At least it’s done now. But it did feel like death by a thousand cuts.
A slow, painful, inexorable slide back to whence we came, with not the merest hint of resistance.
These are difficult and surreal times – and of course, there are far more important things going on than our football team getting relegated – but regardless of the scenario, City had a chance of preserving their Premier League status. And blew it.
I’ll not try and re-write history though. You can’t when you write. It’s there for all to see.
Despite being a long-time questioner of Delia and Michael’s reluctance to share the club’s reins with someone, or something, who would bring more financial stability, around May time last year the model appeared to be working. The ambition (or lack of) argument ran a little thin.
Those fighting Delia and Michael’s corner had ammunition aplenty.
Self-financing under the auspices of Stuart Webber and under the coaching of Daniel Farke and his team saw us win the Championship with a swagger rarely seen in these parts. The squad was talented, young and hungry, and had a way of playing that was extremely easy on the eye.
Nothing not to like.
It felt like we were blazing the self-funding trail and doing it for the little guy. Others took note. Some scoffed. I suspect there may even have been a few CEOs shifting a little uncomfortably in their plush leather chairs at the prospect of little Norwich giving the Prem a good go without lavishing multi-millions.
Karren Brady was the first to blink. She called us out; said it couldn’t be done. Others piled in.
‘Cheeky b@stards – who the hell do think they are coming up from the Championship, thinking they can survive in the Premier League on a shoestring budget?’
Webber, in early close-season conversation, mentioned a figure of £20 million. He, quite rightly, didn’t elaborate on precisely what that figure pertained to, but most took it to be the transfer budget – the amount we would spend on transfer fees.
It sounded minuscule at the time. Brady and co scoffed (again). Others sniggered. It did sound very low though. Even by Norwich City standards.
But, as Mick Dennis explained in the week on this site, they did spend, just not on new, permanent signings.
Instead, it was used to fund expensive loan signings, who themselves come with fees and Premier League level wages, and vastly improved contracts for those who won the Championship. Some promising youngsters were also purchased.
But still we trusted them, just as we trusted in the model. On paper, those who arrived on loan made us stronger. But only on paper. Not on grass.
Ibrahim Amadou looked nailed on as a Tettey upgrade, Ralf Fährmann sounded ideal to either drive Tim Krul onto greater heights or replace him, and Patrick Roberts, according to Celtic fans, was the dog’s…
Those for whom the glass is half-full will argue that Krul’s fine form may have stemmed from Farhmann’s presence. They may have a point. But generally, Stuart Webber’s euro-vision returned a big, fat [*French accent*] nil points.
Last summer’s arrivals added nothing. No added value. No increase in quality. No new options. We essentially played the season with the squad that won the Championship – and we all know what happens when you use a second-tier squad in the ‘best league in the World’.
It played out as the pundits and Brady had predicted.
You have the occasional afternoon or evening when it clicks and when as a unit you perform over and above your expected level; when, as the saying goes, the whole becomes greater than its constituent parts. I give you Man City and Newcastle at home and Everton away.
And, because you’re a good Championship side and still have the momentum of a title win to fall back on, there are days when you play well and almost give your bigger, better, richer opponents a bloody nose. For those days read Tottenham (h & a), Arsenal (h), Liverpool (h), and Leicester (a).
There were others too. You don’t temporarily earn the title ‘the best side ever to be bottom of the Premier League’ without playing some eye-catching stuff.
And we did play some good football in the middle third of the pitch. Farkeball did bare its teeth but it lacked oomph. It was nice, pleasant, cute even, but my god it lacked oomph. And when it was challenged with muscle it creaked, sometimes crumbled.
Unsurprisingly, the same defensive unit that struggled for clean sheets in the Championship found them virtually impossible to come by in the Prem. Every opponent, however poor or out-of-form or downright shocking stood a chance against us. Every. Single. One.
Those who struggled to create clear-cut opportunities themselves would, if they could stay in the game and were patient enough, be gifted a goal. Often from a set piece – a horror that’s a hangover from the Championship – but not exclusively. We can be equally generous in open play.
Every day is Christmas day when you’re playing Norwich City’s Class of 2020.
And yet, prior to the COVID-19 enforced lockdown we still loved them and believed in them. We had that evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; that Friday night under the lights against Leicester, and Farke still believed.
All of the frailties mentioned above were still evident, but there was something going on that kept us all invested; a spark, a cheekiness, that meant, while still Santa-in-disguise, there was stuff going on that made us proud.
To coin another phrase, they had a little something about them. Even when the team’s only serious goalscorer stopped scoring goals, we still believed in them, even if we didn’t necessarily believe they had enough in the tank to limp to 17th.
But we cared not. We had a plan. This was merely a step en route and if that route meant we were relegated but went down swinging we’d just about be okay with that.
What happened between March 7 and June 19 needs no explanation. For most of that time football meant nothing, but when Project Restart gradually became Project Reality, we were left with nine games to save our season.
Farke spoke bullishly of our chances, citing a nine-game series that would be tackled head-on with a view to getting the four/five wins that could save us. He still believed it and, therefore, so did we.
It was odd. Football but not as we know it, and it had a pre-season feel, where some teams can hit the ground running and make hay while others feel their way into the new campaign.
We needed to be that team that came flying out of the blocks.
The restart had to work in our favour, didn’t it? A chance to reset; to shed some of the baggage that had slowed us down from Christmas onwards and an opportunity to further ingratiate the winter window signings in the new Norwich way.
A win against Southampton and it would be game on. Especially if those directly above us were to drop points. But, let’s be honest, from the moment Danny Ings pounced on that loose ball on the edge of City’s box and whistled it past Krul’s flailing right hand it was game over.
Since that moment, at no stage, hardly for a split-second, did any combination of XI players look remotely close to pulling off anything other than a disheartening slide back to the Championship.
At no point did they look like winning a game.
Rarely did they look like scoring a goal.
Always they looked fragile and vulnerable.
Other words that have been chucked around, and not just by me: gutless, insipid, weak, half-hearted, and distracted. All equally hard to contest.
And so it’s not relegation per se that’s so fuelled an agitated Yellow Army. That’s been coming for some time. But it’s the manner of relegation. The lack of fight. The absence of heart.
Where once there were yellow corner flags…
I’m positive this is not the case, but it felt (or feels) as if without a Carrow Road crowd or a vocal away following there to remind the players to give a $hit, they haven’t.
I mean, I know they do, and as others have reminded me, from afar, a debilitating lack of confidence can be easily confused for a lack of effort but, whatever the reason, with the prize so huge, the paucity of performance has been alarming.
I’ll not delve again into the stats but I guarantee whichever one you choose will be damning. Take your pick.
Yet, there will be those who remind me – in the comments here and on Twitter – that I’m being over-critical; that I should take a step back, appreciate what we have, and be grateful.
And I am. I appreciate we still have a club to support and that others have it far worse. I get that. I even still love the plan – to a point. But I don’t want to be looking two seasons hence in perpetuity. For once, I would love this club to grasp the here and now.
To go into the Premier League and know the odds are stacked against us is one thing; to do so and not give ourselves a fighting chance of staying is another.
Injuries haven’t helped of course and multiple things – not all within the club’s control – have gone awry, but to meekly accept that we’re Norwich City and these things happen feels wrong. Three Premier League relegations in seven seasons isn’t something to be proud of.
One day, just maybe, these invitations to dine at the top table will cease.
Excellent piece. Spot on 👍🏻
I don’t buy into the ‘we were doomed to failure’ mantra that Farke and others have used in their defence. If we had a 5% chance of staying up then surely Sheffield United’s and Villa’s chances were less in May 2019? I think Sheffield Utd and Villa had more potential to improve, partly due to finances, and partly due to their team’s relative stage of development and style of play – we were peaking in our performance for much of last season in getting promoted – and it has been interesting that the only players where you could say they have been better this season were Krul, Tettey and Cantwell whilst many others have seemed worse. I think the problem has been the inflexible dogma that Farke has adopted – maybe prompted by the perceived abilities of the squad he had available – but I think that dogma meant possession football, dimunitive and high-positioned full-backs, open season for the opposition on the counter, sole reliance on the striker to score most of the goals, slow build up play, reluctance to cross etc. We did not prepare for the season in a way that would recognise the benefits of height and strength (Roberts). Of course, the other promoted teams threw around lots of money but as Villa have shown that is not enough to guarantee survival. A more pragmatic, flexible approach, as Sheff Utd have shown, would have given us more of a fighting chance than the whimper we have put up.
And when you think that we had Rhodes in 2018/9, who was useful at both ends, the failure to pursue him (£1-7m?) meant that in many ways we actually had a worse squad in 2019/20.
And apologies to Zimmermann who was immense this season and last season if he hadn’t got crocked by Haller and subsequently injured again I seriously think we would have stayed up and our season completely different. I would be very happy if we bought another Zimmermann if there is one out there.
Hi Gary, absolutely spot on as usual! I was on board for using the youth academy and have really enjoyed seeing the lads come through. Daniel Farke has done a good job bringing them in and helping them develop. However that is where it stops for me! For a man who appears to be pragmatic tell us how well we did with statistical analysis when we lose, he clearly cannot sort out the basics.
When the transfer window closed in January I knew we were relegated. For half a season we had used a defensive system that didn’t work.
Why would you not loan in or buy another defender? Especially when most were injured?
Why would you not try a different system? To try a different system doesn’t cost a penny and as group of professional footballers not to be able to mark opposing players is embarrassing!
We also had the late substitutions? Pointless!
Bringing on forwards with 3 minutes to go? Most would have seen it as time wasting, not to go and try and salvage a point?
60 minutes we looked good most days, in the last 30 we lost the game. In my opinion players didn’t look fit enough?
While the current situation has not helped our players looked like they had been on holiday and been on the beer while other prem teams looked like they had been training as athletes should?
We have treated the last few games as training matches, why not try more youngsters? Nothing to lose?
The additions to the team were pointless, if you are going to bring people in they need to better than what you already have?
We struggled to score goals, Duda and Rupp were not renowned for scoring goals from midfield. Todd Cantwell played best as a number 10 and he could score! No let’s put him on the left wing?
This year has been an utter failure from the top brass downwards. When making a statement at the start of the season like Stuart webber did it screamed Lacklustre and that is what we have had!
100% Agree!!
Excellent post (and good piece Gary)
Very good read Gary and if any thing you’ve been very kind about our owners lamentable performance.
The self funding model has been found out during this most embarrassing season.. Somebody, for the long term future of the club, needs to convince our delusional owner that it is time to go and that doesn’t mean handing over to Tom!
We’ve been very lucky to gain promotion three times in the last ten years and every time we’ve failed to establish ourselves in the premiership due to Delia’s inability to provide sufficient investment. How many times does the club have to bang its head against a brick wall before it hurts?
If we fail to gain promotion before the parachute payments stop we will end up with a huge hole in our finances that can’t be covered by our owners. This will inevitably involve dropping down the leagues.
Fans should stop blaming Webber, Farke or the players and focus their dissatisfaction on the real problem, ownership and lack of investment.
Great article, Gary, especially for this sobering morning after. It feels grim to be here again and so soon. Recruitment has fallen extremely short this season, with loan signings unsurprisingly failing to commit to a difficult cause (the brilliant Harrison Reed being one earlier exception to this familiar story imo). For this, Webber owes us an explanation which I look forward to. I also can’t help but feel the mood changed when our Sporting Director said he wouldn’t be around forever and had other ambitions. If I recall this was around Burnley (a)? Whilst open and honest, how can it be ok for him to paint such a picture for himself whilst using hardball language in relation to the squad, insisting players will have to stay until he permits their release?
To be fair he was just saying he would fulfil his contract. So should the players who just took substantial rises in return for a longer stay. No mixed messages there.
Well done for managing to keep the curse quota to one Gary!
Only three more shellackings to write about, then it’s time for cricket! Oh dear.
I believe yesterday we racked up one or two more club records in our nosedive to the sewers. The manner and regularity of these defeats has all but eroded the fund of goodwill earned by Farke and Webber for their accomplishments last term. I’m now firmly in the camp that wouldn’t mind if I never saw them again.
Not withstanding the plain fact that the finger should be pointed firmly in another direction for relegation, the manner of the relegation could have, indeed should have been managed much better. To be carried out on our collective shields rather than excreted from the league in such alarming fashion.
Gutless, clueless, toothless, slow, lacking in effort, just plain awful. Not content with losing the rudimentary basics of playing effective football, such as controlling the ball, marking opponents, challenging, shooting etc. We appear to have abandoned breaking into a run, jumping off the ground, watching the game and concentrating on the 90 minutes as if we had a semblance of professional pride. Disgusting.
Doubtless, mick Dennis will attempt to further mitigate this humiliation with more evidence of early and unnecessary repayment of monies owed, the recruitment of Scottish teenagers and much heralded charity donations. None of which incidentally, has diddly bloody squat to do with producing an effective football team for the here and now to produce a credible performance for the league it finds itself playing in.
Of course, most of us know only too well that this moment was planned for, budgeted to and accepted exactly 12 months ago in the corridors of power at carrow road, or else a breakfast table somewhere in Suffolk.
The only fly in their little pot of ointment today is the SEVERITY of the demise of yet another season of opportunity. The plan only allowed for an heroic failure.
The performances have been awful since the restart. Farke and Weber need to take responsibility for that and make sure we can not be so easily slapped around in the future. The negative body language and lack of fight is not acceptable.
Having said that, I do think Farke deserves another season. Some of the players are likely to be permanently scarred from some of these beatings, and need to move on. Getting back some of the magic from last season is going to be a tall order after such a dismal decline, and we will need a group of players who are totally committed to the cause.
How can you blame Farke and Webber when they were handed £750,000 to compete in the premiership?
There is only one person to blame for this mess, Delia!
I think we also have to consider that Farke could be permanently scarred by some of the beatings. It happened with Neil and it could be argued it happened with Worthington. Hopefully next season we are like Fulham rather than Huddersfield
As we know, dining at the top table is not something our majority shareholders are particularly interested in. There distain for it is well known. And sadly, a certain section of our fanbase who accept failure as normality. I suggest they visit a psychotherapist.
Norwich City is like a young child who has been invited to dinner with the ‘grown-ups’. At first it is very appealing, being with the adults.. Until however, the child realises that adults don’t generally behave in the way children do, so the child no longer likes being there and makes every effort to go back to the comfort zone of their bed.
This has been an absolute sham of a season, and few come out with any credit.
We have seen the failure of the manager.
We have seen the failure of recruitment.
We have seen the failure of the players
But most of all, we have seen the failure of the majority shareholders to take this league seriously.
We will now see several players who do take their careers seriously to remove themselves from arguably the most unambitious club in football. The club will argue they do not have to sell., but because of their attitude, they will have no choice.
Would you then be confident that Webber can recruit successfully?
Norwich City have showed time and time again that they do not wish to stay in the Premier League and the players must that. Our promotions have kept the club afloat and the parochial vision that Delia & Michael aspire to, but that vision has absolutely no place in modern football.
There is a utter hopelessness about the situation. Things will have to get worse, much worse, before they can get better, because again and again, the club flatters to deceive.
I for one, am sick of it.
I see it more as the attitude of someone who has a well paid job but would rather be out partying. They begrudge the job but at times realise that it pays for the party lifestyle. Every time they lose their job they get a redundancy payment (parachute money) but have to find a new job before that runs out as they can’t live on benefits. This time they sold their car as it took a bit longer to get a new job but one day the luck will run out and the party stops
A great piece Gary – sums up most of what I think about this season. Thank you for last season – glorious and memorable.
Why couldn’t we see that we needed to boost a defence that had leaked 56 goals? Since lockdown it has been dreadful. (yes before then, we didn’t seem to get the rub of the green and injuries haven’t helped). Tettey and Krul seem to be the only leaders on the pitch and most of the rest seem to have given up.
We must all be sick of conceding from dead ball situations and watching our backs bomb up the pitch lose possession and we concede to a sucker punch in 5 seconds or less where our defence is outnumbered. It’s not only naive but stupid.
It’s the second time we’ve been told that we’ve reached the PL ‘ahead of the plan’ and done little to ensure that we stayed there.
This line is the most damning: ‘To go into the Premier League and know the odds are stacked against us is one thing; to do so and not give ourselves a fighting chance of staying is another.’ This is what gets me.
I just hope that Farke can pull it all back together again
Rio Ferdinand summed the situation up perfectly on TV “ You must be able to change your system when it is not working. You need plan B. “ Farke is a one trick pony where tactics are concerned. Concerned is what I am if he remains.
That is a perfect summing up Gary of this shambles of a season,the club are taking the supporters for fools …..oh for the teams of Paul Lambert and their passion,commitment,exciting,entertaining and winning football
Isn’t that what we had last season?
What’s that got to do with it? Same players as last year. Pathetic effort from Farke,Webber and the whole team apart from Krul and Tettey….at least Lambos teams tried in every league no matter how much better the opposition were and imo were more exciting to watch (including last year)
Norwich were amazing last season.
Great piece Gary.
Terrible day yesterday and as you say a death by a hundred cuts could get even worse Chelsea and Manchester City away !!!
The reasons for our decline, injuries, awful preseason recruitment, a lack of physicality, a definite lack of pace and an over-reliance on players with poor injury records.
The debate about Delia and self funding will go on and on, as it should, but as I said before her going is no guarantee of success.
I wonder after watching the team during project restart if the club truly believed football was coming back and we prepared for it properly.
We looked all over the place against Southampton second half, nowhere near as fit as Southampton.
What makes this so disappointing is under Farke when we’re in the championship we always gave a hell of a performance against then Premier League clubs in the cups, think of Cardiff, Bournemouth, Arsenal and Chelsea in 2 games.
This absolute surrender has been dreadful to watch, and you just wonder if during the lockdown a few players had their minds taken away from Carrow Road by great contracts elsewhere.
Good comment Tim.
The mindset appeared very different post-lockdown. Something happened. Maybe that something, as you suggest, was a few having their heads turned toward some grass that was lusher and greener. Only maybe.
Indeed Gary, and I think Todd Cantwell’s situation is the worst kept “secret” in the city.
I just hope he and 2 others is the maximum we let go, otherwise poor Daniel is starting from scratch again.
And lets not forget that with our income in the Championship, when all the parachute money has gone, we will need to find a player sale of £20-£30 million every season just to break even unless massive savings are made elsewhere.
Not aware of anything about Todd apart from the fact that some teams will look at him. The thing I’ve noticed is not that players who could be moving elsewhere are less committed, it is the players who are likely to be here next season that seem to have lost some bite. Maybe they are aware that the next season will start late August and they are looking to avoid injury.
A terrific article with some outstanding comments and as Chris says [above] well done for using just the solitary expletive.
I actually put four in mine for tomorrow but reduced it two after a re-read. Having read this morning’s comments I wish I’d put six in 🙂
But if this is true then we did stand a chance of staying up. Otherwise the performance since the lockdown would not have mattered.
Spot on Mr G, cannot add a great deal. to that. Only how many more of these failures do the money paying fans of this club have to put up with ? Relegations in 2004/2005, 2013/2014 and 2015/2016 and 2019/2020. under Smith & Jones. This has so many similarities to Worthington attempt., ending up at mega embarrassing day at Craven Cottage.
If people cannot see the pattern they need to visit specsavers, their way of running this club doesn’t work, it hasn’t and never will. Yet this couple plough on sticking plasters over the cracks by employing different, CEO’s /Sporting director and managers/coaches. And here we are once again lessons never seem to be learned.
Yes I know people will shout how she saved the club, but that is a long while ago and credit for that must be wearing thin. To compete at the top table money is needed, it cannot be done on a shoe string, clubs will probably never get near the top clubs but several do a decent job of staying there. Except Norwich. Bournemouth have had a good go at it, but looks like they will be joining us., eventually it catches clubs out.
I am not talking of chucking millions at it, a look at Fulham and Villa will show that idea is pretty bad management. I am sure a modest budget of 30-35 million would be the area., that can buy a few decent quality players.
I cannot see it happening in my lifetime (in my 60’s now) until new people take the reign it cannot go along with the notions: be careful what you wish for, better the devil you know. How on earth will anyone ever know what can happen, when it is a closed shop ? Every dog has it’s day and our two have had theirs.
Farke had an offer to return home in January, Stuggart I was informed, but either he turned it down or was stopped on contractual reasons. We will never know. But his resolve must be stretched facing another season of no funding.
The problem is that another £30m spent on transfers buys very little in the key positions we required. Not 2or 3, hardly one!
We have to grow organically.
Hopefully the next crop of Webber’s purchasers will enhance our prospects long term.
Trouble is Nick, this system is flawed! With every new recruitment means new players with no prem experience. This plan is like groundhog day and with every year out of the prem the financial gap gets bigger.
Years ago Norwich used to get in experienced players at the end of their tenure which helped young academy players develop. Without any investment
all you will have is the same rudderless ship which we have now.
Fantastic article as always Gary dissecting our fall from grace from the incredible highs and hopes of May 2019 to the lows of today.
The canary nation on social media and in our hearts is experiencing anger, pain and bitterness at the toothless capitulation over the last 6 games mixed with a sense of alienation from having to watch It socially distanced from afar and boy is football played out in empty stadiums a joyless, dull affair.
The juxtaposition of us and Sheffield United also rankles because it shows it could /should have been far better. The mistake are glaring: The signings both last Summer and in January were poor, too many of our championship heroes have also been shown to have clay feet exposed by faster, stronger/ taller and more experienced opponents And Farkeball is tactically too one dimensional. With hindsight it was naive to try to play like Barcelona in their heyday with a squad of young potential and journeymen.
Once the wounds have been licked and the dust settles the question for here and now changes to “how do we get promoted at the first attempt to dine at the top table?”
Bouncing back seems more difficult Stoke, Hull, Huddersfield have struggled to avoid doing a Sunderland and having parachute money in Division 1 whilst West Brom, Cardiff, Swansea and Fulham are competing at the top end only one or two will make it back this year.
Confidence is low, players heads will have been turned by agents and C19 has created extra uncertainty
My 4 point plan:
1. Get the signings right – the squad needs an overhaul and a refresh – we have too many similar players we need different options in height and pace – we also need strengthening in several areas – it’s a buyers market – we should be able to raid other clubs for their better players because cubs are desperate for money
2 Be judicious in the outgoings – some like Leitner and Trybull have passed their sell by date – it’s the mistake we made under Worthington and Alex Neill
3 Get top dollar for some of our “young stars“ which is going to difficult given the market under C19 and some of our/ their poor recent performances.
4 Just as importantly Deciding which and how many of our stars to let go out of Cantwell, Buendia, Godfrey, Aaron’s, Lewis, Pukki – anyone is replaceable but too many changes and the squad will take too long to gel
In Webber we hopefully trust
Excellent Gary. If only our team was as good as the team on MFW !
After the restart there was a slim chance that if we got our act together we could be in with a shout of pulling off Farke’s “minor miracle”. But the team didn’t even get into first gear. That’s what really sticks in my craw. While other teams seemed up for the fight all our usual frailties were in evidence from the off. To have gone down without so much as a fight is unforgivable. When l read that x could go for many £ms and y could go for even more l have to remind myself that these players were part of a relegated team with some of the worst recorded statistics. It’s a crazy football world.
As to next season, l think Farke deserves another crack at promotion and l trust everyone at the club takes a long hard look at this season’s failings and learns the lessons. I accept lack of investment played a part but our recruitment was also poor. While we were rightly praised for winning the Championship last season dare l say that Sheffield United under Wilder have shown how to make the step up. Not sure how much they spent – more than us but far less than Villa.
Sheffield United under Wilder, reminds me of NCFC under Lambert and his first season in the Premier League.
Hi Gary
An entertaining read and great follow up comments.
A few days ago I listed a Mantra for relegation by the powers that be and not one was a positive about staying in the this league yet the optimist in me hoped that it was wrong but the pessimist kept coming back and laughing saying you bloody fool get real for once.
To be a self funding club you need a much greater income than city has and the owner waving a flag saying it can be done shows a lack of real financial knowledge as they are relying on money from the league and selling players to fill gaps.
I once read that city needs to survive as a self financing club a ground capacity of 35K yet each time the subject of increasing the ground we are told it is to expensive and will look at it in a couple of years, that no longer washes as in that period all the clubs expenses increase and the cost of building work increases so 5 years ago it would have cost £20m now it will cost £30m false economics.
Robert Chase over saw the rebuild of the city stand and really should have put in an upper level but was he clever to make sure the foundations were in place to put an level in at some time all builder like to save on future work so I would presume he foresaw further expansion and did the work.
Supporters like to spend owners money on speculation of players to the club we are different we speculate on players leaving.
It is time for a change even is the Smith’s are given a life Presidency and free family box for their hangers on but city need investment.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Keep safe and well
Yes, a top layer could be added to the City stand but it wouldn’t hold many more – I think the plan is to tear it down and start from scratch. The hotel is, I think an embarassment. Regarding ground expansion we are in a circle of ‘it probably won’t happen’ – a 35,000 ground would probably not be full in the championship but would almost definitely be full in the PL. The club probably wouldn’t consider expanding it until we’ve had at least 2 or 3 successive seasons in the PL. One possible way of raising at least some money towards a new stand would be another Canary bond – the one for the academy sold out in no time.
Hi Paul
It is a strange on in reality it keeps get mentioned by the club as a tease to the supporters then withdrawn due to the costs, Spurs borrowed £650m for the whole new ground at very low interest rates over a number of years then renegotiated them with lower rates still.
Your idea is a good one but why not go the route of a ground sponsor for naming rights and city even in the Championship should beable to get £5/6m a year for ten years that would cover the rebuild with some to spare
Gary,
You’ve lost/forgotten a piece of the jigsaw; Byram has added to what we had – both on the pitch and in value.
Some think the vultures will be circling for our young defenders. If we can get good money, let them go, we need better next time in the PL. If they remain, they’ll get better. Still think we need a couple of higher quality central defenders. Up front if Dr Mick hasn’t done much by January I’d shift him off the pastures anew..
Yes, we’ve been relegated more than any other team from the PL, the upside is we’ve had the ability to be promoted more than anyone else – just remember that.
Enjoy your summer. Roll on next season!
Very good point, Andrew. You’re absolutely right. Byram has indeed added value, and I should have mentioned that.
Of course we are all very disappointed this morning but some of the comments on here border on the hysterical.
I don’t recall many doubters at the start of the season as to the plan. The signings looked good but they didn’t work out, that can happen. We are all pleased that last season’s players had been rewarded but some, unfortunately, found the Premier League a step too far. Again, that can happen.
What really concerns me is what happened during Lockdown. Prior to that, we were in decent form. Beating Leicester, knocking Spurs out of the Cup and a narrow defeat away at Sheffield United and better teams than us have done that too.
Since the restart, we have looked a very pale imitation of what we know this team can produce. As Gary says in an earlier reply – something happened.
And the real shame is that we were really not that far away, points wise at least.
Exactly. This was not an inevitability before the lockdown.
When you have other managers openly admitting that they are speaking to players agents to see if the player is interested in moving to their club the league has to step in, Tapping up only means you can’t take to a player without the clubs consent but it should cover the agents as well but that will be difficult to control with similar agents representing managers as well
The clue’s in the name. If Sheff Utd and NCFC’s league positions were reversed, do you think Sheff Utd would be folding so flimsily? I was surprised when Chris Wilder got the nod over Farke in the manager of the year last year (his mate Diamond Dave Beasant was on the committee, I understand), but it’s starting to look like an accurate assessment of ability. Confidence for next season? 3%..
Gary, as usual an excellent summary with good points on what has turned out to be a very disappointing end to the season. However maybe we need to throw those rose coloured spectacles we all donned at the end of last season and the beginning of this. In the cold light of day the league doesn’t lie; we are the worst team with the worst defence and poorest scorers when you compare us with every other high table diner.
If you could pin messrs Farke and Weber again the Colney wall I feel sure they will reflect on their inability to source and sign excellent C/Bs – experience leaders on and off the pitch before a ball had been kicked. I am reminded of the words of the late Jack Charlton – “I can’t play football but I know how to stop others!” We could have done with someone with that mentality. Added to which to lose those we did have only made matters worse. Defenders from second tier football are always going to be chancey and you have to rely on a generous portion of luck going up against quality premiership forwards with goal scoring records we can only marvel at.
So all in all it’s time for a generous portion of reality pie. Get back to Championship football, find some quality defenders and leaders and give it another good go and dream again. Remember we could still be a Stoke, Middlesbrough, Huddersfield, Sunderland or even worse Ipswich!!
Together we are stronger.
Would anyone want Ayala back he was never given a chance and niw a free agent also Whatmore from Sunderland been injury prone due to 2 ACL but has potential and is 23 years of age so buy Mumba and get Whatmore free
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned but, at least we have got to the ,ahem , promised land on several occasions.There are several clubs , many some would call bigger and more deserving than us , that haven’t got there , or only spent one season there with the ignominy of never repeating it .
I agree with all of the dissection of this disappointing season,
But several things need to be addressed urgently .
Why do we insist on two , so called defensive midfielders , it hasn’t worked in any way , McLean is too lightweight and at times indecisive,
When opposition have a corner / free kick , why do we insist on pulling everyone back , if we do win the ball we are under pressure immediately as there is no outlet .
If we sign loan players , they have to be fit for purpose , how much money has been wasted this season on the likes of , Roberts , Amadou , Duda etc etc .
Why can we no longer play for 90 mins ? , we look tired and lethargic , last season we could compete in every match . I’m only questioning fitness here .
Everyone goes on about our ‘team’ being the same players , ostensibly, as last season, look at Sheffield Utd , the bulk of there team is and remains the same. I know they spent money on two or three additional players .
But the worst thing for me is the players have shown no passion, commitment or even effort, that is unacceptable and outrageous. Where has personal pride gone ?
It’s a good job carrow strasse was empty yesterday, the atmosphere, if any would have been hostile to say the least .
Championship here we come , hopefully dust ourselves down , ruminate and go again .
It is not nailed on that team can get any where near the heroics of the previous season , but I hope they prove me wrong .
OTBC
Good summary Gary and as I type there are about 30 responses already. A crap performance, or in this case the season ending, always gets your response numbers up !!
I agree with plenty that have commented before me.
Lack of investment, meant some safe at best 3 or 4 failed signings, Byram excused.
Same tactics throughout. Reluctance to substitute before say 70 mins, okay may not have changed much but would have been nice to feel that Farke is trying to change it at the very least. A squad mainly of light to medium build physique easily brushed aside.
Back to Saturday’s / Tuesday’s and presumably some earlier rounds of those low key cup competitions. Maybe no VAR is a plus !
Hope to watch Idah, Martin and others given a go in the final few games.
Even give McGovern a go before he departs !
I don’t think anyone disagrees that having another go at the Premier League without investment is pointless – that theory has certainly gone up in smoke and Ms Brady and others were clearly correct – but for every Rio Ferdinand saying we must have a Plan B there is someone else saying how great it is that we stick with our way of playing and with our manager.
Do people really believe that there is a benevolent billionaire out there who wants to buy Norwich City? We have proven over 10 years that even without investment we can get to the EPL – 3 times. No reason we can’t do it again. So why are the billionaires not queueing up? Could it be that they don’t exist, or if they do, that they don’t want to be part of Norwich City?
Where are the Chinese/Russian/Thai/Vietnamese/American/Italian/Portuguese entrepreneurs who want to turn us into the next Wolves or Leicester?
And if they don’t exist – do you still want the current owners to sell, and if so who to?
I haven’t said in the piece they should sell to “a benevolent billionaire out there who wants to buy Norwich City” or a ” Chinese/Russian/Thai/Vietnamese/American/Italian/Portuguese entrepreneur”.
But surely there’s nothing wrong with exploring the options and the possibility of acquiring funding from external sources?
To sell any business you need three things;
a willing buyer, a willing seller and a sensible price.
If one, or two, of the three is missing, the status quo is maintained….
Gary
The big problem with that is a very simple one the Smith’s should prove to one and all that no one is interested by going to the markets and see what come up, not just doing a TV interview on Sky and saying not for sale when asked if she was looking for investment.