Unlike the official local media (Archant, local BBC and ITV, The Athletic), MFW doesn’t have any form of regular access to the club. And that’s absolutely fine – we know our place. So I’m definitely not getting the hump because we were unable to quiz Stuart Webber over the season that’s just ended.
That’s not our role.
But, over the last three seasons, along with Along Come Norwich and Talk Norwich City, we have been lucky enough to be granted access to a limited number of players and officials to interview across each season.
It’s why we’ve been able to interview the likes of Daniel Farke’s assistant Eddie Riemer and Andrew Omobamidele.
It’s not always been possible, despite our best efforts, to draw down our full quota of interviews each season given where we sit on the club’s list of priorities – and I get that – but we’ve usually ended up with something for which we’ve been very grateful. It’s a level of access most other clubs don’t offer fan sites.
Premier League seasons, by their very nature, are of a different level media-wise for the club, so although our request in January to interview Craig Shakespeare was initially met with the club’s approval, I guess it was no surprise that there was no available window for that interview to take place in.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
For the lads at Archant, Michael Bailey and the local BBC and ITV channels, however, the lack of formal access for end-of-season interviews etc represents a rather bigger challenge and is why it was disappointing for them to learn that Stuart Webber’s only post-season interview is to be the one now available on the club’s own YouTube channel.
It’s here…
If you don’t have 33 minutes to spare, let me try and precis what our sporting director had to say in his usual authoritative and forthright manner in conversation with Alice Piper.
The first thing to say is, this Stuart Webber is the one we have come to recognise and isn’t the one who came across in the now infamous Henry Winter interview as half-@rsed and not fully committed to either his role in the club or the club itself.
This, whether or not we agreed with and liked what he said, was the Webber who still appears to have a clear plan in his head over where this club should be heading and how it should be achieved.
Where, for me, it started to fall down was where, Johnson-like, he appeared initially willing to take the blame for the disastrous season before listing many other factors, all outside of his control, that he deemed the root causes.
Among those mentioned were the fans and local media.
“The start of the season, the whole area disappeared. The fans gave up quickly, the local media went after us quickly and we thought it became tough to turn this around.“
To bring the fans into it seemed, to me, a misjudgment, especially as he also took time to laud the loyalty of those same fans later on in the interview.
We’re here, Stuart. We’re *always* here if we’re given something to get behind. The problem this season has been that more often than not there’s been nothing there to throw our weight and voices behind.
To rally against the fans, to see them as the enemy, rarely ends well.
And I’m not sure the local media ‘went after’ the club in the way he infers. Many of the big names in said local media are City fans and are willing the club to do well, but when there is little positivity to report on, it’s inevitable that things get written and said that question the decision-making both on and off the pitch.
Rather than going after the club, it feels more as though the local media were doing their job.
There were of course questions that needed asking in this interview but weren’t because of the in-house nature of it although, in the circumstances, Alice Piper did a decent job.
One of those questions was around funding or lack thereof.
Webber agreed that the money spent last summer was spread too thinly and failed in its goal of adding additional quality to the squad while also ticking the ‘future value’ box.
While it wasn’t a follow-up question Alice was ever going to ask, it would have been the ideal time to seek his view on whether or not a self-funding model can support a Premier League team or, at the very least, allow it to survive beyond a single season.
It was badly missing a Paddy Davitt or a Chris Goreham, who’d have been in a position to dig deeper.
The club’s decision to pull up the drawbridges and hunker down was made even more questionable when Webber reiterated his belief in the community ethos espoused by the club – a club that understands its role in the community and which is determined to plonk itself in the very heart of it.
To say that and then refuse to speak to the local media while also digging at the fans for giving up too soon was one heck of a juxtaposition.
But, to be fair, he also still did that Stuart Webber thing of managing to convince us that there is enough good stuff going on that there will, in the future, be a football club to be proud of.
He did though try and downplay the number of supporters who are desperately unhappy with the current state of the club and cited ‘a few blokes holding a bedsheet’ as the extent of the anger and discontent.
He also took the fact that the season tickets have again sold out as a sign that most are happy enough, citing that the price rise and relegation were perfect ‘outs’ for those who were genuinely unhappy.
But I don’t believe that’s right.
There are plenty who are unwilling to take to the bedsheets and Carrow Road protests but still unhappy with the overall direction of travel, while also wanting to support the club.
But, at least he has spoken. Many cited the sound of silence emanating from Carrow Road since the end of the season and now that silence has been broken. We can’t have it both ways.
He also made a fair point when describing his transparency and openness, and how most sporting directors say either very little publicly, or nothing at all. And he’s right.
The honesty remains refreshing and I guess there was nothing he could have said that wouldn’t have been pored over and dissected on Twitter and by people like me.
I just hope that in the next few weeks, common sense prevails and a thaw sets in which will restore the once-healthy relationship between club and local media. If they persist, situations like this rarely end well.
As for MFW, I suspect our heyday of interviewing management and players may be over, but we can live with that. It was nice while it lasted.
Hi Gary
To my mind having a pop at the supporters and a hissy fit with the local media is not the way forward.
In fact Archant are so gentle on NCFC for reasons that they, you, me and most MFW readers will quickly understand.
The national media and pundits everywhere have ripped us to bits all season, but nobody could ever accuse Paddy and crew of even attempting to do that.
Stuart Webber cannot exercise control over national media and they write things as they see fit with no fear of any repercussions.
It’s the case of a self-imagined big fish in a small pond syndrome to me.
A great read that saves me having to listen to the Piper interview 🙂
A barrage of poor embarrassing excuses with his smug attitude . No wonder we are where we are .
It seems to be me Webber wants us fans to accept what ever they wish to do or say and stay quiet and be happy. That spanks of dictatorship. which I believe the club has already..
He mentioned selling Emi, if the little guy wanted to move then not a lot can be done No blame on that one. . He went on to add “If we had only replaced him(Emi) with one player we would not have been good enough.”
But you spread it thinly by bringing in three and they were nowhere near good enough
He continues “”It is not a squad with massively gaping holes at Championship level” Begs a question were these players brought in with the championship in mind ? As there was a Grand Canyon size hole in the Premiership.
And finally for me.. He said ““We did spread it thinly, but we have to get the balance and sign players with future value, because the way the club works we have to have the ability, if things go wrong, we can sell players”
In that case with the self Funding model in force, My football club will be nothing more than a breeding ground. and if that goes wrong when we have nothing left to sell.
I was much happier under Blowkett and McNally at least we could speak and not be blamed for doing so
Hi Gary,
Great piece, and captures the current disconnect.
I think Webber’s interview was mostly reasonable, and agreed with a lot of what he said. However, there’s no point calling for togetherness between the club and fans if you’re actively excluding the journalists who, for many who aren’t local, are the link between the two.
I live in West Africa, and the local press is my first port of call for news, and involvement with other fans on match days.. They are vital to me to remain connected to NCFC, and the people who support us.
SW must rethink his position if he wants a fresh start for the new season. We are all rightfully frustrated, angry, and disappointed in this season. Ignoring the noise from national media is one thing, ignoring it from your own fan base and the guys who dare to ask the questions we want answered is another.
I sincerely hope he rethinks his stance – the current resentment of many fans towards him is unlikely to soften until he does.
Webber has mistaken journalists for lackeys and fans for an unquestioning cult, and is annoyed he must now face reality.
The sooner he’s gone, the better.
If you’re not happy then dont renew your season ticket Webber said…….Nice!?Was never going to blame himself over the poor recruitment was he,instead saying he has to buy players for the future,isn’t there enough of them already?Maybe in the chumps yes you can,but in the premiership you buy to strengthen,something he horribly failed at.
Blaming everybody but yourself for a disaster you have orchestrated is not a very good idea.
Blaming the fans who have sold out the stadium for most games is unforgivable.
He appeared to contradict himself on one or two occasions.
Blaming the local press was ludicrous as in my opinion the reason Delia clings on is because they are too reasonable.
Pity our press and supporters are not of the Tyneside variety, then he would have cause for concern.
The whole thing struck me as somebody who has run out of ideas and needs to seek pastures new.
Anybody who thinks that Dean Smith hasn’t had enough time must have given up a long time ago, trouble is,that includes Webber. Fans aren’t above blame,some of the behaviour has been disgusting and there have been booing from the very early games. It doesn’t really concern me that he doesn’t talk to the press. It must hurt the Pink Un who have just started charging to hear the views of their self proclaimed “experts” (who were very enthusiastic about the summer signings) Nobody is happy, let’s get behind the club and hope our manager can build a side that can make the transition to the higher level.
I have listened to Stuart Webber”s interview in full.
I agree with him that the covid problems in July severely affected preseason then add a nightmare opening set of fixtures did a lot of damage to the club’s early efforts to get a foothold in the EPL.
Everyone then said Watford are there for the taking but confidence was by now at an all time low.
I also agree with his view that being a self-funding club it is almost impossible to stay in the Premier League.
This is something most of us have been saying on here for some while.
Stuart Webber could be The Greatest sporting director in the world and with our budget he would still get us relegated.
But who was it who said “that this time we were going into the EPL with bazookas etc” …..Our Stuart.
Looking back I think the person who most gave me most hope we might stay up was Stuart with that interview.
However there are three things that I found bizarre.
One, the fans gave up too early 😱 really ?
I have said on here over the last few days that I really have the feeling that Stuart, Delia and Michael blame us the fans for the relegation, in no way did I think my suspicions would be confirmed by the sporting director!!!
Absolutely not the case.
Two, the media “went for us” Stuart is right regarding some national outlets who said we lacked ambition. Blatantly incorrect as our transfer outlay showed last summer.
But the local media have always been extremely fair in their appraisal of Norwich City FC this season.
Three, that our recruitment was “Alright”, ALRIGHT!!!!
The only person in the whole of Norfolk who believes that other than Stuart is probably in a “Twilight Home for the Mentally Bewildered”
Recruitment, Stuart Webber is a straight talking person but I can’t believe how this element of the interview was so brief, surely a more honest straight talking analytical was needed here ?
Webber has improved the infrastructure at the club massively since he has been here and can take a lot of credit for that but maybe at the cost of the first team ?
I’m not saying that is the case but it is something that needs to be looked at.
Stuart also admitted the signing of so many young players this season, criticised on here by me and others, is indeed club policy.
The attack on the fans was strange, firstly the ground was next to 10% full at the end of the Spurs game not as Stuart said and the season ticket sales have been strong for around 15 years including in division three. That is not a barometer on fans satisfaction for this season.
Us Norwich supporters just want us to be competitive Stuart, we are not expecting the impossible.
What I take out of this is that if the sporting director thinks it is almost impossible to stay in the EPL under our present owners then surely the club must be more honest with us fans.
Well said G.
The recruitment sucked last season. Webber and the analytics scouts got it wrong and that’s what cost us.
However, nothing he says now can undo that, and he’s limited as to what he can say because many of the players who disappointed are still here and he has to still work with them or convince others to take them off our hands.
As much as he’s screwed up he’s also built the best team in the league the last two times he’s been in the Championship,
He’s the Sporting Director every team in the Championship would want to try and get out of the league. Sometimes you have to accept the faults and focus on the positives of what you have.
Sorry for posting again, I was reading the interview again, cannot hack videos . He say he read too thinly. That is clear to see. Along with too many changes to the squad , before embarking on toughest league in the world.
That would be two major mistakes, sending out for the first season up in PL with no arrows in the quiver, now spread too thinly. How many more tries does he want to get a competitive squad together ? He has chosen this career path nobody twisted his arm. Yet he seems to be followed by mistakes.
Yes he was good on the business side revamping Colney, but don’t forget without the fans stepping forward that would not have happened. . The fans he now throws a net over and moans about. For me the quicker he departs the better, along with his arrogant attitude.
Quite why this was ever allowed to air, shows how dysfunctional Norwich City Football Club is.
As a piece of PR, it was extremely ill judged and has made the already tense relationship between fan/media and the club ten times worse.
While I didn’t disagree with everything he said, some of his comments were downright disrespectful and factually false.
The media – especially Archant – have always been very fair with Norwich City and have cut them a lot of slack over the years. For Webber to criticise them shows who this man is and not forgetting, the people that have allowed him to do this.
The local media should not just sit and wait to be allowed back into the club’s orbit. Therefore the media must take the lead. This would mean, as an example, Archant not going to any of the matches, press conferences and so forth. They will report on Norwich City on an indirect basis whether they get invited or not.
If Stuart Webber wants to be behave in a petulant way, then others can too. Such an attitude would not be welcome at other clubs, let alone blue chip companies who would not condone his arguably arrogant and self absorbed stance.
I hope for all concerned that he leave his position either by will or force, and the relationship between the club and the public is at an all time low. And that benefits nobody.
Some very damning comments that capture the current mood accurately. On the other side of the coin, he spoke some uncomfortable truths: given the financial parameters set by the ownership and the subsequent model of recruitment and strategic selling. His hands are tied. Utterly. I think that is why he is so blunt in deflecting blame: he knows his job is basically impossible unless he can recruit a golden group in the Academy which can take the club, against all odds to EPL success. Of course he knows if that lucky day ever arrives, the group will be picked away by the rich vultures at the top of the game. C’est la vie for the Canaries.
We poor cannon fodder in our unpadded seats have to grit our teeth at these dire moments and wait for the upturn…..
Blame , not me mate, remind you of anyone.
Most people in senior management, except Boris who accepts blame and then puts up two fingers.
Now today (Friday 27) the club are bragging about all season tickets being sold. Saying that shows unwavering support. Yet her husband openly criticised the fans for giving up and then turned on the local media, who he claims went after us quickly.
But now you want our money. True colours and now comes the bull****
Executive director Zoe Ward said “Our players and staff continue to be grateful and thankful for the ongoing backing from our supporters, through what has been a challenging season. We’re all now looking forward to seeing Carrow Road at full capacity as we head into the new campaign.”
I actually found the whole interview a little beige. Not as incendiary as I believed it might be
The two points I took from the whole thing were that the board still mistakenly think that the purchase of a season ticket is a vote of confidence and support for them rather than for the club and that webber, In a roundabout way criticised the self funding model
In effect he said what most already know, that self funding is treading a fine line and one slip would bring financial disaster upon the club.
Someone should tell him that the customer is always right. And furthermore, as a democracy, people can say whatever they like – especially when they are paying his wages. and it is the only thing they can do.
Pinkun are now reporting US investors are interested in Norwich City.
Who said there were no potential investors out there?
Yes strangely there are and perfect timing “don’t you think” obviously Delia has heard the noise
Whilst understanding the financial reasons, the club has become increasingly remote and inaccessible. Closing two city centre stores, and (most of the time) the Carrow Road ticket office, the closure of which was announced as a result of the “success” of it being closed during COVID times (when in fact no match tickets were able to be sold!).
The ticket office has been replaced by what appears to be a working from home based phone line, which in my several experiences has taken at least 20 minutes to get through but mostly getting on for an hour, Instead of then being offered print at home tickets, I have been told to collect at the stadium on match day at a collection point inconveniently located relative to the seat. Fortunately as a season ticket holder I don’t have to use that service much.
These things may seem trivial but this all contributes to a growing sense of isolation along with the feeling that it’s simply lip service that is paid to the fans who are taken for granted rather than treated as customers with choices on how they spend their time and money.
Don’t blame the fans…..bad move!
None of us kick a ball.
None of us has a say in transfers.
If you paid for anything other than a season ticket, a poor meal served up cold, would you complain..”…….of course you would.
So the fans have been insulted even though we have given our all and turned up as ever in the thousands, and the local media have been given a pathetic red card, even though the likes of BBC Norfolk have been so supportive throughout, Who exactly is Webber any way? Unlike the true legends like John Bond, Ken Brown, Mike Walker and Daniel Farke…. Webber will be forgotten as soon as he’s gone. His arrogance stinks, and as a life long Norwich fan now in his 60s I’ll be glad to see the back of him.