As Simon Hooper’s whistle brought a merciful end to another 90 minutes of Canary torment, this time at the hands of a dominant, if slightly (for me anyway), second gear, Leeds United, the pitchforks began to come out in earnest for the first time in Daniel Farke’s Norwich career.
There have been rumblings before, as there always are. Rewind Canary Call to his first ever game as Norwich manager, away at Fulham with swirling summer temperatures and a barmy, tempestuous welcome from Nelson Oliviera, and I’ll wager good money that one of the Barrys or Johns or Dereks that weren’t at the game but listened to parts of it on the radio, while in and out to the garden, would have called for Farke’s head after one game.
The number of those unimpressed with Farke were relatively few following stirring cup runs culminating in narrow defeats at The Emirates and Stamford Bridge, but little has gone right for Farke’s Norwich City since then, and his critics have risen steadily in number accordingly.
A paltry 4 wins from the last 21 games is enough to test even the most patient of supporters, let alone those whose emotions fluctuate wildly at any given result.
The question at the forefront of many of minds right now is how much time Farke will be given.
When the hitherto-unknown figure of Daniel Farke was unveiled as Norwich City’s first ever overseas coach he was heralded as having great promise, used to dealing with very little in the way of funds and still producing results. He was good at bringing young players through. His remit at Norwich was for more of the same.
His early press-conferences were peppered with the promise of stylistic change. He would build a way of playing that people would see and instantly know it was a Norwich style. He wanted his team to be “the protagonists”.
Just over a year later, and the style of play is not as individual as Farke would like. We have seen it a few times before in fact. The Spanish national team to be precise. Not the dominant sides that won the European Championships of 2008 and 2012 either side of a World Cup in 2010 though. I’m thinking of the 2014 side that crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage because their endless passing carousel was tired, failed to create sufficient chances, and the opposition had long since come up with a plan to counteract it.
If you prefer a more current example see the German side that bungled their defence of the World Cup just a couple of months ago. Possession for possession’s sake but zero penetration.
Farke clearly did not have this in mind when he imagined “the Norwich way”.
As for becoming the protagonists, as results have tailed off Farke has become increasingly negative and cautious. His game plan at home against Preston was to try and recover defensive solidity by dominating possession and for eighty minutes we suffered some of the most turgid unimaginative backwards and sideways passing seen at Carrow Road for many a long year.
That we went on to win was a relief of sorts, but it shows how increasingly desperate Farke is getting just to stay in games. All respect to Preston and their top seven finish last season but, at home in particular, Norwich should be looking to take the game to the opposition and break them down.
To me, his tactics stunk of a lack of confidence in his players. He didn’t believe that whichever eleven he put out on the pitch could come out and attack Preston without leaving themselves exposed at the back. Our ability to create problems for them was not sufficient for us to be the protagonists at our own stadium.
We sat back and kept the ball and threw the dice as to whether we’d make an error at the back with our constant triangles between Tettey and the central defenders and gift them a goal or whether at the other end Hernandez could conjure another moment of genius and nick us a chance, or Rhodes win a set piece around the box that might come to something.
We are not the protagonists you promised Daniel. We are scared of errors and scared of losing and we are threatening nobody on a consistent enough basis.
Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear that Farke is not changing a style that isn’t working and hasn’t been for some time. There is no Plan B, and there should be because Plan A isn’t so great. Farke is hugely likeable and was well worth the gamble the club took in appointing him. But I’m struggling to see a point where this turns around and we start winning the matches we should.
I’m not expecting us to cut a swathe through the division and get promotion or top six. But I do expect that at home, we will be on the front foot, create a few chances and not concede too many. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation. But we look more and more unlikely to get over this relatively low bar with every game. I hate to say it but it looks a little like our bottle has gone. Confidence is draining out of this side.
So, what is going on in Stuart Webber’s mind right now?
Chief amongst his concerns on the footballing side when he arrived was to rapidly turn over the squad. To jettison all the sky-high contracts, he’d inherited and replaced them with a cheaper, more affordable group. In doing so he knew this would make us less competitive, and so far, this has proven depressingly correct. Losing Johnny Howson and Jacob Murphy to balance the books would have hurt any Championship side, so the pressure on Daniel Farke in May was limited despite an extremely poor tailing off to the campaign.
The start of this season has shown little tangible improvement. An attack that initially showed signs of a cutting-edge previously lacking, is already in danger of blunting itself. Jordan Rhodes is becoming increasingly isolated and the miserly amount of touches he has per game is already pointing to Ricky van Wolfswinkel territory through no fault of the player’s.
However, some of those who have arrived have been fantastic signings. Onel Hernandez is the player we wish Josh Murphy could have become. Rhodes and Pukki are both excellent finishers which makes it all the more galling when we don’t give them adequate service.
By and large, I think that most Canary fans have faith in the squad of players we have and a large part of the frustration felt is with the fact that Farke is not getting the best out of them. We are currently less than the sum of our parts, and that can only be down to tactics, coaching and preparation.
Stuart Webber is nobody’s fool and he can see this. But given that he further weakened Farke’s hand by depriving him of the talents of Maddison and Murphy this summer, has he recalibrated his own expectations for Farke’s performance this year? If you take a team that finished 14th, and sell its two most productive players, what really is he expecting?
I’m spitballing here. I like Webber and I think he’s done exceptionally well at dealing with the bloated, overpaid squad he was faced with when he took over last year. He’s brought in sufficient quality in terms of replacements to expect more from Farke and his coaches than he is currently getting back. And I think this is what is likely to be giving him pause for thought right now.
However, Farke was his first managerial appointment as Sporting Director. He was hand-picked by Webber to lead us forward through a period of transition, so Webber has strong personal reasons for wanting Farke to succeed.
The disruption of the transition was estimated when Webber first spoke to the press, to last at least three transfer windows, but given that the enormous contracts of Naismith, Jarvis, Martin, McGovern, Klose and Pinto don’t expire until next June, and we haven’t been able to move any of them on, that disruption can be extended to four windows in all likelihood, which will coincide with the end of Farke’s own contract.
Without writing this season off I think Webber will resist making managerial and coaching changes in the face of anything but the direst series of results. Whilst we are all looking for an improvement from last year despite the losses of Maddison and Murphy, I think Webber is comfortable with anything that keeps us in the division without flirting too much with a relegation battle.
From his point of view, even if we repeat last season’s disappointment, Farke will have plotted a safe course through two seasons of financial choppy waters that demanded his squad be consistently sliced up and sold off to the highest bidder.
He’s also under no obligation to renew Farke’s contract and if he deems the experiment hasn’t worked he gets to hand a decent squad that is much younger and much cheaper to run than the one he inherited, to a new manager come May. And if, as we suspect, this squad contains a lot of good players that aren’t necessarily being asked to play the type of football that works in this league, the potential for success for that manager is high.
As such, for those expecting an early managerial departure at Colney this season, I think you’ll be disappointed. Webber holds the cards here. He knows we won’t go up and a new manager won’t suddenly change that this season.
Farke might not be proving to be the right man long-term, but unless we get mired in the bottom three, just keeping us ticking along may be enough to keep him in his job, at least for the rest of the season. Strap yourselves in, it could be a bumpy ride.
I would agree that ‘the club’ has a general aim and ambition to be in or around the play off places.
But the top objective for two seasons has been to reduce expenses and remain solvent.
So is there a burning desire from the boardroom downwards to get back to the Premier League? Definitely not – but there is a clubs like Leeds.
No one will be sacked at Norwich if we fail to get promoted. We’re in for a possibly long period of drifting around in the bottom half of the Championship.
Accepted that we’ve lost a lot of good players but this should not excuse the fact that after more than a season under the new regime we look a bigger shambles than ever.
I can only presume that Delia either doesn’t understand our predicament or cannot afford to replace Webber or Farke.
It’s not that she or the board don’t understand the predicament city are in they just want to keep the status quo as owning a club without any outlay and keeping what remains of her celebrity status
Andy this is a good read and at the same time depressing. Why? well I think you’re probably right and that means another season of Farkeball and in all 2 seasons of turgid football while waiting for something to happen.
The Sporting director role has a problem in that as you say the buck stops with him and as he picked Farke then I guess he will want to stick with him longer than maybe a collective board would, also is Webber himself as good as some would believe after all his only success was at Huddersfield (was this down to him?) with Wagner as manager who played a style of football totally different to Farke and much more suited to the Championship and I’m sure would be better to watch, why then did he go for Farke and a vastly different style ?? I’ve never heard anyone ask him this
Is there anyone inside the club capable of telling Webber this is not good enough, I fear not
Farke was never going to work and that became clear almost from Day One. Too Methodical. Norwich City needed a Jack Regan and instead got a Frank Haskins. Yes you do have to give people time, but sometimes you just know it is never going to happen. Nothing tangible Daniel has done so far will suggest anything will change, so for me, he has to go as soon as possible. An ambitious club would have parted with him at the end of the last season, so was of no surprise that Farke was still in his post for the start of this season at little old NCFC.
I personally cannot stand his type of football. It is everything I was brought up against. It is absolutely soulless.
Darren Huckerby suggested at the weekend that few managers would be attracted to the type of squad at Carrow Road. I know what he means, but I disagree with him. There is enough there to play with and a journeyman manager would achieve more than Daniel. The downside is that some players are probably conditioned. They only know how to play ‘one’ way – something Gary Neville alluded to at his time at Valencia – and that is very difficult to impossible to change.
Webber is no fool and some of his work has to be commended. However, Farke is his man and he has to take some responsibility too. I don’t think he will tie himself to the Farke mast 100%, but if he feels NCFC is a job too far, I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see him leave. How this will play out in the coming weeks and months is unclear, but Delia is the only person who can authorise a P45 in Daniel’s direction, as the shareholding at the club does not favour a democratic decision, other than the misnomer of ‘unanimous board decision’.
Expect an increasingly toxic atmosphere if things continue the way they are, as I predicted last year.
How will Farke be remembered?
His appointment was the same as his football, Good in theory, in reality somewhat different. You would never ask Daniel the time, because he would not say ‘1.00’, he would say a 1,000 words on why is wasn’t 12.59 or 1..01 though it could equally be either of those times.
Goodbye Daniel Farke – Norwich City’s Schrödinger’s cat.
I love the Sweeny reference: Can I kick him gov? Maybe his NCFC company car is a bronze mark one Granada.
Well that was depressing…. I’m
bored of paying the highest price of a season ticket in the league to be told we are unable to compete. I’m tired of watching turgid football and watching players make schoolboy errors.
The DoF gamble was a last throw of the dice by Delia & Michael… sadly it looks to me like one that isn’t going to pay off.
A decade in the wilderness follows that is unless we get relegated for an adventure in LG..1.
For the first time in 30yrs I think my tenure as a season ticket holder is likely to come to an end.
John, my thoughts entirely. I don’t think Delia will sell unless pushed by poor season ticket sales next year.
You all remember when we demanded “revolution” after Alex Neill was moved on? You were all there then weren’t you, when that revolution began, just 15 months ago? So we had this £30m a year hole to plug, and lots of stupid contracts at £30k a week (which you all wanted us to award to have a chance of staying in the PL, with the likes of Naismith and Klose etc), some of which still have 9 months to go.
Yet, even though this “revolution” is in its infancy, it isn’t apparently working quickly enough for you because we don’t play like Leeds yet. This Leeds who spent £10m on a player for their subs bench and are paying £5m a year for their manager, plus several more millions as a promotion bonus.
And you really can’t see any progress from the start of last season? You really don’t see that the squad is better than the one we started last season with? You can’t see our young players taking part, like Lewis, Thompson and Godfrey? And that the ones letting us down are the senior players like Pinto, Tettey and Krul?
You obviously weren’t regular attenders when Hughton was our manager if you think that Farke’s football style is the most boring we have ever played.
You all call for change, then when we get it you just all call for more because it doesn’t work immediately. Against Leeds we matched them for 20 minutes, playing some wonderful stuff. Against West Brom, it was 30 minutes of some of the best football seen in many a year.
All of this is evidence of a team in transition – good bits, bad bits, unlucky bits etc. We are probably a mid-table team and will be for a while because that’s what you all wanted and what had to happen, without a billionaire to help out. But it is already obvious that Frake’s style is evolving, and perhaps we don’t yet have the players we need to carry it out for 90 minutes every game.
I for one am liking the transition as I do see progress – it may be two forward steps and one back, but I do think we are generally moving forward. We won’t play against Leeds every week, but most Champs clubs now have the same ambitions and the same level of finance, so mid-table this season may well be all we can hope for. That doesn’t mean we are not progressing, but it might mean you lot have nothing to moan about – and we can’t have that, can we?
I agree with every word. Nail on head and very other cliche going.
Also finances dictate Farkelife to run to the end of contract unless relegation becomes certain.
As for Webber listen to latest TNC podcast and Stuart Hodge’s take on the man and the bit below the waterline on the “project”. Patience!
“Against Leeds we matched them for 20 minutes, playing some wonderful stuff.”
You talk about progress. We beat Leeds a few months ago. Now we manage 20 mins. There’s definitely been progress, just not by us.
And here’s the issue with our club. We don’t have owners willing to bankroll a 5M a year manager (assuming your fig is accurate), and as a result we won’t be promoted and miss out on 100M’s. Of course there’s no guarantees, it can be a lottery, but we’re not even buying a ticket.
Excellent comment @sgncfc and I feel your ‘two steps forward and one back’ is pretty much how I see it.
I was unfortunate enough to witness our demolition by the ‘once mighty’ Leeds on Saturday and their defenders got some INCREDIBLY important blocks in and on at least a couple of occasions defensive clearances could easily have resulted in Own Goals rather than going out for a corner (my seat is just behind the ‘river End goal), so I had a really good view of them.
Leeds had done their homework and Hernandez was kept very quiet compared to Wednesday, as was Lewis. I was really pleased to see that Thompson had a good game, though I would have liked to see Godfrey come on as one of the subs and hope he is in the starting 11 for the game against Cardiff tomorrow night.
IMO, Krul is not performing at his best and I wonder if not giving Matthews his chance could become a significant error – though I don’t believe any of the ‘promising GKs’ that have left, have been anything better than mediocre.
I’ve seen elsewhere that they would love to see the likes of ‘Colin’, Pullis or Big Sam as manager instead of having a Sporting Director/Head Coach – I’m sorry, but if that ever happened, I think my days of going to CR would be over. #timewilltell
Well sgn, you’re right I recall most of us wanting a change…..what i don’t recall is fans wanting a German manager from a reserve side who had never managed in the UK let alone the very demanding Championship,also I don’t recall anyone saying what we need to to do is bring in loads of cheap foreign players who have never played in this country,players who have not made it at various clubs and for different reasons were deemed not that good. This is the path that Webber has taken us down,so you’re dig at fans who are not happy with the current situation is not at all accurate
why is it wrong to have moan ? Even elements of the media are starting hint at the same things.Only losing access to interviews is what is stopping them going full blown.
Farke is on his second season and looks like last season all over agai butn, with no Maddison to get points this time. Yet the Leeds manager has had but few weeks and has turned his players round.
where was this manager when we needed one!? Instead we go second level from germany
becasue it worked at one club previously
People pay their an have the right speak their views same you
Your comments stand out like a sour thumb in a forum of reasoned argument, the only thing to your credit is that you managed to spell Hughton correctly. Anyway to answer your questions:
1 No I do not remember us all asking for revolution after Neil left, I don’t think many people did ask for one
2 We did not have a £30m black hole to plug 15 months ago, it was made clear in the AGMs of 2016 and 2017 that we would not have to plug the hole until this season so the target had to be promotion last season which would have avoided the need for filling any black hole. The club made the assumption that promotion would not happen and planned accordingly
3 We will not know how successful we have been in plugging this gap until AGM 2019 when this season’s accounts are published. The longer term view will have to wait until AGM 2020 when the legacy wages are all cleared and we can see whether we break even before player trading and how good that team is
4 Klose was a good buy in the PL unfortunately he was injured at Palace (he even tried to return to finish the fixture but was out long term). I suspect with him we would not have lost that match or the match v Sunderland and in all likelihood stayed up at least for one more year with associated income and double the parachute money. We had the money in the PL and parachute years to afford the wages that cause so much fuss
5 I can’t agree that the squad is better than last season, Gunn and Madddison are major losses for a start. I think the squad is equipped to stay up and possibly make the top half but I said that about the squad relegated to League One
6 Yes we did play some good stuff against Leeds for 20 minutes. The difference between contenders and also rans is contenders keep that up and even win when they are not firing
7 Again where do you find the evidence for the claim that we all wanted mid-table championship football?
8 Have you looked at the accounts for other Championship clubs to work out their playing budgets? I have and unless we have found some unexpected income or found some efficiencies (refer back to point 3) we appear to have one of the smaller budgets in the league
9 In the old days we used to hear of teams rebuilding, that is probably better than transition as it suggests a positive change but don’t you think the transition is virtually complete? We will be a team with high player turnover on an annual basis as we need to sell to survive (as per Webber at Fan Forum when he said we need to sell just not a £20m every year)
I am not sure what the purpose of your post was apart from wanting to have a dig at fans of the club or whether you have an agenda. Should your anonymous tag be SGITFC? It sounds like it to me
I find your post slightly offensive sg let me put this to you :- against Preston your team is playing really badly your defensive midfielder is having a nightmare do you not make a change? Against Leeds you are two nil down defending is poor and you are going nowhere. Do you not make a change? Any manager/coach worthy of the name would! The sign of good management is to recognise a mistake and put it right and Webber needs to do it quickly. I repeat what I have said before this is a squad capable of top six if managed well. Don’t point fingers all opinions are welcome here!
Just seen that Harrison Reed has signed for Blackburn.
Sums up our current predicament!
I think it is a money factor involved possibly Southampton wanted a bigger loan fee from city after he was here all last season and probably expect city to try and buy him.
We are after some one from Fulham with a little championship experience over the kadt couple of years I personally would like city to try for Bradley Johnson at Derby but again its money.
Jeez!
Hi Martin was the Jeez for the mention of Bradley J lol
No it was for Harry Reed going to Blackburn – as I guess you know:-)
No passion no committment, school boy errors which, no really worthy professional should make. It’s pathetic, it’s a mentality thing, they seem beaten before they go on the pitch! When I crossed the white line to play I regarded it as a war,and losing was the last thing on my mind, They need to dig in and fight not wave the white flag so easy which appears to be the mentality of Delia the board and the rest of the Muppets running the club at the MO! Apart from that all is ok with the world. OTBC.
What a depressingly good read; ’nuff said!!
O T B C
4 wins out of the last 21 matches in the Championship has left most fans disillusioned. However much you put a positive spin on each result, this record is toxic when it comes to reassuring the paying fans that there is something to get exited about. I can’t imagine that there are many clubs in the Championship who would still have their manager in place with such a record. Perhaps slipping into the bottom 3 will prove the jolt that Webber et al need to take action to remove Farke as he is clearly not motivating or organising the team to win enough matches.
Four wins in twenty one games would not be acceptable in any other club and is definitely not progress. It beggars belief that some fans think we are improving.
As I think I may have mentioned before, I haven´t the foggiest idea why on earth Farke was appointed in the first place, we might just as well have reappointed Neil Adams ( his CV was at least as good as Farkes), we´d certainly have done no worse. Expecting a reserve team coach in Bundesliga 2 to come over here and take the Club by the scruff of the neck, was ludicrously optimistic, foolhardy and verging on irresponsible, on Webber´s side. Surely by now, he too must be able to see that it was a mistake. Just what he´s planning to do about it though, lord knows, but something needs to be done, or I seriously fear we will be fumbling around (or in) the relegation zone for much of the season.
League 1, when we were last there, was not much fun, despite winning plenty of games. If we should go back there again with this lot, I can see it being even less fun, with not necessarily an immediate return ticket, like last time.