Chris Dunlavy
A FRESH TAKE ON FOOTBALL
NORWICH are flying. One defeat in eight pre-weekend.
Challenging for the play-offs.
Scoring for fun. So why is David Wagner so unpopular?
Sure, it’s only a minority who jeer his every move. But it’s a noisy minority, and one so persistent that it provoked the usually sanguine German to issue a public rebuke in the aftermath of a recent victory over Watford.
“We are talking about a small group but I think they should stay at home if they are going to be like that,” said Wagner after supporters booed the second-half substitutions of Onel Hernandez and Josh Sargent. “It was just unacceptable in my view.”
Wagner explained that the duo were nursing injuries, and it is notable that when the same two players were withdrawn during last weekend’s 4-1 win over Cardiff, the boo-boys kept schtum.
Yet if there is a degree of recognition that the Watford protest was misjudged, the broader sentiment - even amongst more moderate supporters - remains. In the infamous words of Canaries co-owner Delia Smith, they ain’t ’avin him.
Understanding why is difficult. Aperceived conservative streak and tendency towards negative substitutions are amongst routinely aired criticisms of Wagner, as is a playing style more effective than expansive.
Last season’s dismal 13th-place finish didn’t help, nor his role in a summer of ing transferr activity underwhelm-that hastened the exit of sporting director Stuart Webber.
However legitimate these concerns, though, the suspicion lingers that Wagner, right, is merely a convenient punchbag; an outlet for deeper frustrations and a symbol of a regime that has run its course.
Webber was the architect of a euphoric four-year spell that yielded two runaway Championship titles, two seasons in the Premier League and gallons of champagne football. From Emi Buendia to Teemu Pukki, the 39-yearold unearthed gem after gem.
At his side, head coach Daniel Farke won the affection of Carrow Road with an affable honesty and gung-ho style that twice laid the Championship to waste.
Unlike, say, Nottingham Forest or Fulham, Norwich did not splash the cash in a death-or-glory bid to stay up - a strategy that appeared to be vindicated when relegation in 2020 was followed by a swift and swashbuckling return to the top-flight.
Yet last season’s failure to repeat the trick left many supporters questioning whether Norwich had squandered a golden opportunity to establish thems
