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#212 It was the worst of times, it was the best of times
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The 2025/26 season is done for Norwich City, and we're filing this one under 'eventful'.
The OTB podcast team of Ryan Livermore, Dan Brigham, Zoe Morgan and Steve Sanders look back over a nine months that started with optimism at a time when we thought Big Phil was an Eastenders character, took in sackings and boardroom farce, and then a daring rescue by a heroic Belgian.
The team revisit their highlights (Tony Gary's comeback, Clement's bleep test, Kenny waving his arms to help Vlad save a penalty) and lowlights (Sargent, Nunez, basically everything up until November) of the topsiest-turviest season in years, hand out some awards including a tightly fought Player of the Season, and take a deep gulp and revisit a truly honking set of pre-season predictions with the help of Michael Bailey.
Thank you for listening to the OTB (and On The Ball) podcast this season. We'll be back again for the start of our glorious promotion epic in August!
Recommended
Transcript
Season Recap Introduction
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome to OTB, a Norwich City podcast, the NCFC show back for the final time this season.
Season Overview: Optimism to Chaos
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Ryan Livermore and tonight we at OTB talk the ending of a season that started with optimism, descended into madness and ended with a heavy dose of hope and excitement.
Predictions, Quizzes, and Awards
00:00:33
Speaker
A veritable roller coaster, a true Norwich City campaign. We'll also go over our predictions from the summer. I'll quiz our panellists on my stint as Captain Canary and we'll reveal the coveted OTB player of the season for 25-26.
Final Episode and Summer Break
00:00:51
Speaker
For the final time this season, we have a full house, all of whom are more than ready for a summer on the beach, even if that beach is Hemsby or Great Yarmouth.
Steve Sanders' Return and Reflections
00:00:59
Speaker
The first has graciously returned to OTB after experiencing the dizzying heights of the scrimmage last week. So it's only fair we bring him back down to earth with a bump. It's Steve Sanders. Steve, do you think you're better than us now?
00:01:14
Speaker
and uh well i've always thought that but uh yes i definitely do think it now no it's uh nice to be back among friends that makes it very grateful to uh robin and chris for having me on um i was on with a lad it was basically the three studio guests were a lad who'd raised 250 grand for mind, a woman who was like an ambassador for motor neurone disease and just a bloke that brought his laptop in with him. Which one were you? I will leave it to the listeners to work that one out.
00:01:51
Speaker
Did you really bring it your laptop? i i sound like I mean, i've I've got my laptop here, so but then I am recording on this. so I thought that there might be a chance that they would say, would be like, oh, and um you know how many yellow cards did Steen Niedergaard get? And I think just in case, because I'm nothing without it, I thought if I don't bring it, I'm going to look like an absolute novice, whereas at least I can
Humorous Drink Choices
00:02:19
Speaker
go...
00:02:19
Speaker
Let me get back to you in about 10 minutes time. If I had it there with me. In the end, didn't need it. But for how many cards did you need to get for us? Let me get back to you in 10 minutes time. For what it's worth, Steve, I had a listen. I thought you were wonderful.
00:02:36
Speaker
Thank you This is not doing a good job of bringing me back down to earth or whatever it what was you said you were going to do. It's what I'd say if you weren't really shit. Yeah, got him, zing. No, no, you were great. it was super duper lovely. Good job. yeah I'm certain our next panellist has lived by the motto of don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened after seeing the photo of Tony spring in an inflatable crown on Saturday. Here to ah mourn the loss of her king is Zoe Morgan. Zoe, I assume you have that picture framed in your office now.
00:03:10
Speaker
It is this very touching picture and just a reminder of of the magic that Tony Gary brought to us all. And we are going to to find a new friend of the podcast now, um which is a job for next season. um Not to go back to Steve again, but he seemed to have a sip from what looked like a glass of Bailey's just as we were starting this podcast,
Season Highlights and Future Outlook
00:03:29
Speaker
which has just thrown me.
00:03:31
Speaker
It's a costly liqueur that I've just chucked some milk in with and it tastes bloody lovely. do you think this is guardian weekly
00:03:44
Speaker
i'm really glad i bought this one what's everyone else drinking then if if not what what am i supposed to drink if i can't have a glass of milk with a bit of coffee yeah and i've got a lipton iced tea hashtag spawn orange squash bog standard orange squash as well I thought this was the end of season party. I have very much misjudged this.
00:04:06
Speaker
sorry Sorry, everyone at home listening to this. It gives a new edge to the podcast. I'm enjoying it. You've changed, mate. You've changed since last week. What did i you got do they give out on the scrimmage? Tea and Maria? who Kahlua?
00:04:24
Speaker
I did get a cup of tea of off them, actually, which is more than anyone gets me on this podcast. so you want to have to do game. A tea or an Irish tea? see oh That's a point. I mean, they might have spiked it.
00:04:36
Speaker
I don't think they did. Let's not get libelous now. Go on. yes I did feel woozy whilst I was in the studio. The
00:04:49
Speaker
the BBC may have done a lot of things, but they've never spiked my drink. I'll leave it at that. Yeah, I don't fancy being part of the next Netflix documentary of OTB versus the BBC. So let's leave let's leave that there.
00:05:03
Speaker
And our final panellist has
Dan Brigham on Scott Parker
00:05:05
Speaker
had one of his best weeks of the season recently, as there was nary a person happier with Scott Parker losing his job. It's Dan Brigham. Dan, what is your obsession and will you ever get over it?
00:05:17
Speaker
No, I won't. um My obsession is he's obviously, can't say that.
00:05:26
Speaker
It's the last one. Let's just slander everyone. um he just brings zero joy to the championship. So I'm very glad that at this current moment, he is not a championship manager, although I'm sure that will change pretty soon.
00:05:41
Speaker
It reeks of West Ham for me. Absolutely reeks of West Ham. Who are my new favourites to go down? Because Spurs won yeah yesterday, didn't they? So yeah, I think Parker to West Ham is the way it will go next year.
00:05:55
Speaker
Well, why are we talking about that? It's an nor a Norris City podcast. Let's wrap up the season, everyone. It's this week's Hot Topic.
00:06:10
Speaker
Hot Topic.
00:06:14
Speaker
Can anyone believe it's been only nine months since the start of the campaign? Very few fans across the English football pyramid have lived as many lives as Norwich City supporters this season, but ultimately it's a campaign that can only be described through oxymorons.
00:06:31
Speaker
There have been some wonderful highs and the lowest of lows, all culminating in the bittersweet beauty of life as a Norwich City fan. Ninth place back in August would have been a tragedy, but in May it is the spark to light the fire of a future that surely burns bright.
00:06:48
Speaker
ah Steve, I'll come to you first, please. If you had to summarise this season in three words, what would they be and why? Bloody hell. Oh God, we going to slow down? Yeah, well, I'll have those in my first two. Bloody hell. Yay! They're my three. Okay. And that's that's all I have to contribute for for this final podcast of the season. um Yeah. Am I allowed more than three to expand on my answer? thanks Yes, absolutely. I mean, it's ah it's been...
00:07:20
Speaker
I was thinking, like, you know, um not next season we'll be asking people to rank their top 25 Norwich seasons of all time. um Probably not, but maybe. I was thinking, with obviously, you know, you can't beat a promotion season.
00:07:34
Speaker
But after that, this has been it's been pretty good. Like, if if you're going to come ninth, then you might as well do it in a way where you kind of, you your position in the league is...
00:07:47
Speaker
at risk and then you suddenly go on an incredible run that gets the fan base behind you and leads into a load of optimism at the end of the season heading into the next one. And that's basically what's happened one way or another.
00:08:01
Speaker
It's so kind of
Zoe Morgan's Optimism
00:08:02
Speaker
been a season that's warped time. it seems mad to think it was less than nine months ago that that goal went in off Josh Sargent's arse against Millwall. So much has has changed since then.
00:08:14
Speaker
but we have i think ah well I imagine everyone would agree with me on this podcast when I say this is the most connected it feels like we've been to our football club and and what we're seeing on the pitch since the Daniel Farker era. And you know what Big Phil has achieved has been...
00:08:33
Speaker
pretty extraordinary really so um i've had i've had a nice time um i've had a terrible time it's all good for for when you're trying to think of things to say on a podcast whether it's good or bad you know last season was very middling this one as you say ryan has been very up and down um but the ups have outweighed the downs for me um and yeah i think we as i said we can go into next year with a lot of optimism Are you ultimately underwhelmed after what was promised at the start of the season, Zoe? Or has the wider context of how this year has unfolded kind of nullified that?
00:09:07
Speaker
Yeah, for for me, it's nullified it. I think, you know, I don't know if I will be, I might be on my own with this viewpoint in this on this podcast, but I think...
00:09:19
Speaker
given what we went through, the overriding feeling of it all has got to be, that was great. Like that, you know, how we pulled ourselves out of it from where we were and overturned that and finished so strongly.
00:09:35
Speaker
I don't know. so as as Steve said, so much has happened over the last nine months that it is almost impossible to think back to a time pre-season and say
Recruitment Impact Discussion
00:09:47
Speaker
that counts for anything because so much has changed. So much has gone on.
00:09:51
Speaker
um You know, we've been betrayed by two players. We've had a disastrous um manager. We've had a brilliant manager. We've had all of these injuries. We've had these new players.
00:10:03
Speaker
we you know we'll get onto what we predicted before the start of the season, but we could not have predicted what has happened. um And it's weird, right? I think it's a weird sensation.
00:10:14
Speaker
i mean, we've talked about my bad luck of when I go and watch Norwich this season, I counted up, I've managed to watch us 16 times. I live in Yorkshire, so don't judge me too much. I've watched us 16 times this season. I've seen us win three times.
00:10:30
Speaker
And yet... i I am ending this season hating the fact that it's finished because I want more of it. Loving the team, loving the manager, feeling like more positive than I have ever seen like felt when we haven't gone up.
00:10:45
Speaker
um It's weird, but I feel like you just got to grab it by the scruff of the neck and and go with it. Because why why not? Dan, where do we stand on those responsible for heading the football departments at the at the football club? Because as ah kind of alluded to there, the start of the season, the expectations were two at least being the playoff places. Ultimately, they haven't managed it despite, you know, everything Zoe said being absolutely spot on as well.
00:11:13
Speaker
Whereabouts are we currently on Ben Knapper, Lee Dunne and the like? The big one. Yeah. I think, well, as we'll come on to it, I think we all predict, no, well, three of us predicted we'd get top six, I think. um So most of us went into this season pretty positive. This was obviously before we'd seen any of our new signings play, new signings from the summer season.
00:11:41
Speaker
But I think if we take a step back, look at the season a whole and look at the squad, I would probably put this squad as a probably a ninth, tenth placed or best squad in this division.
00:11:53
Speaker
think we mega, mega under-performs under Manning. and Really hot insight there.
Philippe Clement's Influence
00:12:00
Speaker
But we have... um We've overperformed under Clement. Some more hot insight there.
00:12:07
Speaker
um So I think we're probably... This squad... Certainly the squad that started the season is probably... Yeah, mid-table squad. I think the additions in January have probably pushed us a little bit closer to being proper contenders for top six or top eight as it would last season.
00:12:24
Speaker
And so I guess if you're measuring Napa and the recruitment team against that, when they've said that, you know, a promotion push is what we wanted this season, and then they've probably fallen a bit short because that squad...
00:12:38
Speaker
probably wasn't well enough built to sustain a top six push without bringing in you know ah a manager who is probably too good for this division. um So there is still pressure on Napa to get it right this summer as well. I'm sure we'll talk about it. I don't think this squad is...
00:12:56
Speaker
far it far away from being a really excellent squad in this division. um But just because we're not far away from it doesn't mean Napa's definitely going to get it right. The good thing is he got it pretty much right in January, I think, his signings. And the recruitment team got it pretty much right in January.
00:13:16
Speaker
So if you get it right two times in a row, we're we're on for a winner. As long as then the you know physical conditioning and the the the fitness side of things also improve next season as well. But we've obviously made big strides and in ah trying to do that by bringing in some very experienced people in in there. So...
00:13:35
Speaker
It's probably, what is it now, it's three years he's been here, is it? Napa? hard to remember. but So it's probably you know probably still a bit late for him to be giving him sort of more chances and to say they're slightly undecided on him. But I do think this if he gets this summer wrong, then that's probably the last chance for him, isn't it?
00:13:55
Speaker
On the flip side of that, though, Steve, he did ultimately manage to convince Philippe Clermont to join the football club. If what we've heard about that interview process is anything to go by, it was mostly him admitting the stuff he'd got wrong and was asking Philippe to come in and save him. but Is there an element there that you can give him a lot of credit for this turnaround as well? Or would you solely put that at the door of the the head coach and and the impact he's had?
00:14:22
Speaker
Well, I think... What this season has taught me, if anything, is that as much as we ah kind of wang on about structures and having the right ah values and the right people in place behind the scenes, you know the most important person at the football club is is the head coach. you know And obviously the head coach, if if the if it's not right behind the scenes, then things aren't going to go well. But what what happens on the pitch is is is hold not wholly down to the coach, but but the head coach has more ah impact than anyone else. And we've seen...
00:14:56
Speaker
but you know We were talking about an utterly disastrous summer of recruitment that now, I think in retrospect, doesn't look quite so bad. you know we'll We'll come on to good signings and bad signings we go through our predictions. But I think it's it's probably been a mixed bag on the whole.
00:15:11
Speaker
And yes, they do deserve credit for for convincing Philippe Clement to join. I don't know what kind of... ah what bribery or blackmail or whatever they use to get a manager of that good to join a team that was at crisis point. um But yeah, it's, it's worked. And like, I don't think it can be understated just what an extraordinary job Clement has done. You know, I was tweeting about it the weekend, but like, I went back 40 years in the championship. No team that's got fewer than a point, less than a point a game at the halfway stages has got anywhere near like as many points as we have the second half of the season. um No team with nine points after 15 games has got anywhere near 65 points come the end of the season in a 46-game season. campaign. So, you know, kudos to them for getting the right man in. That doesn't guarantee anything though. Clement and the players have done this. And actually, like, ah I can't remember which way around it was, but the banner that was in the Barkley, was it, we followed you fought or you fought we followed? This would be much more poignant if I could remember it but it was something like, we followed, you fought, thank you. And I thought it was just a really nice and a really kind of apt way of talking about the season. They did fight um And that was because of what the manager instilled in them. And that's what we wanted to see.
00:16:31
Speaker
You know, and he said yeah he said that from the very beginning. yeah He, you know, he came in, he said, they're not fit enough. I'm going to make them fit and I'm going to make them fight every minute they're on the pitch. And that is what he has done. Like,
00:16:46
Speaker
There's a lot of talk in football. People, I mean, we're doing it now, blustering on. um You can say quite a lot of things and they don't actually, nobody ever actually goes back and checks. and They don't have to be true, but he has done what he
Pre-season Challenges
00:17:01
Speaker
said he would do. You can tell how much fitter they all are. They look like, some of them look like different men, I think, um in terms of how much more conditioned they look. um They've got so much more stamina, their positivity confidence. that effort, there has been very few games, even when we haven't played at our best, where it's not felt like we've got a chance of getting back into this. And and that's the attitude that they've shown. And I think that's just for someone one to come in like we've said, when things were so bad and to within, you know, within weeks
00:17:39
Speaker
get them, get this group of players doing what you tell them to do seemingly without much complaint. Yeah. yeah I just, yeah, it's, it's mind blowing really. i think it's just so impressive.
00:17:51
Speaker
I don't want to be bitchy, obviously.
00:17:58
Speaker
Reminded of me of a tweet that Darren Eadie, who I love and was one of my heroes growing up, ah sent after Manning was sacked. just found it, which said a good group of players can carry an average manager to real success.
00:18:13
Speaker
A good manager cannot carry an average group of players to anything more than mediocrity at best, which at the time felt the wrong way around. Great managers can do so much with average squads.
00:18:27
Speaker
um And Philippe Clement's done that. He's taken mid-table squad and turned us into one of the best teams in the division. Only one team. got more points than we did this year.
00:18:40
Speaker
um Only three teams got more than we did since he came in as well. um And the best thing about lovely Darren Eadie's tweet is that he quote tweeted it with a little shrug after we lost at Birmingham in cle first game yeah He hasn't gone back to that tweet since then. so but then you might nuge him Maybe wasn't talking about Norwich City, you know. just well Well, this is the end of season wrap, so we're going to have to touch on what happened at the start of the year, Zoe.
00:19:14
Speaker
um Before things started to unravel, ah what was the feeling like at at the start of this campaign? Because... Little did we know that the the trip to Holland for pre-season would ultimately prove pointless for Norwich.
00:19:28
Speaker
But despite that, I feel like with the appointment of Liam Manning, a lot of us were excited by the prospect of having an established EFL manager who would seemingly make Norwich a bit more resilient whilst balancing that with an exciting brand of attacking football. And... Yes, none of that happened.
00:19:47
Speaker
But before 3pm on the opening day, it it was still quite an exciting place to be around, wasn't it? Yeah, we all you know we all said it it before we started the season. We were all dead excited, thought these new signings were going to be great. Medich had a really thick neck. It was going to be fine. like It felt great. Manning was just the kind of guy we needed after and you know could tighten us up but be a bit more pragmatic.
00:20:15
Speaker
He's got to the playoffs with Bristol City. It would all be fine. i mean, the writing was potentially on the wall during that preseason season. or when he was complaining from start to finish about the scheduling. Maybe maybe we should have seen some alarm bells ah there.
00:20:32
Speaker
But yeah, football such a fickle world. like It felt like air we were at the start of something. And that's, I think, why it was so bewildering and um intense and confusing when it all started to go wrong quite
Liam Manning's Management Struggles
00:20:51
Speaker
so badly. Because The optimism had been there.
00:20:54
Speaker
It felt like we'd built what was quite an exciting looking new squad um and had this new manager. And then it really did all tumble tumble down very quickly.
00:21:08
Speaker
i mean, ah just to just just to kind of go back to the pre-season stuff, I did i don't know if I said it, but I certainly thought at the time it's This is an odd thing to do. but they they had like three game They had three matches where they or days where they had two matches on the same day. and look i mean of Of the many things I don't claim to be an expert on, fitness and conditioning is definitely one, but surely there's a reason why nobody else does this. It didn't feel like we'd hit on something at the time and it definitely didn't feel like it when Geoffrey Schlupp came on at half-time against Millwall and looked like he was towing something behind. was like, yeah, i I'm not sure these players are 100%
00:21:49
Speaker
But just as as a reminder, and I know we all know this, well, this it's well established we were terrible, but we are one of only three teams in the history of the Football League to lose all of their first seven home games in a season. And we came ninth. that that This season has been utterly mad, like just just how up and down. is it I thought it was eight that we lost. Well, I think we lost eight. Including Southampton. Seven league games, but yeah. thought it was nine with ah with the Cup game as well. So not as bad as I thought. Yeah. But we were, was it just one more league defeat from being having the worst ever in the history of English football? I want to believe, ah say so.
00:22:28
Speaker
Yeah. How times change. a um Dan, it's well known that you were a big, a big part of that Liam Manning deal. You practically brokered the whole, the whole thing. um At what point did you start to really think this is not going to work out? And I know it sounds incredibly odd. What time did you think? I wish I hadn't gone on the radio. Yeah. I wish I hadn't been invited onto Radio Norfolk to talk about why Liam Manning is such an excellent, smart appointment by the football club.
00:23:02
Speaker
Do you mean that? Yeah. Yes, I do. When did your embarrassment really kind of come to the forefront? i mean, I carry embarrassment with me permanently, so can't remember that i can't remember the day it happened.
00:23:17
Speaker
this This feels like torture, you have you reminding us of what happened on the
Turning Point Against Southampton
00:23:21
Speaker
way of Manning. had to bring up our results under him to try and really remember the day. Oh, I remember the day.
00:23:28
Speaker
It was the draw at Coventry when there was a bit of a divide when some fans thought that's an excellent result. You know, result was excellent. But my God, we were battered. i Absolutely battered that day. I couldn't remember...
00:23:45
Speaker
I can't remember the time before that we'd been sort of so outplayed. i guess guess Plymouth Argyle maybe, but but this was supposed to be different on under Manning. He was supposed to make us, as Zoe said, more resilient and more pragmatic. And here we were just desperately clinging to our own goal line, trying to keep Coventry at bay and hope that they missed a load of sitters, which they did.
00:24:08
Speaker
And and i think in the podcast after that, we probably were all saying that this was worrying. that And I think that was, that straight after an international break? It was, yeah. So we had gone into that international break having been hammered by Thampton in the EFL Cup, lost at home to bur and sort scraped a win against 10 men Blackburn thanks to vlad And we thought, well, you know, Norwich were always really good under Farker after international breaks, a time to sort of reconnect and get them on a training pitch, etc.
00:24:40
Speaker
And we were we were awful that day. So that was sort of four or five games into the season where I thought it felt like, I mean, it's easy to say with hindsight, but even then it's kind of like this team isn't doing anything this year other than struggling.
00:24:57
Speaker
I thought you had more there. It's no, absolutely right. can go on, but I'm not sure anyone wants me to. ah Steve, what was the the kind of obvious turning point from going from this kind of turgid football under Liam Manning to realising there might be some light left in this season? It feels obvious to say when Philippe Clement came through the door, but then They went to Birmingham. He didn't have much time with them there. And then they got pegged back by Oxford the following Tuesday. So was there a um a particular moment for you that really stood out as, oh, OK, that this is there is something we could potentially start to buy into here?
00:25:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, to me, it was the Southampton game. That was, which I'm just looking back at our fixtures now, and that was only the the second win we had under Philippe Clement. And it was only our second win 17 matches.
00:25:53
Speaker
seventeen matches But it felt like a performance of a team. like ah you know Obviously, Southampton had finished really well, but at the time, they were the form team in the division. And I go back, at you know if if we're picking our best game this season, which maybe we'll do later on this podcast, and that that was my favourite game. that was like That was very much a we're back moment to me. And we didn't know what was going to follow on from that. But...
00:26:18
Speaker
we fully deserve the win in that. Vlad saved the penalty, if people remember, and it was kind of McCarma's, because Sargent was out injured at that point, and that was McCarma's kind of coming of age game almost. And um and yeah, like we've had a number of performances which may have been better since then, but that was the one where I think we started to realise maybe there is something about this team after all. And like, to to be fair to Big Phil, he came in pretty much straight away and was like, we're not going to go down. It's going fine.
00:26:47
Speaker
you know and And I remember thinking at that point, well, you seem quite sure about that, but I'm definitely not. I i feel like I've seen a lot of us this season and I think we're pretty bad. But that was the game um which was then followed by the Preston draw straight after that, where we played really well and should have won. And then from that point onwards, really... ah It was, you know, with the odd defeat thrown in here and there, we we were just consistently excellent. But that Southampton game
Clement's Transformative Strategies
00:27:15
Speaker
is the turning point for me. And I think maybe for the players as well, who then got some belief that, yeah, we can compete with the better teams in this division.
00:27:20
Speaker
And definitely the fans, like the celebrations at the end of that game was so nice. um And I think we talked about on the podcast, like, do we, should should we be like celebrating this much, like for for winning one game in the middle of the season? And we all concluded, yes, we should. um But it sort of sparked, I think, a...
00:27:40
Speaker
ah that joy of celebration and winning that carried through the rest of the season that we, you know, that we've experienced, um which sort of, yeah, it's like, so what if we're sort of, well, right the bottom and then a little bit above the bottom and then slightly into mid table and then a bit better, like who cares if if we're pleased with how it's gone and we're pleased with how they've played, then why not celebrate them? I think it's it's been really nice. that was i That was the first win I'd seen us get live for nine months as well at that point. So i was i was oh no one was going to stop me celebrating that particular win.
00:28:15
Speaker
I think it was really poignant as well because you had a ah group of players who'd not only only just come to the football club, but hadn't experienced English football before and knew nothing in front of their home fans other than basically groaning and booing the whole time. So it was really nice to have an atmosphere at full time where they could go, oh, OK, this is what we could actually, you know,
00:28:38
Speaker
get if we do manage manage to turn things around. And I think that's helped the players buy into the football club as much it has ah as it has the fans buy into this team. But ah Zoe, at what point did you fully buy into Philippe Clement and what he's doing? But slight caveat to this question. It can't be an on the pitch performance.
00:29:01
Speaker
Well, he texted me and told me it was going to be okay. um um That's a good question. The bleep test.
00:29:12
Speaker
I bought into the bleep test. I'm going to say it. ah I know that that's... What was your score?
00:29:20
Speaker
I finished last with Jacob Wright and whoever else it was that was not doing well. um I just thought... though ah Those things, but basically publicly saying your team is not fit and then publicly making them do a bleep test, which is very boarding school, isn't it? um There's risk with that. like you've got to be a confident and You've got to be confident in your methods to do that. Because you know you could do a Phil Brown and have them all out in the middle of the pitch um and it goes starts to go wrong. um
00:29:58
Speaker
But it yeah, it sparked something. I think it we all needed, I think think at that point before he'd come in, i think there was a lot of talk about how we were all getting um the run around, I think, from the people that were leading the club. There was a lot of nonsense being spoken, a lot of sort of trying to tell us that they knew best, all of that.
00:30:22
Speaker
was just quite nice for someone to come in and be like, yeah, this is bad. What's going on? I'm going to sort it out. um And yeah, from that moment, I think as I yeah as i said earlier, he's he's done all of the things he promised. and And so you can't, can't argue with it. And I think that's,
00:30:39
Speaker
You know, where he's won the players over as well because they have seen the results of what he's what he's doing and they felt the feelings of what can happen when it it feels good. So, you know, he's got those players on side now and they do seem to want to do anything to try and impress him. um So yeah, it worked. It was a risky, but it worked.
00:31:03
Speaker
We've spoken a lot about the kind of microcasms and and individual changes on a game-by-game basis across the season, Dan, but as a kind of overriding...
00:31:14
Speaker
ah ah like ah overriding something words, whatever, Steve cut this in a bit. As a kind of overriding ah summary, what what are the differences between Norwich City of the Autumn and Norwich City of the Spring?
00:31:29
Speaker
Wow, God. This is going to be a long podcast. We go position by position. once the Well, let's talk about the intangibles, belief, confidence.
00:31:43
Speaker
um Joy. a Joy playing. And where do those intangibles come from? Knowing what they're doing on the football pitch. That makes you confident and joyful when you're on the football pitch.
00:31:55
Speaker
How do they know what they're doing on the football pitch? Because Philippe Clement and his coaching team are telling them what their roles are, what everyone else's roles are and how those roles connect.
00:32:06
Speaker
And i'm sure Liam Manning must be a good manager. He's had success. Most clubs he's been to, I'm sure at some point, That was supposed to be the case with the us under him.
00:32:22
Speaker
But watching us, it looked like the players were timid. They were scared. They didn't know where the runners were coming from, what their passing options were going to be. Now, under Clement, whenever any Norwich player is on the ball, there's probably at least two passing options.
00:32:36
Speaker
they They know exactly who's making runs in behind. They know who's going to be sort of square to lay it off to. And when they're off the ball, they've got a really good shape. They're hard to break down.
00:32:47
Speaker
They cut out crosses from source. They stop teams playing through the middle. um It's a team that knows exactly what it's doing, both on and off the ball.
00:32:59
Speaker
And we've not really seen that. We saw it for a little bit of a spell. under Wagner in that sort of good run. Well, I'm still not convinced we really knew what we were doing in the middle of the park and were quite reliant on some excellent players banging in goals from 30 yards a lot. um So really, i don't think we've seen that since under Farker when under farca when It felt like a team rather than sort of just a a collection of quite expensively assembled individuals for the championship, as it has done over the the last three years since the last relegation.
00:33:36
Speaker
Now the team is bigger than the individual, which I guess is probably a good thing so
Expectations for Upcoming Season
00:33:42
Speaker
we don't have those. expensive individuals anymore in that in that side um it yes it's all about the collective and it it always is unless you know you're Real out Madrid in the Champions League it's always about the collective success in football is and that's what Clemence installed in that team I think just just quickly as well, like that ah mediocre, to quote Darren Eadie, group of players, after at the end of the Manning era, they must have just been felt like they had such a point to prove. like the The toxicity in the ground every single week being told, you're not fit to wear the shirt. And all of this. And I think that probably helps when you get a new manager in who does have a bit more about them, who does prioritise fitness. When you're at that level, I think that extra motivation probably, it must have helped this season. Like Pella Mattson, his first 10 games, he drew two and lost eight of them. Yeah. as a you know as we know was probably there for all of them yeah so Zoe was the bad juju in the ground but as we as we know there's a good player in there and and I do think they were clearly hurting at that point as as any human would do and I think they just needed guiding in the right direction to up their performance obviously we we could never have known what was going to happen next. But I think that maybe as well partly helps to explain why we've continued on this in in you know
00:35:10
Speaker
role with this momentum, even when the games haven't really mattered. I think the players have just probably enjoyed being good again. um Mark Atanasio, I believe, called into Canary Call after the whole game. one mentioned that.
00:35:26
Speaker
and And spoke about essentially top two ambitions for next season. Steve, what exactly do they need to add to this current group to make that feasible? Because we've spoken so much about everything needs fine tuning now, but the reality is the golf team,
00:35:45
Speaker
between the top two teams and particularly those who are coming down from the Premier League compared to those who, let's face it, as Norwich are a side who have missed out on the top six this year, you might, one might argue there could be a need for more changes than what we anticipated if the aim is top two.
00:36:04
Speaker
Sorry, I thought you meant he called in after the whole game at home this season, which I think he did. or he late that That was when he fell over. But yes, you're right. So he did it after this whole game. Yes, sorry. Yeah, yeah. Maybe he just has lots of opinions on Hull. I i don't think he was talking about getting into the top two at that point. He wanted to know how many yellow cards Steve Niedergaard had picked up. yeah Nine, by the way. um Yeah, I think I've said on here, but I don't think we need, I think it's evolution rather than revolution. I do feel like we've had a lot of seasons recently. um Since that Dean Smith one where we came down, where we weirdly only signed five players and went, That'll do. Should be fine. and Ever since then, it's like we've basically had this massive churn and turnover of the squad. We don't need to do that again this summer. I really do feel that. And I don't think we're going to get it. I do think we probably need a little bit of quality in certain areas. um
00:37:00
Speaker
I think we probably will get a new centre-forward. That's what all the noises are sounding like. I would rather that was a centre-forward that didn't push Makama and Toure into the fringes, but we'll we'll see what we end up with. I think we'd probably see Chris Goran leaving and then a third player coming in. That that would be necessary. we don't want to be in a position where we're left with no centre-forwards, which we have had before. um Wingers, right winger primarily, I think, although you know you you get Cianat's back and who knows, there could be real player in there somewhere. Probably another holding midfielder um and I think a left back as well, as I've said before, just because I think you don't really want Kellen Fisher playing out there um when he's a quality right back, if if he's still here next season and you've got two left backs who who can't stay fit.
00:37:43
Speaker
maybe a backup goalkeeper at a push, but I would be broadly happy with this squad of players. And I really don't think you need more than five or six additions to add to the squad um unless we we lose one or two really high profile players. But then, you know, we've got, as I've said before, 15 million pounds burning a hole in our pockets from the sale of a certain striker. And we may only get one shot at some at getting to the Premier League with Big Phil. So um I guess you don't want to you don't want to die wondering either. So yeah, big big decisions to be made over the summer, I think.
Reviewing Pre-season Predictions
00:38:12
Speaker
Well, if ah you at home have ever wondered whether or not you listen to us at OTB for our football insight, we're about to categorically tell you that that is not the case with a look back at our preseason predictions. ah I'm going to pass over to Steve Sanders to run the rule over our psychic soccer soothsaying.
00:38:30
Speaker
nice thank you ryan uh yeah as is now traditional uh back in back in august on a podcast called on the ball don't know anyone remembers that uh we made our pre-season predictions and as is also traditional they were terrible and so i've kept the receipts of these and we're now gonna go through them to make you all wonder why bother listening to us at all um and at the end of that i think we'll be have not discussed pre-pod, but let's crown a least worst predictor of the season out of the four of us. and So we answered, I think, 10 questions at the start, which I've just gone back and listened to. So I'll just quickly go through each of those questions and what the four of us said, and we can talk about who got the closest.
00:39:11
Speaker
ah No doubts on league finish. um Zoe, can you remember what you said? First? Correct. Ryan, you said fourth, Dan said fifth, and I said eighth and got booed and Dan swore at me. But as it turned out, I was still slightly too optimistic, but um believe me. Enjoy your sad little life, Steve. You're indicated to you, Steve.
00:39:37
Speaker
yeah They finished number one in my heart, so I feel like I got that right. Oh, okay, sorry. um I was wrong, though he was closest, everyone. Yeah. They actually finished eighth in my heart, though. Confusing. And my heart, they're going to be in League One next season.
00:39:56
Speaker
um Yeah, so ah that is as good as it gets for me. Trust me. Because we're now going to go on to player of the season. So we each did our top threes here.
00:40:07
Speaker
um I would say for three of the four of us, it really didn't go very well um because Dan, your top three were Josh Sargent, first, anti-Syrnets, second, Vlad and Kovacevic.
00:40:21
Speaker
That's not bad. i'd have Vlad second this season. One out of three, not bad. I'd say a turncoat and a striker that didn't score any goals is your top twos. Not an ideal place to be. You're not mean about people with really bad injuries now, Steve. No. Don't worry, I'll be playing my injury card with CNN in a moment. Don't worry about that. ah Ryan, you also said Sarge. um Jacob Wright second and Harry Darling third?
00:40:49
Speaker
So, yeah, we'll take it. um And you did say Medici into third should Sargent leave, but i don't I don't think we need to invoke that. Let's invoke ah And um moving on to me, ah first, Marcelino Nunez. Second was... I would like to point out he was still at Norwich City at that point. Yeah.
00:41:17
Speaker
Just in case anyone thinks I've lost my mind. ah Second, Jacob Wright. Third, Ante Cernat, the injured Ante Cernat. And I also added brackets to say Medici into third, should Nunez leave. so those Those four players have scored more goals for Ipswich this season than Norwich. How many, your top three, how many appearances between them do we think for Norwich?
00:41:41
Speaker
Has it got to double figures? Well, Nunez, Wright played a bit. CNS just played more than you'd think. But yeah, it's it's not a lot. I think they've scored one goal and that was Nunez. So not ideal. Maybe two starts this side of Christmas.
00:41:59
Speaker
yeah I'm not here saying they were good, Dan. I promise you I'm not. And I think, to be honest, I think Zoe wins this one. ah Oh, what? Purely because they're all still here. well, that's really... First, Mateus Kviskoran. Second, Big Vlad. And third, Jacob Wright.
00:42:15
Speaker
So no Sargent, no Nunez in there. So I think that probably wins, doesn't it? I think I have... i I remember making my predictions and I decided at the time I thought Sargent was leaving.
00:42:28
Speaker
Obviously not in the circumstances he did. So at least I won't have mentioned him in most of these. i think on behalf of OTB, a big apology to Kenny McLean for ever doubting him.
00:42:40
Speaker
Oh gosh. None of us picking him in in our top threes. That does seem mad. And think none of us had Kenny. Yeah. Yeah. Who knows what we were thinking this year. Sometimes you just can't see what's standing right in front of you. So true. Young player of the season, we split our votes. Dan and I said Jacob Wright and Ryan and Zoe said Lucien Mahovu. Oh, wow. I think we can just call that nil poire all way around. Can we just replicate them for next season's predictions?
00:43:13
Speaker
Yeah, they'll still be young then. be Yeah, not not a great look for any of us there. um Especially as we have quite a lot of good young players, it seems. like But anyway, top scorer.
00:43:24
Speaker
I mean, Dan and Ryan have won this because Josh Sargent has scored the most goals of any of our picks. Zoe went Chris Goran, who I think got six to Sargent seven. And... Anticinats for me. Noogles. I feel bad for all of those listeners who've tuned in after you were on the scrimmage and they've gone, what the fuck is this about? This guy pretends like he knows what he's talking about. He's got his laptop with him. What's going on?
00:44:00
Speaker
yeah If only I had a column in the spreadsheet that could predict the future. yeah Yet to happen. um Best summer signing. We had a lot to choose from. um now good Dan said made itch.
00:44:13
Speaker
yeah Probably a no. Ryan. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody. Someone might have voted for employer of the season. I've never seen him play. There's a moral in this story. His was He had such a big head. LAUGHTER Dan went with Maidich for the neck. I assume Ryan went with Topic for the muscles.
00:44:35
Speaker
so kind ah I went Harry Darling, which you know is all right. um And Zoe, you said Big Vlad.
00:44:47
Speaker
um do I think Zoe's got to take that one probably. Yeah, not bad. I mean, who who would we say our best signing was? That's a good question. Oh, I think Mattson. Got to be Petter Mattson.
00:44:59
Speaker
I think I'd go Makama. Makama, yeah. Makama's got to be up there. um And in fairness, that None of the ones we said. none None of the ones we said, definitively. Although Vlad had a much better season than our keepers did the previous season. Yeah. good And I think that that that counts as something, right? In terms of the improvement that they made to the team. well of those four, it's definitely Vlad, isn't it? It has to be. And um we hadn't signed Mattson at that point. So we couldn so we didn't know. We just didn't know. Again, I would have said him had I had Yeah, same, same. I would have said Paris Magoma, I think.
00:45:37
Speaker
That's January signing. We'll add that as one ray as well as yeah I know so feeling to sign this Aussie lad and he's going to score lot of hat tricks. Least impactful summer signing.
00:45:50
Speaker
I feel like I've done all right in this one. I think you might have done, but I'll go through. Well, I mean, Ryan is void and really should be stricken from all records because I'd forgotten this, but he said Louis Molden, which is the biggest cough out.
00:46:06
Speaker
Which by all accounts, he's really good for the dressing room. So I think I've lost that one. all third goalkeepers have to be good for the dressing room. That's literally your only job. um ah To be fair, we've all done okay here. Dan, you said Topic in your continued crusade against injured players. and I said Papa Amadou Diallo again. Interesting. I think he played badly in the pre-season game and I um just took against him. And, you know,
00:46:34
Speaker
hasn't proved me wrong yet. But Zoe, I think it's you again. ah you did say You did say they're all going to be amazing. with Yeah, I remember that. Which definitively proved they were. You're not giving you're not giving reasons for everybody else's guesses. But I think you needed caveating just to bring you down a notch because you did say Geoffrey Schlupp and I think he probably was the least impactful.
00:46:58
Speaker
He certainly had some kind of impact when he was on the pitch. Certainly noticed him. A bittersweet moment of him breaking into his best sprint in a Norwich game and his hamstring pinging to me in side again.
00:47:14
Speaker
and I did genuinely think that we just wouldn't need him because all the other players were so good. That is what thought. You've been really done with the left back, unfortunately. Yeah.
00:47:25
Speaker
doesn It doesn't matter. you know there's no just There's no pictures on the scorecard. You just you said Jeff Lupp and that's all that's what we needed. um Breakthrough player.
00:47:36
Speaker
Unfortunately, Dan and Ryan both said anti-Syrnats. What might have been for this without some of these injuries? oh lad i don't really know what I was thinking with this one, but said Jack Stacey. again for a year buts be really great for weird but
00:47:57
Speaker
have you heard about this lad jackson did you offer a reason why I think I just said I think he's going to have a good season. literally Did I not go for Kenny for that, Steve? or You wish you had. And Zoe said a man called Forson. Oh, my God. I really don't think any us deserve credit there. No.
00:48:20
Speaker
Then, I mean, i don't know if there's any point in reading this back up, but the the starting 11 against Millwall was one of them, which i not quite sure why we thought we'd revisit this one. I couldn't tell you what it was now. the day The day after, or the podcast after, didn't we?
00:48:36
Speaker
We did, yes and i think Yes, we did. You're right. And I think you and i were closest, Dan. So, you know, just a little bit of little bit of respect, please. guys. and then our And then our general championship ones, the top six.
00:48:50
Speaker
um So again, Zoe was in cop-out mode because she just said Norwich first and then just gave five other teams in any order because presumably it doesn't matter after that point, right? met and there probably um Not a great start. Leicester, Sheffield United. But then Coventry, Birmingham, Southampton after that. So you pulled it back. um Mine was ideal not particularly good Southampton first Sheffield United second then Ipswich Birmingham Leicester Millwall but then Dan and Ryan I think have redeemed themselves a little bit here ah Dan's top two were Ipswich and Coventry wrong order but correct two then Leicester Sheffield United Norwich Millwall Does that feel good does it?
00:49:33
Speaker
Millwall feels good. Thank you very much. and I think ryan Ryan might be the best of the four of us here. Southampton top, Ipswich second, Coventry third, Norwich fourth, Birmingham fifth, Middlesbrough sixth. So all of those six finished in the top ten.
00:49:51
Speaker
thanks Two of them got automatic promotion that someone said as well. LAUGHTER Is that me? um I'm still saying Ryan for that one. um can't You can't have less to third and claim any moral high ground here, Dan.
00:50:10
Speaker
Didn't go up, did they? Didn't say they were going up. she took it with yes but i think Narrowly missed out, didn't I? Millwall will beat them in the playoffs, I think you said. And then bottom three, ah we all said Sheffield Wednesday, so well done, guys.
00:50:27
Speaker
Really yeah good knowledge there. I think they had been given a massive points at that point. Yeah. Then Ryan and I said Preston and Hull, so quite disappointing to get a team.
00:50:39
Speaker
In fact, I've just realised I've got a relegated team in my top six and a team in the top six. What a what a league the championship is. brilliant It is the best league in the world. And then Zoe and Dan both said Oxford and Charlton to go down with Wednesday. So two out three, I think got to take that. Yeah, it's not bad. So all in all, ah dreadful effort, guys.
00:51:02
Speaker
But I think probably of that lot, I think Zoe has probably taken the least work. Well, that sounds unlikely. was not impressed. I think, yeah, I mean, out of all of those, Nunes player of the season has got to be the worst guess. That is a shock. Given the context, given the man. It was in like the first five things I thought about, I think, when I heard that he was giving a bit like, this doesn't play well for me. It did make me think maybe for next season, we should just randomly generate some Norwich City player names and some teams to finish in the top six and see if it does better. Yeah, that's it. Throw some darts at a dartboard.
00:51:45
Speaker
But we're not done with the predictions because also at the start of the season, we sent some secret in the envelope predictions to a journalist called Michael Bailey. We thought he'd be the perfect person to keep him safe as he's been stuck in a vending machine somewhere in Perth.
00:52:03
Speaker
I've got my timelines a bit mixed up there. um So Michael's going to revealing these. I have not listened to this, but because Michael's a pro, I expect it will be absolutely perfect. It is quite long, but we did send him a lot. So I'll just get on with it and see what he's got to say.
00:52:21
Speaker
Hello everyone, it's Michael Bailey here. Happy end of season. Well done to the OTB crew as well. You've done a sterling job this year. Well done. i'm Sorry if I'm slightly hushed. It is 10pm and dark here in Perth, Western Australia. I will begin with Daniel Brigham.
00:52:39
Speaker
Hidden predictions. G'day Michael. I won't read it all out. Hidden predictions. Man in or man out, if out, poached or sacked. So i guess this refers to Liam Manning.
00:52:50
Speaker
Manning until he's poached following our promotion. Yeah, close. down The Alan Russell, her remember him of the year. Kellen Fisher. I don't want this to happen. Zero for two so far, I would say, Daniel.
00:53:04
Speaker
Biggest, most talked about moment of the season. Kovacevic leathering one in from a corner in the 96th minute of a game. Hmm. Personality of the year. Big Kvacevic.
00:53:16
Speaker
Warts and all. And I expect there to be a lot of warts. Oh, getting warmer there. And the most league appearances, 11. I don't actually know the answer to this. I would have done a few years ago. Daniel has gone for Kvacevic, Medic, Darling, Wright, Sienac, Sargent, bless him, Schlup, Gewistgraden, Forsen, Nunez, and Stacey.
OTB Podcast Player Awards
00:53:39
Speaker
The Michael Bailey verdict on those. Erratic. Erratic. Let's move on to Zoe Morgan. Hi, Michael Bailey. Sorry I've been so sloppy in sending these to you in a timely manner. Well, apology belatedly accepted.
00:53:53
Speaker
Man in or man out? Man in! exclamation mark Of course, it's Zoe. Alan Russell, her Remember Him of the Year, Rory McConville. Not so much. This is easy. this I have the easy job here because I can just criticise them all. Most talked about moment of the season when we beat Ipswich for the second time this season to confirm our place in the top two. It was touch and go for a while after Vlad was sent off for nutting George Hurst. But this Norwich team knows how to get things done. I actually think so. Let's just say that that is what happened.
00:54:24
Speaker
personality of the year vlad will be mad top pitch will be dangerous topic probably topic isn't it topic will be dangerous i mean to himself and the most appearances 11 vlad darling fisher right nunes sienats christ garden topic medic diallo mahovo lukewarm zoe lukewarm and finally mr steve sanders uh this feels like it's a long one yeah Type 45, Steve.
00:54:54
Speaker
Hi, Michael. Strictly confidential. Please keep these safely locked away in storage until may Job done. Hidden predictions. Man in. Think this will be more of a slow build season, even if we don't make the top six. Like a disgruntled lumberjack, Napa won't want to get an axe out again unless he has to. Have remember him. I wrote out Emiliano Macondes for this, then half an hour later realised I had literally forgotten about Anis Ben Slomane, and he's still here. So as I can't remember him at the start of the season, I'm going to say he'll be an even more distant memory by May.
00:55:30
Speaker
Best most talked about moment of the season. Jack Clark thinks he's equalized in injury time in front of the Barkley to make it 1-1, goes to celebrate with the away end, but the goal is disallowed for a shove. Kieran McKenna goes apeshit at the fourth official and cries salty tears in the post-match interview.
00:55:48
Speaker
Must admit, it nice to be able to swear on your podcast. Great. Happy times. Thanks, guys. Personality of the year, not Harry Darling. Yakov Medich. i I can't remember how to. I don't know how to pronounce all these names. Yakov Medich has cult hero written all over him. Not sure where, though, Steve. So I'll say him or Michael Bailey, who will make a triumphant return to the OTB podcast. Well, I appear to have delivered that unwittingly at the end.
00:56:14
Speaker
Most appearances, Kovacevic, although Grimshaw will play at least 15 championship games. Stacey, Medich, darling, Schlupp. and so I've forgotten Jeffrey Schlupp.
00:56:26
Speaker
Nunez, right, Topic. A winger forward who hasn't arrived yet. Pertinent. oh Chris Garden and Siena. Now, Steve has gone on to write a few extras. So no wonder the podcast always goes beyond a tight 35, which was always my target.
00:56:43
Speaker
Kenny will have departed by the end of the season. Oh my gosh, sacrilege. The unbeaten East Anglia and Derby run will go at Portman Road, but we will get revenge in April.
00:56:54
Speaker
ah Kvacevic will be directly responsible for at least three opposition goals and Grimshaw will get a spell as number one in the first team. Yep. Jacob Wright will dig out a gobby idiot in the South Stand. Where do you guys sit again? And we will win a couple of away games in the pink kit.
00:57:15
Speaker
Pink kit. You got an editor, right? We will win a couple of away games in the pink kit and it'll go down in folklore as a stone cold classic. I mean, my boys have got it here in Australia, so it's a classic for me. Well, I will now let you guys decide who the winner is. and Before I go, can I just say what an awesome job you guys do. I miss you all. Keep up the great work and enjoy your summer breaks.
00:57:41
Speaker
Do it all again in August. Thank you, Michael. Nice to do his voice again, wasn't it? I mean, how does he not know how pronounce Toppich for starters? Or Kvacevic. I still don't even know how to pronounce Kvacevic.
00:57:57
Speaker
ah Why did you put yourself through doing predictions for things that nobody ever asked for? It involves selling Kenny. I had definitely forgotten I'd said that. And what did you have against Vlad?
00:58:11
Speaker
ah Yeah, he's going get dropped. But did he get? he didn't get dropped at any point, did he? He was in my most appearances of the season. Well, I mean, Ryan didn't submit his in the end, so I thought I'd better chuck some extras in because I thought one of these guys is going to flake and not do it. So it gives me more of a chance to make a fool of myself.
00:58:32
Speaker
ah Yeah, I mean, the three forgotten players being Fisher, McConville and Slimani is... so It's um not fantastic. It's been a very confusing year. yeah None of this makes sense, does it? Absolutely none of it. Who do we think won that, guys?
00:58:49
Speaker
Michael Bailey. Michael Bailey's the rule winner. You, to be honest, Ryan, I think, having not submitted any. Well done. It's time for the coveted OTB Player of the Season Awards. In charge of this section is the awards founder, Dan Brigham.
00:59:06
Speaker
Thank you, Ryan. Yes. So, Kenny took home the Barry Butler Player of the Season, but can he add the, as Ryan said, coveted OTB Podcast Player of the Season to his collection as well? So all season, Zoe, Steve, Ryan and myself have each picked a man of the match for every league game we've watched. This not only gives us the opportunity to wonder what earth Steve's been smoking every week, but also means we get to crown our very own winner.
00:59:31
Speaker
First, a warning. The first two winners of the OTB Player of the Season, Gabby Sarah and Borja Sainz, have left the club within weeks of receiving this award. No, let's find out who's about to put in a transfer request. And just to get my Bruno Brooks on, one for the kids there, we're going to count down to top spot.
00:59:51
Speaker
Ooh. I'm asking who got three points or zero very excited for this. Very excited. So we'll start at ground zero with those unlucky few who wore the yellow and green but weren't deemed good enough to have picked up a single man of the match vote this season. Ooh. So that's Duffy, Marcondes, Grimshaw, Springett, and hopefully a few who will pick up some votes next season. Mahovo, Mundlesmith, Prezeni, Sienac, Forsen, Diallo, and Topic.
01:00:19
Speaker
Quite a few of those who were, i think, in our pre-season. I think it's Just a quick one. I don't think Krozeny got any votes last season either, if I remember rightly. I think we need to give him like a pity one at some point. nick I'm quite surprised Tony Gary Springer didn't get a pity one at some point. He's probably, out of those, he is the most unfortunate not to pick up one, I think. Nothing. Yeah.
01:00:46
Speaker
about time he laid on the ground with his head in his hands um quite a lot of money spent for zero votes there as well isn't there uh so let's count down we'll start in 20th position with uh two players we might not see again who picked up one vote between them sorry each it's medic and gibbs as well so one vote each for those two ah Two votes, a pair of attackers who've lit up the last few months.
Memorable Moments and Anecdotes
01:01:15
Speaker
Slimani and Ahmed just picked up two votes each, which a little surprising, I think. um Into 15th place now, joint, a hat-trick of players we might also not see next season. Field, Shlup and Quistgarden.
01:01:32
Speaker
Look, look. Look, look. He's got a bit more than Slim Mahoney. He got three votes for one game. can't remember which game it was now. It must have been a disaster. It must have been Hull. I think Hull at home. Must have been Hull at home. think it was. He he was sort of surprisingly good for the first 45 minutes, wasn't he? Yeah.
01:01:49
Speaker
Remind me, number 27. Let's have a just ah have a little quick look about where he did indeed get these three votes. It was Hull at home, yes. yeah Good memories. um Moving on 11th place now, a quadruple who would make a very decent 90s boy band. Darling, McConville, Wright and Magoma all picked up four votes each.
01:02:13
Speaker
Wright getting two in the last game of the season as well. I believe Wright got more votes last season in in half a season than he did in this fall season. And he was really sort of at the top of our lists for predictions as well yeah this season. His time will come.
01:02:28
Speaker
Into ninth place now with five votes each in Born 10 Years Apart, but it often feels like 20, Jack Stacey and Oscar Schwartel both picked up five votes.
01:02:39
Speaker
Two breakthrough players. Yeah. What was that? really was Jack Spacey's year. I don't remember getting five last season. he know Moving into seventh place now with eight votes each. Two strikers we'd never heard of 10 months ago, but fallen in love with. Makama and Torre, fittingly, both finished with the same number of votes. That's nice. I'm really worried about another striker who we haven't whose name you haven't mentioned yet. Oh, God. I don't know who you might be talking about. Moving into sixth place now with 14 votes, so a big jump.
01:03:19
Speaker
It gets tighter now. ah Putting our rat money to very good use is Matson coming in at sixth place. Well done, Pella. I don't think any of us would have predicted sort of around November time.
01:03:33
Speaker
no he he presumably picked up all of them since Big Phil came in the building, I would guess. ah I'll come on to that actually. And with one more vote and one place above is Coward and Toronto FC flop Josh Sargent who comes in in fifth place. yeah Oh my God. Wow. Okay. for like At least he's not infiltrated the top three. Imagine them announcing the top three. Do you think he'd fly back over to collect his award? Flop. Great word. Discredited for life.
01:04:09
Speaker
um And with one more vote, in fourth place, he's off to mark Harry Kane out of the World Cup. It's Cordoba. He picks up 16 votes this season.
01:04:21
Speaker
He's a very eye-catching player, isn't he? I think that when he plays well, is is got he stands a good chance of getting another match. He's caught Dan's eye, but then so did Liam Manning. When
01:04:36
Speaker
when Harry Kane's picking up his fifth goal of that game, Vordoba's on the floor like like Duffy was. looking forward to see in Cordova trying to dribble it round. Harry Kane, championship strikers.
01:04:48
Speaker
Look over at the touchline and Liam Manning is caretaker of Panama for the group stages. Right. It's top three time. o And in third place with 21 votes, everyone's favourite possible incel, it's Kellen Fisher.
01:05:07
Speaker
The man I thought everyone would have forgotten about by this time. But the emphasis is impossible, I think.
01:05:18
Speaker
I should say, I only thought we'd forgotten about him because Manning would have played Stacey every game. so That's what I thought. Breakthrough Star Jack Stacey. He'd have killed for it.
01:05:29
Speaker
Are we just going to scoot over the fact you called him an incel? Have we not done that on this podcast before, is that just in the chat? No, just in your head, Dan. Fisher came joint second last year, by the way, so well done that very young man to get second and third two seasons in a And came third in the actual player of the season vote,
01:05:56
Speaker
So, and after 46 games and hundreds of votes, we still can't come to an actual decision because we have joint winners.
01:06:06
Speaker
Top of the table for us are Kenny and Kovacevic. Wow. I don't think we should separate them either, should we? Are we allowed to have joint winners? Yeah, we can have joint winners. I think they can both pick.
01:06:21
Speaker
Like that time when two people won the high jump at the Olympics. It's a bit like that. And yeah um Kenny dropped the actual trophy, didn't he? Somebody can help him carry it.
01:06:31
Speaker
I did have a quick look about ah dividing it between Manning and Clement eras. and vla So both got 23 votes, Kenny and Vlad. Vlad only got three of his 23 under Clement.
01:06:45
Speaker
Oh, interesting. mean, if there was going to be a divider. So he was ah he was a shining light, which I think counts counts for a lot under that Manning era. Maybe counts double. True, yeah. yeah Maybe Vlad should take it then. No, let's let's let them share. it that seemed yeah I think that is, I think that,
01:07:04
Speaker
It goes a long way to sort of explaining what happened this season. if If we take only after Clement, we also have joint winners, though, with Fisher and McLean, both getting 20 votes under Philippe Clement. So Fisher got 20 of his and 23 under Big Phil.
01:07:21
Speaker
Third place would have been Cordoba, who got 13 of his 16. And fourth would have been Mattson, who got 12 of his 14 under Clemente. I the most amazing thing about that is that Fisher got a vote under the Manning era. Yes, I'm just what game What game was that for?
01:07:38
Speaker
Which game was that, Fisher got a vote for? probably went badly. It was Stoke City away. Okay. Oh. and We all remember that one. One vote, as did Makama, Mattson and Stacey in that game. Both Fisher and Stacey getting votes. It was a classic.
01:07:56
Speaker
uh well as long as vlad and kenny don't both now leave that's yeah fingers crossed should we write them a letter to congratulate them do you think or will they just have listened to this so it's okay i don't think they'd open the letter to be honest with you mate you've already written kenny a poem this season as well so we might begin to think it's getting a bit creepy Maybe we could tell them via Instagram post.
01:08:24
Speaker
I think it feels about right, though. i think i i mean I think Kenny was all of our player of the season, genr as a voting for player of the season. and I think we all had Vlad up there as well.
01:08:35
Speaker
And I think it does... I mean, people will probably disagree with this, but i I think one of the weirdest takes from this season is people saying that Vlad's not good enough, as if he's made a host of mistakes that yeah just haven't been there. And...
01:08:50
Speaker
I think we have forgotten just how good he was. like it's It's a good problem to have. It's like when Tim Krull was... People were moaning we were top of the league and Krull was making mistakes. I think having a goalkeeper that's not doing as well as you want him to be when we're winning, that's that's a nice point. And also, was it Wrexham, that incredible save, and recently against Derby County?
01:09:09
Speaker
yes Yeah. Wins under Philip Clemente has also pulled off a couple of extraordinary saves in there as well. But we didn't bother giving him Man of the Match reads of those, I don't think. Now then, I've obviously also totted up our player of the seasons from this, just very quickly. going to ask you to guess first. So, ah Zoe, who do you think you went for, gave the most votes to across the season? And by the way, can I say, you picked 17 players.
01:09:42
Speaker
They're all winners. I've got them all. No one goes home empty-handed. God. Please don't tell me it's Sergeant... No, sergeant you only gave Sergeant three votes.
01:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, I never i never liked him. I'll go Vlad, I think. Correct, yes. You gave Vlad six votes ahead of Koldova, who gave five to. And Fisher, Kenny and McCarma joint third.
01:10:08
Speaker
ah Steve, you picked 19 players across the scene. Who do you think your most votes went to?
01:10:19
Speaker
Well, it's not Ben Gibson, I'll be disappointed with myself if it's not Kenny. It is Kenny Maclean with eight votes.
01:10:31
Speaker
Second, Mattson with six. And third, Fisher with five. Kenny's my my default go-to for whenever we've just had a bad game and just got to give it to someone. Yeah, he got most of his votes under Clement as well. true Very few bad games. And Ryan, the goalkeeper here, who do you think you went for?
01:10:56
Speaker
ah I feel like I should say Vlad based on the start of the season, but I wouldn't be surprised if I voted for Mattson or Fisher a lot. Do you know what? Union Vlad. Yeah, it was Vlad. Kenny and Fisher came joint second for you with five votes.
01:11:13
Speaker
Who else did you say? Did you say Kenny and Fisher? And Matson as well. Just two votes, Ryan, for Matson. Oh! don't like him that much. Well, I agree with you, Danny can barely kick a ball, he can't shoot, so Maybe you were compensated thinking you were voting for him too much when you wanted to vote for him.
01:11:33
Speaker
And me, indecisive as ever, I went for Vlad and Fisher with seven votes. couldn' be And Kenny in third with six votes. And that's our third OTB player of the season. Well done to Kenny and Kovacevic.
01:11:52
Speaker
What's his first name again? Sorry, Dan? Hmm. Big Vlad. Big Vlad. Well done to Big Vlad and Kenny McLean. They are the 25-26 seasons or OTB player of the season winners.
01:12:06
Speaker
And speaking of Kenny, I think that leads us on nicely to Kenny Other Business for the final time this season. Just the one thing from me, Norwich City women are going up. put The Canaries beat Moneyfield FC 6-5 on penalties yesterday to confirm promotion to the third tier of women's football.
Women's Team Promotion Celebration
01:12:24
Speaker
City went 2-0 up in the first half through Holly Kennard and Grace Rigolar before being pegged back. But Sarah Quantrill's heroics in the penalty shootout were enough to send Norwich up to the National League Southern Premier Division for the first time in their history. So congratulations, ladies. Amazing stuff.
01:12:43
Speaker
Genuinely wonderful. um Any other things from you guys to finish the season? Well, I've got some awards to hand out. Oh, yes. Go for it. Go for it. Great. Has anybody else done these or shall I just? I sort of jotted down some moments of the season. Yes, I've got some. I didn't do them as awards, just so I remembered.
01:13:02
Speaker
ah Well, I've already said my best game, which was Southampton. Does anybody and have any other great games? I mean, Zoe, you one of your two wins, I guess. Yeah, I mean, if they're not...
01:13:14
Speaker
I think one the possibly one of the most exciting games was the Leicester away game because we were just genuinely so good. And it was just, yeah. um And then there was a few more of those games. But I think, yeah, the Leicester game really was like, wo who who this is exciting. um So, yeah, I've got a soft spot for that game.
01:13:33
Speaker
I think covent beating Coventry at home for me because the golf in performance against Coventry at home as opposed to Coventry away and also know coming from behind, I think, did we? To ah to beat the team who were top of the table and finished top of the table as well. But for quality, Borough away, even though we lost one no I thought that was that was one of the highest quality championship games um I've seen us involved in in quite a long time.
01:14:02
Speaker
I was going to say that game as well was one of several games, because obviously didn't see us win that often, where i we they were so good still, even not winning, that they got such a good reception at the end. That happened sort of quite a lot um over the second half of the season. And again, going back to what we talked about um earlier, like that connection and feeling of pride, even if...
01:14:29
Speaker
you've not just got three points. I think it was quite a new thing to experience. It was just really good. And also you were there because we did lose. Yes, we did lose. I think Coventry is my my one as well, but more so because we obviously had the the stuff before the game um and a kind of surrounding the the part of the passing of the fan in the ah in the FA Cup game against Walsall.
01:14:54
Speaker
And then... that it kind of really unified us as a club and it felt like we were never going to lose that game. And there was something, it's one of those those special Carrow Road atmospheres we talk about every so often, like reminiscent of Man City back in 2019, where it felt like everything was going to go our way. So I think i think Coventry has overall experience, I think, for me. Although I will say, from a personal point of view,
01:15:20
Speaker
Ipswich at home pregame was the best I've ever felt as a Norwich fan, ah mainly because I was the only person on the pitch for the the opening kind of um like video and and all the noise and everything. And I honestly, i felt hard as nails, lads. I was pumped for it after that. like i was It was me. i was in i was friends with Captain Canary, and my colleague Chris was there kind of chaperoning. And the flag bearers had all gone in. though All the stewards were kind of in their positions. But we were the only one only ones on the grass. And if I felt like i was I was ready to go up front.
01:15:57
Speaker
i was ready to leap up at a corner. And then I got changed and watched the first half and was so nervous. It was such a comedown. But, yeah, I was like... covered in sweat, boiling hot, but still had goosebumps. It was incredible. Do you think I'm on regret sticking Chris Gorin up front instead of Captain Canary for that one? I mean, I'm not very mobile at the best of time. So in that suit would have been so much worse, but weirdly not as bad as Chris Gorin in that first half. I'm joking. I'm joking. Of course I'm joking.
01:16:25
Speaker
ah We probably need to mention as well that we won as an actual championship team 5-0 as well.
Worst Performances Discussion
01:16:31
Speaker
yeah we've We've talked about defeats to Borough Nipstich where we didn't score. I thought I'd get that one in as well. And beating Millwall away when they were second as well. Oh, yeah. yeah was performance work Worst game,
01:16:45
Speaker
done Oh, man. I've said it earlier, Coventry away. a just gutless performance. Never want to see a Norris City team set up like that again. Ryan? Ooh, pfft.
01:17:01
Speaker
I think I want to say the second half of Hull at home, but I think we'd all kind of at accepted what was going to happen at halftime. So for me, I think it was Bristol City, and not because it or not just because it was so awful, but because there was just a disgusting amount of apathy as soon as the first goal went in. like Nobody seemed to care. And Rightfully so, in my opinion. it just, it was that that was probably the most detached I felt as a Norwich fan for quite some time, just rather than feeling a bit hurt and down that they conceded, just didn't care. There we go. Same old, same old. And that's for me is the lowest point you can get in football is when you just don't care about what your team is producing in front of you. So I think, I think Bristol City at home for me.
01:17:46
Speaker
How wrong you were about Liam Manning. I know, wait, you weren't. Zoe? Yeah, Leicester game at home was just pathetic and got quite upset, i think, during it because it just felt like there was nothing there.
01:18:03
Speaker
ah Obviously, we got the news after the game that the ah that Manning had been sacked. um which was quite fun to be in the pub when that was happening. um Also, special shout out for the Watford game um where i fell over on my way to the ground because Steve said we had to walk down the big hill that was covered in ice because we were making memories.
Icy Walk to Watford Game
01:18:27
Speaker
and Are we still talking about it for a month later? Yeah. And fell over behind me and in front of me, your dad fell over at the same time as well. I mean, did have a little laugh about that. Yeah, what a choice we made. We all live to tell the tale. um No one's mentioned that. I mean, I'm going to mesh together two genuinely awful halves of football. Sheffield Wednesday away the first half against one of the worst championship teams in history. Kudos to them for getting to know points, but they're very pleased with for that. um
01:19:03
Speaker
And then the second half of Wrexham at home, which... um One of the most baffling goals I've ever seen us concede was that one straight after half-time. That was the game after the Coventry game, by the way, where um it just crossed into the box and Windass was just there on his own. This was two minutes after your half-time team talk, Liam Manning. Something doesn't feel right here. um So a combination of them. We've talked about best save, I think. So, I mean, Vlad had a lot of them, I think. But um what about best goal?
Best Goals and Saves
01:19:36
Speaker
um Zoe, do you wanna want to take this one first? Anything that stands out to you? Yeah, there's been some good ones. um
01:19:44
Speaker
I think, well, that one we scored against Bristol City. um But I'm going to, I think... Kenny scoring that free kick, it's got to be it's got to be up there. um Yeah, for just because it was so funny. It's just like never done that before and then he just decides to do it. um So I think, yeah, I think that might be my goal of the season.
01:20:07
Speaker
Ryan, anything that you can remember? Yeah, I'm going to go for Mattson at Millwall. I think that is the definition of postage stamp and it's struck so well as well. Like it goes like a complete bullet right into the one place. Like it doesn't matter where the goalkeeper stands. Never going to get there. I think, yeah, Mattson mason at Millwall for me.
01:20:28
Speaker
I was going to say Mattson at Millwall as well, but just to throw another one in there, was it Schwartau against West Brom? The really good move from back to front where Torres laid it off to him. Was it that game? That was Millwall well. That was Millwall as well. Oh, Millwall. There so it is, Millwall. Yeah, so both goals in that Millwall game. Also the one Zoe mentioned against Bristol City where Schwartau has laid it on the plate for Torres as well after a really good break. Yeah.
01:20:55
Speaker
oh I'll take, in that case, Makama at Wrexham. With the Kenny backheel on the edge of the game box and then just a nice counter and a really, really tidy finish. um That was a great game match as well that we not talked about Wrexham away.
01:21:13
Speaker
Yeah, too many to mention. that We haven't had any sort of science, Sarah, 30 yards this year, but we've just had a lot of good team goals, which I think it goes back to the point that you made, Dan. um I don't have anything else in terms of serious stuff. So, ah dan Dan, is there anything else? and I've got a few other bits that we haven't touched on yet, but Dan, was there anything in your notes that we haven't? I'll try and rattle through the moments I've noted down Bristol City fans telling us that Manning was a dud of what fools they are we mentioned Duffy end up in his arse and giving up twice and trying to blame Vlad both times as well ah God I cannot wait not to see him anywhere near an orange squad now from next summer next season rather The Athletic Writers saying we'd be relegated in pre-season previews. What an idiot. Don't about Michael like that. Fans throwing tennis balls on the pitch in protest. That was fun. um
01:22:12
Speaker
Having two headlines in the same day in the Norwich evening news. One saying Norwich player calls fan a knob in late night rant after another defeat. And another saying club insists controversial stadium plans will go ahead even if Canaries are relegated. On the same day. Use the knob.
01:22:36
Speaker
We don't have to name the fan, do we? Mattson helping an opponent with cramp when we were losing. game game was uping Topic playing number 10 against Ipswich.
01:22:52
Speaker
Of course, Manning saying, sae well, hit what he li what he actually said, as we all know, let's be clear, I think I stressed the point at the weekend. I don't think changing me changes a huge amount.
01:23:05
Speaker
Springer coming back from spinal injury, absolutely incredible. i mean Beautiful. The resurgence has been incredible under Clermont, but that's got to be story the season, hasn't it? of A very sweet, fun kid like him coming back to play football again after having back surgery is wonderful. Nearly there. Kenny waving his arms to create shadows for a penalty that Vlad saved. That was fun. Torrey saying he'd have killed himself if he hadn't completed his action against the United States. I can't imagine he'll be saying that again.
01:23:41
Speaker
um Preston player kicking a football into his own face. yes That was good fun at Carrow Road. So Marnie's assist for Toure in the FA Cup against West Brom, which is, I think we all watched on repeat over and over again for for the ah audacity of it.
01:23:58
Speaker
um I've also written, Family Man Josh Sargent showing his kids how to get you get what you want by f***ing over your colleagues, showing zero disregard to the people who support you and giving the middle finger to the people who pay your wages. And there you
Reflecting on a Rollercoaster Season
01:24:13
Speaker
go. My moments the season.
01:24:15
Speaker
There's like three seasons worth of stuff in there, isn't there? I know, what a rollercoaster we've had. I've got a couple more in my awards. Worst breakup of the season, runner-up, Onel and Nunez, and top spot, us and The Athletic, obviously. Were we ever together? Open to sponsorship if anyone's interested.
PR Disasters and Rumors
01:24:44
Speaker
It was very one-way relationship, I think, in which one of the parties didn't realise they were still in it. I don't know what you call those. Shit house elbow of the year, second place Sakamoto for Coventry and first place Brandon Thomas Asante for Coventry. yeah yeah um Didn't know he could play their awards. Honourable mentions for Kenny right wing. Stacey coming on and playing left wing. Gibbs just playing anywhere. but Obviously the winner, Yakov made it up front against Sheffield Wednesday. lovely um PR disaster of the year. Runner-up deciding to turf out the South standards without telling them that you're going to do it. But obviously first place, not a Norwich City thing, but... um
01:25:26
Speaker
inviting the leader of a right wing and slightly divisive party into your ground to do a promotional video and then pretending that you didn't know anything about it. I think that probably probably takes it. the um imaginary rumor award runner-up was uh zoe uh zoe's alex pritchard wound uh
01:25:51
Speaker
i i did discover what that was didn't it was not it wasn't a wound was it it was a cyst oh yes it was a cyst that wouldn't go but not a wound it wasn't a wound it was assist a First place, of the pending appointment of Ben Kensal as sporting director. That was incredible. boardroom um And then finally, hardest name to pronounce of the year. Second place. I mean, I think it's just it was going to be the various pronunciations of Kovacevic that we did in the preseason podcast. But we've we've gone for a few more. and First place has to be Matty Parrotten.
01:26:31
Speaker
laughter laughter
01:26:38
Speaker
which, I mean, for all we know, that could be how Wes says it, to be fair. ah a And that's it from me as well.
Looking Forward and Listener Engagement
01:26:48
Speaker
Thank you. I have one more, which is ah looking ahead to next season. um Potential friend new friend of the podcast award, now that Tony Gary is leaving us. um Our assistant goalkeeping coach, Ricardo Pereira,
01:27:05
Speaker
is a new obsession ah if you haven't noticed him on in our on our bench then what have you been doing he looks like a mad scientist he is incredible um and yeah we're we're hoping to become best friends with him over the course of the next year definite new friend of the pod um if we've done this season then before we finish ryan i would just like to thank everyone who has completed uh norwich city player of the century whatever we're going to call it needs a proper name really doesn't it uh so thank you joe we've had much more than i expected um if you haven't done it yet i know that there's more people listening and have completed we've got the stats now so i'm to come around your house and and no i'm not going to do that but uh please please do over the summer if you've completed it and you haven't done it in order probably not going count those so do resubmit if uh You've put, say, Max Aarons first and Todd Cantwell third, because I know you don't mean it really. And Crystal Dimmelman 25th, you've given yourself away. We'll be pushing it a little bit over the summer, but it's bit.ly, dot L-Y slash NCFC greatest. And we'll be doing that all of next season. And I have done mine and it was it was good fun to put together as well. I enjoyed it.
01:28:22
Speaker
Yes. oh I've got a long list, but I am yet to narrow it down. Yeah, I've not quite narrowed mine down yet, but I've got i've got some ideas. I've got some ideas now. I've thought long and hard about it, and I'm going to put Huck's third, I think, and then ah Dan Grimshaw's second. No, he's not played 20 games yet, so I can't. Ah, damn. In spite of what I predicted. and i did I did write down on my long list 23 players before I remembered ah James Madison and 24 players before I remembered Emmy Buendia. So I do need to give it some consideration before I finalise my list. Yes, remember guys, take your time doing it and also don't put them in alphabetical order or they won't count.
01:29:05
Speaker
That's fundamentally just what what you've got to remember.
Season Conclusion and Thanks
01:29:07
Speaker
Well, that's all, not just for this week, but for this season at OTB, a Norwich City podcast. A huge thank you to every single person who's been involved with OTB this year. A thank you to Connor Southwell, to Chris Gorham, to Maddie McKenzie, Craig Draycott, and Dave Powells too. And also a big thank you to everyone who said hello to us at the ground as well and said lovely things about the podcast. It really, really does mean everything. And of course, a big thank you to everyone who's listened at home. Also, I guess I better thank Steve Sardis as well.
01:29:42
Speaker
Thank you, Ryan. ah First full season as host and what ah what a job you've done. We've had highs and lows on the pitch, but it's only been highs off the pitch. oh you're full of shit. Thank you. And a huge thank you to Dan Brigham.
01:29:58
Speaker
Thank you, Ryan. And also thank you to everyone who's listened as well, apart from the guy who, when I was saw steve with Steve at Cow Road, came up to Steve and said, I'll listen to your podcast, Steve. It's so good.
01:30:10
Speaker
ah Ignored me, and I wasn't introduced by Steve either. I would like to give an extra thanks to that guy to cancel out the one that that Dan hasn't given. a No one's ever said anything to me about the podcast at the ground. That's not true. I guess, actually. that Not in the last year, though. that's That is true. Dan is like the Mike Wazowski of the podcast, always just in the background.
01:30:38
Speaker
And a huge thank you to Zoe Morgan as well. Thank you, Ryan. Yeah, thank you to everyone. Looking forward to ah coming back next year for our promotion-winning 100 points, 100 goals season. I'll hold you that.
01:30:53
Speaker
I'll hold you that. We can't go out on that. No, go out on that. oh We're going to lose so many listeners. I thought we'd been hijacked by pirates. Is hijacked the right word? No. Kidnapped. Kidnapped. Yeah, both. Well, they're going to hold you. with Whatever they're doing, they'll you that. They'll hold you that. If you've enjoyed this episode and all the previous episodes this season, please leave a rating on your podcast player of choice and follow us on Instagram. We're on there now as at otb underscore pod underscore NCFC. Until next season, never mind the danger.