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Why there will always be more easy questions than simple answers. It’s football…

19th May 2009 By Rick Waghorn Leave a Comment

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As one or two people may have already noticed, the Eastern Daily Press today published a list of questions for Delia to answer.

It is a lengthy list. And, in fairness, she and her board have a lot to answer for.

Some of the questions can command a one word answer.

'Were managers allowed to get away with too much?'

Yes.

'Was money wasted on supposedly quality loan players last season?'

Yes.

Others seem to presume that the staff and department managers that are left in the building are wholly clueless as to how they do their jobs on a day-to-day basis.

'Who is running the club behind the scenes?

'Who is deciding day-to-day policies?

'Who is sorting out player contracts and transfer deals?'

Well, someone manages to get the Eastern Daily Press out every morning when the editor goes on holiday. I suspect it's no different at Carrow Road. It's not ideal; bigger, broader strategic decisions are put on hold, but the daily grind gets done. There's still a club secretary, a commercial manager and, of course, a football manager. Who once was the commerical manager.

And then there's three and a bit directors with Roger Munby nominally, apparently, still at the table. And the two owners.

And as long as the period without a chief executive at the helm remains relatively short-lived, then the club can soldier on.

Other questions will, you suspect, now be forever lost in the smokes, mirrors and spin that all sides choose to cloak themselves in.

And that's everyone. Me included. Everyone brings a different 'slant' to the table. I don't see a 'gift horse' in Peter Cullum. I see a very, very rich individual whose motives, interests and intentions were never wholly clear.

Or, indeed, put to the test.

And, in every likelihood, changed dramatically. Playing a waiting game in the autumn of 2007 was probably a smart move by the 'King Of Deals'; but when the chase slams you smack into the worst banking crisis in nigh-on 80 years come the autumn of 2008, so everything changes.

So I see a man with bigger issues on his plate right now than riding to the rescue of a League One football club.

And given the 'facts' – or, rather, the 'truth' – regarding the whole saga appear to be forever lost in this thick, parochial soup of claim and counter-claim, I would cling to the 'facts' as you find themselves outside the walls of this particular navel-gazing parish.

Fact: The Towergate billionaire was not included in this year's Sunday Times Rich List. And make of that what you will. If nothing else, put it down as a question mark. A doubt in someone else's mind; someone not armed with a Norfolk agenda.

Maybe lodge the idea that there are several shades of grey between black in one corner and white in the other.

The Turner question can be viewed in a similar light; it might also be deemed one for the Turners themselves to help answer.

In many ways the question as to: 'Where did the money from promotion and player sales go?' can run alongside: 'Is the club living beyond its means?'

Because it all boils down to a simple question. Which right at this moment in Canary history might be worth a longer ponder.

If we wipe the slate clean this summer; start with a completely blank piece of paper and – for a moment brush the costs of the new South Stand and the long-term mortgage-come-securitisation deal under the nearest badly-worn carpet – would you want your football club to make a profit every year?

Complete piece of blank paper; 'Prudence' and 'Ambition' have both left their heads on a platter. So you can start again.

Would you want you club to return a profit? To be run like a 'proper' business?

I suspect most people would hope that it would break even – that it lived within its means. Just. Maybe made a little loss.

And on that basis, the sums ought to be pretty simple. This is the money you've got coming in – gate receipts, merchandising, TV cash – and whatever's then left after your Carrow Road staff costs, match-day expenses, etc, etc, is the player budget that you hand the manager.

And any kid or player that he manages to sell, is a bonus. Any little cup run that goes beyond the third – or first, a-hem – round, is a bonus. Both get to top up his player budget.

 
Simple.

And if you set yourself a target of losing no more than, say, ?250,000 in a year; you know what your income is, season ticket revenues, etc, etc… Then, by default, you give yourself a player wage ceiling. A cap on what you can and cannot spend in any one given year.

That's where you get to if you 'live within your means'. And follow standard business practice.

Living 'beyond your means' means going cap in hand to, say, Carl Moore and getting him to cough for Darren Huckerby. Without him, Hucks would never have come. If Norwich had lived 'within their means…' there would have been no legend.

And that's the one word answer to that question. 'Is the club living beyond its means?' Yes.

They all do. Even when Prudence met Ambition, City were still living way beyond their means. But, hand on heart, would you want in any different? Would you want a club that lived within its means and cut its cloth accordingly?

That's what makes football a business like no other; particularly in the Championship when the richest league in the world is so close; that with just one, last loan deal you can reach out and touch Old Trafford…

As for the final question, 'What happens now?' well, this being football, there is a very simple answer.

God knows.

And a bit like the Turners, the Cullums and the Smiths, He's not telling either.


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