So that transfer window has finally closed and I think we must surely agree that it has been the finest one in terms of achievement by Norwich City yet. I reckon it is and the best of fair play to Stuart Webber and the recruitment team. But do the posse agree?
The only way to find out of course is to ask them, so the three beasts from the East [four if you include me] and the best of the North West assemble once more to give MFW their views.
Alex A, aka Ed, reckons: That was a busy transfer window with nine new players inbound and other than Emi Buendia leaving for Villa we are certainly in a much stronger position. No longer will we be reliant on our diminutive Argentinian to provide the fodder for Teemu Pukki [don’t be surprised if he is replaced as first-choice striker during the season], but rather we have several players who I feel are capable of providing assists.
Stuart Webber is on record as saying that two years ago, he sent Daniel Farke *to war without a gun*. This time, he’s provided him with an entire brigade! If you remove Ben Gibson and Dimi Giannoulis from the dealings, then SW will have spent approx. £20million when [if? – Martin] we stay up and Mathias Normann and Ozan Kabak become fully-fledged NCFC players.
It goes without saying that there will be fans bemoaning the fact that we haven’t signed players with Premier League experience blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, they cost considerably more to buy and demand higher salaries. The lower leagues are littered with teams that have tried to buy success and I would far rather adopt the approach that we have done and let Farke, Eddie Riemer and the other backroom staff work their magic, as they have done with Madders, Godfrey, Buendia, Max Aarons and TC etc in the recent past.
All told, it has been an exceptional transfer window and please give the players time to gel [say mid-November] before deciding that SW has wasted all that money.
I’d like to remind fans that seven years ago at the end of March, Leicester were ‘nailed on’ for relegation, but proceeded to amass 22 points over the last 10 games, scoring 18 goals and conceding just five. We all know what happened the following season.
Alex B our North West dweller suggests: So far we have spent in the region of £50million and received back £33m+ from the sale of Buendia to Villa. I’ve no idea what has been received for any of the loans or if City are paying towards the salaries but those details are private matters between the two clubs concerned.
Has this been a successful transfer window or not? There will be many opinions and conjecture on that but it can only be assessed at the end of the season.
Billy Gilmour, loaned from Chelsea, could be our ace in the hole or another Patrick Roberts. He has all the skills to succeed but whether expectation will put too much pressure on him only time will tell. Playing out of position and trying to adapt will take its toll and he needs shielding during games. Milot Rashica comes with a big reputation if you believe all the papers. I think he has the experience to be a big success and game-changer.
Pierre Lees-Melou came out of nowhere, has lots of top-level experience and is another who could be a great success at City while Brandon Williams was loaned in from Manchester United. Lots of potential but could find it hard in the long run to unseat Dimi on a permanent basis this season.
Giannoulis finally signed permanently after six months in the EPL and needs to fast-track his Premier League learning curve otherwise Williams could replace him. In his last stint in the PL, Gibson was found wanting by Burnley but last season he proved to be an excellent Championship player. Now he is over his injury he really needs to show he has the class for the PL otherwise City could be in trouble.
Mathias Normann never got game time at Brighton but his record shows he did well prior to joining them and on loan moves. Acquired from Rostov, he has been relatively successful as a defensive mid in a very physical league so should be able to protect the back four and Gilmour. Angus Gunn is not really a new incoming player but is great cover and eventually will replace Tim Krul.
Ozan Kabak had a good start to his loan at Liverpool but couldn’t get back into the side after injury. Has the credentials to be a big success at City.
Josh Sergeant started with a bang in the cup win over Bournemouth and should push Pukki this season once he gets up to speed with the PL – a really good signing for City. Christos Tzolis is another that started with a bang and could be the game-changer this season for City.
In all honesty, I think the ins have really improved the squad but integration will be a slow process and as DF says there will be a few bumps along the way.
Cutty whimsically suggests: I’m not going to join in the analysis of the transfer ins and outs, the world and his dog will be doing that, but I must say this summer belongs to Webbo and his team. I hope it’s not his swansong, he’s now earned his place in Canary folklore and given Danny the nuts and bolts to assemble our dream team on a shoestring budget.
Many years ago I helped my son [Hi Tony – Martin] build a kit car. He bought the plans, a green Lotus-type body kit and a few specialist pieces, we then had to source the rest. If we’d had the money we could have bought Jag parts and hey presto, but it was trawling around scrapyards for us. The finished car looked the business, went like a rocket but was useless in the wet and on tight bends.
You get what you pay for, under some conditions it’s brilliant [6-0 v Bournemouth] but overall will it be good enough? Danny the wizard still has some hammering and banging to do and then hopefully we can prance down the yellow brick road avoiding the puddles and the wicked witches of the north.
Bernie Owen concludes: It’s been a cracking last couple of days. There was the chance of another fringe player going out on loan to a Championship side but that’s as exciting as the final day of the window got.
Normann is one hard unit, with more than a modicum of skill and is of a physicality that we needed. Kabak is a steal, this guy was good enough to cover for Virgil Van Dijk in the Liverpool team in the latter part of last season. He’s not just an upgrade at centre-back, he’s a different level.
I am mightily encouraged by the final jigsaw positions that add to the improvements that Rashica, Sargent, Lees-Melou and Tzolis have given to the squad.
Now that pre-season is over we can start our 35-match campaign and what an opening game – Arsenal away!
I feel more confident now than I did at 5pm last Saturday!
And all the very best to Timm Klose in whatever he chooses to do from hereon in. You scored against the $cum Timm, and on top of that, you’ll always be one of us as you will well know. You were one of the finest *characters* to grace the Carrow Road turf and – prost!
Good luck to young keeper Aston Oxborough at Barnet in the National League as well – he deserves to get himself back on track after injury.
A massive thank you to the posse as always and I’m sure we’ll all be back before the January window opens, but in the meantime, we can chill, enjoy our football and see what appertains in a spirit of hope. You know, that commodity which can kill us
But it’s not all about us – please give MFW your views on the window as we’d be pleased to hear them.
Hi Martin
Well as one window shuts the next gets ready to open.
Sadly some excellent players have left and that is part of the game to keep refreshing the squad and I hope that they are all happy in the next leg of their careers.
With no last surprises of incoming or out goings we hopefully can look forward to getting some points on the board.
The next challenge will be getting everyone back from the internationals injury free and moulding them in to a unit to stay in this league.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay Healthy and Keep Safe
Hi Alex
Yes safe returns from international duty are concerning for all managers everywhere.
One who is unlikely to feature against Arsenal is Josh Sargent. He is playing for the USA at 3am our time on Thursday so is very unlikely to feature at the Emirates at 1500 on Saturday!
Tzolis joining up with Greece seems a little bit mysterious as he is carrying a calf injury but there must be some kind of reasoning behind it.
Cheers
I think with Tzolis is the Greek FA wanting to confirm that he is injured and just to get himself to being with the squad
Could be. If I were Christos I’d want to be with my mates myself.
Just about the best window possible. Given that Gibson and Giannoulis were from last years budget, we’ve actually only spent the Buendia money, with a bit more committed if we stay up. Hugely flexible squad with some real talent. Now we will seriously see if Farke can manage in the Premier League – no excuses.
Hi sgncfc
You’ve laid the gauntlet down – and quite right you are to do so.
This is why as Alex said in the article we must not be too quick to judge!
Cheers
Should have added that I hope none of our players get broken on international duty. Wasn’t it nice of FIFA to for 3 games into the break instead of the usual 2. Player welfare hahaha.
Hi Bernie
FIFA only cares about, erm, FIFA, especially the interests of it’s overpaid officials.
Cheers
Only 40-60% of transfers work out; for every Stiepermann there is a Heise for every Pukki a Drimic etc etc
Fingers crossed we have 3 or 4 potential superstars that takes us to the next level competitively but given the vagaries of injury and confidence who makes it and who doesn’t is a lottery.
If Klose hadn’t got seriously crocked against Crystal Palace in March 2016 or Crawley in 2019 he could have been an absolute legend and the club could have been in the prem for more years.
It’s an exciting crop of talent 🤞
Hi Seamus
I agree with you about Klose and also that not every transfer works out.
We have already seen the exits of Soto, Sinani and Sitti who were all low-level gambles, none of which paid off unfortunately.
Cheers
Alex A I definitely do not agree with a brigade lol bit over the top there…….But Farke has got more round pegs now which will offer him a lot more flexibility formation and personnel wise .
For me Ozan Kabak is the biggest and best I hope, if only we could have two of him .
Matthias normann is I suppose a bit of an unknown and I just hope he is as good as webber and farke thinks he can be .
And then there is tzolis this guy really really excites me and so does sargent and rashica to a degree .
But yes lets hope that farke Can now perform his magic in the big league now he has a better chance .
Just hope they have learnt about the injuries and defending set pieces this time around !
Hi Jim
My take would be that instead of sprogs with pitchforks and elder statesmen with rusty muskets we’ve got some new recruits with modern weaponary this time around!
Liverpool fans speak of Kabak with fine regard and they’re no fools. For me too he is the best signing of the window.
Cheers
Considering our position with regard the transfer budget I think SW has done a very good job.
Kabak looked good at Liverpool until an injury and Normann looks to be a capable Tettey replacement to provide much needed steel in our midfield.
I also think Williams will be a capable option once he’s settled in. His mistake on Saturday was more about lack of movement in our midfield.
Sargeant looks quite lively and maybe a more mobile option up front than Pukki.
All in all I’m more optimistic now than I was after the Leicester game.
Hi John
It was interesting to see the relative sums spent within the PL club by club this morning and we are by no means the lowest – in fact we’re midway at 10th out of 20.
TalkSport won’t like that, now will they?
Normann and Kabak prove to me that we are serious about survival this time around – but it might take time to bring it all together.
Cheers
It’s interesting how every window opens with gloomy predictions that our best players will be leaving and Delia will allow reinvestment of only a very small part of the significant funds received. Not this time.
So, Buendia’s gone and, bearing in mind that a chunk of that fee has been passed on to agents and his former club, we seem to have done a “five loaves and two fishes” job with the rest? Or should that be “two loaves and five fishes”? I’m a tooth-fairy agnostic so can’t quite remember.
As far we have been told no direct interest has been shown in either Aarons or Cantwell. Personally I’m not surprised when you look at the market and compare that to what City fans like to pretend they are worth.
One of the most significant transfers yesterday was Emerson Royal to Spurs.
There have frequently been suggestions that Max Aarons would be a Spurs target, and many City fans would expect us to get at least £20m for him. Instead the Londoners have acquired a full Brazilian international right back of a similar age – who conveniently speaks Portuguese, like the manager – for a reported €25m. No contest is it?
Anyway, the fact is that we’ve given Farke a better chance than he had 2 years ago. But we are still playing catch-up and whilst clubs like Wolves, Palace and Newcastle look as though they could be heading for a fall they’ve still got potential match winners like Traore, Zaha and Saint-Maximin – we don’t yet have anyone of that calibre. We should be able to get hold of the ball a bit better than in the past but it remains to be seen whether we can develop the firepower to do something with it.
Hi Keith
Biblical fairytales [sorry, parables or whatever] are beyond my recall as well but I get the idea to the extent that I agree with you.
The main reason nobody has been in for Max seems to centre around his lack of height but he’ll do for me if you see what I mean.
As for a lack of game changers, I’ve seen little of him thus far, but could young Tzolis prove to be that man? We’ll find out by Christmas.
And at least we don’t have any prodigal sons knocking on our door 🙂
Cheers
The reason that Edu at Arse-nal didn’t follow up their interest and when for a Japanese player was that the same as Jose last season in that he doesn’t fit in with their model of defenders must be over 6ft and I think the new regime at Spurs have a similar model.
Maybe Aaron’s will be at city till someone changes their model
Cully and Taff were not giants either and not is Bali Mumba. Must be a Norwich thing😀
Arsenal of the past had Ashley Cole, Kenny Sansom and Lee Dixon all of whom were vertically challenged. Would they refuse to sign those three in todays climate? I rather think not.
Let’s hope that Mr Webber has got it right this time. We are all optimists of course but remember Drmic, Leitner, Sinani…… et al were all “good signings” at the time. I do think Kabak has some pedigree but others need to prove their worth. Lees Melou doesn’t look like a Premier League player to me. So now there are no excuses for Farke and he must prove he can manage at PL level or ………………?? We really have to do what it takes to stay up this time. I didn’t mean this to be too negative but my concerns came to the fore!
Hi Cyprus
Not negative at all really.
I would like to see more of PLM before I make my mind up. He was hardly expensive by this window’s standards so a bit of a free hit if you like.
I’ll judge when they have all settled in!
Cheers.
You’ll see more of this in the future – a large figure sale – in this case Buendia, being spent on several players and seeing what sticks. Plus an eye on The Championship, though as we are a ‘yo-yo’ club, that cannot be considered unreasonable.
What will stick I have no idea and to be fair, nobody else does either. It will have to be a gradual process and I’m not entirely sure we will have the time. As other posters have mentioned, I cannot (yet) see where the match winners are. With Daniel, it’s ‘Farkeball or F.A’, so we are potentially compromised by his own limitations. The O.C.D of managers if ever there was.
Even if we have only spend our own money, it is important to show to the wider world that we did. I’m convinced that if we had played the same card as two years ago, new rules from the EPL would have contrived some scheme for the future to stop clubs taking the ‘money and run’ if they feel no serious effort has been made. How that would have been calculated, I’m not sure, but not reaching a certain number of points would be an likely one, or a minimum spend. I still believe the parachutes payments should be scrapped on principle, even though we would likely to suffer in the process,
There’s never a good time to play Arsenal, but this could be it. Farke should be bold and he’s going to have to be to stay in this league as the ‘Along come Norwich’ days need to be rooted in the past.
Onwards and upwards!
Hi IR
Exactly what will stick is really difficult to predict as you say and I also agree with your point about DF
I’ve heard a couple of rumblings about a similar kind of rule change to the one you suggest but absolutely nothing concrete.
As for Arsenal maybe it is a good time to play them. Hopefully most of our players will know each other’s names by then!
Thanks – good post.
IR, ‘no parachute payments’? That opens up an interesting can of worms.
Hi Cutty
I don’t think the ending of parachute payments would do the likes of ourselves or WBA and Fulham very much good at all.
It would be good to hear more from Inside Right on this, particularly as I said I’ve heard nothing beyond extremely sketchy rumour – so if you’re reading IR, give us a shout 🙂
Cheers
From a personal point of view, it rewards failure. That isn’t right, whether for Norwich City or anybody else. We rubbed the league and some commentators up the wrong way last time, so it was important that we didn’t do that again, otherwise mutterings turn into meetings and then changes are made.
By removing it, clubs will have to be bolder and take the EPL more seriously. I know that would affect Norwich City, but it would place more pressure on The Smiths parochial vision and that would be a big plus for me – though many others would think otherwise!
We’ve done a pretty good PR job this summer, let’s hope it cuts the mustard.
You could say that parachute payments reward success just as easily if you link them to the initial promotion rather than allow every relegated club to have them – even those who have been in the PL for 10 years.
Without parachute payments NCFCs turnover goes from about £130m to about £15m in one year. If you’re going to cancel parachute payments, then you have to allow the Championship winners to forgo their place in the PL in order to safeguard the club’s future. Players are unlikely to sign contracts with a club with relegation clauses worth only 10 to 15% of their PL wages. Ending parachute payments effectively ends the hopes of any club without a wealthy benefactor.
That of course might well be what the FA want.
I agree with you as I do with Inside Right (below).
Sorry my reply skipped to the bottom on that one but I’m on Mrs P’s mini tablet so have banana fingers!
It’s a gloomy thought for a club like us.
We’ve a ‘new’ squad and it will take time to gel, it’s likely our slow start will continue therefore. However, every chance we can be really competitive as the season progresses, our mission is to finish above 3 other clubs.
Scoring goals is the hard ask, I like the look of the recent signings but do we have enough up front?
Morning Colin
Unfortunately all we can do just now is ask ourselves questions!
I’m not even sure how we’ll line up from game to game as we now seem equipped for 3-5-2 as well as the unproven 4-3-3 and DF’s traditional 4-2-3-1, let alone speculate on the selection.
I don’t expect this season to be boring, put it that way.
Cheers
Arsenal looks like a good opportunity to get some points on the board, but we may not see the benefits of Kabak and Normann in that game. They barely had time to find out where Norwich is before they were off on international duty, so they won’t know their new teammates, or how they play, by the time the league starts up again. It’s going to take a little while to settle them in, so I think it is likely to be the same team as played Leicester, maybe with the new men on the bench.
Hi Jim
You might well be right regarding the team selected for Arsenal although Dimi could replace Brandon Williams – there’s a right old scrap for the LB spot and that’s how we want it.
Sargent will surely be unavailable due to travelling back from the Honduras on Thursday morning so I guess Pukki will keep his place for now.
We’ll see!
Cheers
Wonderful work of Webber
With great respect it’s a bit early to write that in the heading.
Yes if do achieve mid table, then yes that would be the time to write that heading in the big block capitals that it would deserve.
I agree, Ken – 100%. I just got carried away with the alliteration 🙂
Thanks IR
Parochial is the word, even from the other side of the border.
I agree it may be exactly what the FA want and both Premier league and EFL desire too.