Norwich City’s head coach may have a reputation as one of the new breed, but Daniel Farke adopted a managerial tactic more in keeping with Brian Clough ahead of Tuesday’s trip to the Nottingham Forest great’s old club.
Clough’s single-minded belief in his own methods often got lost in the hazy recollections around the man-management genius which brought unparalleled success to the City Ground.
Farke revealed yesterday he had done most of the talking and his players the listening since the ‘worst home performance of the season’ against Barnsley.
“After each and every game I tend to speak on an individual basis.
“They are all grown ups,” he said. “Sometimes, however, you feel there is nothing much you have to discuss. To be honest after this (Barnsley) game it was more a monologue.
“It was a poor performance against Barnsley, probably our worst home performance.
“It’s important to be really honest in the dressing room, and we spoke very honestly about topics we were poor in. But you also don’t want to be too concerned as well, because it does go like this sometimes in football.
“You have to work hard after your setbacks, and speak directly and objectively about what went wrong.”
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Farke also sought to accentuate the positives to spark a reaction.
“We have had one or two days to be annoyed but now is the time to start a new run,” he said. “After Millwall if someone had said 12 games later you will be far away from the bottom and in the midfield (of the table) you would have taken it.
“We are well away from teams with potential like Reading, Fulham and Sunderland.
“We are three points from the play-offs and in the same position as some really good teams, like Leeds and Middlesbrough.
“The first positions are some way away, we know this, but we need to get that frustration out of the way and get back to the position we were in two and a half weeks ago. We want a result that will bring more confidence and get us back on track.
“It is important to ride this wave and start to head upwards, not downwards.
“Nottingham Forest is a big club with a great history and they are full of potential.
“They’re in good shape at home and it’s a hard task, but when we’re there with a 100pc working style and concentration we know we have the ability to get points at each and every stadium.”
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