In the week leading up to our visit to Ashton Gate, I enjoyed a lengthy discussion with the Posse about exactly what is essential to successfully deploying a 4-2-3-1 system.
I argued that the striker and #10 forming a fluid partnership was key but Bernie Owen quickly put me in my place when he said I had my priorities wrong.
“I respectfully disagree Martin, 4-2-3-1 can only work with two damn good defensive but also ball-playing midfielders.
“Tetts and Olly Skipp would [did on occasion] work and Lungi Sorensen and Liam Gibbs could grow into it, but I wouldn’t have McLean in there. He’ll look good when we dominate but as soon as we come under pressure you can hear the air coming out of the punctured balloon.”
And on Saturday, yet again, our lack of defensive midfield presence only confirmed Bernie’s reasoning. Kieran Dowell can really seem like a luxury player at this level sometimes and Bristol hassled him into oblivion.
For the only goal of the game, he was [perfectly legally] muscled off the ball in the centre circle by the innovatively named Cam Pring who threaded a fine pass through to Mark Sykes, who beat Angus Gunn with a little too much ease for my liking. And for the umpteenth time this season, there was not a covering central midfielder in sight.
Gunn was benched for David Wagner’s opening three games and is already tipped for a £3million summer move to Rangers. For all he needs the money, I don’t think even Stuart Webber is daft enough to sell Angus, who could quite easily become our undisputed Number One for the next six or seven years.
We emerged from the West Country with nil points and the crazy stat of 65% possession with one shot on target. Make of that what you will.
Speaking of making of matters what you will, two weeks ago to the day I wrote in reply to a comment on MFW:
“As for the [initial Board meeting held to facilitate the reallocation of shares] meeting, I find quite a few folks can see signs of Delia loosening her gnarly old grip on the Club. I don’t see it that way myself as there are too many uncertainties for my liking.“
As Gary wrote yesterday this get-together tonight holds out hope of Delia reducing her and Michael Wynn-Jones’ shareholding to around 40%, down from the current 53%. Many people who know more about these things than I do are taking it as a given that the path is being strewn with roses so that Mark Attanasio can snap up what’s on offer. After all, nobody else is likely to want shares in Norwich City Football Club but the man from Milwaukee, are they?
I will just make a few observations here concerning not what I think might happen tonight but more about why I am taking nothing as a given.
What’s in this for Attanasio? I’m struggling with this one a bit, to be honest. Maybe it’s just a case of wanting to strengthen his hand at an early stage but even if it is, he will not be the answer to our prayers in terms of injecting cash into the club. You don’t throw good money after bad when you’re as successful as he is.
What’s in it for Delia? Relinquishing segments of her ownership bit by bit must be like selling a litter of pups off one by one. Decent breeders often keep a youngster back for themselves. What will be her equivalent? Retaining Delia’s Canary Catering?
Will radar silence be retained? If Paddy and/or the boys had been invited to what I guess is an EGM, they would quite rightly have trumpeted it by now.
Where does Tom Smith stand in all this?
It’s not so long ago that he was cast as the heir apparent. It seems his position is diminishing fast. Would Mark Attanasio want him to continue as a director, especially when he has two fine, strapping lads of his own? Doubtful.
And finally, what might happen if the Webbers’ cosy little arrangement comes under threat and they are held to account for their actions?
I doubt that would be a good day to have the internal fans on in the Carrow Road offices.
*** The saga of my personalised brick on the South Stand wall is finally over and downright handsome it looks too. Thanks to Phil Gray of NCFC marketing for keeping me informed. Phil told me I could go and look at the beast in situ last week, which I duly did.
It’s so fresh that the pointing hasn’t been done yet, although I was told that a locally-based firm called McLean & Co will be on the case very soon. They are sending Norfolk’s primary expert in the art of pointing, young Kenny, along to do the job.
I guess this might be kind of appropriate to play at around 8.30 this evening.
Hi Martin
In Gary’s article yesterday another Gary said if Mark A got over a certain percentage he was duly bound to offer the same price to all other shareholders for their allotted shares for complete control, now that’s an interesting take on tonight.
Could we soon see a royal changing of the guard only time will tell but 26years of poor financial management with self funding needs to end.
Will our American Cousins be the answer I’m not sure they run a tight ship with the Brewers using Data to recruit potential players on the cheap so anyone expecting a Chelsea buying spree will be disappointed.
Has Wagner and or the team been found out so early in their new disguise, A Burnley mauling and a Bristol lack of Energy plus no idea how to beat their block.
Gunn could or should have done better for the goal and the previous night I watched John Ruddy dominate his area for Birmingham fast off his line and closing danger down things at 27 Gunn needs to be doing better.
Looking at our 2 CB’s they spent more time trying to cover our midfield short comings with one eye on Gunn to make sure he was doing his job, is it lack of confidence or poor team work ?
Sargent spent more time in midfield trying to get the ball forward to Pukki there was no connection between both areas.
Pearson looked pleased that his game plan worked but Wagner must now think what’s he’s let himself in for.
City need a player to think on his feet someone that can change play when he sees something isn’t working can we find someone who is out of work maybe Tom Carroll ex Spurs and Swansea 29years old and no club ? could do the job.
Tomorrow Hull will we be back to Wagner games 1/2 or 3/4 only time and a sky red button will tell and let’s hope we awake with a new dawn and a fresh approach at the club.
Onwards and upwards
Morning Alex
I consider it *fan funding* cos that’s exactly what it is. I’m a bit of a sucker for memorabilia and they’ve been auctioning off old signage from the South Stand for some time now. I haven’t bought anything yet apart from my poignant [to me] *memorial plaque* on the wall mentioned in the article but I’m sure I’ll weaken at some point.
Wagner always knew what he was letting himself in for – he wouldn’t take Webber’s word for very much but do a lot of his own digging. He’ll find out a couple of things that might surprise him in mid May, especially the sheer, brutal lack of funds available for recruitment and to what degree he will be allowed any input into recruitment.
The Gary you refer to is one Gary Field. Gary is a Chartered Surveyor and knows the financial world very well. When it comes to £££ I’m always glad to see an article or a comment from him because I know he knows what he’s talking about!
I don’t expect too many $$$ to be on tap for players. If you were Mark Attanasio, would you let Stuart Webber spend your money?
Cheers
As a mere qualified accountant I have to disagree with Gary Field’s assertion that a person owning 30% of a company not on the Stock Exchange has to offer to buy other shares for the same price he paid for his. He may chose to do so but is under no obligation.
Hi Barry
Thank you – that’s something else I’ve learned today 🙂
Cheers
Morning Mr P, I somehow cannot see much changing, I hope I am wrong but the Stowmarket duo will still want the control, even when they delegate to a married couple more and more. Many seem to think our cousins from across the pond are the saviours of our club, that will only be in the long term. Their style is steady building, not throwing millions at the club. I somehow don’t think anyone would want to with the way it has been washed down the plug hole.
If Webber is supposed to be that good, then why has he paid over the odds for players who are below the standard needed, not such a good negotiator as made out. He is a bit like some of the dross he has brought in. Now we have another loan player who is injured and doesn’t look like he will be seen for a few weeks. Add him to the others bought or loaned in who are not fit. And we probably pay for the rights to get another teams player up to speed. Ruddy disaster I am afraid.
I do not believe Attanasio will suffer fools gladly, Well I certainly hope so, thats even if he does buy into the club more So many people still see The Stowmarket duo as the saviours all I see is two people who could walk away with a very, very tidy sum in their own accounts, if their shares are sold. while the club will probably not see a penny of it. The limelight is a funny thing as is the catering rights around the ground…
I see the club being in this position for several seasons yet
The new coach bounce lasted two games, we have fell back to bad ways, I am still astounded, now with Wagner, another coach who sees the best position for Sargent, publicly says it too, but still squeezes him out of the central berth. Sorenson and Gibbs are the two we need in midfield , they are all we have who can really play that shielding role, any manager worth his salt can see our weakness and play at it. Pearson to wily an old fox not too.
The play-offs are still doable, but I sincerely hope to god we do not get anywhere near promotion, with this squad we would be worse than the other two times, and we had some better players the 1st time, one or two who would walk into this squad ….no problem
Seems we have been at this point in the road a few too many times again. what more proof do people need to the club needs new from top to bottom
Morning Lad
There is little doubt that Delia has been hanging round our corporate neck like an elderly albatross for far too long now.
One interesting point you make that I wholeheartedly agree with is that Delia is an intransigent who will not listen to advice while Attanasio will not suffer fools gladly.
When – and it is bound to happen – there is a clash something might change.
I fervently believe that Michael Foulger did our Club more good by personally stumping up for Darren Huckerby’s wages than Delia has ever done.
And to the very best of my knowledge neither Hucks nor Foulger have ever expressed a desire to take over the burger van that sits outside the club shop and open it seven days a week for over 300 days in a calendar year 🙂
Cheers
Delia has delivered 26 years of mediocrity. Just compare her tenure to the previous 26 years. Her greatest achievement is convincing a large number of people, including many old enough to know better, that mediocrity is all we can hope for and that she is the person to deliver it.
Hi Ali
That’s a very dry take on it – and I couldn’t agree with you more 🙂
Cheers
Hear hear
While there is alot to be desired I won’t call five promotions to premiere league mediocrity when a majority of teams nanaged none but it is time for her to leave her perch .
Hi Kev
I think our subsequent time in the PL took away most of the euphoria caused by the promotions for me!
Cheers
Marty, our pal Bernie hit the nail on the head, but what we need and what we‘ve got are two different things. In the transfer window Webber was up to his usual tricks and loaned in an injured unfit player of a totally different ilk. Our recruitment strategy is not fit for purpose, Wagner has one hand tied firmly behind his back, and will Gunn go in the Summer? If the money is deemed good enough of course he will.
Hi Cutty
*Our recruitment strategy is not fit for purpose*. Agreed.
I reckon selling Gunny would be a very bad move but with Webber at the helm we cannot rule it out. Think of an *when he plays for Scotland* add-on for starters.
Webber really needs to be held to account, audited, monitored, whatever you want to call it. But that’s difficult to do if we consider the current make-up of the Board.
Cheers
Webber would have been sacked by now at most clubs,but not at little ol norwich!He said when he first came ro ncfc that alot of money had been pi##ed up the wall,since he’s been here its a bloody waterfall!!
Agreed 100 per cent.
Hi Dorset!
That makes at leas three of us!
Cheers
Hi Tony
Yes that remark [although quite true at the time] has really come back to haunt him. Not that he’ll care, his ego won’t allow him to.
Cheers
I am not an expert on shares and have no insight on the EGM.
However, my suspicion is that the club will fully change hands over the coming days. I feel Delia would only sell her shares on the insistence of a cash injection for the club. For that see the new shares.
I don’t see Mark willingly giving us endless loans and buying up new shares without a clear end date for purchase in sight. You don’t become a near billionaire giving out constant handouts.
Hi Dave
That seems logical and I’d like to dare to hope that you are right.
I’ve just got this gut feeling that where there’s a Smith there’s a catch.
Didn’t she once say we were the best supporters in the world?
Cheers
Good morning Martin, Gary wrote about the possibility of the outcome from this GM tonight of not going the way many people are predicting, and you Martin are nervous as well and I can tell you I certainly am. Has anyone seen or heard anything of Mark Attanasio these past few months? I haven’t!! I find it strange that a man as successful as him would invest anymore money into a project seeing the balance sheet nose dive after he first dipped his toe in, not without having a greater overall control. Yes I’m more than nervous I even wonder if he maybe looking for a way out rather than treading into deeper waters, and again like you Martin I too wonder where nephew Tom fits into all this, I hope I’m wrong and tomorrow will bring news of impending joy for those among us that are crying out for change, but I wouldn’t bet on it, —-yes I’m nervous.
Hi David
As I hinted to your namesake Dave B [above] it’s just that I don’t trust Delia, particularly with Webber sitting on her shoulder like a self-interested raven, saying something like *we’re better off with you in charge my lovely* without adding that so too are he and Mrs Webber.
I’m not sure Mark Attanasio would give the Webbers any more time than he would give Tom Smith, even though the latter is supposedly *good at projects* or so we were once told back in the days of Argentine flair.
A club with any genuine transparency would invite [or at least involve] the BBC even if the local resspi$$ed them off before they’d even been taken over by NewsQuest.
Mind you with journalistic quality at rock bottom and the EDP disappearing behind a paywall this week I guess NQ have enough to worry about elsewhere right now.
Cheers
How quickly the mood changes after we lose to a decent well managed side away from home. Everyone jumps on Dowell for losing the ball when he was clearly fouled. Kenny becomes the villain again and all of the good progress of the past few weeks is consigned to “new manager bounce”. We WILL make the top six and I will be supporting from afar As usual. Living in Hull I hope we do well Tuesday or my golf on Thursday will be a challenge!!
As for the politics….. nothing will change quickly methinks.
Hi Cyprus
I still don’t call that a foul on Dowell – maybe it’s just a difference in interpretation.
Well done to young Andrew Omobamidele for speaking to the Press afterwards, but it does kind of worry me when a player thinks a *reset* is needed and says so to camera!
Here’s a friendly [and obviously I mean that] response from myself:
We WILL NOT make the top six this season 🙂
Cheers
Too far away to put a pound on it! Ha Ha.
🙂
Congratulations on getting brick set done.
Hi Don
Credit where it’s due, the Club’s comms were very good on this. They still don’t know the reason for the urgency behind it or that I write for MFW so it was just plain good old fashioned customer service.
Cheers
Hi Don
Credit where it’s due, the Club’s comms were very good on this. They still don’t know the reason for the urgency behind it or that I write for MFW so it was just plain good old fashioned customer service.
Cheers
Good morning Martin.
I have to agree, tonight will be very interesting.
It really is a guessing game. Personally I just hope Delia and Michael have seen reason and are prepared to let the American investors in for the good of the club.
It won’t be as you say a “Chelsea” by any means but could give us a chance in the EPL.
Perhaps we will get to sign some of our A or B choices in the transfer windows for once.
And hopefully not injured before kicking a ball !
I have only seen the lowlights of the Bristol City game so I find it hard to comment.
But I will😂 from all sources it seemed we were back to the dark old days of Deano.
This team is totally unbalanced, Kenny as our long term holding midfielder? I do not think it will work, he seems to struggle when “marked”.
Has the South American foray been a success? Sara and Nunez have looked both very good and awful, perhaps next season will be the year to judge them. Mario Vrancij took a year to get going.
I agree with you the defenders are having to compensate for a lack of a strong midfield. I think that is a big reason Grant and Andy have looked a bit uneasy in some games of late. I think Hanley is a very good EFL defender and a lot quicker than people give him credit for but like a lot of the lads at the moment is giving away so many chances, double anyone else in the league.
If Wagner can cut out the vast majorities of those mistakes and strengthen that midfield I am sure we will see a big improvement.
Lovely to see you have your Brick finally done.
Here’s another record choice hopefully for tonight………
The Times They Are a Changing by Bob Dylan😂
PS I haven’t got a clue how you get the Youtube video’s done !!!
Hi Tim
We are still in the land of the unknown as far as tonight is concerned and the one thing I am hoping is that somebody, somewhere, will be able to expand on the bland statement that the Club will be releasing later.
Probably *commercial privacy* would be cited as a reason to tell us nothing at all f they thought they could get away with it but I understand this particular meeting is in the public domain even though there will be no Press present to ask questions.
Quite why the Pink Un boys don’t use a stooge to get their story for them I do not know, but I guess they have their reasons for not doing so.
As for YouTube I just copy the link, paste it into the article and hey presto!
I guess Gary removes the adds at the subbing stage as I don’t have any video-related software myself, although I used a cheapo version of Photoshop on the brick picsand always crop them and tart them up a bit before I submit them.
Pre-internet I would regularly produce a 24pp monthly newspaper from scratch up to pre-Press but these days I leave all that to Gary as I have no online design capability whatsoever. Plus it’s great when somebody else writes the headline for you 🙂
Cheers
I would love to see Paddy or Samuel try an “Inspector Clouseau” type disguise to gain infiltration to The Death Star tonight Martin😂
I bet they do have someone there in the know but it is typical of the club’s “openness” that no one is allowed to ask any questions, seemingly no oversight.
Sad days.
Happy brick day Martin!
I have to agree that Dowell was brushed off the ball far too easily in the build up to Bristol’s goal. Unfortunately as so many others have said, we just don’t have such players currently starting. The only one (to my knowledge) is Sorenson….but given the current parlous state of our lot, perhaps the less he plays the better he becomes??
In Gary’s article yesterday he said that Webber has had only 2 decent transfer windows out of 11….I would say it’s worse than that since for the first few, a lot of input came from Farke and his team, plus of course the now departed Kieran Scott (who a little bird tells me almost walked out earlier when Webber didn’t want to sanction to transfer of an unknown Argentinean).
You look at our ageing and under-performing squad, which compares unfavourably with almost every other in the Championship. And just why can we not find jewels in the lower leagues, or even Europe now? Others don’t appear to have the same problems.
Even that lot at the south end of the A140 play with youth; creativity; passion, and a belief in what they are doing. And they’ve been put together for a fraction of the cost of our current mis-fits. As things stand, I don’t think we’d like to play them next season, or a long unbeaten run could come to a messy end!
O T B C
Hi John
*Kieran Scott (who a little bird tells me almost walked out earlier when Webber didn’t want to sanction to transfer of an unknown Argentinean).*
Well begger me, I’ve not heard that tale before!
As for the Binners I can only agree with you and we must remember that they will only be better next season. Ultimately their fate appears to be in the hands of Plymouth as I don’t see Darren Moore’s Owls bottling it.
Plymouth’s home record is unbelievably good and if they can just keep going I reckon they’ll push 1p5wich out of the automatics, which would be great of course!
Somebody said here yesterday that Burnley have had no problem in recruiting from Europe so couldn’t understand the hassles we’ve apparently had.
I’m a little bit bemused by that myself as surely the consequences of Brexit are the same in Norfolk as they are in Lancashire!
Cheers
Round and round we go , perm any 2 central midfielders from 5 , always making sure Kenny is picked, and never picking Sorenson . Can anyone tell me why . I ll try and be generous about Kenny , he did fine at left back for a few games, but he’s just not a CDM for me.
Hi Bernie
I cannot answer the Kenny conundrum, although I seem to rate him a little bit more highly than most other MFW types do.
Sure he often tends to stomp around like a crazy horse with one hoof in the air that points at many things and other times he looks like he’s had too much ketamin but pound for pound we’ve had worse over the years.
One of our current coaching team, for instance?
Cheers
A thought or two regarding the shares.
-I think people are getting a bit ahead of themselves as it relates to the MA investment, timings, expectation of cash infusion in the future. While MA has more money than any of us, coming up with the funds in one-shot isn’t going to happen and it will likely be a similar approach to York Enterprises and Leeds United -incremental with an understanding of timings of when tranches of investment is required.
-Yes, he is the owner of a small market MLB team -great in terms of understanding how to grow and maintain a professional franchise on a smaller, or more limited budget, than say Boston or New York Yankees, but he doesn’t actually own the stadium they play in (thereby lowering the value of the Brewers along with the fact that County taxpayers are being asked for $300m to upgrade the stadium). He owns the team only and as such we need to remember if they have 1-2 bad years in terms of attendance or TV monies, hmmm, how much investment will there be in, say, new players for NC?
What we’ve seen so far is very limited information about what this transition of ownership will look like and what kind of financial commitment will be made, and required, to get NC back to the Prem. Leading to,…
Why NC? – price of entry into English football, loyal fanbase, and the hope that the club gets back to the Prem and the lucrative TV money it has on offer. Additionally, there is the global market to be tapped far more effectively than it has been up to now.
I sincerely hope that supporters don’t get their hopes set too high as there is a massive amount of ground to cover and questions to be answered before we have a clear idea of what the club will look like in 2-3 years and into the longer term. Just because he’s American with money doesn’t make him savior of the club or that it’s all for the better. There have been far more crash and burn overseas owners than successful ones and while everyone seems to think it’s currently a train wreck, things could be far, far worse…
Thanks Ennis – that was really interesting.
I don’t think Mark Attanasio is going to lay us a golden egg either, for what little that might be worth.
You are quite right that some overseas owners have turned out to become extremely unpopular with the fanbase of course, as in Glazer’s, Venky’s and several others with a lower public profile.
Cheers