When he was managing Hertha, he tried to get the entire club to challenge itself in the 2 Bundesliga. But the board chickened out.
At the end of the day I think it's completely ridiculous for WB to throw Josh under the bus in the media. Really unprofessional and spiteful. This story seems really one sided. It was 100% not Josh's fault that WB lost to a 3BL club and this is 100% blame shifting by their pathetic management team. This BS from WB is why they are in a freefall. I feel bad for Josh this is the way his time has to end with WB.
I don’t know whole lot about the particulars of the situation, but I think I recall this kind of thing – holding a player out when a transfer is imminent – is a pretty common occurrence. This whole reaction seems odd to me.
I'd generally be on Josh's side for something like this. Lots of guys stop playing once a transfer is imminent so it sounds like no big deal from that perspective. But it sounds like they had an agreement in place with both clubs and that Josh was on board until the last second. So yeah, pretty shitty to leave everyone hanging at the last second if there was already something agreed on. It will be forgotten, life goes on and Werder is certainly a mess but he could have held up his end of the deal for a club that has given him as many chances as Werder and helped him launch his career and played him enough through his struggles to get him ready for a move up. A little loyalty wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world here, especially if they already negotiated that he would play one last game. Fans would have been able to give him a nice send off as well.
I've not seen any credible reporting that Josh waffled after agreeing to this... What if the clubs agreed to the measure without consulting him? Then he'd be backed into a corner and have to fulfill the agreement or look like a jerk. Think about it...Norwich wanted to get the deal over the finish line and I wouldn't put it past them to allow that kind of clause to be tacked on if it seemed important to WB officials. What would they have to lose? If he gets injured in the Pokal fixture they take their money and find another signing to bolster their squad. Mabye even circle back around for him next window. Josh had the most at risk so I feel he weighed the "cost" (slight damage to his reputation) and chose to play it safe with his new bosses. I can't blame him at all. But this is why the Bremen FO's choice of words is (for them) a PR masterstroke. To be completely honest, none of us may ever know what went down unless Josh chooses to speak on it...at which point many observers will question his attitude/professionalism further.
Yo bruh, yeah I just sold you my AlphaTauri but Imma run it around Monte Carlo one last time, k? It'll be fine. I wreck very few cars.
Yeah, the reporting always said the agreement was between the clubs, but Josh didn’t want to play. It doesn’t say he agreed and then backed out. I think he’s completely within his rights to do so, regardless of what the clubs agree to.
Yet... I mean, whatever Sarge "is" the reality is he has not been playing much CF/"traditional" striker for Bremen. Fullkrug is somewhat special - a WB youth product, had success elsewhere. Came back etc. etc. But Sarge has shown well enough they wanted him on the field, but not at CF/"trad" striker. Norwich may put him in a similar situation - where he is either #2 to Pukki for a season or 2, or he may play himself into an AM/AW/SS "slightly further or wider from the goal" position. He may also play well enough to supplant Pukki as Norwich's main CF/striker type, which would be ideal, but I'm not sure this is at all certain.
Sargent played the vast majority of his minutes last year as a striker. The idea that he was played out of position is not true. That is not to say that he will be playing striker for Norwich, but if it's not there, he will be on a wing. At least, unless Norwich try something completely out of the box....
I must’ve seen in a representative sample games last year, then. Most of the time he was on the right side, and having to track back a lot deeper than a typical center forward.
Late in the season when when Fulkrug was healthy (and Selke), he didn't play much as a forward, according to transfermarkt. For the last seven games, they have him down for two at striker, two on the left wing, two on the right, and one at attacking mid. Of the 25 other games that he played last year, 24 were at striker (either solo or with another). The only other time he played on the wing was in the first game of the season. That is all according to transfermarkt. I thought he played on the wing a bit more than that, too. He probably moved in a few games once subs were made and whatnot, but he definitely played mostly as a forward.
This may well be a definitional issue, but much of the time I saw WB near the end of the year Sarge was RM in a 4-1. Is that a "striker?" Not in my book, but I'm open to the idea others will call it that. If that RM in a 4 midfield is "striker" it is more likely he's a "striker." If it's the CF/ "1" in a a 4-1. He did not play that as much in the end of the season or beginning of this.
When I say striker or forward, I am referring to him being central. Wing would be on the outside of the formation. Difference between a wing and outside midfielder to me is that a wing generally plays with three central midfielders while an outside midfielder would be playing with two central midfielders.
I think, if you look at the bulk of WB in 20/21, esp last 3/4s. Josh played CF "often" when Fullkrug was hurt, but usually played wide in a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 when Fullkrug was healthy. He played a "SS" with Raishica a few times too. Some of that is Fullkrug specific, as I noted, but I think some of that is an evolving idea of how Sarge can contribute. Will that continue at Norwich? We shall see.... Stay tuned!
Sky Sports are reporting it as 8m pounds/9.4m Euros/11m dollars. Don't know details about how any of it is tied into incentives or the sell-on (if any).
Big smile 💬 "I think the @premierleague is the best league in the world and it’s going to push me and challenge me to be a better player!"🇺🇸 #SargentSigns 🇺🇸— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) August 9, 2021