Not quite true Suffolk, as Farke's last 5 games produced 1 win, 2 draws and 2 defeats ending in the away win at Brentford. Smith has also produced 1 win and 2 draws but then the last 4 losses in a row which have us all down. I'm beginning to feel that a self-funding club just can't compete in a rich club's world, no matter how much I would like us to prove the opposite.
The top 26 is the realistic objective for any club committing to a self-funding model. Even finishing in 20th place this season further cements our position in that group. I've still not seen any explanation given of why the target was changed in the summer to "top 17".
As for today, I never have anything other than low expectations for these holiday fixtures. It's just a pity our games haven't been among those called off.
The only difference between the two managers is that the one we sacked twice ran away with the division that we are going to be in next season. Let's hope this one can do it too.
I'm less worried about the quality of the players, at least if we can keep the likes of Omo, Rashica, Tzolis, Sorensen, etc, than I am about a kind of weariness setting in, both among the club and the fans, a feeling of 'do we have to do this again, and what's the point anyway if we're just going up to come back down?' Will our hearts really be in it? And one thing you do need in the Champs is spirit - lose that and you're in trouble because all the teams fight tooth and nail there.
I think if we do well early in the season the spirit will be there. Winning will take care of that. I'm just not sure we will do that. The announcer said during the game that only one of our players today could start for Smith's former team, Aston Villa. That was Aarons. And even he would find it difficult to replace Matty Cash. The good news is that Smith was the one who recruited all the Villa starters. I don't know how much he was able to spend, though.
I think it was psychology, rather than based on anything having significantly changed. Tell a player he's at/joining a top 26 club, and you're telling him you're happy being outside the Premier League. It's the same thing Jamal Lewis said when comparing the Norwich and Newcastle dressing rooms. A loss at Norwich was no big deal because it was expected, at Newcastle it was a problem, shouldn't have happened, and you need to work even harder so that it doesn't happen again.
If they're fit I'd play Omo and Hanley as CB with Kabak and Normann as the defensive midfielders. Gilmore can either prance around like a fairy infront or put Rupp/ Lee-Lelou there
We've finished either 20th or 21st in each of the last 4 seasons and will probably finish 20th again so we've been a top 21 team for 5 years now, so it was natural to make finishing at least 17th the target and it's still the target now, however much it seems unlikely at the moment. Smith's frank assessment: https://www.norfolklive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/dean-smith-norwich-defeat-arsenal-6407959
Keith Hackett's view. https://www.footballinsider247.com/...got-away-with-as-arsenal-controversy-ignored/
I'm surprised the FA didn't launch an investigation to get Norwich fans permanently banned and arrested for non crime hate incidents for booing Saka. Can you imagine zhe fall out if Brandon purposely stamped on him and nothing was done ? We get screwed over by the officials and the VAR clowns every week and that won't change. We can't blame them for our league position and inevitable relegation but it certainly doesn't help.
We would still have lost that game but Saka should have been handed a straight red and Lacazette gave away one of the most blatant penalties you will see. He had McLean by by the collar and pulls him over. Perhaps against 10 men and 2-1 we would have given them a game . Norwich are the league's whipping boys and the officials don't mind putting the boot in too , nobody cares we are down already .
Can't really agree. VAR in itself is not a failure. Similar systems work really well in cricket and rugby. The problem is not the system, but the CLOWNS who operate and oversee the system. It is also a major problem that the vast majority of players are cheats, feigning injuries etc. The sport has probably got the system it deserves
We know full well that if Williams had stamped on Sakar VAR would have given a straight red and Saka would have probably made it into a big media storm about racial injustice or some other bullshit. If McLean had grabbed Lacazette's shirt collar and pulled him over that penalty is given all day long. V.A R should either be used for every incorrect decision the referee makes or only used for specific things . If the live replay shows a blatant stamp seconds after the incident and nothing is given and V.A.R decide that they will let it go there is no point in them being there
I think we can ask questions of VAR in terms of validity and reliability. Re. validity, it is naive to think that decisions can always be clear-cut in a contact sport like football. We all have experience of watching MOTD and seeing an incident from a variety of angles, both in real time and slomo, and still we can't feel confident what the correct decision should be. Ditto very close offside decisions. In these situations, if the VAR verdict is going to take more than a certain time, the decision of the onfield referee should stand IMO. Reliability is much more difficult. Just as one onfield ref will decide A while in another match another onfield ref will decide not-A, the use of VAR is equally random, both in terms of whether a particular incident is reviewed or not, and in terms of the final decision made. I have no idea how this can be addressed, but it does lead to a feeling (whether justified or not) that big teams are being advantaged at the expense of smaller teams. As I would like to take as much power as possible away from the VAR officials, and make everything as transparent as possible, I would personally be in favour of a system where each team can make two or three calls per match for an incident to be reviewed. At least then supporters would know that the decision whether something is reviewed would be up to the club captain and not some hidden God in the sky.
I think we all agree that it's not the system at fault, but the interpretation by poor ref decisions and faceless VAR "inpartial officials"
