Norwich City's 2023/24 season ended in dismal fashion on Thursday night as they were humiliated at Elland Road in a 4-0 defeat to Leeds United.
The Canaries had held the Whites to a 0-0 draw at Carrow Road in the first leg and gave themselves a platform to go and attack the match in Yorkshire, but failed to do so.
David Wagner's side knew that they could not let the hosts get off to a fast start, to prevent the crowd from getting behind them early, yet that is exactly what happened.
Leeds dominated the game from the first whistle and found their first goal, through Ilia Gruev, after seven minutes and were 2-0 up inside the opening 20, thanks to a header from Joel Piroe.
Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville then added a third and a fourth either side of half time to book the Whites a place at Wembley and the Canaries a ticket to their summer holidays.
Norwich now have another season in the Championship beckoning and have reportedly decided to sack Wagner, with Carlos Cuesta and Steve Cooper of interest, but the German boss was not the only person from last night's encounter who must surely have no future in Norfolk.
One player who must have played his final game for the Yellows after his poor showing at Elland Road is central defender Ben Gibson.
Ben Gibson's performance against Leeds in numbers
The 31-year-old defender's lack of mobility was on full display in Yorkshire as he simply struggled to cope with the pace and intensity of the performance from the home side.
Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto, and Summerville's athleticism and pace when running at the Norwich backline was a frightening sight, as Shane Duffy and Gibson looked terrified every time a Leeds player got turned and started running towards them.
In 63 minutes on the pitch, before Kenny McLean was moved back to centre-back in his place, the veteran defender failed to win a single duel on the deck or in the air.
Minutes played
62
Duels won
0/2
Clearances
1
Interceptions
1
Tackles
0
Dribbled past
1
As you can see in the table above, Gibson did very little to stem the flow of Leeds attacks during the match, as he was dribbled past as many times as he made tackles and interceptions.
His failure to win a single duel, as well as the fact the defender only competed in two, summed up the team's performance from a Norwich perspective. The Canaries did not get close enough to the hosts all evening and came out second best all over the pitch with their passive approach.
Gibson did complete 95% (56/59) of his attempted passes but they did not amount to much as the Yellows failed to score and did not offer a consistent threat in possession.
The Pink'Un's Samuel Seaman awarded the former Middlesbrough star a dismal player rating of 4/10 for his display on Wednesday night, which may even seem generous given the score and his lack of impact on the defensive end – as shown in the aforementioned statistics.
It is now time for sporting director Ben Knapper to be ruthless in his approach, unlike Norwich on the pitch this week, and ditch the left-footed enforcer when his contract expires later this summer.
Why Ben Gibson should be released
The experienced defender's current deal at Carrow Road is due to expire at the end of June and the time now feels right for the club to move on from him ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Gibson has racked up 124 appearances for Norwich since his initial loan move from Burnley in 2020, which turned into a permanent one in 2021, and the 4-0 defeat to Leeds must be his last.
The 6 foot 1 colossus started 33 Championship games during the regular season and both of the play-off semi-final clashes with Leeds, which shows that Wagner relied upon him in the heart of his defence.
Norwich ended their campaign with the fifth worst xGA per 90 in the division (1.45), below relegated Huddersfield Town, and this speaks to how vulnerable their backline was with Gibson, along with the likes of Duffy, Jack Stacey, Sam McCallum, and Dimi Giannoulis.
Ben Gibson
£40k-per-week
Jack Stacey
£35k-per-week
Shane Duffy
£35k-per-week
Ashley Barnes
£30k-per-week
Josh Sargent
£25k-per-week
As you can see in the table above, the central defender is currently the highest earner in the squad and his performance in the play-offs and Norwich's defensive record this term suggests that they have not been getting value for money.
At the age of 31, there may not be much, if any, development left for Gibson to go through, which is why Knapper must now look to the future beyond him, and hope to bring through a younger, more athletic, heir.
The player who could replace Ben Gibson
Norwich may already have a replacement for the veteran centre-half already in the building in the form of academy graduate Brad Hills, who just spent the year on loan with Accrington Stanley in League Two.
The 20-year-old, who was born in Norwich, won the fourth tier side's Player of the Season award for his fantastic efforts in the heart of their defence.
Whilst not a naturally left-footed player, Hills could play on the left side of the Canaries backline or he could play on the right, with another signing brought in to offer a left-footed balance when playing out from the back.
Appearances
35
41
Sofascore rating
6.85
7.10
Tackles per game
0.5
2.1
Interceptions per game
1.3
1.8
Clearances per game
3.7
5.6
Duel success rate
54%
66%
As you can see in the table above, the young colossus enjoyed a significantly better season than Gibson, albeit in League Two and it remains to be seen how he would cope with the step up to the second tier.
Hills, as shown in those statistics, has the potential to be an upgrade on the current Norwich centre-back by winning the ball back with greater regularity, whilst also dominating opposition players in physical duels with greater success.
The first step for the Canaries and Knapper, however, is to release Gibson at the end of his contract, making the 4-0 defeat to Leeds his final game for the club.