Old Shuck

If it is Pulis, then its probably, at best, a sensible appointment. But it seems bland, safe, don''t rock the boat, neat and tidy, cosy, low key, low profile...and I could go on. He ticks a lot of boxes that the board will have set-organised, efficient, planning. But his style of play has met with a lot of criticism-and see below... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/5092066.stm I can''t get excited about the prospect of Tony Pulis being our Manager I''m afraid, It might not be the case of course, but it speaks volumes and they are volumes that worry me. I hope its not him.

**** hell, quick appointment-its going to be Duffy isn''t it? Its certainly going to be someone whose currently either not working or a current person within the club staff. Oh God, its Duffy, its Duffy. Smudger et al, I''m on my way over to to you...  

He''s an interesting choice I''ll say that. Experienced at this level, and gets his teams to play with passion and pace, if not flowing football-certainly had Russell playing out of his skin, as well as doing a Crouch with Lee Hendrie. But there must be something going on at Stoke for him to consider leaving them for us-maybe we have the potential (ha!) to be a club that can get promoted, where-as at Stoke the infrastructure just isn''t in place-but I though they had wealthy owners? Latest from Football Rumours this morning doesn''t include him... This page was last updated: 11:00:58 GMT+1 Rumours regarding new Norwich manager are not even that. Current names being bandied around include those put forward by mischiveous Ipswich fans and optimistic Norwich ones. Here is the truth. Jim Duffy is clear favourite amongst the board–their sanctioning of his loan move for Hartson is proof of that. Duffy will be interviewed AFTER the other candidates, which will be at the London Hilton tomorrow (Monday). There are four, two in the morning, two in the afternoon and as follows– AM– Glenn Hoddle, Nigel Pearson PM– Ian Crook, Peter Reid Duffy''s interview will be at Carrow Road on Thursday. The Board were surprised at Hoddles application but do not think they can offer him the funds or salary he would likely expect–hence his being first. Crook may well end up being offered an Assistant Manager role, though Duffy has expressed a desire for BRyan Gunn in that position. Peter Reid fits the bill with his record of promotions, though the Board are worried he has been out of the game for too long. Pearson is the big outsider, he was recommended to the Board and Ms Smith by Sir Bobby Robson.    

[quote user="queen be"]So, are these the "big names" that have shown interest?  Please tell me it''s a wind up! [/quote] I hope to God it is. If they say "high calibre" (hm, we''ve all heard that before) then they''d better be bloody high calibre. They most certainly are not.

I''m another shareholder, why haven''t we all been furnished with this information? Will contact the club on Monday to see if they have a policy of releasing potential managers names in advance-mind you, no other compnay does that, so I think we can take it with as pinch of salt. Would not be happy with any of them and doubt many others would, though am sure Money has been a candidate here before.

[quote user="Wings"][quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] Robert Chase was forced to sell his shares. The hostility involved came from City supporters. Learn to think out of the box. Of course a hostile takeover is possible and feasible. OTBC[/quote] Robert Chase was bought out of his shares by a group willing to take his place. Do you see anyone willing to stump the money to buy Delia out? The Turners seem to be happy to stay in the position they''re in presently until Delia and co are willing to part with their shares when they''re ready. They''ve made it clear that time isn''t yet. A hostile takeover is in no way possible or feasible because you need interested parties in order to initiate such a takeover. We don''t have any such party. Anything of this sort isn''t going to happen. It''s quite obvious yet here you are telling people to learn to think out of the box? I suggest you just learn to think, BlyBly. [/quote] Don''t tell me how to think, thankyou Bly Bly. We can agree to disagree but don''t get personal. And if I have, I apologise, I don''t want this to end up being confrontational and just a facility to exchange insults, naive that I am perhaps with the nature of messageboards? Once we have these interested parties THEN we can see what the reaction of the Board etc is and decide who is hanging whose colours to what mast. Until then its speculation and hypothetical. One thing I think is clear, is that the Turners are biding their time, waiting, waiting, waiting for the right moment....  

[quote user="alex_ncfc"] Delia? Far from raising our profile, she''s an embarrassment to the club. She knows nothing about football or business - hence her "small time" take on all things Norwich. And this is not me saying women are failures in football - look at Brady at Birmingham? An excellent job (along with the rest of their board) and not soft like our little Norwich... The footprint Smith has left on the club makes me sick, and I would argue that her regime is just as bad as Chase''s later days - and at least we had some success under his ownership. In 12 years, what has Delia given us? I wonder if this post will be allowed? [/quote] "She knows nothing about football or business" ???? How did she become a multi-millionaire then? Must have some knowledge of how business works! And, like it or not, Canary Catering is hugely successful. Further to the point, why does she need to know anything about football? Thats not her role! Karren Brady has admitted she knows little about football and says thats why they (Birmingham) employ people who do, so she can get on with her job! As for comparing her "regime" to that of Chase, well, Jesus Christ Almighty!! Tell you what, when we have mounted police outside the ground clearing away the protestors, as we did with his latter days, then I''ll accept and acknowledge what you claim there! Listen. I want change as much as you do. I desperately what the Smith/Jones'' to find the investment and move on, allow someone else, with a big and broad vision, to take the club forward. What frustrates me is that people think it is something that can be accomplished immediately, that the Smith/Jones'' should just step aside, literally give their shares away and let this huge queue of people that are battering the doors down, desperate to give Norwich City tens of millions of pounds in free money.  

[quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] Bernie Eccleston was born in Bungay. Pretty local that, I would have thought. There now, does that pass the irony test? OTBC [/quote] Presumably, as he was born in Beccles, he should therefore be investing in Ipswich?  

We''re talking about her right to comment on issues relating to the club and football in general which are just as valid as anyones-if people who can''t play the game shouldn''t be able to comment thus, then neither should "we men", as, strength, fitness, and ability wise we are light years away from even those that play in the Conference! So the argument about them not playing is irrelevant! Lets discuss Norwich by all means, but lets not drag sexism into it, for goodness sake! The former is good fun-so what if we disagree, the latter-well, thats not.

[quote user="paint_me_yellow"] I''m not quite sure what you are trying to say in your post, but I think theres an attempt at irony! Its was, just executed badly.[;)] [/quote]   Not at all, made me think thats exactly how the rest of the country feel about us!

[quote user="Mello Yello"][quote user="Old Shuck"] Oh for ***** sake, we are NOT becoming the "laughing stock" of football! Jesus, what next, someone will be saying that the current board are responsible for the floods in Africa and were behind the Northern Rock panic, anything for a good story and conspiracy! Supporters of other clubs have other things on their mind than Norwich City! They are not all reading the papers and NCFC messageboards and thinking "hey, lets all laugh at Norwich, what a shambles eh?". Lets not flatter ourselves that we matter so much to the broader footballing world, dear God, one moment its "no-one ever takes any notice of us" the next its "we''re the laughing stock of football"-whats that based on, the fact a few peoples mates are taking the piss?! Me and a few other friends royally took a Man Utd supporting colleague to pieces after their less than glorious start to the season, at the same time as supposed informed people were writing into sites like F365 saying "Fergie must go" and "Man U are going down", were they then the "laughiung stock of football"? I think not, but people were enjoying taking the piss at the time, but that was that. People generally don''t give a shit about clubs other than their own, apart from making the occasional caustic remark. To say we have become a "laughing stock" is, in itself, laughable and ridiculous, what egos some of us must have to think our club is so important an issue for football at large!  [/quote] Do you mind! I''m having fun here! [/quote] Sorry Mellow! Am worked up to a frenzy today, just sick of all this "stuff" around and about our club and fervently wishing a time will come when we can discuss football again and not all be at each others thoats!

[quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] Do women play football for Norwich City or any other league club? No. Fact. Why not? Therefore? OTBC   [/quote]   I think the above is the offensive piece. Implication is, as women don''t play league football, they can''t know anything about it and should therefore not comment on it. Which is stupid.

Delia and MWJ cannot be "forced" to sell their shares by any means, hostile or otherwise. Especially at this "bargain" price everyone now seems to think they should sell them for! I wouldn''t, and not may of you, would sell your shares for anything other than a realistic price and one which reflects their current value, so why the hell should they? ...and no, I think that the club should be attracting new investment but I think the word "investment" is not really relevant. Investment infers a return and profit made on the money put in. So, how much  money do you think someone, somewhere, is going to have to fork out to (a) purchase all of Smith and Jones'' shares, PLUS pay off the debt PLUS provide a decent -say £10 Million?- "kitty" on top of that for new players? Thats going to be near enough £30 Million for starters and with little prospect of ever recouping that, as, any money made will be expected to be put back into the footballing side of things to ensure continuity and Premiership survival. To go the next step up from that would need even more money put in! So can we please stop calling it "investment" because whoever does put money in to the extent we are all demanding, is going to have to have rather more of a benefactor with a love for the club rather than someone looking for a return.  

[quote user="paint_me_yellow"][quote user="Old Shuck"] QPR are attracting more investment interest than us simply because they are in London, I''m sorry if that sounds simplistic but that is a major, major attraction for any investor. [/quote] That has to be the big factor in why we don''t attract an owner. We''re all just clueless farmers in love with our cattle to everyone else. London is an obvious choice for investment, as is any urban city with massive populations. Sadly we''re a small minor city built on reclaimed land, populated by inbreds, cows and more inbreds who all shout "ooo-aaarrr, get off my land" all day apparently. What I''d do for this club if I was filthy rich..... [/quote]   I''m not quite sure what you are trying to say in your post, but I think theres an attempt at irony! Its a fact of life. Its inescapable. London IS an attractive proposition to investors and businesses. Its why Manchester didn''t have a cat in hells chance of getting an Olympics and why the new national stadium was never going to be in Birmingham, Coventry, or anywhere else. Its why any future bid for a World Cup in this country will focus on opening games, semis and final being played at Wembley, its why Australia play many of their international fixtures in London, look at the new investment going on there-more expansion of Heathrow, continual widening and "improvements" on the M25, all the national fuss and bother about who is Mayor-Livingstone or Johnson-when, in reality, who gives a shit, its a world media centre, a world banking and investment centre, its where all the fucking money is at the expense at the rest of us and its why a middling club like QPR will always attract investment more than a middling club like Norwich! Don''t get me wrong. I hate London and the less time I have to spend there, the better. So don''t go off on one, just accept its why it has hasppened! QPR "more ambitious" than Norwich because they approached John Collins? He turned them down flat, what does that say about John Collins? Perhaps we should approach Mourinho, yes, he''ll turn us down, but hey, it''ll show ambition!

Oh for ***** sake, we are NOT becoming the "laughing stock" of football! Jesus, what next, someone will be saying that the current board are responsible for the floods in Africa and were behind the Northern Rock panic, anything for a good story and conspiracy! Supporters of other clubs have other things on their mind than Norwich City! They are not all reading the papers and NCFC messageboards and thinking "hey, lets all laugh at Norwich, what a shambles eh?". Lets not flatter ourselves that we matter so much to the broader footballing world, dear God, one moment its "no-one ever takes any notice of us" the next its "we''re the laughing stock of football"-whats that based on, the fact a few peoples mates are taking the piss?! Me and a few other friends royally took a Man Utd supporting colleague to pieces after their less than glorious start to the season, at the same time as supposed informed people were writing into sites like F365 saying "Fergie must go" and "Man U are going down", were they then the "laughiung stock of football"? I think not, but people were enjoying taking the piss at the time, but that was that. People generally don''t give a shit about clubs other than their own, apart from making the occasional caustic remark. To say we have become a "laughing stock" is, in itself, laughable and ridiculous, what egos some of us must have to think our club is so important an issue for football at large! 

QPR are attracting more investment interest than us simply because they are in London, I''m sorry if that sounds simplistic but that is a major, major attraction for any investor. People are making investment sound so simple on here! 1. Decide we need investment. 2. Announce it to the world. 3. Wait for the offers to come in. Liverpool had made it public they were looking for investment THREE YEARS before their new owners came onboard. Yes, Liverpool, a Premiership giant with a global reputation and fanbase. Three years, a couple of false alarms, but, until it came, oft-repeated claims and invitations for new investors to come on board. Bates was looking for it with Chelsea for a longer period than that, and it was only when they were about to go to the wall that Abramovic turned up, with the cost finally the right one. Yet here at Norwich it seems as if the current regime are fighting off a queue of people desperate to put money in! The only way it is going to come is through a supporter of the club, and if they don''t come along, we don''t get the investment. I don''t think its as much about turning foreign investment down as it simply not being out there at all.

If the eventual appointment is, according to our Board, the best of their "high calibre" candidates then I would like to know who else applied, other than whoever they appoint. I would love to be surprised but I doubt it very very much.

[quote user="Cobain18"] 1st - We need a manager with experience 2nd - Dion does not want the job, he wants to go into media and will not move from Brum 3rd - Can we stop linking present and ex players to the job, as proven already sentimentality does not get results in football [/quote]   Thankyou. All points spot on.

It seems if we appoint a young and ambitious manager from a lower division club, a lot of people will be disappointed! But thats exactly what John Bond was when we appointed him-at Bournemouth. O''Neill came from Wycombe-people were delighted at his appointment. Mike Walker was an internal appointment whose only previous experience as a Manager had been at Colchester! Ron Saunders came from a modest team as well-please correct me if I''m wrong-but wasn''t it Oxford United? The point is, getting someone from a smaller club, or who is young and has little experience isn''t neccessarily a good move OR a bad move-it depends on the person and the circumstances, some you win, some you lose. The above were winners, Worthy (from Blackpool) was a winner to a certain extent as well. Yet, repeating the trick, Everton lured Walker from a smaller club (ourselves!) and he was a massive flop! Theres no set formula or rule about it. Grant might have been a massive success. He wasn''t. Likewise, whoever else we appoint will be one of the same, but, whoever he is, and wherever he is now doesn''t prove much at all, other than the perception of him and our clubs vision at the time of the appointment.

Chase sold David Phillips to pay for the undersoil heating! Delia et al get castigated for sacrificing football for facilities and fixed assets, well, he did exactly the same. He is now being seen through rose-tinted spectacles, people have forgotten the demonstrations and mounted police at those games it seems! You don''t if you were pushed and threatened by a copper at the time! For all the vitriole at the current regime, I haven''t seen it come to anything near that just now-though it could be because we are all "sheep" who haven''t seen the light of course! But then again, maybe the non-sheep who HAVE seen the light could lead the way? Can you imagine Delia saying "...if Robert Earnshaw isn''t here at the start of next season, then neither will I..."? Chase said that about Chris Sutton AND got away with it for quite a long time!

A friend of Royle quoted on R5 yesterday that he (Royle) has "retired from full time involvement" in football. He does scouting work for various clubs as favours and some media work and has no intention of returning to the game full time. So I think we can rule him out? Mind you, as a mentor-type figure to a young and hungry, experienced coach (much like Keith Burkinshaw-who some posters on here probably haven''t even heard of if they''re not old enough, but he was a damned good manager and coach in the 80''s-is doing with Bothroyd at Watford) he might be worth considering. But we need someone with new coaching ideas and a modern outlook on the game and how it should be played. Royle, along with a lot of other Ex-Managers in "old school" now and their time has passed. As with Crook therefore-a hearty NO -but for different reasons.  

Agree 100%. I truly hope this is a combination of bad journalism and Archant clutching at straws-and perhaps either writing what they think the fans want to hear. No managerial or even coaching experience in England, plus the fact he has been out of the game in this country for, well, must be a decade now? Coaching in Australia and Japan is all very well, but if he is that good, why hasn''t even a minor European club sourced him as a possible coach? Likewise, if he really wanted to advance his coaching career and credentials, why hasn''t he looked to do so in this country or Europe*? An approach would be madness, an appointment, I am afraid, would lean me very seriously towards the ranks of those wishing for loud and visible protest, it would absolutely reek of everything that the club and board have been accused of in the past-no ambition, going for the cheap option, a soft appointment to supposedly keep the fans happy, getting in a "yes" man-all of that. *And why hasn''t a club in Europe approached him? Now, if Chippy wanted to take some UEFA badges and get some experience, I''d say yes, get him in at the Academy, let him learn the ropes and get reaquainted with the club and coaching over here at this level and see where it takes him-that same grassroots approach that Aidy Bothroyd took, with us, Leeds, and West Brom. But as Manager here? With all due respect to him, absolutely, positively, very emphatically NO!

[quote user="sparkie"]Old Shuck. Compare him with Gordon Bennett and you have your answer.[/quote]   Indeed-he was a great loss wasn''t he? Didn''t he go to Aberdeen? Not sure what he''s doing now.

Doncaster is the mouth piece of the board. Do you honestly think anything will change if he is removed and someone else is appointed to the job? The quotes will be the same, the spin, the toe''ing the party line, nothing will change. As CE thats his job, go-between and voice of his "masters" to the shareholders and fans. I would say his influence over Delia et al is minimal at best and probably non-existent. He is their employee not an advisor. He''s not the Wormtongue to Delia, as  Theodin King (sorry about LOTR reference, if you''ve seen it, you''ll know what I mean) but a well paid and prominent (who is always there fronting up to the press, media and fans-not the Board, thats for certain) public face of Norwich City. The buck most certainly does NOT stop with him, infact, the buck doesn''t go anywhere near him. The bucks is to go and stop, as desired, by the Board.

"...inside info..." FFS, it was clear by his statements after the QPR game he was on his way. If you DO have inside info, kindly tell us all who the new Manager will be, before it is announced-THEN I''ll be impressed!