“Nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” Abraham Lincoln I won’t take this into a discussion of our current political leaders, tempting as that might be. Suffice to say, perhaps, that Lincoln himself passed the test with flying colours. The principle applies to leadership in […]
Stewart Lewis
Ups and downs of following City on the road – which includes a brush with the very long arm of the law
The publication of the 2016/17 Championship fixture list naturally brought two questions to mind: – What’s the ideal question to ask the Prime Minister at PMQs? – Was Robert Louis Stevenson a Norwich fan? I didn’t have much time for William Hague as Leader of the Opposition. But I later heard him as an after-dinner speaker, and […]
Money can buy footballers. But it’s less good than we think at buying satisfaction and/or pure happiness
Today, just a quick re-cap on where things stand at Carrow Road. Then let’s move on to other important matters – in particular money, envy and (unrelated to the other two) my birthday. Current developments at Norwich warrant at least our interest, and possibly a bit of excitement (though Dave B is excused). What we’re […]
Only the very committed will wear the City shirt next season. And they’ll have to earn their money
Deep breath…. I said a few weeks ago that Stuart Webber would test our faith by letting some of our favourite players go. Little did I realize the test would come so soon and so personally. My favourite player, Jonny Howson, seems destined to be gone before we see our team in action again. In […]
Momentum builds at City as Stuart Webber stays true to his word and finds us a ‘youth focused, dynamic, risk-taker’
Stuart Webber could be forgiven a quiet smile. While the rest of us immersed ourselves in speculation about Rosler, Monk, O’Neill, Keller and assorted others, he quietly went about sealing the deal to secure his number one target. He smiled sweetly as other names were put to him. I saw him, without a word, buy […]
The first shots have been fired. Now time to trust in Webber and his clinical analysis of the current squad
If we want a more competitive Norwich team next season we’ll have to put some trust in Webber’s dispassionate analysis. Most of us would love to see Mitchell Dijks starting at left back in August. If he’s been won over by the charms of Norfolk, it would be frustrating for City not to go through with the agreed deal with Ajax.
We’ve seen the start – but there’s more in Stuart Webber’s path, including some sacred cows
While there’ll no doubt be a major turnover of players at Norwich this summer, it would be absolutely wrong to describe it as a ‘fire sale’ – that is, a situation in which you’re looking to sell any asset you possibly can to raise money. We are not QPR of a couple of years ago.
Exclusive: Steve Stone talks Stuart Webber, structure, ownership and the way forward for Norwich City FC
“It’s obviously easier if someone’s dumping a lot of cash in, as long as you’ve got the right structure. But I absolutely think it’s sustainable to be in the Premier League with the funding structure we have, if we’ve got the right set-up to spend the money properly.”
The shape of things to come: Stuart Webber shares his thoughts on football and Norwich City
“If you’ve got the right coach, you sign the right mentality of player and get them in early, it gives you six weeks for them to gel. Because our identity and the way we played was so nailed at Huddersfield, it was easy from a tactical point of view for people to settle in.”
Is our Norwich City debate all about opinions? Well, mostly – but truth and untruth are out there too
We often agree that most of our football discussion comes down to opinion. Should City start with Jerome or Oliveira? How many games should Wes be asked to play? Who is our worst central defender? We can debate all those and more.
Getting there: agreement, disagreement and the fine art of negotiation, from domestic to City
Interesting as the new Sporting Director (and for some of us, the process of getting him) is, the real excitement will come with the appointment of a Head Coach. Given Webber’s track record, it should be exciting even if we’ve never heard of him. It will bring to life the issue of which players stay and go in the summer.
The club finally appears to be on the right track – but must we, and should we, leave it to next season?
Whenever we get back to the Premier League we’ll need to use a big chunk of the income to strengthen the squad (i.e. what we failed to do in summer 2015). However smart our recruitment this summer, we’re simply not in a financial position now to build a PL team. So my view is: grab any chance at promotion.
Fine margins and rub of the green – facts of life. But we can still give ourselves the best chance of success
Our owners shouldn’t be closed to outside investment. It’s my understanding that Delia’s Times interview and Michael’s comments at the AGM were borne of frustration at previous attempts to find investors, and came over as more closed and definitive than they actually are.
Some things that we should pay attention to: our club’s structure, its values, ethos – and Mick Dennis
It has to evolve and change over time. Giving David McNally free rein to supervise and intervene in every aspect of the club’s operation was crucial (as was Bowkett’s re-negotiation of our debt) in steering the club away from disaster in 2009. But it’s not the right way for Norwich City in 2017.
Politics, football and Strictly: the three domains of our Ed, and where a week remains a very long time
Relegation reduced City’s income by around half. The club’s good housekeeping, the relegation clauses in its contracts and parachute payments have helped to mitigate the situation, but they don’t fill the gap.
What we needed was Lionhearts in yellow. Instead we were presented with The Owls and The Pussycat
Undoubtedly the issues go further than the manager. But who can deny the manager is a significant part of the problem? Mathematically we can still make the play-offs, but under the current arrangements there’s no chance of the sustained form it would take.
A stressful season for all associated with Norwich City. But reports of its death may be exaggerated
We’ve had few problems scoring this season, but a shocking rate of goals at the other end. Quietly, however, it’s been improving. In the last ten league games of 2016 we conceded 18; in the ten of 2017, we’ve conceded just 11.
A thoroughly miserable day for City fans. But have our play-off hopes really gone for a Burton?
Maths isn’t the issue. The issue is form. Stepping back from the disappointment of the weekend, that’s surely open to different interpretations. Burton was another unsatisfactory day; more performances like that will clearly prove the pessimists right. And unless we improve our away record, we’ll fall short.
No doubt travel broadens the mind – but come matchday, mine doesn’t stray far from Norwich City
We had an exceptional run from February in 2015. However, we don’t actually need to replicate it. We finished third and but for a couple of late slips, we might well have grabbed one of the automatic spots. We were eight points clear of the team who took the last playoff place (can’t remember who that was).
To renew or not to renew, that is the current question. Reflecting on the slings and arrows of City fortunes
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Board is well aware of fans’ feelings, and would rather go with them than against them. The situation is that the Board – rightly or wrongly – genuinely believe in their path. On that basis they’re prepared to defy the fans’ wishes…