Especially winning away from home with such discipline and application, both obviously absent at Oxford. We're getting there.
I'm getting there gradually, but the new signings have helped, especially Slimane and Schwartau. Schwartau at 16:
Nice to see that Jon McCracken, now of Dundee, has been called up to the Scotland squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Poland and Portugal, replacing the injured McCrorie as backup to Angus Gunn. His Norwich career was punctuated with injuries, including an ankle injury, a stress fracture of his back, and a broken arm, not to mention being pelted by away fans while on loan at Accrington Stanley. When we sold Tim Krul, McCracken was recalled from loan to fill the gap left in the first team squad until displaced by our signing Long. He was twice on loan at Dundee, and they jumped to sign him permanently when released in the summer. His call-up is just reward for his spirit and determination in the face of all that adversity
After losing Rowe and Kamara through transfer requests, it seems that another brought Slimane to us, as Wilder says: "Anis came as an eight and a six, and we said at the start of pre-season that it'd be pretty difficult with Vini (Souza), Blaster (Oliver Arblaster) and Gus (Hamer). I don't think he's a six, and he's not going to play as an eight. He made it perfectly clear he wanted to go, which isn't an issue. He made it clear he was going to work with an old manager who wanted to play him as an eight. At 4.30pm on Tuesday night, he said he didn't want to play. He didn't want to play for my club; he didn't want to play for Sheffield United, so we did our best to facilitate that." It also sounds like a case of faulty recruitment. Why buy an eight and a six who you aren't going to play at either position? It also reveals how JHT has tweaked his tactics recently where the 4-3-3 formation morphs to a 4-2-3-1 as we move forward. Slimane's 8 & 6 skills fit into that transition well. With the ball, he moves up to join the attack, and without it he moves back into a midfield three with McLean and Núñez. It was noticeable how much tighter we were in defence after he came on. His loan with an option to buy could be one of Knapper's better moves in the window, along with the signing of Schwartau to help fill the gap left by Rowe and Kamara. For those still getting a grip of all the comings and goings this summer, here's a useful rundown: https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2024/09/05/the-ins-and-outs-of-a-busy-summer-at-colney/ The only omission is Montóia, the young RB the club had to release to enable Slimane's loan deal.
Not sure anyone foresaw that move, certainly a left field move (excuse the pun). Good luck to him, first British player at SP
For those who remain sceptical as to there being any significance at all in our recruitment of so many left-footers, our last-minute loanee from Liverpool, Kaide Gordon, just happens to be left-footed too ..........
Still on the topic of footedness, of the 29 players making up our official EFL senior squad, together with the 6 under-21 players with current first team involvement, 9 (31%) are either left- or two-footed. As far as I can ascertain, that is pretty much par for clubs in top European leagues. I haven't seen any similar data for match squads (20 players, comprised of starting XI plus bench of 9), but in our case, injury etc. apart, all 9 will almost certainly be named, i.e. 45%, and of those 9, I'd initially expect Doyle, McLean and Slimane to be fixtures in our starting eleven, with Chrisene, Crnac, Cordoba, Forson, Forsyth and Gordon all making regular appearances. I wonder how many of our competitors are similarly well-stocked with "lefties".
It's just he's into heraldry, busy designing the Hairy coat of arms! "Sinister, Tiger Moth Caterpillar Rampant ........"
Ah, a rampant caterpillar, that should quell all enemies. For some time after I joined this board I misread HMQC's name as Quiet Canary.
Thanks for reminding of schooldays 65 years ago!! Is there anybody else on here who had to endure the horrendous never ending hours at school learning this dreadful dead language?
"Caesar adsum iam forte Pompey aderat Caesar sic in omnibus Pompey sic in at" Yes, it was an ordeal at the time, but I've spent the rest of my life wishing I'd done more of it!
caveat emptor is about all I can remember. I have still got my school book on the works of Virgil which I kept to use as a night time story for my kids if they misbehaved but I could never bring myself to be that unkind.
