There is some symmetry at least. Stuart Webber enraged Norwich City supporters with an interview in The Times and now he is so upset by an Eastern Evening News front page that he has stopped talking to reporters from the Archant group.
But let’s be clear: he hasn’t banned them. Archant will, of course, attend all the normal media conferences with head coach Dean Smith and selected players and can ask whatever questions they like.
In the first version of this column, I said that until this spat, City’s Sporting Director used to regularly take calls from Paddy Davitt, Archant’s Group Football Editor, and there were lunches held for the local media.
Paddy has since assured me that he hadn’t initiated a work-related conversation with Webber via phone or any online medium since November. So I apologise for saying otherwise.
But there was a relatively cordial relationship and an easy access which the club had introduced and which is very rare in football. Now, for the moment, all that has stopped. Webber will not engage with Davitt and Co.
Personally, I think that’s a shame and a mistake. But Webber is hurting and most senior figures at the club seem to be thinking: “Whatever we say is misinterpreted, put under a sensationalist headline and used to ferment more discontent. So, at the moment, it’s best to say very little.”
I’ve seen it all before, many, many times at countless clubs. My entire career was punctuated by rows about newspaper coverage.
As soon as I moved from news to sport at the organisation which was to become Archant, the then City manager, John Bond, telephoned my boss, swore rather a lot and demanded I should be sacked.
When I worked for The Sun, Alan Mullery (then QPR manager) insisted that his club complained to the Press Council (the forerunner of the Press Complaints Commission) because my story said he was going to buy Michael Robinson from Liverpool for £200,000. By the time the case was heard, my position was strengthened a tad by the fact that Mullery had bought Robinson for £200,000.
As an executive at the (London) Evening Standard, I had to placate Harry Redknapp when he was West Ham manager after we said there was a drinking culture at his club. I took him for a drink.
Gerry Francis said he was going to sue for defamation when one of our columnists said his haircut made him look ridiculous. I explained that, in a libel case, it would be up to him to prove that he didn’t look ridiculous. We heard no more.
As a columnist at the Daily Express Iso angered Chelsea fans by Tweeting something (true but unhelpful) about Jose Mourinho that they started a Change.org petition to get me banned from Stamford Bridge. Chelsea – somewhat duplicitously I felt – said they would no longer allow me to do one-on-one interviews with anyone at the club: something I’d never sought, because interviews were not my role.
So, my sympathies are with Paddy, but I do, absolutely, understand the club’s frustration and anger at that incendiary front page. Let me try to set out all the circumstances.
No, I haven’t been asked to write this piece by Webber. I haven’t spoken to him for months. No, I haven’t been asked to write this piece by City’s majority shareholders. I haven’t spoken to them for months either. But, yes, I am their friend and admirer and of course that colours what I think about them. I’ve never hidden or disputed that. If you think that disqualifies me from having opinions about the club I pay to watch home and away, cheerio.
If you’re still here, let’s look at Webber’s interview by Henry Winter in The Times. It’s done more harm than any interview since, er, Henry’s last big Norwich interview – when he quoted Delia Smith as saying she and Michael Wynn Jones don’t even listen to anyone who wants to buy the club.
Henry is a lovely, hugely talented guy. But when I did big interviews, if the subject said something that I realised would be inflammatory, I’d ask them to elaborate and perhaps clarify, so that there was context and no room for misunderstanding. Henry just put the quotes in his pieces and, inevitably, sub-editors picked them out for the headlines. So, years later in the case of the Delia interview, the quote has become the distorting lens through which Delia is seen by many supporters.
Similarly, Webber will now always be regarded as the bloke who said he’d only give 90 per cent of himself to Norwich City and didn’t see any need to appease the fans.
Here, though, is the context Henry didn’t provide.
Delia and Michael have had so many charlatans propose ludicrously unsafe “investment” plans for Norwich City during their 25 years at the helm that they no longer talk to those people themselves. But others do the “due diligence” for them.
The club is not on the market, but there is nothing to stop anyone making an approach. If there is a proposal and it seems to stack up, Delia and Michael would put it to a vote of supporters. That idea is fraught with its own problems but, whatever some believe to the contrary, D & M genuinely have always, and will always put what they believe are the long-term best interests of the club first.
And, although it shouldn’t be necessary to say this, they are crushed by the hurt of watching this season meander to its dismal end. Someone posted a picture on that cursed Facebook fans’ page of Delia smiling at Villa Park. She is a polite lady, and I suspect she was responding to something pleasant that someone had called out to her. Her real mood though, and that of her husband, was accurately portrayed on Match Of The Day, which showed them sitting in forlorn despair as relegation was confirmed.
There are some other terrible tropes about, the silliest of which are that D & M have no ambition and are content with our club yo-yoing between the divisions. There have even been innumerate suggestions that going down and getting a parachute payment is “good business”. The clue is in the name: “parachute”. They were introduced because falling out of the Premier League is a financial calamity. The parachute reduces the impact – but still means income falls by about 60 per cent.
And “no ambition”?
Season after season for 25 years Delia and Michael have laboured away trying to get Norwich into the top division and stay there. That ambition led to paying too much for too long to Steven Naismith, for instance, and to at least two occasions when City hovered far too close to administration.
So, Delia and Michael sought another way: to try and remain self-funding and sustainable while making assaults on the Premier League. That is the most ambitious current project in the English game.
At the front and centre of that bold desire is Stuart Webber.
He has now built three teams who have won promotion to the Premier League in three attempts. The first was at Huddersfield. You remember the other two: one was that joyous, improbable, swashbuckling romp in which City played gorgeous Farkeball with “all the Germans”. The last was different but more impressive: the defence was solid, we didn’t concede goals from set-pieces but we could still pass teams to death.
Huddersfield stayed up for two seasons (after Webber left). Norwich couldn’t manage one. And this season has been a very, very tough watch.
Folk want to blame someone. Because that’s what football supporters do. If you can find a pantomime villain to blame, then that exorcises the pain a bit and makes you think that the problem has been solved.
Step forward Webber and that interview. Giving it to Henry upset Archant and the glib headlines could not have painted a worse picture. But, but, but … if there is anyone left who is interested in context and truth, here goes.
After the glories of our second Football League title in three seasons, Webber was mentally and physically exhausted, because his all-encompassing role is more demanding than even that of the head coach. I have witnessed Webber’s almost manic commitment to keeping on top of everything and striving always to improve everything. I’ve also witnessed his brusque manner and the un-nuanced way in which he talks about things. Both the work ethic and the in-your-face talking reveal a man who doesn’t do compromise.
With a young son at home and a restless need to always be achieving, Webber decided he would leave Norwich City at the end of this season and tackle the next stage of his life.
For the City board, planning for the 2021-22 season in the Premier League, the prospect of Daniel Farke and Webber both leaving at the end of it, come what may, filled them with dread. And so the conversation went something like this, I imagine.
Webber: “I want to climb Everest. It is literally the toughest thing I can think of doing. And I really want to do it.”
Delia and Michael: “Can you take a sort of staggered sabbatical and to it? But stay working for us?”
Webber: “Err. Perhaps. I could certainly do all the preparatory trips at times when others could take over at Colney. And, of course I would do the actual climb when Norwich aren’t playing at all.”
The next conversation Webber had was with his wife, Zoe Ward, the very impressive, legally trained, hugely admired within football, latest Norwich City director – who happens to be married to Webber. Hers was the idea to turn his Everest adventure into a force for good by establishing a charity: The Summit Foundation, to help Norfolk youngsters fulfil their potential.
To publicise the foundation a dinner for Norfolk’s great and good was held, and Webber addressed everyone. Then he made some of the same points – needing a new challenge, wanting to fit it in around still striving for Norwich City – in an interview with Henry.
That “90 percent” comment is ambivalent. In the context of the preceding and subsequent remarks it seems to mean that Webber told Delia and Michael he will be completely focussed on Norwich City except for those weeks when he is preparing for Everest, and if the board were not happy with that arrangement, he’d understand and finish his contract this July as planned. But the board were anxious for him to stay.
The “not my job to appease the fans” quote is not that at all. He actually said, “My life isn’t to appease Norwich fans,” and he goes on to explain that he needs other things in his life – specifically, he wants to climb that blooming mountain.
No head coach or manager can only worry about appeasing supporters. Which ones should he pacify?
The guy at Anfield at the Carabao Cup game who was in a screaming rage before kick-off, howling abuse about the team at the empty pitch? Or the bloke at Villa last weekend who was in a frenzy of fury because Dean Smith returned the applause of home fans? Or the ones who make their mind up about a player and never change it? The ones who are still convinced Grant Hanley is a donkey, even when he has been our best defender?
Yet if it is impossible for a manager to appease all fans all the time, a Sporting Director certainly can’t spend an inordinate amount of time and energy responding to this week’s complaints. He must take a long-term, strategic view.
But a better advised Sporting Director would not phrase his words quite as candidly as did Webber.
Those words made him the scapegoat: a target for supporters overwhelmed by the abject failures on the pitch this season. But Webber did not deliberately confront the knot of unhappy protestors outside Carrow Road after the defeat by Newcastle. Webber and Ward had to hurry off, but a group of protestors had gathered outside.
The exact tone, content and order of what happened next is disputed. Webber certainly tried to talk with the protestors. One supporter who says he just happened to be passing, certainly swore at Webber. Ward pushed Webber back inside (much like my wife, Sarah, tries to stop me arguing with referee-abusers at games).
Mobile phone footage of part of the clash went viral. Days later the supporter told Archant: “I’m not proud of the swear words that I used. I provoked him a little bit and he provoked us. I didn’t insult him as a person, just for the job that he has done.”
Right. Well having been on the receiving end more than once, I can confidently assert that it is always very personal.
Webber decided – perhaps on advice, I don’t know – to not say anything more to anyone until the season is over. No more explosive headlines. No more quotes without context or explanation.
That didn’t suit Richard Porritt, fairly recently promoted from business and politics editor at Archant to editor of the Evening News. He either designed or okayed a front page which asked: “Do you really want this job Mr Webber?” – thus obeying a saying in journalism that any headline with a question mark can be answered: “Yes”.
It was the sub-deck headline which really gave the game away though: “Anger grows as City director dodges row.”
If Webber talks to a national newspaper the headlines cause furore. If he tries to talk to protestors, he is accused of seeking a confrontation. But if he keeps schtum he is “dodging” the issues.
I understand how newspapers work. I understand what sells them. Similar headlines and tactics paid off my mortgage, so I can’t be hypocritical. But I’d also say that it is no part of the job description of the Norwich City Sporting Director to help sell the Evening News.
So, what now? As always, sacking someone or driving him or her out would be the easy bit. It is what would come next that should scare those of us who worry more about our football club than the circulation of the local paper (under 5,000 I believe).
If Webber walks, the entire structure of the football operation would be rudderless at a critical time. If Delia jacks it in … no, that’s not going to happen, because she just wouldn’t.
Of course, the recruitment last summer failed. The most accurate appraisal of last summer’s purchases will be made after Tzolis, Sargent and Co have had a season in the Championship, but last summer was supposed to enable survival in the Premier League. It didn’t.
Nobody will be more aware of that and more pained by it than Webber. But the two horrid seasons in the Premier League must be put in the balance against two titles, achieved with some of the best football I’ve ever seen in the second tier. And the recruitment misses must be weighed against Emi, Teemu, Krul, Skipp …
To discuss the season in full, though, I’d have to quote huge tracts of Michael Bailey’s masterful autopsy on The Athletic site, and I admire it too much to plagiarise it. An inadequate precis is that we needed everything to go right, and not much of it did. So, as they say on Love Island, it is what it is. And as they say in football, we go again.
One of Webber’s clear strengths is his negotiating skills. The prices he has got other clubs to pay for our players have driven the Webberlution and transformed the club from where it was when he arrived in 2017.
The expensive revamp of Colney – much needed if we are to attract good kids and better senior players – is a symbol of the reconstruction of the whole club. Even a £30m Covid hit, which would surely have devastated the pre-2017 club, has been managed and survived.
Realistically, I think we might need two seasons to be truly competitive in the Championship. I might be wrong. Dean Smith’s 4-2-3-1 in recent games has suggested a way forward at last.
Meanwhile, we’ve just got to see this wretched season out.
If you think writing “Delia out” on a bedsheet, or swearing at Webber, will help, I’d agree – it might well help you deal with your anger.
It won’t help the club you care about, though. We have a mountain to climb. Again.
As always an extremely cogent article. A very astute analysis as always. Thank you Mick.
Mick rather childishly blocked me on twitter so here goes
I have not spoken to them in months
Quote – they are crushed by the hurt of watching this season meander to its dismal end.
2 plus 2 = 6
You are, indeed, getting your sums wrong. I’ve spoken to people who’ve spoken to them, so there’s no dichotomy between the two quotations, I blocked you because I’m weary of the allegation you made.
I don’t know Mick, that’s either sloppy writing or you’ve been caught in another porker.
“And, although it shouldn’t be necessary to say this, they are crushed by the hurt of watching this season meander to its dismal end.”
I would never assume to state someone’s emotional situation if I hadn’t spoken to them in months.
If you’d have written “they will be crushed” or “knowing them they would be crushed”, you may have a leg to stand on.
Your statement is pretty definitive.
As I say above, I’ve spoken to people who’ve spoken to them.
I’ll have to take your word for it.
It’s very odd that they are ‘crushed’. It’s their fifth relegation from the Premier, they haven’t actively done anything different on their side this time and they don’t intend to in the future. How crushed can they really be?
Who told you what happened outside the ground? It’s not true , so do your research and apologise.
I spoke to witnesses. I’ve changed it now though to reflect that there are disputes about exactly what happened.
I’d argue that this response is also childish. It’s as clear as day to anyone that Delia and Michael will be crushed by the way this season has panned out, Mick doesn’t need to have spoken to them to know that.
At last some common sense on this site. Assuming the normal readership is about though, that won’t last long. Hope you have your tin hat on.
An interesting modern phenomena. Start with claiming the stance of common sense while throwing a trite insult to further strengthen said stance. Maybe make an actual point next time, then you won’t have to tunnel under your moral high ground in order to occupy it and weakening it at the same time.
I feel there has been an awful over-reaction to the Evening News front page. Let’s examine the background: MD is indeed correct that it has a new editor; someone who wants to make a name for himself especially since Archant is set to be taken over by a larger newspaper group which makes its profits by slashing costs and staff. It would not be a surprise if the NEN did not exist in printed form in two years’ time. So, understandably, Richard Porritt needs to be seen to be making waves to either keep working for Archant or get a similar job elsewhere. But at the end of the day the most recent certified circulation figure for the NEN is just 4,097. (For context, in the same July-December period in 2010 that figure was 18,923.) In a post-Covid world not many pubs or libraries provide free newspapers to be read, and the likes of Jarrold have given up selling papers altogether while other retailers give them little space, so how many people would actually have seen the headline in question themselves? Yes, it appeared on social media but by the following day it would have been forgotten about. Newspapers don’t have the same clout that they once had – it’s noticeable that the main post-Villa talking point was provided by the excellent Michael Bailey analysis. Now had the Evening News/EDP produced a similar piece of work this week I could understand Stuart Webber and NCFC becoming upset…
You’re absolutely right. Newspapers are in their death throes: a managed but dramatic and terminal decline. And Michael’s piece was magnificent.
I don’t think SW thought the EEN front page would have a huge impact. But I imagine it made him wonder what end is served by regularly briefing Paddy if his editor is so intent on making his name in such a way.
He asked if Webber wanted to be here. It’s an incredibly legitimate question that needs answering.
It’s laughable you have no issue with Webber making his name in such a way that he disappears in secret during the January transfer window.
Your position is entirely partisan and entirely illogical.
Is Archant Archant any more. .
Newsquest has it now under a predatory wing.
Probably too cryptic..
Newsquest appears to survive on controversy , articles to generate clickbait for adverts that you have to wade through for the meat of any story
Thanks for coming on Mick and giving real insight to what is going on, particularly with Stuart Webber’s stance.
I understand how difficult it must be for you as you are a good friend to both Delia and Michael.
But you must admit the club have got so much wrong in recruitment for the EPL.
I said on here yesterday that the club owe Stuart Webber a lot for what he has done for the club. I firmly believe that without Webber and Daniel Farke we would have been nowhere near the Premier League.
His and the recruitment teams acquisition of players like Pukki, Buendia, Stiepi, Onel and many more allowed Farke to form a team that played the best football I have seen at Norwich since Brown/Stringer/Walker days.
But you readily admit Stuart got this seasons recruitment horribly wrong. Surely an interview with Stuart, even in-house, to explain what went wrong from his point of view.
Like you I thought Michael Bailey’s article was excellent and very well resourced. But it did make our recruitment efforts look amateurish and panicky.
It also highlighted the problem with funding in the required wages to compete at this level. And that is why there is anger at Delia and Stuart.
The board member who said all “reasonable ” offers go to Delia and Michael kind of shocked me as I was convinced that there were no billionaires or such like interested in our club. That let a cat well and truly out of the bag. My mate Marty always thought there must be some interest while I was adamant due to our geographical area that it was extremely unlikely.
I called out the guy that swore at Stuart on here, it looked really bad, and I am pleased he has apologised. But it is understandable that emotions are at a high level within the Canary fan base.
My mates Marty and Nick spend a fortune going home and away like a lot of others including yourself, and they know if we go 1-0 down in the EPL away that’s its game over. Where is the fight ? Where is the last 10 minutes piling forward to get an equaliser ? Mick we are just not competing. Look at Brentford, nearly double our points.
Then you couple that with Delia and Stuart’s apparent disregard for the fans it is a recipe for disaster.
I really feel at the moment that Delia and Stuart are angry with us fans for complaining.
A lot of people on here put D&M in the same bracket as Mr Chase, I know that is a massive fallacy but I assure you that is 100% true. Delia has, as I have said before on here, done a lot for the club but her silence and interviews have shown that she is a very angry person with how football is going at the moment, especially to billionaires.
But here Mick I am sorry to say she didn’t object when she was one of the more wealthy owners in football. I would love to go back to the competitiveness of the 70’s and 80’s when every game was as important as the next but that is not going to happen. And Delia must accept that.
I like to hear all other opinions Mick, and you are correct there are members of the Canary fan base, as there are at every club, who will only be happy when we beat Real Madrid in the Champions League Final.
I just think to be competitive at this higher level, and that may come to include the Championship, we need a injection of investment. And I am encouraged by your assertion that if a reasonable offer was made for the club it would be genuinely considered. The trouble is because of the present distrust among some supporters with the board and particularly Delia that is, I admit hard to see coming to fruition.
And here is a bit of defence for Stuart Webber, I have met him and I liked him. He is blunt and I wager he works very hard despite the ill-advised interview with Henry Winter .
And he is shopping in a very difficult market, Lidl’s to other clubs Harrod’s or Waitrose and that cannot be easy.
On the negative side he must have had second thoughts about bringing in so many players under 21?
I am really disappointed that Delia nor Stuart has come out to talk about what went wrong. You say they maybe waiting until the season is over, but it is for us the remaining games for Norwich City are meaningless other than it gives Dean Smith time to blood a few youngsters and try the formation he wants for next season.
Please Dean dispense with the loan players now.
Finally Mick had you needed a witness regarding our correct assertion that Gerry Francis hairstyle made him look silly you could have called my wife, as every time he played she said ” Whatever does he look like “😂
Tim, greetings. I can’t answer all that without another 1000-word article. But it’s difficult for SW to critique players while they’re still playing out the season!
Delia doesn’t trust the media not to spin and sensationalise. Events outlined in my piece won’t have changed her view.
but he was happy to pay over the odds for SArgent who only scored two goals in the Bundesliga Div 2
A proper considered long read.I think my only issue is around: “the club … began regularly hosting meals for the Archant guys and other local media, ushering in an era of open communications “
Inasmuch that open communications don’t and shouldn’t revolve around the old and flawed “beer and sandwiches at No.10” principle and should be a reminder there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Webber -“Come have lunch with us”
Archant writes the most horrific headline “Do you really want this job Mr Webber”, after Webber says he could walk away.
Webber “I’m not talking to you anymore.”
That didn’t happen.
And if it did, it wasn’t that bad.
And if it was, that’s not a big deal.
And if it is, that’s not my fault.
And if it was, I didn’t mean it.
And if I did…
You deserved it.
Interesting and fair appraisal as usual, thanks Mick. However, my biggest concern about the season, which you didn’t mention, was the sacking of DF. As you rightly said, under Farke we produced some of the best football ever seen from a Norwich team but that wasn’t all that Daniel offered. He brought the whole club together. He respected the fans and ensured all the players did the same and if you weren’t a team player then you didn’t play. As much as I admired Dave Stringer, Mike Walker etc as managers, Farke took us to a whole new level. For me he was made a scapegoat by Webber. Farke didn’t pick Cantwell nor Gilmour because he knew they weren’t good enough but sure enough, the first game after he was sacked, both turned up in the squad. Ninety minutes later, as if we needed confirmation, Farke was shown to be right. Similarly Smith also proved that the squad wasn’t good enough. Failure wasn’t Farke’s fault and it isn’t Smith’s either. However, sacking Farke means that we have lost a brilliant manager with an exceptional record in gaining promotion. I’m afraid Smith just isn’t such a capable manager and I don’t expect promotion next season. Some very lucky club will appoint DF and I just hope it’s not in the Championship. Webber has to take the responsibility for this and for me, this has been his biggest failing this season. Not the failed signings, that can happen and does at all clubs but it’s letting go of the best manager in my 50 years supporting the club.
Can’t agree about Stringer and Walker although the latter benefited from the work of the former.
We have got good players who Farke and Smith have not been able to get the best out of, which is what managing is all about. The club have cruelly got rid of players that are deemed to be not good enough at this level. Farke stood by this and then got the same treatment.
Farke had abandoned the possession game. Surely you saw that in the games he had this season. I think he was badly scarred by 19-20 and, in fear, tried a complete reinvention for 21-22. It was so sad to watch.
Sorry Mick but to simply gloss over the sacking of DF by suggesting he panicked and changed tactics doesn’t hold water. Of course I realised he changed but what else could he do given that Gilmour and Cantwell were under-performing and Buendia had been sold. He was then trying to play possession football with a squad which was never going to compete at PL level and who was responsible for believing that Sargent and Tzolis were good enough at this level? He had to change tactics to try to stop shipping goals and because of the players available. It may of worked, after all he was sacked after a victory at Brentford. SW sacked DF in an attempt to get more out of the squad but all Smith’s appointment has shown is just how poor the squad is and now we’re left with an inferior manager.
Absolutely spot on with both of your posts Gary,. We’ve lost the man who made it a joy to follow the club both with the brand of football and his whole philosophy surrounding what it means/should mean to anyone lucky enough to be associated with the club.
As a season ticket holder of many years standing and a fan who’s been coming to CR since the early 60’s, it pains me to say that we appear to have lost our identity since the sacking of Farke and the trips to the games are something of a chore at the moment.
Michael Bailey’s piece explains the other perceived problems with Farke, and explains the rationale of the sacking.
But I miss him.
There is no rationale for sacking Farke that shouldn’t also lead to the dismissal of Webber.
A very interesting read and a piece that has caused me some pause for thought. I have never blamed D and M. Webber had my 100 percent support until he sacked Farke. For me, that was a very low moment. It felt very much like Webber was using Farke as a scapegoat for the recruitment failures. Of course Farke would try anything he could to try to get the hand he was dealt to be a winning one. As well as his footballing beliefs he had to try to be pragmatic. Think of the ire of the keyboard warriors if he didn’t. I don’t blame Webber for taking Gilmour. I thought at the start of the season it was an exciting signing. But Farke was right not to use him every game. He proved to be not ready to step into the battle. One reason that a lot of the Farke critics on message boards cited for his failure was not using Cantwell and Gilmour. As Gary R rightly says, he has been proven right by subsequent performances under Smith and Shakey, and in Cantwell’s case Parker too. Looking at it dispassionately I can see that Webber has done an enormous amount for this club and that I should be grateful, and in many ways I am, but football is a game of emotions and Farke had won my loyalty and trust and I felt that he was treated shabbily by Webber. Instead of stabbing him in the back and sacking him he should have been big enough to stand up to the critics and take his share of the blame. All our fans know we can’t compete financially and that all our recruitment will be a gamble. It was the way he threw Daniel under the bus by saying his recruitment had been good enough ( and suggesting we needed someone who could get a tune out of Cantwell and Gilmour) when clearly it hadn’t been. If he had stuck with Farke and been positive about his qualities and admitted there were issues with the depth and quality of the squad but that we were working to get these potentially good players up to speed as quickly as possible and to gel after a difficult pre-season and testing opening fixtures that had knocked our confidence, then I would have respected the man even more. He knew that he had given Daniel next to no chance by the time the sacking happened and it just seemed like a cowardly shifting of blame. Unless he genuinely believed the squad to be good enough -which to my mind would be, perhaps, even more worrying. I agree with every word of Gary R’s response except I would maybe have Farke on a par with Stringer.
Hi Mick
I’m pretty sure that thee and me will never agree about the impact Delia and MWJ have had on NCFC after all these years but your insight into what’s going on in media relationships recently was fascinating – at least to me with my background!
I didn’t even know that Richard Porritt had been appointed editor of the EEN as before Archant had always assumed that Nigel Pickover and David Powles could combine that role with that of editing the EDP.
You are so right when you say printed newspapers are in the last chance saloon, and that explains why one Archant sports reporter quit for the Athletic and another very recently hopped across to the newdesk. Good guys and lovely people both of them – their loss is a shame for the readers in many ways.
The Pink Un paywall and the upcoming news content equivalent will not have helped.
There’s nothing really new in any of these developments though – MB was banned from Carrow Road for a while and the EEN back page headline all those years ago that said PL wanted to manage in Germany hardly helped at the time.
A great article that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
I
Nice to have a civil disagreement. And a headline nod to the Beatles!
Nigel Pickover left Archant in 2016 ahead of a new, sub-less way of producing papers being brought in at the company. Basically, reporters now write to templated shapes which are then combined by a non-sub to fit the pages (which is less of a challenge now that far fewer adverts are sold.) They also supply their own headlines. NP was a bit old-school and liked being able to rewrite headlines and make late changes (very little post-8pm breaking news stories make it into print now!) David Powles then became editor of both the EDP and EN before someone decided that two declining papers (and their counterparts in Ipswich) really needed separate chiefs.
What doesn’t help with newspaper sports departments is that Archant digital suits decided to put all their eggs in the basket marked NCFC. So this season King’s Lynn games haven’t always been staffed, with quotes taken off the radio. And a very exciting Gorleston-Wroxham ECL title battle got scant coverage. (I can’t blame the sports team for this; I am certain it was a decision taken at a high level).
Hi O-t a s-t h
That comment was very educational from my point of view – I knew about the Archant format change but not the underlying reasons behind it.
After many years of doing it in a previous life, in my experience writing your own headlines is a nightmare which is why I never, ever, suggest one and very cheerfully leave it all to Gary.
As others have said, Mick blocked me a few years ago on Twitter because I dared to disagree with him. Therefore I can’t tell him on that platform what a great, well argued article this is.
However it fails to address the key issues which we see week in week out as NCFC supporters. Why are we not even competing when we do achieve promotion to the PL? Where is the fight for every ball, every tackle, every shot? Why, in his October interviews, did Webber blame the fans for the BK8 fiasco?
In the same interviews he also criticised us for expecting the signings made in the summer to make an impact this season – why does it appear to fans that no one at the club asked why we weren’t making signings for NOW not future seasons in The Championship (or worse).
If only there was an outlet to let the fans know what is going on at (as Delia says) OUR club? Whilst this remains a two-headed animal with no communication other than Pravda style social media communication, criticism is only to be expected.
Ms Smith, Mr Wynn-Jones, Mr Webber, Ms Ward we need your words, not those of your mates.
I don’t remember blocking you. But it won’t have been because you disagreed with me. I follow and ‘correspond’ with many whose views I dispute and who disagree with me. But eventually I weary of wilful obtuseness. Or it might have been the defamatory ‘board spokesman’ cliche. I simply don’t know who you are or what you said.
I call on everyone to keep all these discussions on here and on other outlets polite and without swearing.
We all love the club and every one is entitled to their opinion.
Someone said to me the other day that they disagreed with me and wanted Delia and Michael to stay because they were frightened by the thought of who may come in and take over the club and not have the right reasons for coming. Not something I agree with, because I see risks with both futures and think the new investment route is the less risky one, but it is a perfectly valid opinion.
The guy who swore at Stuart Webber lost the argument in my view there and then, had he had a discussion with Stuart and explained his point of view he would have come away from it knowing he had at least got across to one of the “powers that be” exactly how he was feeling.
Something I think he realised in retrospect as he has rightly apologised.
I get angry at times, and I can still remember my very polite discussion one wet horrible night at Carrow Road with Chairman Chase😂back in 1995 I just couldn’t get him to see that we were heading for relegation !!! I was tearing my hair out inside but I kept my cool and have always felt I won that argument.
Stuart didn’t come out for a chat . Don’t believe everything you hear .
Thank you Mick for a sense of perspective that is ,unfortunately, rare at the moment Your piece and that of Michael Bailey have been the ones worth reading.
The disasters of the season for me are the recruitment and Farke leaving but we have to move on and start to rebuild.
Excellent article and something of a breath of fresh air after the unremitting diet of absolute nonsense that has takeover these pages in recent weeks.
For sure the club as a whole has made errors, not least with recruitment (balanced against some awesome successes) and, possibly sacking Farke (time will tell).
But, the one point that stood out for me in the article was about the £30M COVIdD losses. In the past, I very much doubt that the club would have survived such a financial hit. That it has and is alive and kicking, financially at least, should give us all hope for the future.
Yes. So many take it for granted that we shrugged off that hit. We didn’t of course. There was much thought, planning and work involved. But Webber’s work in the transfer market was the critical factor. As you and I can see, pre 2017, the pandemic would have rendered us insolvent.
Lets not forget that every club would have had covid losses too.
But, as so many point out, other clubs have wealthy owners (who can either pay the Covid hit or, at least, loan money to cover it and take repayments from over a long period.).
All I’ve said is, that without the Webberlution, Covid would have kicked us into penury. He needs to have that entered in the ‘plus’ side of any appraisal of his achievements.
But Mick, in some ways, that makes the argument for having a wealthy owner stronger doesn’t it? I agree by the way that but for Webber’s work, we would have been extremely vulnerable to the Covid hit.
Only if we think there’ll be future pandemics and that the next one will coincide with our future rich owner not having wrecked the club, as has been the case with many. 🤓
But why assume that *every* rich owner is bad/reckless/ and will be ready to quit in a very short time? It’s folly, in my view, to believe that Delia and Michael are literally the only two individuals capable of responsibly owning our football club.
He clearly doesn’t do irony.
Isn’t it all a load of nonsense, people just doing their jobs best they can. My business did really well for years then hit the buffers, almost folded but we survived and became successful again. This is how business and life tends to be.
We blame SW for poor recruitment but in reality who could we have afforded who would’ve made the difference? We mostly seemed pleased with business done prior to start of the season. Emi & Skip have made little impact this season, Grealish very disappointing at MC. Ericsson has saved Brentford but his move was due to Danish connection. I doubt if we’d spent double things would be much different. Nothing went for us from early tough fixtures onwards.
Your article Mick I suspect is factually correct, none of those mentioned wanted or planned for the season we’ve been through. Most who create havoc have little in the way of any realistic solution, just anger and blame.
We’ve an interesting time ahead of us I just hope those involved all calm down and harmony prevails before we have to go again in The Championship.
You make a good point. We could have got the recruitment right but still gone down. In football, as in life, there’s not an experiment and a control. A set of events unfold and nobody can know how different circumstances would have unfolded. A less taxing start, fewer injuries, confidence growing instead of being shredded? Who knows?
Not many fans are denying that Delia and Michael have had a positive impact on the club. However, these articles always seem to assert that no one on the planet apart from D&M could run the football club successfully. Norwich City existed and thrived before them and I’m very sure it will afterwards (“but, but, what if we get a dodgy foreign owner” is a common counterargument). There is a near chronic fear of change.
I’ve been thinking recently that yes, money is an issue, but the culture at the top of the club is all wrong. Instead of positioning ourselves as plucky underdogs who deserve to be in the PL, we seem to fall back on the self-funding excuse and small budget. Why would players be attracted to a Premier League club with such an acceptance of mediocrity?
McNally and Lambert were excellent at promoting the club as more than ‘little Norwich’. This gave belief to the fans, and ultimately the players, because we got better performances out a lot of our squad that their talent probably warranted. Farke adopted this culture too at the start of the previous PL season, culminating in that famous win over City. However, he seemed almost broken at the start of this campaign and was writing us off most weeks.
Webber and the whole club need to own this terrible season instead of blaming it on other factors, because the performances on the pitch and recruitment has just not been good enough. Personally, I think a change of Sporting Director would install some new vigour and drive, because I think it’s gone stale at the minute. It’s too cosy.
Of course someone else could have run our club. But it happened to be Delia the club turned to and who answered that call.
The insinuation from some that those of us who disagree with Mick’s take on the stance of our current owners as naive, ‘shouty’, nonsensical, lacking common sense and ‘childish’ is tiresome.
Surely it’s possible to have a considered, non-shouty, view that Delia and Michael should be looking at ways of getting some more £s into the club, without being deemed all of those things.
We try and make MFW a platform that offers a wide range of viewpoints. To get called names for doing so is becoming very tiring.
Yes, the rather condescending and offensive trope that anyone who isn’t pro-Delia must be some sort of gormless and violent idiot is wearing a bit thin.
Exactly. Having read the article and some of the replies, I’ve decided not to comment further because I neither need or want to be wound up to the point of apoplexy by some nameless fan boy.
Hi Chris
I always like to hear from those with a different viewpoint from my own cos it makes me think a bit harder – but I invariably emerge believing that I was right all along, ole big’ead that I am.
There’s a [rather elderly] fanboy who sits next to me in the Barclay and if he misses a match I talk almost incessantly with his wife [presumably] and son [definitely] and they’re both great matchday company.
If he’s there it’s hiya and seeya – and that’s it.
The cynical squad in the seats behind me get several bouts of head-shaking and tuts from said gent but carry on in their own sweet way anyway.
Most of them have featured in an MFW article of mine over the years and you couldn’t wish for better folks around you during a game.
I think we all appreciate the fact that MFW allows ALL viewpoints on here, as long as they are about City!!
Like Gary and many others I’m getting very tired of the “Be careful what you wish for” and “D&M saved this club so everything they do cannot, and should not be questioned”.
We are allowed differing views and as long as we are civil with each other these should be discussed.
As per my previous point, I do not agree with Mr Dennis and have not done for some time (yes, even though the good times at NCFC), however, I think this article is just the sort of thing we need to spark the necessary debate.
The commentators on here stating they will only read the articles that reflect their perspective must live in a very loud echo chamber.
Gary, what you say is entirely true. But the corollary is that those who support D & M and/or fear the existential threat of a takeover by crooks, charlatans, incompetents or spendthrifts are accused regularly of being ‘happy clappers’. That insult is equally wearying — and is even aimed at the owners whom so many assume are content with the yo-yoing. They’re not. They’re very unhappy fans. As am I. In fact I know nobody among our fans base who is happy with how two of the last four years have unfolded. Those of us who travel away often give over most of the weekend to unremitting misery. But we see the cause and possible remedies differently..
I don’t doubt for a millisecond that you and all the others with whom I disagree care about the club. It would be wonderful (but is unlikely) if that understanding and were extended to me and those who think like me. But instead the myth of ‘no ambition’ is perpetuated and, in my case, the calumny is repeated that I am paid In kind for espousing my views.
You do a brilliant job navigating through all the anger and hurt and this site remains the only forum where opposing views can be articulated at length.
OTBC
Hi Mick
Very interesting. A lot of what you say on here is valid and with a calm head makes a lot of sense. I read it it made me take a step back and take stock I must admit . But this season really has been like no other and I have been supporting Norwich over 40 years now an exiled supporter up north but still a season ticket holder. Yes we Norwich fans like a good moan but we a proud bunch and all we were looking for this season was to be competitive that was the only caveat … the last season we were up we were woeful we mustn’t have another season like that. We all put our trust in Webber we loved Farke we trusted him too. Lessons have been learnt etc last season war without a gun etc Everyone knew we needed more pace and power in mid and up top and a better CB option . Fill the gaps and And we will be ok at least we can be competitive. The glaring gaps up top and midfield weren’t filled though with any real quality .. still no defensive Mid .. no one to really challenge or help pukki .. But we still trusted Webber and and Farke and Delia as despite the signings being somewhat underwhelming or square pegs in round holes they are the experts not us . So we trusted them this time give us some edge some grit. In the end what we got was the most un balanced uncompetive team we have ever put out in the top flight. And for every radio station , tv station , paper to be calling us an embarrassment, that we shouldn’t be in the premier league , And what was happening on the pitch just gave them more ammunition especially after the previous Premier League Season it just has created the perfect storm . There are no guarantees in football but we as fans expected better and we trusted the club it would be. But We were even worse not better and a the whole media circus have been putting the boot into our club and us all season long because of it . That has created a deep driven hurt to me and am sure other fans too. It’s been so bad for the first time in 40 years I don’t want to go to matches there is no point we are just not competing or challenging. I know others are feeling the same .I have never ever felt like this. But we trusted Delia Webber farke .. even Smith . And I think we the fans feel rightly or wrongly robbed cheated let down. We feel we are the laughing stock of the premier league and are constantly being told as much. Get lost Norwich you are stinking this league up and don’t forget to shut the door on way out. And that’s where the club get it all wrong. The sound bites we get from Stuart or Delia aren’t olive branches or we feel your pain or hurt or we trying hard etc We just get bad PR that just fans the flames. Good on Stuart Webber re Everest I as a fan applaud you and can see your desire to better yourself and your family. That shouldn’t be a stick to beat him with but when you the only sound bite we get it just get i am not here to appease fans etc It just makes it so easy for the average supporter to have a go especially after what this season has drawn up. We can’t forget the promotions but when you eating at the top table the the defeats and relegation hurt even more. And it’s not just this season it’s 2 seasons of embarrassment, being uncompetitive we are feeling. I just hope that the healing can begin some plasters can be applied from the club for us supporters and we can be proud again and regain some of that trust. I thank you mick too as feel a lot better for venting my feelings . No writing on bedsheet required . OTBC
I’m not embarrassed about my club. I’m immensely proud of what we are attempting.
There’s little to be proud of in league 1 which is where we are heading without parachute payments. Have you not seen the wealth figures for current championship sides?
Enjoyed learning about Mick Dennis’ adventures in football journalism but then friendship got in the way of realism …
“With a young son at home and a restless need to always be achieving, Webber decided he would leave Norwich City at the end of this season and tackle the next stage of his life.”
So why didn’t he? He can almost certainly afford a sabbatical. Most people, including fans, do not have this luxury outside of their paid holidays.
“….And so the conversation went something like this, I imagine.
Webber: “I want to climb Everest. It is literally the toughest thing I can think of doing. And I really want to do it.”
Delia and Michael: “Can you take a sort of staggered sabbatical and to it? But stay working for us?”
If this is so, it is quite remarkable that a full time employee in receipt of a six figure salary was given this option to ‘carry on climbing’.
And this hypothetical discussion continues…
“Webber: “Err. Perhaps. I could certainly do all the preparatory trips at times when others could take over at Colney.”
“… while for example I scale Kilimanjaro during the transfer window.” 😂😂😂😂😂
(Tbf my hypothesis)
“The next conversation Webber had was with his wife, Zoe Ward, the very impressive, legally trained, hugely admired within football, latest Norwich City director – who happens to be married to Webber.”
The fact that Zoe Ward is Webber’s wife or he her husband and she is on the board is a huge conflict of interest. Whether she is ‘hugely admired’ is wholly irrelevant.
Actually, that’s another slight of hand by the club. “Zoe Ward has been appointed Director”.
Zoe Joanne Webber was appointed to the board of directors – https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00154044/filing-history
Yes I was intrigued by that but I am aware that many people continue to use the name they are professionally known by even after officially changing their name.
Why didn’t SW leave or take an actual sabbatical?
Because the board urged him not to.
…and that says more about the board than Webber.
It seems incredible, to me at least, that Webber, given the important nature of his role, was given this freedom of action. He has been on or identified ‘sabbaticals’ away from the club in January, February, June, September and November/December 2022.
Interestingly, the story regarding Webber’s Everest ambitions, appears to have broken not in January, during the transfer window and his ten day absence. Conveniently, it could now be argued, the club were then reported as unable to buy (or sell?) any players, so SW’s absence could be said to not really matter. (However, a recent news story has suggested the club were apparently dabbling with the website Transfer Room to tout for possibilities – was this the case?)
As far as I can tell, the Sporting Director’s climbing ambitions and his January visit to Tanzania became public knowledge (to NCFC supporters) after an article published on the Pinkun website, (‘City sporting director ramping up training ahead of Everest climb in 2023’ by Connor Southwell) dated 21 March 2022. What would have been the response of fans, had they been told at the beginning of January that Stuart Webber was taking time out from the transfer window to climb up Kilimanjaro?
Finally, if it is correct that this news story broke on 21 March 2022 then this just happened to coincide (almost) with the ‘Appointment of Mrs Zoe Joanne Webber as a director (of the company) on 18 March 2022’ and with a seat on the board of NCFC plc (see Companies House website – link above in ‘David Bowers says …’).
I continue to believe this has to be a conflict of interest especially if and when the board members discuss matters relating to club affairs and in particular the employment or otherwise of staff, especially key appointments.
Cannot tolerate him mick ,a very deluded groundsman who messed up big time with millions of pounds he did have this season .
Our recruitment is dreadful he has to go or get some better people in to recruit .
Plus his bold as brass comment we have enough quality to stay up makes him look a total muppet and us to be fair .
In fact you look at them 3 photos at the top of the page is enough to make your stomach turn , the reason we are a joke for years and years .
It is comments like this that make my stomach turn and do such a disservice to this site. They are human beings have some respect.
Agree totally with all those sentiments Gary.
Where it all goes wrong is that the main contributors to this site have pretty much the same opinion which is regularly made. The other side of the opinion divide gets much less space. There is therefore little balance. It makes Mick’s piece even more interesting as it provides a different view.
I’m all for reasoned argument and it was a well written piece that had some fair points and other points that I completely disagree with. “Most ambitious project in England” I have a particular grievance with. Our net transfer spend (admittedly not including wages) over 2 Premier League seasons is something like £35 million. Not my definition of ambition. Delia and Michael have had over 25 years in charge of this great club which I thank them for. But I do believe new impetus is needed to push us on.
Thank you for putting a little bit of context and balance into the rather tabloid take of things that we have been getting.
Taking the odd comment without all the explanation and qualification around it, makes good headlines but doesn’t help understanding.
Has any club in recent times established itself in the premiership using a self funding model?
The self funding model is only going to sustain itself if it finds a Maddison every year to subsidise a complete lack of investment from the board.
In this regard I have a lot of sympathy for Webber as he can’t go ahead and buy two or three players of proven quality but instead cast his net wider at younger or unproven quality in the hope they in turn become a Maddison.
If you look at the accounts the self funding model fails without parachute injections and this is the point the club is criticised for by the footballing community. To many outsiders we are sponging off the system.
If we ever hope to establish the club in the premiership it will require a huge amount of risk investment that is way beyond our current owners ability.
The finance director stated we have received offers for the club that have passed scrutiny and been presented to the board.
It’s clear that the self funding model has run it’s course and new ownership is needed if the club is to make further progress as the team we are now left with is weaker than the one we had three years ago.
Blimey
Webber failed badly with his summer recruitment,he also had a confrontation with the fans,why the owners would want him to stay is beyond me.
False information regarding the incident with fans. Who are your sources about the incident and what had happened? Were you there and if not where is the evidence? Youre making false statements about the individuals involved!
It was on social media. And it did not look good.
Part of it was on social media, not all of it. The article has now been changed as his description of the events was not correct.
As West Indian cricket fans say, show dem da full face. Good piece.
I think that what we do know – from empirical evidence – is that we are highly unlikely to establish ourselves in the Premier League under the current ownership. So it is just a question of either being happy with bobbing around the Championship with a possible chance of a brief foray in the EPL or taking a punt on someone else if they were brave or stupid enough to do so.
‘Taking a punt on someone’ ! Over on Facebook someone described it as “rolling the dice” with a different owner. Is that a sensible business plan?
I’ve reported on many club takeovers and am still in (infrequent) contact with one of the principals of one major takeover.
One repeated issue is that the first purchaser seldom remains in charge; he sells the club on. Check how frequently that had happened if you have time.
Whatever due diligence the first buyer survives cannot guarantee the probity of the next guy.
But on that basis, the club will never ever be sold? There has to be a ‘first buyer’.
I think, Mick that there is risk either way with Delia and Michael staying or going.
My point is that being open to other investors at least gives us supporters a chance to dream of further Premier League days.
I think the chances of staying in the EPL using the self-funding model is almost impossible. The proof is this season and our last time in the Prem.
We haven’t even been close to staying up. And when or if the parachute payments dry up we are reliant on around £25-30 million in player sales each and every season to maintain this amount of spending.
That isn’t going to happen. I often give poor old Bryan Gunn stick for the season he took us down to Division three (League One for youngsters) because he was and is never a manager, but who appointed him… Delia.
I know this may not be true but I was told Ed Balls appointed Stuart Webber and David McNally, Paul Lambert, so I stand to be corrected.
I don’t know if it was Gary Gowers or Martin Penney who asked in an article on here, before last summer – can self-funding work?
I remember saying in my opinion reluctantly, no. And I said all it will take is the wrong coach to be appointed and/or a very poor recruitment window. Little did I know what was coming that very summer.
I think the club has to be open to proper, well-researched investment. Obviously none of this leveraged rubbish… ever.
But it is nice to hear other opinions.
McNally appointed Lambert, definitely.
Ed Balls championed the idea of a director of football, I believe, but it was D & M who took that idea, sanctioned it and ran with it.
I’m afraid the self funding model is also rolling the dice as it requires us to find a Maddison every season to subsidise the current owners.
Looking at recent takeovers in the championship we can no longer assume that the self funding model can sustain membership in this league.
I have very little interest in anything off the pitch. I don’t even care that most seem to love the middle class concept of safety in an entertainment sport. All I care about is enjoying the game. The current incumbents have drawn kudos from those external to our club while making our fans look like the children they followed the pied piper. I genuinely believed Webber had something about him, but when the wand couldn’t conjure a replacement for Emi it was obvious the recruitment side was either luck or the work of someone who has since departed. These owners, for all their hard work, care for their ego not the club and until fans realise that and appreciate change is a fact of life we will only go backwards. The owners would have sold up after the Worthy relegation if they cared because it was obvious then they would never be able to compete. Instead, they have clung on for fame, reinventing and remarketing the cheap option to keep themselves in power. If only there were enough Norwich fans with the ability to understand the unsurmountable peak (I dont think Webber was referring to the real everest but the one at carrow road) the owners face to force change. Alas, we are stuck with knitting in the stands and those that are, “happy to be in the top 26,” as if that is some sort of guaranteed position we can simply select. League 1 and 2 do actually exist people.
The PR at Carrow Road is a shambles. No boardroom response whatsoever to the latest relegation, but – hey! – what about those exciting pre-season friendlies in Scotland, eh? Surely Zoe “hugely admired within football” can see this? Obviously not. So today (Friday) Dean Smith will have to front up to the media because no-one else will.
It’s not just abysmal PR though, is it? Staff leaving, especially to go 40 miles down the A140. Long-standing season-ticket-holders not renewing. There is a lot wrong behind the scenes. If City fail to finish in the top six in 2022-23 – and there’s no guarantee of that despite their financial advantage – we’re going to be right back to the toxic atmosphere of 1995-96.
Hi Mick,
Interesting article. What I think is sad about the current state of affairs is the divide in the fans (as evidenced by this comment section). It appears to be getting nasty towards Delia and Webber. My personal opinion is probably their time is (and should be) coming to an end, certainly sooner for Webber, but I have huge respect for what they have achieved and done for our club.
PS. Must have been good fun having a drink with Harry Redknapp!
It would help if the author of this article didn’t look down on the little people who dare to question the majority owners of the club. This piece is full of speculation and conjecture, and is obviously framed in a way to paint them in a good light. There is nothing wrong with that, but where is the basis of how they are feeling right now? There isn’t any. I’m so tired of these pieces that claim there is no one out there that could own NCFC. Not every potential investor is an unscrupulous fraudster. The ‘be careful what you wish for’ mantra means this club will never progress.
Very interesting article Mick. I also read the review of the season by Michael Bailey and found it to be informative. Sad times indeed, but we have to be optimistic regarding next season. Otherwise what is the point?
Gerry Francis did have amazing mullet though.
He did, Keith!
Unfortunately I can’t see how we can fund 2 to 3 seasons in the EFL waiting to be competitive. Assuming that commercial income is back to pre-Covid levels and we continue to sell tickets including casual tickets for Wigan and Rotherham at £30 a head. Then our expenditure would need to fall to Bristol/Charlton levels in order to break even OR we would need to make a £25m annual trading profit on players. That is the issue we face. The finances don’t look any better than they did when McNally left and a year later we were in a muddle. Some of that was down to post McNally inertia with a squad clear out not happening early enough but the wage bill for the squad that won the EFL last year is higher than the one Webber inherited. Cash levels look low and Promotion is how we pay the bills
An excellent piece Mick.
What a country boy like me cannot understand is why we are unable to attract any other “suitable” investment.
I guess this will be like comparing oranges with tin tacks, but some 40+ bidders were approved to take-over Chelsea. OK, Chelsea are a totally different operation to NCFC, but basically a football club.
For a fraction of what Chelsea will cost someone, they could (if approved by Delia and Michael), purchase one of the few professional teams in England, which we are told, own their own ground; training ground, and have no debt. I cannot believe that none of Chelsea’s bidders are not looking elsewhere, nor do I believe that they are all dodgy money launderers/human rights abusers.
Maybe someone should put in a call to Jim Ratcliffe!
O T B C
With the greatest respect, if you can’t work out why those who bid specifically for Chelsea would not be interested in Norwich, I’m afraid I can’t reason with you. But OTBC.
We will see and hear what fans really think of Webber and the board at the two last home games i should imagine.
I cannot speak highly enough of this website.
I do not agree with Gary’s views regarding ownership, but I’m glad I get to read them. They keep me in check and sometimes provide ideas/evidence I cannot dispute.
I remain a Delia supporter and (whilst not agreeing with it all) enjoyed Mick’s article.
Working in a school I spend all my days unravelling the damage caused by algorithms and echo chambers. Please lets not become another.
We needn’t be divided into online tribalism, healthy debate is essential for, for remaining healthy.
Well done all those that aired their views with an element of decorum.
We don’t have do agree, but I pray we can get along.
Our club needs that as a minimum.
Thank you for those kind words, Trevor. Much appreciated, especially after having endured such a spectacularly fraught day yesterday. 🙂
One of Rick’s aims when setting up this site was to build a platform on which a wide variety of views could be aired without fear of those discussions descending into name-calling and insults. I like to think we achieve that *most* of the time.
Thanks too for being so respectful of my views on future ownership – most just tell I’m naive/daft/deluded/unrealistic or to just shut the **** up (take your pick) 🙂
Best
Gary
I wrote my only article for MyFootball Writer on 25 Jan 2018 (https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2018/01/25/guest-blog-where-is-our-club-heading-and-how-does-the-self-funding-model-fit-in-with-football-2018-style/) in which I queried the concept of self funding and it’s reliance on player sales .My views haven’t changed since then in that despite two promotions since then we will be back to where we started with little prospect of it working long term.
The Club’s definition of self-funded seems to equate to revenue from the fans through ticket sales, membership fees, merchandise sales, catering purchases, corporate events etc. and surpluses from player trading. This is supplemented by money from whichever league we are or were in (parachute payments).
Nowhere does there seem to be any contribution from our owners apart from their original investment which is surely worth much more than they originally paid.
Perhaps some of their advocates can clarify what their current contribution is apart from using Delia’s well-deserved reputation to sell meals at the various catering outlets at the ground.
Surely self-funding means everybody contributes.
“Webber was mentally and physically exhausted”
I understand the mental exhaustion but perhaps you could explain the physical bit. If he was exhasuted doing this ciurrent job then Everest is a no go.
A very interesting read and thanks Mick for posting.
I would echo an above comment and something I have thought for a long time and that is the club’s PR has been really poor for some time, stretching right back to Delia on the pitch.
I would like to think that this aspect could be easily solved by employing the right people and put an end to interviews like Webber’s mountain-climbing which only end in a split fan base.
As for the owners, well there’s nothing new to see here really is there?
One thing that I have never seen aired though is anyone suggest who suitable new owners could be – I have no idea whatsoever, but then it’s difficult when no potential suitor airs their interest.
Any ideas anyone?
You would have to employ an experienced head of PR with a lot of clout to be able to stop any further Henry Winter-type interviews. Sadly, however, I feel the anonymous twentysomething current holder of the role is in no position to do that.
Mick’s piece – as is often the case – leaves more questions than answers and does show the severe shortcomings of Carrow Road. It makes it look very, limited.
The fact remains that the club has failed – and by some distant margin – to retain EPL status. And how much they really want that is very open to question. It isn’t that fans just look for somebody to blame for the sake of it. The club failed, so there has to be blame as a fact. No more, no less.
Do we blame the owners, the SD, the coach or a combination of all?
“The most accurate appraisal of last summer’s purchases will be made after Tzolis, Sargent and Co have had a season in the Championship” Mick states.
No. No. No.
My stand out criticism of Webber is that he buys the wrong players for the wrong league. Looking to the future instead of the here and now with the inevitable results. That alone is a P45.
There is an argument that Webber has tried to do too much – he isn’t the first at the club either in that respect – so you are given so much rope, metaphorically speaking, you hang yourself.
Is that how a good business should be run?
Webber should have been allowed to leave and a stronger board would have made that happen, especially given he quote that he was ‘just passing through’ and wanted to work in Europe. Weak board, no change.
I think by staying – for the time being – was a mistake for NCFC and a mistake for Stuart Webber. His next move may be best served out of football, because he has reached his ceiling here and the PR for the club has not been favourable this season and he is part of that.
Between the lines, the piece just screams that the club has owners – well meaning as they are – that are completely and utterly incompatible for not just Norwich City, but any professional football club. In turn, the club is compromised and arguably risk adverse. That is not healthy.
I agree with Mick that it might need more than next season to get promoted, which may put a few noses out of joint. We need a different footballing philosophy that has more substance of retaining EPL status and I think Smith can do that – if he is allowed to get his players in. He is highly rated at CR I’m told.
If however if he is dealt a poor hand that he had no control over, he should walk, which is something Daniel should have done – 4 year contract or not.
This has been another rotten season and nobody at the club should escape the criticism, but you do wonder where this is all heading? You cannot have failure dressed up as ambition.
This was a really powerful article, and good for redressing the balance. But that having been said: there have been huge errors made all the way through this season, and the latest in my opinion is SW’s failure to read the room music. What he is doing is fab: but it doesn’t sit well with our failure (frankly) this season. There are a lot of bridges to build between the organisation and us fans imo..
I’m glad MFW exists at this point, because even though I don’t agree with everything that Mick and some of the posters/columnists say, it is good to have an open debate at a time when our football club appears to be in a complete state of flux.
The Pink’Un in comparison (and I know there are reasons for this) is a waste of space at the moment when it comes to a balanced view. Try finding an article with a shred of criticism about the board (however constructive). Try finding a counter point to the bloggers that regularly peddle the party line. This morning’s article on possible protests at the West Ham game is a classic case in point. Four supporters interviewed who all agree it’s a bad idea. That’s nice and impartial then!
If you listen to the podcasts the Pink Un puts out. I think you will find plenty of criticism.
That article was the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever read. Archant recycles a handful of sad acts over and over again. The pink un is abysmal.
Hi Guys,
A very interesting article and responses. I don’t think I’m a slow reader, but it has taken me 2 hours to plough through this lot although I did stop briefly to make toast and tea, it was the only way – the sun, the heat, the damned flies etcetera!
As far as I can see there are few mitigating circumstances, Stuart Webber appears to have done his recruitment job in a slapdash way and should resign. Curious that he hasn’t already done so.
No problem with Smith and Shakespeare as next season’s coaches, although I did feel that NCFC were a bit under-managed during matches – the midfield should have had the mantra ‘Feed Teemu’ drummed into them ad infinitum!
I honestly hope that for these last four games we play our bought players rather than the loaned-in ones. Gilmour can go back to Chelsea and play for their development team. Kabak’s already gone. Normann should be asked one question, and allowed to leave if his answer is negative.
NCFC pride themselves on being ‘different’ – here’s a challenge, if they truly are a forward-thinking club, don’t sit around waiting for the right potential owner (or associate-owner) to knock on the door, compile a list of suitable candidates and go recruit one.
Because as things stand, it ain’t worked anywhere within the club!
Cheers Guys