He's done nothing so far as a manager. He took Derby from a lowly sixth to the dizzy heights of sixth despite having a couple of fantastic loan players who were way above Championship level because of his connections. He couldn't sort out the defence with a Chelsea squad that Tuchel then turned into CL winners. It's like buying a pair of very expensive trainers because they have the word 'Nike' written on them.
There is an element of that and van Gaal has said that Krul will be in the World cup squad, but as an GK sub if it comes to penalties. Still good for us that he's here and preparing for Southampton.
Do people think Webber has a different guy he's wanted all along and he's about to produce him in a dramatic puff of smoke? Or is what looks like a total shambles also a total shambles underneath? Time will tell, I guess, and tell very soon.
This is what I said last Sunday and it's still what I feel. Webber made the decision to sack Farke without waiting for the Brentford result and now he has to come up with a solution. Lampard has pulled out and if Smith does the same then we'll go into the critical Southampton match without a Head Coach and Steve Weaver in charge. It's little wonder that we're all worried but all we get is silence from Webber. My faith is slipping away...
I guess I'm reasonably happy about events today, but very worried. I'm happy because we're not getting Lampard, and I think those of us who vociferously did not want him have been proved right by the fact that he dropped out as soon as the Rangers vacancy appeared. Norwich can do without that sort of naked opportunism. It also seems clear that he has no stomach for a relegation fight and much prefers the meaningless victories of winning the SPL. Good riddance to bad rubbish. On the other hand I'm worried because it is looking more and more possible that Webber has totally screwed this up, there is no hidden plan, we have no one in view, and we'll end up with a name drawn out of a hat. I really hope I'm wrong on that one.
Rangers seem to be targeting Giovanni Von Brockhurst, an ex player for them who seems very willing to come. No mention of Lampard. I hadn't realised that Lampard turned down an approach from Palace in the summer. Surely Webber was aware of that and the likelihood that it would happen with us.
The EDP take on the situation: https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/david-freezer-exasperating-week-for-ncfc-fans-8485972
I really hope van Bronckhorst gets it. First, because I would love to see privileged, entitled Lampard left without a post, having decided he's far too grand to scrap in a relegation fight or even to join a mid-table team like Palace. But also because van Bronckhorst is largely of Indonesian origin and I lived in that country for six years and really loved my time there and still have Indonesian friends.
The latest from the EDP via Sky stating that the Smith negotiations are entering the advanced stages: https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/canaries-ncfc-dean-smith-next-head-coach-8486256 It's possible that Lampard withdrew because Smith was chosen over him.
Doesn't Lampard have a young family? Maybe he didn't fancy moving, not like he moved a lot during his playing career.
Note that I do use the word 'possible'. Perhaps these last few days have all been a clever smokescreen and we're going to announce Favre or Knutsen or some other proven, highly rated or very promising manager. There's no evidence until we see who gets the job at the end of this tortuous process. However, for me, if we've sacked Farke only to end up with Smith, I'd call that a screw-up (but not as big a screw-up as Lampard would have been). Only my opinion, obviously, and I see that several people on here disagree with me and would be very happy with Smith. Obviously, if it is Smith, everyone has to get behind him and hope it works out. EDIT: I can only think of one possible scenario - and I admit this is pure speculation on my part before you bite my head off - in which Webber would have had to act even if he didn't have a successor more or less in the bag: a split within the squad that was becoming so poisonous that it had to be dealt with immediately. I repeat this is pure speculation, I'm not suggesting it is true, and we'd probably never know even if it were.
Personally I was happy to stick with Farke, even if it meant a return to the Championship. I don't think it made much sense to sack him and I certainly don't think that morally it was the right thing to do. I'm sure I bored some on here by continuedly going on about who would realistically replace him, that offered more than he did. With possibly the exception of keeping us in the PL with the current squad, I think Farke ticks nearly all the boxes that we are looking for in a manager. Setting aside whether it was right to sack Farke, we are now where we are. In my mind we need a head coach that is Willing to work within our financial constraints and not want to want to gamble the long term future of the club on a long shot of us staying in the PL. Able to develop and be brave enough to play young developing players. Our financial model and the clubs future relies on this. Has the ability and ideally the tracked record of getting team promoted from the Championship, should we get relegated. Plays a positive attacking style of football, that means even if we lose, fans leave the ground having been entertained. Has the necessary standing to work with our current squad and potentially attract players to the club, particularly developing players. Holds the values of the club and buys into our short, medium and long term plans. It is less than a week since Farke was sacked. I am happy that we take a little time in order to get the right person in and I would seriously lose faith in Webber if things were rushed just to keep impatient fans and the media happy. The club clearly has a recruitment process they are working through. I'm sure Webber had people in mind to replace Farke before he sack him, but clearly there is a big difference between having targets and them being willing to sign. Our attempts to sign Ajer and Skipp over the summer are good examples of where having targets and getting deals over the line were reliant on many factors, most of which are outside the clubs control. In Smith's case, I wouldn't have expected him to even featured on our list of realistic targets until he was sacked by Villa, but once he became available I would consider it to be admiss of Webber not to consider him, even if this meant delaying the process. I certainly wouldn't want to compound what I think was a poor decision to sack Farke, by rushing the process to sign his replacement. Until yesterday it would appear from questionable media reports that the 2 front were Lampard & Smith both of who would meet some, if not all of the above criteria. Personally of the the 2 my preferred option would be Smith.
