Thank God it’s over.
You only have to put up with my whining one more time.
I guess it was only fitting that five a half weeks of footballing torture should end with the biggest spanking of the lot. That we somehow ended up content that it was “only five” says everything about just how torturous it’s been.
Daniel Farke is understandably keen that once today’s debrief is done and dusted a line is drawn under the season, and from a players’ perspective that has to be the way. In an ideal world, there’d be a memory-zapper that could rid them of every memory of season 2019/20.
Come to think of it, that’d be pretty handy for the whole of the Canary Nation.
Name me a season that’s been more soul destroying.
I’ll wait.
Other than the obvious few highlights, it’s been excruciating and not all of it down to City’s poor performances and even poorer results.
The spectre of VAR has never gone away, forever hovering, awaiting its chance to rip away those moments of spontaneity and joy that are the very reason we love football so much.
And, of course, being Norwich City it’s screwed us over. Royally.
Somewhere out there is a table that shows teams’ net positions in terms of how they’ve benefited/been-shafted by VAR. I don’t even need to look at it to know City have suffered more than most as a result.
Teemu Pukki’s offside ‘goal’ at home against Tottenham was it at its peak, but there were plenty of others examples. That we came out on the wrong side more than most was as inevitable as Jamie Carragher doing co-comms on Liverpool games.
When it was first introduced, we naively thought it was a tool that would help iron out some of the perceived ‘big team bias’. But far from it.
Instead it’s just killed the game.
And this is not a direct dig at VAR because it ruled out Onel Hernandez’s early strike yesterday, however hard that was to take. If we must use VAR then that, I guess, was an example of it working properly.
That Man City then went down the other end and went 1-0 up courtesy of some Keystone Cops defending was about as Norwich City as you can get.
So, I’ll not miss VAR one bit.
Nor will I miss the general perception, mainly by national journos and broadcasters, of Norwich City being nothing but a blo0dy irritant. An afterthought. Something that warrants only lip service. “Little Norwich” seeping from every platitude.
They don’t like us. They don’t want us. We don’t fit the model.
Leeds however…
And you can bet your bottom dollar there weren’t too many tears shed in Premier League HQ when it was Watford and Bournemouth, rather than Aston Villa, who joined us.
It’s an analogy I overuse, but us being unwelcome guests at a posh party is the best I can come up with.
I’ll not miss that feeling.
But we’ve not helped ourselves either. In far too many ways we’ve fed the little Norwich narrative. We’ve acted like little Norwich. We’ve played like little Norwich. Our whole approach to this season has screamed Little Norwich.
I’ll not go over again, but if the owners genuinely believed the paltry sum Stuart Webber was asked to work with would make us Premier League ready they were very much mistaken. For me, they need to examine their own role in this rotten demise just as much as the management and players.
(I’ll ssshh before I get told off).
But, while Webber’s ignore-the-noise mantra was very wise as it’s transpired, it’d be unwise to ignore the wider perception that the club did very little to try and stay in the Premier League. Slaven Bilic’s damning aside when being asked of his close-season plans for West Brom is, I’m sure, reflective of the view from the outside.
And while it’s not strictly true, given the work that has gone on to future-proof the club, there is a case to argue that the long-term plan is being executed at the expense of the here and now.
Just because Premier League opportunities have been relatively plentiful over the last decade, there is nothing to suggest these are a given. Ask Leeds. Ask Ipswich. Ask Forest. Ask Wednesday.
Those clubs, of course, don’t have a Webber overseeing their footballing operations, but the magic dust he sprinkled over the 208/19 promotion campaign is not a never-ending supply. I just hoped he’s saved some for the 47 days he now has to get this bowed and beaten squad ready for another Championship campaign.
Some news faces will help freshen things up, but let’s not underestimate the effect this bruising campaign will have had on those who will still be around to try and repeat said feat of 2018/19.
It’ll take more than a few days in the sun to re-instil confidence and belief in a squad that has been through the ringer so may times it’s now become a mere shell of its former self.
Unrecognisable.
But, at least this is not a venture into the unknown, as the Premier League was for all but Tim Krul, Alex Tettey, Sam Byram and Timm Klose. The Championship is our terra firma and so at least those with their hands on the helm know what awaits.
That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.
And if we do get another crack at the PL – that place I’ve spent most of this piece deriding – then perhaps those at the very top will remember this feeling of being broken, empty, and bewildered.
To ignore it would be a huge mistake because exactly the same thing will happen again.
I’ll no doubt be reminded that this club’s natural place in the pecking order is betwixt 15th and 30th in the national league table and so we should be grateful with what we have – and I get it – but I’m greedy. I’d like to spend more than one season in the Premier League.
Why not aspire to be a Wolves? Or a Leicester? Or are we just happy to be little ol’ yo-yoing Norwich City?
I know which one Webber wants. I suspect I also know which one our owners prefer.
Maybe that was part of the problem.
This is probably a good time to dish out a few thanks yous…
To those of you who take the time to read MyFootballWriter – never taken for granted, always appreciated. Without you, we don’t exist.
To those who comment and interact – thank you very much. Without you, it’s a one-way tirade (especially in my case). With you, it’s a two-way conversation, just as Rick imagined it. You make MFW what it is.
To those who help fund us through Patreon – again, the biggest of thank yous. Without you, we likely slide into the abyss.
To the team – without you, it’s just me waffling on and boring everyone rigid. With you, it’s a broad spectrum of differing views – just the way we like it.
And to Rick and Stuart – cheers lads. Rick for his original idea and unswerving support, and Stu for keeping us on the straight and narrow.
We’ll be here, as ever, through the close season and, of course, for season 2020/21 with, hopefully, a new look.
G.
“Us being unwelcome guests at a posh party”.
Listen to The Faces *Had Me a Real Good Time* [Long Player] and *Too Bad* [A Nod’s as Good as a Wink]. They could have been written for us in the early 70s and nothing has changed since.
Great realistic article even if Gary did sneak in a nautical phrase I’d omitted for tomorrow 🙂
I deliberately didn’t read your piece 🙂
We’ve overlapped?
Many folks deliberately don’t read my stuff – you’re not alone!
‘Twas the word tiller.
Haha … great minds. Mine’s being changed to helm!
Chin up. Move on to the most important and exciting close season in living memory. Five new bodies already to go and at least three pending. OK not all for the first team or even with a work permit (Soto) but come on that’s very impressive in terms of getting business done early. Expect more incomings and then a raft of outgoings, including some Crown Jewels.
Plenty to look forward to.
A new look? Hopefully not too different, I’m not good with change-which probably explains why I’m not shouting from the rooftops about the ownership!
I’m so glad this terrible season is over. Even if you take away the Covid effects (how?) it’s been rubbish. The league winners were decided by January, The CL places are taken up by some of the usual suspects; I bet the EPL an UEFA are glad Leicester, Wolves and Sheffield United held the door open for ‘more acceptable’ representation to walk through. The 3 relegated clubs would have been high on the preferred list of the EPL and national press and TV at the start of the season. Even the last day relegation battle was a bit of a damp squib for the neutral with no team moving out of the bottom 3 even for a minute. And Leeds went up after avoiding the end of season blow up usually associated with Bielsa’s over trained teams.
The goodish news is that, having watched a large amount of Championship games on TV, and a few WBA games live it seems to me that all of our players would look good in any of the top Championship teams. I’ll caveat this with agreeing with Gary about the teams who probably thought the same when they first came down.
Good riddance season 19/20. Does anyone know when the 20/21 fixtures are out? Are we having a new kit or 3? Is there any chance of us signing someone whose name I recognise?
Fear not Don – ‘new look’ is a bit strong. How does a ‘freshen up’ sound?
G
Slightly less difficult to deal with.
Another good piece Gary – I think our views are very similar.
I’m a bit behind on the new signings but are any of them central defenders and do any of them have any experience? Or is that too much to hope for? Defence was clearly the area we needed to strengthen at the end of last season (as it was when Neill took us up).
Cheers Paul … appreciated.
That central defence definitely needs some surgery.
The acronym ‘dismal’ could stand for ‘Didn’t Invest Sufficient Money… And Lost’.
I understand why NCFC didn’t spend, but it’s such a pity as getting to the Premier League is so hard and to throw the chance away without even trying seems a shocking waste of opportunity.
It does make you question, ‘What’s the point of NCFC?’
For example, if – by some miracle – we’d made the Champion’s league next year, would the club say, ‘No, let’s not bother going, we’ll just wait here until we don’t qualify then we won’t have to worry about it.’
For interest: Some manager stats:
His win percentage across the 2019/20 season (including cups) was 18.6%. Less than one in five.
His loss percentage was 67.4%. More than two out of three.
Over the last 10 league games, he has won none of them.
Of those 10 games he’s lost 10.
In those 10 games he has conceded 24 goals.
Over those 10 games he has scored 1. That’s one. One goal. Singular. In almost a 1,000 minutes of football.
I cannot remember another manager in the professional game ANYWHERE who:
a) has had such a dismal series of results, and
b) of those who have approached that level of ineptitude, weren’t disappearing over the horizon, clutching a compensation package and P45 and wearing a sanguine smile.
Ridiculously bad, and embarrassing.
Farke, by modus operandi and execution, is a youth team manager only. He has not proved he can step up to the pressure of even adequately running a first team in a top league. In psychological terms he is fixated and cannot progress. I would love to be proved wrong.
However I suspect next season will fail to be as lucky as our last tilt at the Championship and Farke will be gone by February, and Webber by March.
Again, I would love to be proved wrong as I think they’re both terrific guys who have been genuinely doing their best for us and NCFC.
PS. Well done on running the site Gary, you do a great job and support your readers and contributors. Thanks very much for your efforts.
Well the WBA manager hit the headlines today and said they will not be doing a Villa and spend but will also not be doing a Norwich and not spend he will be more like Sheffield United and spend wisely I just hope his Chinese owns give him something to spend as they haven’t spent in the championship and as for Leeds relegation and another 16years in the championship
Firstly there’s the relief, out of nowhere I put on Van Morrison’s let the healing begin, then there’s a word of warning in my head, ‘be careful what you wish for’, the thought that were we to achieve the accolade of last season’s performance we would probably find ourselves going through the whole shebang again., living the nightmare of groundhog day. I’d take that if it meant that this damn virus would disappear up it’s own portal but I feel ambivalent about the future of Norwich City football club, where’s it all going I ask myself ?
All things must pass as George Harrison once wrote.
Tangentially, MOTD said that Bournemouth had spent £120 m on ‘major’ signings over the last two years but given that they’ve been in the top flight for five years, hasn’t it been worth it ?
Hi Gary
The first 20mins city held their own yesterday and even scored but yet again VAR ruled it offside.
I still don’t get why we collapse quite so easy yet again.
We have started to reshape the side for next season and as Paul says we need a couple of CB maybe the one being raved about at Paderbon 21 years old but the big clubs are watching and Brighton are in for him.
Season over and now will concentrate on cricket and hopefully it will be a successful few game to cheer me up.
Anyway as usual an excellent read.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay safe and well
Another fine piece summed up around what I am feeling. Not going to say much as feel it has all been said. My only comment is that Webber cannot afford to make as many mistakes. I did notice that two new signings are a winger and defensive midfield. Will be happy to see a couple of central defenders’ names in the press.
Latest is another striker Sebastian Soto
You have given thanks to one and all. I would like to thank the writers. it cannot have been easy to sit down and put together articles, after witnessing what has been served up.
Thank you Gary, and everyone at MFW for the excellent columns, and opportunities youoffer to all of us to “vent our spleen”.
How far have we come (or not) when given the opportunity to gain our only double of the season…..and we’re all quite happy to have “only” lost by 5?
Unfortunately Mr Bilic has summed it all up fairly well. I don’t think any of the other 19 teams in the PL yesterday had a spare seat on the bench, or included 2 goalkeepers. And don’t get me started on the effectiveness or otherwise yesterday of Rupp and Steipermann, or indeed any of the others (except Krul usually, and both Godfrey and Cantwell at times) since the re-start.
I wanted to close with things can only get better, but given what’s happened this year so far, I’m not so sure.
O T B C
Very good read as usual Gary.
After this most embarrassing season so far no blame should be placed on Webber, Farke or the players but must rest firmly on the shoulders of our woefully inadequate owner, Delia.
She once saved this club but that was over twenty years ago. Times change and businesses need to move with them or suffer the consequences of remaining static.
The biggest trick Delia has played on a significant number of fans is to convince them if she is the only safe option for the club.
The truth is that she is possibly the biggest risk to the club going forward.
The only thing she brings to the table is unbelievable luck. Who thought Lambert would be the success he was? Who had heard of Neil? Who thought we wouldn’t be fighting a relegation battle instead of getting promotion?
Each one of these pieces of luck have extended the parachute payments allowing Delia to cling on to her social club.
All three promotions have been wasted due to her inability to provide investment.
Each promotion is becoming more embarrassing than the last as we are slowly but surely becoming less able to compete in a business which is becoming more expensive each season.
Not her fault that like the rest of us she is not a billionaire but it is her fault that she clings on to something she can no longer afford.
Time for new owners before it’s too late!
Never thought id say this gary but i actually prefered the chase era instead of this sad scenario and why i was at the forefront of the chase out brigade and went to court over it lol after being rugby tackled by the old bill on the pitch running in front of the villa fans that fateful day ….but i tell you why we bought better players then alright we sold them for a profit same as now but we had people like bruce watson chris sutton darren eadie under neil it was any scottish player now farke any lower tier german delia im afraid you are worse than robert chase in my eyes and i never thought id ever say that !
You point regarding Chase just shows how unambitious and conditioned a certain section of the fan base has become. Mediocrity & Failure is ingrained.
I thought Chase should resign for the simple reason that football had outgrown him and the club needed somebody who saw the future of football to take the club forward….
… In rolled Smith & Jones whose austere view of football is long shorts, oranges and a rah, rah, rah.
Unbeknown at the time, our time at the upper end of the top tier had gone and it will never return for as long as these two are involved.
132 goals weve conceded in 2 seasons ! will this regime sort it out and get some decent centre backs and a manager who can organise a defence what do you think 🙄 . Head sand me thinks .
Doesn’t look good.
However, just an observation – we currently have defenders in the house valued in some quarters at £50m-£60m. maybe more!
How much money does SW need spend to sort out our defense?
Its a funny old game!
OTBC
The only people who seem to come up with this “little Norwich” tag are paranoid Canary fans; I’ve been an exile City fan for all my adult life and wherever I’ve lived the club has always been well thought of by neutrals.
Clubs like Newcastle, Leeds and Villa will always be preferred by the media as much as anything because they have more fans, can make more noise, and do have a much longer history of top-level back stories to call upon.
Most commentators I’ve heard or read are complimentary about their trips to Carrow Road – once they’ve got there – and I believe most are simply very disappointed we didn’t give it more of a go.
We are not normally an “Unwelcome guest at the party”, but yes this season’s been different. If you fail to bring the bottle, what can you expect?
Bournemouth’s rise to the PL was iffy, certainly not paid for by their fans, or even by selling on players they had developed in The Murphys or Maddison mode. Much as I have time for Eddie Howe, I’m not sorry they are down.
And when you look at the wages and transfer fees Watford have been paying, and the way the Pozzo family have run that club over the last few years, I’ve no time for them at all.
So of the three who could have gone down I’m happier to see Villa stay up. At least their manager and their captain are Villa through and through and if Covid and the consequential lockdown has been a disaster for us, that’s nothing compared to losing your father to it – as Dean Smith did at the end of May.
As for Bilic, it’s easy to make snide remarks when you’re on the way up. We may just be reminding him of them in a year’s time.
I just hope your disdain for VAR won’t come back to haunt you Gary – just wait until we concede a couple of goals that should be disallowed and I reckon you’ll change your mind.
Thanks for all your articles throughout the season in difficult circumstances. Hat’s off to you and Martin for managing to come up with something fresh, entertaining and pertinent week-in week-out during such a horrible season.
Cheers, as ever, Keith. Your contributions are always appreciated.
“But if you fail to bring the bottle, what can you expect?” – Love that.
And re VAR – of course you’re right. I’m almost certain it *will* come back to haunt me 😉
Best
Gary
Are Villa “safe” ???
I would think that Bournemouth’s lawyers are sifting through everything they can regarding the PGMOL and Sheffield Utd’s “goal” which was never given and admitted as their mistake.
And if Bournemouth are relegated, how will they survive legally in the Chump with their crowds??
O T B C
Not a chance of Bournemouth’s relegation being overturned on those grounds. You’d have to go through every game both teams played and check what other dodgy decisions gained or lost them points over the season as a whole.
It is probably covered in the rules of the competition anyway i.e. the result of the game stands even if a referee’s decision (or technological equivalent) is later proved to be incorrect. It would be chaos every season otherwise.
Thanks to you, Gary, and all your fellow contributors for some great pieces during this testing season.
Bizzarely, for the first time in many months, I actually quite enjoyed watching Sunday’s game. No tension and nothing more to worry about! I thought we played some good stuff at times with a disallowed goal and two good chances and the central defenders putting their bodies on the line. Man. City really ought to have won the league again and when they are on song they are almost unplayable.
Next season must be better, mustn’t it? I just hope crowds are allowed back into grounds as soon as possible, including old people like me! It’s not the same without them, is it? (The crowds not the old people!)
Gave up at 3-0 down and went outside with the kids.
Enough of this trying to play out from the back against Man City. The number of times we were simply pushed off the ball was incredible. That’s not the player’s fault, that’s the manager being stubborn.
When VAR inevitably ruled out Onel’s goal, play restarted with a free kick to Man City where the offside was given. However, the referee was about to give us a free kick for Stieperman being pulled back, when he changed his mind and waved play on because he perceived we had an advantage. The trouble with VAR is that they tend to focus on the lines drawn to clarify the offside, and ignore what happened immediately prior to it, hence we didn’t get the free kick for the foul on Stieperman that we rightly should have had, because there was no advantage because of the offside. They did the same with Buendia’s sending off, only showing the referee on the pitch side monitor the actual movement of his arm onto the other players back.
Other times, when what looks like a perfectly good goal is scored, they’ll go back for a while prior to it, to see if any offence occurred in the build-up. There is no consistency. I won’t be sorry to see the back of it next season.
Oh, and Villa might well not have stayed up if the goal-line technology hadn’t mysteriously failed in their game against the Blades, not to mention Watford sacking Pearson when they did.
As Greavsy used to say, “it’s a funny old game!”
I disagree with most of Y’army’s feelings. This has been a fantastic season all round. We’ve marketed at least 4 of our academy products on the world stage, which will bring in about £100,000,000. Our outlay for a season at the top table has been in the region of £1,000,000. We can now look forward to parachute payments for the next couple of years as we consolidate back through the divisions, building even more funds as we go. The wealth of the owners and directors just grows and grows. Football is a business, pure and simple, and if you’re lucky enough to have invested in a club like NCFC you would be laughing all the way to the bank. In fact, we are probably the most successful current English football team measured on business success and return for the investors. Carrow Road next season will still host 27,000 optimistic fans (CV19 permitting), all paying a premium to watch their team comprised of rising academy stars (to sell off) and cheap 2nd tier European rejects (who hope to hit a purple patch before their retirement).
The only sore point is that the loyal fans who support the club week in, week out, continue to be hoodwinked by a board that continuously sprouts absolute nonsense. Have you noticed how the holy mantra of ‘Our plan is to establish us as a Prem League side within X years’ has changed to ‘Our plan is to establish ouselves as a Top 30 English team’ – period. Why don’t they just front up and say they’re in it to make as much money as possible from the football club.
Come on Delia, it’s your round. We’re fed up with putting money in the pot and getting nothing back.
The Championship is our terra firma. But that was not the case from 1972-1995 where we firmly a top division side. It can be done again when you look a time Leicester, Soton, etc.. This season has reeked of smalltime mentality which can be allowed to pervade ever again.
Some good food for thought here. Perhaps a piece next time on how you would force the owners to sell to a Chinese, Far Eastern or American syndicate who are only interested in making money out of the club a la the Glazers at Man Utd. We would all be most interested! Certainly we need a good start next season and if we’re not in or near the top six after 10 games then certainly Farke’s/Webber’s positions need to be scrutinised. Question is of course who do you replace them with. Perhaps that could go in the article as well. We wait with baited breath!
Ha! Could be a long wait.
“…force the owners to sell to a Chinese, Far Eastern or American syndicate who are only interested in making money out of the club a la the Glazers at Man Utd”
No-one wants that Tim, and the simple fact is, there isn’t a queue of prospective buyers for Norwich City out there, laudable or otherwise. My point was the owners are not blameless in this disappointing season. Mistakes have been made at every level, which happens, but it’s been such a catastrophe, it’d be a bit odd to not ask one or two questions.
Cheers for your comment.
Step 1 – announce publicly that you are seeking investment / looking to sell.
Until step 1 us complete, all others are academic.
It has probably been done on here,but is there explanation anywhere of who and how decisions are made within NCFC above Webber & Farke. What is the relationship between the owners and the board? How does it actually function in practice? Do the owners wholly dictate the financial decisions made? I ask out of naivity obviously, but also because I see blame for all and anything planted always at Delia-Michael’s feet when things don’t work out.
And that might be fair enough, but seems a bit simplistic