Paddy Davitt: It is the sound of silence not swearing that should concern City

Albeit the dire ‘Project Restart’ exit, when fans were absent from stadiums and that squad under Daniel Farke’s tutelage also checked out early, might be preferable to the current reality.

It is not about the actions of a vocal handful, who vented their frustration in colourful language towards the sporting director after the final whistle outside the City Stand.

Although the optics of Stuart Webber being levered back inside the relative sanctuary of the stadium by executive director, and his wife, Zoe Ward, speaks for itself.

Those shaping this club’s direction should pay more attention to the empty seats by the end of another self-inflicted Premier League defeat riddled with fresh individual errors from players. They should heed the noise from a smattering of boos.

A far less volatile show of dissent but, both in its limited volume and lack of intensity, highlighted the general feeling of apathy far better than an expletive-laden confrontation.

Do not take another healthy season ticket renewal uptake as tacit acceptance there is universal support. There are family ties and a sense of enduring loyalty and belonging over-riding much of the residual frustration as to why City remain so uncompetitive at the top table.

Dean Smith talks about a losing culture. More than bricks and mortar and a hugely impressive transformation around Colney it is that patch of grass, two goalposts, a ball and what 11 players in green and yellow are able to muster that is the benchmark. Few of those same supporters who drifted away from Carrow Road on Saturday long before the end had any delusions this was another scrap against the odds.

Even armed with a squad makeover unlike any Webber was able to engineer since his arrival in 2017. It may be modest compared to clubs like Newcastle United, but the fact City could embark on such a spend was itself a testament to the astute work undertaken.

Webber inherited the shell of a football club. Financially on the precipice with a tired and ageing squad. His energy, passion and single-minded drive to improve felt all-consuming. That is no longer the case. By his own admission a desire to pursue a lifetime dream, mapped out in an ill-timed national newspaper interview on the eve of the Magpies’ visit, conveys the impression Norwich City has long since receded as the extent of his horizons.

The brutal honesty he has exhibited in every public utterance since he walked through the door was viewed as refreshing candour to drag a club up from its knees. Now in many quarters it is arrogance.

Perception is everything in a social-media fuelled age. There was no talk of Webber’s recruitment failings, or the financial limitations of a self-funded model, when the football was sublime and the Championship silverware stacked up. Or the need for new owners, when talk of a breakaway super league and any number of clubs in peril continued to stack up, as Norwich appeared to crack the code and defy the odds to seal a brace of Premier League promotions.

In the fertile periods, when the curve has bent steeply skyward, Webber’s quest to climb mountains, and the launch, in tandem with his wife, of a foundation to improve the life chances of disadvantaged children in Norfolk would have been hailed. A signal of not only how much they want to improve the fortunes of this football club but more broadly their adopted home.

Failure again where it matters most has exposed the ruptures and let the toxicity spew to the surface.

Webber will know he must own what is now certain to be another Premier League relegation; the second on his watch to sit with a brace of promotions. He will also have to accept the limitations of a recruitment strategy to equip first Farke and now Smith with the tools to try and bridge the chasm.

Expect public pronouncements to come swiftly upon the conclusion of another campaign where the condescension and sneering tone of elements in the national media will ring in Norwich’s ears as they limp back to the Football League.

But Webber, and those around him, must also listen to that sound of silence from the majority, they must feel the apathy and address the disinterest. They must acknowledge it by word and, as crucially, deed, over these summer months in preparing for another Championship cycle.

A tough watch for the Norwich City fans who stayed until the end (Image: Focus Images Limited)

For many fans that will be intertwined with the backing Smith can expect to overhaul a squad that again has flattered to deceive. The tone of his post-match comments were clear. In all probability the rump of his current roster is good enough to sustain yet another promotion charge. But they are palpably not good enough to keep Norwich up.

The challenge for Webber and his recruitment chiefs is to source material Smith, and Craig Shakespeare, can mould into a group of players who do not withdraw when they face adversity, who can offer a residual attacking threat and a robustness to how they defend their own box.

Defeat to Newcastle again highlighted graphically how much work needs to be undertaken. Smith may have inherited personnel, and was then unable to change anything in the January window due to financial constraints, but this is a team cast in his image now.

He will be embarrassed and angry and ready to accept his share of responsibility. But as he pithily observed after the manner Newcastle coasted to victory, he craves the same from those he entrusts on the pitch.

The acceptance of their lot is what so irks supporters. Not the prospect of a sporting director needing ‘pockets of time’ away from his post, or even embroiled in a brief stand off with supporters who do not wish to remain silent.

What they and the majority who trooped wearily away from Carrow Road desire is a team they can be proud of and, however unrealistic it may be, a hope for more than making up the numbers in the Premier League.