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"It Is All Nonsense" ACN Pod 92
49 Plays2 years ago
Zoe & Colo join the boys to talk about the amazing feeling of a win, recounting the atmosphere, idolising Idah, loving it off the bottom and preview the impending Watford game
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Transcript
Introduction and Game Preview
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the Long Come Knowledge Podcast, an everlasting invasion of the years as we evangelise about the evocative events against Everton this weekend. We're joined by Zoe and Collo to look ahead to a huge game against Watford. Firstly, Zoe, what an atmosphere, what a game. You took it all in with your own two eyes, didn't you?
00:00:42
Speaker
Absolutely. I was there and absolutely pleased to have been there for once this season. I think it was just a really nice reminder of football and how it can make you feel when things are going really well. It's just a real pleasure from start to finish. And I just, the atmosphere, as you say, was really, really
00:01:04
Speaker
really impressive. I thought the players set the tone, went out there first 10 minutes said, right, we're going for this. We're taking you all with us. And the fans responded and it was the best atmosphere I think all season. And yeah, just a really, really good 90 minutes of my life that I'm pleased that I spent at Carrow Road.
00:01:23
Speaker
Awesome. I watched, I watched match of the day yesterday. I got round to watching their kind of coverage of it. And it's interesting. You mentioned the best atmosphere all season. I think it was Connor McNamara on comms saying a car road hasn't sounded like this since the championship.
00:01:38
Speaker
And the the ear splitting kind of noise of the second goal, which I always think goals that the counter attack goals are cheered the loudest and I goals that goals that are on the break and where it's all of a sudden there's three bearing down on three and
00:01:55
Speaker
and you know because it was Brandon Williams, Pookie and Ida wasn't it running through, when those chances and you'd be going oh go on, oh go on, oh go on, when those chances result in goals the end the end cheer is huge.
COVID-19 and Online Viewing Experience
00:02:07
Speaker
What about you Collo and I understand you obviously couldn't actually make it. No my wife and I both had Covid the last 10 days so we've been in isolation station but
00:02:20
Speaker
Yeah, out now, but didn't really help when I was having to find a way of watching the Everton game online rather than being in the stadium. Yeah, something I think, and last season, we all had to kind of deal with making our piece. And I think relatively quickly, because of because of Project Restart beforehand, we got used as football fans to, oh, well, you know, we're going to miss bits like this is what it is kind of thing. And
00:02:45
Speaker
and we all got into a rhythm, whereas now, as you say, it's a case of trying to find ways of watching it. Punt, you had a nice way of watching it on Saturday, didn't you? I did, yeah, I was saying to Zoe before you pressed the record button, I was corporately entertained on Saturday, and it was a lovely game to be able to have that privilege, but I think probably it's something I only want to do once a season, because it's nice as a one-off, but actually,
Corporate Hospitality at the Match
00:03:12
Speaker
the atmosphere that you could hear in the park the atmosphere that you could hear building all around the stadium you know this is all four sides that that we're really getting into it you kind of really want to be a part of it i lost myself with the second goal. I'm gonna have to look around when oh shit you know i'm i'm with you know like the posh people are probably shouldn't be celebrating as vigorously as as i was but you know it was one of those goals where you say you know it's a breakaway you could see it all emerging as soon as.
00:03:40
Speaker
Williams played that ball and what a through ball it was through the eye of a needle. It was wonderful and then you kind of think Eda's taken too heavy a touch but he gets there and just kind of scrambles over the line. It was a perfectly messy goal which was always going to cause an eruption in the stands just because of the way in which it transpired but yeah it was great.
Player Performance Highlights
00:04:03
Speaker
Well, it was a Jerome post as well there, because Williams not only played that great perfect three ball to Ida, but also he intercepted the pass in his own half, bombed forward 60 yards at pace, and then had the composure to pick the pass at the end of it. So, Williams has been quality the last couple of games.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's a Max Aarons style, Max Aarons versus Sheffield Wednesday style run and ball in and a Cameron Jerome versus the scum style and toe poke. Exactly like that one. Yes, it was tremendous. So, okay. So,
00:04:37
Speaker
Let's talk about media and we just bought his goal again going back to the match today comes and then the analysis after they isolated several beautiful bits of hold up play from him and okay they did they did so say why is he being given so much space that's not a very good tackle but i think actually that's doing it down it was it was the complete number nine performance for me.
00:04:58
Speaker
It's been a revelation, the last two games really. He's suddenly transformed into this complete player that I think certainly not many of us have seen of him before.
00:05:15
Speaker
it's been much documented that he's really not had very much opportunity to start games, to have runs in the side and you know that's difficult for anyone, especially somebody still sort of trying to I guess become the player that they you know that they will be a young player like that.
00:05:34
Speaker
But when I have seen him start games, I've often seen him look like he was struggling physically, look a bit lost. And, you know, maybe that's because he was playing as lone striker role, the pookie replacement role rather than playing alongside another striker. But it's just it's just been magnificent the last couple of games. And on Saturday, he, you know, he really showed us that player that he can be and what an important role he can he can play in the
Tactical Analysis and Team Dynamics
00:06:02
Speaker
team. And it's very, very exciting.
00:06:04
Speaker
Um, I was, I was recalling, um, the clubs, I think the first, one of the first videos that they put out of the Dean Smith era, they put out like, um, the first training session, I think that they took with the players. Um, and I remember, um, noticing that, um, there's just this one bit where they're, you know, the, the strikers are all shoot, you know, shooting at goal, taking shots. Um, Ida takes one.
00:06:29
Speaker
scores. And you hear, I think off camera, I think you hear Craig Shakespeare saying to him, you don't miss many, do you? And it's this sort of very understated, I've noticed you, like, you know, you're on my radar. And it does seem like Smith and Shakespeare have maybe taken either under their wing and thought, well, there's a player in here, you know, let's bring it out, because it might be the difference between us going down or staying up. Well, we need an heir to Pookie, a Pookie heir.
00:06:59
Speaker
And I think he certainly would fit the bill in that he, if he can play as part of a two, and we seem to have stumbled a bit on a formation of being a bit harder to break down and yeah, Everton gave the ball away a phenomenal amount of times.
00:07:16
Speaker
And that was useful. However, a lot of it was due to the fact that there wasn't the easy pass on, especially in parts of the West Ham game, definitely in parts of the Villa game. Goodness me. We were so lacklustre in our press and so lacklustre in our, not even the press, just halfway into our own half, just our organisation in terms of cutting off
00:07:40
Speaker
obvious easy balls, obvious avenues to progress up the pitch, that seems to be missing. And that kind of meant that a team low on confidence and low on form went kind of overplaying and went looking for balls, like a couple of those cross field balls that they tried to hit that, you know, when there was, there was no one there, it wasn't on, but that was because we had done our job with those two banks of four of shuffling over and snuffing out, being able to develop down the wings and having to kind of go across. What do you think, pardon, from, from a tactical point of view, it, it seemed,
00:08:11
Speaker
It seems such a big step on. How much do we, how much do you think we need to take it with a spoonful of Everton sugar that actually, you know, maybe, maybe we would just up against a team who were not playing for Rafa anymore?
00:08:25
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not sure that it's they're not playing for Rafa. I was really, really surprised that Rafa went 4-4-2 and that he played two strikers, one of which is just someone to hit in Rondon. And Calvert-Lumen, he was returning from injury struggles. They both seem like similar types of striker, although Calvert-Lumen has got a bit more about him.
00:08:49
Speaker
And it's never struck me that the way in which to kind of pick Norwich apart would be to play long balls to two big men because inevitably we were going to play Hanley and we were going to play Ben Gibson. So, you know, aerially, Norwich didn't struggle much, did they?
00:09:07
Speaker
that also left Lungi and Pierre Lays-Malou with kind of less to do in midfield because there was fewer bodies. Usually you'd find if you're coming up against Premier League opposition that they'd be playing a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 and there would be three around them. But actually those two worked incredibly effectively. I think that was probably Pierre Lays-Malou's best performance in a Norwich City shirt. I think so. It was Lungi's best
00:09:35
Speaker
midfield performance maybe in an Irish city share although we haven't seen loads of them in midfield and it was it was the midfield what won it wasn't it because possibly because Rafa took a tactical misstep and went 4-4-2 so as much as
00:09:51
Speaker
We were great and look, I'm not taking anything away from the performance because we were terrific as Zobi had kind of quite eloquently kind of extolled the virtues of the crowd getting into it and everyone kind of rose as the game went on. I think there is an element of right, it was Everton, they're in dire straits. I think it was one win in 13 or something ridiculous. We need to take that with a tiny pinch of salt and let's see what happens against Watford.
00:10:21
Speaker
But the one thing that I really took from it and I hadn't seen Nourish City do for months, certainly, you know, kind of since back in the championship was we managed to manage the game really, really well. So at 2-1, when you're just thinking, I don't fancy this, we've got half an hour to go, Everton are going to score. And let's face it, most of us were thinking the worst. Most of us were thinking, you know, Everton are going to create two or three really presentable chances and probably grab an equaliser.
00:10:49
Speaker
But the players didn't believe that the players manage things really well there's you know top top notch shit house really was in play and you know we we managed to just kill everton attacks with relative ease actually at times they didn't really like love on us apart from the goal and maybe like one or two block shots.
00:11:09
Speaker
So the way in which we defended our box as well was really, really, really positive. So there's lots to take that I think is great and that we need to kind of move into the Watford game with, but it will be very interesting against a Watford side who I would guess will probably load the midfield, especially looking at our last two performances and the fact that we've played 4-4-2. And I fucking hate playing Watford. I really, really dislike it. I know we'll get into it in a bit, but I am slightly fearful.
00:11:37
Speaker
Well, the thing with them is I want to make sure that we put to bed.
00:11:44
Speaker
how poor the home performance was against them. So with regards to the Watford game, the fact that we've played recently and done well I think helps us from a momentum point of view. I think psychologically being off the bottom of the table by two, not even just by one place, is huge even if there are two or three games in hand here or there.
00:12:08
Speaker
I would always rather have the point even more so in a relegation scrap than in a promotion scrap. I would rather have the points on the board because you start to look at what Burnley's March and April might be like. If they were to get another kind of couple of COVID cases or if they were to get an injury or what have you, or just have two or three players coming back from injury in the month where they've got to play the six games,
00:12:35
Speaker
all of a sudden they could be, you know, weakened in some really key match-ups. So I think, you know, it'd be interesting to see what they do for the remainder of the window. But, yeah, like I say, especially in a season like this, I'd rather have the kind of points even if it's slightly fewer than have those potential games.
Team Selection and Injuries Discussion
00:12:53
Speaker
So let's look at Watford. Zoe, would you pick exactly the same team? Bearing in mind, we know that Max was back training. Have we had a confirmation on exactly how bad Tim is yet?
00:13:06
Speaker
Has anyone seen that? Yeah, I think there was some talk that he was off to London to see a specialist in a sling, which is never really good, is it? So he's not playing, is he? So besides from, we've got Angus Angus in goal, same 11.
00:13:25
Speaker
I mean the question is would you definitely play Angus? He got a choice of two keepers, I'm not sure. Gun did huge amounts when he had to come in to justify that place as
Managerial Styles Debate
00:13:39
Speaker
automatic backup. I mean I'm playing devil's advocate there probably because I think he should be in goal but I don't think it's a you know a definitive answer necessarily.
00:13:49
Speaker
But yeah, I think we should try and keep that kind of consistency where we can. Not much choice in central midfield still, so that kind of picks itself. That front four, absolutely excellent on Saturday.
00:14:08
Speaker
And I think one thing about Smith's time at the club so far is that when he's had the chance, that back five has been very settled. We know which back five he would pick if he's got everyone available. And I think that that has helped us in the games where we have played well under him. And I think
00:14:31
Speaker
trying to understand what your best team is, is always a good thing. If we get more players available, then that obviously makes things more competitive, but I don't think there's any embarrassment and any harm in knowing which team is going to perform best for us. It doesn't necessarily matter if the big names aren't part of that either. If a team's doing well, then they should be encouraged to keep on playing and keep on playing well.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah, happy to see that same team and fingers crossed Kroll's not too badly injured. Well, yeah, hopefully it's a case of it's going to be a month. Be amazed if it's any less than that, if it's sling worthy. You brought up Dean Smith and sometimes recent managers in fact have ended up discovering the best person for a certain position. Look at Max Aaron's being thrown in before he was due to being thrown in and not looking back since.
00:15:27
Speaker
So you can chance upon a really good formation forward slash group of players that you haven't combined before or hadn't planned to combine and then then they work well. But yeah, on Dean Smith, I thought it was strange. He seems, he doesn't seem to be making a massive effort to build a bond with the fans. I wanted to ask your opinion on this, Collie, because you're always good on, I mean, you obviously were a Farka lover, as everyone was.
00:15:52
Speaker
how are you on kind of Project Smith at the moment? He just seems to be, even like the way he does his, you know, congratulate all the players on both sides, shake the other player's hands, don't move from the dugout, fall, collapse to the stands and then off down the tunnel. He doesn't seem to be
00:16:07
Speaker
going out of his way at all to endear himself to the fans. Do you think, where were you at on your love for Smith currently? It's a tough one because, yes, I was a massive, massive fan of Daniel, but I was also mindful of the fact that two points from your first 10 games is not going to get it done.
00:16:29
Speaker
And I was surprised that we appointed Smith. I had to say I think, you know, certainly as a character, he seems, I don't know, yeah, a bit vanilla, maybe compared to Daniel. Daniel was always good for a soundbite and talking about cheesecake and, you know,
00:16:47
Speaker
There was something cuddly about Daniel, wasn't there? That, you know, with Dean you just don't seem to get but ultimately it's still very early days. I have to admit I was feeling pretty fatalistic about the season before Saturday and I was
00:17:04
Speaker
you know not kind of miserable about it but just pragmatic in that you know we're a self-funding club we can't compete with everyone else on a financial level we're not playing well enough to give me any hope that we'll be better than three other teams after 38 games but you know there's been more pragmatism about the way we play a little bit more directness and you know me
00:17:29
Speaker
personally I kind of I loved our desire to play out from the back and the Farka but ultimately it got us burned so much and we need to be a bit more streetwise. I think I wouldn't read too much into Saturday because I think Rafa played right into our hands. I've never been a fan of Benitez but that's one for another day and I was delighted to see us turn them over and delighted to see him get the sack
00:17:54
Speaker
I know he's not a big fan of my work either, but I think Watford away, a team that usually has the kind of Indian sign-overs, particularly in the midfield battle, that's going to be a real litmus test of where we're at. If we can come away with something from that, then there's no reason why we shouldn't start to... We've got some more winnable games coming up. Ultimately, nothing's going to do
00:18:21
Speaker
something good for managers, a manager's popularity among the fans than winning games and getting points on the board. Yeah, I think you're right. That's obviously, you know, you win enough games, you become a canary legend. It's interesting that I think that that is a, you talked about him being vanilla. I think it's less important to Smith, clearly.
00:18:49
Speaker
that the fans would describe him as a flavor. Farka made it clear from day one in an almost iron the special one way, his way of managing the press, having almost verbatim copy and paste interviews to each different channel,
00:19:09
Speaker
and having to cook you know concocted those words so quickly and you know he was all about image and all about you know making sure there was that bond with the fans and you know that is part of where he's cultural where he's from and that is more the done thing and i don't know i just think that when we go through and a tricky patch again.
00:19:29
Speaker
Don't mean to be too doom and gloom that there might be at least one more tricky patch between now and and you know when we clearly stay up on the last day of the season and I I just think that if you have made a slightly more of a PR push Slightly more of an effort with the fans maybe you then get bought a bit more time in the same way that Farko I think got more time and
00:19:50
Speaker
then he otherwise would have done i mean yes i think he's bought a couple of times which helps i'm so to jon on what food you're going to be team you know the thing that your nightmares are made of. How what do you think you really think our chances are with the squad as we understand it now are you basically the same as we had before and without city. What do you think our chances are you worried that we're gonna get what number three three one three now.
Key Matches and Performance Concerns
00:20:18
Speaker
I'm not necessarily worried about any kind of significant massive score line against us. What I am worried about is that I can't remember the last time we beat Watford. I've been to Vicarage Road a few times. I've only got one nice memory of going to Vicarage Road and that was the
00:20:37
Speaker
the promotion party in 2000 when I think it was Mackenzie and Damien Francis scored. The only other positive thing that I can remember about going to Fickridge Road was Adrian Forbes scoring and we lost 4-1 but he opened the scoring and that's it. But they are the only decent memories I have of Norwich visiting that stadium.
00:20:55
Speaker
And it shouldn't be an issue. This is, you know, a fresh manager, a fresh set of eyes, a fresh squad that probably, well, I guess a few of them are scarred from Watford. But at the same time, you know, the psyche going into it shouldn't, you know, there shouldn't be a major issue.
00:21:20
Speaker
I think it's one of those games that we can't lose rather than it being a must win. I think if we lose that the
00:21:28
Speaker
the gap then becomes psychologically an issue again and you know we're a couple of results away from from pushing ourselves out of it and it's still remarkable to me that we're only a point or two away from you know kind of fourth bottom having lost what five or six on the spin but the fact that we are and the fact that we are now one win away from being you know kind of fourth bottom on Friday night
00:21:50
Speaker
is ridiculous, so let's capitalise on it. I'm not positive about it at all. I would take a draw here and now, but Norwich, go and prove me wrong, please. I'd also take a draw. Well, I mean, it's one of those, isn't it, where a draw is excellent for us and nightmarish for them. So, you know, you do a lot of damage to, you know, this is one of the must-win games in their running.
00:22:13
Speaker
You cannot drop points at home to a team you're trying to pull away from. And so we keep them in the thick of it by going there and drawing. I think we've got to find like six or seven more games that we need to win. And this is one of those maybe on a list of like nine or 10 that we can win. So there is still margin for error, but I just don't think we can lose it.
00:22:35
Speaker
No, I think the issue of losing it is the momentum and belief that we thought we had after the Man United performance, if not the result, and then evaporated. And what we can't have is we can't have the archetypal... I don't know where that performance has come from. They were so good against Everton. They've been really good for me in the week. I just didn't see that lack of days performance coming. We can't have that.
00:22:59
Speaker
Part of me worries slightly that we used up a lot of our luck on Saturday. I mean, Eda could have had another one because he was basically, he got two brilliant through balls, one from us and one from them, and he didn't finish the one from them because of Godfrey being brilliant.
00:23:16
Speaker
And I mean, Godfrey didn't look fed up. He really did. I mean, that is not how he would have wanted his return to Carrow to come. Not necessarily, obviously he would have wanted to have won. But I think the manner in which that team is playing, someone like Godfrey who is so professional and holds himself to such a high standard and the effort levels and the meticulousness in which he plays the game is so high. But I think he in particular is the sort of personality that would be so irked by
00:23:45
Speaker
a return to a former club in such a shower of shit as a team. So I hope we see him again, maybe in a in a shirt of a better club higher up the league, you know, coming back to Cairo. Okay, so let's do some predictions. Zoe, I would like you to tell me who is going to be the Norwich City goal scorers and what the score is going to be.
00:24:05
Speaker
Well, I'm glad you said who's going to be the goal scorers, because I think my my addition to this conversation would probably have been that I'll take a draw, but it would be really good to have a score draw, I think, because, you know, this whole question of whether we whether we score goal, we can score goals with any regularity or not, it would be really nice to score into consecutive games, which sounds ridiculous to be saying.
00:24:30
Speaker
It'd be nice to score in two consecutive halves of football. I mean, we wouldn't do that if we scored in the first half against Watford. So let's, you know, if we could score in the first half and the second half or the second half of Watford in the first half of the next game, that would feel like such an achievement. Yeah, score three in the second half at Watford and three in the first half of the next game. That would be, that would be a bonus. But yeah, I'd love to, I'd love to see Rashidza score on Friday.
Player Impact on Team Success
00:24:54
Speaker
I think, you know, it's been so good to have him back and
00:24:58
Speaker
adding goals to what he brings us would be an even better situation. So I'd love to see Rasheets are on the score sheet. I'd love to see one of Lace Malou's shots going from miles out. It doesn't hit me hard enough.
00:25:16
Speaker
One of them is bound to go in at some point, isn't it? Yeah, like the sort of teddy factor. But I mean, he is such a fan of set pieces hovering on the edge of the box for them. And, you know, to be fair to him, the ratio with which, or rather the percentage of which number of balls that drop outside the box are do drop to him. He does seem to read that kind of alcohol very well.
00:25:42
Speaker
But he's kind of hits the target with regularity as well. I think that's the good thing is that he does. Yeah. And so one of those, he'll, he'll hit through enough to go, no, I don't know. He'd been a bit harsh. I think one or two of them have, but I think, you know, it will, he's, he struck some really well and they've gone straight down the goalkeeper's throat and he's not struck some so well. And they've kind of gone in the corner is only a matter of time before, you know,
00:26:04
Speaker
Yeah, one goes through someone's legs in the keepers on site and maybe that would come on Friday and you look like an absolute visionary for the first time ever. Okay, so what's your score? What's your score going to be, Collo? And who's the Norwich goalscorers? 0-0. Oh. I was thinking 0-0, but realistically, you know, it's going to be one of those six pointers where no one wants to lose it, but just because of the fact that we're missing four
00:26:33
Speaker
first choice midfielders, you know, we've got, I'm assuming that none of Rook, McLean, Norman, Gilmour will be available. But also we did look a little bit more incisive with one and a half up front and Pookie doing his thing, kind of making the runs that he usually makes and Ida being a brilliant foil for him, holding the ball up. I'm going to say one all and Pookie. OK, John.
00:27:03
Speaker
I too was going to go for one all and I kind of agree with what Carlo said about our increased potency, but I'm not sure that it's necessarily down to the two. I think actually the one thing that I haven't seen massively overstated in the aftermath of Saturday was Josh Sargent's performance because I just thought he was absolutely terrific and actually it wasn't just a workman like Hustle Bustle, I'm going to get in people's faces performance. I thought his first touch was really good. I thought that he
00:27:33
Speaker
He put himself about in an in quite an educated way, you know, kind of he was he was up against Defenders with a really decent pedigree and I just think that actually maybe we need to reset our expectations of him and Possibly he's now a right winger and he's you know never gonna be a center forward and and maybe Dean Smith has realized that in the same way actually with enough that
00:27:57
Speaker
Dean Smith might have realised that Adam Ida, who I think was being cultivated into a wide forward by Daniel Farka, is actually kind of a central striker and someone who can lead the line really well. So I think they're just starting to find a formula where, I don't know, maybe we will start to score a few more goals. Rashida should have opened his league account on Saturday, shouldn't he, when he struck the post with the final kick of the game.
00:28:21
Speaker
But yeah, I'm going to go for one all. I'm going to go for Josh Sargent will open his account, but it will be a late equalizer, which will further boy the move. I thought you were going to say, but it will be an attempted defensive clearance or he'll be trying to do something else. I would love that right off. No, but I would look, I think it'll be one of those ones where Watford might just take the lead. We equalize in the second half and it just feels almost like a win and hopefully a gut punch for Watford.
00:28:50
Speaker
Awesome. Okay. Did anyone get in touch with us to rustle our mailbag and fill it with such questions that we can spend time answering? They did. Although we might have touched on a few of these bits, but I will kick off with... Not our fault, questions should be more original.
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah, fair. I will start with Andrew Kent on the Twitters. He said, do Adam Iida's last two performances show an improvement in the coaching by Dino in Shaky versus Farka? He looks more like the striker his potential suggested a few years ago, but seems to be linking play by dropping deeper. So Tom, as a man who regularly, I would say, questions the coaching credentials of Adir Haerfarka, what do you reckon? Is this an improvement in coaching?
00:29:38
Speaker
I think we need a bigger sample size because we've seen a couple of flashes in the pan now. We've seen two and a half brilliant performances that two and a half of our
00:29:52
Speaker
Two and a half games under Smith have been better than anything. Daniel Farka has served us up since project restart. And obviously we haven't had hit the heights of the Chelsea and the Man City from the start of the previous Farka Premier League season. But you know, it definitely is fair to say that we have seen some really, really likeable stuff from this squad under these guys.
00:30:12
Speaker
I think you've got to, you know, going back to what Zoe and I were joking about earlier with back-to-back halves, let's see Eda be an absolute pain in Watford's, you know, defensive guards class on Friday night. Let's see Rashida do back-to-back fantastic winning performances. Let's see Sargent be put that work ethic to such good use, you know, two games in a row.
00:30:37
Speaker
Then I think you definitely got an argument for maybe Smith's and Shakespeare being able to be more flexible in coaching because the one thing that all of the FACA stats.
00:30:49
Speaker
And he is of course actually worthy, but he never ever was able to shake the flexibility kind of doubt. This is the way I know how to set a team up. This is how I know how to win a league. And what happens when I get found out? What happens when I don't have the players have quite that ability to do it? Can I mix it in a different way? And two of the really good performances have become in different formations with different players under this coaching team. So I would say from that point of view, Kenty,
00:31:18
Speaker
the early signs are positive that they are at least as good, but we just mentioned Ben Godfrey was developed under Farkas and Judership and what fantastic player we watched evolve before our eyes with him. So yeah, let's see it a few more times, but we could be on to something.
00:31:34
Speaker
So what do you think as some as a kind of paid up member of the Daniel Farka fan club and someone who hopefully is about to write some very lovely words about him for along come Norwich print fan Z in issue six, which will be out soon, folks. What do you think? What are the main differences, I guess, between the two coaches?
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's sort of really an interesting conversation, I guess, sort of touching on that kind of stubbornness that Falke had, that reluctance to change sometimes. I think he was often, it was often led
00:32:10
Speaker
bias emotions which each carried us quite a long way I think in positive sense but when things were going badly I think it didn't help and I think allowing Smith and Shakespeare to come in with kind of new fresh eyes that weren't clouded by you know three seasons of incredible highs and incredible lows and you know they were able to form their own judgments on our squad which
00:32:38
Speaker
I think Farka was so bogged down in that three years of these are the players that I'm going to play and this is the way that I'm going to play. You don't get that fresh start without new people coming in.
00:32:55
Speaker
you know, they've got such great pedigree coming in as coaches and the experience, you know, it is a different setup.
Dean Smith's Fresh Perspective
00:33:04
Speaker
And going back to what you were talking about, Tom, earlier about whether Smith is doing enough with the fans, you know, it's so difficult for him to come in, I think, as you know, so quickly after a manager who had
00:33:22
Speaker
got us all going and you know we had that emotional connection with Farka I think that you don't often get with managers and it's very difficult and you know we we'd come we'd sort of been separated from that and you know obviously feeling a lot of emotions around whether it was the right thing to do whether we were happy about it how much we were going to miss him
00:33:42
Speaker
And also then Smith was coming in out of what was effectively his dream job, and he'd been sacked from it. And I think, you know, we shouldn't disregard that as the fact, you know, he'd come from a very recent, I guess, breakup with his, you know, with that club and sort of forming this new relationship between the two, you know, it does take time. And I do wonder whether he's sort of playing it quite calmly and quite sort of
00:34:09
Speaker
without emotion because he wants to build something, I guess, that's real. And from us to jump from such a connection with Farka into something new and from him to go from managing his boyfriend a boyhood club.
00:34:26
Speaker
The analogy was already there, you just put a name to it. So basically what you're saying is you don't think he's ready to meet our mum yet and it doesn't mean he's not going to meet our mum, it doesn't mean he doesn't want to come round for dinner, he's not ready to come on that family holiday that we have every year. He basically just needs to play it a little bit cool and we've told him that it's not too soon and we're not a rebound
00:34:49
Speaker
But, you know, he needs his own time. So, you know, our mums need their own time as well to get used to it. And, you know, they're not they're not quite ready for it. And I think like that you've got to and he's and probably what he's decided is that he is going to try and form that relationship with us through positive results on the pitch. And that, you know, that is where to start with it all. And, you know, he's he is not Daniel Farka and we are not Aston Villa for him. And
00:35:17
Speaker
you've got to find your own way then, you've got to become something different. We can't carry on comparing him completely directly with Farka because that's unfair on him probably, I would say. And hopefully we're going to get some really great results and we're going to stay up and things are going to be really positive. But that doesn't mean that we can disregard everything positive that happened under Farka.
00:35:46
Speaker
It also doesn't mean that because things had gone bad badly, we can write Farkar off. And, you know, it's very difficult to sort of move from one to the other without constantly comparing them. But I think all that we know so far is that they're very different characters and things are going to be very different. And we're all still adjusting, probably.
00:36:07
Speaker
I think another thing that's quite important in that is that when you think about Farka you usually think of him in synonymously with Farka and Weber and the project and it was very much something that Stuart Weber initiated, picked Farka as his man, stuck with him through thick and thin for four plus years, had some brilliant times together, it was evident in the entire
00:36:32
Speaker
way the club was being run right from the first team down through the age groups at Colney that there was a distinctive playing style, a distinctive philosophy and now Stuart has made the decision to dispense with the head coach from that. Do you just want someone to come in and say this is the style we play, you've got to make them play it. You can't do that because no manager in their right mind is going to
00:36:53
Speaker
come and say okay I'll just implement your style of football and not have their own opinions about it and you know Dean's looked at where we are he's as I said before made us a bit more pragmatic made us a bit more direct made us a bit more physical which you need to be but no one wants us to become the next Burnley long ball merchant but it's you know I think he's actually made some pretty astute decisions
00:37:17
Speaker
And going back to the original question that came in, I think Ida is a really good example of that. Ida, I thought, was largely toothless when he played up front on his own for the Republic of Ireland, you know, when he started as a striker, aside from that hat-trick at Burnley in the FA Cup.
00:37:35
Speaker
and he never really looked like being a good target man as a lone striker. Farka was trying to groom him into being a wide forward, which I really don't think suited his skill set. I think they've come in, bolstered his confidence and said, look, you're a unit, you're relatively quick, you hold the ball up well, you've got good awareness, forge a partnership with Pookie, and I don't think he's yet had the chance to form a strike partnership.
00:38:02
Speaker
and I think as part of a two-man front line I think Ida could be a really really positive story for us in the second half of the season. I'd agree with a lot of that, I'd come back to Zoe's point actually about
00:38:22
Speaker
I don't think we can underplay how special a manager Daniel Farka was slash is and and how much of an indelible mark that he's kind of made in Canary folklore really because there aren't you know we were we were had four and a half years of
00:38:39
Speaker
Of really special times under daniel farka that let's face it you know we probably. For a couple of those seasons we won't play that well again for for some time and that is maybe negative i think it's just the fact that i can look back across a body of evidence either the kind of thirty eight years that i've been watching.
00:38:57
Speaker
Norititi Football Club and think actually there weren't many better times than that. There weren't many times when I felt as connected to a team or a manager and the individuals that he'd assembled. So I think you're absolutely right Zoe that Dean Smith is probably playing quite a canny game and you know hopefully we're not both on the rebound and this isn't destined for failure and actually he is just slowly slowly and
00:39:23
Speaker
and let's build it. But look, we've got another question here from Paul Buller, and I'm going to come straight to you on this one, Zoe.
Daniel Farke's New Chapter
00:39:30
Speaker
Describe your immediate emotions when you first saw those pictures of Daniel Farka with his new team in Russia. It's very exciting, isn't it, that he's gone to Russia. I don't think anybody really saw that one coming, and just imagining him and stood in the snow, very bleak,
00:39:52
Speaker
kind of background with him sort of really standing out very high definition against this sort of background. Yeah, I mean, the idea of him managing anybody else is weird. The fact that it's so far away, it's not like we are
00:40:09
Speaker
sort of bombarded with news from the Russian leagues every week. It's probably quite helpful, I would say, for not thinking about, you know, about what he's up to all the time and wondering how he's getting on. But yeah, really interesting choice from him. I think, you know, it seems like a positive choice, you know, the chance of European football, something a bit different, something a bit unexpected. And yeah, I mean, imagine
00:40:37
Speaker
the scope for how many coats he can buy when he's having to manage in Russia. I think, you know, that investment in his 700 pound coats or whatever they were is really going to pay off. I think once he's once he's pushing the poppers in on his on his hood, as he sort of cowers against the weather, I think. Yeah, it's it's it's hard to think about him going somewhere else, but I'm really glad that he's got a new job. And I hope, you know, I hope he really makes the most of it because I don't want any, you know,
00:41:07
Speaker
we spent Paul Lambert's reign at Norwich thinking that that man could do anything he wanted to. It felt like he was the real deal and then we know what happened after that and it makes you question how you felt at the time, I think, with Paul Lambert and that feeling that he was just terrific.
00:41:31
Speaker
And you don't want that to happen with Faki. You want him to have success wherever he goes because we all know how special he is and we don't want that to have only happened with us. I'm happy to share him with other people. I want him to
00:41:47
Speaker
to have that success elsewhere because he is something special and football needs people like him, people that really understand it as a game, that understand it as entertainment, that understand what really motivates fans and he should take that wherever he can and hopefully he has loads of success with it.
00:42:10
Speaker
Very well put. Thank you. I'm going to move on then to Elizabeth Coldwell, who asked, and Colin, I'll start with you.
Stand-out Players and Kit Concerns
00:42:17
Speaker
She's asked, who was your man on the match on Saturday or did you see it as a whole team performance?
00:42:24
Speaker
It's a good one, man. I'm usually kind of watching from my perch up in the river end. I get a really good view of what's happening off the ball, but, you know, having to, well, I mean, legally, I think I can say that I've found a way to accidentally hazard upon the match on the internet. And it was a bit glitchy, so I don't feel I got as good a view as I usually do. But certainly it did seem to be an excellent
00:42:53
Speaker
whole team performance, there were no identifiable weaknesses. I think you've got to give massive props to Les Mello and Sorenson for holding the center of the park when, as I said earlier, there were four first-choice midfielders unavailable. So those guys were heroic in winning that midfield battle, even though
00:43:13
Speaker
Rafa gave him the opportunity to by playing 4-4-2. I think Brandon Williams was excellent. I think Ida obviously had his most complete game. I think Ida's the obvious choice. Sarkin again had his best game for the club.
00:43:34
Speaker
I'm going to say Brandon Williams, not only for his, you know, fantastic part in the goal, both defensively and attacking, but just, you know, he really seems to have made that position his own. I know Yanoulis has had a really tough time of it. He's been,
00:43:50
Speaker
brought off at half time a couple of times and his defensive credentials have looked a little bit edgy. But Williams is really making that place his own, he's tenacious, he's surprisingly quick, he'll run forward with the ball, he seems a good communicator. I'm going to say Williams is probably not going to be
00:44:11
Speaker
common choice from Saturday, but from what I saw with the game, you know, Sergeant and Ida and Central midfield, great, but Brendan Williams. So, Tom, I mean, Collo seems to have mentioned the whole team, I reckon, but, you know, can you pick someone else?
00:44:26
Speaker
And can I know anyone else that played for Norwich on Saturday? I think Sorensen deserves a mention because he had a good game, and I mean this as a compliment, I'm prefacing this as a compliment. He had a good game almost in the same way that a really good referee has a good game in that you don't notice a really good referee. You noticed him and he made some important interceptions and kind of broke up play.
00:44:55
Speaker
He was kind of anonymous in as much as what I was saying earlier about Everton not having the opportunity to build and having to kind of really try and be creative with the way they tried to cross the ball across because he shuffled from side to side and he closed down so well. And when Everton broke, what I think was a big difference was how quickly he gets back into position compared to say a Rupp or a Gilmore.
00:45:22
Speaker
he seems to really have the defensive side of midfield down and I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the season it is Sorensen plus A another as our starting centre midfielders when everyone's fit. I really think that he needs to be given a run of
00:45:40
Speaker
of games. Bear in mind that compared to many other environment fielders, his, oh, this is properly tempting fate, but his injury record is so good. He's been available when others have fallen down in multiple positions. I would give my nod to him. Just a word to the wise, in case our friend Maddie is listening to this, you now have to pronounce Jakob's name correctly, and she did correct Michael Bailey on his podcast last night. You have to say it,
00:46:08
Speaker
No, I don't, because she's not on it. All right, you don't, but I'm just saying it's incorrect. My baby's paid to understand how to pronounce names. I'm just on tit and just giving my opinion for free. That might be the most accurate thing you've ever said, mate. There you go. When there is money changing hands, the level of effort will increase. All right. I'm sure Jacob doesn't mind Sorensen. Zoe, before I ask the final question, who was your men of the match on Saturday?
00:46:34
Speaker
I really don't disagree with the Brandon Williams argument. I think that, you know, I think he's terrific and just really displaying the kind of character that we need from our players and, you know, for a lone player from a bigger club in inverted commas coming in.
00:46:51
Speaker
you know, it would be perfectly understandable, maybe not ideal, but understandable if he wasn't completely committed to the cause. But I think, you know, Smith has praised him in the past and you can see that he's up for it and he's up for a scrap. And I think he'd be up for a scrap, you know, if he just stopped to play a game with some strangers in a park on a Saturday morning, like I think he's that kind of character. So I don't disagree with that, but I think, you know, I think Ida
00:47:21
Speaker
you know, it's maybe too obvious but it would be a bit harsh to take it away from him because he hasn't had many Man of the Match performances and I think, you know, he was the real standout so I'd give it to him.
00:47:36
Speaker
Nice. All right, last question. And Mick Saunders has asked, this is obviously a really nitpicky issue, but he's asked, why do both our change kits, the away and the third, both clash with the two teams who we had to wear them against, which is Watford, i.e. yellow slash black. We've got a black-ish away kit. And then wolves in old gold slash black. And I guess there are peach or salmon-y number, probably clashes with that. And you know, you couldn't have that.
00:48:04
Speaker
Collo, as a member of the supporters panel who feeds these kinds of issues back to the club, I'm sure with some kind of regularity, what are your thoughts on this? As a member of the supporters panel, I have to say that we are only involved in non-footballing matters. I don't know, I'm clearly trying to find a way out of answering this question, so just kind of give me a hand.
00:48:34
Speaker
I don't know, I mean no one plays in black obviously as a first kit because referees. I don't think, I think the black kit would be fine against Watford. Black with kind of, I don't know, electric blue trim is it? I really like the away kit. Watford
00:48:54
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose Watford have got quite a lot of black patterning on their shirt, haven't they? And then if we end up wearing that horrible pink thing against yellow... I think that's what we're wearing. I think that is what we're wearing. Well, that's going to be a real... I saw that, isn't it? Yellow and pink. And yeah, I was about to say that the kit's cursed, but I think you could probably say that of any kit that we've worn this season up until now, given that we've only recorded three victories, so probably not. I like the black kit. I'm... Yeah, I don't like the pink one. I'll say it. There we go.
00:49:24
Speaker
They go. Zoe, do you have any kit related thoughts or insight for us? Oh, it's all nonsense, isn't it? It's easy to get carried away with this stuff. They seem to change the kit for no apparent reason, some games. Then on Saturday, we had Chelsea and Man City both wearing blue. That was too much blue, in my opinion. Far too much blue.
00:49:50
Speaker
I know they don't you know it was perfectly easy to tell who was who but you know if we came even close to having a team that was vaguely you know even had a sort of yellow fleck at some point on their shorts or whatever we would change our kit because we you know we need any excuse so I don't know it's hard to get too bothered by it just let them play.
00:50:13
Speaker
See, I am someone who gets very positive about kits, and I can confidently say that I think that these three kits are the worst that we've ever had in my history of supporting Norwich in terms of kits. But look. Wowzers. Yeah, I'm not fans. I quite like both my kids.
00:50:29
Speaker
have the the away kit and they both like it and i don't mind that one but i can't remember a time that all three kits have been or i just haven't really been that into usually there's been one that i've picked that that i thought was was nice so um joma or homa i think we're supposed to say that's how you're supposed to pronounce that um yeah haven't got off to the the best of starts in my eyes but as zoe absolutely you know says it is all nonsense and um yeah i'm sure we'll be back to the serious business of football come friday
00:50:57
Speaker
Well, I mean, I never drew a word spoken on our podcast. It is all nonsense. And enjoy Watford. Wherever you are watching, however you are watching, whether or not you accidentally stumble across it via the Internet like Carlo doesn't. Mr. Officer or Mr. Officer. And make sure that you keep
00:51:16
Speaker
Keep your eyes peeled for another episode, winging your way soon, of Long Come Norwich asking questions that I guess I don't care about, but the pun cares about very, very much. Really appreciate your ears. Thanks for giving them to us. Enjoy the game. Mind how you go.