I need to be careful how I word this.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a few messages bemoaning the negativity on MFW this season, with a few people telling me they are departing these pages for good. I deliberately, on request, turned to Mick Dennis and Stewart Lewis to offer a more positive outlook. (Lads – expect an email this week).
I suggest those good folk who are here for the happy clapping, look away now.
There’s no sugar coating that performance. Dire… pathetic… woeful… gutless… embarrassing… humiliating.
Take your pick.
When a club legend describes it as ‘as bad as it gets’ you know it was bad. And Hucks is the voice of reason. It was one of those days when you ended up wishing that football, as a sport, didn’t even exist. It hurt that much.
Social media and the messageboards have, of course, been awash with comments and rants; many likening the sense of humiliation to that infamous afternoon when Colchester United were visitors. The circumstances and level of opposition were obviously different but in terms of pure undiluted embarrassment, there isn’t a better comparator.
Because that’s what it was and what we have become. An embarrassment. A laughing stock.
We get the hump when the idiots at TalkSPORT treat us as a joke and get riled up when the Match of the Day pundits treat us with dismissive contempt, and then we watch as our players and management dish up a performance like that. What is there to defend?
We’ll be treated with scorn in the media this week and we deserve it. A performance like that is indefensible.
Adrian Durham, Jamie O’Hara and those two blokes we’d never heard of will be filling their boots and we are armed with not a single piece of ammunition with which to defend those players… or the coach.
There is not just a single reason why it went so horribly wrong yesterday – there’s never just a single reason – but it felt as if the die was cast on Friday lunchtime when Daniel Farke faced the press. In his usual measured tones, our coach described the task that faced his players but this one came with added submissiveness.
“We face the toughest task in world football”, was a phrase used to describe the size of the challenge. It was therefore not too much of a surprise that the players looked out of their depth from minute one and as if they felt unworthy of being on the same pitch as the Galacticos in blue.
Being respectful of your opponents and aware of their qualities is one thing. Laying on your back and allowing them to tickle your tummy is another. The deference shown by Farke to his opponents was embraced by his players. All that was missing was a red carpet and guard of honour.
Against opponents whom they had been told were the best in the world, they froze. Even the simplest footballing tasks became nigh on impossible and the nervous energy used up overthinking the magnitude of the task drained the limbs and minds.
Chelsea are obviously a very good side – as you would expect when you have an almost bottomless pot of money to construct a team – but even good players can be closed down, put under pressure and be made to hurry.
But there was none of that. Those good players were given time and space to do almost as they pleased. They were given time to pick a pass, time to shoot and time, if they wanted, to have a cup of tea.
No pressure on the ball. Wide-open spaces for the recipient of the pass. The freedom of Stamford Bridge.
If there indeed was a plan, other than to absorb Chelsea pressure and pray, it unravelled on seven minutes. As Mason Mount’s shot nestled in the corner of Tim Krul’s net, City’s chance of anything other than a heavy defeat disappeared.
Seven minutes.
We don’t do comebacks in the Premier League, let alone against Chelsea.
But it wasn’t just the lack of closing down. It was everything. Loose and careless passing, a lack of intent, a lack of energy, lack of belief.
Questions have obviously, and quite rightly, been asked of the formation and personnel – all perfectly valid when you’ve just been humped 7-0 – but in many ways, both of those things are irrelevant when you’re not fulfilling that most basic footballing function of competing.
We didn’t compete.
A non-league team drawn away to Chelsea in the FA Cup for their big day out would compete on a grander scale than City did yesterday, and would likely emerge with a less brutal defeat.
Tactics and formations matter, especially at elite level, but players still have to perform at their best level regardless. Personal battles can still be won even if the shape isn’t right. And at said elite level, there should be enough leaders in the team to re-organise and tweak a shape in real-time rather than wait until half-time or a pitchside instruction.
We had none of that.
‘A rabbit in headlights’ is an overused phrase but it sums up perfectly the wide-eyed expressions of our finest yesterday. It was the day we took Murphy’s law to a new level.
A sending off followed by a twice-taken penalty that Tim Krul saved at the first attempt merely added to the sense of circus, but there was nothing entertaining about listening to Stamford Bridge echoing to the sound of laughter. Even if we did perform like clowns.
Men against boys is how it’s been described in the nationals. Who could argue?
But where from here?
Well, to start with, questions have to be asked of a management team that has overseen such an appalling couple of months. I’m not suggesting an immediate Monday morning P45 is the answer, but Stuart Webber is not doing his job if he doesn’t examine closely the failings and ask himself if there is someone out there who could get a better tune out of this group of players.
The lack of passion and fire on display will not have been lost on Webber, neither will the ill-discipline.
For us, the fans, we have no option but to suck it up and take on the chin all the brickbats that are about to come our way. Look upon it as character building.
At Colney, I’m hoping there will be serious soul searching. Yesterday wasn’t good enough by any metric going and I’d like to think that professional pride will soon kick in. No one wants a 7-0 defeat on their CV, especially one as humiliating as that.
This squad may well be the weakest in the league – the stats don’t lie – but even the poorest team in the league can play with fire and passion and perform the most basic of footballing functions.
Right now, the Leeds game looks like a make-or-break, although that level of jeopardy may fade a little by the end of the week. What I don’t want is for it to turn toxic.
For all his current struggles, Daniel Farke has given us two of the best seasons of our Norwich City supporting lives, and what he doesn’t deserve is for it to all disappear under a cloud of venom and unrest.
Quite how this ends, I’m not sure but the deference shown to the big six has to end now.
Watford and Brentford are competitive and fearless. Why are we neither of those things?
A very measured piece, thank goodness for Gary.
Somebody at NCFC has to be utterly ruthless in their belief to drive this club forward from here. This week. Let’s not have another Worthy/Hootun prevarication.
Either instruct Farke to tear up this ultra-defensive, submissive, ‘we’re just not good enough’ mantra and play the game in the style we expect and are good at and can compete with other teams by doing so, or bring in someone who will scare the b’jesus out of the players into actually fulfilling their not inconsiderable potential.
We know we are much, much better than this. The time to make that happen is now.
I agree completely Gary with your assessment apart from suggesting now is maybe not the time for Farkes p45.
It’s hard to comment on the state of OUR club without swearing, for me yesterday summed up the direction we have been on for some time. Webber and Farke control so much of OUR club that’s It’s hard to change anything.
The stats don’t lie, we are embarrassingly pathetic in the Premier league. The self funding model can’t be blamed for everything as we’ve been up and down enough times to have built up enough money and experience to compete against most sides much much better than this.
Farke needs to go now, I’ve never been a huge fan of his style of play …..the pass pass pass in our third of the pitch bores me and many others and certainly doesn’t work against better teams,it’s so easy to play against….oh for the excitement of Paul Lamberts sides
Probably the most embarrassed I’ve been as a Norwich supporter in over 45 years. The club’s utter contempt for top flight football is all to see and it is of no coincidence that Farke has one of the safest jobs in football, despite statistically being one of the worst EPL managers in its history.
Daniel Farke & Stuart Webber have made a mess on and off the pitch the season, but unlike any other club in European football, there is nothing but contentment above them. The club is not comfortable with top flight football, but is happy to take its money every two or three seasons to keep our hapless owners and ultimately doomed project in situ.
Chelsea fans are quoted that Norwich were beaten even before a ball was kicked. Brentford on the other hand, won their respect by giving it a real go. But Norwich City were not interested and Farke’s post game comments said in effect that it didn’t matter. I’ve wanted him out for a while, but no Norwich City manager should write a game off. Every game is winnable, even with the heavily suspect purchases by a certain Stuart Webber. For me, the project is blown.
If the club were serious about staying in this league, Farke would already been given his P45 and his sack of gold – especially given his extremely poor record at this level. But they haven’t. Does that show a club that is serious about their top flight aspirations?
Our fans deserve better, but even more importantly. Football deserves better. Every club should give it go, regardless of who they are and who the opposition is. Every club has a bad day, but there is something much deeper here. But Norwich City have made it clear, they’re not for playing.
It was a bit more embarrassing when we lost 7-1 to Colchester at home in the third tier rather than losing 7-0 away to the European champions, although I take your points!
I always enjoy coming on here and having a good read,though I’m not a happy Clapper,lol.Agree with what you have said and even the happiest of clappers must have been embarrassed and dissapointed with that performance.Was it no game plan?Players not playing for Farke or both.What I do know is the game was lost before a ball was kicked,through lack of confidence and too much respect for Tuchel and his team.Cant see Farke getting the boot yet as hes on a 4 year contract and the board will not want to pay him all of that and all his staff,but if the crowd start turning on him next weekend then theres only one outcome.
Morning Gary
It is incredible to me that MFW is losing support because of negativity. You can only call it as you see it. As it is. Appropriate and measured criticism should in no way be equated with disloyalty. In fact I find it tends the other way because of this silly reaction to any comments that are not all rainbows and pots of gold. You find yourself tip-toeing around what is obvious. The performance against Chelsea was more than embarrassing. It was shameful.
I have only one response left to all the phone calls and messages that are heading my way just now, from friends and rivals alike, the last resort of every Norwich fan right now, gallows humour. Lovely community club. Indeed. Nice owners. Indeed. Good academy. So some say. Improving facilities. Indeed. Financial competence. Of course….Shame that you are a total shower where it ultimately counts, on the green stuff. All the rest is just p!ss and wind if you don’t get that right. That is the gist of most of the conversations.
The coaching has failed, and continues to fail. Recruitment has failed. We are where we are. Pretending Norwich are without flaw and telling anyone who criticises to Jog Off is ridiculous. I hope it turns round, but I have seen no evidence, none, to believe that it is even remotely likely. I will always support Norwich, they are my Team, since I was 6 years old. I do not like where we are at the moment. The manner of the defeats is the problem. I have rarely seen a Norwich side this craven. They do not believe, they are scared, they freeze, fall apart and stop trying in any coherent way. That is what I am seeing. Perhaps we should mention it?
I think MFW has great articles and happy clappers are rarely true football people. For them it is just a game…. for most readers of MFW I get the impression most of us have bled football since birth, and that most articles are impartial and more accurate in analysis than we read elsewhere.
I’ve been trumped on here with my articles for being too pointy, negative, aggressive… lots of things and I know Gary took stick for publishing my opinions, so I’ve not written one in weeks.
But the sad fact is that the opinions and articles on here, negative or depressing, have been bang on in prediction and accuracy. That’s the saddest thing about this debacle…. true football people were raising eyebrows and predicting what has unfolded to a T…. both in terms of tactics, personnel and results. Armchair quarterbacks get lucky sometimes but I’d say most fans on MFW get it right most times and if we can foresee where this is going, then Colney better be bloody careful.
DF isn’t bouncing with this squad next season, we are in a perfect storm of potential threat….. just at the time Delia and Michael start to age to a point where they may not be able to save us again. We being Ipswich or Sheff Wed, Forest or Sunderland is only a few poor decisions away.
The squad that we have ended up with, bafflingly, is nowhere near fit for purpose and then tactically, the limits of these squad players is exacerbated by perplexing tactics from DF.
Without Emi or Skipp, City wouldn’t have been near the play-offs last season. Without both? Forget it. True colours. These are dangerous times, not embarrassing.
Mike
Keep those articles coming. We need nuance, caveats, but more than ever now, we need honesty. Indeed it is dangerous. Place that article. Everything could collapse suddenly and dramatically. Most seem to have no idea how thin the ice now is. This team has regressed from last season. In Norwich terms money has been spent, we have had a go. It hasn’t worked. Not even close.
Player values are taking a pounding. Aarons worth is collapsing by the day. Deservedly so. What is Sargent worth now? Farke has lost the dressing room. The players are headless chickens. The match against Leeds is a chance for redemption. Carrow Road will roar the boys on. Can they deliver? I hope so, but I do not believe it. Dangerous times indeed.
Daniel Farke and the premier league.
47 games played.
Won 5
Drawn 8
Lost 34.
Goals for 28
Goals against 98.
It simply cannot get worse.
Webber must share the blame here with the tripe he has recruited. Norman and Lees-Melou are NOT better than Sorenson! Sergeant is NOT better than Hugill or Idah! We needed to sign a couple of decent players not eleven in the hope one might be ok. If we don’t make a change NOW then your feared toxicity is just a couple of weeks away!!
Daniel is a nice guy but in any other club he would be sacked. Webber will lose all credibility unless he acts now.!
It is sad but OUR club is being ridiculed by the current setup and I won’t sit quietly by and watch that happen.
I agree Cyprus but when some fans argued we were better SUITED, not better equipped, 2 years ago we were laughed out of the room. Recruitment has been appalling again. And without Emi and Skipp, DF and SW had the chance for a CLEAN SLATE, to cherry pick exactly who they needed for precisely the formation DF wanted to pursue. Who the hell saw 4-3-3 with this group and how did they build to it with Gilmour needing 2 protecting players? It’s a joke. Then bullied by local fan pressure and through the media, DF changed again but to 3-5-2 with again, inappropriate players to the system.
Chris Wilder for me please.
First, as another punter pointed out, a happy clapper is someone who rides on the crest of a wave of success, as distinct from a loyal fan who gets behind their team rain or shine. Secondly this wasn’t ever the worse result of the day in our super league, that honour went to Everton who were blitzed at home to a team just promoted tinkering around again. If we had lost by 3 or 4 no one would of blinked an eye. But yes it was dire. Being a veteran of our club I’m old school, I don’t accept being second best, I’ve seen us beat everyone in my time so I find it very hard to adjust to the new super league reality. I also remember ordinary city players from the past playing their hearts out so I don’t accept passivity and ball watching. Now to the solutions….
I suppose for me the first time I heard the term happy clapper it was used to describe a group of fans who were always in denial about problems. After a while it became clear that these people often had close links with the club, maybe they worked for the club or they got free tickets from a player or they knew someone in the Board etc so they often had reasons not to question the way the club was run or performed. I agree that Everton had a worse day than us but we were very poor and have been all season. We had glimmers of form against Leicester and at least showed some resilience against Brighton. Yesterday was not a one off to be filed away with no concerns. I have never seen a Norwich team more out of its depth
I think we have to admit we’ve got a championship manager and maybe as a club championship ambitions .
It’s so galling to think we are the pathetic reason for people calling for the change in no. of teams in the premier and also a change in the parachute money .
But it is reassuring that the outside world are as disgusted with us as we are lol .
Whoops.
Nothing to disagree with in your article Gary. I’ve always been 100% behind Stuart Webber and Daniel Farke, however it’s time to change. The DoF has to make that change and sadly that means auf wiedersein Daniel. To be replaced by who?. I’ve no idea but it needs to be someone who can get a tune out of this current squad because it’s what we are stuck with until at least January.
Watford and Brentford are competitive and fearless probably because they are confident in their own ability to be well organised, able to defend as a unit, each player knows his own role and position in defending and attacking etc from productive hours spent on the training ground The polar opposite of this current Norwich squad and a damning indictment of the current manager, coaching staff and sporting director. OTBC .
The financially sustainable community club model has no place or chance in the Premier League. We can only compete in the championship. At the same time being a community club means a club the community can be proud of and will want to watch. That is only possible if the matches we have are a proper contest. We might win some and lose some but it is a contest where the outcome is uncertain. There is no uncertainty with NCFC in the PL. We know we will be relegated and aren’t competitive. I seriously hope that if we were to get promoted again we would pass on a return to the PL. Otherwise the model we cherish will just fail..
We can only compete in the Championship if we have Premier League income. Without parachute money our income would only cover that of a League One mid table team, therefore, we would need to make a profit in player trading of at least £10m per year. That is a tall order. I would also question the term community club. I can’t really say that we fit that description, it is a term that I have heard used but very rarely see evidence of it and certainly not more than is visible at other clubs. So is this a model that we all cherish, all 25,000 season ticket holders plus numerous members? Or is it a model that a small percentage cherish?
Mick McCarthy has just been sacked for losing 8 games in a row. Only 8? We had to put up with 16 straight losses in the PL. No other club in professional football would retain the services of a manager with that record. It’s extraordinary when you think about it.
Can Delia afford the pay off?
There appears to be something seriously wrong with the club at present. I think there are 4 key questions that need to be asked: 1 Are the Board satisfied with the return on investment this season? 2 Does Webber feel that he is being supported by the Board? 3 Does Farke think that Webber has provided him with the players he needs? 4 Do the players think their team mates and coaching staff are adequate? If every answer is yes then we have major issues but I would assume that at least one of these answers will be a no which gives us an indication of what needs to be done. I have never seen a Norwich team so far out of their depth with the possible exception of post Project Restart and the initial matches under Ron Saunders in 1973/74. I have not seen such a disjointed squad since the relegation to League 1. However, the problem is not purely on the pitch, there appears to be something wrong behind the scenes, we saw a hint of this with the BK8 fiasco and we saw it with the ticket allocation problems for the Chelsea match. Ben Kensall left because of the former and the latter probably would have been avoided if Ben Kensall had not left. The club AGM is imminent and this is a rare opportunity for the majority of fans to find out what is actually happening at the club as it has to be public. I feel that at the moment we do not have a plan, we have to look at the squad and say that if we are relegated then we will lose our 4 loan players, we would also expect to sell a couple and we would see one or two star performers get that little bit older. Would the club morale be up for another shot at the Championship? I really don’t think so. I understand that the club pushed the boat out to make sure that we won promotion last season (this will be confirmed one way or another when the accounts are published), I can’t see the will to do that again so we have to look at a future where we are not dining on the rich pickings of the Premier League. We need to consider that we would need an 8 figure profit on player trading to compete in the Championship after parachute money runs out. The immediate questions that need to be answered are the 4 I listed at the start but the more fundamental questions that the Board have to ask and answer are “what is the medium term plan”, “how do we fund that” and “what is our identity” I feel that the last one is going to be tricky as I’m not the only fan who feels that the club has moved away from us in recent seasons
Farke was telling us on Friday how players should be prepared for top games,next day his team shows that he doesn’t have a clue.
You don’t win any games on the training ground. Southgate proved that with his reasons for penalty takers.
You have to produce when it matters,forget statistics for a minute and have a look at what’s in front of you. How long can we tolerate a striker that can’t score? The fact that we play Sargent for his build up play-which has produced as little as his shooting-is the biggest joke for me.Nine million quid should buy someone a little bit special,not somebody with the qualities of an enthusiastic amateur.
Skilful players are being ignored,we downgraded the team over the summer. Webber wants players who want to be at the club while he is preparing to move on.
Watford have scored 6 times as many goals as Norwich this season & have 5 times as many points. Brentford have scored 5 times as many goals & have 6 times as many points. Both teams finished below Norwich last year & neither have spent oodles of money. Those aren’t impressive stats from City’s point of view. But where are the impressive stats? There aren’t any.
Gary a reasoned summary of a “very bad day at the office”. The result, the comments of “everyman and his wife” have led to me trying to dissect what has happened so far with our Club in a cool, clear and dispassionate way. Just for a moment forget the need for players to show fight and passion and look at the basics when compared with the other Clubs in this division. Firstly we have the worst resources of any other team both on and off the field, secondly pound for pound we have one of the least valuable set of players, manager and support. Player’s value is fixed for a reason, their individual skill and ability to gel with others. Manager’s salary and contract length reflect ability to command a set of players to produce results. So against that background have we, as supporters, “the right” to expect more. I’m not to sure.
We are the least best team in the Premier in all respects. So it would appear all we are left with is the right to compete, that right was won by being the top team in a lower league. Don’t get me wrong I would love to see Norwich prove the doubters and critics wrong by finishing higher at the end of the season. However a good dose of reality has set in and I am resigned to more pain to come. Ask yourself are Chelsea as a collective worth seven times more than us?
So what are we left with, a public apology from our Captain only goes so far, sadness and despondency expressed by the Manager post match only cuts soo much slack. So for me it’s over to the eleven individuals selected to wear the green and yellow shirt and cross the white line show us we are all wrong, show us you care, roll up those sleeves and perform week in and week out, makes us proud even when losing. After all it’s what you are paid to do!!
Very fair assessment Gary.
But it can get a lot worse, Derby like worse it will take a miracle to beat their 11 point relegation record the way things look at the moment.
And Inside Right yesterday was awful, disgraceful etc, etc but not a patch as embarrassing as Norwich 1 Colchester 7.
But Martin hit the nail hit the nail on the head, when he says we have been up and down enough times to compete with most if not half the teams in the EPL. Brentford and Watford are doing it so why the hell can’t we.
Something is wrong, and Bernard’s is right to point at Daniel Farke’s EPL record. Its seems like a Solanke or Mitrovic situation where Daniel Farke can rip it up in the Championship but like those players mentioned just cannot cut it at Premiership level. I think we haven’t come back in the EPL under Daniel from 1-0 down in something like 49 out of 50 games. that is disgraceful.
But personally I don’t completely believe that as I do think when Farke leaves us and goes up a level with added spending power I expect him to be successful.
But that doesn’t help us one jot at the moment.
I still think too many young players were brought in over the summer, ( they may prove themselves in the future but it is the now that matters ) players brought in too late, again not enough power and strength brought in and not replacing Emi.
What Sorenson has to do to get a start is anyone’s idea. Lets be honest other than a few decent midfield performances from the incumbents he couldn’t do any worse.
Daniel said of Emi’s departure that we need to go differently this time round with more pace up front, but Teemu and Josh ? Really !!!
I also think the planning for this has confused me as we now play a system that cannot accommodate a number 10. Which Dowell, Cantwell and Gilmour can play. So we are leaving out our most creative players.
Why did we sign Billy Gilmour if we were not going to play a system in which he can play ? Can you imagine the banter between Billy and his Chelsea team mates yesterday … you cannot get in that shower of sh!t !!!!
Now on to Todd. I was told of a situation for which he had my utmost sympathy which now it seems was not correct, so why the hell is he missing training ? We have all had bad things in happen in our lives but I found going work for as long as I could to be a blessing to be honest.
It seems as if we have lost Emi, Skipp and Todd and the whole house has blown down. A far cry from the last 7-0 we were involved in, the destruction of Huddersfield Town.
Seeing Watford and Brentford making so much more of a go of it is excruciating, we finished in front of both more than comfortably last season so the fans who turn up every week, especially the away supporters deserve much more than this.
There are reasons/excuses for a lot of this but that time has gone now we are nearly 25% through the season.
So where we go from here Gary I do not have a clue.
And what’s the betting if Leeds front man Raphina is fit for Sunday’s game he scores ? That’s how down I feel right now.
not to mention that if DF was prepared to play 2 players to protect Gilmour, you CAN basically keep 4-2-3-1…. but more over, why not apply the same protection and have kept Vrancic.
Gilmour or Vrancic or Leitner?
PLM or Tettey or Trybull?
Sarjent or Stieperman?
Rashica or Hernandez?
The list goes on….
Hi Gary
I have never been anything but positive towards Webber and Farke. Even as recently as last week I was able to praise a few green shoots of recovery on MFW but the West London frost has killed them off and they are highly unlikely to reappear.
Anybody who doesn’t like negativity should steer clear of my piece tomorrow and wait to see what Mick and Stewart have to say 🙂
I’m what some people would describe as a happy clapper in that I don’t get too angry and upset about football. But yesterday was terrible. Gary’s said everything I want to say, so I’ll leave it at that.
Excellent account of a disaster Gary.
In these situations you need to start at the top and work down.
First Houghton looked promising then failed.
Neil we thought was a real find but then also failed.
Farke was the best so far but now looks to have joined the above regarding success.
Common denominator, Delia!
I’m sure the reason she is reluctant to take any action or provide adequate finance for the premiership is because she prefers the championship. It’s affordable ( for the time being) and she can cling on to her social club.
If she really has this clubs best interests at heart she should put the sale notice up tomorrow.
Totally agree,I’ve been saying that for a few years now.
I dont see that game as Norwich problem, its premier league overall problem. Top premier league clubs are just so much better than premier league clubs which tries to avoid relegation. At the same time no one is talking how easily Manchester City beat Brighton. Then your second level is so much lower quality than first level, so same clubs keeps on coming back after relegation.
I got asked interesting and very difficult question, which is better Malmö or Norwich? After this week games everyone would likely say Malmö. I have seen Malmö playing couple on times, against HJK both were better at home and it was very 50-50 overall. Then Malmö went to play against Glasgow Rangers, scottish football so called expert who was supposed to know nordic football said that Malmö or HJK has no chance against Rangers and at least 5 goals difference is going to happen. Malmö won (Kamara was suspended) and finally get even to champions league group games. I still think that Norwich might be slightly better and because Pukki would be way too much to handle for Malmö.
I used spanish coverage and commentators for Chelsea-Norwich. Reason is that english one is very low quality and if its americans it gets even way worse. Knowledge is in bad level and way too biased. During the game spanish discussed why Pukki plays for Norwich? Their expert said that Norwich have refused to let him leave and asking price is high. Every time I watch Teemu playing for Norwich I get bad feeling and spanish felt the same. They also spoke little bit about Rashica, I didnt know that he has been going on very long non winning period and his career has been going in downhill which does not look to be ending and he cant physically play in premier league. He gets bullied and does not get free kicks in England which he has used to get outside England.
Norwich got 1 good scoring chance, again it was opponent big mistake. Rashica did it fine, but Mendy is incredible and as goalkeeper is his own level. Most worrying thing is that Norwich looked tired right from the start. Farke has put Norwich players to play football which is very physically tough, because Norwich tries to cover lack of quality by running. Games against Brighton and Burnley made them look like greyhounds and its sure that no team can play like whole season. Hopefully Norwich players recover for next weekend, if not then Farke has made them pay too high price and started marathon wrongly.
Arsenal beat Aston Villa and now it was easy to see why Buendia has problems in todays in premier league. Tempo, intensity and physicality was too much, Sambi Lokonga and Partey dominated midfield so clearly and Aston Villa didnt have a chance. Also Watkins and Ings are not Pukki, people all the time think that everything is happening because of midfielder who has ability to pass, but same way he needs striker who has ability to find spaces to make passing easier and it can be also that passing stats gets high because of striker and he is main reason to someones stats rising.
Today there is incredible football matches day, so many very interesting games from el clasico to Manchester United-Liverpool derby and many others too. I start watching of course Brentford and expect them to beat Leicester maybe 7-0 would be perfect ;-).
If Pukki had actually passed the ball to Sargent instead of to the Chelsea defender we may actually have been 1-1 not 2-0 down seconds later. That was the really big turning of the game but Pukki disastrously muffed his lines.
I looked what situation you mean. Pukki was trying to pass ball to Sargent and it was too fast pass but also Sargent was too slow. It has very little to do with Chelsea goal, Norwich had about 9 players under the ball and it started close to Chelseas penalty area. There was also Chelsea defender so Sargent would have been first able to win him and then beat Mendy and maybe some other chelsea defender. Extremely unlikely when Sargent is not able to shoot goals in situations which he had against Brighton.
Norwich had no chance and nothing would have changed that. Picking up Pukki as reason to loose is something incredible and impossible to understand what Teemu has done to you which makes someone believe things like that. Its perfect example of player hate whatever reason. Norwich lost as a team, but if there must be pick someone who was worst it was Gibson but Norwich didnt loose because of him either.
Pukki has to make that pass. You barely get a sniff against the top sides. Absolutely wasteful from Pukki. Buendia would have made the pass and it had nothing to do with Sargent’s pace and everything to do with Chelsea goal. When you squander possession cheaply high up the pitch is when the best teams can pick you off – it happens time and again.
Oh dear. Brentford lost. How sad.
Cannot argue, but more like I don’t want to either. The whole scenario of Friday-Saturday brought up memories of the Hughton era, building up the opposition too much.
Gutless and Passionless, how many of us in our younger days and those who are still young enough would have given anything to be good enough to pull on that shirt.
There was absolutely nothing in the way of passion fight and pride. All departed for the day (hope it is only a day) because there is still a long long way to go, , we cannot have much more of this embarrassing sh1t show. or we can say move over Derby we want your record.
I did not think I would come to say a fresh voice and methods are needed, please do not wait, like what happened with Alex Neil and Nei Adams. I said give him 10 games, but nothing has improved in fact it has dropped rock bottom. All the hype about the players brought in clearly is not that much of an improvement on what we had.
Farke keeps stressing that we are a self-funding club, to me I can not see what the hell that has to do with what happens in 90 or so minutes on a pitch, to me it sounds like Farke himself has perhaps had enough. Of course, he will never say so in public. I watched a little of it yesterday and drew the conclusion quite early he looked as lost as the players did. I left and went into my workshop and listened on RadioCedric Anslin kept reporting he was confused as to what formation/tactic they were playing too, stressing they all looked lost. In last few minutes 7-0 down and still trying to play out from the back, instead of getting the ball as far away as possible, suicide as was proven.
Joe Cole said in an article that to him it looked like the players (1) didn’t want to play that way. (2) They did not want to play for the manager. Ending with a fresh voice and vision was needed.
Richard Keyes really tore into the way the club appears to view the premiership money, get promoted get the cash, not bother too much get relegated along with Parachute payments. Get promoted again get the money, bother a little more but will end up relegated again No respect given.
Enough is enough, this is not going to be turned around by this regime, Farke is an awesome championship coach, but can not work out the premiership. If they are serious about becoming an established premiership club. Then the time is now to act. I would hate to see Farke get destroyed and remember solely for a terrible record. He brought so much to the club, playing some of the best football I have seen for many a season.
Sad as this is the club and its future comes first. Action needed or give up on the season
Firstly I have to say this is my 64th year supporting our team. In all that time I’ve gone through the up’s and downs, Very close to being ahead of most of the boards connection.
As a manager/director in a few business’s, my best attribute was man management.
How the hell can the BOARD support a manager who’s paid to get the best of his employees, when he make’s the.following statement after the game.
“even with our best performance, if Chelsea had a good day they should still win”
Based on that does that go further up the chain, have the Board any management skills?
BUT THEY HAVE TO ACT!!!
Yes we all think DF has done well in the championship, we could say the Board have done well at the lower level.
So if we want to move to the next level the only way is a new Board and Manager.
We all know that Delia & Michael saved the club, but that’s history.
We need a new approach, as we all agree the current model will never work in the EPL, that includes the BOARD..
think it was more down to Geoffrey Watling for saving the club, he got the shares from Chase and sold them to the Stowmarket duo. If my memory serves me correctly. With the priviso that no one person could own the control amount. Personally I see no difference from Smith & Jones being Husband & Wife than one person holding the control. These will be handed to nephew on their retirement or demise. Again the proviso overlooked
I have been following the club since the 1962/63 season as a young 10-year-old. As much as I believe they need to act NOW. From looking back I have a strong feeling they won’t until the home crowd really reacts. I organised the first demo for Worthy out. but it was several games later before they acted. Taking a hammering at home to Burnley.
A very good piece Gary, why sugar coat it?
Even allowing for the quality of the opposition, this was a steaming turd of a performance by a bunch of so called professionals who were quite blatantly putting in considerably less effort than is required.
Ignore the commercial radio morons, the criticism from more respected, measured and intelligent sources is damning. The likes of joe Cole, Jermaine jenas, and our own dean ashton and Darren huckerby told it how it is, minus the spite, malice and glee from other sources.
In dissecting our so called midfield, jenas pointed out what was glaringly obvious. Several players were not trying. From as early as the seventh minute.
The ferocity of the criticism coming the way of that shower this week will be almost unprecedented and for once I don’t really care.
The sound of camels backs snapping amongst the support yesterday as our humiliation went global will be hard to ignore. We have cashed in our best player and wasted all the proceeds on mercenaries whose fitness to wear the shirt must be called into question. Webber has ignored the gaps in our squad and despite promising strength and physicality has brought in players with at least one eye on resale value in the future as opposed to value to the team right now. It’s no exaggeration to say mario and Tettey would have given better service yesterday. We still would have lost but we would have done it with some honesty and integrity.
Farkes clearly broken. Those expecting him to be removed from his job I feel are mistaken. As so many before him, he is a useful deflector of criticism from the root of the problem. Only when the heat gets turned up on those in higher places will farke get the bullet, in any case, who would replace him? Neil Adams?
As I opined the other day, self funding is done for. It is not, as some believe a “cherished model” it is simply a device by which the current owners maintain their grasp on a business they cannot afford to run. How long will it be before we struggle to,compete in the championship due to the deeper pockets of every other owner?
As if this wasn’t bad enough, we are seeing an increasing debate surrounding the number of clubs allowed in the premier league and the eradication of the parachute payments. Without the parachute payments to bolster our finances we would be in serious trouble.
No doubt the usual platitudes from various staff and players will emerge during the week but it’s only ever talk, it’s never backed up by actions.
Having oddly chosen to limit the number of City fans at Stamford bridge the club inadvertently protected the players from the full response that their performance deserved. A full house next week will not hold back if they feel they are being let down again. The team sheet needs to show a good few changes and some of the frozen out players should be given a chance. A similar lack of commitment and respect and the atmosphere will quickly become toxic as you suggest Gary.
I posted on Twitter yesterday that I felt ‘compelled’ to defend the club whenever a pundit or ex-player etc had a go at us. Always have and am, by far, not the only one.
But after yesterday? Forget it. Let them all rip into us as much as they like after that result and performance. Because there is no excuse for it. None. Nada. Zero.
Period.
I don’t want to hear ab0ut how much wealthier than us the opposition are, ditto their owners, how much more they can pay in terms of wages, how magnificent their stadiums are and how ‘difficult’ it is for us to go there. I don’t want to know about how the result in game x, y or z ‘doesn’t define our season’ or how much more experienced at this level their players are or just how ‘young’ our team is.
Sick to death of hearing the pre-packaged disposable excuses-and that’s even before a game has started.
We know there’s a mighty gap between most of them and us. Take that as read.
So stop worrying about it. Go a little leftfield in your thinking. Like how we might be able to get something out of a game no-one expects us to win-coach and, it would seem, our own players included. We’ve seen enough teams who weren’t expected to beat us turn us over in recent years. Remember Luton in the FA Cup a few years ago? And there’s others. It is, after all, the sort of game and performance where the whole ‘Along come Norwich’ thing came from.
We spend, for us, large amounts of money on new players. Then we hear how they need to settle down, get used to the game, the ways of the club, the language, the culture change in moving to another country, the training regime. More excuses. These are professional footballers being paid a lot of money. If they’re not going to be able to hit the ground running, don#t sign them. We don’t have that great luxury that the Liverpool of the 70’s and 80’s had of being able to bed new signings in their reserves for a year, eighteen months.. If we spend £8 million on a player, they need to be ready made and able to play from the off.
Not sat on the bench getting 5 minutes here and there in a formation that isn’t suited to them.
Look at the players we signed prior to the first season in the Premier League under Lambert. Morison. Elliot Bennett, Johnson, Howson, Pilkington. All greedy for the opportunity to step up and they took it. As did, of course, Holty a couple of years earlier. They didn’t need time, to do this, that and the other. They were as desperate for a grab at the big time as their new team mates were-and it showed, from the off. Because we had a team that, week in, week out, played without fear, one that went out and had a go and got some great results via a mentality driven into them by our coach at the time, his mantra…
“Don’t get fuckin; beat”
That’s how you close the ever widening gap between us and the rest. Through a mentality that refuses to consider defeat, one that fights for every ball, second ball and lost cause. And which has he sort of self belief you could bottle and power the entire ctty with. It’s what Brentford brought up with them and what Raneiri would have put into his players yesterday. Forget what everyone else is saying. You can win this match. We’d pretty much raised the white flag before kick off.
“Ignore the noise” is the current mantra of the club. Well, there’s a lot being made right now-are they going to ignore it?
Bang on.
Hourihane, Ben Davies, Alex Mowatt, even a last chance for Charlie Austin, Aiden Flint, Sean Morison…. Guys like that in the right system under a walk through walls manager would work.
Not sure filling the side with Championship journeymen is the answer… although I take your point that those you mention would have the necessary guts and grit. But Aiden Flint and Sean Morrison as a centre-back pairing?
Well they wouldn’t be a pairing would they? A few of those names pushing McLean, Hanley, Pukki…. elevating some leadership pressure.
Where we REALLY screwed up was by making Hanley, McLean and Pukki the elder statesman in defence, midfield and attack and asking them, when BARELY capable themselves, to lead others around them with no EPL experience.
We should have had added guys that have the charisma to keep going, players we could just about afford, and embedded a warrior mentality from players that know Norwich is the highlight of their careers, give them one last chance.
Not sure I’d call any of them journey men either.
Nothing wrong with adding some youth and some sell-on players who will balance the books, but I don’t know how Kabak, Sarjent, Rashica and Tzolis were all meant to fit in without depleting the sell-on profits of Cantwell, Idah and Andy O.
Well said Ed. I agree with you 100%.
Ed CL, absolutely spot on 👌
The point is that DF
1) doesn’t have an appropriate tactical template commensurate with this group of players
and possibly worse,
2) I think the dressing room has gone.
Either of those points result in inevitable parting of ways, and therefore the sooner the better in order to save this season.
I love the guy but once a dressing room has gone, it’s not recoverable so we are now at a point, SADLY, of delaying the inevitable.
The longer we wait, the greater the risk the 2 best candidates, Eddie Howe and Chris Wilder, going elsewhere.
This was the worst performance I’ve ever witnessed, I was there , I shouted a lot , “awful ….c**p. Sh**te, whatever . I don’t care now . Time to move on , 2 games to get it right Mr Farke . I don’t know why he can’t fix it , and again I don’t care . That’s his job and if he can’t do it get someone else ( not Bruce )
One thing I do know : if you can’t move the ball out of defence you will lose or occasionally scramble a 0-0
Farke is a hero , but hero’s don’t last forever . Might be time for another hero , but beware , they don’t come round that often . So perhaps we should prepare for a few more downs before the ups . That’s life 😁
Things are going so bad that at this rate Gilmour is going to get player of the season.
My money’s on Michael McGovern for the Barry Butler.
He’s got my vote.
In hindsight, replacing Farke with a new manager as soon as we won the Championship would have been ruthless but the right thing to do. We could have used an experience Premier League manager to attract Cahill, King, Noble and others, but instead we have got kids and relegated Bundesliga players. Cahill has played the most minutes of Premier League football of any player for a reason and sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to survive, but we have prioritised the medium-to-long term at the expense of the short.
The problem in bringing in the two mentioned is they are unlikely to want to manage with a DOF and the paucity of funds/players available?
Might be wrong but I’d imagine Wilder wouldn’t be Delia’s cup of tea. He’d say how it is and that wouldn’t go down too well.
Spot on.
Sorry Canarylad, only just got round to your input, which followed mine, not bad the 2 of us completing
over 120 yrs, I was 8 and enjoyed the 57/58 cup run. All my school mates in Cambridge (Uncle lived in Norwich and took me to Carrow Rd, he fixed Ken Nethercott car) were Man Utd or Spurs fans, can you image me have the upper hand in the FA, that glued me to the club.
Probably only a few season leaf to enjoy as the years roll on, but it would be nice to enjoy them in the EPL.
Here’s wishing some folks do the right thing and let somebody take over.
Has DF lost the dressing room? Guess we find out next Sunday.
A return to playing Farkeball would be welcome whatever the outcome although it is time for a change, Ted Lasso 🤣🤣
Hi Gary,
Well thought out there, but I can’t help feeling it’s been toxic all season!
I was going to buy a StubHub for the game, but other things came up – I’m glad because 90 minutes face to face with that performance would have been a killer, Tim Krul’s excellent performance being the only true bright spot there.
At the end of the day, I see the following;
1 – We can’t buy/sell players until January, so the squad can’t go,
2 – Nobody is buying the club so the owners aren’t about to go,
3 – Most of us like the coach, but he can go;
Balance the above against the following;
4 – After the Burnley and Brighton matches, things were beginning to stabilise and it was this squad,
indeed this team, that stabilised it – fans were starting to smile again,
5 – I’m not unhappy with the current owners, and we can’t afford massive debt anyway. There are no
billionaires camped outside – accept or build your own wealthy NCFC-backing consortium,
6 – I admire Daniel Farke for what he built before our very eyes, always will. He can build no more.
When I started watching Norwich City, Hugh Curran reigned supreme and I cannot imagine that team capitulating like yesterday. I used to go to Carrow Road sure I would see competitive football, even if we lost the towel was never thrown in! The players I watched were the only coaches I ever really had.
We can still stay up!
Cheers All!
Some great insightful comments to a very well constructed article by Gary G but I’m going to keep mine very simple…
2 up front against the European Champions away was a recipe for disaster.
Still don’t understand why we’ve changed from 4-2-3-1 which was Farke’s ‘mantra’ 🤔
Unfortunately we look like lambs to the slaughter and there are lots of wolves out there (19 at least).
I have been a fan since 1959 and saw all the home cup ties and the semifinal. No exaggerated respect for Man United and Spurs then.
We did not give our manager enough ammunition two seasons ago. This time we have brought in too many players of similar ability. Could we play Tzolis and Rashica in the same team, for example? We have had a fractured start to the season with injuries, COVID and international breaks preventing essential preparation.
That said, it is hard to fathom why we have not shown more fight. I was at Arsenal when they were at a low ebb. But even then City did not go for it. On Saturday City’s lack of confidence was typified by Sargent’s inability to control a ball. Last season the level of ball skills was outstanding. On Saturday it was poor.
With COVID on the rise I am not sure how keen I will be to go into crowded spaces. If the outstanding support City have received over the last fifteen years declines, the atmosphere will become even more fraught.
Things are not all bleak. The Club has several promising youngsters and good players out on loan. This bodes well for the future. But we cannot expect to recruit the next generation of players like Godfrey and Maddison while the atmosphere is so depressed.
It will take an enormous effort to turn around the present crisis. It should be apparent to Mr Webber whether our coach has the capacity to bring City out of the current mess. If not he should act now.
Unfortunately it will turn toxic because our board, with their inability to be decisive and ruthless (possibly because they aren;t that bothered about staying up) will drag this out and make the fans have to force the decision out of them.
I like Daniel Farke. One one level I desperately don;t want us to sack him after what he has done. He’s also not the only issue as the ownership continues to hold us back and Webber’s midfield recruitment has been borderline negligent again. But I think we do need to sack him because when I watch us I just don;t see players even doing the basics properly. He’s never been able to coach us to defend. In the championship it doesn’t matter as much as we dominate the ball, many teams park the bus ir they let us off moments of slackness. But we were still letting them have good chances far too regularly. In the premier league it really matters and it has undermined averything we do well. We are now having the pack the defence and midfield to try and keep teams out and yet Chelsea still walzed through us at will, unchallenged and also knowing they didn’t need to worry about defending as we had zero attacking threat. Meanwhile Cantwell, Gilmour, Tzolis and Rashica sit on the bench despite being players who should thrive under our (now abandoned) style of play. Sorensen, a holding midfielder by trade, is repeatedly snubbed despite the fact it abundantly obvious to anyone with a brain that we need a player sitting in front of the defence.
I just think he’s lost it and we ar so far from what we once were that i don;t see how Farke can turn it around when faced with this level of opposition every week. Perhaps the Watford model is actually kinder on their coaches than our misguided excessive loyalty!
Having been a keen supporter of NCFC for over 65 years, it is both difficult and painful to have to say that Saturday´s game against Chelsea was the worst display of professional football I have ever watched. I think it is certain that no-one expected Norwich to win but to display a complete capitulation was unforgivable. I watched as the TV cameras panned down on to the faces of the Norwich players and they just looked shell shocked. They seemed to have no idea how to play against Chelsea. Lack of any sort of plan and shocking basic football skills of passing, running with the ball or tackling. Norwich just gave in and let Chelsea play as they liked. For professional footballers it was appalling.
So, who is at fault? Unfortunately, much of the blame has to be levelled at DF as well as the backroom team. One can only imagine what the inquest will be about this Monday morning. I think the players are completely lacking in confidence and feel they are out of their depth in the Premier league. They make a very good Champion´s league team but just do not have the experience or skills to complete with most of the teams in the Premiership.
DF seems lost as to what to do next. He has always been a very likeable man but likeable men do NOT succeed at the highest level. Where is the anger or energy shown but the likes of the managers of Liverpool, Man. City, Chelsea. DF just stands on the touchline with a bewildered look on his face. Would another manager at City make a difference or save them this season? Very hard to know. There needs to be a complete shakeup from the very top. Does it need SW to take a firm hand. It appears he has not spent wisely this season. I expect there will be the usual excuses from everyone but Norwich need to invest in rebuilding the team with experience and quality. I hope they will survive but I have my doubts.