The Wagner debate roars on among the City fanbase. After an appalling mid-season run, the German has seemingly turned his and his side’s fortunes around, propelling them ahead of the chasing pack and needing three more points to secure one of those final two playoff spots.  After a frustrating draw at home to in-form Bristol City, the Wagner debate reared its ugly head once again on social media. I hope to use this article to try and make some sense of where I am regarding Wagner, and where his future should lie because to be quite frank, right now I have no clue.  I was very open ac ..read more

It’s a conundrum. As it stands both scenarios are eminently possible. It’s looking increasingly likely that we will be in the playoffs, but from there, who knows? The scuttlebutt from ‘sources’ is that the club is £90m in the red, but that the debt is covered by Mark Anastassio as a private, not a public, debt. Be that as it may, that’s a load of moolah but, hey, promotion via the playoffs is worth gazillions. Well, at least enough to theoretically cover the debt and still leave some spending money. Quite how much spending money is not clear but let’s say it’s £50million. That might just ..read more

And then there were three. Games left that is. Unless we make it to the playoffs, and then there will be five… or even six. You know what I mean. But, as we’ve learned from bitter experience, it’s deadly to count your chickens in this game, especially at this stage of the season.  The unknowns and how-did-that-happens come at you fast. In terms of what we do know, two wins from City’s final three games should be enough for sixth place and a rare tilt at the playoffs. I say two wins because even if Hull win all four of their remaining games – one of them is against Coventry – and City win ..read more

It’s been tough for the academy throughout the second half of the season, with the U18s and U21s teams both experiencing difficulties. With a rebuild needed on the pitch, one will also now be required behind the scenes after the head of academy development, Steve Weaver, announced he was leaving the club at the end of this season.  Weaver has been in the position for seven seasons and has played an integral part in developing a significant number of players who have made it through into City’s first team. In total, 24 players have made that transition, including Max Aarons, Jamal Lewis, J ..read more

As I mentioned in the comments of Gary’s article on Sunday, the mind-game season is now in full swing. It would surprise no one if, between now and Saturday’s game with Bristol City, both camps bemoan injuries, suspensions, and a raft of other reasons as to why the result might not go their way. Did Ryan Lowe believe the stuff coming out of the club before Saturday’s game, like the fact Josh Sargent was touch-and-go for the game? I very much doubt it. His planning would have been for every eventuality but are these types of comments more for the benefit of the media and supporters? Many articl ..read more

If only there were a Championship table based on a team’s ability to wind up opposition managers. If so, we wouldn’t be stressing about whether or not we can claim a playoff place. We’d be prime Leicester City in early January. Seventeen points clear. Champions in waiting. Ryan Lowe yesterday joined an ever-growing list of head honchos who couldn’t believe his team’s misfortune when faced with the Canaries of Wagner. “We were the better side”, claimed Lowe in his post-match press briefing; the bitter sting of tears strewn all over his face. If our Ryan had delivered the more traditional ‘fairl ..read more

Squeaky bum time. We’re down to the stage where each game changes the picture. On Tuesday, City missed a gilt-edged opportunity to put breathing space between us and other challengers for a playoff spot. But Coventry’s loss eased the pain. On Wednesday, Hull’s failure to win changed the equation again. With so few games remaining, six points behind us with a game in hand sounds a good deal better than four behind with a game in hand. The gainers from the midweek round were Preston, who’ve hauled themselves back into the mix and given Saturday’s game an extra edge. A Preston win will blow the r ..read more

It was a bitterly disappointing defeat at home to Southampton for the U21s last Friday. It meant they have won just once since the turn of the year. This result has dented the Canaries’ playoff qualification hopes, as they now sit in 18th place – two positions below the qualification places and with teams above them having games in hand.  Saints arrived in fine form and with key personnel available to them. Two of those were highly regarded teenagers, Samuel Amo-Ameyaw (17), and Tyler Dibling (18), who both had a big influence on the game, with Dibling, in particular, being influential th ..read more

Bugger. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Especially when armed with a comfortable 2-0 lead and a level of control that should have deemed it game over. But if there’s one thing we’re good at on the road, it’s conjuring up new ways of dropping points from winning positions. I’m sure there are other examples, but just off the top of my head, I give you Watford, QPR, Blackburn, and Leicester. On each occasion, David Wagner has opted for containment when the alternative would have been to remain on the front foot and get another goal to kill the game off. But, away from home, that’s not his style ..read more

So lads, top that then! With the final whistle celebrations still booming in their ears from Saturday, the players have the unenviable task of trying to reinvigorate themselves physically and mentally for that most confusing of appointments, namely Wednesday on a Tuesday. Despite their humble 23rd place in the table, the fact that the Owls have amassed 42 points with five games to go following the start they had, shows just how far they have come. The table feels particularly unforgiving in this regard, as their form since current manager Danny Rohl arrived in October has been sufficient to ha ..read more