tough challenge to achieve.
What Webber is focused on doing is ensuring that whether we go up this season or not, that we are still in a position to compete for promotion the following season… and in that, we do have to trust his and Steve Stone’s strategy.
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Excellent comment Michael and I completely agree with you. Pritchard or Maddison to be sold will be the difficult call – one earns more than the other for sure, but when push comes to shove which of the two will be more saleable at that time? The ridiculous injury to Pritchard at Cambridge hasn’t helped our cause, and I’m so hoping he comes back firing on all six cylinders.
Your last paragraph particularly is spot on.
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Completely agree with Michael D. I would add the question though: does anyone really believe that if we went up to the EPL this season we would be any better equipped to stay there than last time?
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It would be a struggle MGW. The money may allow us to purchase a few more Maddison’s, Pritchards for future seasons. The premier money has kept the wolf from the door for several seasons and allowed us to bring in that kind of quality.
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Hi Martin
A very good read and I agree Moxley compo seems very extreme for such a small period of time at the clib.
My main concern is will Webber be here to complete the said task he has proved with all the positions he has held that like us all he is prepared to take a gamble on a possible better position so if a so calked bigger club came calling would he jump ship as he did with Huddesfield.
Team Farke are at the being of there managerial careers and yes city is a stepping stone for them but to enhance their combined reputations it would be good to get city as Wagner has done promoted either via the play offs this or next season.
As I have mentioned a few times Oliveria at the moment is unreliable due to niggling injuries and CJ just isn’t getting in to positions to score so will we see either Abrahams or Fonkeu on the bench come Saturday I know they are both new to this league but so was Trybull and Zimmermann and these seem to gave adapted well.
I feel sorry for Vrancic a few weeks ago scored a great goal everyone praised his efforts in midfield and comparing him to Howson who had as many good games as poor and he came into the league knowing what it was about, Vrancic is here less than 6 months cost next to nothing and is getting written off.
Why oh why do we as supporters continue to see the best in player’s like Howson who jumped ship for more money he said that his family loved norfolk last season but at the end when there wasn’t a promotion he wanted to move north when the rumours of Leeds came out then went to Middlesbrough first comments were I have joined a bigger and better team no thankyou for all the support he got from city whilst injured.
Last moan.
We need investment Delia seems unlikely to accept any as she wants to give the club to Tom, does this mean cutting your nose off in spite of the clubs needs.
Everton were in a similar situation with Kenwrigth but he was a pragmatism he knew he didn’t have enought money to sustain the club so searched for maybe the right investor while keeping the in the Premiership, he has now got an invester but still has a certain amount of say within the club as a major share holder and chairman we need a similar situation but Delia is not for turning.
First both the Smiths need to realise the club needs investment and then start by getting someone thst knows how to get this dobe asap.
OTBC
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Alex, there are a couple of people who write for MFW who know a lot more about Delia’s mindset and plans than I do, but I can confidently say her views on outside investment have not changed.
So we’re either well-protected or well and truly buggered. I don’t know which. Nobody does.
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Hi Martin
Yes but being stubborn and not at least looking into other streams of income is bad business in all aspects of life.
The other main share holder in Folger I believe is he handing his shares over to his son or nephew to keep it in the family???
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Delia saw an opportunity with Norwich City and took it. It extended her time in the public eye, and one could argue it was a very shrewd move on her part. The loans have been paid up and she has done very well. Who could blame her?
Time has move on since the 1990’s and the days of the cosy 1950’s football are in the bin.
Championship football suits the owners and when the penny drops for Webber that their austere vision doesn’t meet his own ambitions, he’ll be gone.
The majority shareholders need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask the question ‘Who is actually benefitting from our continued ownership of Norwich City?’
The answer is looking back at them.
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Yours is the most accurate, erudite and pertinent comment I have received in writing well over a score of MFW articles.
There is no bile, no malice; just simple nailed-on truth.
It was a pleasure to read and THANK YOU..
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Agree. Over twenty years ago the purchase of Geoff watlings shares shored the club up, it’s become a vanity project. The club needs to move on. To be allowed to move on.
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Food for thought as usual Martin.
I find myself nodding in agreement with most of your points. I’ve gone on record praising the work of Farke and the German players and registered my quiet satisfaction at the thought of oliveira, Maddison, Pritchard, pinto etc. Knitting together with the rejuvenated tettey and Klose and blossoming gunn to form a productive and stylish outfit capable of doing damage at championship level.
I’ve also made known my fears that while all this work in progress is taking place it is just window dressing for the inevitable and regular flogging off of the cream of the playing staff at a depressingly regular rate, no sooner do we become enthralled by a new player with youth, verve and talent than he is whipped away before we see the true benefit and enjoy what he has to offer. This is precisely what happened with jacob Murphy,
Building a squad is much like building a house. If you keep taking away the foundations after you’ve laid them the house will never get built, it will remain a ” work in progress” forever.
A truer definition would be a work in regress.
Farke seems a man capable of building something at carrow road. If he is prevented form seeing the job through it won’t be him whose head is on the block when the chickens come home to roost.
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As ever I’d love to disagree and spark a debate. I can’t.
I would say that sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. And that’s what I hope we are collectively doing.
Great comment – thanks.
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Fine article – not least the enjoyable and sustained Halloween references.
I suspect Stuart Webber means it’ll take several windows to establish the balance of squad, and consistency of character in it, that he’s looking for. He can’t have meant achieving a perfect squad – clearly, which division we’re in will determine our spending ability.
We were clearly jaded on Tuesday – but Wolves still looked a very impressive proposition.
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Thanks Stewart – Wolves looked impressive indeed.
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Thanks Martin , another good read and you just about got in all the puns about halloween. I agree with the bones of your article , particularly the comment about the Shrewsbury three. I feel we must find squad space and appearances for Godfrey and Morris.
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But at least we’re not in a grave situation…
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Maybe the boast of “prudence with ambition” was forgotten when the Club were so desperate to get players such as Naismith and Jarvis to sign contracts.
Webber seems confident that with better recruitment and development the Academy can start to churn out a flow of players eventually good enough to play for the first team. There’s no guarantees with that but lets hope so …
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It was good to have a beer and a chat with you Martin, sorry if we made you miss the kick off.
I don’t see as many games as most posters on here but I fail to see how Vrancic will ever be good enough as he seems too weak and slow especially when faced with the kind of powerhouse midfield the Dog Heads had on Tuesday. If Watkins is the answer as a striker it must have been a pretty daft question and I much prefer Steippermann to Husband and Zimmermann to Hanley. When I saw the line up I thought we had put out a league cup team; perhaps DF thought it best to ensure we had a strong team for Bolton ( I wonder if Yanic’s personal problems will be resolved by then).
I continue to sway between optimism and pessimism and still hope that we can challenge for a promotion place. Hopefully we will see some youngsters coming through and Pritchard and Tettey will add some quality.
Finally, I think my previous expectation that Wolves could lose 15 matches on the trot will struggle to come to fruition. I think they will win the league by at least 10 points, they have lots of quality.
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I meant play off place
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Thanks Don – great to meet you and yours.
Wolves deserved the three points and no complaints from me.
Yeah I did miss the kick-off, he he!
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