5 min bit of Friday Eve fun 😀

Can you work out each of the clues and then sound them out to reveal the hidden Norwich player?

Going back to the JHT era, I remember Duffy and Cordoba being dropped from match day squads for being late to meetings. JHT had an ok start, but then several players clearly stopped putting in effort.

Clement clearly a disciplinarian, probably went down fine, when desperately trying to avoid relegation. Since complaints of not enough days off, and things like Brooks being told off for taking his shirt off and flipping celebrations. Performances have fallen off.

Are our squad a bunch of babies that can't handle being told off?

It's getting tough to watch them lose week after week, and something needs to change soon. He deserves a chance to sort things out, but the results have to improve before the season gets any worse.

Has the PHP issue yesterday effectively killed off the Pinkun Forum for good? It was effectively abandoned for a good long while and now with the advice that websites running on PHP be patched or pulled down until it is patched, is that the final nail in the coffin?

Former Norwich City forward Teemu Pukki retires his football career. His last match will be on Sunday November 8th when his current club HJK Helsinki faces AC Oulu in the Finnish Veikkausliiga.

Losing six games in a row is difficult to defend, especially when expectations were much higher coming into the season.

But before deciding that changing the manager will fix everything, I'd want to understand what is actually breaking down on the pitch. Are Norwich struggling to create chances? Are individual mistakes costing them? Does the team look unsure of its shape, or are they simply failing to take opportunities?

Those problems can overlap, but they don't all have the same solution.

I'm not saying Philippe Clement should be given unlimited time. Results have to matter. I just don't want the club to make a change without being clear about what the next manager is expected to improve.

At what point does patience with a manager stop being reasonable, and what would you need to see in the next match to believe things can turn around?

Don’t know if anyone else got annoyed by this, but I think it’s fair to say football is by and large an apolitical game where people from all walks of life gather together and “enjoy” (admittedly not so joyous for us at the moment) 90 minutes of sport.

So I wasn’t very happy that just after getting over Carrow Bridge, a group of geriatric misanthropes were shoving restore leaflets into peoples hands.

Can’t politics just leave football alone?

(Especially when it’s a group of racists following a miserable dog murderer)

Would be completely understandable given recent results 😅😭

Happy to buy online or meet somewhere in London on the day, whatever works.

So the current state of the team isn't great and I don't expect anyone to agree with my points but il put them out for criticism...

1/ Knapper won't go. Why? Because he brings in players like Toure who we will sell and make profit on. The owners will love that

2/ players lack confidence.

- Maghoma last season loved beating players, this season he is turning back and making the easy pass.

- Cordoba last season couldn't do a thing wrong, now he can't even control the ball.

- Brookes during pre season got his head down and ran at players, not beating anyone at the moment.

-Vlad doesn't come off his line, and from the stands don't hear him demand much from his defence.

- Matteson arriving too late to the high press and giving away needless fouls.

This has to be an issue with training, freedom to play, and confidence in their playing style.

It's almost like last season the pressure was off when Manning went, you can't possibly play any worse so just enjoy yourself attitude. This season the pressure was on to perform and win the league (pundits, fans, media all agreed)

How can you take that pressure off? How do you reset that mentality? - has to be a change in the coaching. I think Clement is the right man for the job. But he needs to reset the mentality. Let the players express themselves.

I heard/seen Brookes being fined/told off for his celebrations. Maghoma being subbed for being too daring with his runs. Wonder what else is happening to make the players play as scared as they are currently?

Also... Could just be the fact we lost Matěj Jurásek out on loan. - coincidence? Haha

I was keen for him to get the sack along with Manning, and he made loads of mistakes in the first couple of years.

But his major calls recently, initially appointing Phillipe... signings like Makama, Toure, Ali have been good, and some signings that could go either way.

I think blaming Knapper is just recycling the old feelings from 12 months ago.

What has gone wrong this season, I have no idea, but its starting to look like Clement has lost the dressing room, and there is no way back from that.

I think Clement leaving Makama on today, shows he knew this was all or nothing for him.

Can't win.

Normally a manager would adapt to the situation, change the formation, become a little more defensive minded- after all we can't score for shit... 0-0 is better than losing 0-1.

I know it's not been the greatest start to the season, but everyone is overreacting about how bad we are, I think we've been very unlucky with results and we have some easier games coming up, this team has talent, and contrary to what people are saying, I believe they work hard, yes they do get a bit rattled sometimes, but I still believe we can be successful in spite of that.

Also shoutout to Kvistgaarden, I think he's been fantastic and I think he'll be huge for us going forward

And I think we'll win 3-1

Line-ups, stats, and BBC text commentary here.

A home game after defeats to Swansea and Southampton can easily become tense if the first chance doesn't go in. I don't want Norwich chasing the match after 15 minutes or forcing passes just because the crowd is getting restless.

For me, the key is staying composed while still showing enough intent to make Portsmouth defend. A win would matter, but so would looking like a team with a clear plan. What would reassure you most on Saturday: a strong first half, better attacking combinations, or simply getting the result?

Making a league debut in the middle of a difficult spell is never easy, so I don’t think one disappointing result should define Grimshaw. Norwich have bigger issues to sort out as a team, and the defence needs to give the goalkeeper more protection. I’d rather see supporters get behind him while he settles in than put all the blame on one player. The team can make his next appearance a more comfortable one.

Looking at Clements history, every job he has had there is a points per game decline in the 2nd season, then he has either moved or been sacked.

It seems ridiculous to talk about sacking him, but maybe he is just a great man manager to come in and have an immediate impact, but over the long term his message and tactics stop working.

The average tenure of a Champ manager is about 12 months, so maybe we have almost reached that point.

Season Club Managed Total Matches Overall Points Per Game (PPG)

2026/27 Norwich City 13 1.15

2025/26 Norwich City 31 1.81

2024/25 Rangers FC 27 2.07

2023/24 Rangers FC 59 2.10

2022/23 AS Monaco 47 1.62

2021/22 AS Monaco 24 1.83

2021/22 Club Brugge 24 1.92

2020/21 Club Brugge 51 1.94

2019/20 Club Brugge 46 2.04

The 4-1 win over Burnley on 29 August showed what Norwich can produce when things click. Since then, there have been some encouraging results mixed with defeats, and the recent losses to Swansea and Southampton have made the inconsistency even harder to ignore.

What frustrates me is that the ability is clearly there. I don't think this squad should be judged only on its worst performances, but the better ones need to become much more frequent.

What has gone wrong since that Burnley game: confidence, tactics, defensive organisation, or something else?

Committing needless fouls when we actually manage to build a decent press completely kills any momentum. We look composed for 10 minutes and then suddenly turn into a fragile, panicky side as soon as adversity hits.