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![]() Are you enjoying the season as much as I"m not? Yes? Thought so. There have been a few highs such as beating Ipswich and denying them their first Derby win in 9 matches thanks to Timm Klose's last minute equaliser at Carrow Road and excellent wins on the road at Middlesbrough and Sheffield United. But let's not kid ourselves, Daniel Farke"s first season in charge has been on the whole very disappointing. Apparently it has been a season of transition but surely you could say the same about next season when according to the board we won't have any money? Personally I'm a bit concerned because the core of our team will be moving on. James Maddison obviously has had a magnificent season and will be snapped up by one of the bigger Premier League clubs and who can blame with little hope of promotion with the Canaries? Ideally it would be brilliant if the club that signed Maddison loaned him back to us for another season but that's probably unlikely to happen. Alex Tettey is expected to leave in the summer when his contract runs out and Angus Gunn will go back to Manchester City hoping his impressive season on loan at Carrow Road will earn another loan move but this time to a Premier League club. Nelson Olivera could be another player making an exit but because of his attitude he isn't likely to be missed and we will do well to recoup most of the £5m we reportedly paid for him. Oliveira is the Canaries' top scoring striker with just 8 goals in 35 league appearances (after scoring 11 goals in 28 the season before) is quite pathetic and our other striker Dennis Srbeny has found the net just once against Aston Villa (mind you I could have probably scored it) in only the 7th home win of a frustrating season, especially at home. There have been more goalless draws at Carrow Road that I can ever remember, four. What is really embarrassing is that we have the 5th worst goalscoring record in the Championship after scoring 85 in the league the season before. But what do you expect if you sell proven Championship goalscorers such as Cameron Jerome and Lewis Grabban and replace them with players from the third tier of German football? Norwich couldn't even score against relegation certainties Burton Albion home and away. In fact as failing to beat Burton we couldn't beat the other two soon to be relegated teams Sunderland and Barnsley home and away either. Will the money from the sale of James Maddison be reinvested into the team? Judging by the fact that the £10m cash from the sale of Jacob Murphy to Newcastle United (not forgetting the £11m received for Alex Pritchard in January) was hardly used for signing anybody except possibly for the £3m signing of Grant Hanley, also involving Newcastle United it doesn't look good now because the board, well sporting director Stuart Webber to be precise because the board hardly ever talk, say we have no money. Daniel Farke seems like a decent bloke but has he got any man management skills? Does the fact that between them Sean Raggett and the on loan youngster nicknamed the "Mini Messi", Marcus Edwards only managed just under ten minutes game prove that Farke didn't get on with them? Did Nelson Oliveira get on better with Alex Neill and Alan Irvine because he had a better scoring rate and his attitude was better? It was obvious on the first day after the season following Oliveira's reaction to his equalising goal at Fulham that he and Farke's relationship was going to be rocky. Maybe Farke should learn some tips on man management from Cardiff City boss Neil warnock? He may not be the most popular of managers but Neil Warnock has transformed the Bluebirds from nowhere last season into promotion contenders this season. Warnock has already got seven promotions under his belt, so he is no mug. Farke wants to keep hold of Harrison Reed and Moritz Leitner. Reed has had a really good second half of the season and has looked more solid at right-back than Ivo Pinto. Reed's parent club Southampton might not want to loan him out again if they are relegated to the Championship which looks likely.The jury is still out on former Borussia Dortmund player Leitner who should have scored in the home game against Bolton Wanderers. The jury is definitely still out on Daniel Farke who really needs to prove to the Canary faithful that he is capable of building a team that not only can defend and score goals but mount a serious challenge at the top end of the Championship. A lot has been made of the fact that Farke is Norwich City's first foreign coach. Let's hope the change of direction for the Canaries doesn't have an unhappy ending. ![]() | ||||
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