I went to the fan forum at Carrow Road last night and just thought I`d share with you my lad`s meeting with Daniel Farke and a few observations.
One of the questions asked earlier in the evening by Darren Eadie to Daniel Farke was about what sort of manager he is. Is he a shouter, an arm round the shoulder sort of coach? What could his players expect from him?
Farke responded, as he did throughout the evening in a disarming and often witty manner. He said that he felt that a coach needed to have a little bit of everything in his locker when dealing with players and that sometimes you need to do things other than hard work as well – sometimes, he suggested, you need to have coffee and cheesecake.
Stuart Webber had already alluded to the imminent arrival of the club`s seventh summer signing (that we now know to be Marcel Franke) but declined to say much more when pressed by Eadie – all he said was that we should keep an eye on the club website today.
After Eadie`s Q&A session, the microphone was passed around the room to fans who wanted to ask questions and we had all sorts, from whether Russell Martin was actually a centre back, to the speculation around Jacob Murphy and everything in between. Webber, Farke and Steve Stone dealt with them all with aplomb and then my 11 year old lad, Callum told me that he wanted to ask a question.
There were about 200 people in the room and my first thought was “brave.” He showed me his notebook and I saw that he had five or six questions he`d thought of.
Eventually, the microphone was brought round and he took hold of it and Eadie said “Who`s next?” He looked at Callum and said “Here, down at the front.”
Callum then said to Daniel Farke “Who are we signing tomorrow?”
The room erupted in cheers and laughter because let`s be honest, everyone in the room wanted to know who the mystery seventh signing would be.
The panel all smiled and Farke in particular smiled at Callum and said “There`s a few too many people around. Come and see me afterwards and I`ll tell you over some cheesecake!”
A nice response – although Callum didn`t get the answer he wanted.
Undeterred, at the end of the evening, Callum wanted Farke`s autograph and a photo, so we went to see him on the stage. Callum got his autograph and a photo and again asked who we were signing.
Farke smiled broadly and asked him his name before saying there were still too many people around to say.
Callum got that he wasn`t going to say and we wished him luck for the season ahead.
Daniel Farke came across as a very intelligent, affable sort of chap who instils quite a bit of confidence I`d say. He had talked about “his style” of football and how he wanted his team to be “the protagonists with the ball.” To force the game and have most of the possession. He joked though that when Norwich play Man Utd in the FA Cup Final next season that we might have a little less possession of the ball.
He talked about his favourite player when he was growing up being Roberto Baggio and that he admired coaches like Pep Guardiola and Ottmar Hitzfeld for the way that their teams play the game.
In terms of Norwich City, he said that after watching the games at the tail end of last season, he felt it was time for a change, a big change and that it is a big challenge for him. He promised that he would work hard to fulfil all the expectations and he promised to give his best.
My opinion of him, especially after the way he spoke with Callum, couldn`t help but make me smile. It could of course, all go wrong BUT I think we`re in good hands.
OTBC
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