RvW was 26 years old when he signed for us. At that point he was far more experienced than young Tzolis, with close on four times as much playing time under his belt, in two different leagues (Netherlands and Portugal top tiers). It's a testament to Tzolis's talent that the discrepancy isn't even greater than that, so I don't know quite what the point is of likening him to the Wolf, other than that we paid similar amounts for them. I think the criticism handed out to Sargent, Gilmour and Tzolis is a disgrace. When each of the three signed for us, there was a chorus of experienced voices saying it was a mistake (e.g. Klinsmann re. Sargent, Souness re. Gilmour, Lucescu re. Tzolis). Of the three, I worry most for Tzolis; the transformation from those early confidence-filled,"can't wait to get on the field" appearances in the EFL Cup, to the forlorn, scared-looking substitute of recent games really upsets me.
Agree, hopefully Smith can take him under his wing over the off season and he will be a man reborn next year
So who exactly are you saying we would have got 5 points from? Arsenal were in serious disarray at the start of the season. We played them in game 4 -- and lost. Watford have struggled all season; we played them in game 5, -- and lost. We've had plenty of opportunity to beat "struggling" teams since then, and failed. We are being relegated because we are the worst team in the league and all the "if onlys" and "what ifs" we can dream up can't disguise the fact.
I think the disaster of this season has its roots in the post-lockdown collapse in 19/20. If we had picked up two or three wins in those (ten?) games and got to somewhere between 28-30 points but still gone down, there would have been a feeling that next time we might get over the line playing the kind of football we did that season. We would have recruited differently and continued to play in the style that won us the Championship so easily. We wouldn't have entered this season scared to death that the same thing was going to happen as last time. I accept that keeping our Championship-winning style may have been no more successful than the dog's dinner we've had to put up with this season. Maybe people are right when they say so-called 'Farkeball' can't succeed in the Prem because only the teams with supremely talented players can afford to do it. Who knows? But how much worse could it have been if we had tried? At least we'd still be left with an identity and some sense of what we might be aiming to do. At the moment can anyone honestly say there is any kind of vision at the club? Delia's in her bunker, Webber's busy climbing mountains rather than addressing the shambles he's largely responsible for, and Smith has no idea what to do next except probably stuff the club full of Villa's cast-offs and play a slightly modified version of hoofball.
Eventually all the oligarchs will be thrown out of the Premier league V.A.R will make sense & Norwich will sit there smugly with their clean & honest business model. & then I woke up
Have you ever watched a Smith team playing Gozo? Brentford? Villa? Did either of them play "hoofball" when Smith was coaching them? Webber has a clear brief regarding "our" style play. Do you really think he would oversee the appointment of a "hoofball"-playing coach?
Time will tell, I guess. I genuinely hope you are right and I am wrong, and that Smith is a modern, sophisticated manager with good strategic awareness, and I have to eat humble pie next season. At the moment, I look at what he has done since he arrived and I believe Big Sam or Pulis would have done exactly the same. Stick a big guy up front, a tall winger either side, and lump the ball aimlessly forward in hope. As for claims that he would sort out the defence, he hasn't. It's as bad now as it was under Farke. Maybe our set pieces are better? How many goals have we scored from them and how many times have opposition players been free on the edge of the area following corners against us? Perhaps he has revived the spirit in the squad? The capitulation in two must-win games against Brentford and Leeds suggests a group of players who have no belief in themselves or in him. Has he begun to impose his own structure or shape or plan on our performances? Well, can you see any plan other than cut out the midfield, sacrifice possession, and hope for a lucky break? I accept that the majority opinion of our fans seems to be that he deserves a transfer market to build a squad of his own players. From everything I've seen so far, I have to disagree.
In the absence of proper football, it may be time to start thinking about player of the season... My gut says Rashica deserves it, but you could argue that we've had some decent input from Normann (pre-injury especially) together with Pukki and perhaps Williams. No massive stand out for me this year so far (not surprising really) though for me Rashica's been the most consistent and dangerous. 9 games to go so still time for a player to put their hand up.
In all seriousness, I think all of our current keepers have had a decent season when called on, despite the goals against column looking as well-stocked as it is.
