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The Club needs revamping from top to bottom, and the fans need to be respected

The Club needs revamping from top to bottom, and the fans need to be respected

18th December 2022 By Kathy Blake 16 Comments

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There’s something wrong in the state of NCFC. And it goes a lot deeper than losing 0-2 at home to one of your promotion rivals.

Against my better judgement I went to the game last night – the weather was awful, I have a dodgy ankle, and it was on TV. I could have watched from the sofa in front of the wood burner but no, I knew better.

So instead, in front of a live TV audience, I had some home truths, most of which I’d suspected for a long time confirmed to me. There are lots of things very wrong at my football club. From the corridors of power at Carrow Rd to the training pitches and soccerbots of Colney.

 It has been obvious to everyone in Norfolk (except those who matter), that Dean Smith was not a good fit for Norwich City. Yes, he seems like a nice bloke, and he has a good track record elsewhere, but in spite of this, he has always felt like a square peg in a round hole. It was always going to be difficult for any manager to come in after the love affair Daniel Farke had with Norwich fans, but somehow this never felt right. Results were unimpressive from day one and talk of ‘a new animal’ after the World Cup always seemed very hollow

And after his Roederesque outburst after yesterday’s game, there was never going to be any way back. This is going to end badly. It’s just a question of when.

And meanwhile back at Carrow Road, people in suits are calling the shots and calling them badly. A lot of fans don’t get to see this side of things but I’ve had a ringside seat and I am quite frankly amazed at some of the things that have happened.

In recent years we’ve had some very capable people doing the job, and we were building up a great team who were supportive and a pleasure to work with. But one by one they’ve left, some of them unbelievably to our rivals down the road.

How on earth was that allowed to happen?

They’ve been replaced with people who talk a good job but come up short. Sure, they had great track records in business and probably great university qualifications, but football unfortunately is no ordinary business.

You can’t impose a business template on a football club. It doesn’t work like that. You need people in there with a feel for the club, the area, the history, and the traditions of the club.

If you speak to the present incumbents now about an issue and refer to something or somebody in the past, even the relatively recent past, they look blankly at you and obviously have no idea what you’re talking about.

And any sort of criticism will not be tolerated, whether it is from the local press or supporter groups. Privileges will be withdrawn. A siege mentality has evolved and is constantly getting worse.

The thing is though, these people are temporarily in charge of something that does not belong to them. The football club is ours. It was here long before they came, and will be here long after they’ve gone.

I have nothing but respect for our owners but feel the years are catching up with them. I think they’ve been happy to relinquish control of a lot of things, and have delegated responsibilities to people who don’t have the necessary knowledge and acumen to handle it.

They, in turn, have brought in similar staff, and the rot has set in.

So, in a nutshell, the whole thing really needs revamping from top to bottom. Relations need to be restored with the local press, and fans who give up their time and money must be respected and re-engaged.

I won’t be giving up my season ticket (although I know of several who are). I’ve been around long enough to know football is very cyclical and things will get better again. NCFC staff both on and off the pitch come and go. I’ll still be here.


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Filed Under: Column, Kathy Blake

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AlexB says

    18th December 2022 at 1:26 pm

    Hi Kathy

    Sadly I agree with you in all but one thing Smith and Jones have had 26years to improve the club and but for a few promotions to finance the next few seasons have never wanted to be in the land of money.

    26years of free entertainment, short term loans snatch back quicker than a city relegation not even allowing the club to reinvest in the playing squad first, to me that reads lack of confidence in staying up and lack of commitment to the club it’s just a play thing for them that keeps their celeb status alive and kicking plus a little side order of running a small catering business from the stadium.

    The biggest problem is with I know best Mr Ego Webber, many top people have left the club and how many of those had a clash with his methods, most that have left were in the recruitment Keiran Scott was head and sources Buendia others recruited Maddison, Godfrey all gone and the Academy lost peo0le that got Lewis, Aaron, Murphy twins and brought them into the first team all gone.

    The biggest mistake was letting Farke go and keeping Webber, Our club is run by an aging couple who have given responsibility to another couple that aren’t even share holders but are their safety net.

    When Webber left Huddersfield the then owner said this club is more than just Webber we will survive and we can breathe the fresh air again maybe he knew something about him and was pleased to see the back of him.

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  2. Herr+Cutz says

    18th December 2022 at 2:02 pm

    Kathy, I‘ve been a Canary fan for over 60years, and agree with you, football is very cyclical, but the disconnection between fans and club is the worst I‘ve ever seen. Empty seats and boos will eventually force the directors to rethink. I‘m sure Smudger is a nice fella but he‘s an abysmal failure here and will ultimately be forced to leave, but the rot goes far deeper than that. How much the club can be milked by the carpetbaggers who have embedded themselves at Carrow Road before radical changes are made is difficult to predict. I think we are in for some long term misery.

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    • Jim Davies says

      19th December 2022 at 8:50 am

      Like you, Herr+Cutz, I’ve been a supporter for over 60 years. When Smith came in, I was prepared to give him a chance, in view of his record at Brentford, and at least he still had Villa in the Premier League, but I’ve been growing more and more disillusioned with him. Saturday’s game was the last straw for me. The constant back and forward ( actually, NOT forward) between the centre halves and keeper got beyond a joke. I’m happy with playing out from the back, but there has to be some progress before too long. Gunny should have got the man of the match award – he had more touches than the rest of the team put together.

      One nil down at home, and playing like we were one nil up away, with two minutes to go.

      5
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  3. Robin Sainty says

    18th December 2022 at 2:43 pm

    Bravo Kathy👏👏👏

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  4. Ed C-L says

    18th December 2022 at 3:58 pm

    Well said Kathy.

    We’ve long seen it, sensed it and smelt it. The latter has an especially overripe aroma to it right now.

    The suits will dig in. Say nothing. Do nothing. Professional reputations are on the line. They can’t be seen to be in error.

    Tick tock…

    18
    Reply
  5. Nick says

    18th December 2022 at 8:22 pm

    Incisive. Insightful. Intelligent. Everything that NCFC is not.

    More please.

    10
    Reply
  6. Graham says

    18th December 2022 at 11:02 pm

    Hi Kathy
    I agree with every sentence.
    The chasm between the club and supporters is the widest its been since the Chase era…something I hoped wouldn’t happen again. I too have decided to keep my season tkt, although I didn’t go to the Blackburn game as , to be honest, I’ve lost the fire in my belly for the first time in 60 years of supporting city. If it wasn’t for meeting with my friends in the snake pit, the tkt would probably go right now.
    I’m afraid the club don’t really give a toss for us at the moment but they’re playing a very “wolf of Wall street” game with our club. Suits and more suits…

    4
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  7. Paul says

    18th December 2022 at 11:15 pm

    Excellent piece Kathy yes it’s a worry how many good people have left in recent times some to that lot down road, others to club partners too . Find it amazing questions havent been asked by MWJ & Delia (also by media – tho that’s prob simpler to answer – they can’t – as to why this is happening amd wnat needs to change to stop this moving forward , really seems to be almost ne turning into a dictatorship!

    3
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  8. Catherine Reynolds says

    19th December 2022 at 9:04 am

    Excellent analysis, Kathy

    3
    Reply
  9. Barry says

    19th December 2022 at 1:21 pm

    Thanks Kathy I was like you wish I had watched from home, I normally go to cup games but can’t even be bothered to look never seen so many empty seats at the start of a game perhaps we might get an early Christmas present you never know.

    2
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    • John White says

      19th December 2022 at 3:26 pm

      Agree entirely with Kathy,s article. The club seems dead at the moment. No leadership from within or on the field. The players don’t seem to know what to do at present.
      I hate this disconnect between the club and the fans very 1984 feeling about this. Where is the transparency we were so proud of where is the hunger to play for Norwich City?
      I have list my hunger to watch at this point after such an abysmal display on Saturday.
      Let’s hope change is just round the corner and we can ALL get back to being a team together soon.
      Come on You Yellows

      3
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  10. Daniel Kinninmonth says

    19th December 2022 at 10:50 pm

    A superb way of expressing the obvious, well done Kathy like myself and, so many others agree with you PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FANS NCFC

    1
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  11. Michael Thompson says

    20th December 2022 at 10:10 am

    It would be good if Webber came out and made a full statement regarding the position of the club and everything about it—but unlikely as we’ve not seen or heard of him in months OTBC

    1
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    • Jamie says

      20th December 2022 at 6:30 pm

      What about his assistant? Mr “NCFC” Neil Adams…….

      Reply
  12. Sidney says

    20th December 2022 at 1:26 pm

    Like others I’ve been going religiously to Carrow Road for decades and have never felt so apathetic about the club (the suits as you say), the management, the board and in particularly the players. I have absolutely no connection with them. The fact that the Webbers have not taken action in the last couple of days presumably means we’re stuck with Smith for the foreseeable future which is ridiculous and really enhances the feeling of the clubs “them and us” standpoint. As for Stuart Webber, ever since he said a few years ago “I don’t have an ego” I’ve thought well, people who say that have normally got one as big as a house and so it has proved. “We don’t listen to outside noise”…what a load of old you know what. Bringing in Farke to give us an identity is the only thing I’ll remember him for. The training ground plans were already approved before he came here and Steve Stone set up the “let the fans pay for it through a Bond Scheme” approach. We’re now almost back to where we were when he arrived. No money. Each age group team within the club playing different styles of play. No player assets to sell. The ones he sold were already here. I’m getting angry now so will stop.

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  13. Nigel Crickmore says

    20th December 2022 at 4:30 pm

    Sadly I have to agree with you Kathy. I was prepared to give Dean Smith a decent run as I don’t believe in the sacking of managers too quickly before they have a had chance to do anything which unfortunately seems the norm now. But recently the writing has been on the wall and the outburst after the game Saturday to me is a step too far and I can’t ever see him recovering from that regardless if performances change. Saturday was very poor with no style and the lack of being able to pass to another NCFC player and the lack of passion. I can take defeats as that’s part of the game if I can see real effort etc. but it is sadly lacking. Would love to know what they actually did in Tampa because it wasn’t successful!
    The disconnect between the fans and the club is very worrying. A couple of years ago it seemed like everyone was as one but very quickly that has changed. The reaction now to the local press is also another big problem. It is the press’ job to sometimes criticise and it has to be taken on the chin not throw your toys out of the pram and to ban them from the AGM is ridiculous and very short sighted as there will only be one winner.
    I too have the utmost respect for Delia and Michael and what they have done for the club over the years and whilst I don’t agree with the way some so-called fans have been slating them (short memories from where the club was) I do believe that perhaps their time may be up. The unknown is what level of involvement Attansio is willing to have which could give a way forward.
    The other big question is if they got rid of Smith who would we be able to get. Although I don’t think they will get rid of him yet.

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