Gunvald Larsson
Well-Known Member
So NCFC's dismal season ends with yet another very heavy loss ..... apart from the 5 wins it's generally been a regular diet of poor performances and defeat after defeat after defeat ..... the terrible start under Daniel Farke led to him getting the sack just as it looked as if things might be getting better ..... the arrival of Dean Smith had a brief honeymoon period before things then got worse ..... a couple of good performances were followed by a series of injuries which threw any positivity out of the window ..... more defeats, increasingly woeful performances and some ill-judged comments from the club's hierarchy caused the relationship between the club and the fans to deteriorate to a level not seen for many years at Carrow Road ..... the only word to describe the atmosphere at recent home games is toxic ..... the club's finances may be healthy but the playing side of the business was not good enough for the PL ..... the squad was ill-equipped to make any kind of positive impact in the PL and no attempt was made to improve the situation during the season ..... who's to blame is really anybody's guess ..... Webber is the man who is responsible for recruiting players but did he do this on his own, what input did Farke have, who went to watch these players before they were signed or borrowed, did we have a team of scouts scouring the world for players or did Webber and co simply watch videos and look at stats provided by agents etc ..... did the search for players include looking at PL players who were available and affordable ..... all of these questions have been asked before but never successfully answered ..... Dean Smith was appointed after weeks of media gossip but apparently Webber wanted him from the moment Smith was sacked by Villa, just 24 hours after Farke got the push ..... why the wait to go public and why the silence from within the club ..... Farke was unable to get the squad playing well and Smith has been similarly unsuccesful ..... so where does the problem lie ..... the answer has to be with the players ..... some of them have shown brief glimpses of form at times during the season, others have been terrible throughout, only two of them seem to have been up for the fight in every match they have played in ..... with that in mind here are my players ratings (out of 10) for the season, I have not included the loan players, players who have been released or those who have made only fleeting appearances. 
KRUL - 4 - time may be catching up with Tim, his season has included quite a few cock-ups which have led to goals, still a good keeper but he has not had a good season
GUNN - 5 - started nervously but improved as his confidence grew, made some good saves and his time may be about to arrive
AARONS - 5- a very erratic season for Max but when on form he still displayed all the positives he is known for, rumoured to be on his way out but I hope he stays
GIANNOULIS - 5 - another erratic performer but turned in his some good performances and made positive contributions in several matches, could do well in the Championship
BYRAM - 6 - one of the few positives during the season was Sam's return from injury and his continued improvement in form over the last few games, could also do well next season
GIBSON - 4 - not a good season for Ben, his performances have been punctuated by some real howlers and some very poor decision making, needs to really up his game if he wants to stay in the team
HANLEY - 8 - one of the 2 players in the team who appeared to give 100% in every match, his blocking, tackling and positional play have been really good and he has never let the team down, another one rumoured to have 'big' clubs sniffing around him but I hope he stays
DOWELL - 6 - given a decent run in the team over the past couple of months and has shown glimpses of what a good player he is, his link-up play has been sound and he had been one of the few players to show any kind of creativity, another who could do well in the Championship
PLACHETA - 4 - not really been able to make an impact in any of the matches he played in, ran around a lot but lost the ball far too often, I can't see him being anything other than a fringe player next season
SORENSON - 5 - overlooked by both managers throughout the season but when called upon he did not let the team down, deserves to be given a chance nest season
MCLEAN - 4 - the undroppable Kenny McLean, for me he showed absolutely no reason for his continued selection, poor passing and poor positional play seemed to be his major contributions, I expect he'll be 'undroppable' next season too
RASHICA - 4 - after a bright start he has faded into almost becoming invisible at times, his crossing has become worse and he seems reluctant to do any defensive work, he may be a fan favourite but he really has done nothing to warrant his presence in the team over the past few games, if he wanders around like that in the Championship some of the old pro's in that division will eat him alive
LEES-MELOU - 6 - a bit-part player for most of the season but when let loose as an attacking midfielder he started to show what a good player he is, good control and passing and does get stuck in when necessary, if given the chance he could be a major player next season
PUKKI - 8 - the other player who appeared to give 100% every time he played, 11 goals playing for the bottom club in the division is not too shabby, Teemu is a class act and will hopefully resume his destruction of Championship defences next season
SARGENT - 5 - really struggled to cope with the PL but slowly emerged as a player who never gives up and this strength really got the team out of some tricky situations on several occasions, he became more confident as the season went on and appeared set to really take off but was then floored by Covid and injury, when he returned he was not the same player, he appeared to have lost the energy that was a major part of his game, hopefully his mojo will return as he is another who could do well in the Championship
IDAH - 6 - another whose promising upturn in form was stopped in it's tracks by injury, appeared to be coming to terms with the PL and was a real handful for some good defences prior to his injury, also appeared to develop a good partnership with Pukki, another one for next season
TSZOLIS - 3 - for me Tszolis is the only real disaster among the new recruits at the start of the season, appeared totally out of his depth in the PL but I think the public bollocking Farke gave him over that penalty taking incident really shattered his confidence, no idea how he will perform next season as we have seen so little of him
ROWE - 5 - quick, intelligent and strong, a really promising start to his 1st team career and hopefully he will continue to develop into the player we all hope he will become
Well, that's my view on the lads from this season ..... you may agree or disagree as you please ..... as I said in an earlier post, this squad could be competitive in the Championship and with a couple of new signings, plus the returning loan-outs, a promotion push may be possible ..... I certainly don't expect a Farke style obliteration of the opposition but I am cautiously hopeful that next season will be a better proposition than this one has been ..... OTBC
KRUL - 4 - time may be catching up with Tim, his season has included quite a few cock-ups which have led to goals, still a good keeper but he has not had a good season
GUNN - 5 - started nervously but improved as his confidence grew, made some good saves and his time may be about to arrive
AARONS - 5- a very erratic season for Max but when on form he still displayed all the positives he is known for, rumoured to be on his way out but I hope he stays
GIANNOULIS - 5 - another erratic performer but turned in his some good performances and made positive contributions in several matches, could do well in the Championship
BYRAM - 6 - one of the few positives during the season was Sam's return from injury and his continued improvement in form over the last few games, could also do well next season
GIBSON - 4 - not a good season for Ben, his performances have been punctuated by some real howlers and some very poor decision making, needs to really up his game if he wants to stay in the team
HANLEY - 8 - one of the 2 players in the team who appeared to give 100% in every match, his blocking, tackling and positional play have been really good and he has never let the team down, another one rumoured to have 'big' clubs sniffing around him but I hope he stays
DOWELL - 6 - given a decent run in the team over the past couple of months and has shown glimpses of what a good player he is, his link-up play has been sound and he had been one of the few players to show any kind of creativity, another who could do well in the Championship
PLACHETA - 4 - not really been able to make an impact in any of the matches he played in, ran around a lot but lost the ball far too often, I can't see him being anything other than a fringe player next season
SORENSON - 5 - overlooked by both managers throughout the season but when called upon he did not let the team down, deserves to be given a chance nest season
MCLEAN - 4 - the undroppable Kenny McLean, for me he showed absolutely no reason for his continued selection, poor passing and poor positional play seemed to be his major contributions, I expect he'll be 'undroppable' next season too
RASHICA - 4 - after a bright start he has faded into almost becoming invisible at times, his crossing has become worse and he seems reluctant to do any defensive work, he may be a fan favourite but he really has done nothing to warrant his presence in the team over the past few games, if he wanders around like that in the Championship some of the old pro's in that division will eat him alive
LEES-MELOU - 6 - a bit-part player for most of the season but when let loose as an attacking midfielder he started to show what a good player he is, good control and passing and does get stuck in when necessary, if given the chance he could be a major player next season
PUKKI - 8 - the other player who appeared to give 100% every time he played, 11 goals playing for the bottom club in the division is not too shabby, Teemu is a class act and will hopefully resume his destruction of Championship defences next season
SARGENT - 5 - really struggled to cope with the PL but slowly emerged as a player who never gives up and this strength really got the team out of some tricky situations on several occasions, he became more confident as the season went on and appeared set to really take off but was then floored by Covid and injury, when he returned he was not the same player, he appeared to have lost the energy that was a major part of his game, hopefully his mojo will return as he is another who could do well in the Championship
IDAH - 6 - another whose promising upturn in form was stopped in it's tracks by injury, appeared to be coming to terms with the PL and was a real handful for some good defences prior to his injury, also appeared to develop a good partnership with Pukki, another one for next season
TSZOLIS - 3 - for me Tszolis is the only real disaster among the new recruits at the start of the season, appeared totally out of his depth in the PL but I think the public bollocking Farke gave him over that penalty taking incident really shattered his confidence, no idea how he will perform next season as we have seen so little of him
ROWE - 5 - quick, intelligent and strong, a really promising start to his 1st team career and hopefully he will continue to develop into the player we all hope he will become
Well, that's my view on the lads from this season ..... you may agree or disagree as you please ..... as I said in an earlier post, this squad could be competitive in the Championship and with a couple of new signings, plus the returning loan-outs, a promotion push may be possible ..... I certainly don't expect a Farke style obliteration of the opposition but I am cautiously hopeful that next season will be a better proposition than this one has been ..... OTBC
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