The last week or so has been the ‘perfect storm’ – bad performance and defeat at Birmingham leading into the two week international break which included transfer deadline day.
The lack of action on the pitch has allowed any fans’ dissatisfaction with players, manager and board members to fester and spread.
Yes the 3-0 loss was a stinker. If that turns into two or three stinkers in a row, then there is a genuine problem.
If it turns out to be an isolated ‘aberration’ (partly mitigated by the absence of three/four key first choice picks through injury), then it should be forgotten with lessons learned.
Every club in the land will have such an off day. Six points from the next two games will make everyone feel better.
I won’t rake over the transfer ground again – it’s done, the club moves forward to the end of the year when the next damn window opens and we go through it all again.
One reader comment from last week was that the ‘CV’ of the new CEO Jez Moxey hadn’t been discussed here – an indication that myself and others at MyFootballWriter are too close to the official club line and unwilling to be critical of its actions.
While strongly refuting this accusation, it was a fair point that the MFW spotlight hadn’t been directed in any detail at the new CEO even though the CV in question is no top secret document unavailable to find online:
Personal details:
Jeremy Derek Moxey, 53, born in Hemel Hempstead, is married with children and has the look of a ‘Soprano’ about him. You sense he can handle himself in a sticky situation. I’d say that’s the kind of CEO any club would seek.
I don’t know what his hobbies are – none of us care presumably.
Previous employment:
After a club background apprenticeship served in Scotland, he spent the last sixteen years as CEO of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Anyone in such a position for such a length of time must, (a) know what they are doing, (b) be generally competent at it, but (c) make some mistakes along the way.
What CEO in the history of football has a 100 per cent spotless record? At any point during those sixteen years, the owner could have dismissed him if thought to be doing a poor job.
His former club saw ups and downs very similar to our own over the past decade. Premier League ecstasy mixed with League One misery with Championship battles in between.
He also oversaw big (and ongoing) re-developments of Molineux. It looks like a wonderful 21st century football stadium to me.
Along the way, he inevitably rubbed up some fans with other decisions that weren’t so popular. He’s clearly never been forgiven for those by a section (almost certainly small minority) of the Wolves faithful.
It all sounds terribly familiar to us Norwich fans doesn’t it?
Some of his old club’s fans have delighted in taunting his new club’s fans that we’ve hired a bad ‘un who is a tightwad that will hold our club back in its development.
That claim of course is put into context of their new super-rich Chinese owners (for which Moxey presumably was pivotal and worked very hard to bring in) who have changed the financial landscape in the West Midlands.
Let’s see how things develop at Molineux post Moxey.
Current employment:
He’s been here one month, has overseen one transfer window and already brought accusations of a variety of crimes from some fans and media spokespeople.
Some watched his interviews after the transfer window saga and immediately concluded those naughty Wolves fans were right – he’s a tightwad with no interest in taking Norwich City to the ‘next level’.
Others, including myself, watched the same interviews and concluded he came across as a very sensible and shrewd businessman, unwilling to gamble the club’s comparatively limited finances in the face of Newcastle and Villa’s unprecedented Championship spending.
“The club is not for sale” caused outrage amongst some. This of course is not Moxey’s decision.
He is an employee of the current owners who have every right to continue until someone else expresses an interest in the club and is prepared to put their money where their mouth is.
In the current climate of the game, it seems only a matter of time before that situation arises and the next epoch of the club takes place.
Until that day, I have no doubt that our life-long supporting current owners will do their utmost to aid the club and try to allow Jez Moxey to bring in the players we crave.
Most seem to crave a guaranteed 20+ striker. Middlesbrough, with a top scorer of eight goals, showed last season that such an entity is not a necessity for automatic promotion from this division. Note: We already have a 20+ striker in the squad.
I have no further background on the new CEO. I’m happy to give him the time to prove himself in Norfolk over the coming season and beyond and the transfer windows they include.
While that means working with a smaller budget than some of the clubs around us, Moxey may well be “a leopard who doesn’t change his spots”.
I for one don’t think that’s such a bad thing in this case.
Now, blow your whistle ref and get our minds back onto matters on the pitch.
PS: I did a Twitter straw poll (@Saund65) to answer the question posed in this piece’s title – the winner was “a bit of all of them” at 55%.
I was among those put off initially as a very good friend is a Wolves fan and he couldn’t wait to tell me all his doom and gloom stories. Some were indeed doomy and gloomy (weren’t they Keith!).
I also believe he’s got a hard act to follow in David McNally.
However Russell S has it right: we must all give him time to prove himself. And he is also right to remind us that the CEO is effectively the employee of Delia and the rest of the Board.
He will be making recommendations but will not be able to implement anything major without Board approval. And not all recommendations will be his, some will be made by the Board independently of him, and it is his job to advise and then implement these. (At least, that’s how it works outside football!)
Now, blow your whistle ref!
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I’m bemused at Wolves fans laying all their failings over the past sixteen years at the door or one man – the CEO – with no blame at all for the owners, managers and players.
It also puzzles me, given had Jez dealt entirely with the Alex Pritchard transfer “snatch” from the clasp of Brighton, that there was no praise going in his direction from City fans, who would have been waxing McNasty lyrically had the deal been completed by the previous CEO.
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What’s the CEO got to do with it?
The former incumbent oversaw 3 promotions and 3 relegations, even Neil Doncaster was present for one promotion followed by relegation.
Leave the CEO to do what they do. The game is about the players and manager, coaching staff, etc.
This season is going to be a battle plenty of highs and lows. There are probably 12-14 teams that could achieve promotion. It’s tough out there and the fans focus should be solely on supporting our boys whatever.
Let’s not get wrapped up in behind the scenes activities, little or no bearing I would say. What is far more important is our apparent lack of a CEO on the pitch, how we miss a Bradley Johnson type.
Bring on the weekend!
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A nice article.
There is a fundamental flaw in the assessments of Wolves fans which have been replicated by some City fans.
Moxey like McNally before him has some natural inclinations and is a certain style of CEO. The style for M&S is clearly different to the style for Apple so there are horses for courses.
But, at a football club the style must match the direction of the club and that is set by the owners.
Moxey is not a “tightwad” to use that horrible Americanism nor as a British person is he tightfisted. If Wolves ran a tight ship and spent little then it is because that is what the owners wanted. If Moxey was good at running that type of club then so much the better but it is ridiculous to suppose that the owners wanted to spend big like QPR but Moxet refused to do so.
It is easy to blame the CEO just as it was when McNally sacked many non football staff and became McNasty. There he was cutting costs because that is what the club and by extrapolation the owners required to stave off receivership. I do not know what the dynamic at Wolves was but if it was a tight ship then Moxey was following the policy of the owners.
The question for us is whether he is a good manager of a football club? !6 years at Wolves suggests that he is and he knows how to run things on a tight budget which is good relevant experience. He is not setting the strategy though. That is the role of the board and the owners.
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A well-written and balanced article. I’m fed up with all the hysteria surrounding, Mr Moxey’s appointment, the transfer summer transfer window and the loss at Birmingham. It is too soon to tell how our season is going to pan out and the effects – good or bad – that our transfer activities this time round and Mr Moxey’s arrival are going to have. The time to panic (and protest) will be if we find ourselves in the unlikely position of having to fight relegation to League 1.
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A good article, and some excellent responses. I was amazed by some of the vitriol spouted when Moxey was appointed. OK, all CEO’s are going to have some who support them, and some who don’t. However, given his record at Wolves he seems to be the perfect fit for what we need, and to see through Mr. McNasty’s long-term plan.
Under his stewardship, Wolves were obviously prudent with their spending, but I suspect this had a lot to do with the re-generation and enlargement of their stadium – which we all know was part of NCFC’s long-term strategy.
Surely he also had no small part to play in finding their “mega-rich” investors to take over the club from Steve Morgan. Again, it seems from both here and other message boards that this ultimately is what large numbers of supposed City fans want.
Never forget however, that if it wasn’t for Delia and Michael 20 odd years ago, we probably would not have a club to support at all!!
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Jez Moxey English Club History as Chief Exec.
In the 5 years at Stoke City Jez took Stoke from 4th in the Second Tier to 8th in the Third Tier of English Football.
Post Jez record after leaving Stoke City in 2000
2002 Stoke promoted to Second Tier of English Football.
2008 Stoke promoted to Premiership where they have stayed for 8 years
2009 12th
2010 11th
2011 13th
2012 14th
2013 13th
2014 9th
2015 9th
2016 9th
In 16 years at Wolves Jez took Wolves from 7th in the Second Tier to 14th in the Second Tier of English football.
Two Premiership periods of 1 year and 3 years.
2004 20th
2010 15th
2011 17th
2012 20th
Ow, and one Third Tier period with Wolves.
Post Jez record after leaving Wolves in 2016. ??????????????
Jez does run a tight ship!!!!
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The Wolves Stadium was completed before Mr Moxey came to WWFC. Only the rebuild of the North Bank was under Jez’s watch.
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Good to see all the comments on here. We’re all singing from the same one on this I guess.
#2 Gary Field: my friend tells me he was scapegoated over everything that went wrong for the Wolvers because they didn’t really have anyone else to focus their frustration on and he didn’t have the charisma of, say, McNasty when he met fans. His prerogative; being fan-friendly might not be in the job description:-)
At the risk of repetition, let’s ALL give him a chance. It’s the least he deserves and he’s only been here 30 seconds for Chrissakes.
I hate to think what the supporters’ reaction would have been if we had appointed a non-football man – and 16 years at the same club means he surely must have something going for him, whatever my mate might say.
Forgot to say earler: good article indeed.
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Cheers for the comments (NCFC fans and otherwise).
I don’t know Moxey personally. I of course hope he gets us back to the PL to stay as long as good old Stoke.
John(7) – thanks for filling in the blanks from Stoke. Presumably, the financial landscape changed dramatically since Moxey’s time there. I’d also probably lay most of the blame at manager and players for sinking to the 3rd tier? We did when it happened to us.
I see he oversaw the move to the Britannia (or whatever corporate name it now goes by)? No credit for that one? I also see it took 6 post-Moxey years to get to the PL. Far from convinced that Stoke’s place with the big boys is a permanent one.
As for Wolves, four years in the PL most clubs would kill for but like us (and most others), you have to take the lows with those highs.
Johnny(8) – noted. Presumably the rebuild went to everyone’s satisfaction? No credit for anything then?
Andrew (4) – apologies for my Americanism. Been watching too much ‘King of the Hill’.
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If things go downhill I’m sure Balls and The Smiths etc will quite happily let Jez take all the flak. Maybe that’s what he’s partly paid for.
Just like McBonus, he is an employee – like many of us – who will have an eye on meeting certain criteria to trigger a financial reward. That will no doubt be related to objectives including success on the pitch and maintaining financial wellbeing. I suspect ‘caution’ will be evident along with the overused phrase of ‘prudence with ambition’
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Russel. The rebuild of the North Bank and redesign of the stadium was down to Steve Morgan the Owner. Jez came out and said it was a bad idea.
The whole stadium rebuild in the 90’s was under Owner Jack Hayward, before Jez came to Molunuex.
Jez said the wolves squad post last relegation was good, we didn’t need to invest in players. We had double relegation.
A bit like he was saying about the Norwich squad.
You will find that Norwich will make a profit, but you will have to live within your means. A lot of players you’ll miss out on due to wages, and a lot will be sold for good profit. Your managers will have no chance, like the Stoke and Wolves managers at his previous clubs. In 2 or 3 years you’ll understand why. But maybe not now.
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Jonny(12) – OK , you win – Jez is a horrible man. Why he kept his job there for 16 years is a mystery then.
I’d be a bit alarmed that you can’t spell your own stadium name correctly.
Time will tell what happens to us and to you under your Chinese sugar daddy. Football is a funny old game after all.
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Russell. It was a type o!!! But 16 years surprised everyone at Molineux tooooooo!!!!!!
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I live in Wolverhampton. Moxey isn’t popular with Wolves fans but I have always felt that there has been a lot of bandwaggon jumping to have a pop at him as much of the vitriol seems to be based on his allegedly dyed hair and the fact that he gave the South Bank over to Baggies fans for a cup game but they ignore the fact that the away allocation has to increase for cup games and they had to go somewhere (WBA fans leaving Tesco carrier bags on the back of the seats at the end of the game was really funny).
He became the CEO during Sir Jack Hayward’s ownership. When he took over Wolves were losing so much money through poor financial management the Sir Jack called himself ‘the golden tit’. It seems obvious that his main remit was to return the club to profitable operation which he did. Steve Morgan was happy to buy the club for a peppercorn figure on the proviso that he invested heavily (£30m I think).
Steve Morgan is a builder. So he built a new stand. He also obtained planning permission to extend their training ground on green belt land. He also obtained planning permission to build a large estate of ‘executive’ houses on the same greenbelt land. Not long after the completion of the sale of the houses Morgan announced he was looking to sell WWFC.
I have no idea of Morgan’s motives in buying Wolves or the timing of him selling or how much profit he made. I do know that Moxey was CEO of the club at the time and they continued to be profitable and seemed to have on pitch success and failure in fairly equal measure.
Moxey’s good at getting money into a club and managing that side of it and is obviously very able to work to a remit in trying circumstances. We could have appointed a lot worse. I don’t think he’s ever going to be a Norwich folk hero but I don’t think he cares too much.
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Jonny(14) – there are typos and there are typos. I’m sure you celebrated along with him when you got promoted to the PL. He did employ Mick McCarthy which as a Norwich fan is difficult to forgive. Let’s hope your owners are not the next Venkys. I would hate to see your club meet that fate.
Don(15) – thanks for a very informative and detached account of the background to his time at Molineux.
Seems to me that, while being paid very well, the CEO is almost a thankless position regarding fans. Given the blame for failure but no credit for success and being constrained by what the owner is willing to spend. Whatever, Wolves’ fans think, to keep a paid position in football for 16 years is quite an achievement.
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