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"Mugabe Media Lockdown" ACN Pod 103
57 Plays2 years ago
Connor from the Pink Un joins us to try and put his finger on the solutions to the apathy surrounding the club at the moment, along with some guarantees for the Sheffield United game.
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Transcript
Introduction & Norwich City Dynamics
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to the Long Come Norwich Podcast. Come on, let's try and drum up some enthusiasm. We are joined by Connor from The Pinken, one of the journalists that the Norwich City Football Club top brass don't seem to want to talk about or talk to anymore, but we will cover that shortly.
Dean Smith's Reality Check?
00:00:43
Speaker
Should we start with listener questions, Punt? Because there was three in particular that I think sum up exactly what the main talking points of this week are. Yeah, we can start with listener questions.
00:00:54
Speaker
probably the best jumping off point I would say would be, along come Norwich's very own Nick Hayhoe, and he's posed to us on Twitter, well he said, Dean Smith is becoming increasingly delusional. He insisted on Radio Norfolk, and by which I mean, I think he means the press conference, but we would have beaten Luton if it weren't for the officials, and he's appealing Kenny's red card.
00:01:16
Speaker
Should we be worried that he might soon be gorging on Toblerone and driving to Dundee in his bare feet? I don't know what he means by that. Connor, do you think there's some kind of, I think what Nick is succinctly asking there is, is there some kind of disconnect between the reality and what Dean Smith is seeing at the moment?
Protective or Deflective? Dean Smith's Comments
00:01:36
Speaker
So from my perspective, I see a manager trying to protect a group of players, to be completely honest, is what I see. I think my concern would probably be raised more if those messages that he is communicating to us is the same as the ones that are being
00:01:52
Speaker
communicated in-house because on Tuesday night I felt Norrie City were pretty toothless and I don't think I'm alone in that and I would disagree with his use of the word control. I think they had a lot of the ball but they had it in areas that they weren't really gonna hurt Luton.
00:02:07
Speaker
So to be honest, what I see is a head coach who realizes that his players are under increasing pressure from supporters, from media about their performances, and he's trying to stick up for them and protect them a little bit. And there's also a degree of deflection in that as well, I think. So that's kind of my take on it. I don't necessarily blame him for that because I think it would kind of be worse for him to come out and batter them as well. I don't think it would be helpful to anyone necessarily.
Tactical Honesty vs. Personal Motives
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily agree with a lot of what he says at this moment in time. And actually, that may be contrast with what I used to think, which is when he came out after games. I used to think he gave a very solid assessment of how a game has gone. The last few games, I don't necessarily think that is the case. But again, I think that that's probably the circumstances that Nourisiti are in, rather than perhaps what he actually believes. And he's got this saying, which he said a lot. It's about tact, not honesty.
00:03:01
Speaker
which is, I think, probably being applied at this moment in time. Do you think part of that is also that when he was being so honest, he almost was able to be that honest because he hadn't made a single transfer and he was playing house money to a certain degree in the fact that he could be very honest about how bad things had been because he went, well, these aren't my players. I'm trying to retrospectively introduce tactics halfway through a season for a team who are shot of confidence and are expected to go down.
00:03:29
Speaker
So do you think maybe now the deflection comes in because there's a bit of personal protection there, not just protection of the players?
Management Focus: Survival or Building?
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, of course. I think that's natural. And you see at all levels, any manager, when they start to lose games, it starts to become about deflection. And actually, there was a quote that he gave earlier on in the season, which said, I can't come out and criticise these players too much because I'm going to need them again next week. And it's that point, isn't it, I think, for me, that maybe underlines that he is trying to
00:03:54
Speaker
maybe suggest that performances are better than they are to help raise confidence and try and get some players into form because at the moment Norwich have very few of those but of course I mean management football management particularly at this moment in time you only have to look at the Premier League and the managers that are losing their job the championship and the managers that are losing their job is about survival and you have to survive in my view at kind of any cost and that's kind of been his mantra at Norwich City I feel because
00:04:20
Speaker
in the kind of absence of building anything, what we've seen instead is a real emphasis onto results. And the problem is when you sort of don't get those results, you're left with where nor a city are at this moment in time with something that isn't particularly appealing and something that people can't really touch and relate to and connect with.
Red Card Appeal & Player Protection
00:04:38
Speaker
Um, so yeah, there's an element of personal protection in that i'm sure i've got to be honest on the red card I I really disagree with that and the fact they've appealed it to me is quite Mind-boggling, um, particularly when you look at the law, but who knows i'm not a referee and maybe i'm wrong Um, but yeah, I mean some of the some of the comments I I have felt you have to take them with a little bit of a pinch of salt because to me that is him
00:05:02
Speaker
trying to protect himself and also trying to protect his players and I think that's what we've seen in the last three games and he is a man who is coming under increasing pressure and there's also an element that you frost a microphone and you're under anyone's face less than half an hour after they've lost a game of football and I think you're going to get an element of
00:05:17
Speaker
of delusion is too strong a word, but certainly bias and maybe inaccuracy in how they saw the game because the emotions are still raw as well, no matter how experienced you are in dealing
Team Morale & Player Discontent
00:05:28
Speaker
with those. So I think you kind of mix all those together and you get what Dean Smith is saying publicly. And what I would hope is that what he's saying privately is actually pretty different.
00:05:38
Speaker
Speaking about what you're saying privately, I heard from two former Norwich City coaching staff alumni who happened to be at the game because of the way their team's performances or fixtures worked out. One of them called out a couple of players in particular for not necessarily seeming to be pulling up any trees and another one mentioned that the lads don't seem to be enjoying it was their words.
00:06:04
Speaker
Punt, what do you think about that? If Weber was Gray and Brady, how many letters of no confidence do you think that would have been received for Dean Smith? Do you think the Lads are actually having a nice time?
00:06:17
Speaker
No, I don't think they are and I think that comes down to for me and I'm really interested in Connor's take on this actually is that it doesn't feel like there's any tangible plan.
Criticism of Tactical Clarity & Player Positioning
00:06:29
Speaker
It almost seems to me that he's adjusting his formations based on opposition. He's adjusting personnel based on opposition and that kind of worries me and also
00:06:42
Speaker
of links to that. He's still playing players. He's still using round pegs in square holes. Josh Sargent is still out wide and ultimately he's completely ineffective there at times. When he gets into central areas, he looks absolutely potent as was displayed.
00:07:02
Speaker
with his goal when him and Dow linked up and again you know Dow's another point he's playing Dow in wide areas when Kieran Dow is clearly a number 10 he is not a right winger or a left winger who's going to track back for your or be part of you know kind of an effective midfield in that way he's a creative type who you need at the top end of the pitch so just it feels to me like Smith has
00:07:24
Speaker
significantly lost his way. And I don't know, he strikes me as a man who hasn't ever really seemed particularly energized for this job. And I don't know, it just comes down to, was he a bad fit for this football
Is Dean Smith Right for Norwich?
00:07:39
Speaker
club? Was he a good fit for this football club? And it was just the wrong time for him to join it. He shouldn't have got back into the management game as quickly as he did, or is he just a bad fit? And culturally, we need to move on.
00:07:51
Speaker
And I don't know the answer to that. I don't know. It just feels like there's no energy, there's no drive, there's no plan, and we're getting away or we were getting away with it because we have a lot of really good individual players. And that luck has run out and those individuals have dried up and suddenly results have regressed to align with performances.
00:08:18
Speaker
And I don't see how we arrest that short of having a plan, short of putting in performances. And there doesn't seem to be any sign
Winning Streak Analysis: Merits & Concerns
00:08:25
Speaker
of it now. We're in a real downward trajectory. Am I being completely negative in jumping off the deep end there? Because it's always felt like throughout this season that even when we were top of the league, second in the league, averaging two points a game, there's still a nagging doubt always throughout that period of
00:08:47
Speaker
You know, do we deserve this? Are we good enough? You know, are we, or not necessarily, are we good enough? But our performance is meriting this, you know, and it, it always felt like it was going to go one of two ways in so much as winning would either build confidence and we just set off, you know, kind of on a path which would take us back to the premier league or where we're potentially at now where, you know, three consecutive defeats and things are going the wrong way.
00:09:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, what was really interesting for me was actually during that winning run, because Nori City were getting results and not playing very well. And I was setting up a camera after games going, I'm going to have to stand there again and say, Nori City haven't played very well. And they're just 1-4 on the spin. And actually, you begin to kind of almost question yourself in those circumstances, because it's almost, am I
Identity Crisis: Expected vs. Reality
00:09:29
Speaker
missing something? Am I not seeing something?
00:09:31
Speaker
And actually, I think in the end, when you boil it down, this to me, this run hasn't been a surprise. And Dean Smith was right. And I said this in my last video. But I probably agree with him for the wrong reasons when he said, actually, they're not playing too differently now to how they were in that winning run. Well, they're not. But all that's dried up is those moments of individual quality that you reference. And when I sort of
00:09:53
Speaker
What I expected Nori City to be this season was dynamic, high pressing, didn't necessarily expect them to have loads of the ball but I expected them to be certainly a lot more engaging in terms of how they played and that hasn't really transpired. It's kind of gone back to kind of ponderous possession where we're talking about control but I would argue that on Tuesday night for example they didn't have control, Luton had control of where Nori City had the ball and that was in
00:10:19
Speaker
in areas where they couldn't harm them. So I've been quite disappointed by the lack of kind of identity and the lack of clear playing style. And I think that's needed at whatever
Beyond Dean Smith: Club & Player Dynamics
00:10:30
Speaker
club you're at. I don't think that merely winning is enough in the long term.
00:10:35
Speaker
So that's disappointed me. But equally, I think there are problems at Norris City that aren't merely Dean Smith and aren't Dean Smith's fault. I think he is having to absorb a lot. That isn't his fault. The lack of connection, for example, isn't solely on Dean Smith. There are elements to it. There's parts to me sometimes that think, just go and clap the fans. It's such an easy win. That isn't his style. And I don't think he's going to change that.
00:11:01
Speaker
But that is probably in his court. There are other areas that aren't in his court for me. But on that, that is ignorant. I mean, that is pure pig-headed ignorance. I don't think it's even ignorance, though, because he's referenced it recently on national radio. It was at the Monday nightclub. And he said, oh, it's really important that there's a bond between the club and fans and the manager and fans. And he referenced it. I had it at Villa because I was
00:11:27
Speaker
a boyhood fan, Steve Cooper's got it, and Nottingham Forest. He knows that that's really important. So I don't even think it's ignorance of the fact that it's important. It's ignorant to not try
Fan Connection & Job Security
00:11:41
Speaker
and, like you say, Connor, go and on the time, it's unthinkable that a manager could start the season with the results he's had are relevant of the product on the pitch.
00:11:54
Speaker
a manager who had us joint top and within a win of the top from you know game six through to game 12 or whatever, the idea that the players that the fans currently wouldn't be loving him is unthinkable but it purely comes to the fact that he had what five wins on the bounce you know unbeaten in nine he could have during those nine games
00:12:17
Speaker
He could have made a really big point of going, aren't I doing well? Come and spoken to the fans, come and shook hands with the fans, come and clap the fans particularly away rather than half-heartedly either standing in the Senate circle away from home or standing rigid at the dugout in the home games.
00:12:34
Speaker
And that's only one small thing, but the point is it's so, he doesn't have to do the Olay stuff that Farca did. And yes, it might be a bit weird if he did exactly the same, but the point is to go so far the other way, he has made it a thing. And if he sort of met us halfway in some way and made a few more token gestures around kind of that togetherness. So that's to me what, he's been in football for such a long
Management's Narrative Failure
00:13:01
Speaker
time. He has had promotion seasons
00:13:04
Speaker
And as John has said, he has spoken to the importance of that and you buy yourself more time. You don't just need results if you've got good, good feeling with the fans. But he genuinely seems to be making no effort to garner that. And that is the thing that just seems an ignorant choice on his part because it's going to affect his job security. I think he's lost in a bit of a position of objectivity. I think there's an element of I don't want to go and do that because I'm the head coach and I have to look at things slightly differently and I have to take a step back. And he's made a point after games of saying,
00:13:33
Speaker
along those lines in terms of his analysis and how, when the frustrations are high, he has to almost cut through that noise and look at the numbers and, you know, Norwich have had the second highest amount of shots in the league, which probably sounds more impressive than perhaps it is because all those shots could be coming from 30 yards. I don't know how it looked into it, but you know, you can have a picture and elements of it. And I think he's almost got lost in this halfway house where he doesn't really want to fully throw himself in and be this really emotional person that perhaps Daniel Farka was, but equally by not doing that,
Impact of Management Communication on Fans
00:14:01
Speaker
and not willing to engage with some of those elements, he's kind of lost or managed to involve himself in this disconnect perhaps in maybe a way that he didn't like. So there's so many easy wins that you can do as a head coach.
00:14:17
Speaker
If you have good PR, as you say, it can buy you time. And that's not necessarily good PR with people like me. It's good PR with supporters and getting them on side. And also, again, not to fully blame him because I think there's also probably been a lack of communication, a lack of clarity around what the narrative is at the moment. There's a real lack of narrative for supporters.
00:14:39
Speaker
because all it is at the moment is, well, we want to get back to the Premier League and we want to stay there. Great, but tell us how you're going to do it. I think a couple of years ago, that was the bit they were almost really good at. There's going to have to be some pain. We're going to try and implement this and we're going to get players from here and we're going to build this and this is how we're going to do it. That's that's absent now. And, you know, it was always going to be difficult, I think, for whoever stepped into the shoes because of what Daniel Farka had, both with the fans and both what he created. It's not necessarily about Daniel Farka, but
Disconnect Despite Winning
00:15:08
Speaker
that connection, that narrative is so important. And almost that refusal to engage with it, it does make life more difficult for him. And I think that is an element that perhaps, as you say, there probably does need to be some compromise from him on that as to how exactly he goes about building that connection. And sitting here, it's really difficult to see how he does that if things persist as they are, because
00:15:31
Speaker
You know, I think there's a few people inside the club who just felt that winning games would be enough to return that feeling. And actually, I think the start of this season has proven that that's not been the case. So what comes next? Something has to come next. And at this moment in time, it's difficult to say for sure what exactly that is and what exactly it looks like.
Player Improvement Under Dean Smith?
00:15:51
Speaker
What was that other question that we had, John, about the improvement of players? I think that is a really, really difficult thing for Smith to kind of get away from in terms of the fact that he's got this great coaching staff, in theory, and that was what we were sold on. It was Daniel Kelly who asked, other than Sergeant, can you name one player who is improved under Dean Smith? And I think, arguably,
00:16:15
Speaker
We don't even really know if Josh Sargent has improved as a player since Nouri City signed him because, let's be honest, none of us really looked at his form in the Bundesliga and how he was doing for Werder Bremen and all the rest of it. It's just that he was played out of position in the Premier League and maybe that was a
00:16:32
Speaker
a bridge too far for him, it was too much too soon and maybe second tier in England, you know, this was the player that we signed, you know, this kind of direct dynamic forward to, you know, there's lots of hustle and bustle about him but I don't know, has Smith improved him as a player or has Smith just played him
Coaching Style & Effectiveness
00:16:52
Speaker
through the middle? The only other person that I could argue that
00:16:55
Speaker
He's potentially improved and I didn't see this. My mate pointed out to me the other day is Liam Gibbs, you know, and he's brought him into the reckoning and has looked pretty decent. Although, you know, there's been a couple of performances of late wear, I don't know, maybe because of fitness, he's not quite at it. But I can't think of another player that has improved under his watch and what worries me more
00:17:19
Speaker
is Max Ahrens has visibly regressed. Max Ahrens is not the full back that he was. Timo Pookie, regardless of whether it's system or if it's Pookie's form, again, nowhere near the forward that he was in previous seasons.
00:17:38
Speaker
And that really, really concerns me. And it speaks potentially of players that are devoid of confidence, or it's an absence of effective coaching, or we had such an effective coach last time out. And I hate coming on this podcast every time and talking about Daniel Farka, but maybe we were.
00:17:59
Speaker
absolutely blessed to have a world-class coach we didn't know what we had and maybe dean smith is just you know kind of everyman coach and because ultimately
00:18:12
Speaker
He has a fairly decent pedigree at this level and at Premier League level, you know, in terms of what he can extract from players. So I don't know, maybe the comparison is that, you know, Farka was just able to absolutely improve players beyond, you know, kind of most coaches that are out there. Connor, what do you reckon?
00:18:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because you speak to anyone kind of in and around it about Dean Smith. And it's always that the players really enjoy his methods that particularly as man management is pretty second to none, particularly with the players that aren't involved. The fact you've got Angel Hernandez, Jordan Hugel, all quite happy despite not necessarily playing too much is a testament to maybe what he's trying to do. I know he's changed things in terms of they do a lot of training now in units.
00:18:54
Speaker
rather than as a collective, which has been greatly received or preferred. There's a bit more flexibility around training times, which never used to be the case. I just think ultimately it boils down to the fact that he is a different type of coach.
00:19:06
Speaker
Norwich have gone from an idealist to a pragmatist. And I think that's probably the case for it. You've got somebody who wanted to implement a playing style and wanted his team to look a certain way and feel
Adaptability vs. Identity
00:19:18
Speaker
a certain way. And we'd turn up to Carroll Road and kind of know what we were going to expect, whether Norwich City were playing Liverpool or whether they were playing Luton. This time, I don't think that is the case. I think Dean Smith is happy to mix and match styles. He is willing to, if a team wants to press them high, knock the ball in behind. That wasn't what Daniel Farkle was about.
00:19:36
Speaker
in absence of this identity you've kind of got a team that's a little bit more adaptable but isn't as good to watch and I think as a result it's very hard for players to flourish in a system that is constantly changing and constantly tweaking. I think you get almost or you're leaning towards a team that is effective rather than a team that improves people and improves players and that's a really interesting point and that change of coach again isn't something that necessarily or change of style of coach hasn't necessarily
00:20:04
Speaker
been communicated to her, but it almost feels more geared to a club that's trying to survive in the Premier League than one that's trying to win championship promotion. Whereas, you know, and I've made this point, I think before that what Norwich almost needs is not an ideologies at this level to win the championship in a certain way, and then perhaps a pragmatist to do the next bit in the Premier League. And actually, that balance is very difficult. So yeah, I
Playoff Potential vs. Entertainment Value
00:20:26
Speaker
mean, I completely agree. I was kind of racking my brains there for players who've improved.
00:20:30
Speaker
It's very difficult to make the case for anyone beyond Josh Sargent, I think. Again, I don't think Sargent has improved because I think Sargent still looks as lost out wide as he ever did. I mean, a lot of Aaron's regression, I think, is that he does not enjoy playing behind Josh Sargent. I mean, they don't get on on the pitch. They might be best mates off it.
00:20:48
Speaker
maybe maybe maybe not an idea haven't seen it but on the pitch they are constantly well mostly it comes from max you know max is constantly yapping at um josh for not making a run there he expects him to make not coming short when he expects him to not i i just don't i think that side of the pitch is broken for us and from that point of view max isn't confident enough to bomb on and maybe he's told not to don't know but it's um
Top-Half Success vs. Playing Style Dissatisfaction
00:21:16
Speaker
He comes down that pragmatist kind of line that makes perfect sense, but I think that Dean Smith given a squad that is, if you give Dean Smith 10 seasons in the championship with a squad that is on paper in the top 12, so in a top half squad, I think he would get in the playoffs nine seasons out of 10, irrelevant of the club, irrelevant of the players. If he has a top half squad, I think he'd do that.
00:21:44
Speaker
I don't want to watch it. Football is awful. It's so slow. It's so boring. What was the game we were tuning up in? Early in the second half, we were tuning up and coasting. This was early in our run of winning lots of games in a row.
00:22:02
Speaker
and there were kind of murmurs of discontent and sort of not quite boos but not far off it like come on city get a move on because we were passing the ball around yes we were tuning up but that is so boring why are we not going for a third goal why are we playing the ball so slowly we should be killing teams off and the idea of him being it being adaptable well not really because
Fan Attendance & Dull Football
00:22:28
Speaker
I wouldn't say it's adaptable. I just say it changes a lot. You know, he changes what we seem to be doing. And in his defense, he has had ever so many injury problems and injuries that have mounted in certain positions. And so, you know, you know, that's not it's not his fault that Hayden was so slow to fit. It's not his fault that Sarah, I presume it must be a fitness thing. I can't believe that we've seen what they've seen. Sorry. I do believe there's more to come from him when he's fully fit.
00:22:54
Speaker
That's not his fault, but the stuff like the left back problem and that central midfield problem, that's not his fault. But I can't count since watching that brand of football for 46 games. I mean, the fact that we sold, it was announced in the last hour we were recording this Friday lunchtime, that we sold over 2,600 tickets for Sheffield United.
00:23:18
Speaker
That the fans are doing their part. The fans are turning up. There aren't anywhere near as many empty seats as, you know, the football, the entertainment value itself deserves currently. I mean, because we have been playing boring football. You know, we've watched a lot.
00:23:33
Speaker
of stuff at Carrow Road and away from home. And, you know, this is up there. This is up there in how unenjoyable we are talking human. We are talking rotor in terms of I wonder whether that's on the term, though. I wonder whether that's on the term because I mean, I wasn't at Carrow Road on Tuesday night because both my children had football training and I wasn't going to be able to get there in time. So I know I was home pretty much about, I don't know, 10 minutes into the game and managed to to watch it on Canaries TV or whatever it is that it's called.
00:24:04
Speaker
And I was struck by the amount of empty seats in the stand, which are potentially season ticket holders that are choosing not to attend. I have been struck because I take both of my girls to Nourish City Games, you know, as regularly as I can. I have been struck by the fact that it's quite easy to get a casual ticket. I can tell you, as a supporter that has tried to take his children before, it's not always that easy. It hasn't been that easy in the last couple of seasons. And I do think
00:24:32
Speaker
that if there is a full season of this where it is just turgid and languid football that supporters can't really get behind that I think people will vote with their feet in the summer and it wouldn't surprise me if you know two, three thousand season ticket holders drop off because there are so many
Season Ticket Concerns
00:24:50
Speaker
people almost just ready just to go this this is nowhere near good enough this isn't what we expect as Norwich City fans and that's mad to me because what are we fifth six in the league you know within real touching distance of of the top positions you know we could probably had we won on Tuesday i think we'd have been top or joint top um you know kind of with Blackburn
00:25:12
Speaker
I just can't fathom why this is short of playing style and short of lack of connection which probably leads into the last question that we wanted to talk about which was from Stuart Wardrope who asks
00:25:28
Speaker
how does the disconnect between large sections of the fan base and the club get fixed? Is it as simple as results on the pitch or is
Disconnect Beyond Results
00:25:35
Speaker
it deeper? And I think we've answered that question already in terms of it's not as simple as results on the pitch because we all felt, I think we all felt fairly disconnected when we were winning six games on the spin or whatever it was. So I don't know, how does it get fixed? Tom, obviously you're a very mouthy supporter with lots of opinions. What do you reckon?
00:25:57
Speaker
Well, I think it's only performances and style, or what we would use the term, style. I think the question about the stats and starting to sound like he's going to drive to Dundee in October,
00:26:16
Speaker
hit the nail on the head for me because it's when you're when you've just watched nonsense and then your manager comes out and says yeah but we controlled we controlled the game all we got to do is take these chances like yeah but we only created like two or three so therefore you you're expecting peak team move to have a peak team of night and then you just about scrape by with a draw or maybe a win
00:26:39
Speaker
That is not a recipe for promotion. And not only that, it's not a recipe for enjoyable football. So we basically went on this good run on the back of teaming wall sergeant taking a chance that fell to us. And let's have it right. There were three or four games in a row where the opposition gave us a goal and in some cases gave us two goals through just absolute bonkers, bad back passes and things like this. That is not something you can build upon. And the fact that when you look back at it now,
00:27:06
Speaker
We didn't then go on and create extra chances and score and win by more girls more regularly. I don't hark back to Farkas days. I see it far more as an overall life of watching Norwich City play.
Need for a Clear Narrative
00:27:23
Speaker
You have to have one of the following things. You have to either feel like underdogs, so therefore every result feels like an achievement. So it doesn't really matter about the style as much. If we're in the Premier League, and even though we've absolutely shit-oused it, we've managed to grab a late-1-0 win, or we have managed to frustrate a top-flight team, a really top-six team, and managed to grind out a draw.
00:27:47
Speaker
That's where performances aside, it doesn't matter. Or like in that first FARC promotion season, we're ahead of schedule. This is great. Because the football wasn't always brilliant, even by FARC second season. And we did have to score very late. And we were throwing loads of people forward in order to get results. So it's not like we won every game 4-0. No one on this podcast has got those rose tinted glasses about FARC at all.
00:28:10
Speaker
So you can do it in that regard. Or the point that you made, Connor, I think, you can turn up knowing what brand of football you're going to watch and think, yeah, that's my knowledge. That's what I love the fact that we do that. And if we lose, I know that we'll have played the ball as quickly as we can with as many triangles as we can. Emmy's going to try and do loads of flicks. And that's what we're going to get. Likewise, the Lambert factor.
00:28:34
Speaker
there was a togetherness of that squad of kind of chip on the shoulder overachievers and probably wouldn't ever get that chemistry in that combination of squad overachieving like we did and where you can really get behind it and then all you need is to is to change one element like for example we're still in the Premier League we've still got half the same squad but now it's Hughton all of a sudden you just go oh I don't like this
00:28:58
Speaker
And that's the thing, and that's the problem. There needs to be that narrative that you talk about, Connor. And this is where I want to come on to the kind of Robert Mugabe media blackout that there seems to have been around the Canaries since, well, I still don't really understand which particular element it was that they got so upset about receiving criticism for. But
Conveying Club Message to Fans
00:29:23
Speaker
How frustrating is it at the moment, Connor, and you can be as diplomatic as you want to be, but how frustrating is it to be a Norwich City fan, which you are, and to have your dream job of being able to bring to other fans who aren't in the privileged position you're in, of talking to people in and around it, and not get a coherent message that you know, I can't wait to put this copy out because the fans are going to love this.
00:29:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating. And I think, you know, it's not it's not necessarily about me or us in particular, first and foremost, because I think it's very easy when you have this conversation to feel like we're whinging or it's about poor us, isn't it us and all this, that's not necessarily the case, I think. So the accounts is a really, really good example for me, really live example that we can use. That is something that
00:30:18
Speaker
you should be having scrutiny of and independent scrutiny of, in my opinion. And whether that's a football club, whether that's politicians, whether that's someone who owns a business, that external scrutiny should always exist for anybody who is in a position like that, who makes decisions on football clubs, on politics, on whatever, anything influential. And the fact that that isn't there at the moment is, you know, just to put my fan hat on, you know, is quite concerning, I think, for me.
00:30:49
Speaker
But yeah, also professionally, I think there's this idea that we're, I don't know, trying to convey whatever message. That's not simply the case. I mean, my perspective to it, and I can only speak for myself really, is that I always try and say what I see, rightly or wrongly. And you can agree with that. You can disagree with that. That's kind of fine.
00:31:11
Speaker
I'm not in this role to have anyone over or to try and get anyone out of a job or whatever. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to try and act as a service almost to Nori City fans and to provide that accountability and to ask the questions that supporters can't ask or want to ask. And at the moment, that isn't being made possible for whatever reasons. And I'm sure they will come out and maybe talk about the reasons, maybe they wouldn't, but I'm sure there are reasons.
Need for External Scrutiny & Accountability
00:31:41
Speaker
But yeah, frustrating is mainly the main word that I would use. And supporters aren't stupid. I think they know and they can sense it. And it doesn't help with what we've spoken about, right? So I would have loved nothing more this week than to be asking questions about
00:31:58
Speaker
why have Nori City taken out ยฃ66 million in loans? What does that mean? Should supporters be concerned about it? What does it mean for the future? I would have loved to ask about why the auditors have changed even though they passed a motion in the AGM last year for the same ones. All of these are questions that should be getting asked and scrutiny that should be happening that
00:32:21
Speaker
And for me, in whatever walk of life you get to, that's not a particularly great position to be in, in my view. And you guys maybe have the same or altering views, but that's kind of my stance on it.
00:32:34
Speaker
I mean, I've got similar views, Conor. I mean, you'll remember, I think you were part of my football writer at the time when we were invited to dinner at the club. Archim was there. I think Michael had just joined the athletic, my football writer, Long Come Norwich. I think the Talk Nori City lads as well were there. And that was very much a football club bringing, you know, local media, be that, you know, kind of conventional old school media or fan media in and just going, look, we want you as part of the journey. We want
00:33:03
Speaker
for, again, the word narrative to
Controlled Communication Shift
00:33:07
Speaker
come into it. We want you to be able to ask the questions that you need to be able to ask, to be really honest with us, to have a really healthy working relationship. And look, I think Tom maybe goes off the deep end with the Mugabe media blackout. Ultimately, I think what we're saying is that your access to the club isn't non-existent. You're still at press conferences and all the rest of it, but your access has been seriously reduced.
00:33:34
Speaker
That feels to me like, and the account is perfect, you know, you've absolutely raised the right point, I think, in this regard, it feels to me like supporters and the media are being talked to rather than being part of the conversation. And we come back to why maybe supporters are feeling disenfranchised or disengaged. We were part of the conversation for about four, four and a half years. And now
00:34:02
Speaker
It's very clear that we're not, you know, they've put out a lovely, whatever it is, 70 page report for the accounts, you know, and with some very nice statements from, you know, Zoe Ward and Stuart Weber and all the rest of it. And it looks really nice. And it's got the lovely, you know, new font from the club and all the rest of it. But ultimately, as you say, there's zero scrutiny towards that. And what worries me with all of that is, and I remember this vividly after the 2018-19 promotion.
00:34:28
Speaker
is you know there was a there was a real celebration by media fans of the togetherness that had been garnered as a result of that season and Stuart Webber was really like you know at pains to point out culture's easy when you're winning culture's dead easy when you're winning our culture gets tested when things you know are hard and things are hard now no matter which way they want to dress that up things are hard and you know whether it's a conscious decision by
00:34:57
Speaker
whoever it is at the top brass at the football club, they have chosen to disengage with fans, or not necessarily completely disengage, but engage less, engage in different ways, engage in ways which aren't the successful ways that they were doing beforehand.
Diminished Fan Influence
00:35:15
Speaker
I can't remember a time, 18, 19, 19, 20 going into 2021 as well, where I think as a supporter, I felt part of the conversation. I felt like our views mattered. I felt like we were able to meaningfully influence maybe what happened at our football club because it is our football club. And it's just regressed to such an extent
00:35:38
Speaker
that I don't know if we're ever going to get it back under this regime. And that really saddens me. But do you guys feel like that in the media? Do you feel like talked to rather than engaged with, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
00:35:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't even particularly feel like we're being spoken to a lot of the time, to be completely honest with you. I think a lot of it is kind of that this is what happens and that's the way it is. And look, that's the approach they've taken. And like I said, I'm sure they have reasons for why they've taken that particular course. And they may be really justifiable reasons. And increasingly in modern football, we are seeing football clubs use their channels a lot more. It's not
00:36:23
Speaker
surprise necessarily and I think we're also seeing football clubs want to control the message in a different way to perhaps they have done and maybe that shift is a little bit uncomfortable but you know I was kind of actually discussing this with Paddy today actually about kind of external interviews I think the last one we have done with a figure that is not Dean Smith a contractually
Concerns Over Lack of Interviews
00:36:48
Speaker
arranged press conference was Stuart Weber last October, pre-leads. That's nearly a year, unless I'm missing something, which is highly probable with my memory. But that for me is...
00:37:03
Speaker
If I was a fan and to put my fan hat on is slightly concerning, I think, because you reference culture there. If you believe in it and you believe in what you're doing, then you're happy to go and not defend it because that's the wrong term. It gives the impression that we're attacking, which a lot of the time we're not. But you're willing to go and speak about it and be open about it. And there are changes that they've made that I think supporters would benefit from knowing from. And that could be some that I think they'd be really impressed by, for example.
00:37:32
Speaker
that just haven't really been communicated. And that's a shame. And that's probably the word I would use. I find the whole thing quite sad, to be honest, because, as you say, a point where supporters rightly or wrongly, whatever my view, don't necessarily feel particularly connected. And I think you two have conveyed that.
00:37:52
Speaker
particularly well. On that point, Connor, and what you said, it's our club. The people who actually own the club and the majority share as a club, that is the antithesis of the type of people they are.
Club's Approach vs. Community Values
00:38:07
Speaker
you know they want to welcome with open arms like you know if it was practical they would happily have a pint and dinner with every season ticket holder over the course of the season you know they love talking to supporters they love they want it to be an open loving community club is they can they view themselves as custodians and you know i just
00:38:31
Speaker
I feel like with the changes that have taken place in the senior level of the pitch, we have moved towards, mirrors the personality of the people in charge, right?
00:38:46
Speaker
And it feels very much like we now have a kind of Weber persona football club where we're doing it this way and it's tough and you'll get what you'll get and you'll be grateful for it.
Call for Clear Communication
00:38:59
Speaker
Well, I don't necessarily mind that if we're told how we're doing it. So, Stuart Weber's always been up from like first interview. I mean, I think I was one of the first people to ever interview Stuart Weber and it was like, we're going to do it like this and you can come along on the ride.
00:39:13
Speaker
Or actually, I don't really give that much of a shit if you don't. But has he given an interview since the mountain climbing stuff? Since the mountain climbing stuff, who's spoken to it? So he's, I think he's done national stuff, hasn't he? But he hasn't actually done anything local. And the local stuff always offers proper context because, you know, Connor, yourself, you know, Chris Gorham at Radio Norfolk, Michael Bailey for the Athletic.
00:39:36
Speaker
You know pad as well you will get it you will know the context you will know what it means to supporters and that you know how the football club operates so. National media might be fine in terms of if we wanna i don't know maybe. Have the perception that we behave like a premier league club and that's where we should do the media and i don't know let's get dean smith on monday night football with gary neville you know whatever.
00:39:58
Speaker
fine. But actually, if you want to speak to supporters, you know, you go through the likes of Arch and you go through the likes of BBC Radio Norfolk, you go through the Athletic because that is the way to get to them. And it just feels like we've lost that, feels like we don't do that anymore. And that's not really where I want my football club to be at. I want my football club to be able to speak to fans properly and to explain what we're doing as a club. And Connor, it's really hard to hear you say, oh, there's some really good things going on.
00:40:28
Speaker
just be really nice to know about them, wouldn't it?
Training Ground Improvements & Communication Gap
00:40:30
Speaker
Because there is loads of stuff that I kind of hear rumours about kind of at the training ground where it sounds like we're going to become a top 10 club in terms of training facilities and actually culturally there's some really good stuff going on there. But I don't really see any formal communication about it. And I'd add to that,
00:40:51
Speaker
this is about the football style and all the rest of it, and I've pointed this out elsewhere. Dean Smith talks about his four pillars, I think it is, what his team or what underpins, what his team needs to be or he wants them to be. I don't know what those four pillars are. He might have said it at some point in press briefings or whatever,
00:41:13
Speaker
But tell us what your four pillars are, because let's face it, it's the fucking championship.
Clarification of Dean Smith's Philosophy
00:41:18
Speaker
We're good enough to really excel at this level if we get things right. We're not going to be giving away our game plan to the opposition. And any manager worth his salt is going to see after two or three games exactly what our game plan is anyway. So tell us what we're striving for. Tell us where you want your football club or our football club to be.
00:41:37
Speaker
Tell us what to expect over the next few months because then a lot of us will get along with the ride and we will give Dean Smith more time because we gave Daniel Farker more time when we knew what the plan was and actually some of the football was pretty crap. Yeah, I think, I mean, I was just having a look and it seems like there's been one, since the end of last season, there seems to have been one national, there was a podcast, Michael Calvin's Football People, it seems to be the only thing that he's done and that was just before transfer deadline
Uncertainty Over Future Direction
00:42:05
Speaker
day.
00:42:05
Speaker
or leading up to it you know late summer so yeah I look we don't we haven't provided the answers in this conversation because I just don't think that they are very clear and that's one of the things I think is most most most scary is that and
00:42:23
Speaker
Do I think that everything feels a lot better if we win the next three games? Well, yeah, everything feels a little bit better when we win three games. I was enjoying being joint top of the league and was hoping that the performances would kind of start to match the results, if you see what I mean. And instead what happened was the results started to match the performances.
00:42:40
Speaker
So, you know, we've got a huge game on Saturday, so we'll round up as ever with our guarantees. You know, we thought it might have been first versus second, it's now whatever it is, fourth versus sixth. And we could be joint top, we could be tenth come Saturday tee time, which says probably about as much about the championship as it does about an orange this season, some bonkers results.
Sheffield United Match Implications
00:43:02
Speaker
I really don't think we know who the best six teams in the league are yet.
00:43:05
Speaker
But yeah, can I have a guaranteed scoreline and a guaranteed scorer for Saturday? I'm in two minds about this because as much as we can harp on about Norwich's form and the fact that it's one win in five and three consecutive defeats, I'm pretty sure Sheffield United might be no wins in five and horrendously out of form.
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah, two draws in the last five. And then what three losses? Yeah, allied to that as well. So I don't know, it's what it feels to me like Sheffield United might be either the classic along come Norwich that they, you know, they break their run and they and they go and give us a kind of a comprehensive defeat. Or this is where
00:43:48
Speaker
And I hate this, that Dean Smith might get a result and then limp on for a little bit longer. Because I do think that his job is in serious jeopardy because of the fact that a lot of supporters have lost patience with it. And I've seen a lot of talk on Twitter of later. I'll give him the next two games.
00:44:05
Speaker
I'm a strong believer of whenever you're in give X manager X amount of games territory, the writing's probably on the wall already anyway, you know, and it's actually just a matter of time before, before he departs. But if you want some predictions, I will say that nourish. I don't want a prediction.
Match Predictions & Tactical Speculations
00:44:21
Speaker
I want a guarantee. We only guarantee that we will have less than three shots on target. And then give us a guaranteed score off an orange.
00:44:36
Speaker
I don't think they will be well. Okay. Connor, guaranteed score for Norwich and a guaranteed score line. Guaranteed score for Norwich. Josh Sargent, just on the basis of our conversation earlier about him being the only one who seems capable of doing that at the minute.
00:44:54
Speaker
Guarantee for Norwich, I think they will concede a goal from an individual error, which I know is not a... I can't wait to watch it! Not a hot take, but there you go. OK, well, I guarantee that Smith is going to try something...
00:45:11
Speaker
bonkers. I think he is someone who must be fed up of being questioned. All football managers have got egos, especially in the top couple of divisions. And I think he might kind of spring, especially because he's going to be without Kenny, he's going to have to do something different.
00:45:27
Speaker
maybe we'll see a particularly interesting change of shape or change of system. And maybe he goes 442. So my guarantee is there's something at two o'clock where we go, well, how are they all going to fit in an 11? And then five past three, we go, oh, he's playing like that, is he?
00:45:43
Speaker
So that's my guarantee for a Norwich situation. And I guarantee scorer is Max Ehrens, because Punt said that he would request, which means he's guaranteed to get second. Almost certainly. It's a good point you raised, though, just before we finish.
Challenges in Left-Back Position
00:46:00
Speaker
If we play a four at the back, who's playing left-back? Because I know you knew this is kind of in the squad and had some minutes, but he can't be ready for a start. I don't know, Conor, you were probably at the press conference this morning. Was there any chat about that?
00:46:12
Speaker
Yeah, he said he wasn't, but needs must. And obviously we were obviously still waiting for it as we record the results of that appeal, which I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if that's overturned. So I think it might be a case of needs must basically. Yeah. And then if needs be after an hour, Gibbs ends up being there for the last half an hour to try and keep it down to three nil.
00:46:37
Speaker
I could see them doing something quite funky with a wing back or... That might be it. That might be the crazy shape I was talking about. Three centre backs, don't you? Have we even got three centre backs that are fit?
Conclusion & Hopes for Innovation
00:46:48
Speaker
Well, you'd bring in Jonathan Tomkinson, wouldn't you? Which in itself would be a massive, massive call. I could also see somebody like Onel Hernandez ending up at left back, something bonkers like that. I thought you were going to say Centre Black. I was going to say that would be amazing. That would be amazing. OK, right, I don't think we've answered anything, but we appreciate your time, Connor. Thank you so much for taking lunchtime to be with us. Fingers crossed there is that bonkers amazing experience tomorrow of Smith pulling something crazy out of the bag.
00:47:15
Speaker
It'd be nice to be proved wrong, wouldn't it? Mind how you go.