Webber Speaks Out

[Jedi-Canary]

Stuart Webber has done a media interview and spoken out about City's Current situation,

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[GozoCanary]

I think it gets very interesting now. Webber is facing his reputation taking a very serious blow if public opinion swings towards the idea that he has screwed up the recruitment big time over the summer. Suddenly people will start saying, 'He reached his limit at Huddersfield and the same thing has happened again.' One possible way for him out of this is to get someone new in and dump all the failure on Farke. He seems like an ethical guy who wouldn't do that, but ... ?

 

[Robbie BB]

What would the justification be for saying that Webber "screwed up" the recruitment this summer? He was universally applauded; DF described it as almost the perfect transfer window. You have to remember that recruitment is a key element of our self-funding model, so re-sale value is a critical consideration. You might argue that our chances of surviving in the EPL this season would have been best served by buying proven Premier League quality and experience, but that would have had to be at the cost of re-sale value. Webber went for better-than-Championship quality and experience allied to re-sale value wherever possible (the one obvious exception being Gibson).

 

[DHCanary]

What would the justification be for saying that Webber "screwed up" the recruitment this summer?

Because excellent recruitment on paper (and I'm not disagreeing with your assessment of that in the slightest, or the reasons for it) hasn't translated into anything beneficial on the pitch?

4 summer signings in the XI today, and I think most would agree only Normann is showing signs of being adept at this level.

There's no area of the pitch where we look remotely Prem standard. Our defence can't defend, our midfield is basically non-existent, our strikers are disconnected, ineffectual and can't score.

The transfer work was lauded in the summer because it did look good on paper, with the little information available to us. But:

• we still don't really have a DM, neither Gilmour or Normann look right there.
• we've now tried 3 LBs without anyone looking like a long term solution
• we're still playing McLean who doesn't look any closer to being a Prem player
• We've signed wingers in Rashica and Tzolis, who were never going to provide the type of service Pukki was used to
• We've adopted a formation which doesn't use wingers - if the formation was part of the plan the recruitment was daft, if the formation wasn't planned, then what was the plan?
• Sargent shows no signs of being Prem standard.
• Why loan out Hugill then start relying on long balls and crosses?

I think it's fair to say the recruitment, whilst it looks very good on paper, hasn't resulted in a combination of players and tactics that works at this level. So either the manager has failed and needs replacing, the plan made in May to build towards a Prem season was wrong, or the recruitment was wrong. Webber's in control of all of that.

 

[GozoCanary]

What would the justification be for saying that Webber "screwed up" the recruitment this summer? He was universally applauded; DF described it as almost the perfect transfer window. You have to remember that recruitment is a key element of our self-funding model, so re-sale value is a critical consideration. You might argue that our chances of surviving in the EPL this season would have been best served by buying proven Premier League quality and experience, but that would have had to be at the cost of re-sale value. Webber went for better-than-Championship quality and experience allied to re-sale value wherever possible (the one obvious exception being Gibson).

Yes, he was almost universally applauded, and I was among those applauding. But opinions change, and when I now look on the PinkUn website, I see a few voices starting to question the recruitment. This is the point I was making, rather than any assessment of the quality of the recruitment from an objective viewpoint. At the moment Farke is taking nearly all of the flak; if he doesn't act soon, Webber may soon become a target himself. To date, they've been very much a double act; I was merely speculating whether that closeness might start to come apart.

 

[Robbie BB]

Because excellent recruitment on paper (and I'm not disagreeing with your assessment of that in the slightest, or the reasons for it) hasn't translated into anything beneficial on the pitch?

4 summer signings in the XI today, and I think most would agree only Normann is showing signs of being adept at this level.

There's no area of the pitch where we look remotely Prem standard. Our defence can't defend, our midfield is basically non-existent, our strikers are disconnected, ineffectual and can't score.

The transfer work was lauded in the summer because it did look good on paper, with the little information available to us. But:

• we still don't really have a DM, neither Gilmour or Normann look right there.
• we've now tried 3 LBs without anyone looking like a long term solution
• we're still playing McLean who doesn't look any closer to being a Prem player
• We've signed wingers in Rashica and Tzolis, who were never going to provide the type of service Pukki was used to
• We've adopted a formation which doesn't use wingers - if the formation was part of the plan the recruitment was daft, if the formation wasn't planned, then what was the plan?
• Sargent shows no signs of being Prem standard.

I think it's fair to say the recruitment, whilst it looks very good on paper, hasn't resulted in a combination of players and tactics that works at this level. So either the manager has failed and needs replacing, the plan made in May to build towards a Prem season was wrong, or the recruitment was wrong. Webber's in control of all of that.

I'd attribute responsibility for all those bulleted shortcomings to Farke rather than Webber, with the exception of Tzolis. In Tzolis's case, I suspect the opportunity to sign him simply opened up unexpectedly and Webber saw it as an unmissable investment opportunity.

 

[Robbie BB]

At the moment Farke is taking nearly all of the flak; if he doesn't act soon, Webber may soon become a target himself. To date, they've been very much a double act; I was merely speculating whether that closeness might start to come apart.

Webber's chief responsibility is to the club. He knows that, and DF knows it.

 

[SuffolkCanary]

It’s all very well saying we should have bought players with some Prem experience but here are several key reasons why we didn’t/couldn’t. Firstly I imagine it would be difficult to convince a player to leave an established PL side to join a relegation candidate, and if they were that good why would the established team let them go. Secondly finances, we most likely can’t afford the transfer fees for the number of players we wanted and if we could I’m sure their wage expectations would exceed our wage cap.
We have to take risks on players from abroad with our financial situation, but we can’t risk the finances of the club.
I’m still happy with the signings made, they haven’t had a lot of time, I thought Rashica had one of his best games for us today. My biggest worry is that we don’t seem capable of finding a formation that gets the best out of this team.

 

[carrowcanario]

My biggest worry is that we don’t seem capable of finding a formation that gets the best out of this team.

Maybe if we stuck with one rather than changing it every other game we might have more luck.

 

[RiverEndRick]

Because excellent recruitment on paper (and I'm not disagreeing with your assessment of that in the slightest, or the reasons for it) hasn't translated into anything beneficial on the pitch?

4 summer signings in the XI today, and I think most would agree only Normann is showing signs of being adept at this level.

There's no area of the pitch where we look remotely Prem standard. Our defence can't defend, our midfield is basically non-existent, our strikers are disconnected, ineffectual and can't score.

The transfer work was lauded in the summer because it did look good on paper, with the little information available to us. But:

• we still don't really have a DM, neither Gilmour or Normann look right there.
• we've now tried 3 LBs without anyone looking like a long term solution
• we're still playing McLean who doesn't look any closer to being a Prem player
• We've signed wingers in Rashica and Tzolis, who were never going to provide the type of service Pukki was used to
• We've adopted a formation which doesn't use wingers - if the formation was part of the plan the recruitment was daft, if the formation wasn't planned, then what was the plan?
• Sargent shows no signs of being Prem standard.
• Why loan out Hugill then start relying on long balls and crosses?

I think it's fair to say the recruitment, whilst it looks very good on paper, hasn't resulted in a combination of players and tactics that works at this level. So either the manager has failed and needs replacing, the plan made in May to build towards a Prem season was wrong, or the recruitment was wrong. Webber's in control of all of that.

I agree with much of that DH, but it's strange to praise Normann and then say "our midfield was non-existent". DF put Rashica in as an attacking WB (much like Leeds use) at the expense of Giannoulis. That left Omobamidele having to play as a CB and a LB at the same time, which he did reasonably well in the first half but he failed to cover Raphinha's goalscoring run in the second. Why couldn't Giannoulis have been the WB with a special responsibility for Raphinha to take some of the pressure off Omobamidele? To expect McLean to play as a progressive CM and cover the left flank as well seems strange for a two man midfield.

After 10 games, the new players should have gelled by now but except for Normann, that doesn't seem to be happening. Rashica and Tzolis aren't really wingers as they tend to cut inside most of the time, though Rashica does make the occasional hopeful cross. Dowell looked to be our best provider yesterday and he's also capable of scoring goals and taking set pieces. I hope he stays on the right side for Brentford, with Rashica on the left again, with Tzolis coming on as sub earlier.

 

[NorthCityCanary]

Yes, he was almost universally applauded, and I was among those applauding. But opinions change, and when I now look on the PinkUn website, I see a few voices starting to question the recruitment. This is the point I was making, rather than any assessment of the quality of the recruitment from an objective viewpoint. At the moment Farke is taking nearly all of the flak; if he doesn't act soon, Webber may soon become a target himself. To date, they've been very much a double act; I was merely speculating whether that closeness might start to come apart.

Only agree with some of that, I don't know if many members here are also on the City fans page on FB, but the transfers were only 70% welcomed. Many thought the signing of Sargent was a total waste of money due to his (lack) of record and also a panic buy after failing with Armstrong, PLM was seen as a gamble, I was against spending money on Gunn, given we already had arguably similar/better alternatives available, plus I saw the money should have been used elsewhere (Ajer / Armstrong).

As for Webber soon becoming a target.....he already is. He left Huddersfield after failing with signings, arguably the same is happening, whether upper championship is his level, or whether the lack of funds is to blame who knows. But away from here a large minority are already calling for him to go, along with Farke.

 

[SuffolkCanary]

I agree with much of that DH, but it's strange to praise Normann and then say "our midfield was non-existent". DF put Rashica in as an attacking WB (much like Leeds use) at the expense of Giannoulis. That left Omobamidele having to play as a CB and a LB at the same time, which he did reasonably well in the first half but he failed to cover Raphinha's goalscoring run in the second. Why couldn't Giannoulis have been the WB with a special responsibility for Raphinha to take some of the pressure off Omobamidele? To expect McLean to play as a progressive CM and cover the left flank as well seems strange for a two man midfield.

After 10 games, the new players should have gelled by now but except for Normann, that doesn't seem to be happening. Rashica and Tzolis aren't really wingers as they tend to cut inside most of the time, though Rashica does make the occasional hopeful cross. Dowell looked to be our best provider yesterday and he's also capable of scoring goals and taking set pieces. I hope he stays on the right side for Brentford, with Rashica on the left again, with Tzolis coming on as sub earlier.

I thought Dowell was poor against Leeds, faded further and further out of the game as it went on. His set pieces were terrible as well, I’m not doubting his ability but he should be used on the right for me, it’s no10 or nothing.