“We know [it] is not the finish you [the fans] wanted, but rest assured we will do everything we can over the summer to make the necessary improvements.
“We’ll sit down and reflect. We’ll get our head around and adapt, get some ideas on board. I want every player to know what I expect for next season.”
These were the words of City head coach David Wagner to the media at his Press Conference on Friday, fully three days before our defeat at Carrow Road to an already-relegated Blackpool on a Coronation Bank Holiday Monday where even the weather conspired to sum up our season.
It was flat, dull, and completely uninspiring with sporadic and all-too-brief bursts of watery sunshine. It must be said that this was pathetic fallacy in full effect – every time a breeze threatened to develop into something more tangible it dropped off into a lackadaisical zephyr until its next half-hearted, doomed effort to rally.
Macbeth’s witches in the thunderstorm on their blasted heath it was not, but it nonetheless served as a valid backdrop to Norwich City’s lack of on-pitch gusto in 2022-23.
We have now got a whole three months to take on board what the Grand Reset is going to bring and if there is any great enthusiasm for this “period of opportunity” in Nelson’s county I must be looking in the wrong places as I’ve yet to come across any optimism anywhere from anybody.
We are faced with more than a few obstacles in our way. So many in fact that this list may miss more than one of them completely so apologies if I have missed anything out somewhere along the line.
- We have no money but are between £55million and £65million in debt, depending on which figure is bandied about at any given time;
- There are no further parachute payments coming along with which to address our level of borrowing;
- We have precious few saleable assets at hand. Maybe Max Aarons, Gabriel Sara and Angus Gunn might raise half the level of the debt;
- There seems to be a transfer policy in place for incoming players: no future resale value, no buy;***
- NCFC is not where a young player with ambition would any longer wish to be. The word is out;
- Recruitment has been abysmal – there’s no other word for it – for some time now;
- Alex Tettey and Olly Skipp have never been replaced. We once had the luxury of both available at the same time;
- How do you replace Teemu Pukki? We’re about to discover just how difficult that will be;
- The details of the share issue and Mark Attanasio’s plans for the future remain shrouded in mystery;
- We still have a football club where a married couple, Stuart and Zoe Webber, very much rule the directors’ box roost;
- This is compounded by the lack of a Chairman or CEO to question the decisions of the above;
- Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones show no signs of relinquishing control and this is the seat of disillusionment for many supporters;
- The Webber-local media standoff continues, which is a source of great regret to many of us;
- Should the above situation be resolved how many City fans will elect to subscribe to the Pink Un? I for one won’t be joining their ranks.
And most importantly of all the fallout from this, the most disastrous season since 2008-09, has given almost everybody of a Yellow and Green persuasion a right Royal kick in the nuts.
We couldn’t even secure a top-half finish. We couldn’t manage to win more games [17] than we lost [18]. Pukki last scored a goal in Norfolk in September 2022 fer chrissakes!!! And all while the likes of Carrow Road finance chief Anthony Richens attempted to deflect the blame onto us, the supporters.
Of course, nobody wanted to rain on Teemu Pukki’s parade and those who occupied their seats [the cameras showed that once again there were several who didn’t] gave him an ovation we should rightly be proud of when he was subbed off on 80 minutes. This left little appetite or indeed manoeuvre for any coordinated chanting. There was the odd outbreak of Webber Out but dear old Michael and Delia seemed to escape any level of protestation altogether.
Right now the chaos at Carrow Road looks like it can only be remedied by a huge sort out of cataclysmic proportions.
A combination of Bob the Builder, Vlad the Impaler and Shedbarshemoth, the black demon of the moon, would struggle to sort out this unholy mess.
Although I’ve heard from those who should know that Sheddy can be a demon on the wing…
***This is why I am shrugging my shoulders at the prospect of Burnley’s 35-year-old striker Ashley Barnes rocking up at NR1 in the summer, guided tour of Colney notwithstanding. With a strike rate of one goal in every five matches our Ashley seems pretty much non-essential anyway, but such a signing would go against Webber’s philosophy so surely will not be countenanced.
Whatever our views on the issues concerning the form of the “Reset” we are eventually presented with, [and I for one am hoping the MFW comments section will be stacked out with readers’ thoughts and observations over the summer] as supporters we must somehow do our best to summon up the spirit of my final musical outro of the season.
(5) BLACK SABBATH – “Never Say Die” (Live Video) – YouTube
Martin. We are not in debt. The loans are covered by guaranteed parachute payments.
Barnes is 33.
Rants look better when at least superficially accurate.
I think that as a yo yo club we only qualified for two years parachute payments .
Year one the big lump sum s has already been received and swallowed up. Next year’s small lump sum will , in its own right not cover the borrowings against the payments.
I believe the reason to bring forward the accessibility of the parachute money was to give us a better chance of promotion this year. That went well.
Hi Bernie
Yes, that’s my understanding as well.
As you say, it went down a treat.
Cheers
Hi Nick
Hands up to Asley Barnes’s age – mea culpa and that will teach me not to thieve details from a national newspaper!
To me whether a borrowing is covered by an incoming or not it still constitutes a deb.t and I don’t think it’s realistic to asset that it is anything else. Sure the parachute payments go to service said debt, but imo it’s pretty poor to play financial catch-up in that manner.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on whether or not the article constitutes a rant 🙂
Cheers
Your next point though literally says there are no parachute payments coming to help service the debt when that’s exactly what they’re doing 😂
Hi Olly
I’ll refer you to the comment from Bernie Owen [above]:
I think that as a yo-yo club we only qualified for two years parachute payments .Year one the big lump sum has already been received and swallowed up. Next year’s small lump sum will , in its own right not cover the borrowings against the payments.*
I think that kind of explains it?
Cheers
We owe money, that is debt , it maybe covered by parachute money and money owed but it’s still debt. I expect we will try and generate 30 million through sales , that will give us 10 million to rebuild the squad. 33 year old Barnes will be our only signing as a striker. That means the plans survival.
Hi Sax Yellow
Yes, Debt is debt. whatever spin some people might put on it it is still debt.
We must have a very good relationship with our leading bank to have even arranged this type of loan tbh – I hope nobody has mortgaged Carrow Road or Colney against it 🙂
Cheers
The loan is secured against guaranteed future income. Our debt position is Zero. Whatever anyone says about the club hierarchy, after previous near financial disasters, they are cautious to a fault.
What gets my goat in all this is that the boat was pushed out, debt incurred -albeit secured, and the board are called out for lack of ambition. I accept the funds were spent poorly but imagine the outcry if they had not attempted to temporarily spend beyond their means!
Rant over.
Let me be the first to admit that if the money had been spent coupled with decent recruitment we would not be having this conversation as I for one, would have considered it money well spent.
We [the Board if you like] gambled and lost. This is where self-finacing is almost bound to fail as for every Buendia there will be two, three or even four Plachetas!
Nick, I agree with you that the board did go for it in 21/22 despite what Talkshite says.
Just as we did with Naismith, Klosse, Jarvis and Pinto under Alex Neil.
But I among others have said on here at the time, not in retrospect that that summers signings were to say the very least flawed.
Most of the players signed were all under 22, for an inevitable relegation scrap !! Madness.
It all goes wrong, fine none of it was done on purpose but two things,
Why was Keiran Scott sidelined from this and Webber allowed to do it all himself (see Michael Bailey’s excellent article) and why then blame the fans?
Maybe not Nick at this specific time but where are we going to be next season with all our saleable assets gone, no parachute payments for team building and still likely to be in the Championship.
If they had borrowed against the parachute payments and we could see why on the pitch then it would be a different story. Sorry it is anything but.
Personally the only reason I see us not in debt next year is possible Attanasio family investment or even more remarkably we get promoted.
Good points. My answer is that the contracts just ended plus key player sales plus likely Maddison bonus (£4-5m) equals a decent war chest of perhaps £30m towards fees and salaries.
There is no doubt that previously failed gambles have left us up excrement alley and the next roller coaster move may well be down. rather than up. But hey we are NCFC supporters, what do you expect?
Anyone wanting glory had better look elsewhere. When and why did we become so entitled?
I speak only for myself here, Nick, but I attempted to explain my take on what you call ‘entitlement’ in my piece last Friday.
Quote: “If we’d decided to stay away every time City have been on a poor run, or because things are a bit shit, then the place would be empty.
“We don’t support Norwich City because they’re a great team – we leave that to nouveau Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, and Liverpool fans. We support Norwich because, for a million different reasons, we have, or have developed, a connection.
“In my case, it was because my dad and both grandads were City diehards but for everyone it’s different. What we do have in common is that none of us chose Norwich City because we expected them to be challenging for titles and winning trophies. We hope, but we never expect.”
So, for me, the issue is more around how, as fans, we feel so undervalued and ignored by those in power. We’ve all lived through plenty of fallow periods but seldom have we felt so detached from our Club.
As I say, that’s just my personal take.
Agreed, especially the overt contempt from SW. But I felt a lot worse under Roeder and when Chase undertook a fire sale.
After all we have no say beyond withholding our money. My blood pressure has better reasons to go up than over a crap season when I have already survived 60+!
I genuinely don’t feel entitled but I don’t like feeling let down by something I love like NCFC.
Deep down I’m sure that apart from a very limited number of the *put me in the stocks and Iwill be happy to be laughed at* brigade we all want the same from the club: to be the best we can be.
And in the last two seasons we have fallen well short of that standard.
I’ve talked about that very word, entitlement, on here before Nick.
Martin O’Neil as great as ever on Sky Monday Night Football said as soon as you feel you are an “established” EPL club look out, big time . I agree you cannot take anything for granted.
I was shocked to hear a supporter on Canary Call say “we should be beating WBA” a few months ago, why?
That prompted me to write about entitlement on here. Because that feels like entitlement.
Every success you get in football is earned, from the bottom to the top. But do I expect us to be fighting for European places again in the not to distance future, absolutely not.
We are not entitled to anything except one thing from these owners, honesty. Have we got it no.
Delia and Michael have said for years no one is interested in our little club and I believed them, fast forward to a AGM a few years back and one of their own executives contradicts this completely by saying that any silly offers for the club are dealt with at executive level but any serious offers (plural) go to the majority shareholders.
That is why there is this disconnect at the club a complete lack of transparency.
The majority of recruitment 21/22 have not proved themselves at Championship but the club insist on saying ” it was all right” and ” It was the fans fault, they deserted us”
Dreadful.
When a significant number of reasonable people reckon they’ve been lied to… that’s probably because they’ve been lied to.
Hi Tim
Funny you should choose to mention Klose and Jarvis; two more with injury blighted careers unfortunately.
I loved Ivo Pinto almost as much as I loathed Naismith!
Cheers
I really believe we stand more chance of promotion than we do of seeing squad strenghening $$$ from Mark Attanasio!
😂😂😂 you may well be right Martin.
Now there is something we can agree on. At last!
Yep – *agreed* 🙂
Nick – we have non investing owners so any revenue from player sales will inevitably go to help pay these loans and little or none used to strengthen a squad that finished 13th in the worst championship for many years. Next year will see revitalised Ipswich, Plymouth and 1 other from L1 promoted with far more momentum built than our 1 win, 4 draws and 6 defeats last 11 games. Three relatively strong EPL teams will be coming down as well. We are more likely to go down to L1 again than mount any promotion challenge and the reasons listed in this article explain why that is so
Hi John
You’re right to point out just how low the bar was set in the Championship this season, although Burnley broke that mould with a fair old sprinkling of flair and might cause a surprise or two in the PL – we’ll have to wait and see.
Our record in that final 11 games does not bode well for next season and if, say, Leeds and Leicester join Southampton in relegation we might as well write off 18 points right now as I doubt we’d land a glove on any of them unless something remarkable happens during the close season.
Cheers
While your sentiment about our club is fair, yet again you choose to use language towards Delia that has a whiff of sexism (and now ageism) about it. ‘Dear old Delia’? What about MWJ? Why is he not referred to in this way, or at all? He’s an equal part of the equation.
Delia is as benign/culpable (delete as appropriate) as any of the current crop of NCFC hierarchy and yet your language, assumptions and apparent need to single Delia out are, to many of us (female, male, and all) offensive.
This is not a Delia problem, it’s a collective one but by using such terms towards Delia you do what many men do and negate any sense of achievement or expertise she has shown. Don’t forget we are also talking about a woman who has enabled/overseen what would be considered by fans of many other clubs a lot of relative success considering the comparative lack of finances.
I agree it’s time to look beyond this regime but to belittle her in this way is totally unnecessary in modern society.
Spot on. Martin has given the MOGs on here free rein. It will not be pretty.
OK this season has been awful but around 60 of the 72 EFL clubs would love to be in our position.
Please let’s have some balance on these pages or I shall be looking elsewhere for my City fix over the Summer.
Nick, you’re very welcome to post a guest blog to offer an alternative view to Martin’s and my own. We pride ourselves on offering a broadchurch of views on all things Norwich City and I’m very happy to post articles from both sides of the fence when they arrive in my inbox.
The offer is there.
As Gary so rightly says, we write opinion pieces on MFW and don’t expect everyone to agree with us. The idea is to spark as wide a debate as possible and we cannot achieve that if we all concur.
You obviously don’t agree with me so why not do as Gary suggests and provide us with a guest blog outlining your thoughts – give it a go, you might enjoy it and I am sure that I for one would enjoy reading it 🙂
Hi Cityfan
We have now amended the article to read “dear old Michael and Delia*.
You are right when you say they deserve an equal measure of respect or disrespect, but I think you will find that as Michael seemed to adopt a low profile from the beginning of the incumbency he tends to get overlooked on occasions.
Delia is not singled out because I have any *need* to do that, it is because of the media imbalance between herself and her husband.
You suggest that the good times under Delia and MWJ’s leadership are quickly forgotten about during these current bad times we are now experiencing but I’m not convinced by the idea that their period of tenure produced much by way of their personal enabling or achievement apart from the initial loans, which I have freely acnowledged before and will doubtless do so again.
Anyway the last time you commented I actively invited you to call me out on any perceived sexism so thanks once again for putting me right and please feel free to exercise your right to do so in the future.
Cheers
Anyone who has worked at CR including my wife, was made every clear who was running the show from day one and it was Delia. Nothing happened without her say so. Nobody mentioned MJW – ever.
Hi IR
Thanks for confirming from a position of knowledge what the vast majority of us have taken as read for a long time now.
My mate’s son worked in the ticket office for a while and said exactly the same thing fully 15 years ago.
Cheers
I think there is little doubt Cityfan that Delia is the voice of the club. We have no Chairman for instance.
I abhor sexism or any other form of persecution. But Delia not Michael has made clear her hatred of the EPL and all it stands for. She is probably right on a lot of it but it is clear she would rather the club not be there.
I admire Delia in many ways how she has succeeded in a mans world and I love her recipes she has excelled in her profession but just because you are a woman it doesn’t exclude you from criticism.
Actually Tim you’ve eloquently exprssed my views on this as well in that neither
praise nor criticism recognise gender.
Delia deserves great credit for forging her career in the world of television when that wasn’t quite so easy for a woman to do as it is now.
If I say *West Ham United*, do folks think of Paul Peschisolido before Karren Brady? I doubt it very much. NCFC fans don’t care to remember his playing days with us with any great affection anyway 🙂
But the world of TV is a long way from the equally tough environment of professional football and having seen Jordan Hugill and Emi Buendia’s cookery skills on parade via YouTube during lockdown I doubt the twain will ever meet 🙂
Add Rashica to that list and possibly our share of the Maddison sale.
Wagner’s good run was visibly wrecked by the injuries to Hanley, Gibson and McLean, with all three fit I think we would have made the playoffs
One penalty all season and some ridiculous decisions didn’t help but we have got to develop an attitude where we don’t let these things affect us badly. I’ve got a bid fed up of the “Delia Out!” and Webber Out!” moans every time we lose. Nothing could ever be gained by someone leaving, it has created such a negative atmosphere and I can understand why players aren’t willing to renew their contracts or join the club.
The Brazilian connection has started well and a good sale for Sara could encourage more talented prospects to join. We have to bring in some defenders who can defend particularly full backs.
Learning from our mistakes is going to give us the best chance, getting the best out of what we have is more important than spending money, management over gambling
Hi Gil
Rashica yes, and Maddison very probably. Another £10million in the till, I guess.
That’s a very good point you make about Sara and the Brazilian connection and of course the CB injuries devastated the crucial climax of the season like a wrecking ball. I have long advocated the worth of Kenny MacLean at this level so agree there too.
When it comes to learning from mistakes I am rather less positive, unfortunately.
Cheers
Teemu substituted – cue team hugs, standing ovation, even the Blackpool players applauded. All immediately followed by demands for the removal of the guy who brought him to us in the first place. Such irony.
I don’t think Webber is perfect, of course he isn’t. But people conveniently forget the many good things he has done, not least the fees he obtained for the likes of Lewis, Buendia, Godfrey and Madison. Either of the last two, or both, could be back in the Championship shortly, and Lewis was only briefly a first-team regular when Newcastle were struggling. You may recall that Liverpool, who were then rather better at judging the value of incoming players, only wanted to pay about half of what we got from Steve “I can waste anybody’s money” Bruce.
The situation with Webber feels so similar to that with McNally in 2016. Webber will go if there is a new challenge out there for him that he fancies. Will we be better off? Possibly, but possibly not. I’m not convinced. The year following McNally’s departure was terrible so nobody should assume that there is miraculously someone out there ready to be parachuted in as an upgrade.
Hi Keith
I take the irony of the situation on board – Teemu even shook hands with the referee which I found quite touching in a way.
Speaking purely personally I DO remember most of the good things Webber has done and perhaps that is why I am so disappointed by the tailspin he is now in.
I’m not sure I can totally reconcile with applauding the amount of profit he has made on a player though – there feels something a bit weird about that to me although I completely admit that in this day and age it counts as achievement.
You could add one of the Murphys to your brief list of under-achievers as well – Oxford Utd? He could have ended up in League II – and very nearly did!
The similarity to the McNally situation should indeed be taken as a warning and if push comes to shove I hope Delia [and Michael] are not averse to using Ed Balls as a sounding board again.
Come to that I wish we could persuade him to take on the role of Chairman, but I fear that horse might well have bolted.
Thanks – good comment.
Martin, Ed Balls would be a good choice but he was in the political war zone for too long to take on a City that is in serious decline both financially and football wise.
Never filling that role on his departure was a terrible decision and putting Mrs Webber on the Board really compounded some poor judgments in recent times.
Maybe the only sane one was Michael Foulger who could see what was coming and decided enough was enough, sold up, gets a position as ambassador for life and watches the brown stuff flying around. A good decision on his part
Michael Foulger deserves a lot of credit for stoically putting up with all the shenanigans going on around him amd let’s not forget that without him Holty would never have joined us.
Regrettably I fear you are right about Ed Balls, who’s claim to being a *football man* is a pretty strong one although he gained his fame and career in a very different sphere.
What about the over inflated fee’s Webber payed to bring in Rashica,Tzolis and Sargent?None of them are anywhere near what had to be payed out for those three,and what about all the duds Webber has bought or loaned in?When Kieran Scott left the club Webber was clueless,simple as that
Hi Tony
I must confess I wouldn’t be disappointed if we never did any form of business with Werder Bremen ever again 🙂
Cheers
Pukki was another (possibly the last) gift from Kieran Scott
O T B C
Hi John
The arrival of Pukki came without fanfare and i think we all had a Celtic mate or two who didn’t speak particularly hughly of him at all. Quite the opposite in the case of my mate Sean 🙂
It was considered a brave move at the time and, like you, I believe it was the foresight and instinct of Kieran Scott that gifted us both Buendia and Pukki.
Cheers
What amazing farewells Norwich fans and the club gave for Teemu! I absolutely didnt expect them to be so huge and it was quite an emotional moment. The ex-Norwich players farewell video was very good. Especially Todd Cantwells, Cantwell seems intelligent person. Teemus influence made Cantwell better player.
In the game Teemu tried and tried to score a goal, but it was cursed to not happen. To me it looked like he was carrying some kind of minor injury.
Norwichs tactical game plan does not impress. You start attacking with slow passing, then move a ball to wings and the winger tries to put crosses somewhere. I can easily understand fans frustration. Some time a go I predicted that you will have hard times after Farke era especially to accept way less skillful football playing. That kind of thing happens to every club, after successful periods start downhill. Its not possible to make success without certain individuals who are able to make a difference. Managers/coaches are also able to make differences, the game has not only developed as better individuals and better player physicality. Tactics have a huge part of it and ability to make tactical changes when needed also during the game.
Finnish broadcast mtv sports gave some insider news about Teemus next destination after Norwich. There is reported interest from the Premier league, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 and surely somewhere else too. In the article there was speculation about MLS that there could be interest too. Sure there is interest, but not possible. MLS in summer league, Teemu should be without playing league games for almost a year. Even though the facilities are very good there, the level of football is not good. Living in the USA is not a safest option especially for someone who has small kids. Have you seen the mass shooting figures from there? Im sure the Premier league is option nr 1 for him, its a best league and he must have ambitions to prove that he is able to score more than 11 goals there per season. Also the national team is very important to him so he wants to be in top form. Still I give small transfer possibilities to arabic and asian leagues for him. Sometimes their financial offers are very hard to recist and he already had serious thoughts about chinese leagues massive financial offer before he wrote a new contract with Norwich.
Hi 1×2
Yes it was a very fitting acknowledgement of Teemu and all he managed to achieve during his five years with Norwich City.
He was a good influence on the younger players by all accounts, especially as he wasn’t afraid to admit to some lifestyle mistakes early in his career.
He also speaks good Spanish and that must have helped develop that formidable partnership he forged with Emi Buendia, who was limited to poco pocito English when he arrived.
We have certainly been poor at making tactical changes during matches and this is one of many areas which has to improve next season.
Despite all he has achieved I do not think Pukki would be a regular starter in a Premier League team, but more of a [well-paid] squad option.
I cannot guess where he will end up but obviously like every Norwich fan I wish him all the very best wherever he goes.
Kiitos
Yes 1×2 it was a fantastic send off for Teemu.
To say he will be missed is a complete understatement.
I have heard MLS but like you the gun crime worries me too. The Greeks rioted when they found that their tax will change in the European Union, the French rioted when asked to work two more years for a pension and even we rioted when Maggie Thatcher introduced her mad Poll Tax, but the Americans do absolutely nothing. With kids dying daily. Unbelievable.
So if I were Teemu I would look elsewhere.
Perhaps a link up with Herr Daniel ?
The NRA has so much influence in the USA it’s ridiculous.
Having said that though Hucks did it and the States has become very popular with many European players to spend their last couple of years as players.
I don’t think we can rule out a hook-up with Daniel at Gladbach either.
Hi Tim, Gladbach likely does not have the possibility to pay his wage demands. Also a mid table Bundesliga club would not be a much interesting option to him. During his time in Schalke, Schalke played in the Champions league and they were Bundesliga top clubs.
USA is such a strange country, or lets say that the states have too much power to make their own laws. The french are rioting often like you said because of labor rights. Thatcher time seemed quite tough period to british, I have seen a documentary about your unemployment system which has caused plenty of people to lose their homes. Brexit of course interests us who are members of the EU, do you see much difference in general life to time in the EU and now? Of course there has been covid and now those sanctions against Russia which sure makes comparison harder.
The UK leaving the EU, aka *Brexit* is one of the most divisive things to have happened among us, possibly even more so than Thatcher with her poll tax and other much disliked policies.
A referendum is a very rare thing in the UK, believe me.
I still consider myself to be a European and no politico can take that away from me. I also think that upsetting trading and labour regulations that largely worked well for so many years to be very foolish.
I think it is fair to say that there are many people in the UK who voted to quit Europe who are wishing they had made a different decision.
Martin, of course you are european! EU splits peoples opinions about it, I can imagine how tough an issue it is especially after tight voting results.
In Finland there were just elections and now they are trying to make a new government based on results. The so-called coalition party is in charge of negotiations. Their agenda is rich people and their main voters are people who believe that they are rich or admire rich people. Then there is so-called true finns party, which are right wing nationalists but in reality they are racists. The swedish people party is the third one in government talks and their agenda is swedish culture and language. The fourth one in negotiations is a religious christians party. It was obvious that true finns and swedish party does not get along. True finns are trumpists, but also putinists. They were cheering very hard when Brexit happened. Swedish people party is liberal party. They have dangerous political cards, not only relations to Sweden but in Sweden lives over 1 million people who could vote in the finnish elections if they feel like.
1×2:
Our right wing party [UKIP} are a small minority who make a lot of noise but don’t attract many votes and many of us are pleased about that.
The other three parties [Conservative, Labour & Liberal Democrat] are pretty much interchangeable these days but the Conservatives still have a reputation for being rich people who like to keep the poorer classes at heel. They also seem to be a bit more open to corruption than the other two.
Strictly personally speaking I do not vote for any of them as I do not like or trust most – but not all – politicians. I would like to vote Labour and if they moved very slightly to the centre I would do so, but I feel they have too many loose cannons to do this at the moment.
It was very interesting to learn how thing are in Finland – I had no idea!
I agree totally Martin.
Whether you are a remainer or a brexiteer it is a fact that leaving the EU has affected out transfer business quite alarmingly.
That is where this debating forum is a cut above any of the others, I actually learn things.
Sorry 1×2. TP has been playing like he did on Monday all season. He needs too many touches: the instinctive finishing has gone. OK the players supporting him have been pretty dire this season but to be brutally honest he looked as much the problem as did the supporting cast.
He needs to end his career in a slower less intense league. If he gets an EPL contract and scores goals I shall bow before you!
Yes, its possible that its like you say but his playing has not dropped when he has represented Finland in the qualification games. 2 games and 2 assists so far in this going on qualification its impressive. Im not worried about him, but I would be very worried about the lack of quality in other Norwich players. Those assisted goals would not have happened if it would have been his Norwich team mates. Overall it does not matter if he scores or assists.
As I said to Nick [below] I’m not sure that Teemu’s heart was in it towards the end but even so he kept his professional standards extremely high.
A fundamental concern was that nobody on the field really looked like they were having any kind of fun at all, Teemu Pukki among them, and that has always been a massive sign that things are on the slide.
Hi Martin
Sexist again, sorry, pal 😇😇
It seems that people can’t read and add criticism without putting atag to something, and if those doing it can’t see the wood for the tree, then the WOKES have won.
Smith and Jones are the shareholders, and I’ve done some searching, and I can’t see a recent comment online or in the media supposedly coming from MWJ.
Sadly Delia puts her head above the parapets and many take aim and I include myself in that, just like these articles and comments it’s personal feeling and opinions we aren’t trying to condemn anyone just give someone a chance to give us another opinion to consider.
26 years of fleeting glimpses of what our club could achieve but let down by a financial system foisted on the club by owners that wanted to continue their celebrity status with out putting their hands into their pocket today for it, loans from them were taken back at the first opportunity or turned I to more shares to get a bigger hold on the club while telling us no one is interested.
Sadly I don’t believe that rubbish
Hi Alex
There’s a parallel here to the wise man who said of politics after Attlee’s Labour party were voted into power in the first election after when WWII:
*What the upper classes fear the most is an educated working class*, which roughly translates to *Our secrets are not for sharing with the lower classes otherwise they’ll want to enjoy our privileges too*.
I’m sure 95% of all football clubs have secrets they don’t wish to share with their traditional supporter base who in this scenario very much continue to represent what are seen by the privileged as the lower classes.
Think General Melchett if you will.
Cheers
Sorry I am late to the party comments, sorry should say the wake comments .
Whatever terms people care to use. the whole ruddy lot who sit in the boardroom are at fault big time. The fact for me is Delia puts herself foward or ( Did Do) to get her face and name in the limelight more than her old man. I much prefer the Stowmarket Duo or cook and assistant.
This is not the first time either we have come to this crossroads, but a quick look in the briefcase for salable assets is almost empty. It has finally come home to roost. The goose is Plucked, stuffed and cooked.
Max, Big Andy and Gabby . No disrespects to Max, had he been wanted by a premiership club don’t you think it would have happened by now. The list of supposed interested clubs must be quite long now. Big Andy, still learning his trade a lower end prem club would be the best. Gabby, has he really shown he is of the quaility a prem club wants ? again a lower end club might, but not for the amount City needs.
A reset is no good as most of the problems will still be there, just a change of position, a bloody good clear out is needed. married couples need to be divorced from the boardroom first. Take your own picks of which and how many.
A transatlantic phone is needed, Mr A and associates, the whole club is for sale, bring your own team and take this club forward. We have tried for 26 years and are back where we started only more in debt and nothing to sell. I cannot write any more books as they would be out of date with what people want.
It will not happen but I like a bit of fantas as . Reality has been sh!te this season
Be careful what you wish for. The “A” team are renowned for being tight with their dosh. And they know sod all about football.
Nick
I just wonder how much Webber had to do with any successful yrecruitment Scott and Farke wanted Buendia he did but let them have their way, Farke knew all the German lads by reputation and ability so would have pushed for them he has proved to be a reasonable salesman getting good fee for players that were at the club prior to his arrival.
We now have a depleted recruitment department that found said players they have left in their droves for pastures new and Webber has failed so is it those others that should get the credit for recruiting that earned the club loads of money
Who knows? And nobody is telling. I had the impression that when an analyst left another was promoted from within with a new recruit starting at the bottom.
This sort of thing is way above my pay grade!
In terms of this summer’s churn, DW makes it sound that he has a substantial input. As he should.
The influence of Kieran Scott has been discussed on MFW a fair bit recently and consensus was that he did a great job while he was here.
His move to Boro gained him promotion in terms of title and most likely job satisfaction as well. Maybe we should have tried harder to keep him but just like with a player who wants out, this isn’t always possible to achieve.
It is very concerning how many senior staff we have lost from this and indeed other departments.
Here we certainly agree, Nick.
MarkAttanasio will not be pushing $$$ our way for team building and that’s for sure. As for knowing $od all about football that tends to be par for the course with so many owners and directos these days I’m afraid.
Nick – be careful with what you have, it’s abundantly obvious our owners cannot take the club any further forward, but they can and are taking it backwards at an alarming rate where L1 is more likely than any promotion
There are several signs that point in that unwanted southerly direction which supporters my age [65] began to recognise quite a while ago now.
It’s far easier to spot when you’ve been there before. It might be well over 30 years ago now but I can vividly remember the parlous state we were in until David McNally arrived.
According to legend Martin it was a training session that did for Gunny not the 1-7 Colchester.😱😱
We have a lot to be thankful for regarding Mr McNally.
As long as auntie delia is in place, nick doesn’t care
Now now. I have never met the woman. Just because your owner is crap doesn’t mean that their replacement will be any better. Just look around the football world!
And in that world I include the ludicrously successful Man City and Newcastle……
Hi Lad
To me it’s all to do with the old saying *if you stand out like a nail you will surely be knocked down* which can apply to anybody who willingly [more so if it’s also knowingly] thrusts themself into the limelight: you will be the focus for everything concerning matters that are inevitably associated with you.
If your partner chooses to stay in the bacground, that’s his or her choice too and that is why Delia Smith, not Michael Wynn-Jones, is the person synonymous with all things Norwich City.
And yes, the whole of the last two years has been $hite and far removed from us being *the best we can be.*
Cheers
🤣 Perhaps wynn Jones is Johnny to her Fanny.
Sorry mate I’m not biting – it’s been a long enough day as it is 🙂 🙂 🙂
I slept on it overnight – and still haven’t succumbed to temptation!