This past week has thrown up a few bulletins from NCFC that I have found disappointing to assimilate on a personal level. I fully recognise that what I consider to be bad news might be construed in exactly the opposite way by other MFW readers.
Like many of us, I avidly hoover up any information concerning our beloved Canaries quicker than a machine manufactured by an ex-Gresham student who unfortunately for all of us has no apparent interest in investing in the club. You will all know who I am referring to.
When I heard that Zoe Ward had been appointed to the Board I was mildly unimpressed. I can’t claim to be surprised by the announcement but this “keep it in the extended family” lark is getting a bit much for me if I’m honest. While I’m sure our Zoe will continue to do her day job very well, she is hardly likely to stoke any revolutionary fires or challenge the powers that be in the Boardroom, now is she?
I also observed that Stuart Webber, who is certainly not unknown to Zoe, revealed that he has some kind of Chris Bonnington fixation in terms of swanning off for a little bit of the jolly old mountaineering by undertaking training climbs for his ultimate goal of scaling Mount Everest next year – more on that in a little while.
Apparently, our Sporting Director disappeared to Tanzania to have a go at Mount Kilimanjaro over 10 days in January at the height of the Premier League transfer window. Sure we knew we wouldn’t be signing anybody that month, but even so?
Then he popped up Mount Snowdon in February for some winter training. Whatever turns you on I suppose.
And in June he’s off to Ecuador on a scouting mission of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo [I’d heard of the former but not the latter] so maybe we won’t be doing a Paul Lambert and getting our summer signings – and Lord knows we’ll need some – in early this time around unless good old Neeyul has papal dispensation to deal with them.
In September, when the window has closed, Webber will use his time off to scale Mont Blanc and later on when the World Cup kicks off in Qatar he will be spending three weeks in the Himalayas.
Yes, I know Webber aims to climb Everest next year in aid of his charity the Summit Foundation [which has been created to help youngsters realise their potential, or so I’m told] but in my “job for life” role with BASF it simply would not have been possible for me to get leave at crucial times and, the extremely generous company that they were, I’m pretty sure they would have suspended my corporate medical insurance if I had have been planning something such as that.
Mind you I suffer from vertigo and an ascent of Beeston Bump once gave me a bad attack of the crampons.
What really got my goat though [sorry Teemu] was a message in my inbox on Saturday morning from NCFC official. Many of us are signed up to receive these messages so it might not be new to you but it concerned an issue I’d forgotten all about:
The Official Norwich City Online Store | Official replica shirts (canaries.co.uk)
Yes folks, the iconic club badge is being replaced with something more friendly to digital media. I’m no Luddite but I’ve more or less grown up with the current version, although I do remember its immediate predecessor as well of course. I disapprove of the incoming version as I think it looks sanitised, although I accept it was designed to be.
Just think of all the greats who’ve worn that badge with pride, from Mark Bowen, Gunny and Flecky through Holty, Wes and Bradders to Teemu, Tim Krul and Max Aarons.
I’ve got it on at least a dozen shirts and jackets in my wardrobe and to me it will always be something to wear with honour. Make the most of it good people, as it will be unseen on our kit after we host Tottenham on the last Sunday of this wretched season.
You might be thinking that I’ll sign off with Climb Every Mountain by Diana Ross but in fact I’m not going to. I’m selecting this from the band “Mountain” instead. Readers of my vintage and above will recall it as the intro music to TV’s Weekend World back in the dark ages:
Morning Martin I thought on Zoe Ward joining the board that that may mean that Stuart Webber may leave at the end of the season along with dean smith ha ha ha wishful thinking it seems lol, never heard that tune before but liked it very obscure .
Morning Jim
I think Webber and Ward have worked at different clubs in the past so maybe they’re not joined at the hip in this way.
Mountain were the USA version of Cream and very popular in the States, although far less so here in the UK. In fact Cream songwriter and bassist Jack Bruce formed a band with Leslie West [guitar] and Corky Laing [drums] from Mountain for a while.
You might know Mountain for Mississippi Queen, their only minor hit here. Unlike Cream they didn’t really do singles.
Cheers
Ward met Webber while both working for Loserpool she then got offered a post Fulham in a more senior position.
McNally left Fulham for City and got Ward as his assistant to join him a few weeks later from Loserpool she had held the club secretary roles at both Fulham and Loserpool.
She was part of the Tom Smith/Ed Balls team to recruit her husband
Thanks for that – I couldn’t remember the when’s, whys & wherefores.
Hi Martin
Climb every mountain may be the Nuns Chorus would be apt with How do we solve a problem Like Delia.
I think SW knew what he was doing or planning last summer when he promoted Neil Adams to be his fall guy.
Since Adams moved from his role as Loans Manager the lads seem to gotten poor reviews while away but that could just be a hiccup only time will tell.
Neil Adams will have a lot on his plate and sadly I am not sure he is up to it, as a first team manager he struggled be it the pressure or lack of experience it didn’t work out.
As a loans manager he did a great job finding placements for our players to gain experience either in the UK or overseas but now he is stepping back into the big time while his boss goes on climbing sabbatical around the globe possibly sponsored by NCFC now that would be taking the P#$$
Maybe SW has all his peaks in a row so that they just need signing off by his understudy or he might have convinced everyone that the signings from the last window will cone good only time will tell but then he might find a goal score Abominable Snowman lurking in the Himalayas, or then he could scout a few Peruvian Michael Bentines
Hi Alex
The only loan-out who is pulling up any trees right now is Reece McAleer at ICT where manager Billy Dodds is full of praise for him. Danel Sinani is doing okay at Huddersfield too but they have an option to buy and the Terriers would surely be daft not to exercise it.
As for the rest they’ve not really impressed. Josh Martin doesn’t even get a regular game for Donny Rovers, which surely tells us something.
When it comes to Webber and his machinations we can only second guess exactly what will be expected of Neil Adams. I doubt right now that Neeyul knows himself. That man [Adams] will always try his best for the club though, that’s for sure.
Seems like a case of, if you have the right amount of personal ambition, there Ain’t no Mountain High Enough to me.
Cheers
I still foresee a Neil Adams/Russell Martin ‘dream team’ in the future…
It is indeed quite possible but, Oh Lordy, I hope it doesn’t happen. We’re too nice to properly compete as it is 🙂
Mountain and Nantucket Sleighride, on Mr P you old psycodelic rocker you. Did you know the bassist for mountain.,one Felix Passalardi was the same guy who produced and wrote on the early cream albums . It’s a strange brew.
Hi Bernie
See my reply to CanaryJim [above].
Felix Pappalardi was in some kind of open marriage with an away-with-the-fairies artist called Gail Collins and one night in the early 80s she shot him dead while under the influence of the Good Lord knows what substances.
Yes I knew he wrote some Cream stuff in collaboration with Clapton as well as producing – I think Collins contributed to one song lyrically too; can’t remember which.
Must go – there’s a Toad in the garden.
Cheers
Marty, you say beloved football club, now love can be be a many splendid thing, but with regard to a football club, a very weird thing. Clubs change from season to season and certainly from decade to decade. Most of those people associated with the Canaries when I first fell in love with the Club, in the 1960‘s, are now dead and gone. But my love carried on, through good times and bad. Now however I‘ve got to the stage where changes like the new badge just fail to register, the last two forages into the Prem have beaten me down. My enthusiasm for the Club has died to a mere flicker kept alive by past glories. I know not what the future holds but the present is diabolical, maybe Webber should stay up his mountain and let others sort out his mess.
Hi Cutty
I had high hopes for Webber after his first couple of seasons but it seems to me that he’s now past his peak and likely to leave us in the footballing foothills for some time to come.
Not too sure what the mobile signal would be like half way up Cotopaxi.
I had this vague idea that Chimborazo was playing for Real Madrid II but it would appear that, as often, I was wrong.
Cheers
Yes maybe he has heard the abominable snowman has impressive stats lmao .
Those yeti theories have been going around for a while now but the last thing we need is yet another abominable signing from SW 🙂
Yeti another disaster of a season is, thankfully, not far from drawing to a close .At least we should be (much) more successful next season than this abysmal foray into the stratosphere of football. Super league can’t come soon enough as far as I an concerned. Start the whole football pyramid afresh without the egoistic six. Have a rigid wage structure throughout the system, no more Boltons, Burys or Derbys. Bring sanity back into the system. Am I dreaming? Probably.
Hi Roger
I share your dream too but unfortunately there are far too many ways to swerve any kind of enforced wage structure.
When RU was supposedly strictly amateur there were many cars, holidays, bar tabs and indeed brown envelopes floating about – and I’m talking about the 60s here when many footballers were *only* on £200 a week!
A fine idea, but corruption will never allow it to flourish.
Cheers
I think that Accrington Stanley were the first Club booted out of the league for money problems back in the 60’s so this over spending has always been around and the Coats/Blazers of the FA Council have done little to expung it from the game.
The majority of those on the FA are elected from regional FA groups so have no real power these days and the Premiership don’t give a toss of a coin especially the top 7 or 8 clubs
Without getting into politics you might nevertheless be quite right to equate the PL to other longer standing organisations within society which possess extremely dubious moralities.
I doubt if your dream will happen Roger, as the top six in England back-tracked very speedily when they realised the ESL would mean them exiting the English leagues and competitions.
The top six is nothing if not greedy.
If it did happen though, it would re-invigorate the English game, probably including our international football team.
Stunningly good choice of song here Martin!
Mountain were a fabulous band, ‘Nantucket Sleighride’ has frequented my playlists for years! They were regarded back in the day as one of the greatest Super-groups and the parents of heavy metal! Leslie West was truly one of the guitar greats – only Corky Laing left alive now, sadly!
OTBC !!
Hi Kev
There’s a fair bit of love for Mountain on this article which slightly surprised me as they didn’t shift that many units over here.
Felix Pappalardi once claimed that their back line was so loud that he lost much of his hearing capacity in a single tour, which was hardly ideal for a musician and producer, of course.
I find the origins of heavy metal intriguing – every metalhead has variations on the same theme – and there’s no doubt that Mountain are a link in the chain for many people, me included.
Cheers
Hi Martin,
Yes, I guess the birth of Heavy Metal is kind of clouded by the mists of musical history, isn’t it?
To be fair, Zeppelin and Sabbath have their place in the mix too – and we mustn’t forget Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly. The rock and progressive music of the Sixties and Seventies created a pretty broad musical ocean for explorers of the musical universe to dip into.
Check out West, Bruce & Laing’s version of ‘Don’t Look Around’ when you have a spare moment.
OTBC !!
An old schoolmate used to bore me to death with WB&L, or that’s the way I felt at the time anyway.
Common themes are the riff from *You Really Got Me* courtesy of the KInks’ Dave Davis, a band from Boston USA called Blue Cheer and certainly as you suggest early stuff from Butterfly and maybe even Vanilla Fudge as well.
Jeff Beck unintentionally played his part as well too with the coda of *Beck’s Bolero* which was written and indeed played on by Jimmy Page. Ironically it was the B-side of Hi-Ho Silver Lining 🙂
To me Sabbath encapsulated the birth of the genre although their influences were blues-based, just like LedZep. It was just that down-tuning when Iommi lost his fingertips that did it really, reinforced when Geezer said he liked the sound and compensated with his bass.
The late 60s/early 70s were irrefutably the best time to be a teenager who was into music. I like some prog too for what it’s worth, particularly Floyd, Tull and early Genesis.
Enough music already – Gary might pounce at any moment 🙂
Haha … certainly not.
Anything to detract from the most pathetic relegation *fight* known to Man. 🙂
Thanks Gary
Hope you all like my choice for the Brighton preview.
Clue: it won’t be by A Flock of Seagulls.
Hello Martin, an excellent read. I’m constantly amazed by the knowledge that you and the other contributors display about wierd and wonderful musicians and the sticky ends they sometimes meet.
Unfortunately we all share the same knowledge with regard to Citys sticky end.
The sheer amount of time away from his desk, during important phases such as transfer windows is incredible. Personally, I feel there is a huge lack of self awareness involved given the current plight and the avalanche of criticism he is facing.
It seems to indicate a lack of focus on his job and quite frankly gives the impression of a cosy laissez fair attitude running through the club from top to bottom.
The promotion of Adams to the role doesn’t inspire confidence. He failed as manager. I suppose he does “bleed yellow and green” which seems to be a pre requisite.
Does anybody at the club actually give a toss about the teams performance? Complacent, cosy losing culture.
Perhaps the extra curricular activities are diluting the real business of a football club.
All this will keep going back to the ownerships of our club.
A reporter in the Daily Mail has said in recent times with all this interest in Chelsea hotting up then the lesser lights of the Premiership and Championship should be looking for investment as the interest is growing again.
Sadly the noise from the owners are louder than any megaphone 📣 can announce.
Their stance that no one is interested in our club should be put to the test get this investment bank Raine that is doing the Chelsea deal to find out once and for all but that will not happen as it will mean they lose their toy
In Norwich, it never Raines but it pours.
Agreed, Martin. I’m a bit torn on Mr Webber’s assault up the north face of Aleister Crowley (a famous mountaineer before he was infamous for other pursuits). On one hand I find it refreshing we have someone with such get-up-and-go leading the club on a sporting level; someone who obviously has the vision to identify highly ambitious targets, the desire to gain the skills to achieve them, and the chutzpah to follow-through to complete the job. However on the other fist this does seem to be happening on ‘our’ time (ie. the club’s), when other more relevant and potent problems are facing us up and waggling their powerful fists menacingly in our face. I can only assume these extra-curricular activities were agreed as part of the package agreed when he stayed on after last season. Hopefully the club and fans will ultimately benefit.
PS. If he makes it to the summit of Everest, will the flag he places there have our old or new logo on it?
Hi Mr Trunch – keep the username changes a-comin’ !
Somewhere down the line I understood that the Club are supporting Mr Webber in his endeavours but exactly what this support involves I do not know.
Believe it or not I actually think what he is doing is in many ways admirable, but the timing really couldn’t be worse from the point of view of a disaffected supporter.
Precisely how us fans will benefit from our Sporting Director breathing in rarefied air is at present unclear to me, although I am sure all will be unveiled when the mist has cleared – if it ever does clear, of course.
I reckon a Cymru dragon flag will be in the Webber rucksack rather than one of ours and I wouldn’t blame him for making that choice at all.
Cheers
Hi Chris
I meant it when I said I would never have got time off from work during our busy periods, regardless of what I might have been doing for charity. I didn’t mind – it’s what I’d signed up for because it was clearly spelled out to me that April and December were no-no’s for leave under any circumstances, least of all to go and climb mountains.
*Cosy* is the word, but there are rumours that several *lesser mortals* have quit in the past few months and there’s always an underlying reason why that happens.
Is it complacency, selfishness or a combination of the two at NCFC? I simply dunno.
As for rock music it’s in my blood just as much as football – maybe even more so. I reel myself in as much as possible but it’s such a passion that I probably sometimes overstep the mark, in the comments section anyway.
Cheers
Love (most) of your music selections which have definitely enhanced my rock music playlist.
Keep them coming.
Hi Dorset
I go from late 60s electric blues through to New Wave with most things in between but metal is my passion [21st century progressive metal mainly these days] and the trouble is that with heavy/hard rock some of the titles don’t really fit it with a football article!
Children of the Grave, Octopus has no Friends and Orange Goblin might be a tad difficult to relate to a piece about football.
Thanks – I really appreciated your comment.
😁 orange goblin?
I saw them at the Waterfront just before lockdown with number one son and they were great – Orange Goblin is an eponymous track on an early album.
One lardy singer with three terrific musos behind him – they’re from, I think, Nottingham and the singer swears on stage like Eff itself!
Afternoon Martin hope u well just recovering from the dreaded covid more people have it now then I ever known. As regards to webber shite recruitment I agree but surely farke had big input as well and some of the other players could have won Oscars last nite for acting as Premier league players see use soon 😀.
Hi Kev
Yeah I agree about the $hit recruitment – totally.
I’m not too convinced about Farke’s input though. I don’t know for sure – how could I? – but something tells me has wasn’t quite as involved as we might think.
That’s only instinct, nothing more.
Yep I’ll see you for Burnley – heaven help all 25,000 of us 🙂
Cheers
Afternoon Martin. I am like you see no point at all in changing the Club Crest.
It is a bit like the Monty Python sketch where people “just put things on top of other things” a complete waste of time and money.
I really am channeling my Will Smith today🤬
As for our own George Mallory, I would not have had been allowed time off work for any such expedition. It was hard to get any time off in the summer at all. But I suppose we are living in different times nowadays and you can be 100% sure Neil Adams will be doing everything he can to keep the club running smoothly.
I think Zoe’s ascension to the board is ok if it speeds up club matters being acted on faster, as the reason given for this would suggest. But Zoe please do not be pressured into a name change like Ward-Smith. Not a good look.
I don’t even think the Greatest Manager of all time in my opinion one Mr Brian Clough could make this pigs ear into a silk purse that we have at the moment. Yes I think Stuart Webber has messed up last years summer recruitment but I think we all know that the problems go a lot deeper than just one man getting it wrong.
It did irk me somewhat that Archant seem to be supporting Delia’s ownership at this present time. Their own survey shows the support for Delia’s continued model of ownership is almost 33% Delia in 33% Delia out and 33% don’t know. (Yet)
I just think they need to stay neutral on this. I know they have to tread a fine line to get information on a daily basis, but they should remain even handed.
My only view of Everest has and will be on the TV as when I could use a ladder, many years ago, 3 steps was my lot as my fear of heights kicked in so if the club is being looked after then fair play to Stuart and it is all in a very good cause.
And so on to Brighton then.6 losses on the bounce for Albion, and look who they play next ?
I am going to predict a anti-Along Come Norwich outcome, Brighton 1 Norwich City 2. Mad as a b…dy Hatter.
Hi Tim
For me Webber has just been like this traditional month of March as in he came in like a lion and is very likely to go out like a lamb.
These surveys are all well and good and possibly gain many clicks but we should consider the sample size here before drawing any conclusions. If anybody surveyed the entire Barclay and added it to the entire River End then that would be a sample worth taking notice of – and I could make a very good guess at the % figures from it too.
You’re right – the Archant guys do have to tread carefully and particularly just now as they’ve just been taken over and most of the EDP news is likely to emulate the Pink Un and disappear behind a paywall. Good luck to them with that one!
I’m on duty for the Brighton Preview so I’ll see what my Seagull friend Alan thinks and compare his scoreguess with yours 🙂
Cheers
Goat/Teemu scored nice goal vs Iceland. Overall game was awful, especially Finland was awful but it was not surprising with that lineup and manager Kanervas pre-game press comments. Iceland wanted way more to win and they would have deserved to win but they were also very lucky to not loose. Tomorrow vs Slovakia I expect stronger lineup but it would not surprise if Teemu would not start. He played whole game vs Iceland and Pohjanpalo and Forss are also involved.
Teemus reported salary was in news also here. Its known that Besiktas had hopes to get him, but they have no chance to be able to pay his salaries. Besiktas pays this season slightly over 3 million euro to their highest earner. Teemus salary would not make any sense when compared to some other finnish players too..
Very interesting and nice music choice like always, this one I forwarder immediately as recommendation to some. Kingston Wall was finnish band which you or some of your friends might like.
Hi 1×2
I saw just the goals from Finland-Iceland and very short highlights and it will probably be the same for me when you play Slovakia.
I understand what you say about Teemu and Besiktas but I still feel he will not be playing for Norwich City in the EFL Championship next season as we’ve both said before.
I am very pleased you enjoy the music and I hope your friends do too.
Kiitos
Delighted to see the extensive coverage given here (but not on Pinkun website) to Mr Webber’s activities. Read his ‘diary’ on the Summit Foundation website – a huge ego trip at the Club’s expense. Completely astonishing that a very well paid Sporting Director was away during the transfer window. And has planned his year around further trips in February, June (to Ecuador!) and Nov/Dec. Also interesting that his mountain climbing activities only became public knowledge(as far as I can tell) after the announcement that Zoe Ward had become a board member. There has always been, in my opinion, a huge conflict of interest in a husband and wife team having so much control AS EMPLOYEES at the football club. Their claim, once upon a time, never to speak about Club matters at home (ie after work) was hardly credible. The Webber’s, of course, face little challenge even more so now that Zoe is on the board. It is hard to imagine the other husband and wife team (the owners not the employees) scrutinising their work (be it good or bad) and subjecting it to any serious critical analysis.
Hi Andrew
In fairness to the Pink Un they are treading on eggshells, particularly at the moment with the takeover of Archant having recently been completed of course.
You are quite right about the timing of the announcement as well and to me it smacks of *oh well we can’t hide it forever so we might as well try to put a positive spin on it while we can* if you see what I mean. I’m not angry, merely stupefied.
Husband and wife [or indeed declared partners] were an absolute no-no on any level where I worked and at Board level in nearly all large organisations it is one that right now would never get off the ground. Family-owned firms are quite rightly different of course but NCFC is not in that category, at least as far as the majority of supporters are concerned.
I’m not sure even political parties encourage it [ends sentence quickly before going off on tangental rant].
Thanks for an interesting comment.
The Pink’Un has been absolutely dire lately and I’m reading less and less online than I ever have done (not living locally to buy it) although I didn’t know about the takeover which must hamper things somewhat. One example (from a copy my dad sent to me) – the recent double page “What’s gone wrong at City” which focussed on extremely little outside of the players and Dean Smith. Thank god there’s some balance on this site, even though I don’t agree with every contributor.
Don’t get me started on Webber. Charity work or not, and despite what he’s done in the past, I don’t think he’s what we need anymore. That’s me being polite!
Hi Jason
I learned as a relatively young adult that charity comes in various shapes and forms and that all is not always as it seems.
First hand knowledge has proved to me that the concept can be exploited by the unscrupulous, of whom there are quite a few.
Everybody on MFW would be glad that you don’t agree with all of us – the writers rarely agree with each other, let alone the commentators, which is what makes our collective take on the NCFC world keep turning 🙂
Cheers
I suspect that following the Newsquest takeover of Archant costs and staff will be slashed so much that the EDP will be carrying Ipswich news and there will be City stuff in the EADT because that’s all they’ll be able to fill the pages with. The days of truly critical coverage are gone.
Hi O-t a s-t h
Maybe this time I’ve finally got your username abbreviation right!
I remember the days of Peter Franzen and Eastern Counties Newspapers with great affection, like many amongst us I am sure.
Before even PF’s time it was a great broadsheet which I used to actively look forward to reading – I invariably enjoyed Tony Hall’s cartoons and so many other aspects. The EDP even had a London desk in those days and I’m old enough to remember Keith Skipper reporting on NCFC.
All I can say is that I wouldn’t care to start out as a journo on either a regional or a local paper today, but we can always blame the advance of technology I suppose 🙂
Cheers
I know I commented earlier, but this thread has been brilliant , it shows what you get when there is no football match with your team in it for 20+ days during the season.
Lewis Carroll , eat your heart out .
Ha!
Lewis Carroll, hey?
Maybe Edward Lear – or even Spike Milligan – might be more appropriate 🙂
Webber was ‘just passing through’ Norwich, as he was previously quoted as he wanted his European dream. He clearly thought he would be in demand like a toilet roll. That has now come to pass and he increasingly looks like a poor financial adviser, who hasn’t invested wisely and is rarely to be found.
You don’t employ a builder to do half the job.
Maybe he can sell some Magic Beans to someone at the top of Kilimanjaro, but I’m sure there are some Norwich fans out there that would be more than happy if he doesn’t come down, or politely takes his time at the very least.
Ms Ward’s appointment was about as underwhelming as it gets and it will remain that the Stowmarket Two will remain completely unchallenged. The board needed fresh, objective blood. Instead it got to play Happy Families. It was one of those appointments made after too many bottles of Châteauneuf Du Pape.
Kilimanjaro was of course the Teardrop Explodes debut L.P and maybe the lead track ‘Ha Ha I’m Drowning’ is very apt to Mr Webber. and the club in general. Very apt indeed.
Hi IR
*You don’t employ a builder to do half the job*.
Unfortunately some folks appear to be unable to grasp this concept I’m afraid.
I used the hackneyed old phrase last week that the Smiths are *circling the wagons* and unfortunately I stand by it more than ever.
I thought Webber was supposed to have been that *fresh, objective blood* and I felt for a while that he was indeed just that. Mea culpa in extremis.
As for Teardrop, Julian Cope has a great website out there called *Head Heritage*. Some of it is a little bit obscure but it’s well worth a look if you haven’t seen it before.
Thanks for a really good comment.