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"A Really Nice Balance" ACN Pod #138
2 Plays1 minute ago
Tom & Punt look at the Stoke dismantling and build up to Blackburn, with some thoughts on the run in and which players need to play to their strengths and not beyond them.
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Transcript
Norwich City's Current Standings and Upcoming Match
00:00:24
ACN
Welcome to the Long Come Norwich podcast. There are 12 games to go in the championship season. Norwich are 10th, four points off the top six, with a very tantalising visit to who currently occupies sixth place, Blackburn Rovers, on
Victory Against Stoke City and Tactical Analysis
00:00:40
ACN
Saturday.
00:00:40
ACN
Recording on Wednesday the 26th of February. It's me, Tom, and I'm joined by Punt. Punt, wasn't it lovely to absolutely put Stoke to the sword?
00:00:49
Jon
ah Yeah. Is that all you wanted? Yeah.
00:00:52
ACN
Cheers lads, see you next time. my There you go.
00:00:54
Jon
hey It was. um it was one. I think like last pod we talked a little bit about performance and the fact that we had some worries about performance. some home hiccups and we wanted to see a bit of a, ah you know, a bit of a upturn against Hull. And then, you know, i I think we got that and we definitely got it against Stoke at home.
00:01:18
Jon
And it was really pleasing to see that Torep kind of tweaked it tactically, um but, you know, didn't go outside of his principles. But, looked at the personnel that he had at his disposal, looked at actually how do we connect the dots from you know midfield to attack a little bit better.
00:01:37
Jon
He... It was clear that full backs were wider and were bombing on a bit more. It was clear that actually midfielders ah in ah in that in that midfield three were wider. Marcelino Nunez, I hadn't seen him play that wide for for some time.
00:01:52
Jon
um And it was clear that the the three attackers were a lot closer together. And I think it just helped us as a unit become way more cohesive. And we saw the result of that. you know And and the the nice thing about it is it probably should have been a 5-1, 5-0, 6-1, something along those lines, you know kind of the scorelines that we'd seen earlier in the season.
00:02:14
Jon
And the fact that it wasn't and the fact that Torek has things to work on, you can kind of see he's got the bit between his teeth. there's There's more room to grow, which I think is a a theme that's come out of the club's video that they've um they've put out about season ticket renewals
Momentum Building and Player Contributions
00:02:28
Jon
today. But you know it's...
00:02:30
Jon
They use the word building in that a lot and it it does still feel like it's it's building and we're kind of growing that momentum. and um But it's really fun to watch, isn't it? It's just so fun to be, don't know, kind of to have a Norwich side that turns up on a Saturday afternoon that one, you don't really know what's going to happen.
00:02:41
ACN
yeah
00:02:49
Jon
um But two, kind of most of the time, you know, you're going to be entertained and that you're going to get value for money out of your season ticket. And we haven't had that for a good long while.
00:02:59
ACN
Yes, it's been it's it's funny how often we get shut up when we complain about something quite quickly and but by Norwich. But there's so many things that we raised last time we chatted, including, for example, wanting Hoff to be a bit more animated.
00:03:15
ACN
Well, you certainly got that on the sideline. I mean, he was he was absolutely hopping mad several times. I thought, you know, The officiating was a bit odd at times on the weekend, not as bad as it was the the previous home game.
00:03:29
ACN
But um yeah it was nice to see him get so frustrated when and he felt things were we're not going right. like For example, their player being allowed to just run run on without being beckoned on by the ref when he was stood on his own. He wasn't marked because they didn't think they needed to mark him because he was off off the pitch.
00:03:45
ACN
and I thought Nunes, as you touched on, his starting position in every move was further forward. and I thought that that really suited him. so He was wider, but he was also on the front foot and ready to get forward more quickly. um and There were a few occasions where he was waiting for a ball over the top or around the corner, to your point, almost acting as an an additional winger as Sainz moved in behind Sarge.
00:04:10
ACN
That fluidity, that um ability that That flexibility across the front four or five as the couple join them from midfield is something that we hopefully are going to see more and more of as the Hoth football and continues to develop and mature and and players feel more and more comfortable in the system. And let's have it right, the players they're playing with. because If you think of the the speed with which this rebuild is taking place, with regards to just the sheer volume of number of faces that's different, if you look at ah look at the matchday squad for this most recent game versus and Oxford or the pre-season games, it's remarkable just what turnover they've been and and how many of the new faces have contributed meaningfully this season to points and to good performances.
Midfield Dynamics and Marcondes' Impact
00:04:58
ACN
and At the moment, it's early days, obviously, for for nearly all of them, ah but early days, as we've said previously, they they do seem to, between them, Napa and Torak, they seem to spot a player who can who can who can contribute.
00:05:12
ACN
still think we're missing Marcondes. I think he would have, and you know, There's little to complain about when you score four goals at home and look that good. and But i do there's an industriousness ah in the press that I think we miss without him. I think and him being being sort of so tenacious in midfield.
00:05:32
ACN
Slomani's very good in a challenge, but I don't feel he's quite i't feel he quite gets there as quickly as Marcondes does. and I don't think he's quite as creative if or technically To your point on value for money for season ticket, Somali doesn't get me under my seat like Marcondes does.
00:05:44
Jon
Yeah.
00:05:48
Jon
It's an interesting one because I thought about this the other day and it was when our midfielders were coming back to fitness and i was like, hang on, we've got four players now that you could you know quite arguably state that you know all have a you know a really good shout for for a starting berth in terms of Kenny, Marcondes, Slimane, Nunez, those four. Although, you know just as an aside, Lungi had a very good game on Saturday and and we we were particularly critical of him last pod, so you know it's probably worth pointing out.
00:06:18
ACN
Well, just on that, Mark Robbins also, and in his post-match ah ah interview with the Stoke reporters, he called out, sorry, he said he got the number wrong, but he got his name right.
00:06:30
ACN
I think he said they're number 16. was like, what, right? but He said, Sorensen, you know, he was his he was controlling the game too much in the first half hour. He had too much time on the ball. So, yeah, that's not home bias.
00:06:42
ACN
Even the opposition coach said that was who was hurting us.
00:06:44
Jon
Yeah, he was afforded a lot of space, you know, and and once they got in and around him ah a bit more, you know, he became less and less effective. But he broke up play really well and and just did simple things um which helped us to tick over. But to come back to that kind of midfield four into three...
00:07:01
Jon
I don't actually know what side of that I'd fall at the moment because it it feels to me like a midfield of Nunez, Kenny and Slimane, which is was you know the the obvious choice towards this the starting part of the season when we'd started to put better performances together.
00:07:19
Jon
To me, it feels like shape-wise, that probably is best because Marconde is almost as that 10 player We weren't really playing a 10, you know, kind of earlier in the season. And and I still think some of the performances really early on in the season, um you know, after we'd got some hiccups out of our system, are some of the more, don't know, really encouraging performances that that that we'd seen.
00:07:46
Jon
But there's no doubt about it. Macondes has got that that kind of X factor. i mean, he's he's played a couple of reverse passes, which have resulted in goals where you just, you know, you'd think probably no one else in the starting XI could play those kind of balls or would have the the level of foresight ah to think about it.
00:08:01
Jon
And that includes Nunez, who's best passer at the club for me by an absolute country mile. And, you know, his his ball to Dobbin for the first goal was was just executed superbly um on Saturday.
Young Talent and Tactical Debates
00:08:12
Jon
So I think you try...
00:08:14
ACN
That was a bright spark for Dobbin. I mean, it's a shame he had to go off.
00:08:17
Jon
That's another one, isn't it?
00:08:18
ACN
And again, it was great that he's got the confidence that Sienaac is not going to be...
00:08:18
Jon
Yeah.
00:08:22
ACN
ah and i thought Sienaac was very, very good, particularly in the press when he came on.
00:08:26
Jon
Yeah.
00:08:26
ACN
and But it's great that he felt like, well, actually, I've got a i've got a decent replacement here. If you're feeling any sort of tightness at all, you come off and we'll save you for for a very big game next Saturday.
00:08:38
ACN
I thought he was excellent first half, Dobbin. Very much deserved his goals.
00:08:40
Jon
Dobbin, he was involved in so much and and his his pace gives us a different dimension, which is something that you know we haven't really got in any other players. So you know it's something that Hoff talked about when when his recruitment was questioned. you know When he first came into the club, he was like, actually, the types the type of running that he does gives us something different. And and you know that's that's completely been proven. and ah Personally, I'd quite like to see us try and go after him permanently if if there's a deal to be done and and the money's right. you know i I really like Dobbin thus far.
00:09:11
Jon
um But yeah, I mean, it's...
00:09:12
ACN
That will happen. The fact he's already scoring, the fact he's got a couple of goals and he's occupying defenders and he's available for that ball around the corner over the top so often that it means they have to be really careful with pressing us.
00:09:26
ACN
The downside of that is sometimes we hold on to the ball too long, which isn't a problem when you're 3-0 or 4-3-1 or 4-1 up, but it's very frustrating at 0-0 or 1-0.
00:09:37
Jon
Yeah, maybe. I mean, if I'm honest, sometimes I think we don't hold on hold onto the ball long enough as as well. You know, there's there's times where we go long and I think actually the the principles that that we're trying to embed or that Torrop's trying to embed at the the football club would dictate that, you know, we probably didn't need to hoof it or Shane Duffy didn't need to attempt, you know, kind of a worldy 70-yard pass, which he's probably not going to get away with.
00:10:00
Jon
um but But it is, you know, a young team. We're still embryonic and in you know in terms of the stage that we're at. we're going to make mistakes. We're we're going to, um you know, be kind of forming what what this team looks like, you know, for the future. And and it's pretty fun too to watch it all evolve. And, you know, in front of our eyes, a lot of those players are ah visibly growing and are stepping up to the mark. And and two, that...
00:10:26
Jon
I know we've talked about, but i want to highlight again, and purely because of the fourth goal on Saturday, really, because I watched it back um last night, is Callum Fisher and Lucian Mahovo. Because how nice was it to have two fullbacks so high up the pitch, you know almost like an Aaron slash Jamal Lewis situation under Farker, where, you know, and all right the goal wasn't credited to Mahovo. you Fisher virtually assists him you know for that. you know can he He puts it on a plate for you know brilliant crossing position. And Mohovo looks like he's he's probably curled one into a dangerous area and then it takes deflection and it's in the top corner.
00:11:03
Jon
Those two lads, I know it's been highlighted elsewhere, but you know coming from non-league football probably about 18 months ago to be performing at these kinds of levels in the Championship...
00:11:15
Jon
is it ridiculous, but also it's testament to the type of coaching that they're getting put into them, the type of advice that they're being given and the and the way in which they're being nurtured at this football club. Because both of them have been with us for a fair while as well. So it's credit to the recruitment department, really, you know, kind of. And some of that's Webber. I think probably both of that, you know, both players are signed on Webber's watch.
00:11:38
Jon
um But yeah, I mean, you know, probably for 200 grand between the both of them. you know we've We've got two fullbacks who look like they could just continue to progress at this level and and you know sky's the limit for both of them.
00:11:53
ACN
yeah You think that one of, if not both of Chris Eni and Stacey will be thinking we need to go elsewhere because Stacey in particular, I think, deserves to be playing every
00:12:01
Jon
Yeah.
Critique of Shane Duffy's Performances
00:12:07
ACN
week for someone.
00:12:07
ACN
The blood and thunder approach, there isn't a fan base that isn't going to take to him.
00:12:11
Jon
Yeah.
00:12:11
ACN
I think he has been unfortunate, the fact that they had to put Mahovo in and they've gone, oh crikey, he's good, isn't he? He can stay there. It's so when it's so good when you so good when youth is either thrown in and they stay there or make such a good case, which is more the case with Fisher. They said and you know and previously in the pre-season, they just said, no, this lad's too good to go on loan whatever. He needs to be in and around it. and and His physical development, um his positioning, his shepherding people out of play is way beyond his years.
00:12:45
ACN
and i just While we aren't talking on defence, you segued... which doesn't happen often in in talking about Norfolk sport. You segue between Duffy and you know the youthful team we have because he doesn't really belong.
00:13:00
ACN
He didn't half get away with one on Saturday, though. like they They should have equalised from a borant. mean, that wasn't him attempting a 70-yard union.
00:13:10
Jon
I was at the offside, but kind of didn't really, was it offside?
00:13:11
ACN
new Yeah, it it was offside.
00:13:13
Jon
I haven't seen it back because it kind of looks like it comes off one of our players. ah I'm not really sure.
00:13:17
ACN
um I haven't seen a replay of it, and but the um ah offside is what was given on the day.
00:13:24
Jon
Hmm.
00:13:24
ACN
And I was, ah for the first time for a while, I was actually out of my seat um mid-berating Duffy because it was, um everyone makes mistakes and footballers make mistakes and even the best footballers that are my favourites at the football club have made mistakes.
00:13:42
ACN
But that was the sort of lackadaisical, clumsy, just you know um complacent. It's 1-0. This is really delicate. The game is balanced. like They've got nothing going at all. Do not give them something to what hang on to.
00:13:59
ACN
and and that was i found that... ah it was just There are some kind of errors on a football pitch that just really wind you up because they point to ah a lack of concentration that you think, come on, this is not... you've only got It's only a 90-minute game or 98 minutes or whatever from on Saturday. You haven't got concentrate for that long to do your job.
00:14:19
ACN
Come on, you really should be more switched on than that. and I do think there is sometimes an overconfidence in the way he plays. and like He puts his head on some things and he has... put in some good performances for for us this season.
00:14:33
ACN
and And I'm sure that from a leadership and from a veteran player point of view, there is some real benefits to having so many young lads surrounded by someone with that many hundreds of games experience. But I do think with some of the ease with which some of our technical players knock the ball about to each other, I almost think...
Player Roles and Sainz's Improvement
00:14:50
ACN
and sometimes he forgets that he isn't quite as technically good as them and he thinks, oh, I'll just clip this one round the corner. It's like, you're not good enough to clip it round the corner. And there's nothing wrong with that. You're a big hunking centre-back who can play the ball nicely with his side foot and you're perfectly technically capable international.
00:15:07
ACN
<unk>s yeah He's not a donkey. He's not some oaf. But at the same time, he's not Marcondes. He's not Kenny. He's not Nunez. He's not Fisher, who really have got the deftness of touch and flicks and things.
00:15:19
ACN
he really does need to just do his job sometimes. and And I thought Saturday a couple of times he got away with trying to the but be a bit above his station from a technical point of view.
00:15:30
ACN
Or do you think I'm just being too harsh?
00:15:32
Jon
No, no, I think that's completely fair. I think he's probably the word I'd use is he's been too expansive. You know, he's not really understood his is limitations. And I rewind like three or four months. I'm not sure if it's that long, but, you know, anyway, a few months.
00:15:48
Jon
And Shane Duffy was exceptional. but And, you know and I've been one of his biggest detractors, in you know, in terms of like him being in an Orange City shirt for years. many reasons, some of them technical deficiencies, some of them probably personality deficiencies. um But he was, i mean, top three, you know, player of the season, you know, kind of kind of worthy at one point in this campaign.
00:16:12
Jon
And I don't know if you just use the word overconfidence, you know, kind of maybe he he has started to believe his own hype. Maybe he he has thought that, you know, his technical ability is way above what it actually is you just hope the coaches are getting into him with that.
00:16:28
Jon
um You know, we we'd heard loads of noises that actually this season, attitudinally, he he'd really, you know, I think Torrup said this as well, he's He'd really started to put it in. He'd really started to look after his body. He'd really you know started to make sure that he was putting in the extra sessions at Colney.
00:16:48
Jon
um and And that showed in his performance. There's more than one person mentioned to me recently that they think those standards have maybe started to slip a little bit and and whether he's reverted to type um might be a factor in that.
00:17:02
Jon
I don't know. You know, look, at the same time, You're right. He does put his head on a lot of things. um He is still a better player than he was under Wagner. I think for me, that is without doubt.
00:17:15
Jon
um you know
00:17:16
ACN
He's still a bloody good championship defender.
00:17:19
Jon
Absolutely.
00:17:19
ACN
like you know and And he, at times, did some really good stuff on Saturday.
00:17:20
Jon
Yeah.
00:17:24
ACN
this This is not a visceration of that problem.
00:17:25
Jon
but But there's the individual errors are originating with him at the moment. and Yeah.
00:17:30
ACN
It is. And Slomani is a good example of a counterpoint, but to to kind of emphasise point. I don't think you can accuse Slomani of overplaying, but Slomani will sometimes give the ball away in an in a circumstance where you think, oh, that ball wasn't on.
00:17:49
ACN
But that ball is quite often on, and that is the sort of ball that he's supposed to be trying to play, round the corner, or a quick one-two, or a quick triangle, and the other guy just hasn't google wasn't expecting a one-two. They played it, and they'd run off somewhere else.
00:18:00
ACN
It happened with Sainz, think, at some point in the first half on on Saturday. and you're You're about to moan, then you think, well, no, because Sainz probably should have assumed he might have been getting it back, because we do quite a lot of these triangle one-twos, particularly on the halfway line.
00:18:10
Jon
but Let's come back to Borja in a minute. I want to talk about him anyway, but yeah, go on.
00:18:15
ACN
Okay, well, I'll be really interested because I've got um've got a particular opinion based on Saturday. So let's hear you first. Go.
00:18:21
Jon
So um with Sainz, I think it was his best game in a Norwich shirt for some time on Saturday. i thought ah
00:18:26
ACN
Thank goodness. That's exactly what I was going to say.
00:18:28
Jon
I thought he was really, really good. um and And he hasn't been for a good long while. And I think the reason that he was really good for me was he wasn't trying to force a goal.
00:18:39
Jon
He wasn't trying to, you know, beat 15 players and then, you know, curl it in the top corner.
00:18:40
ACN
Yes.
00:18:44
Jon
He was... releasing the ball at the right time. He was making sure that he was bringing others into play. You know, there was times where Mojovo's making a run and he's using him rather than than using him as a decoy run. His decision-making was excellent on Saturday.
00:18:59
Jon
And that's the bit of his game that actually, ah still think even when he was scoring, you know, 15 goals earlier in the season, still felt to me like he was making really poor decisions all over the park a lot of the time.
00:19:11
Jon
um And i i don't you know I don't know, is that due to a lack of confidence because the goals aren't flowing? And so, you know, he doesn't, he feels like, you know, maybe he has to give the ball a bit more. Is it again, you know, kind of a ah acuteness in terms of the coaching staff and they've got into him and they've they've given him that instruction?
00:19:25
ACN
I think it's the coaching. I think they're going to...
00:19:28
Jon
ah don't know, but he just, for me, he was a much better rounded winger because of that.
00:19:30
ACN
He was... Two things.
00:19:34
ACN
Two things that I think... That I i particularly noticed. So the unselfishness... They're now in the head in terms of using a run instead of using it as a decoy. um The unselfishness to put the ball across for Sargent, put the ball across for Slimani coming into the box, put the ball across for Nunes when...
00:19:47
Jon
Yeah.
00:19:51
ACN
and And I didn't think at any point it was... to the detriment, like it wasn't, he should have had a shot there, Borja. He still was shooting when there was a chance to shoot. He had a really good effort from about 19 yards in the first half. When were we kicking away from the Barkley? Second half. So second half, he had an effort sort of on the D and it went ended up going straight at keeper. But had he caught it the way that he can catch it, he had made room. There was a gap i in the Barkley now, so I couldn't get behind anything shooting that away from us.
00:20:22
ACN
So I had a good view that there was a gap and had you caught it, it would have flown and it would have gone in. and So it's not like he's just stopped shooting. He is using clearly that coaching, but it was also his attitude.
00:20:33
ACN
So he actually got some, he got some stoke treatment on Saturday, probably slightly more than he normally gets. Yet there was noticeably less floundering around on the ground.
00:20:45
Jon
yeah
00:20:46
ACN
Noticeably. And it had got really bad the previous home game. he he had He was really spitting his dummy out and he was moaning at the linesman and he was sitting on the floor with his arms out looking at the ref after almost every...
00:20:59
ACN
not even tackle or challenge, just, oh, someone came near me and and they made contact, I'm going to flop myself to the floor. I wonder if it had got so bad that they actually sat him down in a video suite and said, if this isn't who we this isn't who we are. Like, this is, come on, you are not impacting the game sitting on your bum bum.
00:21:15
ACN
Like, I don't know the Spanish for bum bum. It's shame, really.
00:21:20
Jon
Lordy or no, him a bell.
00:21:20
ACN
I don't even know. and So, yeah, I think, i I'm so pleased you said that because I think he is, and I thought he was terrific and he, He typified that um that brilliant teamwork ethic that we had up front.
00:21:35
ACN
ah that The interchanging was great.
00:21:36
Jon
Yeah.
00:21:37
ACN
and You go, I'll stay. We're both chasing down together. like So much of that going on. And it's made me really excited. So let's let's talk about the running. So we are well in it.
Importance of Blackburn Match for Playoff Chances
00:21:48
ACN
and Things could look very different three o'clock Saturday if we don't manage to avoid the defeat. Now, we've already spoken about this. I think a draw, and we are right in it with 11 to go,
00:21:59
ACN
you think we have to actually win. I think if we're still four points out, if we're four points out with 11 games to go,
00:22:02
Jon
I don't think we have to win. i just think it it gives us a much... Yeah, I just think there's a lot there's a lot of teams in that pack. And traditionally, if you... are all right I don't actually think this is a traditional championship season and because I think there's there's probably more points towards the bottom end of the table there's more points towards the top end. And so the middle bit is kind of concertina, but with with less points.
00:22:28
Jon
But typically, if you're talking about um you know getting in the top six, you're looking at at least 70 points, if not 73, 74. you know kind of seventy three seventy four I don't know what we finished on last season, but i'd guess around 74 or something along those lines.
00:22:43
Jon
We're going have to go some to emulate those levels. And I just think there will be two teams, three teams maybe, that that just start to raise their levels now.
00:22:54
Jon
And we need to be one of those. And I think... You know were we to draw against Blackburn and say, I don't know, West Brom, perhaps, you know, kind of pick up three points and teams around us pick up three points.
00:23:06
Jon
Suddenly, it's not just the four points to Blackburn. it You know, it might be the five points to Bristol City if they win. but I haven't done the maths around this, but, you know, something along those lines where it's like, actually, we could really stamp our mark on it if we win on Saturday. We could really put ourselves in and amongst it.
00:23:26
Jon
and it And it wouldn't feel too much of a stretch. It wouldn't feel like... It it would still feel like it's well within our control. And I think if we draw, it's still eminently possible. If we lose, like I think forget it. like the see The rest of the season is is you know looking at ah players.
00:23:40
Jon
but The club won't publicly give it up, but they will know that it's going to be really difficult to to get back in amongst it. But... Yeah, if we can if we can get that win, it's on.
00:23:51
Jon
It is absolutely on, you know kind of top top six. And our run-in isn't horrendous. ah You know, I don't think, you know, but we are playing teams where if we take points off them, then, um yeah, i think. So it's...
00:24:06
Jon
I don't even want to get into the discussion of do we want to get promoted? You know, like look, do we want to be part of the playoffs? 100%. Are the playoffs, you know, kind of one of the best things about the English Football League?
00:24:17
Jon
Absolutely. So let's just get there first and then worry about whether we want to be promoted. But I just think Saturday is massive. Absolutely massive.
00:24:29
ACN
Well, Bristol City, so you're talking about, I was looking at the teams in between us and Blackburn, so got Coventry, Bristol City, I was looking Coventry, Bristol City and Blackburn's fixtures.
00:24:41
ACN
Blackburn have got um a couple of tricky games, but more or less you you like the look of their running on paper. Although, naturally, what looks like an easy game in January, February, then can become really trickily if those games are if those teams who are at towards the bottom have got two games left to save their season. Do you really want to be facing them? Because that can be very, very difficult to to be i And then and if you then look at the... mean, look at us with Birmingham, was it, last season, you know right at the end when they were trying to stay up and we were trying to go up one space in order to to you know improve our lot in the playoffs.
00:25:15
ACN
So if you look at... um If you look at the commentary ones, they're the ones that seem to have got the trickiest, and I would say, running of of those teams just outside the playoffs. And then Bristol City have got Millwall, Hull and Sheffield United before they then play us.
00:25:32
ACN
So it could very easily be above Bristol City based on you purely on on pictures. So we're at the time we play them in three games time. So I think until it gets to about seven or eight games out,
00:25:45
ACN
anything anything in single figures, you've still got a really good chance. Unless you were nine points so um adrift and in 13th, 14th, when there were just too many teams to to hop over, you've only got to get over three teams.
00:25:59
ACN
And and But yeah, just avoid defeat on Saturday is is the really key thing. Now, what will be fascinating is how he sets the team up. So this is Wednesday we're recording this. So we obviously haven't had the pre-match and press conference yet.
00:26:17
ACN
So we don't know. And that'll be tomorrow, Thursday, probably. So we'll then get an idea of whether Eurosec's back. and Have we heard anything on Kenny yet?
00:26:25
Jon
I think the post-match or maybe even pre-match indications was that Kenny would be back in the mix for Saturday, but they but that was how he maybe responded to antibiotics.
00:26:36
Jon
um So, you know, look, I'd have thought he's a durable chap. hes um he's He's going to want to be amongst it. So do you bring, you know, I mean, I guess that's the question is, do you bring him straight back in? I know what your answer will be, but, you know, given the the levels of performance that the lads put out last Saturday, it's difficult to change that line-up.
00:26:56
ACN
yeah I think that is that is fair and but I am I also i love the idea of having Eurosec off the bench.
00:27:04
Jon
Yeah.
00:27:04
ACN
and
00:27:05
Jon
yeah
00:27:05
ACN
and
00:27:07
ACN
I don't know if 70% Kenny is not still a better person to have in a difficult playoff chasing scenario away from home where you really need to control that ball and hold on to the ball.
Strategic Setup for Upcoming Matches
00:27:22
ACN
if I know I haven't done... Shotcora haven't done any scouting on on Blackburn's press, for example, but it might be that they are going to give someone like Lungi a much harder time in the press when we're trying to control position.
00:27:33
Jon
Yeah.
00:27:35
ACN
And maybe we do need someone we do need our best two, i.e. Nunes and Kenny, to be the ones that are making sure we keep ticking over and in front of the back four. and ah Blackburn have lost to Swansea 3-0 last time out.
00:27:51
ACN
and And before that, you know they beat Plymouth, who aren't any good. But then before that, they beat West Brom, who are you know a very, very decent but very decent team.
00:27:58
Jon
yeah
00:28:00
ACN
So yeah these these are no marks, and they've been they've been in and around it all season. you know they you know They're not like a recent flush in the pan or got on a good run of four. They've been in and around top eight all season.
00:28:12
ACN
um and you've consistently done just enough. Although there's no sort of real run of like five wins in a row at any point. like It has been typical championship contender, i.e. win a couple, lose, draw, win a couple, lose, draw. And hopefully and we will have enough technical ability to to you know calm there any fans that turn up for them and and and get on top and and play our football. Because when we do that, and we did that obviously for...
00:28:40
ACN
to the first 35 minutes, normal non-stop on Saturday, we can go with anyone in the division, but potentially outside of the top three. you know, we really can play most teams off the park.
00:28:54
ACN
And it would be nice to see a performance like that on Saturday. watch your What's your your gut telling you? so it's very It's very accurate and always correct. So what are your guarantees for score and scorer?
00:29:03
Jon
Absolutely. I think I... Did I call Hull right? I think I said 1-1 with a good performance.
00:29:09
ACN
Yeah, you did.
00:29:10
Jon
And then...
00:29:10
ACN
i was I wasn't going to point that up.
00:29:15
Jon
I feel like we will draw. ah feel like Josh Sargent will net. I'm going to go for a Desmond, I think.
00:29:22
ACN
Wow, you're going out on limb there.
00:29:23
Jon
so
00:29:25
Jon
Yeah, what, with Sarge scoring? Yeah, no, no.
00:29:27
ACN
Yeah, yeah.
00:29:28
Jon
i actually I actually think...
00:29:30
ACN
I think the ball they play with will be round.
00:29:32
Jon
Yes. Cheers, mate. ah So, OK, I'm going to say a couple of things. I think we'll draw two all. think Sarge will score. i think Josh Sargent will end up as the championship's top scorer of the season, despite not playing in like nearly 15 games or something stupid.
00:29:48
Jon
I think he he's close enough now. He's only like four, five behind Borja and Pirot leads. like He's going to catch them. He's just going to continue this hot streak or get injured.
00:30:02
Jon
There'll be no middle ground.
00:30:03
ACN
I hope not. i hope I was one of those who sort of fell very silent when he was thumping the turf.
00:30:11
Jon
Oh, he looked genuinely hurt. And then he just was up and was like, and then they were kind of like oh, yeah, he's just trying to win a penalty.
00:30:13
ACN
I know, I was like, what's he done now?
00:30:17
Jon
What?
00:30:17
ACN
What's he done now? and Yeah, no I like that openness from Hoff as well in in the post-match. and yeah i I feel in draw as well. I quite fancy Desmond. We can't go the same though. So I'm i'm going to go 3-3
00:30:31
Jon
not play
00:30:32
ACN
and I know 3-3 because although we conceded two goals apart from a couple of hairy moments we really were incredibly comfortable so I can't see another game that's going to be comfortable for us again so I think we're going to win 3-0 I'm not going to go 3-3 because 3-3 is so unlikely so I'm going to go I'm going to say that Blackburn back up a 3-0 defeat to Swansea with a 3-0 defeat to Norwich
00:30:44
Jon
Sarge Hattrick.
00:30:58
ACN
and and we are going to be a point behind them and you know maybe a couple of points behind and either Watford or Bristol City if they pick up a result and we're going to be right in amongst it and look whatever happens on Saturday I think it's's we are going to be within two results at worst of being in a playoff place and you've got to say that that is to to to achieve that and it obviously hasn't done it yet but unless we really hit a bad run of form, we're probably going to end up at least, you know, one win or two wins difference between being in and out of the playoffs.
00:31:30
ACN
And to do that with the amount of turnover and the youth that he has given minutes to this season and the injuries and the suspensions, it's a hell of a job for him, right? In ah in his debut season in English football.
00:31:43
Jon
Yeah, I flip, it I struggle with this a little bit. I flip between personnel that we've got at this football club kind of means that we should always be part of the top 10 conversation.
00:31:55
Jon
And so is it that much of achievement if we finish off eighth? And then you you kind of, you kind of mix in that, all of that context that you've just talked about there in terms of injuries and suspensions and turbulence and Johnny Rose spats and Adam Eda spats and Abu Kamara spats and, you Gabby Sarah being sold, you know, in the summer and all of those things. And you're just like, actually this, and Kenny getting suspended for 32 games or whatever it'll end up being, you know, this season, you know, it's, it's,
00:32:26
Jon
He's genuinely been dealt a shit hand. You know, Jose Cordova getting injured, you know, and doing his knee pretty much, you know, supposed to have been the marquee signing of the summer. And and and then suddenly you're having to rejig your back line and bring in Doyle as a centre back and and, you know, kind of fudge around for a left back until we we found Mahovo. Like all of those moving parts...
00:32:48
Jon
have just meant that for me, Torrup's done an incredible job, but actually outsiders looking in probably won't perceive it in that way. um so it's, you know, seen through a yellow and green lens.
00:32:59
Jon
Yeah, i think I think he's done really, really well. And the bit for me that... um really sticks out is his ability to communicate exactly where we're going and exactly what he wants and the standards that expects of of his players.
00:33:20
Jon
All of that just gets me on board. And I know that there's people that have wavered about him and the methods and all of those kinds of things, but...
Long-term Projects and Future Planning
00:33:29
Jon
to me, they feel like they're the same detractors that were there when in Farker's first season.
00:33:33
Jon
You know, a lot of the the same voices are ah the dissenting ones at the moment. and And I don't think it will take too much to get them back on board.
00:33:43
ACN
Yeah, it'll interesting to see how the end of the season plays out. We're going to lose a couple of big players if we don't and end up getting promoted, which is very, very, very unlikely.
00:33:54
Jon
And I think that's a subject for another pod is the churn, isn't it? Around...
00:33:57
ACN
hundred hundred percent that 100%. But 100% to do it in detail. like This season is still very, very, very much alive. um The one thing I would add to what you were saying around that churn is The reason I bring that up is that is what that's the thing that makes me not as fearful as he could be. That actually what he has demonstrated is and we know that any team that has Josh Sargent and then doesn't have Josh Sargent is going to struggle.
00:34:26
ACN
but we didn't pick up no results without him.
00:34:28
Jon
Yeah.
00:34:29
ACN
And yes, Borja started scoring some goals, which was a you ah pleasant bonus, but you know he created opportunities for Borja and he created place you know a way of us playing that meant that Borja had the space to sweep across to cut inside stuff.
00:34:29
Jon
yeah
00:34:41
ACN
So think... i think if yeah If we go up, there's a whole world of problems to solve. But if we and are going again with a couple of the marquee players sold in order to re to you know reload again,
00:34:58
ACN
we've got the right guy for for working out and trying to see okay so not quite exactly the pieces of the puzzle I would like I've lost a couple of my best ones but let's see what we can do with what we've got and see if we can get a Norwich team that's exciting to to go and see and that you're actually looking forward to going to Carroll Road to see on the season ticket thing this I've heard you know a few people say that you know they've not got there that that much this season and you know then yeah they're maybe not renewing them is This time last season, there were a lot of people said that they'd sort of lost a bit of lost a bit of love and and had gone off it because Wagner wasn't really football wasn't yeah for them.
00:35:34
ACN
and And they were maybe tired of that, especially off the back of Smith as well. and It just felt like we weren't able to choose a coach that we wanted to fall in love with again. I wondered what you're hearing in terms of yeah apathy, like whether or not whether or not you think it's going to be a strong renewal number this year.
00:35:52
Jon
No, I think we'll always have a strong renewal number. um I think the social media barometer, and not that that's you know kind of and any kind of temperature checker you know that's effective, but you know in in my echo chamber, kind of feels like we're broadly more supportive because of the communication around the project, because the club is trying to take us on a journey and we've done it before and we realize that, you know look, it might not end up in the same fantastical way that it did.
00:36:12
ACN
Thank
00:36:22
Jon
But actually, there's something to get behind again. It isn't just, let's sign a load of old duffers who are really experienced in the championship and and hope that it's all right. And we, you know, kind of somehow scrape sixth and get up in the playoffs and then David Wagner's a messiah.
00:36:37
Jon
It's let's get behind a young coach who's considered, who plays football in the right way. Let's sign young players that we can get behind that, you know, we all develop on and, you know, sell them on and then sign more young players, you know, but probably at higher fees and develop them. you know, there's, there's much more of a kind of Brighton-esque or Brentford-esque feel to all of that.
00:37:00
Jon
And, you know, It also feels like, you know, and this has kind of calmed down the Delia out brigade that were there before, is that, you know, we're we're able to, you know, whilst we haven't fundamentally changed the model ah in terms of, you know, how we're going to recruit and and what we're going to do in in that space.
00:37:21
Jon
we can we can just go and sign a player for five million quid. We can go and sign a striker for eight and a half million quid. we can you know We can take those gambles without it being completely catastrophic if if those kinds of things go wrong.
00:37:35
Jon
So it feels like it's a really nice balance to it at the moment. And most people are pulling in in the same direction, apart from the bloke who sits behind me, who's very much a get it forward, Neil. But there's always going to be those those types of people.
00:37:46
ACN
Yeah.
00:37:50
Jon
that want football played in a different way and that that's fine. And, you know, they kind of had their way under Dean Smith and Wagner, you'd probably argue. But just to me, it feels like we're on the precipice of something pretty good as long as, and the point that you made about the the the whole being more effective without Sargent under Torop is a pertinent one because, know,
00:38:18
Jon
It feels like we're going have to, we're going to live in a post-Sargent world pretty soon in terms of, you know, kind of being a Norwich City fan. and And he's, him and Nunez, I think we're just going to, we're going to, when they go, we're going to feel those out but their absences so keenly um unless we can put together, know, kind of more of a team approach.
00:38:41
Jon
And it feels like that's where we're pivoting towards. It feels like, um you know, and look Wagner couldn't piece together that puzzle when he had Ida on the books and Barnes on the books and whatever his name, Huang was, you know, on the books.
Podcast Conclusion and Playoff Hopes
00:38:56
Jon
You know, he had different and you would say arguably stronger and more experienced striker options.
00:38:57
ACN
Yeah.
00:39:01
Jon
And he still can couldn't get a tune out of a team without Sargent. Torrup can. And yeah, of course, we're much stronger with Josh. But we still managed to grind out results. we still It felt like under Wagner that we were a top six team with Sargent and a bottom six team without him.
00:39:18
Jon
It feels under Torrup that we're a mid-table side without Sargent, but we're a top six team with Sargent. And I think that's progress.
00:39:25
ACN
yeah And i think that's a nice place to leave it on. So looking forward to Blackburn. um Obviously, we've guaranteed that it's going to be both a 2-2 draw and 3-0 win for Norwich. ah Enjoy it however you are taking it in. you if you're making the long trip up to Lancashire or if you're taking the long trip to an illegal stream, and we'll be back with you soon. Mind how you go.