• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Football Writer

My Football Writer Norwich City news… comment… analysis

Norwich City – news, comment and analysis

Find the best betting sites
  • Home
  • About us
  • The Team
  • Archives Index
  • Patreon
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contact us

City chief McNally proves willing to crunch those Premier League numbers with Lambert's playing budget to the fore

18th April 2012 By Rick Waghorn 3 Comments

Please share

City chief executive David McNally – fresh from bagging finance giants Aviva on a new, four-year sponsorship deal – this afternoon happily crunched a few of those Premier League numbers as supporters digested the difference in finishing anywhere from ninth to 14th.

With just four games of the season to play, one point currently separates Sunderland in 9th spot to Stoke in 14th – with Norwich slap bang in the middle of that ‘second tier’ pack.

But given that the Premier League prize pot includes provision for a £750,000 bonus per place, the difference between finishing the season at a canter and sloping off early to the beach can be the thick end of £5 million.

For a club of Norwich’s ‘co-operative’ ilk whose business plan budgeted for a 17th place finish, to end an already remarkable season with such un-planned cash in the bank would be a huge bonus – particularly when McNally confirmed at this afternoon’s kit launch that any spare cash is always destined for the manager’s coffers.

What could Paul Lambert do with £5 million he hadn’t planned for, given his success in the young, hungry and English transfer market?

“I think supporters experiencing the Premier League for the first time may not appreciate that [the bonus payment per place],” said McNally this afternoon.

“But it is why we don’t have meaningless end of season games in this great league of ours,” he added, with points really meaning big prizes – irrespective of whether they yield Europa Cup tickets.

“I grew up watching lots of dull, end of season games when two teams would play out a boring 0-0. And they were meaningless. There’s no such thing in this league.

“There’s that one point between the six teams in mid-table and let’s call it £750,000 after very limited overheads – so that’s huge. That’s £4.5 million.”

The next question was inevitable. More power to the manager’s elbow?

“We’re a co-operative – plain and simple,” said the chief executive.

“This club is a co-operative. By that we mean that any spare cash goes to the football manager and whilst this team of people are here managing the club then that will always be the case. Any spare cash goes to the football manager.”

And spare cash could easily equate to unbudgeted income if Lambert could deliver a top-half finish on his debut season in the top flight – a remarkable achievement on the back of those back-to-back promotion triumphs.

“In the business plan we budgeted to finish 17th,” confirmed McNally. “The financial plan was 20th, but the business plan – which is what drives this business – was 17th.”

Which – on last year’s numbers and Wolves’ final £40.6 million figure for finishing 17th – could equate to a further £7 million being available should Lambert steer his troops to ninth next month.

So, were Norwich out of the woods then? Aviva deal signed, sealed and delivered for the next four years and with a crop of young tyros fast proving their worth in the richest professional football league in the world, what could possibly go wrong?

Time to put the feet up and reach for a big, fat Havana cigar. Job done.

“I don’t think in football you ever sleep easy,” laughed McNally, who in the darkest days of League One football has been obliged to peer over the edge of the financial abyss.

Excellent management – on and off the pitch – has turned the club on its head; it is now a realistic possibility that Norwich could become ‘self-sufficient’ financially and as such act as a role model for a whole clutch of similar sized clubs.

But McNally is far too long in the tooth to count too many chickens. Football remains far too fickle a mistress to rest easy.

“The thing to remember in football is that it’s the thing that happens next that matters – and not what happened today or yesterday. If you look at the great football people like Paul Lambert, that’s their view – that they think about the next game. And then the next game…

“And that’s the great thing about football. It’s a 24/7, dynamic business. Sleep easy? What is that?”


Please share

Filed Under: none

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Douglas Millar says

    19th April 2012 at 9:03 am

    There is no reason why Norwich cannot get 7 points from the final four games to ensure that an extra £3 or £4 millions arrive at Carrow Road. The performance last weekend was much better than the score suggests. A useful link to the Man City website provided 20 Mins of highlights and, even for one who was there, it was surprising how many chances the Canaries made. Even their commentator appreciated how well we played.

    Tiredness at the end took its toll but we must remember what a great shift was put in against Tottenham and Everton.

    I am sure Mr Lambert has identified his targets for next season already – remember how quick off the mark City were last year. The club is being so well managed that it seems remarkable that City were ever relegated to League One. Let us hope the present regime continues for years to come!

    Reply
  2. Richard James Bonham says

    19th April 2012 at 9:59 am

    With all the patting on the back with management,players and the like[which is deserved] it must not be forgotten that the majority of fans stood by the club down to the third tier of football because of the faith they had of a turnabout in fortunes.Those of less faith who are maybe still on the waiting list for a season ticket most certainly rue the decision to walk away 2 or 3 seasons ago.

    Reply
  3. Dave Backham says

    19th April 2012 at 11:04 am

    We also had 7 home games broadcast on Sky TV and only 2 away games. Was that also an unexpected windfall – as the home team did we get all the broadcast revenue 7/9ths of the time?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FIND MY FOOTBALL WRITER ON

As featured on NewsNow: Norwich City news” style=

Norwich City News 24/7

#NCFC LATEST

tksakaki_lab Alexander @tksakaki_lab ·
25m

🇪🇺 UEFA #Euro2024 Match Day

#Moldova vs. Czech Republic 🇲🇩 🆚 🇨🇿

🔴 Live Stream on Joyful IPTV

#premier #laliga #sue #animegirls #coyp #lqvkk #ncfc #garnacho #clrdgazefanart #baseball #animation #un #soccernews #selangor #revierderby

Reply on Twitter 1640259355013681152 Retweet on Twitter 1640259355013681152 Like on Twitter 1640259355013681152 1 Twitter 1640259355013681152
fan_banter Fan Banter @fan_banter ·
48m

Every Attendance of the Weekend – 26th March 2023 - https://fanbanter.co.uk/every-attendance-of-the-weekend-26th-march-2023/

#watfordfc #ncfc #twitterclarets #safc #rufc #wafc #bcfc #kro #rovers #utmp #bristolcity #bluebirds #ccfc #pusb #htafc #hcafc #coyh #ltfc #boro #millwall #qpr #readingfc #twitterblades #scfc #sufc

Reply on Twitter 1640253570133143555 Retweet on Twitter 1640253570133143555 Like on Twitter 1640253570133143555 Twitter 1640253570133143555
rewindnorwich Rewind Norwich City @rewindnorwich ·
1h

#OnThisDay 12 years ago, Chris Martin's late header against Leeds gave #NCFC a 1-0 victory in League One.

Reply on Twitter 1640247282770792449 Retweet on Twitter 1640247282770792449 1 Like on Twitter 1640247282770792449 20 Twitter 1640247282770792449
fan_banter Fan Banter @fan_banter ·
1h

Akinfenwa was 'too cocky' after having injury time penalty saved by outfield player - https://fanbanter.co.uk/akinfenwa-claims-he-was-too-cocky-after-having-injury-time-penalty-saved-by-outfield-player/

#watfordfc #ncfc #twitterclarets #safc #rufc #wafc #bcfc #rovers #utmp #bristolcity #ccfc #pusb #htafc #hcafc #coyh #boro #millwall #qpr #readingfc #twitterblades #scfc

Reply on Twitter 1640243503878774785 Retweet on Twitter 1640243503878774785 Like on Twitter 1640243503878774785 Twitter 1640243503878774785
pinkun The Pink Un @pinkun ·
2h

🔰Tony Springett interview🔰

🐏 Life at Derby
📱 Communication with #NCFC
💪 Adapting to League One
🫡 Not being treated like a youth player

Read our chat with the Norwich winger below👇🔰

https://www.pinkun.com/news/23413351.norwich-city-tony-springett-interview-life-derby-county/

Reply on Twitter 1640242540627492864 Retweet on Twitter 1640242540627492864 Like on Twitter 1640242540627492864 2 Twitter 1640242540627492864
Load More...

Copyright © 2023 21VC Ltd | All rights reserved | Not to be reproduced without prior permission.

Disclaimer: The information on this website consists of personal opinions. Whilst we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained on these Web pages is accurate and correct at the time of writing we do not accept any liability whatsover for any loss or damage caused by reliance on this information.

We do not accept any responsibility for information contained in other websites to which this site links. We strongly advise users to check any information before acting or relying on it.

Developed and Hosted by