I do think he is great and we could do far far worse than him, we will find out in a few years, you'll be pleased to hear that he doesn't plan on being here that much longer. Of course you don't have to agree, but I don't believe that some of the criticism is fair or deserved or within the context of the confines that we operate as a club. I agree that he has failed this season, there can be no argument for that, but how about working together and moving forward rather than hounding people out of the club and using soundbites to attack them with. Dean Smith didn't work but how would some of those games under his stewardship have worked out had the team not made by far the most individual errors leading to shots in the league - 23 at last count. We may be back effectively to where we were 5 years ago in terms of league position but we now have Premier League level infrastructure, a squad filled with young talent which is far more valuable (arguably) than the team of 5 years ago.
If he succeeds in his job & brings in a few good players whilst selling to keep the lights on & we are playing attractive football in the top 6 positions then great . If not then resign, I found it quite pathetic that he was moaning that the Sheffield Wednesday manager getting racial abuse is the same as some "divorcees " yelling Webber out . He was upset that he didn't get as much sympathy in the media. Which makes him sound like a narcissistic fool.
The Michael Bailey analysis totally about £85m on transfer fees (any loan fees not included), and by his ratings only around £20m was spent on hits, the rest on misses/too soon to tell. Interesting in the BBC piece they mention a bid for Omobamidele which would have been a club record for a defender. So that's in the £28-34m range. They rejected it because they wanted him for a promotion push. If that bid is real (Chelsea?), it feels like a missed opportunity. That feels like about his max value, and our promotion chances weren't great by January. You'd also hope our recruitment team would feel confident enough to spend £20m on January on a new CB + a second player to improve the team, and come out ahead. I can't work out whether it's a tactic or just being a bad communicator, but no Webber interview is complete without a quote that stirs people up and distracts from the rest of what he has to say. I think he likes to be the human shield for others, but that only works when your position is solid. When your stock is the lowest it's been in 5 years, you can't get away with that as easily without people turning on you. For all his talk of leaving, is there a Premier League club who would have him right now?
But if they were signed on cheap/free and let go after providing value then is that a failure. Agree some of the loans have not worked out but surely in those instances he is relying on advice from Sports Scientists and doctors and there is a large element of misfortune. Most players get injuries, recover and then go on to complete the season without issue. I'm not clever enough, or have the time to factor in wages but roughly €121m spent in transfers, with €160m recouped - he's hardly run us into the ground. Taken from - https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/norwich-city/alletransfers/verein/1123 I accept several of the loan fees aren't present for incomings or outgoings. Sara will turn a profit, Omobamidele will, Aarons will, Sargent should, Gunn will, Mumba will. Not every player we sign for £1m is going to turn £30m profit. The Farke contract was a bit of an odd one, didn't we give him a new contract on promotion and then sack him 10 games later - but on the other hand most clubs in the country do the same thing at least twice a season. Dean Smith last a year of his 2 and a half year deal - most contract given to managers are 3 years as you plan for them to be a success rather than failure - these are not abnormal contracts or situations to us or Webber but standard for most clubs up and down the leagues.
And that is you in a nutshell Dunc, no middle of the road it is either complete success or resign, it is not ok to be decent at your job with a few errors along the way. Alternatively you could say he was standing up for people and saying that no abuse is tolerable be that racial or other, I notice this soundbite misses the following statement where he goes on to say he would rather it was all aimed at him rather than the players, the coach, the board and the owners. More selective hearing, people will only hear what they want to hear I guess
What makes you think he wants to move on to another similar post? When everybody was fearful he would leave at the end of his initial contract, he made it quite clear that he felt there were other directions he could go, other than moving up the DoF ladder. In which case, having been subject to "the peculiarly nasty" elements of football fan culture, and witnessed Dean Smith being subject to it too, it woudn't surprise me at all if he wanted nothing more to do with the football business.
Yes, it's wrong if Webber gets abuse rather than criticism, but there is a difference between abuse based on your performance (Webber) and abuse based on your race or your background (Moore). As far as I know, no one has called Webber 'a Welsh ****'. As always, Webber can dish it out but can't take it.
I don't know why you take criticism of Webber so personally, I have never shouted "Webber out " I don't hurl abuse at him or his wife on the board both getting very rich from their roles. I hope for his sake Zoe doesn't divorce him or his bitchy comments aimed at the snake pit may bite him on the arse
From my quick scour online, it seems that the main effect of the interview has been to further polarise the fan base. Those who support Webber seem more vocal in their support; those against him dislike him even more than they did before. I guess this was bound to happen, but some kind of public statement was necessary after two very poor seasons. The main take for me is that he has no intention of resigning soon, which in my estimation means we can write off next season. Not because he'll necessarily perform as poorly as he has for the last two seasons in terms of recruitment of players and handling of managers, but because he did nothing to help bring the club together and the atmosphere will soon be toxic again. Divided clubs only go in one direction and it isn't up.
If he & his wife resign they won't get any compensation so he'll probably see out his contract hiding up mountains & belittling the stupid plebs that pay his wages & turn up every week hoping to see a goal . The last one was 4 months ago
It just gets a bit tiring reading all the downbeat, angry and sometimes ill informed comments, not all from you Dunc - mainly on Twitter and the socials. I just wanted to try and inject some positivity and maybe change some minds to giving him a bit of a chance. Personally think we will miss him when he goes but if things get even better then great!
I've posted before about the big unanswered question (which to me seems to be the key to understanding several "oddities" in the turn things took in the summer of 2021), namely why the club's objective changed -- unannounced -- to becoming established among the top 17 clubs, rather than, as previously, the top 26. I suspect Farke and his staff's new contracts relate to this, as well as, most probably, the equally "odd" decision to sell Buendia. Was this driven by something going on at ownership level that we are not, and are still not, privy to (not necessarily specifically to do with the Attanasios by the way)?
What exactly could he have said that would have pulled everyone together though Gozo? The very vocal anti-Webber side seem unwillingly to allow him any room or chance to bring them back on side. Someone I follow tweeted that before the interview that all they wanted was an admission that mistakes were made and a plan for moving forward, afterwards they are complaining that he didn’t make a grovelling apology to the fans that have been abusing him of the last 18months
When your mantra to fire up the players in a relegation scrap is "Ignore the noise " then go on to criticise the fans for not clapping loud enough you're kind of sending out mixed signals. What we need is a Unified board , coach , squad & fan base. It's never good having couples working together especially if Webber's wife is in charge of hiring & firing sporting directors. The players seem happy to pick up their salaries without much fight on the pitch , the head coach is best buddies with Stu & Zoe no doubt has barbecues at each others houses so he won't criticise his mate & the fans are fed up with 3 years of utter **** served up at Carrow Road interrupted by Covid-19 when they were good but in an empty stadium.
That would be flouncing off . I'm guessing people are much more sensitive than before, if you feel that you need to quit posting to defend the honour of a multimillionaire sporting director
I agree that there are many people who would be highly unlikely to be placated by whatever he said, probably including myself if I'm honest. But he didn't need to make the comment about divorcees in the Snake Pit, for example. It just seems gratuitously confrontative at a time when the club desperately needs some kind of togetherness between itself and the fans. He seems incapable of controlling himself in these situations, which is why I believe, despite all the good things he has done for the club, he has become an albatross around the club's neck and nothing will improve until he is gone. EDIT: For example, most of the talk on social media is now centred on the divorcee and abuse comments instead of discussing the apparent change in recruitment policy to get some older, experienced heads onboard with more focus on South America after that.
It's a weird flex to brand all detractors as divorcees, when the elephant in the room with Delia & her nephew & Zoe & Stu is nepotism. I don't know the percentage of happily married people in the snake pit but that's what people are focusing on instead of the no goals since February & the abject failure this season . Which was probably his intention , as I said earlier he's a cry bully
