It was one year ago that Alex Neil got the heave-ho.
In the face of a barrage of supporter unrest and awful performances over a concerted period, the affable Scotsman had, to the shock of nearly everyone, seemed certain to remain in the hot seat.
So much so, that the day before his dismissal, I wrote this article, stating how I’d like to see the football club move forward, regardless of whether Neil stayed.
Completely out of the blue and by sheer coincidence, the club hierarchy suddenly shared a similar vision to the one I’d been banging on about for nearly a decade.
A more continental outlook, key roles would be split into multiple positions to allow for higher speciality and skill sets.
Rebuilding a team is always a tough ask. However, revamping an entire club ethos from top to bottom whilst continuously being tested to the limit by ever-more demanding financial constraints is as bold and scary as it gets.
But that is what Stuart Webber, Steve Stone and Daniel Farke were tasked with.
Perhaps I feel as though I have a little more invested in this setup than others might as it was something I wanted to see happen
So how is it all going? Am I impressed? Disappointed? Indifferent?
It’s been a mixed bag. I think they’ve made a ‘reasonable’ start.
‘Start’ being the key word though.
I think the strategy is spot on, but the style of play perhaps isn’t quite tickling everyone’s fancy just yet. Given time and patience, I suspect it’ll evolve and so too will fans perceptions.
We were told from the early days of Webber’s reign that this would be a long-term project. “Four or five transfer windows,” he said, “to see serious progress.” I can’t see any reason to disbelieve that still isn’t the case.
Off the pitch we’ve definitely made bigger strides than on it.
The wage bill is still higher than would be deemed ideal, but the finances are now largely under control thanks to some big sales, shrewd signings and valuable assets.
The ball has been set rolling on making the academy state of the art thanks to the recently announced Bond Scheme, something that I was shocked to read so many negative opinions about the other day. It appears a very clever idea to me, even if I won’t be participating in the offer myself.
On the pitch we have undoubtedly lacked momentum, mainly due to our inability to score goals. We’ve struggled to break teams down but generally been far more solid at the back. There has been a couple of good runs and a couple of bad ones – nothing unexpected there, given the circumstances.
There were roughly 50 personnel changes at the club within six months. That is staggering – but it was completely necessary.
As I say, this is just the start of what could be a lengthy period of disruption, frustration and adaptation – but hopefully the final destination will be more pleasing.
Like a second-rate singer on a reality TV karaoke competition, ‘we’re on a journey’.
Let’s put it this way: Imagine we’re driving from Nelson’s County to the beautiful Lake District.
We’ve planned it all and everyone is excited about getting there. We’ll climb above Ullswater, trek the Old Man of Coniston and have a picnic overlooking Windermere. Whichever way we turn there’ll be views to take our breath away.
But for now, we find ourselves stuck behind a rusty old tractor doing 20mph near Sutton Bridge.
The drive is a tedious one and the kids in the back are getting restless.
“Are we nearly there yet?”
“Afraid not. We’re not even half way. We’re in The Fens.”
“But it’s sooo boring! I can see for miles and miles and there’s nothing to see!”
“I know. But the landscape will become a bit more exciting once we progress a little further.”
To bring this back to the topic, that’s where we’re at as a club – the footballing equivalent of The Fens.
Desolate. Bleak. Stark. Flat.
Yes, The Fens. And yes, our football at times this season.
“Are we nearly there yet?” yell the kids in the Snakepit?
“Afraid not. We’re not even halfway to creating our new club philosophy.”
“But it’s sooo boring!”
“I know. But the landscape will become a bit more exciting once we progress a little further.”
“I need a wee.”
“Just go. It’s not like you’ll miss anything exciting.”
What I’m saying is that we can’t just teleport to the summit of Scafell Pike! We have to endure the odd bit of nothingness throughout the journey. Once we get on to the Snakes Pass, we’ll all enjoy the views.
So let’s get a little perspective. We’re in transition, after all.
Except, aren’t all teams constantly in ‘transition’?
It’s not like you ever get to see a ‘finished article’. Even Manchester Citeh will try to build on what they’re achieving. Perfection never arrives in this game.
From Norwich City’s point of view though, it’s not just the stuff happening on grass that is radically altering. The whole club is effectively starting again from a new blueprint that all future head coaches will abide by.
The concept is comparable to Southampton. Buy low, sell high – but I think a better example is probably Swansea City, given the nature of the style of play that has been introduced.
A little over a decade ago they decided to do exactly what we’re attempting now.
In a rut on the pitch with no money off it, they made the bold move to completely reshape and remodel the entire club, with one key factor: to remain loyal to their chosen philosophy – possession football.
It worked. A major trophy was complemented by successfully staying in the Premier League since 2011. They have their flaws but generally we’d all have been happy with their lot.
There’ll be times when we want to tear our teeth out at what we’re watching, but long-term plans should never be ripped up because of a little unrest in the early stages.
So am I enjoying this season?
No, not really. But then I didn’t enjoy last season either – nor the season before that. Most seasons following a club such as Norwich are pretty mediocre at best, but it makes the great seasons feel even greater.
The difference here is that this season was inevitably going to be one of enormous upheaval and as a result, inconsistency and frustration.
And much of that frustration is borne from ‘what could have been’. What if we’d had this model in the Premier League?
My guess is that we’d be in significantly better shape. Whether our fans would have been content trying something like this rather than spending big in an attempt to survive is another matter! Hindsight is a marvellous thing.
But now is as good a time as any to try it. Each time we’ve been promoted recently there’s been a feeling of hurriedness about it.
It was either so rapid that we barely had time to draw breath or it was based on Championship stalwarts who had previously failed at the higher level and were too expensive to replace.
There has to be some form of strategy involved or you’ll quickly run into trouble. And we did.
We always clung to the slimmest of hopes that everything would click straight away this season, but that would have taken some serious luck.
In any given season there will be highs and lows, but this is no Paul Lambert-inspired Nemesis rollercoaster. This has been more like the snail ride on Yarmouth seafront.
Getting things right off the pitch is arguably more important than anything happening on it at the moment.
As fans, we want to be entertained and see wins, but I just wanted to see a sense of direction; a club that knew what it wanted and where it was going. I feel I’m getting that but in very small doses at the moment. There’s an awful lot of work still to be done.
Of course, you’ll never please everybody. I recall fans moaning that we were ‘too cavalier’ when Mike Walker nearly won the league title in 1993. They were correct to be fair!
If you don’t enjoy the style of football, tough doo-doo! It’s not what I personally would chose to play either, but this is our philosophy now, so stop getting wound up and instead, try to enjoy the fact that we are attempting to be more composed than our peers.
It’s not as though it won’t be adapted when the personnel changes.
Moving forward, I would like to see more urgency around our opponents box. I’m not saying ‘cross after cross’ or ‘mix it up’, but it is possible to play neat, attractive football and move the ball creatively at speed.
I’ve no issue with possession football, nor passing it patiently around at the back – I see the sense in that, even if some don’t. I certainly don’t want to see us aimlessly booting it forward to the big lad up top.
The biggest problem we have is that we don’t quite have the right mix of players yet. We urgently need a striker who can play off the shoulder. Some may say, ‘why didn’t they sort that out in the summer or January?’
Well I’m sure they tried. Perhaps the player they wanted wasn’t available at that time. Every penny is precious – there’ll be no overpaying from now on. Patience is the name of the game, both on and off the pitch.
The team will be built around young lads – hopefully a few will be through the academy system. They will be tremendously fit and technical on the ball. I can’t see a problem with that vision – every fan should buy into that.
The shining light of this campaign has been James Maddison. A young, prodigious talent, who will outgrow the club rapidly – if he hasn’t already (though I wouldn’t be quite so sure he won’t still be here next season).
If you cut him open – and many Championship defenders have literally tried to – he’ll have ‘England International’ written right through him. The best young player I’ve ever seen at the club.
One thing is for sure, by the time Webber has made some serious progress in towards our long-term aim, the midfield maestro will be long gone – and you can expect a high turnover of players for at least two more windows.
Bar Madders and the odd interloper, this season has been a bit of a chore, particularly at Carrow Road – and home form tends to set the barometer for fan sanity.
Our away form has generally stood up pretty well. Had we combined that with our usual good home form, we’d be sitting in the play off spots.
It’s fine margins between success and failure and our inability to break down poor teams on home soil is an annoyance. Convert four of those draws to wins and there’s a different feeling around the place.
I like Daniel Farke. He’s been a tad naive at times, but I think that was inevitable when hiring a young coach who is still familiarising himself with the rigours of second tier English football – and there’s more experienced guys than him who have struggled with far greater resources.
I like us with three at the back but feel we are often too narrow and slow to take advantage of opportunities. There are glaring deficiencies but hopefully these will be ironed out over time.
The really pleasing thing is that I hear the young players absolutely love working for him, and some of our approach play has been wonderful to watch. There are certainly a few chinks of light.
You could probably argue that bar the inspired addition of Grant Hanley, the most disappointing purchases were the proven Championship players.
You’ll never get all transfers spot on – the key is to get the majority right.
We have some highly technical players at our disposal. It’s now about developing the style further and adding to that.
There’ll be more high-profile outs and low-profile ins – that’s just the way it’ll be from now on. The hideous errors of previous regimes, both on and off the field, will continue to haunt us for a while yet.
Huge financial fails in the transfer market combined with losing parachute money could have lead to a very messy crash landing.
I feel our best progress has been the way we’ve managed to steady ourselves. We should land with a bump rather than disintegrate into the dust now. Not very aspirational admittedly, but things could have turned really sour.
I still hanker for new owners but that isn’t going to happen. We will have to continue to contend with having, on paper at least, the poorest owners in the Championship. It is impossible in this day and age for that lack of financial muscle not to hinder us on all fronts.
But aside from that, I’m pleased we’re driving down the current road. In my opinion, it’s the only route that gives us any chance of success without wealthier backers. I hope to see a greater scale of progress next season though.
Our owners pay people around them to run the club. They put their faith (perhaps too much) in those people.
If it goes well, those guys get the credit; if it doesn’t, Smith ‘n’ Jones will get the pelters. That’s football.
They’ve been in the game longer than most. They are vastly experienced owners and ultimately, if you take out a small handful of seasons, they have a fairly poor track record, spending the majority outside the top flight.
I think Steve Stone is doing a fine job. The jury will be out on Stuart Webber for a while yet, but I think overall he has also done fairly well. He certainly has a clear and positive vision for the club – one that in general, I share and respect.
I know it’s boring to hear but it will take time. Everyone will need to be very patient.
There was never going to be a quick fix. At least we are now being given more insight than ever before into the plans the club has and I think we should all appreciate that.
One last thing.
As I mentioned a year ago, I’d like to see Tom Smith come to the forefront.
I’m reliably informed that the decision to bring a new club ethos and continental setup was driven passionately by Tom. I’m also told he was a leading factor in the Academy Bond Scheme – and he definitely was in The Nest plans.
He’s clearly a very intelligent and driven young man. Let’s hear more from him – he is, after all, destined to control our club for the foreseeable future.
We’ve set ourselves up for a fresh start – let’s do the same at the very top. I want to see him handed control now. And not just because that’ll tick all the boxes of my plan from a year ago!
OTBC
Just one complaint from me about this, James, particularly in conjunction with Ed’s article. Between the pair of you, you’ve left me nothing to say.
I suspect others may have a different view….
Apologies for it being so long. I just kept typing and typing and typing and typ… I’m doing it again. I’ll stop.
Best piece written here for a fair while! Well said.
Bottom line is none of this matters unless new ownership comes in. If the team is miraculously promoted there will be about a 3% chance of surviving the drop. We have gone from being a yo yo club to a perennial Championship club or worse. Money advances you in this game now and Delia is a comparative pauper.
Promotion is a distant dream as we speak but despite that, I’d put the chances at more like 50-50 to stay up without a wealthy benefactor Andy S – pretty much the same as any club promoted.
It all boils down to the quality of recruitment and player development. Having a defined style of play and identity at least gives us a vision that players/coaches can buy into. Ok, its far from perfect right now but before this it was a bit of a free-for-all. Strategy is vital and we didn’t have one.
I doubt you’ll find many who disagree that we are hugely limited by having our current owners – but I’d want this model regardless of ownership.
Good points both, and I think James’ final paragraph is the biggie. This model with more room to manoeuvre financially, and it’d be very interesting.
I’m 100% with you on the model. I think it’s a necessary change. However I see absolutely no way that Norwich can establish as a Premier league club with Delia.
This is in no way critical of her and her contributions. It’s just that money runs the game now. It wouldn’t matter if we got promoted and got a 100 million dollar windfall because it’s all RELATIVE. She would still be by far the poorest owner in the Premier league relatively speaking. The continental model would give you a fighting chance if you were somewhat close in wealth to the other teams at the bottom but they will simply outspend you for better talent. Sure you might get lucky and survive a season but long term new ownership is the only way forward. Heck look at Southampton struggling and they are far wealthier and better run than Norwich.
Excellent article – although I dont necessarily agree with all the points (e.g. I think spending £2m ish on Franke was our biggest transfer disappointment) you cover a lot of well made arguments.
Quickly skimming your article from last year, it is amazing how many of those points have either come to fruition, or are at least germinating currently.
I would like us next year to use more of the younger lads (Godfrey, Morris, Cantwell, Jaiyesimi, Matthews and Raggett) and rely less on the cut price German imports who although represent good value, are probably not a long term strategy (other than Zimmerman who is just brilliant). If we went with this young approach, I would say the chances of promotion next year was minimal, but at least we would be spending a lot less money and building a team of young hungry players.
Also – I too am not convinced Madison will necessarily be sold this summer – I may be deluded in that view though
London Canary, a couple of comments to a very good reply most of which I agree with. Personally I think its pretty harsh to judge Franke on what little we have seen of him during his fledgling Canary career to date. He was thrown in at the deep-end during a very turbulent opening to the season and in the sink-or-swim situation simply sank! I don’t think he performed any better or worse than many others. I’m reserving judgement until next season and by all accounts, Franke seems pretty to keen to prove a point. I would argue that for the outlay James Husband has been the biggest transfer disappointment (especially given he should be Championship ‘street-wise’).
Well that was Epic.
Right now a Nor’easter is barreling up east coast of the US. In it’s wake it’s leaving felled trees, creating powercuts, and dumping a couple feet of snow. At 9:51AM this morning I went to shovel. I felt pretty good about what I was achieving. I moved 3-4 inches of snow, dug out the drive, and cleared off the car. My hard work – https://imgur.com/a/g3M1R
I feel that’s about where Norwich City are. 9:51AM
The trouble is this storm is due to go another 12 hours. Even by the time I’d got to the end of my run, the ground at the start was white and “Mr Plough” had already blocked my drive again.. The worst is yet to come and I will repeat this exercise three or four more times today.
So when you say “The wage bill is still higher than would be deemed ideal, but the finances are now largely under control thanks to some big sales, shrewd signings and valuable assets.” I have to disagree. We haven’t had a season without parachute payments yet. We’ve not had 3-4 seasons in the CL. We don’t know what it will look like when we don’t have 30M quid players left to sell. We don’t know life without players that cost us decent money o purchase in the first place (Klose, Tetty, Pinto, Maddison, Nelson etc…)
If we were to get promotion, all bets are off. It would be like this storm taking a huge swerve out to sea, saving me a lot of time and groaning.
But if the storm stays on course, and we stay in The Championship, then I don’t think we’ve really witnessed Championship life yet.
Fantastic article James and I really enjoyed reading it.
I elect to disagree with you on your over-the-top positive view of Tom Smith (come on, what do you actually base those observations on?) which I consider naïve at best, but otherwise you are bang on the button in everything you say.
Terrific stuff.
Good read James and some spot-on comments. The strategy and philosophy behind what Webber-Farke-Stone are attempting is absolutely right for a club like Norwich to do given the nature of the financial situation. As you say this season has been pretty up-and-down but given turnover of staff and players would it have been realistic to have expected a team challenging for the play-offs? Probably not.
The board have understandably received a lot of criticism for the clubs poor record in the transfer market during our time in the PL and the lack of investment in infrastructure. Justified in my opinion although I can see the rationale in the boards thinking for their strategy. For me, the biggest error from the board was not to have a radical rethink and adopt the new strategy following our relegation from the PL. Instead the board maintained the status quo (also called not making a decision) by appointing Jez Moxey and maintaining a largely aging and non-performing squad to mis-fire for another season. I wonder where the we would be now if the club had perhaps taken the bold move to embrace a bold new vision a year earlier? Two years to implement the new structure with the support of parachute payments…..
Interesting thoughts. One ‘insider’ thing I happen to know: Steve Stone was arguing for the change of structure much earlier, but didn’t convince enough of his colleagues at the time. The Moxey period was (happily) short-lived but an awful aberration, not least in that he constantly overruled Steve.
Stone was right for calling for a restructure, but it is interesting to note that Stone was previously passed over for job that Moxey eventually got, so I got the feeling that Stone was not quite as rated at CR as he thought he was. Had the Moxey role worked out, then it is quite likely that Stone would have moved on, by accident or design.
Stone is a Charlie Watts, never a Mick Jagger.
Moxey’s brief tenure led to Delia having a meeting with Staff that January, apologising for his behaviour and rubbing people up the wrong way. However bad it was, it would be fascinating to hear his side of things, however flawed.
Excellent and very thorough article. We can’t have everything yesterday, it is all going to take much more time before real judgements can be made.
I am also optimistic that Maddison might stay. I also think Leitner ‘s injury might long term work in our favour as it keeps him off the radar of others and he has also stated clearly how much he loves it at Norwich.
Well done James, your words help keep perspective.
A terrific article and I JUST hope that the majority of NCFC fans take the time to read ALL of it and ‘digest’ its contents – especially the comment that the transition will take 4 or 5 transfer windows to complete!!
Interesting also on your views on Maddison and I’ve been a fan of his since I saw him in the friendly against Coventry in pre-season last season. That he’ll move on is inevitable and it would be great if we saw more of his development at CR.and I agree that we MAY!!!!
I’m also sure that several will disagree with the article, but you’ll NEVER please everyone!!!!
Bang on as always Mr F.
Turning around a squad that was ridiculously expensive, underperforming, and aging was always going to be difficult. I actually think we’re ahead of schedule in that we’ve fixed a lot of our historic defensive problems, and reduced the wage bill considerably. Not every signing has worked (they never all do), but there have been some more than notable successes and by and large the squad has been refreshed well.
Progress is being made. It will be interesting to see how this and last year’s articles stand up in another twelve months.
Realistically, I fear selling Maddison will be necessary to dealing with this summer’s – happily final – loss of parachute payments. However, he seems genuinely committed to Norwich and Farke (unlike Pritchard). That surely increases the chance that we’ll sell him to a PL club who will loan him back to us. Fingers crossed!
I’m just going to leave this here with a few quotes…. https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2017/12/14/guest-blog-in-transition-patience-the-key-or-is-the-simple-truth-were-out-of-money-and-out-of-time/
“The financial challenge of losing our parachute payments is fierce. But let’s not fall into the trap of saying that all our key assets will be sold. One of Maddison or Pritchard would almost certainly have to go – but not both, and certainly not both plus others.”
“Looking at current valuations for players of their ability and age, I reiterate my comment that we’ll have to sell Maddison or Pritchard, but not both.”
Consistency Stewart?
Can’t disagree with the majority of that and I loved your Lake District analogy!
Ed touched this in his comment and I have alluded to it in previous articles. This path the club have taken would I think be far more successful with an amount of extra investment to enable them to make the odd mistake or retain the promising young player. It doesn’t have to be an earth shattering amount (well in football terms anyway)
It would still be a long process but it would maintain momentum and make that Lake District trip far more memorable!
Just re-read James’ article from a year ago, and quite amazing how well he predicted things. One small point though, Alex Neill ain’t half doing well at PNE – my nearest club. Considering the size of that team/town/resources, he’s done a good job there I reckon. I wouldn’t write him off as a bad manager
Indeed he is. Had a good base to work from though. They’d been solid defensively for a couple of years, something he never had here. Will be interesting to see how he gets on next season when he brings in a few more players.
Patience for what exactly? To get back to where we were?
I ‘sincerely’ apologise for wanting more, but we had our best chance for yonks to grow as a club. Instead, we tickled our canary pharynx, regurgitated our riches and let our ravenous off spring (& multiple cuckoos) feed with concerning intent.
I don’t believe the decision makers deserve my patience. It’s not fair on me.
We’re all peeved (to say the least) that we screwed up. It was completely avoidable but the guys making the calls now were not responsible for that, so do they not deserve a little patience? Even Man City fans had to be patient with their mega-bucks. Took them what, 3 or 4 years to challenge?
The ‘Transition’ aspect is a mirage. It’s a transition to no-where.
The ‘4 or 5’ transfer windows will see the club reducing it’s costs – if it is still solvent by then – but it won’t actually lead us anywhere.
Goodwill of the fans is being stretched almost beyond its limits, because there is nothing tangible happening to suggest the wait is worth it, it just stretches out the hope of the fans that are prepared to give the board the benefit of the doubt.
The club must be sold, otherwise Smith & Co will continue the Merry dance that will lead to us two broken legs and a hernia.
Thanks James – top read, and a very balanced piece. My concern with your road trip analogy is that last time I took the kids over Sutton Bridge we ended up at Skegness. And none of us wants that.
So the fans are expected to put up with several years of dull, depressing football in the hope that our owners can cling on.
Do you really think things are going to get any better once Maddison and Gunn have departed Carrow Road?
In the meantime what do you think the rest of the championship clubs are doing while we are hoping, against the odds, for better times.
Virtually every other club has attracted significant investment which means the bar will be raised well out of our reach.
Like it or not football today is a billionaires hobby and under our current owners we are unable to compete.
As I said in my article, I too share the desire for new owners. I personally don’t see a scenario where the current incumbents can take us forward for any sustained period of time.
However, given that they are staying, what are we supposed to do? Just trundle along in the same old car hoping that a new one is just given to us?
No! We needed to be proactive and we have been. It might not work in the short time – it might not in the long term – but the old setup wasn’t working either so try something more radical.
This model is what I would want regardless of ownership. Realistically, any takeover that could happen is not going to make us world beaters so there still needs to be a setup in place that suits a club of this size – and this does.