So, here we go then. Almost time.
Belt up, clench those buttocks and hold on for dear life. We know this one is going to get hairy – probably from the word go.
But the measured, philosophical approach of Messrs Farke and Webber needs to seep beyond the psyche of the players and staff and into the hearts and minds of the fans too.
We, folks, will be on the wrong end of a shellacking or three this season – it’s a given – but it’s how we react to these, rather than the shellackings themselves that will define our season.
And I’ll be honest, from a fans’ perspective the signs are not too promising. The 4-1 home defeat by Atlanta stirred up some online angst that had clearly been suppressed over the course of the glorious 2018/19. So too, come to that, did the news that Grant Hanley starts tonight at Anfield.
Those who had been making the noise over the first six games of last season were afforded, by Atlanta’s win, the oxygen of which they had been starved, and wasted no time in making it count. And it that’s what can occur off the back of a friendly, I dread to think what may reveal itself when there are league points at stake.
Thankfully, some peace was restored thanks to the impressive performance, if not result, against Toulouse, so at least we head to opening night with a modicum of calm and a whole lot of positivity. Just how we like it.
Quite what the mood will be like at 10pm tonight, nobody knows at the moment, but for all the fine preparatory work done off the field by sporting director and head coach, we have to be realistic about the task that awaits.
They’re European Champions (they may have mentioned it), they haven’t lost at Anfield in the league since May 2017 and have this season’s Premier League title in their sights. As footballing challenges come, they don’t come much bigger.
But here’s the thing… in seasons gone by, we’d have been filled full of dread and fear. We’d have headed to Merseyside with thoughts of ‘how many’ and with talk of containment. This time around the chests will be puffed out, the minds will be clear and there’ll be no Luis Suarez in a red shirt.
And while no-one is under any illusions around the magnitude of the task, there will be no-one in today’s matchday squad scarred by Anfield beastings of the recent past – which in itself is huge.
Of course, human nature will kick in and it’s perfectly normal to recognise Anfield for the footballing theatre it is, for its history and the fact the European Champions are lining up opposite, but there’ll be no awe. Those who’d have been happy to be there and who’d have admired the surroundings have no part to play in this iteration of Norwich City.
Instead, those handed the shirt later will see it as both an honour and a privilege to be representing this club – no sense of entitlement, no sense of disconnect with those who support them, but a desire and hunger to do well for themselves, their coach, their teammates, their owners and their supporters.
There’ll be none of half-heartedness of Anfield defeats of the past, there’ll be no white flags and, despite what Charlie Nicholas may think, there’ll be parking of the bus on our 18-yard-line.
This is a version of Norwich City to be immensely proud of, one that does it the right way, a group of players and staff who are probably the most likeable and relatable any of us have ever encountered. And, to ignore the noise from pundits and ‘experts’, this is a good side, a side that contains talented, hungry players who have earned their chance to shine under the brightest lights.
Instead of the MSM glibly throwing out soundbites around the amount of money City haven’t spent, it may have been an idea – if money has to be the be-all and end-all of the Premier League – to instead look at the value of City’s existing squad.
While Villa and others were splashing out multi-millions on big-named strikers, we already have one in the house. While Manchester United were spunking £50 million on a right-back, we already have one who we think is just as good. Ditto left-backs, ditto creative attacking midfielders.
So, just because our spending has been modest compared to the 19 others, the assumption that our squad is, therefore, weak is a flawed one.
But, I’m shouting into a hurricane. They’ll not listen, they never do, which makes the prospect of rattling a few cages all the more appealing.
So, let’s do what Stuart says and ignore the noise. We know the road will be bumpy, we know there’ll be some heartache, but if we can somehow find a way to stick together in the dark moments, the good ones will be that much sweeter.
Never Mind the Danger…
Hi Gary. Completely Agree with all of that.
A Man Utd supporting friend of mine asked me this morning about what i thought of the fact Norwich had spent ‘only’ £1.1mil in the transfer market.
And my response – I told him I was delighted.
For the first time ever, following a promotion, I literally don’t care if we get relegated. I’m not saying I want us to, or that we will, or that’s what’ll happen. I simply mean I think we are in such fine fettle that it won’t matter if we go down.
A Liverpool supporting mate also asked me this morning how we will defend. Park the bus or play out? I told him we would play out. He was delighted as that’ll suit LFC – but I explained we were proud to stick to our principles.
We will, as you say, get thumped along the way – but it’ll be a lot more fun than watching Hughton or Neil’s iterations and I for one, can’t wait!
I’ll be up there tonight – let’s hope the return journey on the M5 isn’t too painful!
We’ve been in the Prem and the old 1st Division enough times to know what to expect, been there, done that, got the T shirt. Difference is this time we’re not relying on 2 or 3 quality players, we’ve got a squad of ‘em. We’re not going to roll over and play dead to the big boys and we’ll probably take a big scalp or two. Looking forward to seeing some quality football without the lads getting lumps kicked out of ‘em.
Spot on, Gary. The more I listen to the pundits, the more I love it, because it takes all the pressure away. Everyone, pretty much, is tipping us for the drop. The big thing that they can’t take into account is the team spirit and “never say die” attitude that Daniel Farke has instilled in this great YOUNG group of players.
BRING IT ON!!
OTBC
????????
I remember the win at Anfield with Jeremy Goss scoring and Andy Townsend scoring in 1989? And the famous Russell Martin goal to equalise. If City can dig in and not get blown away in the first half, City have sufficient quality to snatch a draw tonight. OTBC.
In this world where headlines and soundbites count for more than proper analysis it’s no surprise that the simplest thing for the media to hone in on is our apparent lack of spend on transfers. It’s not totally true – as someone pointed out there are believed to be promotion add-ons in some of the deals we have done in recent years. Compared to most though we have spent very little.
Nevertheless, if you go a bit deeper – as the excellent Guardian preview of our season did a few days ago – what’s really being said is that although we won the Championship, various factors suggest that there are serious weaknesses in the squad that need addressing. Nobody’s commenting on Watford’s low spend – but as they finished 11th last year their squad is presumably thought not to need major changes.
We apparently outperformed in front of goal, in terms of converting more chances than would be expected.we also scored a lot of late goals. Maybe that can still happen in the PL, we’ll see. I doubt if Temu Pukki has turned into Jamie Cureton overnight.
We also scored a lot of late goals. One reason must be that the way we played the ball around last year often tired chasing opponents out. The boot is likely to be on the other foot this year.
But above all we apparently lost possession more than any other club in the league. Yes, we had a lot of possession to lose. And no doubt some of that will have been a pass in the opponents final third being intercepted or going astray. Nevertheless we all saw with our own eyes that we were inclined to give the ball away carelessly in and around our own box.
So what the soundbites are really saying is that we haven’t done very much to tackle those issues. Of course, the late arrival of Amadou – which may yet prove the most significant bit of business we have done – slipped under the radar given all the attention on Lukaku, Luiz, Zaha etc. etc.
And that’s why most observers think we will struggle. I fear they may be right, but I really hope we can prove them wrong.
I know one thing for sure. If 10 years and a day ago someone had told me that today we would be starting our 5th season in the PL since THAT result I’d have thought they were mad.
Hi Keith
I totally agree with you about the Guardian article. It was really refreshing to read.
Suffice to say I too agree in entirety with GG’s article but if I expanded on my thoughts now I’d have a lot less to write about on MFW for Sunday or Monday!
And as for David Luiz pitching up at Arsenal, my mind’s still boggling on all six cylinders.
Great comment Keith, especially your final paragraph.
We’ve all been waiting for tonight since being crowned Champions. I can’t wait and for me we have a free hit tonight but will be proud to be a City fan whatever the score and at odds of 20/1 in a ‘two horse’ race I’m sorely tempted!
Great article Gary and I too was astounded by the vitriol following our defeat by Atlanta and the fact that GH will be alongside Godfrey in facing probably the most potent strike force in the PL with the meanest defence at the other end. Klose and Zimbo are injured – get over it folks.
Look what happened last season – Leitner got injured at Blackburn and once he was fully fit, played a handful of minutes as a sub!!!! I was pretty impressed with both him and GH in the friendlies.
I REALLY fancy us to score at LEAST one goal tonight and WHEN we do, I fully expect the ‘roof to come off’ every pub showing the game. Imo, I’m confident that we’ll give a good account of ourselves, even if we do start with one of our ‘shellackings’ that you mention.
Good point about Leitner, I thought he was one of our key players prior to his injury and has PL class and definitely adds something to the 11 players that played the majority of the last half of the season.
Got to agree Mr G, to hell with them, what have we got to lose, points lost against the bigger boys don’t worry or concern me in the slightest. If we slip up against the Palarse, Burnley, Brighton & the like I would have a few trips to the loo, to contemplate.
To hell with those pundits, ex-players that probably have not sat and watched us live, probably not even a video of a full game. They are not brave enough to have a go at managing, rather take easy money with their opinionated views. I have no time for them….. I wonder how many of them predicted Foolham would be ok?
I last went to Anfield, when Holty scored a bullet header in front of the Kop, a game I will not forget. Something similar tonight will be just fine, and perhaps, wipe some snide smiles off smug mugs.
If the worst happens, so what, I will not be losing any sleep.
You are spot on Gary. I still say we will finish 11th or so…building into the season with ever better performance. There will be some bad defeats no doubt. Atalanta surprised me i admit, it was a friendly, but i did not expect such scatter-gun incoherence which seemed like an opportunity wasted against appropriately sturdy opponents the like of which we will face weekly now. The link between the club and fans is great but it will be severely tested if it all goes Pete Tong. I just hope if that plays out there isn’t mad spending in January and Farke is retained. But i really believe we will surprise many and delight even more. Opportunity knocks…
UPDATE £10 on Norwich to win PL at 5000/1 with Ladbrokes. Spices up the season!
What is certain tonight is we will win,lose or draw if the match isn’t called off or abandoned. All we ask for as loyal supporters is that the team turns up and gives of their best.
Another certainty is that the talking heads will be sanctimonious.
The last certainty is that the keyboard warriors will be out in force spouting puerile drivel that no sane person should pay any attention too.
Other than that I am thoroughly looking forward to the trials and tribulations that this season will bring.
Just a footnote to the “fire sale” of promising talent last year and the year before – both Murphys are now back in the Championship, with Jacob having gone to Sheff Weds on loan. Pritchard of course is also back where he actually belongs, rather than where he believes he should be.
What did we get for those 3? Something like £25m? Not a bad bit of business as it turns out.
Places the Naismith disaster into context.
I was away for the Atalanta match (narrow window between start of school “Summer” holiday and start of season) so missed the game and reaction. A West Ham supporting friend watched it and commented on how much better Atalanta were but he does tend to judge from the result rather than play so took it with a pinch of salt and having seen brief highlights, the team, the substitutions and the timing of the goals I was probably right to do so. The usual suspects are out in force on Facebook dismissing anyone who thinks we will fail to win all 38 matches but realistically Liverpool away with key injuries in defence and CDM is not a day to judge. We have a tough start, like last year (3 defeats in first 5 matches all against teams who finished in top 4) but we performed better than expected from early September and kept that momentum through the season. We look ok and the additions have been the logical loan additions. If a team bought Aarons, Lewis, Buendia and Pukki to add to a bottom half PL team they would have been judged to have done good business and spent over £50m or even more if Bournemouth Reserve left backs go for £20m. We are a developing squad. I would sound caution to those who say relegation will not be a problem, for a self funding club it will always be a problem, the income in EFL is not enough to keep a club running without cash injections or parachute money. We need to build ourselves into a club that stays up or bounces back. We are in a good position but it is never going to be an easy ride. Leave the easy ride to clubs who can afford to have 17 years out of the top flight
It is interesting that the pundits are not valuing most of the players that have signed new contracts, which I hope have huge release clauses. What would it have cost to recruit our squad, many of whom have top flight experience albeit abroad. I would suggest, given their performances last season our squad, would have cost between £200 million and £250 million if we had had to buy them this summer. Probably more if you look at what Villa paid for Tyrone Mings.
There is that saying that you only value something if you pay for it. Free or cheap transfers must therefore mean the player is useless. Pukki disproved that. Buendia is going to be a world class player yet we got him on the cheap. Godfrey, Lewis and Aarons are worth a fortune.
Who cares what pundits think I would rather take Webber’s and Farke’s opinions on what we need.
I think we will get 40 points by mid April as we turn over teams at the bottom end of the league. I think the physicality of Amadou will add to our technical play. I just hope he has a good first touch and can pass accurately.
Otbc
Hi Gary
Another good read and fully agree with your views plus great replies.
Sky tonight will have a bais panel of pundits possibly all ex Loserpool players with blind faith that they can’t lose thus game.
Most ex city players doing Sky punditry have already written us of not only for this game but the season so much for a bit of locality.
At the start of each game everything is equal so both teams have a 50% chance of winning, we now have VAR thrown into the equation so all the so called big clubs getting more of the decisions going in there favor shouldn’t happen but pig can pig’s fly.
Farke should have plenty is credit in the bank no matter how city preform this season.
Let’s hope there are a few pennies in the bank for possibly 1 or 2 recruits to help the season along come Jan or maybe Webber can unearth a gem thst is on the free market that we can still sign.
Onwards and Upwards
OTBC
I can imagine the headlines if Norwich win….it won’t be “Brilliant Norwich defeat European Champions”. Rather we would get something like…”Below par Liverpool slip up with easy introduction to new season” The point is, win or lose, it will not be about Norwich…
Thanks Gary, and some great comments above.
Whatever happens, tonight for Norwich is a free hit.
According to 90% of the pundits we may as well not bother since we are already as good as back in the Championship for 2020/1. I was going to say that these are the same pundits who had us as (almost) relegation fodder 12 months ago….but of course thay are not since they only cover the rarefied atmosphere of the Premier League.
As so many have said, myself included, yes, there will be some days when we get a bit of a hiding. But I’m still very confident that following another superb Webber window, come next May there will be at least 3 teams below us. (And if one of those is Villa given their spending then so much the better).
Norwich and Norfolk have always been known for “doing different”. We did it last season, and there’s no reason to think it cannot be done again!!!!
O T B C