JHT on Duffy: "It's a good story for the upcoming players in the club. It's a story that tells that if you do your work every day and perform on a consistent level, then you play no matter how old you are. He's been supportive towards the strategy and the way of playing. He's been supportive of the younger players, and he's been achieving a consistent level of performance. That is the best reason why he is playing as much as he is. It's been a great season for him so far. He's a big part of the group because he's a leader coming from behind with Angus [Gunn] in goal and Kenny [McLean] in midfield. It's so important for the team that we have these players. I've said it a lot, but we need to have at least a handful of players who know the league and how to handle an away game at Luton."
Now that Hanley's gone to Brum, do we need a new club captain? Personally never seen the point of separate club and team captains. Or is it a position engineered for a previous team captain who's not getting as much game time as they once did?
I think the club captain is intended to be the team captain typically. I’m guessing JHT didn’t want to come in and make one of his first actions to strip Hanley of the captaincy as that would happen fairly naturally as it has played out. JHT has said the club captain would be formalised after the January window and that they are establishing a leadership group which will involve a couple of the younger lads. Presumably Mclean would be made club captain unless a silly bid comes in for him.
I can't think of any other. As for Marcondes, he's become a key player since his arrival and can play any position in midfield or attack. We'd be crazy not to offer him a contract extension. That perfectly weighted pass across the area to Sargent for the first goal was pure class.
"[The] position I played at Brentford was not the optimal one for me. I played as an 8 and I want to play as a 10 instead. I never really got into those positions that I really wanted to be in and where I think I am best." (Emi Marcondes, June 2021) Positionally, Transfermkt list him as primarily an AM, with CF and LW as secondary positions. So I think it's a stretch to say he can play anywhere in midfield; that description better fits Slimane, who is six years younger. There's also the issue of further blocking the pathway for young players like Schwartau and Forsyth. I admire Marcondes; I sympathise with his desire to find a "home" where he can develop into the player he aspires to be; but sadly, I don't think Norwich under Attanasio, Knapper and Thorup can be that place.
Where he's played for us: The time will come for Schwartau and Forsyth, both still 18, but Marcondes is our best player there now and can influence their development in the way JHT often describes for him and other senior players like Duffy and Hernandez. It was great to see Marcondes and Schwartau creating a mobile threat from midfield in the Swansea game.
JHT on Crnac's development: "The ideal plan for a young guy like him is probably to have two games as a starter and then one as a sub and then do that over again. So we can integrate him to the team but he can also take the time and we can do a little bit more training with him. When he's constantly playing we have to think about his load management, and he's probably not training enough. That's never ideal for a young player. The situation is how it is, and that's the reason why he's played a lot of minutes. But if we could choose and make the perfect plan for him it would probably look a little bit different." And the same would apply to Schwartau and other young players. https://www.pinkun.com/sport/interviews/24895333.norwich-city-johannes-hoff-thorups-ante-crnac-plan/
I think that applies to most teams. Players usually get a "rest day" from training, especially after a long away trip.
Why did/do people interpret talk of "a transitional season" as an exercise in lowering expectations, setting a modest, mid-table-ish league finish as the club's ambition for the season? A question prompted by listening yesterday to the latest Pink'Un podcast with Southwell, Davitt and Seaman. I don't recall hearing anything from the club at any point that has implied a target lower than a top six finish, with its accompanying chance of promotion. Clearly this is a transitional season: from one of the oldest squads, to one of the youngest; from one style of football to another; from a squad built for the former, to one built for the latter, a multi-window process the speed of which depends not just on finances, but also contractual situations and player availability. Equally clearly, following on from this latter point about timescale, next season is going to be transitional too. But none of this implies that mid-table mediocrity is, or has ever been, the summit of Attanasio's, or Knapper's, or Thorup's ambition for this season or next.