Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about Norwich City…
On Norwich sacking David Wagner and hiring an untested manager in England: “It’s always a gamble changing managers, especially one who got you in the play-offs. But I don’t think David Wagner’s relationship with Norwich fans ever recovered after a poor start to the season.
“Norwich City are always expected to be near the top-end of the Championship and, yes, it was an improvement on the previous season, but they averaged less than 50% possession across the whole campaign. That is not typical of Norwich in the Championship.
“Norwich fans want to see their team dominate the ball, supplying brilliant brilliant forwards such as Gabriel Sara, Josh Sargent and Jonathan Rowe. If they can keep those players, scoring goals will not be a problem next season. Only the top-four teams scored more goals than Norwich City last season.
“But I thought defensively they were poor, they allowed the opposition to have too much of the ball and territory. So they’ve decided to move in a different direction with Johannes Hoff Thorup which, as with all decisions of this ilk, is a gamble.
“Equally for David Wagner, leaving after getting Norwich City in the top-six will not have done his reputation any damage. We could be sitting here in 12 months time saying ‘The grass isn’t always greener,’ who knows?”
Asked who do you fancy for promotion and relegation from the Championship, he said: “Last season was one of the easiest Championship seasons to predict in terms of who would be at the top as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all retained a plethora of Premier League-quality players They were always going to be competing at the top end of the league.
“However this season I’m not so confident in the relegated clubs. For Burnley and Luton, it depends on what their squad looks like when the transfer window shuts. Will Burnley keep the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho and Sander Berge? If they do, you fancy them to be a force. Will Luton keep the likes of Alfie Doughty, Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris? If they do, you’d also tip them to be competing at the top.
“But Sheffield United look like a club in disarray and are coming down from the Premier in a very weak state. A massive overhaul is required for Chris Wilder and his backroom staff. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but he’s up against it at the moment.
“You’d expect Leeds to be towards the top, with the sale of Archie Gray possibly meaning they’ll be able to keep hold of the attacking force that tore apart Championship defences for 80% of the season before falling at the last hurdle.”
“Then with some teams, you don’t really know what to expect from them. You cannot rule out West Brom with Carlos Corberan in charge still, Coventry’s FA Cup semi-final proved a hindrance to their promotion hopes last season, and Middlesbrough ended the campaign very strongly.
“The upcoming Championship season will not be as strong as last season’s, which had the best top-four that I’ve ever seen. That’s going to give an opportunity for some teams to surprise us.
“At the bottom, Des Buckingham has a huge job on his hands at Oxford as play-off winners are notoriously the teams that struggle the most. It’s just brilliant that they’re in the Championship.
“Derby County remind me of Sheffield Wednesday last season as they have one of the oldest teams in the division. Wednesday struggled with the physical side of things early on last year, so it’s interesting to see Paul Warne move on a number of 30-plus-year-olds and bring pace and energy into the club. That gap still needs to be bridged, though.
“I would expect Portsmouth to be the strongest of the relegated clubs and, therefore, I’m looking at the clubs that just about survived. John Eustace has a big job on his hands at Blackburn after they relied so heavily on Sammie Szmodics, it would be some achievement if he could replicate such performances. I’m not sure about Plymouth, and that’s not because of Wayne Rooney, it’s just the nature of them being in the Championship.
“Even Sunderland finished the season winning just two of their last 15 games. They’ve got a new manager in Regis Les Bris, whose background is in developing young footballers but this is the Championship so it’s very difficult for a whole group of young players to succeed and they didn’t have any strikers capable of performing at that level and struggled for goals. Those would be the clubs I’d be concerned about.”
This is how fans reacted to what Don Goodman had to say on Norwich…
@Ginger_Canary: When the pundits call a transfer or a hire a gamble, it usually means they know absolutely nothing about them 😂
@barr_jc: A gamble in my opinion is much better than sticking with what we had!
David Littleton: There are Norwich fans who will moan if we gamble , moan if we don’t so can’t win really
Phil Howard: We gambled on Neil and Farke as well
@youngelearners: He’s right there
Norwich – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug A Oxford United Championship 12.30pm
Sat 17 Aug H Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Sat 24 Aug H Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Sat 31 Aug A Coventry City Championship 12.30pm
Sat 14 Sep A Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Sep H Watford Championship 12.30pm
Sat 28 Sep A Derby County Championship 12.30pm
Wed 2 Oct H Leeds United Championship 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct H Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 19 Oct A Stoke City Championship 3pm
Tue 22 Oct A Preston North End Championship 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct H Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Sat 2 Nov A Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Tue 5 Nov A Sheffield Wednesday Championship 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov H Bristol City Championship 3pm
Sat 23 Nov A West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Tue 26 Nov H Plymouth Argyle Championship 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov H Luton Town Championship 3pm
Sat 7 Dec A Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Tue 10 Dec A Portsmouth Championship 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec H Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Dec A Sunderland Championship 3pm
Thu 26 Dec H Millwall Championship 3pm
Sun 29 Dec H Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Wed 1 Jan A Luton Town Championship 3pm
Sat 4 Jan H Coventry City Championship 3pm
Sat 18 Jan A Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Wed 22 Jan A Leeds United Championship 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan H Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Feb A Watford Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Feb H Derby County Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Feb H Preston North End Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb A Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 22 Feb H Stoke City Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Mar A Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Mar H Oxford United Championship 3pm
Wed 12 Mar H Sheffield Wednesday Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar A Bristol City Championship 3pm
Sat 29 Mar H West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Sat 5 Apr A Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Tue 8 Apr H Sunderland Championship 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr A Burnley Championship 3pm
Fri 18 Apr H Portsmouth Championship 3pm
Mon 21 Apr A Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 26 Apr A Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Sat 3 May H Cardiff City Championship 3pm
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