The first thing I do when I get up – always very early – is to unleash the beast.
In other words entice a sleepy Patterdale Terrier from his ‘crate’, accompany him into the garden for his “ablutions” and let him doze again until it’s time for “walkies”, which is usually a far less docile affair. Especially if the squirrells are about, when he tends to disappear into the woods and reappear when he chooses.
Then I put the kettle on, switch on the laptop or the phone and browse the other NCFC-related message boards. I choose not to post on them, but I read them with avid interest.
Tuesday morning was no different. Except that one particular post on the Pink ‘Un site really tugged at my heartstrings, which were already battered following yet another disaster, aka Reading. A poster called ‘Dr Goretex’ wrote:
So pre-season I spent hundreds of pounds on full kits for my kids. As usual on away match days we sit wearing kits listening to commentary. But today both of them in tears as yet again we lose and have told me they don’t want to wear the kits again as we don’t win any more. Their friends wear Chelsea or Man City strips and laugh at them for supporting Norwich.Thanks team, thanks Alex Neil and thanks Delia for not only ruining my Boxing Day but ruining our club and robbing honest fans.
An extract from a response by ‘Beachfarmpark’ read.
Delia, husband, shareholders etc; Read Dr Goretex’s message, then read it again and again until it sinks in!! They are your future supporters (well maybe not now). It’s not just embarrassing for the kids, it’s embarrassing for everyone to wear the shirt. Have you any sense at all, and do you have any real feelings for the supporters?
And that brings me back to a time, not so long ago, when I had recently retired and often had the time to go into one of the three pubs in the village I then lived in on a quiet Monday or Tuesday lunchtime to discuss football with the Three As: Aaron the barman (Liverpool), Adam the bar manager (Chelsea) and Andy the chef (Arsenal).
It was Paul Lambert’s Premiership season, and I could talk to them on an equal footing. They were all friends anyway – I mean the banter equality existed in a strictly footballing sense. Yeah, you have Suarez, Drogba and Giroud, but look how well Holty’s doing. We (as in Chelsea at that time) want Ruddy, he’s pretty good... we’ve all had these conversations.
I no longer live there, they no longer work there. But could I enjoy that conversation now? Of course not, I’d be trying to deflect everything away from football at every opportunity because even at my age, I am embarrassed of Norwich City too. How I feel for ‘Dr Goretex’ and his family.
I took my son to a few games in the Roeder era and he simply didn’t enjoy the experience. He likes playing his tennis, which I also introduced him to because I play, and he’s a decent cricketer. But at 25, he lives in Portsmouth and looks out for City results because he was born here and Dad supports them but that is it.
If I offered him a ticket just now, he would make an excuse and refuse it. Tell him there’s a ‘freemans’ for a decent ‘metal’ band at the UEA or Waterfront and he burns rubber for 140 miles to get here (a shared interest – the music, not the rapid driving).
I took my daughter to one game in the same era. She was 28 on Christmas Day and still remembers my often black moods when I returned home from matches and decided football was not for her.
Now I cannot and will not blame Delia Smith or Glenn Roeder for my children’s relative disinterest in NCFC. All I did was what any father would do – invited them to come with me and see, hoping they might like it.
Well, they didn’t. Even if we’d won every game 5-0 I doubt that would have changed their opinions much. However, the case of ‘Dr Goretex’ differs in a significant way. Two kids listening to commentary in their kits – that’s another level.
Young children are so emotive: they choose to support or follow a club and they want that club to win every match. Us older folks realise that is an unrealistic expectation. However, when the father of two such youngsters feels the need to post in that manner I find it deeply disturbing.
Delia Smith is an expert at extolling the virtues of running NCFC as a family Club – to be owned by a family, to be kept in the family and as a bi-product to be enjoyed by supporters’ families. But my dear good woman, if your ineptitude to run the footballing side of things is effectively alienating future supporters such as the children of ‘Dr Goretex’, what are you achieving?
Cynics might say the only family to come through this process in a positive manner is your own.
Alex Neil is so past his sell-by date it is beyond belief. Yet he is kept in situ and the boardroom’s silence was only begrudgingly broken by the ill-advised Jez Moxey in-house interview. The majority of NCFC fans – including myself and I am sure most, if not all of the MFW writers – have been patient for so long. The guys at Archant likewise. But the tide hasn’t merely turned, it’s gone out.
I normally avoid the often-dubious privilege of listening to Canary Call, but I did hear it yesterday and every single caller was like-minded. Rob Butler somehow managed to find somebody prepared to join in the programme and back Alex Neil but even he (a very reasonable man by the sound of it) appeared to have changed his mind by the time he rang off.
The comments of Mark Rivers on that radio show I will make no remarks about beyond: I personally agree with him.
So, Delia, what are you going to do? And what would you say to ‘Dr Goretex’ and his children?
I am of the past, and indeed I am of the present. But is your vision of the future still valid?
It is you, and you alone. Some of us have realised that for some time. Nobody on the Board you have assembled would vote against you. If you want to leave something for future generations, you must change your track in the near future.
I do not want to join in with a largely angry Barclay singing songs against you at the Derby game, but if you do not make at least one positive change I just might.
Even if only in sympathy with the children of ‘Dr Goretex’.
Moxey represents our BOD’s relationship with the fans wonderfully.
Arrogant, patronising, deluded, dismissive (apart from managers!) are words that come to mind and these are equally upsetting to more mature Norwich fans as the performances on the pitch are to Dr.Goretex’s children.
The future does look bleak mid-winter and I feel a song coming on..
“In the bleak mid-winter
Moxey’s words made moan
Neil was hard as iron
All our hopes he’d blown
Down the league we are to go
Down, and down we go
They’ve lost the fans, they’ve lost the plot
But are they bothered?..NO!”
All hope abandon ye who enter here. Through me you pass into the city of woe: through me you pass into eternal pain: through me the people lost for aye.
Yep, that about sums up the view of the faithful right now! I support Delia, but also I think there are serious problems at the club, particularly recruitment and there is a serious attitude problem amongst several of the players. I think Alex Neil’s position is untenable.
The club are at a crossroads, a rebuilding job is needed. But do I think we are about to fall into the inferno? Hope not! But an extended stay in the championship is beckoning. It’s so frustrating given how close we were, possibly still are to being premiership. I think that’s what is really getting people right now, the frustration that this team really let themselves down last year, that the swashbuckle has been lost, that hope is seeping away. That they are still letting themselves down.
We desperately need a lift, sadly Jez Moxey didn’t give it to us. It looks like Alex Neil is going to be given the season, I can’t answer why, if it’s purely financial we really are finished. I hope, beyond reason I know, that Moxey and Delia do have a plan. Something has to change, it has to be January and I can only imagine if Alex Neil is staying quite a few transfers must be imminent. We’ll see quite soon; if January is as flat as the rest of the season even someone as supportive of Delia as I am will start to turn against the board. It must be a hell of a plan not to have changed the manager. Either that or things behind the scenes are really rough in ways that somehow haven’t spilled over yet.
OTBC
Excellent article. AN is just the problem at the tip of the iceberg. Delia (and Michael) are not ambitious (despite what they suggest), have an absolutely appalling record of appointing managers and have finally, eventually been found out after their recent interview with Henry Winter. I think they could be in for a bit of a shock with the attendance at the Southampton cup match. £25 a ticket shows just how out of touch the club is with the supporters.
Ian (3), yes, I’ve already commented on the likely attendance for the cup game on a previous MFW article. I fear there will be more Southampton supporters than home fans, and they’ll certainly out-sing us.
I wonder what Delia has to do to actually be questioned by some fans. Other than destroying our club with no plan, the Smiths also have the least wealth than any other owner in the Prem & champ apart from Barnsley. They have no wealth to compete (and don’t wish to spend it regardless) which puts us 15 steps behind everyone else prior to even contemplating the fact they are hell bent on alienating current and future fans. Mark my words, this club will be back on the edge of a cliff before long and Delia will skulk off in a few years deemed far more abhorrent than Mr Chase (who, right now, seems like a genius).
Thanks to all for your comments.
#3 Ian and #4 Jim: yes you are quite right. I’m not going either, which is totally out of character. It’s not the ticket price as much as the chance to make a point, although I think £20 max would be fair. Shame, because Soton play decent football and they could be the only Premiership Club we see for a while.
#5 Jeff: While I largely agree with you, I remember the end of the Chase era all too well. I really hope the Smith dynasty do not allow themselves to be remembered in the same way. However, as you say, the signs are not looking good just now.
I actually wrote this before the Moxey comments; they seem like fuel to a fire to me.
As someone who hasn’t lived in Norfolk for 30 years since I was 8 and bringing up Norwich supporting children (well, only one who knows it at the moment) it’s not the easiest thing in the world being a Norwich fan so there’s a few points in the article I can certainly relate to.
At the beginning of the season when we were flying high, I couldn’t really understand the negativity as I kept reflecting on the pre/post Worthington years and thinking we’re in a good situation compared to that. Our implosion since then has proved me wrong, others right and now I’m equally disillusioned. I know what needs to happen in terms of restructure at the very top but I just can’t see that happening any time soon. By forcing the change I worry about what would be left of the club if and when it finally happened. Depressing times to be a Norwich fan and my 10 year old whose first proper season coincided with Lambert’s first season is beginning to realise it too.
The Moxey interview was amateur, patronising and naive. But as I’ve said for many years, Norwich City is a professional Football Club run by amateurs.
I don’t believe the club have any clue what they are doing, other than pretending they want to be a PL club again when they have NO INTENTION of being so. They want to be a permanent Championship club that gives the fans enough of a sniff of the PL to keep them onside, without ever getting there again.
There are cost cutting measures going on behind the scenes as is well known, but the downsizing of the club – and there is no other way of putting it – is a disgrace.
NCFC fans heave been taken for granted for far too long and for Delia and the board, this is the beginning of the end of which there is no return.
I wonder what Robert Chase thinks of all this?
As paying fans we are all entitled to our opinion. I get the anger, frustration, etc. However,we are Norwich City FC. The Championship/ old Div 2 is where we’ve spent most of the past 40 seasons,we occasionally punch above our weight. I remember 1993 and our promotions especially our magical day at Wembley just 19 months ago.Football just like life is full of up’s and downs,it’s the down times that make the high’s feel so much better.
Don’t blame our teams form on your kids happiness supporting is not about winning or losing, if people you care about fail do you give up on them? So for F*** S*ke get real,shout and scream all you like but understand, happy or sad or angry or cheerful is a state of mind that we alone can choose whatever crap is happening and one thing is certain, S**t will keep happening! “City till I die”
Happy New Year!
Sad to see the bad language Colin(9) even if tempers are high at the moment. I like this site rather than the local press because of the fact that opinions are respected. You are right no-one has the right to win all of the time and younsters have to learn that, but there is losing and losing the way we are at the moment. It is the fact that tempers are flaring that makes me so cross with the current BOD. Had they done their job LAST January then we could still be in the premier league if they don’t do it now who knows how unpleasant it will become. We have wasted two glorious opportunities to establish ourselves in the top flight because the BOD refuse to accept the world as it is. Lets not fall out amongst ourselves and support the team as best we can in these trying times. I listened to Moxey but I think the end of Neil is nigh.
Hi Martin
Vinny here, I think I am the the canary caller you spoke of although for some reason Rob Butler referred to me as “Diddy ?”
The interview spoke wonders. Either Moxey didn’t bother to review the footage, which is worrying. Or he reviewed it and thought “that’ll do”, which is worse.
Either way it was a terrible advert for him.
The single most interesting aspect of the moxey “interview” was the outlet chosen to cover it. Having turned down reasonable requests from local media outlets for their thoughts the club decided to handle it themselves.
I’ve seen the suggestion elsewhere that stephan Phillips is on the board to provide a tame local newspaper for the club. I don’t believe this to be correct. For a start, mr Phillips was and probably still is the advertising director. As such, no editor would be influenced by overtures from him to sweeten a particular story or bury another one. Editorial staff suffer the necessary evil of advertising folk as without them there would be no publication.
with a lack of national interest in the affairs of Norwich city, some might argue the local media are in a stronger than usual position relating to the club.
I feel however, that the placement no timing of the piece were purely strategic by Moxey.
He is, first and foremost a firewall whose main purpose is to deflect bad public opinion and reaction from the main shareholders. The two upcoming games provide supporters an opportunity to deliver some home truths in the direction of Delia. Now, as if by magic, the name moxey appears on everyone’s lips.
Dave B (12): In the past I’ve pushed back on your criticisms of the club.
Not this time. You’re absolutely, 100% correct. Depressing
Stewart – a sad day indeed!
If reports are true that Maddison’s loan is being extended for the rest of the year it seems likely that we are stuck with AN for the foreseeable future as an outgoing manager would probably not make a decision like that. It would be a really stupid decision but we’re used to that. His free kicks and set pieces would be worth keeping him for alone. From the outside the impression of NCFC is of a shambolic, bloated club. We have highly paid senior pros who rarely play. New signings, mostly signed by AN who do not seem to want to play for him, we have people at every level of the club who are not fit for purpose. I hope and pray AN is driven out before he can do any more damage but I do not trust the board to appoint a decent replacement. At our best there was a feeling of everyone at all levels pulling together. That is totally absent now. The Moxey interview was smug and patronising. They obviously think they are above criticism in their little bubble. I know several people who are not renewing their STs. Perhaps Delia and her dim-witted colleagues will get the message. We are not happy with the direction the club is being taken in and we will not go away until changes are made.
#11 Vinny: I’m sorry I didn’t quote you by name (I didn’t pick it up correctly either). I thought you handled your involvement on Canary Call with great dignity and a lot of common sense. I’m not in any way being patronising, I thought you did a great job; it’s not always easy to take part in that programme he he!
#16 Suffolkcan: in my opinion, yours is a superb post. It isn’t just a case of dim wits, more one of manipulation of the wits that are in situ by a person who is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. The Maddison decision is another kick in the nuts imo. Oh God, save Norwich.
#12 Dave B: Bullseye mate. Spot on.
10 Cyprus Canary, I apologise, sorry.
There’s lots of criticism but little by way of solutions.
Certainly wins against Brentford & Derby will help us all, keep the faith.
Hi Martin
Ha ha yes it’s not always easy to try and put forward another perspective when the general consensus on a phone in show is heading one direction. Thank you though for your kind words and I didn’t feel patronised at all.
As I said on the show/phone that I had a degree of sympathy for Alex Neil because this capitulation of form has been threatening to happen for along time now because of the result of several poor transfer windows. If you look at all the successful teams in the Championship right now they are continually evolving their squads in order to stay fresh and competitive whilst Norwich on the other hand have gone stale and become easy to play against. It’s also not as if the same players weren’t making the same mistakes under different managers.
If we go all the way back to when we got promoted at Wembley the first thing all the fans/pundits/writers agreed on was that Norwich needed to strengthen particularly defensively. The club failed to do this and then again the following summer. As a result the club is now reaping what they have sowed. As Michael Bailey pointed out after the Huddersfield game, the opposition had showed the current squad up for what Norwich are which is “an ageing squad, that is past it’s best and tactically inflexible.” How can you change formations/tactics when can’t trust defenders not to make the same mistakes time and again or trust midfielders not to be outbattled or out worked? In my view bringing a new manager would only solve some of the problems and only short term. So I posed the question of would a new manager be given the backing to freshern up the squad into one that is hungry and balanced? Is the current manager culpable? Yes of course he is but how much can one be expected to polish a stale yellow and green turd?
Despite all this as you very rightly noticed it was also very difficult to disagree with the other caller that I was debating with. As Rob Butler said on the show ” The sad thing about this situation is that every Norwich fan has a point to throw mud with and they all stick”