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"Master Craftsman" ACN Pod 151
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WE WON A GAME OF FOOTBALL AT HOME. Time to get delirious and massively read way too much into a couple of positive games, getting completely carried away, right?
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Transcript
Norwich's Revival Under Clement
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the Long Come Norwich podcast where fiercely faithful forever fascinated fans feast on all things football and the flourishing fortunes of our formerly faltering canaries. No more fixating on fatal flaws or fretting over familiar failings. There's been a full blown feel good flip in Norwich's football fortunes and as fresh faced Philippe Clement finds his footing, we'll be following the fast growing frenzy around the side suddenly flying rather than falling. Four points in two games.
00:00:49
Speaker
Claire, Big Phil's got us feeling fantastic. He has. Of course he has. He's marvellous. All hail our M&S clad king. who What a turnaround.
00:01:01
Speaker
it's just It's just amazing. The players just they just had so much more energy. They knew what they were doing. Fast-paced, attacking. It was just a joy. And even in the second half when things went we weren't quite so on top of things, I didn't feel like we were going to capitulate like we have previously. they just and they didn't Their heads didn't drop when they let that goal in so quickly after we scored. like it was just It just felt like we had Norwich back again. And it was it was just wonderful.
00:01:31
Speaker
My head dropped after the equality. I had the fame. I was fully ready to capitulate. What about you, Punt?
Tactical Changes and Team Performance
00:01:41
Speaker
Are you still on ah on a riding on a cloud of joy and happiness based on, you know, finally having a Saturday night to celebrate?
00:01:50
Speaker
It's just so nice, isn't it? It's just so bloody nice to watch a Norwich City team that is well-structured, that is seems like it's well-coached, that actually, weirdly enough, looked like it had personality but straight off the bat. straight off like Even if you know if we go back to Tuesday night, actually, there was encouraging signs there.
00:02:14
Speaker
These are two teams that Yeah.
00:02:20
Speaker
i think both of them would have been really relatively content with the point you know kind of qpr didn't show a massive amount of ambition whether that's because nor were really good or whether that was just a you those teams knew that you know this was new manage bounce almost you know kind of and and nor we're going to be really up for it But we found a way. like we We moved the ball with purpose. I think the way in which we played out from the back was different in terms of you know kind of the the two central midfielders, the two sixes, if you like, you know kind of dropping into different spaces and sometimes doubly you know kind of dropping into right and left back positions. it just
00:02:56
Speaker
It felt like there was variation. It felt like Some of the players, the their performance levels maybe hadn't been quite at it, just dramatically improved. And that has to be confidence. That has to be getting the right instruction. That has to be knowing what you're doing.
00:03:14
Speaker
um So, yeah, I mean, you know, it feels like, oh, God, this all feels very new labor, but it feels like the grownups are back in the room, you know, kind of in so much of, you know, kind of it that that's that's almost like, you know, how how it immediately felt is that,
00:03:30
Speaker
you know there was a semblance of a football club again. There was a semblance of ah a proper team again. There was sensible tactics. there was you know it's just It feels like just what we needed. And look, it's one win.
00:03:43
Speaker
Let's get carried away today. And then, you know, kind of... it maybe, you know, kind of that that there will definitely be challenges ahead. But yeah, it's just lovely.
Fan Reactions and Personal Stories
00:03:52
Speaker
It was just lovely to have couple of pints on Saturday night and just, just asking it.
00:03:58
Speaker
Yeah. Lovely. Well, Roo was actually absolutely thrilled. we were in the car. on the way home and we'd said we'll have a takeaway if norwich win um we'd said that the preceding where thanks is um so it's been healthy and kicking in the parsley household on saturday nights um but uh we just stopped and got a couple of beers uh not for ruben I was going to say wow, it really is celebrated. Legend! Stopped nothing got a couple of beers and and we'd agree and he he chose, he'd say, yeah, we'll have a Chinese taker. I'd say, okay, brilliant, fantastic. And then just as we sort of got back in the car from the stop off to get the couple of beers, and ah Rob Butler on Canary Call said, yeah, I know some people will say we're over-celebrating, but have a Chinese, have a couple of beers. And Ruth said, that's what we're doing! I was like, I know, right? We high-fived, it was great. Oh, man. It's just, there's something about there's something about the cyclical nature of supporting a football club who routinely disappoint every few years in like ah in a bad way.
00:05:06
Speaker
and And it was such a fantastic... ah know what teaching moment really because as we've talked about you know yeah know we're taking young people you know to the football and know your girls started with ridiculously high levels of success and you were trying to explain to them you weren't always we're not always going to be at City Hall with the players celebrating this is not normal and and then likewise you with your Your nephew kind of, you know, crying because of because of, you know, not seeing any goals and losing and still wanting to come back. And, you that Birmingham performance was so abysmal and I was so angry and Rue got upset. And I said, i you know, this is...
00:05:47
Speaker
this is what it's like, but when we, when it turns and it will turn and it probably won't be straight away, but it will turn. And when it does, my goodness me, it will feel that much sweeter than if you win five on the bounce. Then the fifth one is nowhere near as fun as the first or second one.
00:06:02
Speaker
and And I'm so glad that Philip Clement has proven me right. And, and, and yeah, it was just the the vibes in the stadium were just superb. Like running back to the car was great.
00:06:13
Speaker
And, and, and, There's a lot of discourse on Twitter after um after the game with regards and you know over the weekend, reflecting people saying, oh, maybe this person isn't so bad or maybe I was wrong to to say so-and-so's performance was bad.
00:06:31
Speaker
i I stand by every single criticism I had of every single player in the Birmingham game. They were dreadful. Those individual performances were dreadful.
00:06:42
Speaker
And clearly he hadn't got enough time to get into them. And whether or not he's been showing them highlight reels of the good stuff they've done this season or earlier in their careers, whether or not, you know because he hasn't had that many sessions at Colney.
Clement's Leadership and Player Confidence
00:06:55
Speaker
I think you've hit the... The C-word, you've hit the nail on the head punt. It is confidence. There's there's a swagger. that second The third goal, the Mancourt-Forson goal, and I pinged a beautiful friend of the podcast, Kerry, and his Liverpool team are not doing particularly great at the moment, so we have been sympathising with each other. um
00:07:14
Speaker
But ah I said to him... That goal and that style of counter-attack, that counter-attack in play, where it's a couple of touches forward, a couple of touches, one touch, one touch, out of your feet, into the corner, that is a goal against basically any second-flight opposition, unless the keeper happens to start slightly further away from the middle of his goal. like that That is not a preventable goal from the opposition's point of view. like That is not...
00:07:40
Speaker
That's not QPR being asleep. that's not them they They had numbers back. They had the full back four in their positions. But if you move the ball with pace, with tempo, and make a decision quickly and succinctly, that is what this team is capable of. and we did that a number of times in the game when you and you watch it back again. There are so many one-touch passing moves. It was just such a such a difference. It makes such a difference.
00:08:05
Speaker
It's confidence, isn't it? but yeah somehow Somehow he's got confidence going. And I don't ah don't quite know how. like you know you've got it We were at such a low ebb.
00:08:16
Speaker
And look, we talked about it when Clement was still when was just appointed. But it was like, actually, he's he's had immediate impact at nearly all of the clubs that he's been at. So maybe he is this kind of master craftsman in in terms of you know picking people up when they're down and and you know the the psychology around it.
00:08:34
Speaker
Even the press conferences, he just... He just seems different to every other Norwich manager that's preceded him for the last four seasons, you know, dare I say, in terms of like there's loads of personality in the press conference. But no, I mean, sorry, in what I was saying, personality in the press conference, you know, kind of like sometimes having a laugh with the...
00:08:54
Speaker
that you know the local boys sometimes actually challenging them on on you know maybe how daft or not the questions might you know kind of might be you know they'll almost be a you know raise of an eyebrow or oh no actually look let's skin it in a completely different way and he won't answer the question and he'll just use the narrative that he wants to present almost as a yeah here we go this is the way it's going to be i just think that strikes strikes leadership to me and it's probably exactly what the dressing room needed um
00:09:24
Speaker
And look, you know, actually, if we talk, I know we'll probably get into the the details of Saturday, but you've got Matej Urosek, you know, who I thought, well, we're not going to see him in a Norwich shirt for a considerable length of time.
00:09:39
Speaker
And he's i mean he's only on the pitch for five minutes maybe, but he's on, he's sprinting, you know kind of he's putting in challenges, you know kind of and nearly got away for a chance. And I was like, actually, that isn't that isn't like another three days worth of fitness and then suddenly he can run harder.
00:09:55
Speaker
That's mentality. like He shifted his mentality quite quickly and realized that he's got a point to prove. Otherwise, you know for Eurosec, his... his His career is you know massively in a doldrum. So you know it's it's it's a little bit carrot, it's a little bit stick, in a kind of but I like it.
00:10:12
Speaker
A masterstroke by by and Clement to bring him on though, because everyone kind of gasps when they saw it was him coming on. And then cheered. He got a massive cheer. Yeah, because the first thing he did was like running and tackling. and but But he got a cheer before that. like Well, yeah, and when he came on, yeah. i thought And I think that was brilliant because, you know, you already you've got already you've got a crowd on side with Clement and you've got a crowd going, right, well, that's about the eighth thing in a row that he's done that I wouldn't have expected him to do you know, in the space of a few days. And, and yeah, i like the sound of that. light So what i was going to say, partner, is um under Webber,
00:10:47
Speaker
Juracek is playing with the under-17s until he leaves the club. yeah right like Yeah, I think you're right. you know yeah yeah That is the sort of thing that you don't come back from. um yeah with with Likewise, other players at the club will make um questionable decisions that you wish would means they're not still in the club and somehow they do still get to play. and so i mean I think he has generally said it's it's a white sheet of paper for everyone, but And Clement's referenced Jolyse a couple of times, like almost in the same breath as Eurosec, as if to go, look, kind of you nearly ruined him, lads. you know Let's not do it with this this guy. And do I expect Eurosec to come and you know have anywhere near the level of success that Jolyse is having right now? I do know.
00:11:27
Speaker
if If Claire's faith has taught us anything in Philippe Clermont, then maybe, just maybe. but no look He's just got aura about him, though, hasn't he? And I think that's where the confidence from the players is coming because he just he knows what he's doing.
00:11:43
Speaker
He is an incredibly capable manager, way above our level. And I think they're just sort of going, wow, this guy is in charge of us now and we're going to really...
00:11:54
Speaker
work hard for him and he and he demands that they do and I really think that that's where the mindset has switched and why they suddenly don't look like they're scared and they're going out and playing in a completely different way. um Yeah, i just i you know that I love him.
00:12:10
Speaker
I'm surprised that the surprised that the um kind of body replacement um kind of that's taken place, like the entire transplant of personality and ability that's taken place in Rory McConville hasn't but made bigger news. I mean, that is a different human. I mean, he that is that's a different human. You were a bit harsh on him before. I was a bit harsh. And I was as well. yeah but he He's been excellent last couple was but but He But in his bit part so far, playing out position and in a three and in that whatever that weird hybrid thing that unpredictable back seven or whatever it was that Manning was trying play, he looked like he hadn't ever played football before.
00:12:52
Speaker
And he wasn't really sure what the rules are and where to stand. may he really He looked lost ah completely. And now, i think injuries aside, that's your centre-back pairing at the end. I mean, the darling, again, darling,
00:13:05
Speaker
again darling I still love love the name, darling. there's a there's a there's a guy There's a guy who sits to my left who I don't know how conscious it is, but he loves saying his name.
00:13:18
Speaker
So it's just like, that's a great header, darling. And it's just like the black, just like the blackadder thing that is funny to say darling on the end of it, like a compliment. ah Anyway, and now I think just in like, again, a couple of, the from Birmingham to Tuesday, but then specifically on Saturday, darling was immense again. And all of a sudden Kovacevic is giving him the ball again. Kovacevic came out and claimed a couple of balls.
00:13:41
Speaker
on on and Saturday, I was a still a little bit frustrated. Kovacevic didn't ah come a couple of times when the ball was sort of at the penalty spot area and it was a looping kind of cross and it got a bit hairy and you think you you'd need to come and get them, a lad of your size and stature.
00:13:58
Speaker
But there was the there was the early signs of him starting to command his area a bit more. um Kellen Fisher, again, night and day from the Birmingham performance where he looked like he didn't want to be on the pitch I mean he was superb and Jack Stacey I think we've got a question on haven't we and he again was absolutely brilliant so should we take that listener question that's about Jack Stacey cam clare Claire, you're running the Instagram account. Oh, right. I've got it. I'm not ready. If you ask for the questions, you have to be ready. On the group chat, Tom, let's just let's just acknowledge that you called her the competent one.
00:14:40
Speaker
I did, yeah. Yeah, but right because they look at the low pass she's dealing with. Do I say who the question is from? Yeah, go on.
00:14:51
Speaker
John's daughter, is he? But it's very good question. How much do we think Jack Stacey's injury will hinder the team? Well, he's not out for ages though, right?
00:15:03
Speaker
His hamstring, they haven't had the scan. line Yeah, but the dip looked the way that he talked about it after, well, again, I'm guessing, but the way he talked about it after the game was
Injury and Tactical Adjustments
00:15:13
Speaker
you know night and day to how he talked about top pitches. He said that he felt a bit and we just took him off straight away. i was going say it was an immediate withdrawal, but given that you didn't really have any other fullbacks in and around the squad to immediately withdraw him and not give him couple of minutes, it says to me there's a tear or you know some kind of strain, Weren't they saying it could be an impact injury though because of the... Well, it looked like it when it happened. I thought i thought he'd been whacked in the hate. Yeah, that's what we thought. I thought he'd been elbowed and that's why he went down. But so but I think it does raise the question, right? You know, in in so much as Stacey, we've talked about this on this pod before, Stacey has been one of our main attacking outlets in terms of, you know, the way in which we've progressed ball forward.
00:15:53
Speaker
I think... We didn't do that as much on Saturday because actually there was a bit more, you know, you used the word swagger, Tom. There was a bit more swagger to our play. And an Oscar actually showed a bit, well, loads more, you know, in terms of his flank. And, you know, a lot of it came down the left.
00:16:09
Speaker
But Stacey is an outlet. And then whether his final delivery you know is up to it or not, it doesn't really matter. Actually, it's the it's the fact that Stacey gets us up the pitch that we will lose. And I guess then what adjustments do you need to make for Saturday?
00:16:24
Speaker
Because the logical answer is you probably stick Kellen at right back, but then it gives you your gap at left back. I don't know who you put there short of Kenny. And I don't think we're in a position where that can happen right now, given how effectively the midfield two functioned on Saturday. So what are you doing?
00:16:44
Speaker
Well, in order to answer that question, I think we have to pick up when it comes to swagger, the player playing with the most swagger was Mr. Mattson. I mean, he was super... Sorry, Tom, what was that?
00:16:56
Speaker
that What was that did you say? I've always said... I mean, I don't know what the fuck's going on today. No, no, no. I've always said when it comes to Mattson, I've never questioned his technical ability. I've always said he looks like he's got creative ability. looks like he's really great on the ball.
00:17:13
Speaker
But all like there's absolutely no potential criticism of his performance on on Saturday. He was everywhere. saw ah and someone did a clip of every touch. Yeah, it was amazing.
00:17:25
Speaker
you know, the drag backs, the swagger, the first time passing. And also, again, this is this is this is where my main chagrin was earlier in the season with him.
00:17:36
Speaker
Playing the ball fucking forward. But is that license? Is that coaching? Yeah, I think it's coaching. I think he's basically saying, Pelo, I want you to take, you need to do a quick turn or do a quick drag back in order to play it forward, do it.
00:17:49
Speaker
You're good enough to do it. And he is clearly good enough to do it. and Quick side note on her going back to Oscar, two nutmegs at the weekend. He loves it. And that's that's the thing. So I'm on nutmeg watch. I'm on nuts watch with Oscar, which is a straight sentence. So going back to match, you know, yeah man of the match, I think there were three or four that that could have that could have had that.
00:18:08
Speaker
um And it wouldn't have been embarrassing. But I think, you know, for my money, he was... i mean that That's one of the better performances of any player this season. He he was superb. and oh he credit was too and and he because When it came to the things that I criticised him for, and like being available to receive the ball and not being too easily marked out of the game...
00:18:33
Speaker
That's fixed. that That is coaching because it is it that is a night and day thing. So so clearly, Clement has been in his ear, where he's standing, where he's starting to be the ball, how available he is. and And to your point, which is getting us back to this whole conversation about do do you do something at fullback that means we lose Kenny and Mattson together? No, because if you look at that clip, the number of balls that are from Kenny to him and from him to Kenny, again, is in such short mean period of time. They suddenly look like a two that can work together.
00:19:01
Speaker
um and The hard bit for me, though, is like it is you're putting if you're putting McConville at right back, which I guess is you know potentially the solution, although he you know he was an able deputy on Saturday, i mean, what was it, you know kind of probably 30, 35 minutes that that he was having to deputise there, you are very much putting a square peg in a round hole, whereas actually if you shifted Kenny to left back and brought Jacob Wright in,
00:19:28
Speaker
you know, at at least, you know, kind of it's almost positionally you're not fudging it too much. I guess that that would, it would only be Kenny at left back. That's someone that's playing out of position. which he's done before um at this level. And, you know, we we have had successful runs when when when he's been there. yeah and Hopefully it won't be for too long because you were saying a couple of the players are coming back into training soon and hopefully they're the full backs.
00:19:54
Speaker
Chris Eni and Mahovo. Yeah, I think they're the closest to coming back. So hopefully it might be only one game even. Well, we don't know yet. Maybe Jack will be okay.
00:20:06
Speaker
Yeah, he has risen like Lazarus before when he yeah you know had a concussion and then suddenly he was just back in the squad after no time at all. so Well, they they are currently losing 2-0 at Birmingham, which is a very respectable place to go and lose. um
Upcoming Challenges and Match Predictions
00:20:20
Speaker
and i wonder but But from my memory of um my memory of the game at the Vicarage Road earlier in the season, when they bought their... I can't remember his name.
00:20:35
Speaker
and i've I've just Googled the players. I didn't recognize it straight away. When they brought on whoever it was they brought on the left-hand side and all of a sudden we had massive problems. you know Do you want McGonville at right back against clearly Watford's best player?
00:20:48
Speaker
I mean, everything went through him. He was a handful. He was fast. He was powerful. He looked he looked terrific. And it was a step chain. We'd gone from coasting in that game to suddenly, oh, crumbs, this guy's all right. And then he banged a goal in, which we should have saved near post.
00:21:02
Speaker
I went across him anyway. But um yeah, so I don't think against their direct threat ah down the flanks, physical threat down the flanks, I don't think that's the game to have anyone out of position. And you say to Kenny, you need to be really, really positionally disciplined, a left back.
00:21:21
Speaker
And yeah, Jacob Wright has to come in and do a job because there isn't anyone else, basically. You don't want to drop Macondas because I thought he did some really nice things in the kind advanced role. um So yeah, I think that that's the sensible thing for me. to to you just If, like you say, the fact that we've not heard anything, I mean, it's it's only Monday, but you know they've had a look at him Sunday. They've had a look at him Monday.
00:21:43
Speaker
you know we're We're recording this Monday night. ah maybe he is touch and go. Do you sort of feel like if he was out, they probably would have said by now. I think it's one in the presser. You'll find out Thursday, Friday, whenever they're do in the press conferences.
00:21:56
Speaker
Because ah we were used to press conferences so regularly with Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday recently. ah ah Yeah, I think that's a press conference question. Yeah. Okay. Well, what in terms of the the fixtures coming up, Claire, what is the kind of next, say we've got a bit of confidence, we've got a bit of swagger.
00:22:16
Speaker
What's the next thing that your hero, your beau is going to, you you really want him to address or turn around? Like what what, we've got some fantastic green shoots. We've got some structure.
00:22:30
Speaker
What's the next thing that you would like to to to see and feel like, yeah, nice he's he's really starting to make an impact in other areas now? I mean, all in all honesty, i think we saw it in the first half on Saturday.
00:22:44
Speaker
is is there much more he can add to that? We just attacked so well. I mean, obviously, we want to not let a goal in. That would be the next thing to stop happening.
00:22:56
Speaker
Defensive lapses. and but if if he I mean, Norwich have never really been outstanding defensively in my living memory, I don't really think. So maybe that's something we'll never actually fully get to grips with. But if he can if we can keep some clean sheets, that would be marvellous because, so you know, we haven't seen Kovacovic doing his zero.
00:23:17
Speaker
what i was thinking that on Saturday. season, was it? I was thinking that Saturday. We have nil-nil draw or something. The irony of a goalkeeper making such a big deal of the fact that he has game of motivation and then us's not us seeing it once by December. All right. that's That's Big Phil's next thing I want to see is that he's managed to to get us not let it go. Yeah. Well, we're going to win at Watford and Josh is scoring a hat-trick. I've already said it. so Yeah, no, that's accurate. Josh was so unlucky punt on Saturday. That's not offside. That was a goal.
00:23:46
Speaker
It's an unbelievable call. Like how... I don't get it. a lot I just don't get how a linesman in a kind of or an official at at this level can get a decision
Controversies and Managerial Independence
00:23:56
Speaker
that wrong. and it Because it just anyone sat anywhere in the ground at any angle...
00:24:03
Speaker
would have just gone more naturally, how he shaped his run, how he timed his run. it just didn't look offside. Well, um like to to to that point, I'm at the other end of that. That was Riverend. We're attacking Riverend second half. I'm the ah other end of the pitch. I thought it was a free kick, as in I thought there was an off the ball elbow. No, genuinely, it didn't cross my mind that offside was like one of the options my brain should consider as to what the foul was. I thought it must be a foul.
00:24:30
Speaker
I thought it might have been like Oscar playing it forward and somehow Sarge had gone too early. That was the only conceivable thing in my mind. And then when they placed the free kick, was like, hang on, there's no way. I saw that i saw the i saw the linesman's flag up and and sort of thought, oh, he's doing that weird thing where he's saying this is where the free kick is.
00:24:47
Speaker
Genuinely. but I just thought, that because, again, on I know... They just stopped it for a free kick because that's... No, no, it's like the opposite to the other. Oh, to the other two. To keep up. He only does that for an offside. They only do that for an offside. I thought it wasn't a girlfriend. I know it's three, one, not four, one. But it just, you know what it's like when you're just like, oh, hang on, there's a whistle. Okay, either going to be this, that, or the other, or whatever.
00:25:12
Speaker
it wasn't offside. Like, it just clearly wasn't. So that's that's a shame for Sarge because I think that is, that if I'd have asked myself that question, sometimes I am the only person who speaks to myself and i don't I don't mind that I understand what I'm like, and then i would I would answer that question with Sarge scoring.
00:25:29
Speaker
Like, if Phil can get Sarge scoring. yeah, yeah. But that's going to happen on Saturday. so Well, it did happen. It did happen. name phil did have Sarge scoring. It did happen and it will happen next Saturday because he loves playing at Watford, so. Do you think, I mean, he talked about it a little bit and he was asked about it in the in the presser, but Chris Goran, Big Phil, sorry, and was asked about it in his presser.
00:25:50
Speaker
yeah um That's what I'm calling him now, Big Phil. Isn't it Don Philippe? i mean I've seen that a couple of times yeah i like that well I've also heard PC World so you know I love PC World that was like very cool as well wasn't it PC World made me so happy yeah um um' I'm sticking with Big Phil thank you very much um there's a chant in PC World because they've got a decent jingle as well
00:26:14
Speaker
haven't come up with it yet was going to say I thought you were going launch into it it's one of those things where you just think I hope someone cleverer and more talented comes up with that ah ah But Chris Goran, he said, he basically sees him as a striker, which is is kind of is different to what we were sold when we signed him. And it was like, he can be a wide forward. He can play in the 10. He can play as a nine.
00:26:38
Speaker
like And actually... That to me is suggestive of, you know, kind of out of anything else that I've heard, Clement is his own man and and he will not be shaken on, you know, kind of in his opinions, you know, kind of ah you this is this is a guy that if Ben Napa went tomorrow,
00:26:59
Speaker
I wouldn't be bothered like in terms of the rest of the season. A lot of people argue that, but what I mean is you know a lot of people would go, you know we all want Napa out anyway. But what I mean is if Ben Napa went and the sporting director wasn't replaced until next summer, I don't think that's an issue.
00:27:14
Speaker
I genuinely don't think it's an issue because I think Clement just strikes me as he's fully in charge of this right now. Do you think there is an outside chance that actually that is part of what the Atanasio group said to him?
00:27:27
Speaker
actually I don't even think that's an outside chance on this. Yeah, yeah we're we're not wedded to a sporting director set up. If you demonstrate... So, you know, if if it's a 70-30 waiting towards Philippe's boys, um because this is the other thing, he's worked with some fantastic players. So he might have a bit more pulling power in terms of saying, look, I'm onto something here. This yes year might just be about consolidating and staying up and next year we're going for the Prem and you're a bit fed up at Lille or wherever you've ended up and it's not quite gone to plan. Do you want to come come join in? um
00:27:58
Speaker
But yeah, I think if it's maybe 70-30 waiting towards him picking the players um and a couple of them turn out decent by April-May time, we could be saying see you later to to Napa. um And what I thought was really interesting, we didn't talk about this, I don't haven't actually seen this particular point picked up, and but forgive me if someone else has done this death already.
00:28:21
Speaker
in his I think it was his introductory press conference, he
00:28:29
Speaker
The one that he didn't do with Napa, the one that was just him, maybe his first pre-match one, and where they were asking about the process and do you know what you're taking on and stuff like that. So maybe it's his second pre-match one then, because Napa wasn't next to him. And he was asked a question along the lines of, you know, maybe it was after the Birmingham one, actually, because they were talking about, you know, did you know what you were taking on? Did you know what the size of the challenge was?
00:28:50
Speaker
And he said, well, actually, I haven't opened up too much about this, but, you know, yeah my personal situation was, you I had had an operation, blah, blah. And he covered that a bit with the Napa thing. But he expanded on it and basically said that once I'd got through my rehab and I knew I could be 100% in, my agent started reaching out and my agent started to make it clear that I was available. And we made it clear that, you know, we were open to things and I had approaches before I was ready. So, so you know, it was a case of now my timing's right and the clubs that are looking's timing's right.
00:29:19
Speaker
And I thought, I wonder if that is a kind of thinly veiled comment that actually Napa doesn't deserve that much credit for the fact that I'm here. i know because he Because he went on to say, I know Norwich. I've known Norwich for a long time. I've known this club in the Premier League.
00:29:35
Speaker
it's in ah It's a challenge that attracted me. And at no point in that kind of ah monologue around the process did he say, i was really excited by what Ben told me. Ben came and, you know, Ben convinced me. oh he did He did say it had been sold to him, though. i think i the initially came By playing it the owners. the owners.
00:29:56
Speaker
But he but yeah said he had to be convinced. He definitely said he had to be convinced. And it and it was it was Napa that reached out initially. So he must have been suitably convinced to have that conversation with the owners. But Napper, I think, scored an own goal by saying when the contact first happened that we knew he was available, we thought it was a bit of a stretch. And that to me suggests that, again, I think this is silly PR from him.
00:30:22
Speaker
that to me suggests him there being like, oh, we we've had an email that says Cremont might be like open to offers and might be willing to talk. rather than Because you don't reach out to someone you think it's a stretch. Do you know what mean? Is pinging Alex Ferguson? Do know what mean? Is he just pinging out random like everyone in the in world football that we've got? I don't know. That's what recruiters do on LinkedIn, let's be fair. Maybe it's a...
00:30:45
Speaker
I want to play devil's advocate a bit here because you know I've always been a little bit like giving one more go. Ben? Ben, yeah. Give him one more You're so kind, Claire. Well, you know, if it turns out that Philippe Clermont is a genius and we don't get relegated and we end up somewhere in mid-table and what if it turns out that all the players that he's signed are actually not duds because they certainly didn't look that way on Saturday.
00:31:15
Speaker
That's fair, yeah. Then what? I hate it when people use logic to make a point. I have always said this. mean, it's only one game. You know, we can't get carried away. One and a bit. One and bit games. We'll all be depressed again. It's one and a bit games.
00:31:34
Speaker
We've seen so much improvement in the space of... We really should have got six points this week, shouldn't we? Because, you know, Tuesday was a travesty, but... It's such a turnaround so quickly. what What if he's actually got this one right?
00:31:47
Speaker
Well, i as I messaged you both, I couldn't go to Tuesday because I didn't think that a midweek game against Oxford would be a crucial game in terms of either a new manager or in terms of us still needing a win and it potentially being our chance for the first win at
Football Fandom and Listener Interaction
00:32:05
Speaker
home. So when Radiohead tickets became available a few months ago, i said, yes, please, I'll drive if someone can get me a ticket. So I was driving friends to and the O2 and we watched Radiohead and they were terrific. And I shit you not...
00:32:18
Speaker
We were 1-0 up. Happy days, happy days. Isn't this great? This is wonderful. Enjoying the gig. Bit sad that I'm missing the first home win of the season. But oh my goodness, I'm so pleased that he's managed to turn it around.
00:32:30
Speaker
No surprises comes on. And we concede the equalizing goal. And I just thought, you cannot make this. And I thought to myself, as the say my friend Brad turned to me at the end of the song and said, it's 1-1.
00:32:44
Speaker
And he said that he got the notification on his smartwatch during the song, but he had he saw how much I was enjoying it. He didn't want to give me the bad news during the song. But I thought at that moment, I thought no one's going to believe that that is the exact moment, like 93 minutes or whatever when it happened. But that is exactly the point in the set.
00:33:02
Speaker
It's no surprise that Norwich have thrown away again. However, it's all different now. It's all positive. And I unfortunately haven't spent the time thinking of a Radiohead pun for it all being positive now. And there's not a great deal of positive Radiohead songs. yeah it's them It was, ah yeah ah yeah, hopefully, no, can't it. I can't do it on the fly. Sorry. So and we've got one more question that we wanted to get to from ah from a listening point of view. And I think this one actually doesn't come from a member of one of our families.
00:33:29
Speaker
that's always positive. Well, okay. We've got um from Master Purdy. With tiny foursome scoring at the weekend, who has been your favourite diminutive NCFC player?
00:33:43
Speaker
So should we put Wes aside? Because that's the answer. I going to say, should we all say Wes in unison? Because that would just be really easy. I do have a different answer. Yeah, no, there's a couple of others that come to mind. But let's like let's agree that the answer is Wes.
00:33:58
Speaker
And let's talk about who the second best immunity player is. Punt, off you go um I will see your Wes and I will raise your Robert Fleck. Oh, he's of an era.
00:34:11
Speaker
Yeah, he's not of my era. my era. Like, you know, late 80s when I first... Well, I started in the mid-80s, but, you know, he's... Yeah, your mid-20s, yeah. That's right, that's right. um Look, he was just an incredible player, full of personality, an absolute throwback, scored some amazing goals for Norwich, was part of a team that...
00:34:31
Speaker
you know, took us to what, fourth place finish in the Premier League. I think they might have, eat old well, it wasn't the Premier League then, the old Division one I. think we might even have had a fifth place finish in there as well. And he was the star man, you know, kind of at that point. um Yeah, I remember.
00:34:45
Speaker
If you Google, because I had to look at this and was like, I'm pretty sure Flecky was like 5'7". He was Diddy. He is Diddy, yeah. He's little bit. But if you Google it, oh, well, we've had him on the pod, you know, kind of, we can confirm he's definitely Diddy. Yeah.
00:35:01
Speaker
Google suggests that he might be somewhere between 5'10 and 6'0. So yeah don't rely on the internet, kids, is what I'm saying. There is also a Glasgow Rangers archive thing, which says he's five six So, um yeah. Claire, are you ready with yours? or you'd like me to jump i am I'm to say Darren Eadie for me. Oh, nice. Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
Little jockey. um Because he, yeah, he was sort of came into the team just when I started going to watch Norwich and then obviously was, I think, wasn't his debut in the European game? Yeah, came on as a sub, Vitesse Arnham, yeah. Yeah, he was wonderful, wasn't he? Wasn't the commentary along the lines of, we've heard that this guy's really fast and then he whizzed along the line. He went, see, he told you or something like that. yeah um the Yeah, that's a really good shout. And again, a really nice fella, which doesn't always happen with knowledge of some of our diminutive players of the past. But moving swiftly on, someone who wasn't necessarily... No, go on. He's got a good shout and everything. Go on.
00:36:06
Speaker
as As Josephine likes to point out, this is not a licensed establishment, even though I treat it as if it is. the So, lock-ins every night. When we've finished recording, then you can tell us.
00:36:16
Speaker
Yeah, Punt knows exactly what I'm going to So really liked Craig Bellamy. There was a time when we were following football on CFAX and Teletext with Norwich were away from home and ah whoever was closer to the telly would run out. to say this is me and me and my old dad.
00:36:39
Speaker
Whoever was closer to the telly where we'd have kind of the rolling um and yeah football scores on, and it would just come up with it with whatever it was, and it would either be me or him would run to the other one and say, we scored, and the other one would say, Bellamy, yeah.
00:36:56
Speaker
Because there was there was a time when he was just inevitable. I mean, he was just... like you know One particular season, and it was just... he's i mean Again, I'm ahm too lazy to look it up.
00:37:07
Speaker
Feel free to do it at home, and and it might be inaccurate. Punt has already proven that, the internet lies. But, I mean, he was just... You talked about Clement being you know too good for us or or on another level.
00:37:18
Speaker
He was just unreal. I mean, he was unplayable at the level we had him at. It was just such a shame he went to Coventry. You were like, hang i actually cried when we sold him. i was You've cried at quite a few times. No, no, I haven't. I was a grown woman. I was actually in a pub in Hammersmith. We went out after work and i found out just before going into the pub and I stood outside the pub and weeped before I went in to face all my... non-Norwich supporting friends who were very puzzled but it was those days wasn't it welsh man ago was like 21 years old and i cried but it but it was those days where you did turn on cfax and you're like shit darren edie's gone to leicester for five million quid you know whatever it was and you know 352 was the table oh
00:38:01
Speaker
Look out. It was. It's ingrained. It's in there. No, I wasn't. I wasn't. No, I'd just go 302 and then go from there. 302. no, 352 took you straight to the table. and I think that might have depended on which league we were in. the muster day i might That might have only been Premier League. um Yeah. ah I don't think we've got any Gen Z listeners, but they've certainly turned off now. Well, having said that, that aren't, sorry, I should have put the caveat that aren't in Punt's family. um So let's do some guarantees. She's not listening to this, like, by the way. She's just seen it on Instagram. Yeah, give dad some stupid questions. Well, I think you're the better daughter. So you should have listened. i don't actually think that. Let's go forward to Sati.
00:38:42
Speaker
ah Claire, I want some guarantees for Big Phil's maiden voyage into London for an away game. Well, I've already said it. Josh is going to score a hat trick.
00:38:55
Speaker
And also that the next thing we want to see is that we don't concede. So I'm going out there with a 3-0 victory.
00:39:06
Speaker
Glorious. Josh is going to do left foot, right foot, header. Perfect hat trick. Jesus. And we're just going to be beside ourselves.
00:39:16
Speaker
We are. yeah We're going to be giddy. We'll be within a point of safety. Yeah. Yeah. Marvellous. Claire's jumped right off the big diving board at St. Augustine's and she's right in there with big Phil. Oh, no, no, no, no. absolutely hated that diving board. Nope.
00:39:34
Speaker
I only jumped off once. Oh, you've given me PTSD now. Oh. No. that That was scary. Yeah. Can we have some more 80s and early 90s cultural references, please? Just to really stand an orange podcast. We're of an age. like that that That's what's going to happen. Do you know what that is, Tom?
00:39:50
Speaker
He knows what that is. He'll pretend he doesn't really know. He knows what it is. know what it is, but didn't ever go. Okay, well, you're lucky. That's the only time I got my mum to write a note to get me out of any, like, PE's is when were at St Augustine's. I absolutely hated that place. That was something that never happened to me. i never I don't ever remember a note getting me out of anything.
00:40:11
Speaker
No, i know that was the only one. Yeah, that's how much I hated it. I did my first 100 metres front crawl in St Augustine's. Oh, in the swimming pool? oh thought you meant running. i was like No, no, that would be weird, wouldn't it, eh? Yeah. Well, that's what the footballers do these days, isn't it? In rehab, they're sort running on the spot in in a swimming pool. Yeah, well, we've spent six million quid on a swimming pool at Colney. We've got to use it, haven't we? Well, you can tell. Clearly, it's making a difference now. yeah maybe Maybe Phil found the on-switch shot. Maybe that's why they all want to be injured all the time, because they love the rehab swimming pool.
00:40:42
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, well, Jove being poorly on the walk down to to the ground and finding that, I just think, oh, come on. like Are you joking? and So, again, very sensible to send him straight at home. I'll give the credit to that straight to Big Phil. um And then it was a replacement. Fawson came in and was wonderful.
00:41:02
Speaker
that Really, really terrific. Guarantees for Saturday, please. Punt. Come on, bring us down to earth. No, don't. Lose 2-1. Lose 2-1. Seven players red-guarded. I'm going to say, i'm goingnna I'm going to agree with Claire on one point, and I think we are going to get our first clean sheet the season.
00:41:21
Speaker
yeah i I also feel we may fail to score. it'll be a nil-nil on my Saturday. however However, we're then going to go and stick it up, Chris Wilder, on Tuesday, and we're going to beat them.
00:41:35
Speaker
And, um yeah, we're going to beat Sheffield United 3-1 at their place.
00:41:42
Speaker
and It wouldn't be our first clean sheet because we got one against Blackburn. Oh, yeah. Okay. yeah First clean sheet for a while. Well, yeah, I mean, that was the 30th of August. I was thinking, I'm sure I've seen his little three thing before, at least once in a Norwich shirt, and I was scrolling up through the fixtures, scrolling, scrolling. Oh, there's one. and Yeah, okay. And four points would be a great return from those two games. I think we're going to win four and then on Saturday.
00:42:12
Speaker
I'm with Claire that the Sarge dam will burst. I think he'll only score two, though. um And I think that Wright will score a free kick, a direct free kick. um And then we'll get a like bans um a a Bantz like 93rd minute goal from someone really random like a Kellen Fisher or something. like so you know But I'm with you.
00:42:39
Speaker
i've right up for beating Wilder. He's one of my least favourite managers of all time. um Up there with ah Thomas Franca, Klopp.
00:42:51
Speaker
um ah Who's the bellend I really don't like? warner We can leave at this point, Tom. This is just not this is just Tom ranting for the remainder of the podcast. Stop ranting. These are these the managers I don't like. Yeah.
00:43:03
Speaker
But he's right up there. If we were going to get ben to do an artwork for this pod, it would just be like you mocked up as Grandpa Simpson shouting at a cloud of Thomas Franco and Jurgen Klopp.
00:43:15
Speaker
That would be amazing. Yeah. So that's fine. Cool. Well, there go. There's your guarantees. Maybe I've asked him already. ah There's your guarantees. I didn't do Sheffield United.
00:43:29
Speaker
Nil-nil. Nil-nil.
00:43:32
Speaker
But still another key sheet. Yeah, take it. Take a point. I take eight points in four. I'd take basically everything Manning managed in in four games. That would be amazing. Two points a game average. There you go. That's promotion form. Yeah. Well, i let's Go on, then. One more thing.
00:43:49
Speaker
It's so early and we could really regret this. So let's go for it because it doesn't matter. What... What do you think the ceiling is now under Clement? If we get our injury luck slightly better, so we average only three to four players out for the remainder of the
Clement's Future Impact and Strategic Directions
00:44:05
Speaker
season and none of them is Sargent, what do you reckon, Claire, Big Phil, beautiful Big Phil can get? How high in mid-table can we go?
00:44:15
Speaker
Or could we be in the single figures? Could we get to nine? Oh my goodness. I mean, that's pushing it, isn't it? don't know. You love him. We're four points. your boyfriend.
00:44:27
Speaker
We're four points behind still, aren't we, from safety? um Luring him into a full sense of security. Do you think that once we get on a roll, we're well capable of climbing up above a lot of those teams? Because i I'm convinced but we're so much better than so many of those teams. I'd i'd be happy with 12th. I mean, i I'd be happy just not to be relegated at this point, but I really don't think that that's going to happen now. So i would be happy with 12th, but, oh, my God, what if we actually pushed in? No, no, no, don't get carried away. I wanted to see if you'd go there. Don't get carried away.
00:45:07
Speaker
So 12th, can you get any improvement on that punt? do you think we can get as high as the heady heights of 12th? I mean, I just had to look. We are 12 points off 12th at the moment. Oh, easy then.
00:45:18
Speaker
um um' I'm going to say we will we will finish 16th. and And I'll take it right now. Realistic. Take it right now. Oh, yeah yeah. I'd be very happy with 16th. And I think you could sufficient you should say to Clement, right, you know, Atanasio's Norfolk Holdings could come in and go, right, let's just chuck the kitchen sink at it now because, you know, you've you've proved yourself, right, here's a war chest.
00:45:45
Speaker
They were going to do that anyway. well i don't I don't think that there is a middle ground because of what your what because of your point, Claire, around once we get on a roll.
00:45:57
Speaker
I think that just seeing championship seasons and the way they play out, I don't think 16th is an option in that I think we either go down because actually this has been a false dawn and and and the squad is too poor. and and and you know that That is obviously an option. That is possible. It's feasible.
00:46:17
Speaker
Or if he genuinely, if what we are seeing is not luck and not happenstance and and genuinely he's able to have that kind of impact and we've got all of these players to come back.
00:46:28
Speaker
I can't see, therefore, if that is true, i can't see how he only gets us up to 16th because with with more than half the season to go, in a batshit league that is always chronically different from the end of the season to where it is at Christmas, apart from like the top four or five, usually you can pretty much... And then bottom three or four, which hopefully we're not in by Christmas, you can pretty much yeah muddle the muddle the middle 12 Isn't there only like five points between and 17th or something ridiculous? Well, last season, it was something... Weren't we the first team last season that couldn't go up or down? You know, wasn't there something ridiculous like three games to go and every team would still do one or the other or whatever? So, and no I think that if what we're seeing is true and he genuinely has got got that that Midas touch, if he is the master craftsman, as you pointed out earlier...
00:47:23
Speaker
six I can't see how he ends in 16th because at this rate, we're going to if he manages to maintain a bounce... So I think what you guys are suggesting is that we'll either spectacularly fail. Well, this is Tom, what you're saying, in is but spectacularly fail.
00:47:39
Speaker
or suddenly but you know kick in with promotion form. and And I just don't think that from the low ebb that we were, that it's realistic to go, right, we can go at two points a game for the remainder of the season or 1.8 points or 1.7 points. I don't think we'll go up. I'm just saying I think we'll get... So 16th place last season points.
00:47:59
Speaker
and it was pompey by the way um yeah 41 points extra, that would be for Norwich, which is 1.4, 1.5 points game. for one point five points a game that feels about right if he gets us going.
00:48:14
Speaker
Again, logic just spoils it, doesn't it? Sorry, mate. We've had one win and we're just so carried away. Cut my bits out. You go nuts. We've got Zach Gransky and Nigel Farage here. Just do your populism and go for it. You can fuck off. All the other teams are going to lose every game. No, that's fine. Yeah, that's fine. In fact, therefore, that's fine. that's fine I overreacted there you call it that right so it's been an absolute pleasure as always Claire this time to talk about win punt I acknowledge you exist thank you and I think your daughters do the best questions everyone else isn't it a lovely feeling and we get to enjoy it because there's no midweek game right up until Saturday lunchtime so let's hope that this is the start of something very very special and not flash in the pan mind how you go