P.J. Davitt's Blog, page 12

Norwich City sign Josip Drmic

Norwich City have sealed the capture of Swiss international striker Josip Drmic.

The 26-year-old free agent will officially become a Norwich City player on July 1, after agreeing a three year deal and becomes the Canaries’ second summer recruit to Daniel Farke’s squad, following the arrival of Manchester City’s Patrick Roberts on a season long loan.

Drmic rejected the chance to stay at Borussia Mönchengladbach to have a shot at the Premier League. He was also linked with former club Nuremberg and Turkish outfit Trabzonspor in recent days.

The frontman notched two goals in five late season Bundesliga appearances for Borussia after an injury-hit campaign with back and muscle problems left him behind Thorgen Hazard and Alassane Plea in the pecking order.

The pacy centre forward, an international team mate of Timm Klose, did feature in the Uefa Nations League finals earlier this month.

Drmic played against both hosts Portugal and England, but his penalty was saved by Jordan Pickford in the spot kick shoot out that sealed the Three Lions’ third place finish.

“Now everything is done, I’m very happy. I had very good conversations with Stuart Webber and with the head coach,” he said, speaking to the club’s official site. “I was talking also to Timm. We had a long conversation as I had a lot of questions and he spoke very, very positively about the club.

“I’m very excited to be playing in the Premier League. I cannot wait because I’ve heard a lot of things from my colleagues in the national team who have played in the Premier League.

“For me it’s something new. It’s a new opportunity with new challenges and I’m very happy that I’m so close now to playing in the Premier League. I cannot wait to start.

“I’m coming to the Premier League and I can now challenge in the best league in the world.

“I’m going to do everything and give 100pc on the pitch. I will be ready to give everything for the club. My job is scoring but I also want to help my team and help us be successful.

“When I first came to Norwich, the first thing I noticed was how kind everybody was. It’s given me a lot of positive energy and I’m excited to see what happens.”

Drmic was touted with a Premier League move last summer. Burnley, Bournemouth and Watford were all linked with the attacker.

The striker spent four years at Borussia, who finished fifth in the Bundesliga last season, following a reported 10m Euro move from Leverkusen back in 2015.

Norwich pulled off a similar coup 12 months ago when Teemu Pukki arrived at Carrow Road on a free transfer and went on to notch a remarkable 30 club goals to help fire City to the Championship title.

Farke certainly expects Drmic to make his mark.

“We made it clear we wanted to sign a new striker and we’ve found a guy who has proved himself at the highest level,” he told the club’s official site. “He has lots of Bundesliga appearances and has a very good record for the Switzerland national team.

“He has had a difficult couple of years with injuries, but we feel he is the full package. Two or three years ago, some of the biggest clubs in Europe were interested in him.

“He is a great character and a good guy, and we feel his best days are still to come.”

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‘Unbelievable talent’ Roberts joins Canaries

Stuart Webber has finally got his man, after completing the loan signing of long-term target Patrick Roberts for Norwich City.

The Canaries’ sporting director has begun his Premier League recruitment drive with the season-long addition of the Manchester City winger, who previously won three Scottish titles with Celtic.

The 22-year-old former England youth international was signed by the top-flight giants from Fulham for around £12million in 2015 but after success in Glasgow he endured a frustrating stint in Spain with Girona – so joins Daniel Farke’s squad with a point to prove.

“He is a player I have personally tried to sign twice before,” Webber revealed. “Once at Huddersfield, when he went to Celtic, and here 12 months ago when he went to Girona because they wouldn’t let him come to the Championship.

“That was fine. We respect Manchester City for that. So I have been aware of him and so has Daniel. He is different to the wide options we have got. Different to Emi (Buendia), different to Onel (Hernandez), different to Todd (Cantwell).

“He has had a difficult year at Girona, which we like. He is honest and candid about that and how much resilience he has built up during that time. We look at him and he has unbelievable talent.”

Roberts was part of the England team which won the Uefa European U17 Championship in 2014 and in 78 games with Celtic the tricky attacker, with a cultured left foot, scored 18 goals and set up another 26.

Webber continued: “He’ll fit the group perfectly in terms of his personality. That is the most important thing to fit into this group. He is an exciting player who brings something different.

“With Daniel’s ability as a coach he gets the best out of ones like this. Patrick himself has had a challenging time and he is ready to show England what he has got.

“Other than at Fulham he has not played a lot here. There is a bit where he feels, at 22, maybe forgotten about a bit. To show that steely determination fits our recruitment profile. It is a smart choice.

“A loan, it hasn’t cost us a lot and Manchester City have been very good with us and we appreciate that. We think it is a smart bit of business.

“If you look at our budgets there will have to be two or three Patrick type deals when we don’t spent a lot of dough.”

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Stuart Webber’s verdict on being linked with £15m targets

Sporting director Stuart Webber is busier than ever planning for the Premier League. But he found time to sit down with Group Football Editor Paddy Davitt at Colney.

Stuart Webber did not have to think too long to come up with the most ridiculous transfer link of Norwich City’s close season.

The Canaries’ Championship title win and promotion the Premier League has subjected the club’s sporting director to a whole new world of rumour and counter-rumour.

“Simon Mignolet. I have to say that made me laugh,” said Webber, after City were touted with a £15m move for the Liverpool keeper. “Nothing against him, he is a top keeper, but just the figures.

“That would be the most crazy one I can think of. When I see us linked to keepers for £15m I just smile. Who comes up with this? Why would we do that? It is not right.

“I have had ludicrous phone calls from agents recommending players. One called me the other day and said, ‘I think you can get player X for £120k per week,’ and I thought, ‘Our squad won’t cost that in total per week’.

“I think some people watch the Championship play-off final and hear this £170m figure and they genuinely believe that is sat in a bank account and myself, Daniel (Farke), Ben (Kensell) and Zoe (Ward) are going to go large or go on Amazon and spend it all. That is not the reality.

“The other thing is if we go and sign a player and give him substantially more than the other lads that could divide our dressing room. We can’t do that. We spent a lot of time here creating spirit, culture and togetherness.

“In one fell swoop we could kill that. We have lost players this window already because they don’t fit into what we want to do. Okay, so you are not for us. The collective is much more important.

“Unless you can sign (Lionel) Messi or Mo Salah, who would produce every week, the difference between our players and a lot of others is not that different, in terms of attitude and quality.”

Webber’s numerous conversations with agents is bringing out a new phenomenon, compared to his astute recruitment work during previous transfer windows at Carrow Road.

“It is like a Premier League tax, when you talk about figures. But the players are still worth the same for me as when we were a Championship club,” he said. “That is when you have to be strong and robust and willing to move onto the next one. I have had to have conversations since we got promoted saying, ‘Thanks, in our opinion he is not worth that’.

“How can I bring in a guy who has not been promoted and pay him more than players in our squad who have? That is why I have huge respect for Spurs. All the noise these past few years about signing players, yet they finished third again, a new stadium, training ground is ridiculous and they are in the Champions League final.

“That is a fingers up to people who say you have to spend. It is so lazy to talk about money.

“What about developing the players you have got and backing them? Can we turn Max, Ben and Jamal into Premier League players. That should be the challenge.”

Webber reiterated there will be no major outlay this summer.

“We could do it, but it’s like taking out a mortgage for a long time and worrying about it in the future. Is that the right thing for our club? We don’t think so, so we won’t be doing it,” he said. “Everyone told us it would be impossible to do it our way. But we got promoted and we won the league. We didn’t scrap through. You are not lucky to just win the league.

“We have to believe that is still the way for this football club.

“Daniel understands that.

“He is not under pressure or going to get the sack if we have a poor start to the Premier League.

“I read a saying the other day which sums us up: invest more time in the root rather than the fruit. That is us, building the foundation and not just worrying about what Saturday, 3pm looks like.

“I don’t know the ins and outs at Fulham this past year but it is a great reminder for clubs like ourselves that you can spend £100m and look what happens. It really helps us because people don’t want to do that.

“It is about being smart, brave and backing this group. The majority of this group deserve a crack at it. I believe we have players who are good enough to be in the Premier League.”

The post Stuart Webber’s verdict on being linked with £15m targets appeared first on Paddy Davitt Books.

Opinion: Paddy’s CHAMPIONS Pointers after Aston Villa 2-1 win

Our Norwich City correspondent Paddy Davitt delivers his Aston Villa verdict after the Canaries’ 2-1 Championship win

1. CHAMPIONS

What a way to seal the deal for Norwich City. Sheffield United failed to hold up their end of the final day equation but Daniel Farke’s superb squad did it their way. As they have done throughout this most memorable of seasons. Teemu Pukki notched inside 10 minutes.

Mario Vrancic confirmed the win in the final 10. In between, a much-changed Aston Villa looked anything but disinterested. They may have bigger battles ahead but the fringe players looked keen to lay down a marker or two. But City dug in.

Then scored a winner which encapsulated everything about this special group. Tim Krul bowled the ball out to Ben Godfrey. A young defender who has grasped his chance. Godfrey shovelled it onto Jamal Lewis. Another young defender now first choice for club and country.

Emi Buendia took over. A brilliant creative spark who has driven City on in the second part of the campaign. Then finally, Mario Vrancic. A cultured footballer with perfect timing. A low, rifled shot into the bottom corner that sealed Norwich’s coronation.

Five points clear of the Blades and 11 of third-placed Leeds when the dust settled. Wow. Just wow.

2. The party is only starting

As good as the celebrations were at the end, City’s civic parade on Bank Holiday Monday will give the thousands back in Norfolk and further afield a proper chance to hail the achievements of everyone on and off the park who has made this possible. There will be a few hangovers no doubt. A few bleary eyes but what a day in prospect. A proud day for the city, the county and the region. Norwich City are back in the big time.

They achieved it with a swagger and freshness that means they can attack the top flight with optimism and vigour.

There will be plenty of time ahead to focus on what is required. Just savour the flowering of a project conceived by Stuart Webber and Farke and brilliantly executed by far too many too mention.

Norwich’s template will now be copied copiously by other aspirational clubs in the Football League. That is flattering. But no-one will do it better than the Canaries.

A philosophy that goes far beyond those players who did the business over nine epic months. What a ride. What a journey. What a day in store on Monday.

3. Golden eye

Pukki’s coronation as the Championship top scorer this season was effectively sealed before kick off when nearest challenger, Tammy Abraham, was omitted from the Aston Villa 18.

But ever the showman, the master marksman needed just seven minutes to underline why he has been the stand out goalscorer and the stand out performer in the second tier.

Kenny McLean’s sublime inside pass enticed Onel Hernandez to the byline and the Finn was sharper in thought and deed to anticipate the cut back for a simple tap in from close range.

Pukki, speaking at Colney on Thursday, said it would be a campaign he would never forget. The striker went further and revealed long after he retires he will be back to watch the club where he enjoyed an unforgettable period.

There is a special, indelible bond now between player and football club. No amount of awards can match that.

4. Thanks for the Magic

The large travelling support was in carnival mood before kick-off. The yellow and green dashes mixed with the claret and blue to generate a cracking atmosphere to greet both sides. In a corner of the lower tier of the away end a banner was unfurled that said simply, ‘Thanks for the Magic’.

It was a sentiment which captured the essence of the magic carpet ride Farke and his players have swept those supporters along.

The most unexpected of promotions, the most satisfying of ways to accomplish the feat.

A diet of attacking football, breathless late drama and a group of young men willing to give everything for themselves and those who followed to every part of the land. The end-of-season compilations will take some editing.

Thanks for the Magic. Thanks for the memories.

5. One for the notebook

No criticism allowed. But an observation you can be sure Farke and his coaching brains, his data analysts at Colney, and in all probability his players will already be well aware of.

Norwich have shipped too many goals this season in the aftermath of striking themselves.

We saw it again at Villa Park. Pukki got them off to the perfect start.

But a needless free kick conceded by Buendia and then a failure to sense the danger and track Jonathan Kodjia gifted the hosts an equaliser and altered the course of the contest for long spells.

Both Farke and sporting director Webber have made it crystal clear, since promotion was sealed, the philosophy will remain the same in the big league.

A boldness and a bravery is stamped right through this squad. But there will also need to be a pragmatism and a realism they have to more efficient at both ends in the Premier League. They have a whole summer to fine tune.

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James Maddison sale averted ‘disaster’ at Norwich City

Norwich City’s sporting director Stuart Webber admits it would have been a ‘disaster’ if James Maddison’s club record move was wrecked through injury.

The Canaries have sealed a Premier League reunion with the Leicester City midfielder next season after clinching promotion from the Championship.

City now need a point from Sunday’s league finale at Aston Villa to be crowned champions.

That contrasts sharply with the situation exactly 12 months ago, when Maddison suffered knee ligament damage in a final day mauling at Sheffield Wednesday that threatened to scupper a top flight move.

Maddison’s big money exit was essential for the club to deal with the financial fallout following the end of parachute payments.

“Listen, that would have been a disaster. No other way of dressing that up,” said Webber, speaking at Colney on Thursday. “I remember going down at half-time (at Hillsborough) and speaking to the physios and you get that look of, ‘This isn’t going to be good news’ before you even start to speak.

“Then the next two or three days were nervous until he had his scan and it wasn’t as bad as first thought.

“That Sunday night was not good. We were being slagged off for getting beat five at Sheffield Wednesday and we didn’t know how long James would be out for.

“The transfer hadn’t been agreed. We had not even spoken to a club but if he had been out for nine months or whatever then the deal would not have happened.

“We would probably have had to sell more players to cover off the gap of him staying here.”

Webber revealed Maddison was one of the first to congratulate him after Norwich clinched promotion by beating Blackburn last week.

“He was one of the first text messages I got the other day. That sums him up. He was the same with a lot of the staff here,” he said. “He is a genuinely great guy but when someone leaves it creates opportunities for others.

“We could have cried and moaned and said we have lost our best player. We have no chance.

“Or we knew it was going to happen for months. We had no excuse but to be prepared. We were preparing for life without James. It gave us an opportunity to strengthen in different areas and create maybe more a team.

“It worked out for both. James got himself a good move to Leicester and we have had a pretty successful season. It is a pretty nice story.

“James is a top player who will play for England and for me a Champions League club at some point.”

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Opinion: Paddy’s PROMOTION Pointers after Blackburn 2-1 win

Our Norwich City correspondent Paddy Davitt delivers his Blackburn Rovers verdict after the Canaries’ promotion-clinching 2-1 Championship win

1. Magnificent

What a way to seal Norwich City’s place in the Premier League. The Canaries should have won by a far more handsome margin, such was their dominance.

But the control and the game management in the final quarter was as impressive as the manner they sliced through almost at will. Blackburn stuck to their task. There was the odd scare along the way.

But the epic celebrations at the final whistle were a sight to behold. Norwich might have edged nervously to the finish line in recent games. This was a command performance. A night when they played a game of football, not the mammoth occasion. Another sign of the maturity Daniel Farke has moulded from a group of young men who defied the odds and every pre-season prediction. The first Carrow Road clinching promotion since this date in 1960. Historic. Special.

2. Top drawer Teemu

Pukki clearly had the heads up he was on for the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy, as he loitered in the shadow of the presentation party, headed by the club’s majority shareholders, when Emi Buendia and Christoph Zimmermann accepted their awards.

The Finn’s personal goal stats in his first season for the club are extraordinary. They will stand the testament of time. Long after Pukki retires he will be remembered in these parts for a special body of work.

The Championship player-of-the-season and now newly-crowned City player-of-the-year is not just a supremely gifted finisher. He is also a selfless character who has lifted this group of players to staggering heights.

Much more than the goals, important as they have been, is the man’s work ethic and his willingness to set the tone for other team mates.

Two minutes into this game, he made a 15 yard burst across the Rovers’ penalty box to force a Blackburn defender into a rushed clearance that earned Norwich a throw. Such interventions never earn the same acclaim as headline-grabbing goalscoring displays, but they are what has set Pukki apart.

3. ‘Ave it

Farke joked not all that long ago every goal Norwich scored this season of seasons was his goal-of-the-season. But Mario Vrancic’s first half stunner against Blackburn must make a late dash for the finish line.

The Bosnian turned, opened his body and smacked a ball with ferocious power and balletic grace in one flowing motion.

It pierced the night sky over Carrow Road and beyond a forlorn, full stretch dive from Jayson Leutwiler before coming to rest in the side of his netting, just inside the right hand upright.

It was a stunning intervention. A goal to sit alongside Vrancic’s Good Friday free kick in the 97th minute against Sheffield Wednesday. Or that flowing team move in the home draw with Sheffield United.

That’s before you even apply the context of Onel Hernandez’s stoppage time brace against Nottingham Forest over Christmas, or Pukki against Millwall.

Forget rankings, or lists, just sit back in a quieter moment over this summer and savour a showreel of wonderful goals and spine-tingling memories.

4. Fitting Mr Tettey. Fitting

On a night when the decibel levels rarely dropped below a dull roar, there was one special ovation to greet the arrival of Alex Tettey. The experienced midfielder has had a limited impact on the park over the second part of this campaign.

You can be sure he was a major influence off it, to calm the nerves and keep a squad packed with youngsters and overseas imports on a straight and true course.

Tettey’s contract extension last season felt like a pivotal moment in the evolution of Farke’s revolution. It is a moot point how much we see him from here on in, when the Premier League bandwagon rolls into town.

But just savour a player who has given arguably his best years to the Canaries. Less a stoppage time substitution, more a passing of the baton perhaps between generations.

5. Celebrate. Then one more job to do

Party time in Norwich for the next few days. Fans, players, coaches and everyone connected with Norwich should celebrate in style the most unexpected of promotions. But Sheffield United’s win earlier in the day against Ipswich Town means there is one matter unresolved for those who rally to the green and yellow cause.

The Canaries head to Aston Villa next Sunday three points clear of the Blades. Chris Wilder’s men wrap up at Stoke City.

There is the same sense of momentum propelling the side from South Yorkshire as Farke’s boys. In all probability, Norwich will need a positive result at Villa Park. Dean Smith’s squad have their own agenda.

The small matter of a play-off semi-final tussle against their neighbours West Brom. It promises to be a memorable end to an unforgettable season.

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Listen: So Close – Paddy and the Pinkun podcast crew

Paddy and the Pinkun podcast crew sit down after an epic Easter in the Championship promotion race leaves Norwich City on the brink of the Premier League.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

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Opinion: Canaries right to plan for Premier League

Daniel Farke may have declared Norwich City’s season a success, after beating Rotherham United, but it is clear he has loftier ambitions in mind.

Sealing promotion to the Premier League is the bold objective when the Canaries’ resume their quest, beyond the international break, away to Middlesbrough.

But staying there beyond a brief flirtation is why Farke agreed to a longer tour of duty, when he pledged his future to the club last week until 2022.

In the euphoria and perhaps the anxiety of that tense 3-2 home league win over Hull City, which followed the contract announcement for Farke and his key backroom staff, it may have got lost there was also a willingness from the German to discuss his grand plan.

One, you can be sure, fully endorsed and shaped by sporting director Stuart Webber.

Despite the genuine concerns expressed by some the longer Farke’s contractual status remained unresolved, Webber revealed there was never any fear a parting of the ways was likely this summer.

The duo have forged a formidable alliance since Webber identified Farke to become the club’s first overseas coach.

The brief was simple but challenging. Deal with the financial reality of existing in a post-Premier League parachute payment world while trying to construct a squad capable of competing at the right end of the Championship.

To achieve both in less than the two years of Farke’s initial contract is remarkable. Irrespective of how this season ends over these final eight games, the City head coach is right to declare it a roaring success.

Stuart Webber’s faith in Daniel Farke is paying off at Norwich City Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd

Moritz Leitner was the latest player in recent days to underline an unheralded group is performing way beyond even the wildest expectations from those outside the bubble.

But a new deal for Farke and his coaching brains heralds the start of the next phase.

Ideally that crack at the Premier League will come next season.

Should it not there is enough compelling evidence to suggest it would be a case of when, not if.

Getting to the big time constitutes an astonishing achievement. Staying there beyond the abbreviated spells that marked the club’s recent forays under Nigel Worthington, Chris Hughton or Alex Neil is a far greater task.

Perhaps it’s worth revisiting again how Farke is framing this challenge in his own mind.

“Maybe it is too early to speak about the bigger picture but our target is to help make this club a permanent member of the best 25 teams in the whole country,” he said, sat in his office at Colney the day before his contract announcement.

“That is my big aim. By that I mean we either hopefully one day play every season in the Premier League and if there is a relegation then we are immediately back in the promotion ranks and we are immediately promoted again.

“That is not easy. You see clubs who get up and can stay one year or to stay longer must spend so much money. Our task is to bring the club to the Premier League and then without spending huge amounts of money to stay there.

“That is about creating a philosophy and an atmosphere that gets us to the Premier League but keeps us there.

Of course you can get injuries or bad luck that mean you could be relegated in any given season, but if the base is solid then you can come back quickly. “We felt it would take a few years to attack the Premier League so it is a surprise we have a chance to be there now maybe two or three or four years ahead of schedule.”

For Farke to speak so openly and candidly about a Premier League vision is not to take for granted the job is complete. Leeds and Sheffield United will continue their ferocious pursuit the other side of this international break.

But City fans should welcome the reassurance and the clear sense both Farke and Webber are looking beyond the horizon.

The process to adapt and refine a philosophy which has carried them to the brink of promotion – ensuring Norwich as a club is set up from top to bottom to remain in the front rank of English football for years to come – is already underway.

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Opinion: Todd Cantwell and the Canaries’ curse

Todd Cantwell is not the first nor will he be the last to get stick playing for Norwich City.

There is something rather sad about a 21-year-old, who hails from Dereham, and who progressed all the way through the club’s academy, feeling the need to defend himself on social media after just 18 league starts.

Cantwell posted what could be interpreted as a rather cryptic tweet, following Sunday’s Championship draw at Wigan, along the lines he knows he is far from the finished article and is striving to “become the best I can”.

Wrap the context around those words, in the wake of a frustrating shift at the Latics, and it is fair to deduce the ripples of negativity have headed in his direction.

Cantwell was not alone in failing to hit the heights, in what felt a collective display weighed down by the pressure and the expectation of chasing a place in the Premier League that is within touching distance.

He is not Emi Buendia. But neither in truth is anyone else in this Norwich squad. What he is, is a very young, inexperienced playmaker who looks far more naturally at home operating in the centre of the park.

But Marco Stiepermann is rightly Daniel Farke’s strongest available option this season in that area, after emerging as Teemu Pukki’s chief support.

Cantwell had played a grand total of 15 minutes during Norwich’s Championship promotion quest in the two months prior to replacing Buendia against Reading.

Now he has been thrust centre stage at the sharp end.

To demand the same productivity or to expect him to exert the same influence as the Argentine maestro is laughable.

He might be better advised leaving social media alone. A decade ago he would have had to strain his ears to hear the odd cat call from the terraces; or a barbed comment in the street. Now they are amplified and delivered to his smartphone.

But there is also a counter argument. Young players should expect to be criticised, not cosseted.

Opponents of the academy system feel it creates an environment that runs counter to the harsher world of professional football.

The work of Neil Adams as City’s loans’ manager illustrates the club is striving to subject their brightest to the brutal realities of their trade.

Cantwell, himself, benefited hugely from a successful stint in Holland at Fortuna Sittard.

It is not only the skillset but the mindset that needs to be developed at such an early age.

Those critical of the youngster’s recent efforts may perversely cut him less slack because he is rightly branded ‘one of their own’.

Josh Murphy copped his fair share of negativity last season. Recall that cupped ear celebration towards the Barclay after scoring against Barnsley to silence his doubters?

It may not have been a major factor in easing him out of the door last summer, to Cardiff City, but it was certainly a concern for those closest to the wide player.

The Bluebirds may well return swiftly to the Football League in the coming weeks, unless Neil Warnock can engineer a truly Great Escape.

Yet a rapidly maturing Murphy has emerged with credit since leaving Norfolk with none of the fanfare or the outpouring of affection that followed James Maddison’s exit. It would be no surprise to see him face his old club in the top flight next season for new employers.

In truth, the past couple of days feel like a social media sideshow.

The be all and end all is promotion and the only opinion that matters in all of this is Farke’s. And the German is a huge fan of Cantwell.

City’s head coach clearly felt he was ready to replace the suspended Buendia. Others disagree.

That is the nature of football, where we all feel invested and we can all have a say.

There will be plenty of calls for change ahead of Sheffield Wednesday’s Good Friday visit, with Moritz Leitner and Mario Vrancic again giving Farke a nudge in a late cameo against Wigan.

Should Cantwell find himself eased out of the starting line-up he should take that as a challenge, not a confirmation in the eyes of some he is not ready.

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Video: Middlesbrough (a) – Paddy’s take down

Paddy reflects on Norwich City’s 1-0 Championship away win at Middlesbrough which moved the Canaries five points and reviews the national media reaction.

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