With the announcement of Stuart Webber’s imminent departure yesterday, we’ve come to the end of a cycle in the club’s history that was among our most successful, and most frustrating at times.
One thing that the last six years have not been is boring.
So with Webber likely to start his “new adventure” we also look to begin ours.
I’ll leave the examinations of Webber’s time at the club to others, suffice to say, I think it’s probably healthy that a man who has stayed far longer in the role than he would have liked has departed and someone else will provide new energy, ideas, and enthusiasm.
That’s not to question Webber’s achievements, or his professionalism in any way. But he clearly thought the cycle of his time at the club would and should have come sooner, and if the club can now move on with everyone energized and pushing for the same thing, that has to be better than having the key member of staff looking longingly at the horizon for other jobs to appear.
Any new Sporting Director will be made fully aware of the key tenets of how Norwich City works. They will be aware of the self-funded model, and the challenges this brings. I would suggest that they will be made keenly aware of the need to rebuild relationships with fans and media, and be expected to exhibit some charm and diplomacy in that area.
They will also know that this is not a club with low expectations in this division.
What we need from a new Sporting Director is firstly leadership. Webber was the voice of the club. With him leaving there will be a massive void in terms of being the loudest voice in the room.
The owners are incredibly good at accepting their lack of expertise and allowing those with the knowledge to take the important decisions, and in Webber they had someone who would step forward and allow them to take the back seat in which they feel most comfortable.
Mark Attanasio’s presence will be an interesting addition to a previously predictable dynamic, but while I’m sure he will feed in his opinions on what a new Sporting Director should look like, I get the impression he will be happy to let that person lead the club forward and be the figurehead that Webber was.
With transfer budgets and targets already agreed, and signings already through the door, this will clearly be a transfer window that any new SD will need to accept as not their own.
Like any manager appointed mid-season, they will initially have to accept the squad they inherit, although there is a little glimmer of possibility in terms of what could be achieved should some potential sales come in, or the likes of Maddison and Buendia move on and recoup us some sell-on cash.
While Webber and co will have already identified potential targets should those scenarios occur, the fees received are based on uncertain variables, and there may be scope for the new SD to alter transfer targets and make their mark early.
It will be interesting to see how the later part of the summer plays out in that regard, assuming of course the new person is in place.
This will be a really attractive opportunity for any prospective applicant. A stable club with owners who have unswerving loyalty to their employees, often beyond the point that it’s healthy, with fantastic infrastructure set up by your predecessor, everything is set up for success.
The main objective now is to bring that success to the pitch. Do that and you’re golden, and you put your name in the frame for some of the most exciting and lucrative opportunities in the game of football when the opportunity arises. It’s a sweet spot for any ambitious and capable person looking for the ideal stepping stone to the big leagues.
And while we don’t want to see ourselves as a stepping stone, we have to accept that as a Championship club, we are. And we have to embrace that.
It makes us attractive to ambitious people who aren’t scared of change. Those people are the ones that achieve in this industry. We need people like that to take on our financial challenges and take us forward to do battle once more as David against the Premier League Goliaths.
It’s a huge plus for me that we haven’t tried to shoehorn Neil Adams into the SD role and gone back to comfortable, cosy, Little Old Norwich.
So whilst the new SD will have potentially little involvement in the majority of the squad-building over the summer, one of the first important decisions may then be about the head coach.
David Wagner is easily the biggest loser from yesterday’s announcement.
His achievements with Huddersfield were not so impressive that it didn’t raise an eyebrow or two when he was given the Norwich job, especially given his relatively unimpressive CV since then. And this was perhaps reflected in the 12-month rolling contract that the board gave him.
A new SD will not have the ties to Wagner that his predecessor did, or the financial impediment to sacking a manager who ended last season on a truly horrendous run of form.
So anything other than a very good start could see a new SD make their first major decision. Obviously, that’s not what anyone wants, and clubs that sack their manager every year only go one way, but it’s a scenario it is entirely possible given how badly we crumbled last season.
It’s going to be a fascinating season from so many aspects, whether it’s the increased involvement from Mark Attanasio, the change of Sporting Director, the future of the manager, or the turnover of a failed, underachieving, and demoralised squad.
Norwich City. It’s never boring.
Excellent piece, Andy.
The involvement of Mark Attanasio will change our self-funding model, but modestly rather than radically. As you say, the basic financial parameters for a Sporting Director at Norwich will remain. You’ve explained well why it’s still an attractive job for an ambitious and talented individual.
It’s a reflection on Stuart Webber that we no longer question the model of having a Sporting Director. Back in 2017 it was a quite new and confusing idea.
Thanks Stewart. Really good point on the acceptance of the Sporting Director role. We’ve seen how it works and I can’t see us going back now.
Well I remain confused.
My understanding was that a Sporting Director would come in, create a consistent style of play that ran throughout the club. From the coaches assignments, to the first team players, and through to academy. One that would outlast any head coach and allow easy transition among staff without the need for huge overhaul in players.
That simply hasn’t happened. Farke, Smith, Wagner are no more consistent in style than Lambert, Hughton, and Neil.
Not only that, upon the first sign of troubled waters with Farke, Webber piped up that “while I have a job at the club, Daniel does too”. Obviously that turned out to be nonsense, but was also a complete mockery to the idea of a Sporting Director.
I truly believe we’d have been better off signing Webber as a consultant for updating the facilities to a high standard, while bringing in a true Sporting Director who didn’t declare he planned to to leave within 3 years.
Excellent point about ‘accepting’ the model. Quite agree.
Not sure Bryan Hamilton cracked it during his go! But was then made manager? Have I got my history in the right order?
and are Hamilton and Webber the only one’s we’ve had?
Hi Trev
Yes, your order is in order 🙂
When Bryan Hamilton was appointed as Drector of Football [late 1990s] he recruited Bruce Rioch as manager in some form of partnership in which he {Hamilton] obviously had the upper hand.
Rioch quit in 2000 and after scouring the world Delia and Michael appointed former DoF Hamilton as manager himself.
He didn’t last too long and I guess that primarily his 1p5wich connections saw to it that not too many tears were shed on his resignation at the end of 2000.
From memory he lasted less than as a year as manager and probably about double that period altogether.
I think the lack of tears shed was due to the fact that Hamilton was completely incompetent, Martin.
As I recall, Delia refused to accept his resignation.
Hi Chris
I had a good day today and was feeling kind in a *goodwill to all men* sort of way.
Hamilton was a complete and utter disaster, his only talent being that he was quite exceptional when it came to making small talk in the directors’ lounge after what was doubtless yet another defeat.
He knew how to charm the birds from the trees, did our Bryan.
Thank you
MA will change nothing unfortunately. He is relatively skint compared to all other Championship owners and quite a few in League 1.
Kieran Scott was clearly the driving force behind the recruitment, and Boro are now reaping the rewards. The recent signings also prove that to be true. Webber clearly rode on the back of others and I’m delighted he has taken a hike (to Nepal).
One thing for sure is that without leaders and leadership on the pitch it doesn’t matter how many off pitch directors of this or of that we have taking a salary. In fact I would see the manager/coach – team players relationships are the ones that matter. Look at Pep and Citeh.
Another comment I would offer is that recruitment is key. Who knows who calls the shots now but the bringing in (and developing for at least a couple of good seasons) of the likes of Sara and Nunez is vital.
Good luck to Wagner who must have sniffed this was coming!
With wet spam sniffing around for Sara and Brighton doing the same with Nunez we know if the price gets near, they will be sold.
Hi Andy,
Recently we recruited the first team coach from Huddersfield and also tried for their head of keeper coaching, Paul Clements, who said he wanted to stay and help the club progress. He has now left, so could this be revisited. Also, ex City (loan) player and Huddersfield Sporting Director Leigh Bromby resigned, saying he wants a new challenge.
Ducks in a row or a Duck shoot, who knows, but both have worked with Wagner and his team at Huddersfield, so watch this space.
We really need a new Sporting Director that has no history with Webber or Wagner’s past, so a fresh overview and ideas, but then maybe Kieran Scott just might be a good shout.
There are many facets to an SD’s role on top of player identification: budgeting, deal negotiation, infrastructure planning etc.
It’s clear Kieran Scott is very good at identifying players. No idea whether he has any of the other skills.
Sorry Stewart
Kieran Scott has been doing the SD role at Middlesbrough since he left City and worked alongside Webber at both Huddersfield and City as senior recruitment.
He also said on leaving that Webber praised him for assisting him in the SD role and he had learnt a lot from him.
Gibson, aka our CB’s uncle, is no fool and Scott wouldn’t have lasted as long as he has, and was instrumental in recruiting Carrick to the club.
Sunderland, Leeds and a couple of others clubs have been impressed with his work at Middlesbrough, so he’s making the right waves.
Just like Webber, he’s worked his way up in different departments mainly alongside Webber, so doubting his skillset or lack of just doesn’t sit right.
Gibson will want big compo for him.
Fair enough, thanks. Sporting Directors have different levels of responsibility and autonomy (one of the attractions of Norwich for Stuart was the high degree of freedom he was given); I wasn’t clear what the Middlesbrough job entailed.
I doubt anybody has the skill set you suggest.
It reads more like a management team headed by an able administrator who can recognise the strengths and weaknesses and allocate tasks.
Bromby who thought Mark Fotheringham was management material. He should be excluded from applying on those grounds alone! If you check the Huddersfield boards nobody is bemoaning his loss. We are surely better than taking Hudderfield Town’s cast offs.. oh…
I like the idea of Kieran Scott.
It’s noticeable how poor recruitment has been since he left.
I thought that for a while now !
Interesting times. But please, please let’s cast our net wider than Huddersfield who finished in a very ordinary 18th position in the Champs. There must be better out there !
And l’ll not cry if the new SD says goodbye to Wagner after our very dismal end to last season.
I’m with you all the way with this one, Tom.
Quite how and why we seem unable to extricate ourselves from bloody Huddersfield at the moment is a mystery to me. It’s not as if, those two isolated good seasons aside, they are exemplar of how to do it. They’re currently being managed by Warnock for god’s sake.
I really hope the net is cast properly wide this time and we don’t end up with someone who knows someone, or someone who’s worked with so-and-so before and so we should go there because it worked out okay and at least we partly know them.
I think we should go old school and pick who appears to be the best person for the job.
Radical, right?
Ok article, except I’m a great believer in comfort and coziness, I think Teemu was both of those which is why he thrived