Match Day Thread Stoke city v Norwich city

I think those 4 draws could have completely unravelled our season and I would be horrified at the prospect of a penalty shoot out .

Got to feel a bit sorry for Leeds , those fans have had their fair share of disappointment.

 

True DD but although 4 draws on the trot is a tad disappointing we never suffered defeat and those 4 points could be the differentiator come season end - I'd rather we did it our way instead of Wigan and The Bees doing us favours but in my mind we have earned those favours and we are in the box seat and should enjoy the fruits of the season come the final whistle on Saturday.

 

That Vrancic screamer in the 97 minute felt like a win and season defining moment.

 

I'm hoping that with the pressure off now we'll get back to the sexy, flowing football again and give the fans their just reward for the togetherness this season. COYY!

 

The highlights reflect how even the match was. Good goals and good chances for both sides. Pity about their second, but Hernandez was following the mantra about playing the ball out of defence rather than booting it and then lost his footing. Great ball in to Pukki from Vrancic and Teemu put it away beautifully.

 

Interesting take on our players watching the Leeds game at the airport:

http://sportwitness.co.uk/cheered-like-fans-norwich-star-watching-leeds-united-lose-airport/

Now they know what it's like to be a fan (on the good days at least).

 

Up as champions or up? Would have taken either at the beginning of the season. What will define us is how this team of warriors adapts nexr season and who comes in. That is going to take some amazing management, considering what this team has achieved this season. At times yesterday it felt like we were back in the PL as it was very even and at times our mistakes undid us (their goal for one). Kinda looking forward to it, but my missus is not as I do enjoy winning and she has suffered more than me when we've been in the PL in our last seasons there. She said the BEIN subscription was the worst thing she ever bought me last time up!

 

Well, certainly up and probably champions as well. As for how the team adapts to the PL my guess is pretty well. The quality of the football with pace and movement is well suited to a higher level but I wonder about us defensively. Might we go to a back 3? Aarons and Lewis are well suited to the WB role and Godfrey could move forward into the DM slot when we have the ball and drop back when we don't. It'll be interesting to see how DF sets us up, particularly away from home against the big clubs.

 

Personally I would be happy with an Ian Holloway Blackpool approach, and unless we see a radical change of style that is exactly what I expect. With 89 goals scored and 55 conceded we have embraced that philosophy of "We'll score one more than you". That won't be easy in The Premiership and we will concede a lot for sure but for me a liberal sprinkling of 3-2 results would be a better way than trying to scramble ten one nil wins and ten nil-nil draws.

 

Totally agree. If we go up, the last thing I want is a repeat of the Hughton period.

 

I agree, it was bloody terrible!

Bah!

 

Agree. But Hughton was let down by RvW. We have Pukki power now, plus Buendia and Hernandez (another 17 goals and even more assists).

 

Hughton wasn't let down by RvW - Hughton failed to build a side which made use of him.

RvW spoke about it not that long ago - how part of convincing him to join Norwich was telling him of the transfers planned and change in style that would make use of his talents. They didn't come off for whatever reason, Hughton couldn't put a side together which worked with RvW, so he went direct and defensive, and told Ricky it wouldn't be to his benefit.

Ricky has been a 0.4 goals per game striker his entire career, except his spell at Norwich and loans from there. He didn't suddenly become a bad player when he came to Norfolk, like Pukki didn't become a terrible player when he joined Celtic.

You can see Hughton doing the same thing at Brighton this season. £17m on Jahanbakhsh (RW) for 0 goals, 2 assists, £15m on Locadia (ST, 2 goals), £5.4m on Andone (ST, 3 goals). Hughton hasn't managed to upgrade on Murray (35 years old, top scorer with 11). Their second and fourth highest scorers are their CBs. The only thing Hughton appears to have learnt from his time at Norwich is "don't let the aging striker leave before you know you've managed to replace him properly"!

 

Agree 100 % with all of that DH

 

Yes that was bad wording on my part, but certainly RvW didn't work out. I'm not convinced that he was a PL level striker though when you compare what Pukki does for the team. Hughton's subsequent recruitment failures demonstrate the fallacy of paying big fees to buy success. The players must fit the team and vice versa. SW has managed that well in most cases and with bargain players.

 

There comes a point though where to improve the team, bigger fees become necessary. Each year Webber might have a list of players for up to £5m, but as the previous seasons improve, unless they are lost to transfers, he surely can only keep matching them without increasing the initial spend. For example, If we can stay in the PL for the next 2 seasons, is £15m still a big fee, or a natural progression as our means improve? Clearly Hughton and past Norwich regimes have not done well with the scale up in spend, but I think Webber can and will. Managing contracts in such a way as to not bankrupt us is the key in any such progression scenario.

Bah!

 

IF we go up then I would much rather keep ALL of our young players and add to the squad in the same way we did this season.

No Naismith or RVW signings and put a massive chunk of the money into increasing stadium capacity and our academy .

Learn from last time it nearly ruined us again.

 

How many seats could be addded to the City stand? It was built with a second tier in mind wasn't it? Quite the disruption during the season though.

 

Naismith and Jarvis are our highest wage earners (I suppose Naismith's is less the pittance Hearts will be giving us).

Both contracts expire this year - lovely! Don't come back. Feel a little sorry for RvW - he was urged to come here in good faith, was just the wrong manager for him. C'est la vie!