“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
This was Mike Tyson’s brutal but beautifully observed critique of his potential challengers while he was in his menacing mid-eighties pomp.
Considering how Norwich City was repeatedly left nursing a bloodied nose when toe to toe with some of the Premier League heavyweights (and, to be honest, lightweights) last season, it’s an apt quote when considering the Canaries’ Championship chances this time around.
Just as the self-styled baddest man on the planet plans to pull on his gloves on again, City are preparing to go through another 46 gruelling Championship rounds.
Looking back on 2018/19’s league table you would think we won the title with one hand tied behind our back. Daniel Farke’s men were surprise flat-track bullies – the possession-based, back-to-front, one-touch, press-destroying football was just too hot for everyone.
That’s not to say that they didn’t get caught with a few blows. While the likes of Leeds and West Bromwich Albion landed early shots that stung but didn’t hurt, it was Sheffield United that traded the most blows – but the Blades didn’t have the strength to stop City ending as champions.
With Pukki on fire, Steipi unstoppable, Buendia on a differing planet to all around him, Lewis and Aarons running free, Zimbo immense, and Krul a rock, Norwich rumbled forward with ever-increasing momentum towards the Premier League. There was little deviation from a tactical formula that left teams wondering what had hit them – Millwall and Nottingham Forest were both left shaken by the Canaries’ seemingly unbreakable will to win.
However, even the best-laid plans can be left in tatters by short, sharp violent shocks.
City sauntered into the Premier League with the same formation and pretty much the same personnel that had stunned the Championship. And why change it? Manchester City were humbled and Newcastle brutally dismantled on balmy summer afternoons at Carrow Road. We had a plan and a philosophy, and we weren’t going to toss it away just because we were coming up against teams that were seen as Premier League mainstays.
However, by the time we reached the final third of the season things were completely different. It wasn’t just the empty stadiums, extra subs and drinks breaks in the summer sun that made this feel like it was a separate competition to the one we had watched pre-Covid19 – it was City’s total lack of cohesion, fight and unity.
Before the curtain temporarily came down on the season in March, the Canaries had overcome some poor results and looked like they were getting to grips with the top division. Fighting hard, looking compact, and competing. Fast forward to Project Restart (vomit) and there was little or no fight left in the yellow and green corner. Some savage blows were landed by all comers and it seemed a number of players were happy to throw the towel in when the going got tough.
Watching from the periphery was Daniel Farke. Pensive. Thoughtful. And finding it difficult to find a way of countering his opponents’ guile or physicality. All too often City failed to land a glove on any of its opponents. The German appeared to stubbornly hold on to a singular tactical plan and formation as his team took punches to the mouth. Repeatedly. Regrettably.
While West Ham delivered the eventual, and inevitable, knock-out blow, it was the defeat at Vicarage Road that saw Norwich hit the canvas hard. Watford were the latest in a long line of teams that saw City either dominate possession and/or take the lead, but still have enough in the tank to come back and take either one or all three points.
Norwich’s demise can be blamed on many things, but the failure to deploy a noticeable, tactical alternative to the 4-2-3-1 formation, make substitutions, and depart from the patient, possession-based philosophy even when only a few minutes from defeat is a real discussion point.
Farke has bemoaned a lack of understanding around his tactical changes, with many being far too subtle or technical for the fan in the stands (or at home watching on TV for the foreseeable) to see clearly. (I believe a young writer late of this parish was recently given a verbal jab by the German for questioning his tactics, so I’ll raise my guard for the rest of this article.)
However, it seemed clear to me that when City were looking to claw back deficits we didn’t show enough urgency or the muscle, but instead an unwillingness to forego playing across our own defensive line in favour of a more direct path to goal.
A lot of this can come down to injuries – you can’t win a game of poker without having a hand that contains the high-scoring cards. And, in many cases, while the opposition held four aces, Farke could only counter with Mr Bun the Baker.
The number of defensive casualties City sustained last season was ridiculous – it would have seen many other teams with greater resources brought to their knees.
The result of this was that Norwich’s transfer strategy, which could well become the Oxford English Dictionary’s new definition of ‘conservative’, looked utterly balmy. While crying out for a new centre back at the start of the season, City signed a defensive midfielder in Ibrahim Amadou who was billed as being able to perform in both positions – in reality, he did neither very well at all.
In January, with the opening of a new transfer window and the opportunity to bolster defensive ranks and add firepower, we brought in more versatile midfielders. I won’t comment on Duda as he has now left the club, but we are still unclear on where Lukas Rupp’s best position might be.
This meant Farke had little room to manoeuvre and couldn’t enjoy tactical freedom. He had to make do and mend. Tweak and refine. Look to keep as much consistency as possible while players dropped out of contention because of injuries or suspensions – usually at the worst possible times.
This season offers an opportunity to change this and add another tactical dimension to the team by using the transfer window wisely. No one is asking for the coffers to be emptied, but investing in players that give Farke options. Perhaps allowing him to change the shape of the side as required during matches, the way it attacks opponents, and, if needed, reduce the number of passes needed to reach the opponent’s final third.
Using social media as a barometer of opinion is a dangerous science, but the mention of Jordan Hugill as being the transfer target to provide tactical flexibility appeared to bring some City fans out in hives. Despite 13 goals in 39 appearances for a very ordinary QPR side, it seemed that a pitch-fork wielding mobs could well set up flaming roadblocks on the A47 and A11 in order to stop him arriving in Norfolk.
The thought of having a man who could operate as the fulcrum of an attack, disrupt to two large Championship centre-backs, or take pressure off Pukki or Idah as hired muscle, seemed to cut little ice with some.
It seemed that HMS Piss the League would sail very nicely, thank you, without the need of this overpriced journeyman and West Ham reject. One sensed a pervading feeling that City would be flat-track bullies once again in 2020/21 – and it was fuelled further by the 6-0 friendly win over League One MK Dons (much to the chagrin of our esteemed editor Gary).
As it’s transpired, Mr Hugill IS now on board.
And with that in mind, it’s worth considering both Watford, who beat us home and away, and AFC Bournemouth finished above City last season. It’s likely they will be many people’s favourites, ahead of Norwich, to finish in the top two Championship places. It’s a little too simple to think that will be the case, but imagine if it comes down to a game against the Pozzo family’s playthings for the final promotion place.
It’s time for you to be the boss.
With 25 minutes left, we’re losing 1-0 to Watford in the run-in to the end of the season and we haven’t fashioned a chance for over 15 minutes. We’re playing one man up front, trying to play from the back, and the confident Hornets are swarming to press our possession football. With the bench made up of our current personnel, where do you turn to make things different?
Do you tweak and pop Idah or Drmic up top with Pukki, or do you go with a more direct Plan B and the introduction of a seasoned, muscular Championship striker to add aggression, urgency and guile to the attack?
There’s no right or wrong answer here and I’m not advocating one tactical approach above another. The point I’m trying to make is that in this scenario you have options – so often last season Farke didn’t. He couldn’t use his substitutions to add a physical presence in attack, which would, in turn, allow him to play a longer ball from front to back, or get two wingers ripping down the wings and playing balls to a willing recipient in the box.
The Head Coach’s hands were tied due to the personnel he had to work with.
So while the signing of Hugill may be a bone of contention, I’m hoping we show the desire to conjure a Grant Holt (and it appears our ’new’ shirt harks back to his era) in this transfer window. We need street-wise nous, a burning hunger to win, and physicality to the mix, which Webber has admitted was lacking last season.
Over the last 35 years of watching City, players such as Kevin Drinkell, Ashley Ward, Iwan Roberts, Peter Crouch, Dean Ashton, and Holty offered the Canaries muscle, desire and a real goalscoring threat upfront – they were far from being blunt, bludgeoning weapons. These boys could play a bit.
While the 2020/21 season appears to offer one of the weakest Championships for some time in terms of the teams competing, it’s worth remembering we’ve been handed opportunities like this before.
There can be no complacency. This will be a long, tough season and it will be a fight to go up, not a cruise. We need to be prepared for the hard hits that threaten to stop you us in our tracks. To change style. To wrong foot a keen opponent, whether plucky underdog or title contender.
As Mike Tyson himself will testify, heavy blows from the most unlikely of sources can leave you looking up from the canvas wondering where it all went wrong.
How cheap is Jordan Rhodes now looking? From £1m to £5m fee in the space of a year is quite a rate of inflation (c 1923 Germany ironically) and all after the horse has bolted! A year ago it may have been enough to keep us in the Premier League. Has Hugill even got the game that Rhodes has?
Completely different players with different games. We perhaps need to leave the Rhodes love affair behind us and move on!
So you approved of having no Plan B in the Premier League but welcome it in the Championship? Bizarre. We clearly needed a Plan B a year ago. What is wrong with saying that? It would have cost £4 million less and probably yielded greater returns than the complete capitulation that we got instead.
Hi Martin
On a very wet and windy day here in Blackpool I really enjoyed your article.
Hugill isn’t my cup of tea – yes he has all the attributes you say but he has never been a prolific scorer and maybe that has made few supporters wary of him and also we have never really had much success with players from the Jellied Eel brigade, mainly due to them being injury prone.
Drmic was for all sense and purpose supposed to be our Plane B but injuries and, sadly, a lack of form kept him out of the team when needed to replace Pukki.
People now look on Pukki as a one-trick pony and after his great start to a Premiership career, he sadly got a big toe injury and to compound that the whole team’s loss of form didn’t help him find the net.
The big question is are we going to have a dirty big schnapps hangover when the real war starts. Phony friendly games are all well and good but most teams are there for match fitness and hoping they don’t incur any long term injuries.
We desperately need another CB and during yesterday’s friendly, I put it to Paddy that maybe Carter Vickers was a possibility or could City look for someone while in Germany. His reply was that Gibson was the one they want so are trying to sort that out, but all eggs in one basket come to mind or maybe it is close.
Gibson is a good experienced championship CB and if we can’t seal a deal then let’s hope we are not left with egg on our face and all other possible options gone.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay safe and stay healthy
one thing I am sure of is that Hugill is no Drmic, him and the other new lads must be given the chance to show what they add to team Farke.
why do people be so ready to kill off a player, who hasn,t kicked a ball in anger ? Don,t think I will ever understand that.
To me we now have options all over the park, to change formations if one isnt working, something that will be needed when facing a bus on a cold night, in a Barnsley. As much as the free flowing football was exciting and did win us this league, the times we got caught out wth no full back anywhere near their own half, was one of the downfalls. Plus not having another striker who knew where the goal was, hopefully in Hugill we do no.
Just another central defender as the final piece of the jigsaw. or get away from zonal marking
While Hugill may not be the most exciting signing for some, he brings more than goals. It’s about City having options and the ability to change the way we operate during games. It’s also about giving Pukki and Idah some support and muscle in a very physical division. I’m happy with what Hugill will bring – let’s give the man a chance!
I don’t think city supporters are really knocking just he was possibly not on anyone’s expectation list.
He came into the game late on 21 years old had a couple of bad injuries had a couple of good years scoring 10 to 15 goals in the lower leagues then PNE got him for £25k sold him for £10m to WHU not a success then a loan to Middlesbrough not a success then a season loan to QPR 15 goals in 41 games.
I wish him a good career but this was really a left field purchase that no one saw coming and he will be given a lot of support once the fans are in the ground as usual for them.
Hugill may turn out to be a revelation but at this moment in time his past record can be described as, at best, uninspiring. His scoring record in the Championship is 50 goals in 190 games. Slightly better than 1 in 4. To put that in perspective, Dean Coney’s record was similar before he came to Carrow Road.
Hugill may well do lots for the team – including adding an apparently positive and chirpy personality – but if you play up top you have to score goals. The ability to tell a joke, fold socks neatly, or keep your car park space tidy butters no parsnips and, more importantly, harvests no points. Good luck to him and the team though.
Past records our based on differing teams and managers. What he does in this City team will be different to what he did at PNE, QPR or West Ham. Players also mature at different rates. From what I’ve seen of his finishing I think Hugill could be a real asset.
I see HUgill as the ‘hired muscle’ when our other forwards are up against defenders who use brawn as opposed to skill and that may well be DF’s intention.
We are entering the new season with generally quite a lightweight team and our latest signing could be just what we need at the sharp end.
Now WHERE is the equivalent CB ……….
I’m certain that SW is doing everything possible to find the elusive player who –
a, Isn’t overpriced
b. Doesn’t expect a massive salalry
c. Will fit seamlessly into the squad
d. Isn’t injury prone
Good Luck Mr Webber. 😀
Hi Martin. An exceptionally well written article and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I would reference your point about our young writer, in this day and age, with football manager around, many people think they have thorough understanding of tactics, high blocks, inverted wingers, you name it. The reality is rather different and I can see why Farke landed his jab.
I’m not keen on Hugill, but I can see the merits. I’m a bit of a purist and I doubt 2018/19 will ever be eclipsed for me, but I do acknowledge the lack of a different ‘visible’ option.
Pukki looks like a shadow of his former self, fast forward 10 games and if he hasn’t started scoring then we may well Indeed see him as the ‘plan B or even C’.
Hi Martin
I’ve actually warmed quite a bit to Hugill since I’ve seen him interviewed. There’s a bit of the Holty in there and that’s for sure – but how much we’ll have to wait and see. I agree with you about Pukki too – I’ve nothing factual to base it on: just a gut feeling.
One or two of the younger journos around at the moment are totally OTT with their faux knowledge of in-match tactics [personally I find it irritating in extremis] so I too understand why Farke had his little jab. Fair play to him.
I know how every piece moves in chess but I’d be a fool if I thought I could tell a club player what to do let alone a grand master cos I’m cr@p at the game and freely admit it.
MFW now seems to have acquired a prile of Martins 🙂
A prile – loving that. Even more so when it’s in reference to Martins. 😂
Great chess analogy!
We are Martin’s aplenty!!
Here’s hoping you’re proved right with Hugill…
There’s surely a better collective noun for a group of Martins…
House of??
I think we do get a bit carried with tactics as fans – I can understand how it would infuriate Farke reading critiques from those without professional coaching expertise. I’m sure the subtleties of his work escapes many of us, including myself. However, I think it was pretty clear we lacked physicality and a more direct approach at times in the Premier League.
Lots of people seem to be forgetting that the Grant Holt we signed was significantly different than the Grant Holt we eventually saw, and Ian Roberts didn’t get off to the most inspiring start. Hugill’s background and previous career have some similarities to Holt’s, so maybe that will give him the drive to succeed here. 13 goals at QPR last season is not a bad return, and from the video clips he’s able to score with both feet and his head, so give him the service, and let’s see if he can deliver. Just don’t expect a hat-trick on his first run out.
As Martin has said, he gives us an option which we didn’t have before. Drmic looked as if he might be it, but just didn’t seem to have either the ability or desire to put himself about a bit when it was needed. Hugill does look as if he might bully a centre half or two.
I did type “Iwan”, honestly!! Bloody auto-correct first changed it to “Ivan”, which I noticed and thought I’d corrected, but didn’t notice the switch to “Ian”. Sorry big man!!
Excellent and thought provoking Martin.
We have to give Mr Hughill a decent chance, and let’s face it, given the way we are losing players to the international squads, he should have an immediate chance to impress under competitive conditions in the cup game at Luton on Saturday week.
Just imagine if he should score one or two (or even more)….would we then be such doubters?
Given who it seems we will have to select in that particular game there will be opportunities for quite a few to stake their claims!
O T B C
An excellent article.
Like a few others, I was underwhelmed when I heard Hugill’s name being linked but I have since changed my mind. 15 or so goals for QPR last season is no mean feat. We will create many more chances than them so he could fill his boots.
Reading about yesterdays friendly, it would seem that we are going to play a bit differently this coming season. Full backs will defend whilst pace on the flanks will be provided by Onel and the new Polish lad (can’t spell nor pronounce his name yet I’m afraid!).
I have argued with Martin P on here about Pukki but I fear he may be right. According to reports, one chance yesterday, heavy touch and a lack of conviction shot to follow. Sounds too familiar. Maybe JH is actually Plan A.
I can cope with Placheta but even our Hungarian City neighbour Zoltan wasn’t sure how to pronounce his Christian name 🙂
Przemyslaw Placheta = Shemi swav Pwa heta
Thanks M – I’ll tell Zoltan!
Excellent summary of last season Martin.
I think we must give Jordan Hugill all our support, he has taken quite a pay cut to come here which says a lot about his character.
I personally do not think this signing will change Daniel’s philosophy as much as people think. One thing that was apparent during Project Restart was the inability of our forward players to hold on to the ball, Hugill gives us that option.
Daniel said at a forum when he came here was, come what may we would play the ball on the floor and leave hopeful punts to a big centre forwards to “the other” local team. I just can’t see him changing.
As you say Martin 2018/19 was some kind of miracle and I wanted all those players who contributed so much to be given a chance at the higher level.Lets be honest they were The Man Citeh of the championship that season. How many games that season was it our attack against our opponents defence ?
We certainly came a cropper in the Premiership and your analysis is spot on, and it seems many lessons have been learnt and that has been the lighting rod for all these new signings.
And that seems to me improving in strength and pace, something sadly lacking last season.
I am surprised at how busy we have been in the transfer market, but it must be remembered that some of the signing are for the under-23’s. And now the friendlies have started it is becoming much clearer as to who are the new “first teamer’s”
It is a very interesting season ahead that’s for sure. My one wish is that the supporters can return as soon as it is safe, watching football during Project Restart was dreadfully sterile and lacking that emotion the crowds give you.
I think you’re right when you say Farke will stick to his philosophy. His tactical base will be unchanged, but what we’re seeing is the evolution of the squad so it can cope with variations on the theme. Hugill isn’t just a lump to be hit with aimless long balls, though I’m sure he’ll be there if we need an ‘out ball’ or, to borrow NFL parlance, a ‘hail Mary’ in the dying seconds of a match we’re trailing in. Some of the goals I’ve seen him score from outside or just inside the 18 yard box suggests he is good with his feet and can finish as well as Pukki or Idah when he’s in the mood. What he has that they don’t is physicality and, seemingly, the desire to ‘rough up’ opposition defenders. That is a welcome change even if the philosophy doesn’t.
I like this signing if we can keep Pukki. I hope (and think) we will.