The ACN 2023-24 Season Preview

Having had the off-season to digest it, what are your final thoughts on last season before we get the cloth out to wipe the slate?

Jon – Ugh. Do we have to do this again? The drudgery of Smudgerball, a little bit of hope restored with early signs under Wagner, and then a Teemu-less grind to the end of the campaign with one win in 11. It was shite. Not late-Nineties levels of shite, but shite nonetheless.

It’s been said elsewhere so many times, but it’s a point worth repeating: last season, it felt as if Norwich were trying to be one of the big kids in the playground, nicking the lunch money, when we’re actually much better at being the creative nerdy types in the corner, quietly going under the radar. Stick to what we’re good at, Nodge.

Nick – I enter the new campaign season ticket-less. I think that tells you pretty much everything I think about that shitheap that was.

Ben – Strangely, it felt quite nice to have a season without the stresses of promotion or relegation to worry about, despite us still being in play-off contention for a ridiculous amount of time given the team’s form. I appreciate that the mellow novelty of going nowhere won’t last very long. 

Even recent relegation seasons didn’t seem to have quite the same mass-yearning for it to all be over as the past season did. I do wonder if the sweet release of the summer has already clouded the memory of just how pathetically bad a season of underachievement it was. And for those reasons, I’m not expecting an easy, quick fix.

The final run of defeats to end the season would have ended the tenure of any manager other than the person who saved us from Dean Smith – MM

Edie – It felt so dismal, like standing by an open door for hours while a collective of toddlers insisted they could put on their own wellies, only we seem to have paid for the experience. And in the background lurked An Angry Man who hates us, grumbling about how women are even more shit at putting on their own wellies, even though those wellies were under-resourced and not adequately supported by head office. Meanwhile, all the while we could sense a growing, pulsating force looming from Suffolk; a few thousand rag-tag voices suddenly hooting as one with supernaturally renewed confidence. Still it throbs.

Paul – I’m still not sure what the point of last season was. However, the last two months of the season were so poor it was actually a bonus; I forgot about supporting Norwich City and treated it like an extended summer of other sports. On the flip side, it’s made me anticipate the new season more than is probably healthy. 

Matthew – It’s the hope that gets you, and those of us who were at Wagner’s first two away games (six points, eight goals) were really up for a fall. The final run of defeats to end the season would have ended the tenure of any manager other than the person who saved us from Dean Smith. I doubt Norwich fans will be as charitable this season.

Adam – To state the obvious, it wasn’t good enough from anybody at the club. To stand any chance of moving forward now, though, we need to put it behind us quickly.

Cameron – The first word that comes into my head is ‘underwhelming’. If last season had a sound, it would be the sound of a balloon’s slow deflation. Not just any balloon either, the last balloon from a poorly attended retirement party, long forgotten behind a stack of chairs in a suburban community hall. 

The seeds of our eventual mid table mediocrity were sewn well before Christmas. The elongated breakdown of the Dean Smith era signalling the beginning of the end for a wider epoch. A reset was definitely needed. Our old identity was hard to locate, everything felt disjointed and the whole Norwich City experience became a bit of a slog.

So how are we going to do this time round the merry-go-round?

Jon – A slow start. Natives get twitchy around the ten-game mark. At which point Stuart Webber has gone to Saudi Arabia and we’re in limbo.

After a seven-game winless streak, Wagner walks around November – at around the same time Russell Martin gets jettisoned by Southampton, for being all style but none of the results their fans crave.

Russ returns and gives Delia a big hug when he arrives, but ultimately can only get City up to eighth. Parachute payment-less purgatory looms large.

It would just be like Norwich City to have the season to end all seasons, with an actual 100 points and 100 goals – NH

Nick – Jed, I’ll level with you. I’m really scared. Pound-for-pound, the league is going to be probably the strongest it has been for at least a couple of decades. Wagner hasn’t set the world alight, and the squad all seems fairly meh. We’ll be lucky if we get into the play-offs and I thank to Christ that we don’t play Ipswich until December. 

Mind you, because of the aforementioned season ticket non-renewal, it would just be like Norwich City to have the season to end all seasons, with an actual 100 points and 100 goals plus an FA Cup Final. I am nothing if not a pessimistic optimist.

Ben – I could easily imagine us finishing in the bottom half. I think there’s still a pretty good squad there, that’s had some, but certainly not all, of the required additions made.

Unfortunately, David Wagner’s career trajectory would seem to be following a downward path. The power vacuum at the club makes me doubt whether he’d be dismissed quickly enough if things are going wrong, or that he’d then be competently replaced.

Oh, and we will absolutely lose to that shitheap team from Suffolk too, so prepare for that.

Edie – I can only hope we focus on the bits we can change, control or celebrate, rather than see something sparkly and expensive elsewhere and try to knock up something similar ourselves in the back of our shed.  

Paul – Webber’s obsession with stockpiling wingers means we’ll have to play with four wide men on each side of the pitch, which will be extraordinarily exciting. We’ll score more than 100 goals but concede 150. We’ll escape relegation on the last day of the season and everyone will be thankful for the gift Stuart left us. 

Matthew – When we play Ipswich in December it will have been more 14 years since they last beat us. Or 5,354 days. That’s 128,496 hours. The scale of the time they’ve waited to beat us will only be matched by the scale of the smugness we’ll have to endure. That fact that it will cement their place in the playoffs and push us further into the bottom half of the table will be mere salt in the wound. 

Adam – If I’m to judge from what I’ve seen in pre-season (a fairly unreliable source) then we can expect to be hard to beat, but lacking in the creativity department and I fear a fairly dull mid-table finish. For years we were spoilt with Hoolahan or Buendía in our team, even Maddison briefly in between, and as much as I love our South Americans it is difficult to see them bring that level of chance creation. Having said that, both Sara and Núñez are likely to bring the high points – as they did last season with some spectacular goals and eye-catching performances.

Cameron – I think that given the quality in the division this time out automatic promotion will be a real challenge. A playoff spot is certainly within the realms of possibility, but it will unsurprisingly require a better showing than last season. If not, then another mid-table finish could well be on the cards.

We’ve signed some players and got rid of others. What do you reckon?

Jon – At the time of writing, Wagner reckons our business is done. This is a worry, given there seems to be little midfield steel, a lack of real options at centre back, and a striker light. If Wagner wants to play two up front, which seems to be entirely possible at this point, then going into a season with Adam Idah as your sole back-up striker seems, well, negligent.

We’ve signed some muscle, some attitude, some pace, and some kids – PB

Nick – While I would liked to have kept Dowell, I am more miffed that we’ve sold Bali Mumba – because that would have been a guaranteed goal or two against Ipswich. He also seems like just the sort of player our academy should be producing – someone who can actually stay at the club longer than a few years. So not sure what happened there.

I know nothing about football, so it’s tricky for me to answer regarding incomings – though I think Fassnacht’s signing was worth whatever we paid for him, if only for Timm Klose’s Instagram post about buying a house in Diss.

Ben – Before Christian Fassnacht’s signing I was more concerned. I’d previously joked that all we needed was a player to be the final piece of the puzzle who could create, beat his man, cross, finish, header and tackle – so no pressure, Christian. Scoring within a few hours of signing is certainly a good start. Elsewhere, Barnes and Duffy seem to be the sort of players that we lacked in those positions last season.

Paul – We’ve signed some muscle, some attitude, some pace, and some kids. Yet still, no one who can legitimately claim to be a proper defensive midfielder. At least we’ve stopped with the vanity loans – for now.  

Edie – I’m liking the cut of this Duffy unit’s jib. He has the unquestioning glare of an unmovable force. And, I’m hoping, the low levels of imagination that will render him immune to Mad Guff Written On Walls in training centres, plus the sense of humour required to detach from the humiliations that lie ahead.   

Matthew – This Sainz looks a bit tasty, doesn’t he. Can’t wait to see him in early February. The other incomings seem fine, but incomplete. Aarons and Omobamidele going nowhere seems like a recipe for disruption.

Adam – I think Duffy will improve the defence from last season with his positioning and presence – he should also be a threat from set-pieces. The two right backs, Jack Stacey and Kellen Fisher, were arguably the most consistent performers in pre-season, so we now seem to have incredible depth there, so much so that if Max Aarons stays he might find himself playing left back instead, where we don’t look particularly strong. If Plan A is playing two strikers, then I think we may need more there than we currently have. I also worry we are still a CB short too, given our injury record there. Overall, I think it’s best we judge at the end of the window as I still think we’ll see a couple more departures and arrivals. 

Cameron – The loss of a talismanic player such as Teemu Pukki was always going to have wider permutations for our squad cohesion. However, I have been very impressed with our transfer business. Barnes and Duffy offer some much-needed experience to the squad, and are well versed in the nuances of the division. It’s also an undoubtedly good sign that Wagner was able to hook long-term target Christian Fassnacht, as he seeks to impose his own style of play.

Wagner is our head coach still. Will he be by the end of this season?

Jon – Absolutely not. He is very much Webber’s man and given it’s unlikely he’s here at Christmas, Wagner’s future is very uncertain.

Nick – I’d say the odds are long because not only is the usual results-driven Sword of Damocles hanging over him (and I am not convinced the horse-tail hair won’t snap), there’s also the turbulence that comes with the Sporting Director situation. It’ll be a shock if we get a new one in and he’s still around this time next year, as that rarely seems to happen in modern football.

Ben – If the form and application from last continues, then no. He seems a likeable chap and I obviously hope he succeeds. However after affording Dean Smith the benefit of the doubt this time last year, I’m not really in the mood to watch something that isn’t working again until January – and I doubt the wider fanbase will have a lot of patience either.

…a case of asking Mum if we can have Farke, and her replying that we have Farke at home – EM

Paul – Probably not. I feel much more comfortable with Wagner here than Dean Smith and I’d like things to work out for him. Yet when I look into the future, I see unrest and disillusion stuck to him like a dog turd on the sole of his shoe. It’s gonna stink and eventually too many people will smell it.   

Edie – Having considered the perma-torture seemingly experienced by previous helmsmen forced to operate with a nonsensical buzz in their left ear, I do wonder if he might perk up, once given some space and agency of his own. But I suspect this experiment was a case of asking Mum if we can have Farke, and her replying that we have Farke at home. Only it’s not, is it.    

Matthew – We have more chance of doing the double over Ipswich than Wagner has of finishing the season as our manager. He has until Webber finally lands a new job to prove us wrong. I hope he does, because as a person, he’s the right fit for the city and the fans. But football is a results-based business. 

Adam – Given just how bad we were under him at the end of last season, he doesn’t have much margin for error – especially when you consider the man who appointed him could disappear at any moment. I found it a very underwhelming appointment at the time; I don’t like Norwich appointing managers on a downward trajectory in their career, and so far Wagner’s stock has continued to plummet. 

I did find him a very impressive talker when he first joined, and the dressing room looks a happier one than this time last year. I feel he has a huge opportunity now to prove his worth, but it would be somewhat of a surprise to see him take it.

Cameron – I hope so, because you would hope that means we’re in the hunt for promotion. I also, personally, really like him. His comments about the need for unity, cohesion and hard work in the championship before we even think about how to establish ourselves at the next level are all very good signs. Now we just need to see it put into action on the pitch. 

It’s good that we give managers time to work on their projects. However, if it becomes clear we’re not where we want to be, it’s far better to try something new early on, rather than wait until it’s too late.

What is your wild prediction for the season?

Christos Tzolis might actually fulfil some of the potential we bought and turn into a saleable asset. Yeah, I know – JP

Nick – This has been a negative preview from me so far, so let’s go positive and say that someone in the EFL will appoint a female permanent manager (preferably us). 

Ben – My wild prediction is that I might enjoy some of it. Cheering a goal that epitomises a clear style of play and managerial strategy. Seeing players performing to their best and being utilised for their strengths. Some of that would be fun. This isn’t more Farke-pining – I don’t really care if it’s ugly anymore, I just want to feel like I’m watching something that’s working. It’s not a lot to ask for, but I’d settle for it.

Paul – That Wagner-ball actually becomes a thing and blows the rest of the division away with its utter excitement and sheer relentlessness. As opposed to fizzling out by the time the clocks have gone back. 

Edie – We shall wander, shoeless in the desert. Metaphorically, spiritually and sportsularly. Nothing good will happen, but we will be forced to learn to enjoy the moment, wherever we can find it.

Matthew – There will be some who don’t want to hear this, but Josh Sargent is about to flourish out of Pukki’s shadow, and will smash 25 goals this season.

Adam – Until the day it comes true, I will never answer this question with any answer than “us winning a cup at Wembley.” 

Cameron – I really want to steer well clear of any predictions to do with our Blue and White neighbours. Let’s just say I have concerns about our upcoming fixtures. In fact, I don’t really want to look in the Norwich crystal ball at all. Instead, for a championship prediction I’m going to go for Coventry to continue their good form from last season and be the surprise package for an automatic spot. Given their all to public tribulations over the last few years, it would be a nice thing to see. 

What’s the best thing about modern football?

Jon – Maybe it was always so at a club like Norwich, but as a father of two girls, taking them on matchdays to a largely welcoming environment is pretty great. That shouldn’t need saying, but for so long it wasn’t the norm up and down the country.

And beyond that, the women’s game continues to take positive stride after positive stride into places where the men’s game has consistently failed. Watching Norwich’s young team develop last season was a delight and an altogether more wholesome experience than you’d typically get at the Carra. They should be able to compete to go one further this campaign and give promotion a real go. Get yourself to The Nest this season, you won’t regret it.

Nick – The incredible standards rise across the board in non-league football in England in the last 30 years – which has got to the point where you can go to a tier-seven match, get in for a fiver, enjoy a proper atmosphere, a beer, good food, a great sense of community spirit, and football that’s apparently barely any different in standard to that of three, even four, divisions higher. Affordable, accessible, open, community. What football is supposed to be. The clubs, leagues, the volunteers and, yes, even the FA all get credit for it.

I really love seeing footballers being nice to each other in the comments of Instagram posts. It’s so wholesome – MM

Ben – It has to be official club social media accounts posting happy birthday messages to squad players. It’s just such gold-standard, engaging content. The date had somehow slipped my mind last year, but thanks to the reminder, I was able to nip out and get a cake and some bunting to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Sam Byram.

Paul – I really struggle with this question, not because football ‘back in the day’ was any better or worse than now, but because of the extraordinary level of bullshit that surrounds the game today. However, as someone who coaches U11s, I am thankful for the way modern football coaching has embraced all styles of play and in particular how it focuses on the wellbeing of the individual at grass roots level. This wasn’t the case when I was growing up, and while things aren’t perfect now, modern football does at least offer more accessibility to most (maybe, one day, all). And that can only be a good thing. 

Edie – I’m starting to sense we might be at the slow dawning of an era where male footballers can be as out and proud as some of their female teammates. The women’s World Cup is proving how great fooball can be even more compelling when you start to learn which players are having it off with each other, and let’s face it, Wagatha Christie was a definitive swansong for the normative glamourspouse trend. 

Matthew – I really love seeing footballers being nice to each other in the comments of Instagram posts. It’s so wholesome. 

Adam – Just the amount of information out there these days about the game. From on-the-pitch to off-the-pitch stuff – if you want to learn something about football, there’s tons of resources out there, mostly for free, to help you. 

Cameron –  After decades of underfunding and institutional opposition, both domestic and international women’s competitions are going from strength to strength. This can only be good for the grassroots game, as the next generation of players can not only take inspiration from the likes of Beth Mead, Megan Rapinoe and Lena Obedorf, but find the infrastructure in place to support their development. By the same token, it’s hugely positive we ‘ve reached a point where professional male players feel comfortable being able to openly express who they are to teammates and fans. Clearly, there is still work to be done, and where we are should be a milestone rather than the final destination.

What’s the worst thing about modern football?

Jon – The not-so-slow erosion of 3pm kick offs, even within the EFL from next season. The match going fan doesn’t matter anymore, Sky is king and there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, unless you live in Germany, but we’re far too compliant to make a fuss.

Fanzines and publications such as When Saturday Comes need all the support we can give them. They are the oxygen we need in an increasingly fart-filled room – PB

Nick – What is worse than execution-heavy petrocratic states buying up our football clubs, our players, our grounds and our leagues to use in geopolitical power plays? The football fans who seem to not only moderate against it, but actively celebrate it. An apparent majority of Manchester United supporters, that great club of Bobby Charlton, George Best, Matt Busby, Eric Cantona and Alex Ferguson, the latest to slide into the abyss of Gulf state emoji-flags, welcomes your Highnesses and whataboutery. Welcome to top-level football in the Twenties; the sink is over there to wash the blood off.

Ben – It’s clearly a crowded field of options but for me it continues to be how any bozos with a podcast can appoint themselves as experts on your club/league, despite clearly not having a clue. This used to be one of the joys associated with a stay in the Premier League, but sadly Football League clubs are no longer immune.
Note: I don’t include this impeccable ACN podcast in this, which is well-informed and almost entirely bozo-free.

Paul – As mentioned above, the extraordinary level of bullshit surrounding modern football. There are few places to escape it, which is why fanzines and publications such as When Saturday Comes need all the support we can give them. They are the oxygen we need in an increasingly fart-filled room. 

Edie – The weak, hysterical cries of an almost-redundant tribe of supporters for whom football provides a dwindling, breastmilky illusion of an abstract masculine identity – one, ironically, at odds with the vulnerability they’re constantly demonstrating. Imagine developing enough <resilience> that one doesn’t start shrieking when spying a gay or a gal in your sports temple. Imagine.  

Matthew – Living in the northwest, I mainly go to away games, which involves some planning ahead to take account of who else can go, childcare, travel and so on and so on. And then the game gets moved to a Friday night and everything goes to shit. The repeated signals from those who run the game, the ones that indicate they actively hate us, are a bit wearing. 

Adam – The absolute unrelenting horror of the hyper capitalism of European club football, which continues to create an ever-increasing gap between itself and the rest of the world creating a vast array of problems on and off the pitch. The way white collar type-crime seeps deep into the richest clubs in the world with little real consequence for them. And how you have thousands of supporters ready to defend any heinous crime committed by their club or a favourite player, to try and show some weird twisted sense of loyalty – it is, of course, doing the opposite by damaging the very fabric of the club. 

Cameron – There’s a lot I could say here, but most of it boils down to the fact that valuable community assets the world over have become the playthings of narcissistic, power hungry billionaires and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Football is politics, politics is football. But anyone with a vested interest in the sport should be asking what we want type of ‘politics’ we want our game to represent. An independent regulator would be a good start..,

It’s a Wednesday afternoon. You’re in the centre of Norwich with a £10 note and three hours to spare. What are you doing?

Jon – Straight down to the Grosvenor for some Cha-Cha Chips (if you haven’t had them, what are you playing at?), followed by a quick pint by the river and a walk around Pulls Ferry and Cow Tower way. Lovely old job. 

Nick – Does the Castle still cost less than a tenner? Not likely. So with that in mind, I will instead buy a empanada at Cocina Mia off the market and then go to the library to find the sort of nerdy sports almanack I always used to read in there as a kid. The pub can’t win this argument every time… 

Editor’s note: don’t let Nick’s unbridled ignorance put you off; adult admission to the Castle is £7.40.

Ben – I’m going to use this as a blatant attempt to secure a discount sausage – as I would genuinely head straight into the market for a chilli dog at the Banger Stop, followed by something artisanal and over-hopped from Sir Toby’s. Then, having tied an onion to my belt, I’d still have sixpence left for the tram ride to Thorpe Station.

Paul – I’d buy myself a mediocre coffee at The Forum and enjoy a good old people watch at the various assortments of human life passing through. I’d have to keep the rest of the money though, as I’d foolishly parked in St Giles’.

Edie – Did you know it’s £10 to attend an all-you-can-baggle session at Retro Replay? You do now.   

Matthew – I am going briskly to the Golden Star on Colegate, ordering one frothy pint of Directors, and asking for the changes in 50ps for the bar billiards table 

Adam – The next time I’m back in Norwich (no idea when given the 7000km distance) I will be trying out the quality of the Chilean food stall I’ve heard lots about on Norwich market; hopefully a tenner covers that.

Cameron – Go to Ron’s on the Market. Buy chips, bread roll, and mushy peas (£3), eat on benches by war memorial. Look in antique shops, see 70s football pin badge, buy pin badge (£1). Dependent on location of pin badge discovery, walk to Murderers or King’s Head where remainder of budget will be spent.