I only met Stuart Webber once. Nearly twice, but once.
The nearly time came when, after an awful lot of badgering, City’s then Head of Comms, Joe Ferrari, granted MFW an audience with Stuart. It was January 2019.
The request was for a sit-down chat that would be relayed to our readership by the old-fashioned medium of the written word, but as we concluded our chat Joe said, “Oh, by the way, you’re welcome to video it if you want”.
It had been my intention to do the interview, but I had to be honest with myself.
What I didn’t have was the necessary equipment needed to video such an interview.
What I did have was too many chins for video and a habit of rolling too many Rs for audio – hardly the perfect skillset for what we hoped would be a landmark moment for MFW.
So it was to someone young and eloquent I turned to do the assignment, and the rest is history. Connor’s interview with Stuart has, to date, clocked up over 14,000 views.
All the way through the process my dad was telling me to forget my concerns and, “Just do it!” but I’m glad, for once, I didn’t listen to him. Connor and Ben (MFW’s videographer) did a brilliant job.
It was Stuart’s first interaction with MFW and it was impossible not to be impressed. The vision and the hunger to go with it were there for all to see.
The time I did meet Stuart was on a gloomy Sunday afternoon at Colney in the autumn of 2019. The day before, in the early stages of Daniel Farke’s first Premier League sojourn, City had drawn 0-0 with Bournemouth.
I’d been invited, along with a few others from Along Come Norwich and Talk Norwich City, to meet with Stuart and the club’s then-new comms manager, Dan Houlker, to discuss the access the club was going to grant us that season and to be shown around the new-look Colney.
The Webber we met was the one we’d all seen on the MFW video and others – pleasant, super-confident, sharp, driven, knowledgeable, and all over his brief – and it was with understandable pride that he gave us a guided tour of the new, space-age training ground.
Since then, further changes have been made and there are more taking place as we speak, but even in the autumn of 2019, it was an awe-inspiring place – one now regarded as among the best in the country.
And this, for me, putting aside the rubbish stuff that’s happened on the pitch in the last two seasons, will be Webber’s greatest legacy. In terms of infrastructure, his vision of what a world-class training facility for elite sportsmen should look like will endure.
He inherited a basic, tired-looking, outdated, and limited training ground and made it into something that, as well as now having its own vegetable patch and swimming pool, will help drive our club in a forward direction; something with the wow factor, which is a particularly big deal when prospective new signings are given the tour.
But his influence extended beyond bricks and mortar. At least initially.
In terms of the organisation itself, it looked for a while 21st-century ready. Before he arrived it didn’t. In a digital world, the club was still working in analogue but that changed once Webber entered the building and got to work.
Unpopular decisions were made and some much-loved names were sacrificed as off-field activities and coaching structures were streamlined, but it was all done in the name of efficiency.
That word – ‘culture’. And, for a time, Webber changed it massively, and for the better.
The self-funding model meant that there was no room for slack and every pound had to work bloody hard – infinitely harder than they did at all Premier League and most Championship clubs.
It was ugly at times, painful too – especially for those in the firing line – but the end result was, at least for a time, a structure and shape that made things better, sharper, and more focussed.
The loss of some key personnel in the summer of 2021, including head of recruitment Kieran Scott, appeared to rock the boat and, whether related or not, the recruitment ahead of Farke’s second crack at the Premier League was abysmal.
And during that campaign, almost for the first time, was saw a side to Webber that – rightly or wrongly – alluded to a less than total and absolute commitment to Norwich City FC.
There were explanations and mitigations aplenty but the sight and sound of Webber talking of stuff that was important to him but was nothing to do with our football club, made for a tricky spell.
That tricky spell never really came to a end.
In truth, it was no more than confirmation that, unlike most of us, Webber doesn’t live and breathe Norwich City Football Club. To him, it was only ever a stopover on his career path and while there was never doubting his commitment to the cause in the early days, it was only ever a job to him.
To us, it’s a passion. To him it was a job.
But, regardless of the paucity of two Premier League campaigns and the shocker of a Championship campaign endured in 2022-23, the section marked ‘Norwich City FC – Sporting Director’ on Webber’s CV will still make for impressive reading for any prospective employer. Like Leeds United.
Those three disastrous campaigns will always need explaining as they represent significant blips on what until then had been a career trajectory of only upward, but part of that mitigation will come in the phrase. ‘self-funding’.
While Webber knew the score when he arrived at the club, it’s one thing putting together a shoestring squad to compete successfully in the Championship but putting together a Premier League squad on that same basis proved an impossible task.
Even now folk will point to the circa £50 million we spent in the summer of 2021 but most of that was funded by selling our best player – Emi Buendia. And so Webber had to fill a Buendia-shaped hole before he could even think about making the rest of the squad bigger, better, and stronger.
As I said, it was an impossible task.
But, there’s no doubt that Webber’s stock has dropped in the last two seasons. Big time. Among other things, the recruitment has been terrible.
Most supporters had little beef with his decision to say thank you but goodbye to Daniel Farke because even before that away win in Brentford, there had been the abandonment of Farkeball. The very thing for which we loved the German was no more and it was time.
Where it all got a little cloudy was when Dean Smith – one week earlier head coach of Aston Villa – was introduced, alongside Craig Shakespeare, as the new City head coach.
It didn’t feel right at the time and didn’t until the day he departed.
We were expecting a continuation of the young, hungry, innovative theme but were delivered what was deemed by most to be a safe, steady but not particularly inventive pair of hands.
Up until that point, every decision, whether or not we liked or agreed with it, was made assertively and in line with the plan. Dean Smith didn’t ever feel like part of the plan and so it was almost the first time that Webber saw his decision-making being questioned.
Until then, and pardon the expression, it felt like he’d got all the big calls right.
But the mask of invincibility had slipped. Webber had been exposed as fallible and prone to error. Or, as it’s known, human.
His decision to appoint David Wagner is yet to prove the right one. The jury is till out.
But for all the anger and wrath that’s been fired in his direction over the last couple of years, I still see him as someone who made a difference to our football club. Someone who picked it up by its bootstraps when it was broken and directionless, and made it fit for the 2020s.
For me, as I said earlier his legacy will be Colney. The teams he helped build in 2018-19 and 2020-21 were great for those two seasons but teams evolve, and players come and go.
Colney will be with us for a long time and will continue to impress those who set foot inside it long after its current inhabitants have moved on.
That we went on a rollercoaster ride that included two Championship titles, while Colney was being transformed into the elite facility it is today, is predominantly down to Webber and those he appointed.
And let’s put it this way – if his replacement is able to have a similarly positive impact in his or her first three years in post, then this club is going to be in a very good place.
On a personal level, I’ll forever be grateful to Stuart for a small act that made a big difference, namely when, as part of the Club’s initiative to reach out to its older fans during the pandemic, he picked the phone up and had a 10-minute chat with my dad.
It made an old boy who was feeling lonely and had been struggling very happy.
I can recall the conversation vividly: “Boy, you’ll never guess who I’ve been chatting to on the phone”.
So, thanks for what you’ve done, Stuart. It’s been bumpy at times but never dull and on a pittance, you delivered us two Championships and, along the way, thrills aplenty.
I hope you and the Club can come to an agreement that doesn’t necessitate you serving out a 12-month notice period. No one wins then.
Go well.
Hi Gary
One statement says he informed the Smith and Jones in March that he wouldn’t be taking up his next contract and any club interested will only have a small compo to pay.
As you say, lots of good things to remember and many not so good to try and forget.
Sky save he’s been approached by a Spainish club so with Savilla losing Monchi to Aston Villa, maybe it’s orange groves next on his list.
Will his wife be next to depart and leave the owners with no defensive wall?
Yes, made my year. Good riddance – hope we get someone in who will address the recruitment and be a bit friendlier to the fans and pres. All in all, a fantastic day 😉
Totally agree Gary. I met SW at a Northern Canaries event in Manchester in January 2020 just before United and then COVID (in that order) steamrollered us. We talked for maybe 10 minutes. Honest and straightforward. Of course it’s a job and probably a good time to move, all round. Everybody gets stale. I actually asked him then about future challenges and he said Europe was always attractive and mentioned Spain. We shall see. These days Sporting Directors and Coaches don’t last long. SW was excellent for NCFC in his day. We all move on.
Quite right to highlight the early successes because there is no doubt he made the difference you highlighted. Sadly when it came to his later years that early success was undermined by his failures in the transfer market. Remember Drmic, and money spent on risky acquisitions like Tzolis and Rashica and Smith which highlighted his weaknesses.
A shame that he stayed two years too long but he will not be remembered fondly in my household.
I thought he did a very good job of updating the club.
The fact he failed twice in the premiership was not down to him but the inability of our owners to provide the investment required to mount a decent challenge.
I’m sure we’ll struggle to find anybody of similar ability because they will be aware of the limited funds together with a lack of serious ambition on the part of the owners.
I think these factors were part of the reason for the disconnect between Webber and the fans.
Be a rum ‘un if SW and DF fetch up in tandem at Leeds. Be interesting to see what they can do under owners prepared to invest.
Very well written and levelled read Gary.
You never fail to put a smile on my face when you mention Dick, I can just picture his smile and hear his laugh.
ATB
Yea he made mistakes, suffered errors of judgement, and was all round a tad too egotistical, but he did the club forward, especially in the training ground. Overall, blame for the failures was down to poor backing he got financially and we know where that fault lays.
Having to buy in a market that was unsuitable for the Premier League could not all be his fault, but he must share a large portion of the blame. The criticism he received was justified. So any praise is also
Reports say the Stowmarket two were devastated, by this news, which was about 3 months ago. but surely they knew the man wanted to move on? That came out with the news of his mountaineering wishes, plus his feeling his work was done, surely they knew that their desire to keep him was on borrowed time?
I think he may have hinted in his statement recently this was closer than many thought, plus did he make a point that perhaps the reasoning, a lack of investment was a major problem.
So Mr 90% is to depart, at a time his boyhood club needs a chair filled of the same ilk, which cannot be overlooked, saving the need for huge chuck of compensation.
Now serious efforts must be made to bring in the right person, Our Neil isn’t seen as that, so perhaps a certain Mr Scott is. But that will cost something the club cannot meet.
One of the too-cosy matrimonial connections in the boardroom is soon to finish, just one more needed for it to be broken up
Down the rabbit hole we go again! £60m in debt. Cheers Stuart, nothing but incompetence at the top, clearly no money in the pot!
This season will be interesting. I wonder how long Wagner will last now that his chum has gone? Only time and results will tell.
This season has got got all the hallmarks of make or break for the Stowmarket clowns. Now there is no wall in front of them to take the flak from the Canary faithful cannons.
I can see their tenure hopefully coming to an end.
In all seriousness, who on earth with any footballing ambition is going to take this club on as a sporting director when we are in this mess?
Chaos reigns. The timing of the news is obviously designed to head off the news breaking externally from sources other than the Club.
It transpires that the ownership was informed in March and the rest of us have been kept in the dark, watching interviews in which Webber talks of the future, the season ahead and other matters all whilst knowing he was off.
It’s a piss take.
Despite the assertions that Neil Adams won’t be stepping into the breach, it would be no surprise if we once again “scoured Europe” only to find the answer already in situ.
The spiral is out of control and the club is rudderless and a complete shambles. If Attanasio is serious about taking the reins, this is the time to stop pratting about and end this circus once and for all and set out some sort of vision for the Club, which doesn’t involve fixtures against Yeovil and Cheltenham in the near future.
New energy, new direction, clean slate and a fresh start needed. That means new ownership and a properly run club.
Well said, I’ll not be thanked for agreeing with you, but I do.
I’m thoroughly sick of self-funding and the tightrope this club constantly walks. Like I said in the piece, for all of Webber’s faults, he was handed an impossible task by our owners – the caveat being, I guess, that he knew what he was letting himself in for.
But the dream of Premier League survival was merely that, and based on no reality whatsoever.
To add to the surreality of the current situation, I’d recommend a read of D&M’s tribute to Webber.
https://www.canaries.co.uk/content/delia-smith-and-michael-wynn-jones-statement
They continue to be soooo proud of self-funding while being completely oblivious to the ongoing damage it’s doing to our club.
I just don’t get it.
** rant over **
I think most of us are beyond frustration regarding the state of the club, Gary.
Webbers initial impact and the following promotions can’t be denied. However, his brusque manner and disrespect shown towards the support allied to two years of solid failure have tarnished his reputation and legacy.
Given a proper budget, commensurate with the running of a professional football club and I suspect he will quickly re-establish himself as a big hitter among his peers.
Delia Smith’s undisguised disdain toward the Premier League and the impact of money in modern football are well documented and, I suspect, shared to a lesser degree by most of us. That is her opinion and her absolute right.
What isn’t her right is to use Norwich City as a unilateral blunt instrument to stand against the rest of the sport to make her crude point to the detriment of the club itself and its supporters.
The loss of Webber is reported to have left the ownership “devastated”. Possibly because the last screen between them and the torrents of criticism and dissent which will erupt if Wagner continues the staggering nightmarish run of results and performances in August. Remember, the run-in included the last five home games without scoring a single goal. That will be at the forefront of most minds when the curtain rises.
Speaking to fellow supporters, it became clear that the expectation and hope was that the owners would step aside this summer to enable a clean slate and a new order to sweep into the club, ushering in freshness, ideas, professionalism and perhaps a modest amount of money.
It now appears that Delia’s arse is still in the wall holding back the tide. And will be for the foreseeable future. Big mistake.
The removal of Webber will not on its own improve the outlook among the support. If anything the circumstances and the uncertainty at such a critical juncture will cause more disharmony.
It’s high time our transatlantic friends came up with the goods because at this rate there won’t be a club to takeover.
If they are just teasing, then I suggest they move aside and allow other parties to re establish contact.
Should have left last summer,but at least hes going now,hallelujah!!!Maybe it would be better to have a strong chairman than a sporting director?
Webber is a man that has met his limitations. He had us going for a while and probably couldn’t believe it himself. However, working with a model that cannot succeed caught up with him. Since then, it has been diminishing returns and it benefited nobody – including himself – by staying at the club.
Our hapless majority shareholders have a historic problem of getting too close to their main staff, which mean they cannot make sound business decisions. In the case of Stuart Webber, his behaviour towards the press and most importantly the fans has been unacceptable, yet has been condoned by them as there was no real change in his hostile behaviour.
While I wish him well wherever he goes next, he will have to accept that no other club in football would tolerate bringing a club into disrepute and that happened at Norwich City. He was held in far too higher regard than his talent deserved by Smith & Jones and their statement shows how easily people can be hoodwinked or how little they know.
He achieved something. Yet he marched us so far up the hill, but he marched us down again. He’ll know he’ll never get the freedom he got at Norwich City compared to his next employer, but that will be a good thing in his development because working under two rank amateurs was damaging his career.
Let’s hope he learns.