Maybe so but you said; "One of the problems with AN was that he seemed unwilling to take a chance with younger players i.e. Maddison for fear of them failing, Farke is not, he seems willing to give them a chance. Of course it won't always work, so like Murphy they may need to be knocked back a bit before being given further chances. I thought that infered that in not taking a chance of playing Maddison he was not willing to use youth, now you support the loan? But has Farke not welshed on the chance to give Godfrey game time under that proviso?? You then quote Murphy with Farke showing patience, Neil played both him and his brother plenty too. It is good that Farke will play the youngsters but the criticism of Neil seems harsh to me. (Pritchard is another story but at 22 he wasn't quite just a youth it was however bewildering) Bah!
Shrewd would have been to see from all previous evidence of a few seasons he is no centre back and not offered him a new deal and moved him on, getting Hanley in before the season started and before points were lost as a result. Bah!
He's scored 10 goals in 22 games for Blackburn this season and his former manager said of him: "the catalyst of [our] team..full of energy, he is tenacious, he has quality and he is a top player – definitely Championship quality", adding that he "probably covers more ground than any other player". Sounds promising if either Pritchard or Maddison left. He describes his style of play like this: "Adopting a free role behind the two strikers in the final third to go and pick up the ball, get into good positions and create and score goals". Sounds good to me. Reading the Twitter feed, Blackburn fans certainly don't want to lose him.
Not wanting to go through it all again, such a root and branch restructuring was always going to affect performance as the 12 new players had to integrate with existing players and vice versa. With Thompson injured and Godfrey out on loan, Tettey is really our only DM. His long injury and those to Pritchard and Oliveira were all big blows. Trybull is a combative midfielder who had to adapt to DM when Tettey wasn't available. When both are playing, they complement each other very effectively with Tettey laying the ball off to Trybull to distribute it forward (much like he did with Howson before). I've got more time for Reed and Watkins because at 23 and 25 they came into an unfamiliar tactical approach added to all of the other challenges the Championship throws up. That's even moreso with the other players coming over from the continent. The real indicator for me is how we play from here on out. With Pritchard back and Tet-bull in harness and a settled defence now we look to be a much better team and DF deserves some credit for that. If we can be convincing in the remaining games and move up the table a bit, we can then complete the second phase of restructuring over the summer as older players leave and push for promotion next season.
Interesting read about the potential of Simon Power in the Pink'un: http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/city-sign-promising-irish-youngster-1-5342739
I've only just noticed down the page in the Pink'un that Paul Jones has gone on loan to Exeter City. Makes sense to me, given that emergency loan's still exist for keepers (or am I wrong about that?).
It’s reported that Oliveira might be on Aston Villa’s shopping list. I thought they had several strikers already? Or perhaps they have moved some on?
Martin was the captain, had a lot of influence at the club .I'm sure if Farke had turned up and got rid of him without giving him a chance that would have been far from shrewd. This season has always been seen as the club as a transition season when you look at the changes Farke has made in such a short period of time I think he has done reasonably well. Yes we're not challenging for promotion, however nor are we in a relegation battle, although both could still happen. I'm sure when Farke arrived he was given aims for this season i.e. get rid of the deadwood, reduce the wage bill, prepare for a promotion challenge next season etc, etc. He seems to be heading in the right direction.
http://readnorwich.com/2018/01/04/norwich-linked-jaime-mata/ Not really impressed, if true. Can do a bit of everything, but not an upgrade on our already dwindling strike force.
I agree Webber and Farke, like AN, is getting the benefit of decision made well before they arrived. The architect of all this is our greatest signing for many years, McNally with his decision to set up our current academy. I also think Neil Adams played a key role in getting the ball rolling. I really don't think the first team manager, either Farke or anyone before him, can claim to have had much influence in developing our younger players prior to them reaching the fringes of the first team.
At 29, Mata doesn't fit the young and hungry criteria SW applies, where few if any of his signings so far are over 25. I do think we need a third striker, but not sure he's the one.
I don't think he would convert the chances we need. He's decent. he has scored well in the lower league. I'm sure Jerome and Olivera would in that league too. I don't think it's a god buy.
Given the number of changes going on, retaining Martin seemed reasonable as he provided a fourth option at CB and back-up at RB as well. As the previous captain, he became Club Captain when Pinto became team captain. It has given a degree of continuity at a time of radical change. Some sources claim he's been told he'll never play for City again, but I can't see that happening until we have another RB option and possibly another CB as well. It could be he'd like to move to Rangers on loan to get playing time but we'll have to wait and see.
I get that it takes time to integrate, especially so for foreign players and coaches with no experience in the championship. But some are still disappointing and seemingly slow learners. With respect to Tettey, I'm not sure I get your argument, they wanted rid, he was not wanted at first team level, he was only called on when the mangers plan A was floundering. At the start of the season SW and DF were obviously happy to not have a DM with the knowledge that Thompson was injured and Godfrey was to go out on loan. Then having discovered his merits he was over played considering the common knowledge his knees can't take constant punishment. I agree we have been hampered by injuries and with Pritchard finally back we live in hope of improved performances. But 2 wins and a draw against poor teams in the last 4 games is far from convincing. Chelsea is meaningless but get more than 3 points from the next 2 league games and I think then you can say progress is being made. We have had a good spell b4 only to slump again. we have to be able to win without Tettey because he can't play every game. Bah!
All well and good but I think we all know that that will likely be without our two midfield stars, so reducing our promotion prospects. And the moving on of the older players just balances the wage books because of the income reduction. Make no mistake Farke might be more ready for a second go, but the team will be further shorn of its best talent, this season should never be viewed as a total write off. it was still our best remaining chance of going back up. And with a starting XI settled on now with 8 outfield players from last season and beyond with others also championship experienced being in the hunt was not entirely unreasonable, still possible so we'll see. Bah!
With 20 games left, even if we averaged 2 points a game, which is automatic promotion performance over a season, we would still only reach 74 points. I'm an optimist, but that's a very long shot. I'd rather we complete the restructuring, move on older players, then give younger players like Godfrey, Morris, Cantwell and Middleton their chance next season. I'll wait and see who may leave but there is a balance to be struck as either Pritchard or Maddison would only go for big money and that could be used to bring in quality players who are coming into their prime.
