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"Mouldy Old Cave" ACN Pod 154
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Two steps forward one step sideways, one back, a jump forward a couple of steps back. It's going to be nervy and frustrating right up to May, folks. 2 thirds of us are confident it won't be League One football next season...
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Transcript
Introduction and Overview
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to Long Come Norwich podcast where we study how cities seem incapable of making a situation shifting surge from a season of self-sabotage to stability. After a string of strong, spirit-strengthening successes against some stubborn championship sides over the Santa stretch, stirring performances shifted stress into satisfaction.
Team's Current Challenges and Potential
00:00:37
Speaker
Claire, you're still confident with
00:00:45
Speaker
but the soless insipid succumbing to stoke has stemmed the stream of relief and stamped the dire knee to strengthen and seek a spark from new signings' transfer window if there's any chance of a soaring ascent to safety
00:00:58
Speaker
claire you're still confident with staying up there aren't you I am, but with the mitigation that I didn't have to witness today's performance because I chose not to go today. um And I did go to Loftus Road on Thursday where we were pretty decent. So I'm still kind of on a positive wave and trying to ignore what happened today. I'm going to put today down to just...
00:01:21
Speaker
fatigue because frankly even the idea of just as a fan going to my fourth game in nine days was too much for me let alone the players having to actually play these games I mean have to just question why do we have to play so much football at this time of year i don't see what benefit is to anybody um because the performances for all teams and no one's really played particularly well But i I don't think we can read too much into today's result. It's annoying given that we've won one, lost one. Won one, lost one, you kind of feel like there's not a momentum there. But if we said we'd get six points out of 12 beforehand, I think we'd have taken it. and So, yeah, i'm not I'm not panicking because of what happened today.
00:02:06
Speaker
It was ah it was the the nature of how blunt it was. It's very frustrating for that to be the the last game of the run um
Impact of Fatigue on Performance
00:02:14
Speaker
over Christmas. But then i do think fatigue, I saw, I think it was a friend of the poor, Adam Brandon, I think you mentioned it was maybe one one game too far. and And he quite rightly, I think, but put his finger on it in terms of um the clientele we need to bring in. um you You can't expect Maxson and McLean to run 100 minutes and every two days for the course of a season or even over the period of month. Both of them have been spectacular over the last kind of few weeks. But today in particular, it was the second action of nearly everyone was fatigued. So Matson got ah one of the loudest cheers of the day when he did a round the world 360 spin on the ball, but then promptly lost it And like this, Kit Kenny did some incredible interceptions, but then the pass was rubbish. Or, you know, the passes of his that he sprayed beautifully tended to be the first thing he did. like Too often it was, yeah you know, like Eurosek as well, did a really nice drop of shoulder and push it past the player and then and then was a poor poor kind of final ball. That was a story the day. I think it was tired brains and legs. What do you think, Punt?
00:03:20
Speaker
Tired brains. I would absolutely um agree with you there. Mattson, I listened to ah ah little bit of his post-match interview and he was like, no, no, I'm not tired. Like, you know, I could run all day. pretty much You know, like that was the the the undertone of what he was trying to say.
00:03:35
Speaker
That lad has got a serious engine on him. He is absolutely everywhere. um And yeah, look, he wasn't quite an optimal person. this afternoon, but I just keep falling more and more in love with the the player because he he has absolutely in embodied what Clement has tried to get us to do, which is to work harder, which is to be more confident in terms of the quality that we have, um you know, and to impose ourselves on teams. And and he is...
00:04:05
Speaker
he's He's the living, breathing spirit of that. um And sadly, you're quite right, second action um or even sometimes first action just wasn't quite there today. I don't think the pitch helped us. I don't think the pitch has helped us over the last couple of games. No, it wasn't great at QPR either. It was rubbish. So they've had two tough games.
00:04:23
Speaker
And we didn't adapt. i think I thought we adapted quite well at QPR in the second half in terms of being a little bit more direct, um in terms of looking to play vertically, you know as the hipsters like to say it now. Whereas today we didn't. Yeah, yeah. um whereas Whereas today we just didn't.
00:04:40
Speaker
i I thought that you know we still tried to... to play relatively pretty football. The frustrating thing for me is, I think first half, i don't think anyone would argue we shaded that, and we got ourselves more and more into situations that looked promising and yet couldn't really take advantage of them.
00:05:00
Speaker
and And the second half, when I kind of, I said, turned to my friend who sits next to me and just said, oh look, this this feels like the kind of game where Clermont will get into them at half time and then actually will make the tactical tweaks to to improve us to maybe go on and get three points.
00:05:14
Speaker
And we
Tactical Analysis and Player Evaluation
00:05:15
Speaker
just didn't. And I couldn't really, short of the you know the fatigue point that you guys are making, I couldn't see why. i couldn't see why he couldn't unlock that you know that that door.
00:05:25
Speaker
um I do want to talk about Matej Juracek for a little bit. but his levels of effort are point-blank pathetic, at you know kind of at times off the ball. like He's got so much quality in his boots.
00:05:39
Speaker
He just doesn't run off the ball. And I think it really hurts us as a team to have him in it off the ball you know to the point where he can't continue to start, can he?
00:05:51
Speaker
It's just because the only thing he's good at... Do you not think, though, if he carries on playing, then he will... learn and who will get more into the the game. and Like the second half at QPR, he was, well, for the first 20, 25 minutes, it was like a completely different player. It was almost like Clement had kind of electrocharged him at half-time. yeah But but i I wonder whether it was like almost like,
00:06:16
Speaker
just give me another 15 minutes and then I'm going to have you off. you know Just give me everything you've got. I'd commented to to people, he's getting pulled off again at half-time. When he came out, i was like, oh, okay. And then within like a minute or so, he'd done that amazing cross for Josh to score the goal. made He did a couple of things today that were, and then probably three or four things in the first half today going forward.
00:06:38
Speaker
that When he's got the ball, that that's the point, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. that we that to your point on he can't continue to start I think he has to until Diallo is back and stronger and because ah or or we'll we'll come to the potential winger signing that looks like it's being revealed tomorrow we're recording this Sunday the 4th straight after the game and it'll be the fifth in theory that he'll be unveiled and Until we have someone else who is capable of that moment of magic and and un unlocking someone and beating a player, until we we can get that regularly performing. So Schwarzau, I think, was desperate for a rest. He's played well over the last few weeks, but his final bill hasn't been...
00:07:19
Speaker
been been there and and is it's quality into the... It's it's kind of chance creation chance creation creation is what we've done really well under Clement compared to Manning, right?
Playing Style and Leadership Dynamics
00:07:31
Speaker
It's getting ourselves routinely into the place where if just that next ball is right, it's going to be a really good opportunity. We shaded it in the first half, but just too often...
00:07:41
Speaker
it was just laid bare. Similarly to the last home game we lost, it was just laid bare that this team are there for the taking. We are the better team for for large chunks of this game. We've got control of the possession. Our pressing is um under the Clement. Clement has been so good.
00:07:56
Speaker
and We look so good out of the ball most of the time and our starting position is so aggressive and he's got, you know, Wright is playing really well from ah from a pressing point of view. He's learnt that bit of that position, I think, very quickly. He was unlucky today a couple of to your point on the pitch, a couple of times the ball that bobbled away from him when yeah he was in but good areas. like He was poor on the ball today. though I thought he was really poor on the ball today. He was, but I don't think he i don't think he had it very often. For a player in where he plays, as in in that number 10 role, and I think he is he is playing out position, and yeah, you'd you'd love him to yeah morph into a player who can do that.
00:08:32
Speaker
as he as he knocks the mic over. You'd love to morph into player who can do that. But, you know, going back to to what we were saying off off the top about needing to rotate or or at least give 10 minutes at the end of games or off to to kind of Pella and Kenny because you risk them getting injured even if they are both willing to run French for 15 minutes every day. The longer they're out there, imagine now going into, especially with Topic out injured, you know,
00:08:58
Speaker
you know Imagine having to go into you know West Brom or or Blackburn, some of the upcoming games, with one of those two missing. You start to really worry about what you're going to do because you haven't seen Wright have a cameo in next to one or or other of them. And the reason we can't do that is because Marcondes hasn't taken his opportunity in the 10. So I think today's today and the and the previous home performance just scream, we need two or three forward attacking players to...
00:09:26
Speaker
but add a bit more qualities which you means that I don't think Napa built built a squad to compete at this level in terms of attacking creativity it's a balance though isn't it that's the point we always come back to is it's the balance of the squad and it's it's just not there No. And I thought, um yeah ah again, on the kind of second action thing, I thought McGonville's reading of the game was, again, excellent today. But he was a bit sloppy in in in possession. ah Darling, I think, actually shaded it out of those two today in terms of, you know Darling had to do quite a bit of mopping up. I think he yeah he he looked like he had benefited from the rest. going say, he's fresher, isn't he? Yeah. Yeah. And, um you know, i I thought I liked the McDonville was shirt sleeves and no gloves, even in the warmup when everyone else was gloves and and hoodies and stuff. And I just thought, yeah, he's made a tough stuff at point. and So in terms of in terms of the signings, then you were expecting Ahmed to be to be unveiled. and He looks worryingly slight in physique to me. And he's also coming from an inferior league.
00:10:34
Speaker
um An inferior team and doesn't have an amazing record. So try and talk me out of this seeming like a total Napa waste of time. I've seen about two minutes of YouTube footage, which, you know, given our our history with the players that always look magnificent on YouTube, I'm not, you
Transfer Needs and Opportunities
00:10:52
Speaker
know, filled with confidence, but I'm not not writing him off yet. Because I thought, dear I mean, the little I've seen of Diallo, I thought he looked like he'd just snapped the minute somebody even just touched his shoulder. and But he seemed to have a bit about him. He could handle himself. i Well, he did. he played five games and then got injured. Well, yeah, but that wasn't because he couldn't. He snapped himself. Well, yeah, exactly. um
00:11:14
Speaker
I don't know. i feel like I've got a trust Philippe here because he said, you know, they're coming to me with the players and I'm saying yes or no. He's obviously seen Ahmed and ourmaen thought there's something about him that he he wants him to come. So I'm trusting Philippe on this one and we will see. I can't i have no opinion on the man. I've literally seen one YouTube video of him He's left his left side, right, Punt?
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, so he can, so from what I understand, he's yeah yeah a left winger. He can play left back if needed, but I think that was rare. the The thing that I quite liked was I saw some quotes from the Canadian head coach. I think it's Jesse Marsh now.
00:11:53
Speaker
um who was saying that of all the squad, Ahmed was the one that actually tactically got it and tactically took instruction really well and understood what he was trying to do with the team. And I think Clement does simplify things for players, but actually ah he has asked quite a lot of the squad in terms of, you know, kind of rotation of positions and filling in and, you know, kind of being relatively flexible in terms of the way in which we do things.
00:12:22
Speaker
Not to a Liam Manning, we're going to play a back three, a back four, and you know everyone's switching all over the shop. but But actually, think we ask quite a lot of our midfielders because of the way we play, in so much as you know Kenny's dropping in at right back a lot, Mattson might drop in at left back, you know the movements that that we make.
00:12:39
Speaker
are maybe slightly different. um I also read that he's incredibly quick and he's incredibly direct. And it feels like that is something that we're missing right now and have been missing all season. So, you know look, McCama's no slouch.
00:12:52
Speaker
Josh is no slouch. slouch So, you know if we've got direct running at defenders, that seems to be the thing that we haven't done particularly well this season is actually turn defenders around and go at them and, it was screaming out for it a couple of times when Juracek received the ball first half. It was like, no, just just go and run at him. Just go and run at him and and and give him something to worry about.
00:13:12
Speaker
So even if we do that, even if he just gets us off the up the pitch a bit quicker, um you know he seems quite well regarded. don't necessarily consider the MLS an inferior league to the championship either. I've watched a bit of it when...
00:13:28
Speaker
Everyone in the house has gone to bed and that's the only sport on telly, you know, kind of. an And actually. Desperate. Yeah. Well, sometimes you are not when everyone else is asleep. and i You know, I just want some sport to watch. And and some of it's all right. You know, kind of some of it is pretty much championship, like, you know kind of SPL standard. So um some of you know some of the players are dreadful as well. You know, let's let's not dress it up. But, you know, there there are some decent teams in that league. And I think what I'd also seen is that.
00:13:55
Speaker
It seems to be quite an undervalued market in terms of there's quite a few players who have made the step from the MLS to the championship successfully. um Now, whether that's, you know, kind of in terms of, you know, there's there's maybe similarities and and with regards to the physicality or those types of things, i i don't know.
00:14:12
Speaker
um look, I think with the benefit of hindsight now, Ben Knapper's hit rate on players is better than maybe we were talking about couple of months ago.
00:14:26
Speaker
So I will definitely be prepared to you know go into this with um a very, very open mind. But it does sound like the type of profile that we we need, that we really, really need.
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah, he needs... What we really need, profile-wise, of more than anything, is someone to hit the ground running quickly. Yeah. um Because we we... You know, i am ah I am now very, very reluctantly resigned to the fact that we are in a relegation battle until, at best, mid to late April.
00:15:01
Speaker
i mean, we're we're not going to be clear ah any time soon. and And, you know, the fact that we've twice choked on the opportunity to get out of the the bottom three... is a real concern to me. know winner ah And said this over the last couple of pods, you know it's all well and good looking better and it's all well and good the performance has been better. And yes, I am so grateful for the fact that we have a lot easier on the eye now, even our bad.
00:15:22
Speaker
ah ah A real off day by Clement's standards today, still a lot nicer, still lots more to like than than a back than an off day under Manning. And be fair, I would also say under the last couple of managers as well, like i i quite I really like the way Clement has a set up to play. um And I think he's he's got a likability. He's brought a likability to some of those Napa sightings that weren't there before from the way he's managed to get performances from them. and That being said, we have choked twice when there's the opportunity to really go and get ah get a performance. and And that's weird considering there seems to be a strength of will and character in in some other in some other games where winning and because of results other otherwise... other
00:16:03
Speaker
elsewhere didn't seem to have muchness now. I don't think they're paying attention to the table. It's very norigy as well. I get that. No, I get that. I totally get that, Claire. And that is fair. And ignoring the noise and just going... think Matson said that after the game today. said, we're not looking at the table at the moment. We'll be fine. That's fine. But the table is quite important because it is whether we down. It's January.
00:16:24
Speaker
Yes, I know it is, but my point is... think it's bollocks. I think they do definitely look at the table. Well, yeah, but they're not pallets. It's January already. It's January already. We're already in the beginning. don't they're worried about it because at not at the point that I made... Well, I'll be worried about them then.
00:16:38
Speaker
Well, and and i think you no look I think you're absolutely right to say we're in a relegation scrap. We are yeah. We're not going to be we're not going to be clearer we're not be clear of I think you're right. and Unless we have a worldy run you know of results and and January is difficult. There's no doubt about that. But I think the way in which we're accumulating points, the rate at which we're accumulating points, it will be tight, but I think we'll get over 50 and I think we'll probably have a little bit to spare. So yeah. Something like 1.36, didn't you say? Yeah, 1.3 something. And that tracks us to get to about, I don't know, 52 points, 53 points. That's enough.
00:17:16
Speaker
But, you know, and I do think that there will be an uptick in terms of, you know, points gathering because we'll have had, you know, kind of more Clement coaching, the strength and conditioning will be better and we'll have added something at the top end of the pitch as well.
00:17:30
Speaker
i'm ah Yeah, I just... I get... I'm concerned that it would it would be... i don't think it will take much to knock the confidence back down of these players because I've seen them in very recent history play with no confidence and be really brittle, these same players. And and if we were to lose... Because we haven't managed to capitalise on our opportunity to get that psychological...
00:17:59
Speaker
We like the guy has taken us over and we're now out of the bottom three. We haven't got the bottom three yet. We're still in. We might as well not have changed in terms of league position, but that is that is fact.
Player Rotation Strategies
00:18:09
Speaker
We've got more points than I think we would have got under Manning, but we're still going down if the season ended today. And my concern is it would be unreasonable of us to not expect our team to lose two or three on the bounce at some point between now and the next two or three months. Because that happens in championship football. That happens like Lambert lost two or three in a row every now and again. you know I mean? It happens. Farker, likewise. But we might win on three four. Yeah, I was going to say, we're capable of putting a run together.
00:18:37
Speaker
it Yes, we are. However, if the latter happens after the former, if we lose... But you're presuming every other team's going to win every game? They're not. They're going to do the same? No, I'm not. I'm not presuming they're to win every game. I'm assuming they're going to roughly match our form, which currently they sort of are. We'll close the gap a little bit. So if they're all going to do 1.3, 1.4 a game as well, because... But they're not. And even if they did... we have every team can go and is this Not every team can go at that rate, mate. But not every team can go at that rate. It's it's impossible to that to saw today back Charlton Drew today, didn't they? Which which helped us. so you know one How many points behind were we when Manning left?
00:19:17
Speaker
night Nine? Was it? It was quite a big gap, wasn't it? The gap went up just afterwards because we lost at Birmingham. And effectively, we have closed that gap down, even though we still haven't moved positions.
00:19:32
Speaker
And there's games in hand, but you can't assume they're going to win those games in hand. No. So we have closed the gap within two months. We up one position. We're third bottom. We were second bottom.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah, i i my my concern, like i say, is if if a two or three loss in a row, there was nothing in today. There was nothing in today's game at all. And there wasn't either in the other the home defeat either against Watford. We should have beaten Watford. Didn't take our chances. They took theirs. And and the the the point is there's going to be several games like that um over the next two months where we could easily be the wrong side of a one-goal defeat.
00:20:09
Speaker
without mean today you know Today was a two-goal defeat, but you know we we were done at 1-0. But do you think... you One goal would have won that game. Do you think the psychology under Clement is totally different? Yeah. Actually, this the way in which the squad frame things and the way in which Clement frames things, it just feels to me to be completely different.
00:20:29
Speaker
in a kind of i think I think we are now... playing and behaving like a mid to promotion level championship side, as in like promotion places, not the automatics, the playoff places. We are behaving like a team like that.
00:20:45
Speaker
No team in this league, but not even the top team now, are winning every game. It's very much up and down. It's a pretty poor league from top to bottom really this time. and That's my concern as well. But the fact that we were left in the position we were under Manning means that it's going to be a struggle. But I don't think the confidence will ever go back to where it was under Manning because we just don't have that manager anymore. We have a manager that's just capable of instilling confidence. Like today he commented that in the second half he saw maybe some heads drop that he was quite surprised about and worried about. So he's already on that and he's already going to address it and he's going to talk to them about it
00:21:25
Speaker
I just don't, I can't see that we will ever get back to those first three months, even if we put, you know, a bad run together of a couple of games. What's your, what's your thought on um the, what you do with Makama and Sargent?
00:21:39
Speaker
You know, what do you, because Sargent shouldn't be tired. Makama obviously has played through illness and lack of, lack of fitness, but, but had to play minutes and and took his goals when he had the chances. um what ah it I'm not sure it works long-term. So is that do do you go to start cycling them and doing his whole 30 minutes, 60 minutes? Well, he wouldn't do 30, but start start giving him 60, 30 and swapping them in and out? Do you think that might be a long-term plan?
00:22:07
Speaker
Are you wedded to the fact that Makama is a nine, though, like making those assumptions? Because playing off the right today, certainly second half... I thought he was our best outlet. He got in behind two or three times and again made the wrong choice three times. And I think he could do better at that.
00:22:25
Speaker
um Personally, and I think I said the last pod, I'd maybe be looking at playing. I think Sarge has the quality. if we're not going to sign a natural 10, right, you know, kind of in in the window. And I really hope that we do. But I feel like Sarge has the the quality to drop in and to, you know, look, he's in terms of, you know, being able to play passes, you know, he's really good, you know, kind of like he's he's got that technical quality about him. Whether he'd take up the right positions and see it in the in the the way that a more natural 10 would, ah I don't know. But we're playing Jacob Wright there and, you know, he he can't really do that either.
00:22:58
Speaker
um as it stands so I'd be tempted to have a look at it in that way with Sarge a bit more centrally potentially with Oscar plus you know new winger off him you know or Papa to come back or whoever it might be I think that's the way you could potentially make it tick and that then gives you another rotation in the defensive midfield options you know when Wright goes back to to kind of support Kenny and Mattson ah It's an interesting conundrum and it's it's a positive thing that you've got two strikers who can score goals. And i always prefer it when it is that your goals are coming from strikers. Yes, you need you need other and ah players to chip in, midfielders to chip in if you're going to have a promotion run. But to stay up, yeah it doesn't matter if it's only two players and if they're both the strikers then you know because you only need to win by one, as as we said earlier.
00:23:48
Speaker
But so Claire, what's your, if if we can only get one transfer right, assuming that we will probably bring in at least three bodies, what is the one position that you go, even if the other two are total failures and never play for the club again after March, what is the one that absolutely has to go right in order for us to stay up?
Defensive Improvements and Survival Chances
00:24:07
Speaker
I think probably probably the one we're hopefully just about to bring in. We we need a pacey winger or two Over a 10. I think so. i think that that is what we're lacking. We have got players that can fill that 10 role enough that if we have also got pace and attack from the wing to add to that, I think we can get away with not getting a 10. Plus, 10s are really hard to get and to get right. like Where are these amazing 10s that haven't already been plucked up by someone else? you know i
00:24:39
Speaker
Have we even got a name of anyone? i've i've i've got ah I've got a Bantz name. i Go on then. I think we should make a ah or cheeky bid for Bannon. Oh no, Barry Bannon. A maestro. ah ah ah Is he 10? He's more like plays a bit more withdrawn now, I was going to say. yeah No, but the point is, if you said to him, you haven't got a run around anymore. wait We ripped us us to shreds two months ago. and yeah you don't and He's the best player play on pitch, as he is every time we play him. and we we don't um We don't need you to do anything. Pellerin...
00:25:22
Speaker
ah Kenny will will will mop up and and do all the long stuff just get in and around it receive it little flicks around the corner that I i just think I'd go mad if we got Barry Bannon because he's one of those players who's when I hear his name I just say Barry Bannon I can't I can't help myself every time I hear his name Barry Bannon so I would I would it would actually drive me insane if we signed him Yeah, so you know that's a no from me. We've got to do it for that reason. That's a no from me. It's one of those where the I think that actually, um and you sort of saw this maybe with Papa as well, um it's probably more likely that you're going to hit on a winger who only needs to necessarily do three lung-busting runs a game and put in two of the three balls that they get the chance to be good ones, and one of them go in, and you're going to think that that winger had a great game, even if they did very little else.
00:26:17
Speaker
whereas its So therefore, you're more likely to get a ah Vancouver Whitecap... ah winger be a success within two or three months in English football than you are a number 10 from an obscure league. because Just simply because they are, as we've said with Jacob, right, I don't think you've got the ball that often today, but you're really exposed in the middle of the park. If you if your first touch, second touch and progressing the ball is not really, really on it you sort of look a little bit more lost than you do out wide.
00:26:45
Speaker
um you' sp it's much harder to to impact a game, ironically, in in a way I think that number's Same question to you, though, Punt. Do you think we can do you think that that it's the wide player rather than that creative 10 or forward midfielder that we need to get?
00:26:59
Speaker
I do ah tend to agree with Clarence so much as I feel like we need... We need that directness. I think it's just something that we don't possess in the squad and we haven't for quite some time, unless you count on O'Neill Hernandez.
00:27:15
Speaker
I kind of haven't really for some time you know in terms of his output you know with O'Neill. Bless him, lovely fella, but crap footballer. It's Bordja, isn't it? It's getting it's getting science it's getting someone like Sainz who's just going to either cut cut in and and make something happen or or beat you on the outside. And I think...
00:27:30
Speaker
I think it's the latter and with Ahmed, but at at the same time, look i'm I'm not adverse to that at all. I think it's... Look, we said it the WhatsApp group, you know, kind of that we've we finished we've finished a game with Jack Stacey and Liam Gibbs as our wingers, right?
00:27:47
Speaker
That is... you know Our squad building has gone disastrously badly, if if that is you know how we are finishing a game, you know kind of regardless of how high in a regard you you know you consider both of those players.
00:28:01
Speaker
And they are both workmanlike, is probably the word I would use. Yeah, they're good lads. But but ah in that's the area that I think we need to address the most. not On that point of squad balance, other than Diallo, am i is there another winger who's injured?
00:28:19
Speaker
No. I mean, I think we were told that Kvis Goran could play there. Oh, yeah, and Cianac could play off the right. Yeah, but it was supposed to be nine. Yeah, but in terms of like a midfield winger, we've basically got one injured and now we've got full backs and sort of our last choice central midfielder now playing in wide roles. That suggests squad depth issues. Yeah. So two bodies there. But that not why we put Stacey and...
00:28:46
Speaker
ah Gibbs on the wing to prove the point, I think, didn't he? I think there's a lot of that, yeah. I mean, I actually think... It's a dangerous game to play when you're one goal up, but anyway. In Philippe, we trust. well I do. On that, so, okay, Claire, okayla so um I know that no one's allowed to suggest that anything PC World does is wrong. um this this i get the logic of...
00:29:15
Speaker
we have to manage people's minutes. I'm not sure this taking people off on 60 minutes no all the time is working. So we, the we looked, I don't, I'm not saying that we lost today because of it, but we were worse after the subs. And, um, we, the Watford game as well.
00:29:32
Speaker
Yeah. So Chris, Chris, any is a good, good fullback. And I think he, his, I think he had one of his best performances when he had his turn to start in this Christmas period, but he, you know, both of those goals are well taken, but they are totally avoidable with just tracking your man. And I think that it takes some people a few minutes to get up to speed of the game and know who's making what run. Oh, he keeps cutting in or whatever.
00:29:58
Speaker
I don't know. i I get that, again, that might be a ah message that he's sending that I don't, I'm having to manage minutes because i don't have enough depth here. I think it's probably even worse during this period because they really are having to manage minutes because of the volume of games in such a short space of time. So I don't think we would necessarily have seen that amount of changes if we'd had or two you know two games in the week, Saturday to Saturday, for example, rather than four in nine days. so Just one thing on one thing on the... on the and yeah We talked about Kellen being so brilliant recently. i i mean, I haven't seen it back. I was i was there in the the Upper Barkley today, so I i don't know. i haven't seen a replay of it yet, but... um
00:30:43
Speaker
ah I don't think he could have done anything about the goal that came down his side. There's one from either the wing, wasn't there? um and done It gets done quite easy for me. he like it I think that number seven is decent. It's early. And also, he he is at full stretch. like he is full He does a full stretch dive to try and cut that out.
00:31:03
Speaker
And that number seven, to me, looked to he looked a player. like He looked like the sort of person you'd love to have to solve our winger winger issue. Would you buy him? I love... I love Kellen, but I think the area that he could potentially get better at is turning from a standing start when players you know kind of just go at him. I think sometimes he is on his heels a little bit and he needs to anticipate that a little bit better. um But actually, technically, as a fullback, well, we've waxed lyrical about him before. I think he could do a smidge better there. And I think he loses possession in the build-up to the first one as well.
00:31:35
Speaker
Okay, so final final question for um kind of this this transfer this early transfer window um suggestion, ah suggestions of what who might come in and who might not, etc. Do you think if none of the new players work out and none of them manage to become kind of fixtures in the in the team, do you think we've got any chance of staying up?
00:32:02
Speaker
Claire, I'll let you go first. I'm going to say yes, because I already feel like we've got a decent chance of staying up with the players we've already got. And I'm hoping that our injury crisis was what we've already had and not coming.
00:32:17
Speaker
So, is going to be tight, but... its a is going to be type but I think the addition of a couple of bodies, whether they hit the ground running or they take a couple of weeks, but they are new bodies. They're going to bring a new energy and hopefully a lot of energy.
00:32:33
Speaker
um and And they are, if they, you know, the positions that we need filled, it's better to have them in the door than not. So, yeah, i'm still I'm still confident either way, but yes. Yes. Wednesday.
00:32:45
Speaker
Thank you. Wednesday are coming back. He's soon. I think they said he's nearly back until training. thought January. This is Diallo. Yeah, yeah. January january training. But Clรฉment said in his presser the other day that he probably looks like more of an option for February in terms of actually playing. But to answer your like new there. But to answer your question, Thomas...
00:33:06
Speaker
um We're already tracking with the right numbers with the current players at our disposal. So if we go at whatever the number was, 1.36 points per game for the rest of the season, we will be fine. It will be tight, but we will be fine.
00:33:22
Speaker
Okay. So that's and that's why I would not be worried. Teams don't get relegated on 53, 54 points. Okay. ah I will remain worried because I'm allowed. You do all the worrying for us and we'll stay. Balance each other out.
00:33:40
Speaker
It's lovely to to have ah optimistic friends who can just show you the light and then you can just turn away from it and go, no, I'll stare into the eye. I'm comfy here in my mouldy cave. i will I will dismiss logic and hope and, you know, just choose misery. misery i never just never dismiss hope. i just yeah and It's just when that logic is is is based based on hope.
FA Cup Match Predictions and Optimism
00:34:02
Speaker
and Right, let's have some guarantees for our FA Cup run, which commences Sunday, the 11th of January at 2.30 against the mighty Walsall. Walsall. Coming to you first Claire I'd like a guaranteed score And a guaranteed score God knows who's going to play Bloody hell You should take your boots Hey Will the new guy be able to play Maybe he'll score That would be nice wouldn't it If he's an announced to watch He should get clearance Stick him in It's a good game for him to start Ease him in and against Borsal They're third in League 2 Yeah they have been playing quite well
00:34:37
Speaker
Oh, well, never mind. um Yeah, I'm going to say oh went Ahmed's going to score. There you go. Nice. And all our problems go away. Yeah. Okay, so what's the score going to be Oh, well, 1-0 because, like yeah, he's the only scorer. So clean sheet. You've got be a bit disappointed if you only beat League Two team. No, because we're not going to put our full team out, are we? so you know And we normally lose, frankly, to league. Go on then, Punt. What's the score going to be i I think we might lose and I think it might be a good thing.
00:35:12
Speaker
Oh, no. Come and join me in the cave. No, no, know and no. That's not me being negative, right? Like, I don't... Like, if you go out in the third round, that's often not a bad thing, right? Concentrate on the league. We we have one this season. and We have one aim this season, and that is to stay in the championship, right? And if all our energy can be put in that, we've just talked at length about managing load and minutes and all of that kind of stuff, right? Do we need a cup run to be thrown into the mix? So all I'm saying is if we lose...
00:35:39
Speaker
I don't necessarily think it's a bad news story, especially if we rotate and you know we maybe look at, I don't know, Gibbs and Wright in the six and you know kind of maybe give Oscar run in the 10 and we have a look at different players in different positions. Exactly. lovely give gray is Give Grimmie a run and maybe see you know if he might he might be a capable goalkeeper that could step up should Vlad continue to flap a little bit. you know All of those things aren't bad things.
00:36:07
Speaker
um Look, I'd love us to win. I'd love us to go and win 4-5-0, right? and and we Especially if we've rotated in it and it gives more confidence. But all I'm saying is I've just got a weird, niggly feeling that it's very Norwich, third-roundy, League 2 team at home to go and lose 2-1 or 1-0 and then you know suddenly BBC headlines appear.
00:36:27
Speaker
But I don't think it would be a bad thing, genuinely. i think I think, not being overly humble, I think the BBC have got slightly bigger fish to fry than us losing to Walsall. But it depends on the results, doesn't it? Like, if a League 2 team beats championship team, is it depends on the other results.
00:36:42
Speaker
and Look where we are, man. We're Norwich City, mate. We're Norwich City. We're fucking huge. Yeah. We are getting... That's why you're going down, Sung, at us every week at the moment, which is just... That feeds into your mood, doesn't it? On the tube home on Thursday, I had a very drunk...
00:36:59
Speaker
quite elderly QPR fan come and sit next to me. went, oh God, don't tell me you're a Neuge fan. was like, well, I'm wearing yellow and green. I mean, it probably gives it away. But then he proceeded to tell tell me that we're still going down and that we were shit. I was like, we've just beaten you twice.
00:37:17
Speaker
yeah yeah but Yeah, he was adamant. Your shit, you're going down. was all right, great. but Cheers, mate. Cheers, mate. Yeah. Well, I think i think there's ah there's always been a bit of a resentment event of any of any of our time in the Premier League anyway. I think most of the the clubs who were in the Premier League a long time ago don't like the fact we've been back three or four times since and they haven't. and So I don't think we would get much sympathy. you know Oh, no, I'm sure that everyone's laughing. Yeah.
00:37:42
Speaker
Yeah, but i mean, it's it's it's just it's just weird to hear that chant at Carrow Road at us because usually we're singing that at the opposition. It's but it's just been a long time, right? since that's Because the Premier League people don't tend to sing that. and That is very much a kind of, you know, second, third flight thing. a bit like EIEIO etc that's not really sung in the Premier League so it's just weird to be like oh yeah we're in the bottom three so every time we miss that that is a that's a viable option although I thought their sport was rubbish today but it was cold that that is one of the cold days I've had for a long time at Carrow Road even with my big duvet coat that was I should have gone full arson venga I don't own a coat like that but I was wishing I did have like a full length one
00:38:26
Speaker
and Cool. Right. Well, and I'm not feeling positive, but you two are. So I hope everyone listening takes some Claire and Punt medicine in terms of knowing that we're going to stride into 2026 and stay up.
00:38:38
Speaker
I'm looking forward to us beating Walsall 5-0 and Almed hat-trick. It's just in the first half, so we can come off at half-time. And maybe the fourth one, Medic gets a header. And the fifth one, Cordoba volley from 35 yards. Oh, my God.
00:38:54
Speaker
It's going to be worth watching the highlights, I'll tell you that. Thomas has been taking magic mushrooms just before the pod again. Look, what's going on here? You've got liven up your Sunday somehow. Mind how you go.