I'm not sure i see that as a flaw in the theory, our results with him in that last PL were better than this season so far and we certainly carried more threat. Bah!
I imagine that there was an idea that Cantwell could take over Emi's role for a season and build his own reputation on the back of doing so. The problem seems to be that Cantwell already imagines he is in the stratosphere and deserves a move to Liverpool or Arsenal (or Leeds if he is willing to slum it for a while).
A not unreasonable idea although I think the signing of wingers suggested perhaps a tweak in how we aimed to attack. Cantwell looked good in the PL last time, as good as Emi even, what ever the reason I think he is a huge miss atm, although getting him the ball and supporting him enough to do any damage is no easy task. Bah!
I'm very critical of Cantwell because I think he has now screwed the club for two seasons running, but I accept that we are missing him on the pitch. Our midfield seems totally disconnected from our attack, and one thing that Cantwell is excellent at is linking these two things. But we need to find someone else who can do that and say goodbye to Cantwell because he is simply not a team player, he is only interested in himself.
I suppose the answer to that is whether we exceed the 21 points we managed last time. Our last 9 games two years ago didn't produce a single goal if I remember correctly. At least we've scored two with new players settling in. I'm not anti Buendia, but I think we're better off with the £33m. Time will tell if that's true or not.
Assuming the reason Cantwell isn't playing is down to attitude reasons rather than personal, fitness etc I don't think he's doing himself any favours. This season really was his chance to step out of Buendia's shadow and show to all his admirers what he can do. I get the impression Farke is well respected amongst football managers and if it becomes accepted rightly or wrongly that he has an attitude problem the this will effect his value. Of all the players we've had or sold I can't help feeling that Cantwell could be the next Murphy.
I can see why Todd isn't too happy. His position on the left was given to Rashica and Todd moved to right wing. One of TC's attributes was cutting into the middle with the ball. We couldn't expect him to be as effective dribbling inside with his left foot.
Currently, the bottom 4 teams have played 38 games between them, and managed just 2 wins. Burnley beat Brentford and Leeds beat Watford. Today that becomes 40 games and at most 3 wins.
Equally if you looked at our championship record over a similar period, you'd have thought what are we were the bees knees. Under our current model it was / is always going to be a marathon to become an established PL club not a sprint. It may be this season is just another hurdle we need to get over to reach the finish line. The improvement in the club over the last 4 seasons is massive. There's very few clubs or fans outside the PL who wouldn't swap their performance over the last 4 seasons for ours.
So is that fail to win all 3 games or fail to win 1. If its fail to win 1, what happens if we draw all 3. Does he still get sacked ? Even though it's the same amount of points.
Give Farke 3 games if we fail to win then boot him. 1 win 2 wins or 3 wins = Good 0 wins bad 3 draws good 2 draws OK 1 draw bad Zero win in the last 20 Premier league games is unacceptable
Webber's appointment four years ago saw the club set a target of establishing itself among the top 26 clubs in England. 2017--2018 season apart, that target will have been comfortably achieved with DF in charge, even if we finish bottom of the EPL this season (final league positions 37, 21, 20, 21, 20). However, following our winning the Championship again in the summer, and apparently unbeknownst to anyone outside the club, a new target was set of becoming established in the EPL, i.e. top 17, not top 26. Why was the target changed? Why wasn't the change publicised? What are the implications of that change given how this season is going?
I would say the target was changed because you must set targets that are a stretch but seen as achievable. The financial footing and stability of the club and management as well as the theoretically better players we were able to bring in should have raised expectations and Farke and a number of players with at least 1 season under their belt at PL level should have been better equipped to achieve it. Publicising it adds pressure, anyone inside the club in a senior or decision making role that can have an influence should know, but you and I don't need to. The implications would have to be that if 17th this season and/or in the next 2 or 3 seasons is not achieved or looking like it can be achieved by those with a direct influence then new people would have to ensure it could. So in spite of what Webber said of Farke's job security, I'm not fully buying it. Webber just hasn't reached that point yet. The only thing here that bothers me is the unbeknownst! if its unbeknownst to everyone outside the club then how are we talking about it? Is it even really true? Bah!
It came out in Webber's recent interview. Here's Michael Bailey in his subsequent piece in The Athletic: "Norwich’s public messaging since Webber’s arrival in 2017 has revolved around the goal of being a top-26 club in England: essentially acknowledging their previous Championship position and desire to at least claim a play-off berth at the end of each season. What hasn’t been reported is that the aim changed earlier in the year — to becoming a top-17 club. It was a message that was circulated internally but never delivered to their supporters or the outside world."
Re. the failure to publicise the new target more widely, Michael Bailey added this comment: "On reflection, it seems the club would have played out that decision differently ahead of this season if given the chance." I take that as a reference to the deluge of negativity generated by our poor showing with the accusations of lack of ambition, only being interested in securing the TV money, etc. etc.
