It's probably healthy for the club to have reduced the volume of leaks, but it does tend to make things a little quieter!
I think it's the usual situation, where until we know who's leaving, we won't find out who's coming in. Knapper said he'd be aggressive during this window but now everything stops for the silly interval during the club competition.
Very interesting. I liked the way he went out of his way to shake hands with everybody. Some coaches talk about establishing a culture, but he seems keen to do it. A noticeable difference in the new recruitment policy which Knapper says won't be all about young players, but a mix of ages to be balance the squad. It's hard to know whether this is a realisation of how things went wrong or a new emphasis on making the playoffs. I'm beginning to build some hope about the new season now.
I believe this was Knappers recruitment plan all along. The squad needed a serious shift in age profile in my opinion and Knappers. Having brought in multiple players under the age of 21 and shipped out several of experienced high earners, they now have the opportunity to bring in a bit more experience but I would still imagine they would be under 30
The squad planner board seemed interesting, it doesn’t appear to have any of the players out on loan on it, but the players that have left the club have been removed and the new signings added? Who is the third RB option? Springett listed as a third option at LW?
The business model is based on player trading. We won't be signing 30 year olds because the minute you do you're booking a loss (bar recouping it via promotion to the EPL as per Webber/Wagner). Schwartau was signed last summer, not because he was expected to contribute much to the Championship campaign, but because securing his signature was the equivalent of being gifted a winning ticket on the pools. Any player we sign now has to be seen, first and foremost, as an investment opportunity and that's where age comes in. Knapper is like a fund manager, trying to pick stockmarket winners to enhance the overall value of the fund.
Whilst I think that could be the case, I also think that the new owners are not willing to wait 3 years for results. The adjustment began when Marcondes was signed after the season started and Grimshaw is another mature addition. If Sainz and/or Sargent leave, I doubt that they will be replaced by raw young players. Manning is also not that patient and IMO that's the right way to go. Continue to sign young players, but balance them with more experienced ones around 24-27 (Darling for example). The discussion between Knapper and Manning on the above video was very much in this vein.
Knapper's comments on Manning: “It didn't pan out the way that we'd have hoped (with Johannes), but in Liam I think we've got somebody that understands the league, knows the level and he's demonstrated an ability to over-achieve consistently in his career so far. And I think he's someone that plays with the sort of requisite flexibility that we need as well. That was something that we lacked a little bit last year. I think it can be a really good fit. Understanding how to build a culture, and the kind of culture that we want at the training ground every day. That was a big thing. The human side, to be honest, the ambition, the drive, but the humility with it as well was big and then, of course, the technical side, playing style, but an adaptability within that flexibility at times of a pragmatism as well.” https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwic...-knapper-explains-manning-head-coach-process/
As no one has come up with any suggestions, could it be Gibbs as the 3rd RB option? I’ve never seen him play there and Wagner seemed to be trying to turn him into a striker, but he’s missing from the midfield options…
Possibly, I couldn't get a very good image but it looked like McConville at RCB, it could be Hills as the 3rd RB though. Does that potentially mean that Gibbs is heading out on loan/sale? Or can we read nothing into it at all...
If you look at the first team squad list on the club website Suffolk, there is no "mystery player", just the names you'd expect under the heading "Defenders", Darling having been added today.
Yeah I know, I was just interested in the board that they featured in the video, which seemed to be missing a player in midfield (Gibbs) and had 3 senior RBs but in my mind we only have 2
When is the fixture list published? Not heard anything about it yet but Premier just out and they start later than us.
https://kssgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KSSSport_24.pdf If anyone is curious, the architects looking at a Carrow Road overhaul have a brochure of sorts which includes a render of their vision for Carrow Road, and also a plan for Colney. In the Darling "first day" vid, there's also some chat about the Geoffrey Watling stand being extended to go over the road behind. I doubt anything happens any time soon, but just interesting that there's a couple of stadium discussions in a short space of time.
