And that just about summed it up.
Even on a day when we all were saluting a Club legend, they still didn’t have it in them to produce a performance. Gutless and spineless to the bitter end.
On a day when, for most of the time, Carrow Road opted to set aside its differences with the Club’s hierarchy and generate an atmosphere befitting of a departing hero, this group still failed to deliver.
That they ended the season in the bottom half of the table was entirely fitting for a group that looks infinitely more like relegation fodder than playoff hopefuls.
Nothing in this team functions as it should, aside from its goalkeeper.
The back four gets opened up with alarming regularity – Blackpool could have scored four or five if they’d been more clinical in front of goal – and gets out of shape more than it’s in shape.
The midfield huffs and puffs but creates very little. Blackpool’s banks of four and five were comfortably able to withstand spells of pressure because, more often than not, the ball was shifted so painfully slowly.
And up front, we’ve managed to breathe new life into the term ‘powderpuff’.
Over the last 11 games, it’s shown itself to be an awful football team. The Club, and those charged with putting it together, should be thoroughly ashamed.
They won’t be – somehow it will be twisted around to be the fault of the fans – but they should.
The mitigation will come in the form of the injuries, particularly those picked up by Grant Hanley, Kenny McLean, and Ben Gibson, but that in itself tells its own little story. All three have struggled at times and have been on the receiving end of the fans’ ire, yet without them we look broken.
So how does a club that one year ago was in the Premier League allow its squad to be so reliant on three players? Why is the squad so ill-equipped to withstand three key injuries?
Without delving too deep, I’m fairly sure other teams, including those now in the Championship playoffs, will have suffered similarly but have still produced performances. Not us. Our performance level has disintegrated,
In the final 11 games of last season – by common consensus, a complete disaster – our record read, Won 1, Drawn 2, Lost 8. Among our conquerors in that run were Manchester United, Newcastle, and Tottenham.
In the final 11 games of this season – also by common consensus, a complete disaster – our record reads, Won 1, Drawn 4, Lost 6. In this run we’ve been beaten by, among others, Swansea, West Brom, and Blackpool.
In the Premier League and when you’re Norwich City that kind of run is heartbreakingly familiar. But to produce something very similar when you’re in the second tier and when you have tangible advantages over most other clubs in the form of squad quality and parachute payments?
How is that in any way acceptable? Why are we expected just to shrug it off and take it on the chin because we’ve been informed that a summer reset is incoming?
We finished just seven points shy of the playoffs – equivalent to two wins and a draw – yet somehow a run of one win in 11 in the run-in is brushed off because we’re supposedly planning to refresh the squad in the summer.
In almost every other club in the country, serious questions would be asked of David Wagner’s suitability for the job.
In almost every other club in the country, Stuart Webber would have been thanked for the good things he has achieved in his six seasons but then politely shown the door.
But we’re not a serious football club.
When we were told we were going to do things differently, this is not what we had in mind.
A serious football club isn’t run at the behest of two married couples.
A serious football club questions and challenges those in power in order for it to become better and to move forward.
But instead, Delia and Michael hand all of the power in the world to the Webbers, and look where it has left us: from a playing perspective, in a weaker position than we were when Stuart arrived.
Yes, football is cyclical and, yes, this is the end of a cycle, but cycles don’t have to end with your football club dropping off the edge of a cliff.
It feels rotten, and certainly not right that those who have led us down this path are the same ones now being tasked with leading us back into the light.
It feels like they’ve lost that right.
But. equally, I expect nothing, or at least very little, to change.
I’m guessing in the next few weeks, we’ll get confirmation that the Attanasios have taken on the new share issue but, for now, what that actually means is a complete unknown to those of us not privy to any inside information.
It feels like this club needs revolution. I fear it will get a few tweaks.
But we’ll see. Those in the know appear more positive than I, so perhaps something big is about to happen.
For now, hope is all we have.
Good riddance to 2022-23.
This is up there as one of your best ever posts Gary. You’ve summed up, very succinctly, what surely the majority of City fans are thinking today.
The long weeks of waiting for any hint of the American investment being made public, and still hearing nothing, prove to me anyway, that the delay was deliberately going to be timed to coincide with inevitably failure to gain promotion. In other words, a pacifying tactic to give us hope for next season. Did we actually, deliberately fail to even get in the play-,offs? Heaven knows we were not even close to being Premier standard. Something is seriously amiss at OUR club and the current closed door attitude from the hierarchy, frankly, in my opinion, stinks.
It’s very difficult to find any positives right now Gary. Webber has failed miserably with his recruitment policy – whatever happened to that promise of signing players with greater physicality? Already the signs for next season are not looking good if, as we are lead to believe, Ashley Barnes has been shown around Colney. With all due respect to the Burnley man do we really want to be looking at a 33-year old with an indifferent scoring record. It doesn’t bode well. You summed up perfectly – tweaks
Hi Gary, could not agree more! If you look at the state of this club from the pitch upwards, we are more likely to get relegated than even make the top half of the table.
From players to coaching staff, Directors and owners there are problems at every level.
Unfortunately until the fans force the owners out they will never leave!
This football club has just been a revolving door of incompetence for 26 years.
Fans need to make a stand before the club gets swallowed back up by the impending doom of league 1!
Absolutely right. Changing the manager or getting rid of Webber won’t make things better. With a budget that limits our signings to bargain basement players, we have a bargain basement squad, very few of whom were actually bargains. We need to spend money and think short term i.e. if we want promotion next season then recruit players capable of achieving that, not players who have never even played at this level.
To end the 26 years of mediocrity we need new owners now.
Another excellent summary Mr G, I didn’t bother to listen nor did I bother to find the result until 8pm and to cap it all this was the one score guess I got right in a league I am in. Other weeks not wanting to forecast a loss for my team.
I use the term “My Team” very loosely. as it is no longer has the feeling of being my club or team one iota. This dire situation has been coming since Farke was sacked after a win. Hindsight is wonderful, Farke became the scapegoat for Webber’s woeful recruitment. Smudger Smith had more than enough games to do something, we had only played 11 including Brentford, he still had 27 more to go. Another season followed with again dire recruitment, players didn’t want to be here, and those that tried to show something other than “Get Me Out of Here” were clueless. I’ll be honest, I have seen many games on streaming, and Sky and I see very little difference between Smudger’s reign in Wagner’s.
I cannot buy into this wait until he has his own players bullsh1te, Warnock didn’t have that luxury at Huddersfield, yet he did his job 43.75% win from 16 games. Wagner 33.33% from 20 games. My thoughts that Wagner was not the manager for us, after his efforts at Shalke & Young Boys, are still the same. He is doing a one man PR job for Webber .
Changing manager/coach will never stop the canker that reigns and spreads from the top down.
When relegation to L1 came about heads rolled but those who owns the shares stayed, they employed McNally, a man we could believe in to do the best job, that belief has long since floated off down the river Expect next to nothing to really change, the trumpets will be sounded over any new signings, forming a mist they think us bloody supporters cannot see through and will accept with caps in hand. If the first rumour of new players, hardly sets the flames of excitement burning a 33 year old who managed 6 goals in 38 games. I can hardly contain the excitement, he looks like he will manage a grueling championship season. A typical Webber signing, I am surprised he is not injured .
Hi Gary
Stowmarket pair will be crying in their champagne – another season in their favourite league. What an achievement.
Mr & Mrs Webber, please as rumour suggests, to decamp for Leeds or any other possible destination. There might be city supporters that will help to make the move run smoothly, with happy clappers waving a sad farewell.
Today I’m ready for a few Blackpool supporters to give me stick, but it will all be in fun – they accepted their fate once Mick McCarthy was named manager. We, on the other hand, expected better from Wagner and got relegation performances.
Pukki got a good send-off from the supports alongside McGovern I didn’t see Byram or Dowell but it was expected given the option not to turn up by management.
Memories will last long of the good times but they will be clouded by the unforgettable memories of how easily we were beaten time and time again.
Mark A and his investment group could be the new majority shareholders soon and he will need to make major changes.
Sweeping away the Board would be a good start.
Keeping the Smith and Jones out of major decision-making.
Making amends with the local press.
Rebuilding the recruitment team.
Waving goodbye to Webber and recruiting a new DoF.
Getting a psychologist in to build some mental strength into this squad.
Maybe let Wagner go, his allegience to Webber could be his downfall in the long run
Brilliant assessment Gary and shared by 90% of supporters !
Good riddance indeed, Gary. Third crap season out of four – change the bloody lot.
It’s not working. Get Potter or Warne in and start from there.
Yes, we need more players but Coventry, Luton and Sunderland weren’t throwing millions at it and they’re in the playoffs, and apart from Gyokeres at Coventry, I don’t think they have better players – they are better organized and are up for it. We aren’t as you’ve all seen and you point at the missing three.
We’ve had many miserable days with them in the side. We had a young side out yesterday and need experience in the side but I’m fed up with the errors those three continuously make.
Let’s hope for a busy season on and off the pitch but I’ll not hold my breath.
Keep well everyone.
Just the kind of brutally honest assessment which should be printed in the EDP if it were not the house journal amd mouthpiece of the football club. For as long as the club can sell 20,000 plus season tickets regardless of performances, why should anything change? I have said since the beginning of the season that the group of players at the club had no desire to get promted or even reach the play-offs. Many of them had been there, done it, found it very hard work and had no desire to do it again. I expected and said that a “good” season in the eyes of the hierarchy would be “Reach the play-off final, have a day out at wembley, lose, and do it all again next year.”
While I totally agree with your headline, Gary, I don’t agree that the performance was “gutless and spineless “. Inept, probably, but the biggest problem was a lack of putting the ball in the net, despite plenty of chances, and I include our departing hero among those who failed to take their opportunities. At times, it seemed they were trying too hard to set Pukki up with a farewell goal, when they could possibly have had a better chance themselves.
We have had a huge problem at the back, where Omabamideli looks lost without an experienced partner in the middle, and both full backs lack defensive qualities, and are better at getting forward than stopping opposing wingers.
I didn’t understand Wagner’s decision to take Nunez and Tzolis off, and our midfield went to pieces without them.
I came away from the game feeling very depressed, but the season is over, I’ve supported this club through thick and thin since 1957, and I won’t give up on them now. My season ticket has been renewed, and I’m going to look forward to the new season. Managers, players, Sporting Directors, majority shareholders come and go, but as long as the club is there, so will I be. OTBC.
Fair comment, Jim. ‘Gutless and spineless’ may have been slightly off the mark.
Excellent article Gary.
And I agree with it so much I haven’t got a lot else to say….. that’s a first😂
It was great to see the goodbye to Teemu was so good, what is it about Norwich City FC? Wes Hoolihan in tears now Teemu.
Still gutted Darren Huckerby wasn’t afforded the same. Roger Munby got as far as Roeder’s door to change his mind regarding Hucks and thought the better of it.
This summer is going to be tough, I am the same mind as Ray as in do we want a 33 year old here? his character is good but he has only scored 50 goals in 267 appearances for Burnley, less than a goal every 5 games.
Finally Wagner, I am really concerned at how we folded in the last 11 games. But there are circumstances that have really messed up his team selections.
Hanley, Gibson, Mclean and Dowell all injured. Hayden has never has been fit, it looks as if Sarge and Onel have been playing with injuries. We also lost Aaron Ramsey and got Marqhinhos, enough said.
The frightening thing is we won’t see Grant Holt until Christmas, so if we lose Andy O we will need at least two centre backs.
I bought in to the “Smith was great at Brentford” idea I am definitely not going down the ” Wagner was great at Huddersfield” one. He deserves time, but unless we see a shape and a way of playing then his time will go the way of Farke and Smith.
But i’m wary of all this sacking of our managers, now Farke, Smith and Wagner have found this group unmanageable in a coaching sense.
I still think had we not sacked Daniel Farke we may have been better off. Okay even he had abandoned Farkeball but we have now discovered that the recruitment of 21/22 wasn’t even good enough for the Championship let alone the EPL.
So losing Wagner and even Webber may not stop the rot. A fish rots from the head down.
And I thought I didn’t have anything to say😂
I hope you are feeling better Gary.
Hi Tim
Smithjust wasn’t a fit for city in my opinion and was pleased to see him go but I was sad that he knew it was working and didn’t walk but compo is the name of the game.
Just seen and heard his after match comments my take on them
Leicester supporters were giving Smith some grief yesterday plus the players could soon be 2 relegations on his CV.
He did say it’s poor defending but he then says John Terry is one of the best defensive coaches around so it’s all down to the players not the coaching
Replacing Brendan Rodgers with Dean Smith with all due respect to Smudger I always thought was madness Alex.
I was sad for Smith because he thought we were doing well !
Perhaps Daniel did spoil us in the Championship.
To be fair when he went we were 5th now 13th !!!!
Lots of reasons for that to be fair to Wagner.
It looks like Southampton (Hasselhut) Leicester (Rodgers) and Leeds
( Marsh) would have been better off keeping the above managers.
I was wrong about Smith, I thought he would be good but I agree that in 100% that he wasn’t the “right fit”
We need a coach first and foremost.
We won’t see grant HOLT until Christmas? 🤣 if only that was true.
Wish it was grant holt !
So do I!!
Grant Holt 😱😱😱😱
Sorry Gary….I wish we was coming back at Christmas 🎁
Rob Buttler (not my usual first (or any other) turn to when seeking journalistic pedigree) said that Webber has agreed to be interviewed by the locals ‘in the next two weeks’.
Can anyone shed anymore light on this? Is it true? I really hope so!
and if anyone is lucky enough to be there please stop Buttler form shouting over Webber once he disagrees with him (then calling him a ‘top man’ before hanging up)
A quote from Blackpool I trim manager Steve Dobbie
“We put out the side we thought was going to hurt Norwich and we did that, so I’m very pleased.”
He also said for 20mins they were under pressure but the first goal changed that and they were in complete control.
He did forget to mention that Grimshaw was the busiest man on the pitch and that Gunn hardly had to make a save .
Stats are in cities favor for everything except the one that matters goals scored and Blackpool got that one
If you think Gunn didn’t make a save, you weren’t watching the same game as me.
Read my comment I said HARDLY had to make a save.
Compared to Grimshaw he didn’t have a lot to do.
28 shots city
12 shots Blackpool
Excellent piece Gary. I’m afraid it’s taken twenty six years but with the assistance of the Webbers Delia has finally managed to run this club into the groung.
The only way out is for new owners but with this level of incompetence in charge I can’t see this happening soon.
With hindsight we should never have renewed our season tickets as it is her last remaining lifeline.
Will be the same c##p next season if Webber is still here,the guy is a clown and wouldn’t know a decent hardworking footballer if one bit him on the a##e!
If what I heard is correct. Tonyb, one has already bitten his arse, a certain Argentian, who Webber didn’t want to sign, but Farke did. They have to be Older, Injured or both for Webber.
Excellent piece Gary. Kudos.
Perhaps the most polished performance of tge day came not on the field of play, but in the commentary box by Adrian forbes. A professional coach, currently in employment, which lend weight to his articulate and well made, if hard hitting comments.
Tuning into the phone in on the way home from the game gave insight and intelligent insight, delivered in some depth and explained as if forbes himself was thw coach responsible for the performance.
In stark contrast to Simon lapdog and his pro board and player excuse making we got apportionment of blame, direct criticism, praise wherever it was due, admittedly not much and authority.
He cited a lack of effort, concentration, commitment and endeavour and stated that he himself wouldn’t accept such a performance from his charges.
Unfortunately the programme was tainted by the inclusion of a couple of drooling happy clappers. The second of whom spoke absolute rot. Yet again, the paying customer was deemed directly responsible, apparently the fact that the hone support didn’t erupt into waves of orgasmic delight following a late gunn save which kept thw score down and lessened the severity of the embarrassing defeat was “unacceptable” . Idiot.
That’s what we’re up against.
I hate to say it but there were many of us who didn’t get caught up in the “best squad in the league” nonsense at the start of this season. Our squad simply wasn’t good enough. Anyone with any kind of football brain could see that Pukki had lost his ruthless edge and that we had no one capable of providing quality wingplay. The continuing lack of a CDM was another pointer.
I’m actually quite glad we finished mid-table because that run of one win in 11 was always a possibility and if it had happened at the start of the season we might not have recovered.
This reset is two years overdue, but it hasn’t started well. Giving Idah a five year deal and Hernandez another two years is not going to get us in the top half of the Champs; neither are good enough. Similarly, Ashley Barnes might score enough goals to keep us in this league, but not to get out of it at the right end.
Without Gunn yesterday it could have been very embarrassing. We don’t have anyone who is fit and can defend to put in the back four, and we don’t have anyone who is capable of beating an opponent for pace or skill. Those types of player cost a lot of money if you can’t produce them yourselves.
We can reset all we like, but I don’t see us going anywhere without significant investment from Attanasio.
Any reset which seems to be the favourite word. needs to start at Ownership, Board all the way down to coach and Players.
Reset . take what you have and place back into position. not a reset a bloody good clear out
Absolutely. It needs closure now. It’s becoming absurd.
Nail. Head. Hit!
F*ck them off out of the club. Every last one of them, for how far we have fallen.
We all bought into the plan, the vision, the ideology. But that was back in the days when the powers that be deemed us worthy of a conversation.
To destroy all that at the altar of one man’s ego is a f*cking scandal. And to leave supporters so ridiculously in the dark at the end of a truly miserable season (right off the back of another miserable season) is an absolute PR disaster.
To allow that anger to brew over the close season is a ridiculous, self-inflicted wound. And we all know that when Webber deems us worthy off an utterance, it will be delivered in a nice cosy chat with Kevin Piper’s daughter where she will ooh and ahh and not exactly hold his feet to the fire.
His dereliction of duty over the last 2 seasons should have seen the bloke chased out of town. Sadly, the protests both in the ground and outside it, were like our season. Utterly feeble and easily brushed off.
Webber is a busted flush.
Get shot Mr Attanasio.
Please.
Well said Andy!
We were told by the club it was a five year project. It wasn’t.
We were told by the club we had the guns and tanks for the Premier League. We didn’t.
We were told by the club our goal was Premier League survival. We failed.
We were told by the club we had a squad fit to challenge for automatic promotion. We didn’t.
We were told by the club it was our fault. It wasn’t.
We were told by the club our goal was top 26. We failed.
We were told by the club that Dean Smith was the man for the job. He wasn’t.
We were told by the club that David Wagner was the man for the job. He isn’t.
We’re now told by the club they know how to fix this mess.
Believe what you will.
Yet still only a few were up for a protest and were laughed at for trying to get one going . Unfortunately Mr webbers interview will mention a hundred upset fans with a bed sheet will not bother him as 20 thousand fans have renewed.
Ten NCFC Commandments from here onwards:-
1. Do not sign anyone who is not fully fit and ready to play.
2. Buy a target man, good in the air, and who knows how to hold the ball up, so Sargent can play off him. (See 4 Below)
3. Tell defenders that their first duty is to keep the ball out of our end, and if that fails, to get it out of our end.(See 4 Below)
4 Do not sign anyone under 6ft tall.
5. The default option is always the forward pass, from the initial kickoff onwards.
6. Any free kick within ten yards of the halfway line gets delivered into the opposition penalty area, not back to our own goalkeeper.
7. Play a consistent 4-4-2 shape, and tell the front two to get one tackle in while the ball is in the opposing half, Players understand it, coaches understand it and supporters certainly do. It is positive.
8. Tell the wide players to get a cross in as soon as they get a yard of space and tell them and the attackers where the back post is.
9. The appointment of a set piece coach has been a waste of money at both ends of the pitch. The stats prove it.
10 Finally, do not bring all ten players back to defend corners, Leave two on the halfway line, because Hernandez pace will do more damage there than him trying to mark a 6ft 2inch d cenre half.
All good ideas. And I’ll wager that no-one of them will be taken up.
Are you Sam allardyce jn disguise?
No, but I, like a very large proprtion of Canary fans, appear to understand Championship football better than anyone presently at Carrow Road in any positiion of authority.. I would just point out that the two teams automatically promoted from the Championship did not do so playing a midfield containing 3 wingers under 5 ft 8″ tall
A pitiful end to the season. If the club don’t announce Wagner’s departure next season will be even worse. Our squad was not as good as we were led to believe but any half decent Championship coach could, and should, have got a better tune out of those players. Wagner may be excited about next season but very few fans will be based on what we’ve experienced to date. Stats don’t lie.
Hi Gary,
Sorry to. Hear that you are still not well, I hope that you are feeling better very soon.
As always an excellent piece with some thought provoking comments. I am particularly interested in this passage of your article regarding relative resources…
“In the Premier League and when you’re Norwich City that kind of run is heartbreakingly familiar. But to produce something very similar when you’re in the second tier and when you have tangible advantages over most other clubs in the form of squad quality and parachute payments?”
City have had the benefit of parachute payments this season. We all know that more funds does not guarantee success (it should help though). What can be achieved was highlighted on Canarycall by Adrian Forbes in that Luton Toen had the third lowest plying budget in the league, and they made the playoffs comfortably. As another commenter on here noted, Mr Forbes made some very good solid points on Canarycall and it is largely that the recruitment process is just as critical as the amount of money available to spend.
It is my view that the endgame has come for Webber and other members of the board. I recognise that I should have an idea as to who could replace hike but to be honest, most of us know dozens of coaches, but how many DoF’s do we know?
It’s time for a break now to forget this sorry season and hope that once the new seasons fixtures are released we have some reason to hope for a better season in 2023/24.
Director of Football? How about Martin O’Neill? He is not employed in football and wants to get back into it, according to a recent newspaper interview.
Hi Gary – hope you are making good progress and recovery from being unwell.
I truly hope that your piece is printed off and stuck on the wall so Webber S, can take it all in. Although of course he ignores the noise, I’m certain some of your piece will be recycled in a forthcoming caustic diatribe slating the fans. How very dare a bunch of fans question his record?
There is one major reason for our fall from grace since our second promotion. Webber’s arrogance and ego. How could he possibly blame himself or his underlings? Or the sainted Smith/Jones combo and of course never his wife.
That’s the problem. No accountability. I doubt anyone he works with on a daily basis would dare approach the reasons for our decline. We have to get the lot of them out. We’ve wasted too much time and money paying off Farke and Smith, when the culprit sits in his ivory tower and not one person tells him he might have got it wrong.
We don’t have the money to create a team strong enough for the Premiership? Hopefully now we will with the Attanasios. I hope they take no shit from Webber/Ward and the rest. They need to appoint someone onto the board to sort this nepotism out. As soon as legally possible. That person is our key signing in the close season. Webber can saunter off to his mountains and his beloved Leeds.
I’m on the fence with Wagner – he’s an affable and charming man which is welcome after Smith, but his association with Webber may be his downfall. Until Attanasio and his team are in control though with a proper business structure anything on the pitch is meaningless. Unless Delia thinks a back to back promotions a la Lambert would be fun for our younger fan base to experience.
Yet still only a few were up for a protest and were laughed at for trying to get one going . Unfortunately Mr webbers interview will mention a hundred upset fans with a bed sheet will not bother him as 20 thousand fans have renewed.
Great article Gary.
This season has been a complete flop. The culture and so called philosophy has left us, not to mention any hunger or desire. Watching some of the Championship highlights of other teams in recent weeks, it’s so clear that other teams fight, scrap and appear to be able to do the very thing that wins games, i.e. get that ball in the back of the net. Chris Goreham shouts when each time we have a chance on goal but it’s sad when you no longer get excited because most often there’s no goal.
The so-called living room that was used as an analogy, where we go to watch something exciting together is now akin to the outside toilet. It’s cold, damp and stinks, but you still need to go occasionally.
We can’t seem to get anything right anymore. Wrong coaches, ineffective recruitment, bad decisions, acting like a spoilt brat because you expected the media to not run stories! Running your company like a dictatorship, a communist regime where everyone does what you say or else. Your spouse as your boss? You couldn’t make it up! Webber once was threatening us he would leave soon, now he seems to be cosy in his silent monopoly. The arrogance stinks.
The token gesture of speaking to the local media (is that a one off or has the silly ban finally been lifted?) is all on Webber’s terms, and the delay in doing it clearly means it’s all got be planned, scripted and the bulldog chewing a wasp face which we liked when he arrived. Then, we needed brutality in a clear out. Now we’ve got I know best and I’ll find as many excuses as I can to blame everyone else but myself.
It’s time the American lot took more control and oversee a complete overhaul of the board and everyone below.
Based on this season’s performances vs stated expectations, there has to be accountability. Preferably, Webber does what he kept telling us he would do, and departs.
The reality is of course is he won’t… so what you must the do is… Own up that *you* messed up, things have gone wrong. Say what you’ve learnt and how things will change. Open the doors to regular media questions without conditions and stop getting the arse when there’s questions you don’t like or the media do what the media does. Grow a pair.
In summary, Webber should be announcing his departure.
Tez, have I got this right? You have some expectation, however slight, that the local media (AKA the EDP) is likely to ask hard and challenging questions, after spending years deep in the club’s pocket. I admire your optimism.