Barclay_Boy

[quote user="Tim Allman"] I wrote copious notes of the meeting, of what was said, what questions were asked – just under 2000 words in total, with my own personal slant on matters, (will not get on here!) just for my own record.  I was the one that received Delia’s rather tart reply (Daphne’s words!) and was quite impressed with myself to have my question turned around to a “What would you do” with regard to appointing a manager which normally means that they’ve no clue how to answer. McNally’s (?) response that generally seven of ten managerial appointments are generally successful was another eye opener as NCFC must be way behind this percentage. Maybe they’ll get lucky with Gunny, after all anyone can throw a pair of dice enough times and double-six will turn up eventually.  Some comments/responses from the Board that I noted :-  The immediate priorities of David McNally were (a) to oversee Gunny rebuilding the squad and (b) the working out how to manage the debt, but the debt issue came up in a number of other responses. MWJ’s throw away comment in response to David Hawley’s question about moving the ground was a worrying one. “We can’t even sell the land we have”, or words to that effect, makes me wonder how a decent dent in the debt will ever be achieved. MWJ pouncing on a comment from the floor when “saleability” was misheard for “sustainability” suggested to me that a change of ownership was miles away. A sensitive subject methinks. The Manage the Manager responses left me speechless about not knowing what Roeder was doing and the comment from the floor re the telephone call to Doncaster about the problems Roeder was creating. It left me thinking that this was a crass dereliction of duty as directors, nothing less, and that they had learnt nothing from overseeing previous managers. McNally was impressive and only fell short of a decent response to Peter Wolsey’s detailed first question regarding the finances. Overall McNally spoke impressively and with purpose and in a way that I would expect of a CEO of a decent size business. I was disappointed with what new things Michael Foulger, Delia and MWJ had to say, as apart from we may appoint a new director, and there was precisely nothing of note that I could recall. The appointment of McNally seems key in all this, and if needs to make decisions that are unpalatable to Delia and MWJ that are for the good of NCFC I hope he’ll do so, after all he worked for Mohammed Al Fayed for four years so I expect he’s used to dealing with a person that is used to getting their own way. Delia and MWJ cannot afford (in cash and credibility terms) for him to fail.  McNally seems well on top of his own brief already which is encouraging.  I stayed until 10:30, chucking out time, and was back home at quarter past midnight.   [/quote] thanks for this info Tim, very interesting and at least it would appear that we have one competent person in the Boardroom. LQ can you see the concerns that a lot of us have? Ok Crafty''s post is more hostile but some of the reveletions coming out of the meeting are alarming. The Chairman can''t make it, hostile responses from Delia/WWJ, not knowing what was going on under Roeder etc. I think as Tim says, the sale of the club or even the intention to sell, is miles away, because there doesn''t appear to be the desire to sell. And in order to really move forward that has to happen, because Delia and MWJ don''t have the cash or ability to get us back to where we should be.

[quote user="USAcanary"] [quote user="Barclay_Boy"]unfortunately I don''t think self sufficiency works in English Football these days LQ, and that line worries me a lot. To be succesful at the present time you need the club to be well run, AND have a benefactor with deep pockets, who is prepared to put money in and not neccesarily expect to see it again. And we do not have one. I will be convinced of the new Board''s ambition when we at least spend as much on incoming new players as we gain on outgoing ones. You can spend a lot of money and have a rubbish team and you can spend a lot of money and have a succesful team. But it''s very very difficult to gain real success without spending and we do not seem to have much to spend these days.[/quote] I agree with the above statement somewhat but I think you can achieve Prem status without it.............. A number of teams such as Burnley and Hull have done it on far less resources than we have currently............it''s still possible. Many have prayed for a rich outsider to come in and take over the club............... Look how that is currently working on the South coast................ Not so hot.......... At Southampton we have a billionaire owner who is content to keep his hands in his pockets while all their best players have been sold. At Portsmouth............. well frankly they have sold everyone with a pulse to cover debts and virtually anyone with an opinion thinks they are favs for relegation. (Poll among the journalists who follow the club rated them favs to go down) Football economics is very scary at the moment......... some of these rich investors are hurting the game by inflating wages and transfer fees...........This is a bubble waiting to burst. Ironically those clubs who cut their cloth might actually end up doing well if we see a number of bigger clubs collapse. People have knocked Liverpool, Man Utd and Asenal for selling these players even for incredibly silly money........... Personally I think they are very smart. Sir Alex is keeping the powder dry when Clubs like Man City and Real Madrid have run out of money and the valuations return to a reasonable level.   [/quote] and agree with you up to a point, the clubs you quote in trouble either lost their benefactor or do not have a benefactor, ie rich owner does not neccesarily equal benefactor, only if prepared to spend some of their riches! As for Burnely and Hull I think they have been more ambitious than us over the last few years in my opinion. One example being Patterson to Burnely, our bidding stopped at 850k, I think they got him for 1mill, the rest is history. We wouldn''t pay the extra 250k required for Martin Taylor, so for the sake of 400k, approx the same amount the club has had to pay in rebates to fans, we quite possibly would not be kicking off in the 3rd division on Saturday. I do not have a problem if clubs come knocking on the door and offering us silly money for players, as long as that is reinvested in bringing in quality replacements, the main reason we find ourselves where we are is that this has not been done in the past few seasons.

unfortunately I don''t think self sufficiency works in English Football these days LQ, and that line worries me a lot. To be succesful at the present time you need the club to be well run, AND have a benefactor with deep pockets, who is prepared to put money in and not neccesarily expect to see it again. And we do not have one. I will be convinced of the new Board''s ambition when we at least spend as much on incoming new players as we gain on outgoing ones. You can spend a lot of money and have a rubbish team and you can spend a lot of money and have a succesful team. But it''s very very difficult to gain real success without spending and we do not seem to have much to spend these days.

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]alrite, lets get a bit of clarity yere, wes is not gods gift but at the same time he is up there with the best players in this league and more importantly players who would happily play in this league. It''s no coincidence that the gunn revival last season stopped when wes got injured as he gives us the creative streak we so badly lack without him. leeds are also our biggest rival in league 1 and this adds to it. Therefore i think it would be stupid to sell him unless we can get the money to buy a class replacement and another player to better the 1st team with the funds. He''s happy and in contract here and we have no real financial need to sell him. Because of this, i''ll be livid if he goes for any less than £1.5 million or we don''t get 2 class new players with the money, especially if he goes to Leeds. Because of that, they''re better looking elsewhere as are we. Any clause would be for champ or higher teams only.[/quote] Totally agree Jim, most of the rest of the squad assembled will help us compete in this league, Hoolahan''s bit of creativity and class are the key to getting out of it. Selling him would be bad, selling him to a club that''s going to be competing for one of the two automatic promotion spots would be very bad, and we don''t have a good track record of spending transfer money gained from selling players.

could I just say that the extremely fit blond who has a season ticket in Lower Barclay block C should NOT be banned, and if she''s got any sisters then they should be encouraged to attend as well......

LQ - I have a few questions if you get the chance, not hopeful of answers but here goes - To Delia - Is the club up for sale? If so, has the price been lowered since relegation? On the basis that if you are buying something then you need to know the price, then how much is NCFC to buy? If the club cannot find a buyer is there a reason why NCFC, despite it''s fan base, appears to be so unattractive, investors even preferring Notts County to Norwich?  Is the price of selling to the right buyer still £10 as quoted on (I think) the Simon Mayo radio show? Is so, can she define "the right buyer"? If the price is not £10, and she wants her full investment back, then fair enough but does she now regret making such a rash statement? Does she also regret the statement at the Norfolk Show regarding "lots of lovely investment"? Whilst she may have intended this to be ironic, is she aware of how many fans were misled by that statement? Generally to the Board - What actions will it take to get NCFC back into the Premier League, how do they intend to complete those actions, how long do they anticipate it will take?Or have expectations been lowered and do the Board now regard the goal of NCFC to be able to compete in the Champioship rather than the Premier League? Do the Board regard the team as stronger than last season, ie would the newly assembled team have kept us up? If so, on the basis that it has cost so little to assemble, why was this not done last season instead of the manager being allowed to waste money on loan signings? Good Luck.  [Y]      

[quote user="nutty nigel"] I have no axe to grind over this. And certainly none with my friend The Butler. But the post immediately above Purples quite succinctly shows how these divisions appear on this board just to satisfy the trolling of sad individuals who have no relevant input of their own.     [/quote] Nutty, oh dear, oh dear, I can''t even pay someone a compliment without being attacked by you my friend! I cannot respond with any bickering, because I have adopted the policy put forward by Phat Canary in an excellent recent post, concerning ceasing any more tiresome bickering. I am born again and saved you see. In any case other posters on here have absolutely slaughtered you in a far more articulate and devastating way on this MB than I could ever hope to. I think that you will find the post from an Ian James was intended to be far more divisive than my modest little post, so why did you not direct your vitriol towards him? Because it didn''t fit in with your agenda. Look I will save you some trouble, I think you are just a desperate attention seeker, posting tirelessley all day long in the hope that someone, somewhere will take notice of you. So the worst thing anyone can do is respond to you. I therefore solemley promise with immediate effect NEVER to read or acknowledge/respond to any more of your posts ok? Now you direct your wit and wisdom towards everybody else. Fill your boots....

[quote user="S.Yorks Canary"] back garden....beer.....ashes on the telly......heaven...add to that city beating wigan 2-1 and jobs a good un   anyone know how many tickets sold for colchester game? [/quote] if you''re getting ash on the telly then the BBQ is up too high, turn it down a bit.   ps - what''s the telly doing in the back garden anyway, you don''t live on one of those rough council estates do you? [:D]

[quote user="The Butler"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="The Butler"] Check previous threads when I gave chapter and verse. Was then told I had "made it up" being polite!! I was involved at the time and along with senior staff employed by the club (I was not) knew what was going on in the background. Sorry Purple but I get fed up with being told I am lieing about it as if I have something to gain. So just let the smif mif continue.[:D] [/quote] . Butler, the reason for my post was to provoke replies like yours, precisely because I don''t have any great inside knowledge on what went on then. You will forgive me if I remain agnostic on this. I am not doubting you word (I know you''re a serious poster) but I would need really hard evidence to convince me. However I would make two points, one serious, one not so. If Smith and Jones did engineer Chase''s downfall, it can only be because they were able to manipulate a perilous position that Chase had created. If the club had been financially healthy then S&J could not have undermined it. There is a relevant quote from a club official from that time that we had "the expenditure of Inter-Milan and the income of Southend". The less serious point is that the kind of Machiavellian scheming you are suggesting does rather blow a hole in the image of S&J as business incompetents![/quote] Banks and overdrafts. Repayable on demand was Chases downfall. Helped by a "friendly" bank manager who had " the knowledge" that someone was pushing in the wings.GW brokered the deal as they would not deal with RC.(Although he put the shares up for sale surprisingly they were the only takers at a price) A lot of what got said about him ,was like now, urban myth. The wages of the players and Manager were on a perfomance basis, we did well and so did they. Not a bad method. The quote from Gordon came, after Chase, when he took the reigns as a temp measure. (the best guy we have had). Never be fooled by the Duo you do not get in their position by being daft or nice. That does not mean they are good at running a club however. Personally I don''t think they will leave, regardless again of myths, until they get at least their money back as percieved by the 11million statement. (investment I think closer to 9mil) [/quote] Butler you are a true star - and long may you post on here [Y]

[quote user="Lord Norwich"] Dear All. After reading through your many many posts I have come to the conclusion that I dont actually understand what a fan or a supporter is. If you are a fan/supporter do you slate your manager/players/board?. Do you not accept  (regardless of whether you agree with the appointment of Bryan Gunn) that we all ned to "support" the team and hope they do well?. If you put half as much passion into supporting the team as you do slagging off Bryan Gunn, Delia Smith, Archant etc we would be one hell of a force. I am absolutely sure I will join the list of "the slated" right now for writing this but I dont care. Slating me will not affect the team you vow to "support". Quite simply..there are fans on here, there are supporters on here.......and there are whining, miserable, sad little people who are only happy when they are moaning and groaning about something. Support the club or sod off and "Support" someone else. Lord Norwich [/quote] Sadly your Lordship you are wrong. Supporting your club and being a fan means following it passionately, having opinions and being upset/angry when you can see it is being damaged/miss-managed. Not supporting your club is to care as little as your post seems to suggest. Every time I realise that, due to the way the club has been run, we are in the 3rd division, then I feel sick to my stomach at what "they" have done to my great football club. And with crowds of 25000 in recent years, we really should already be "one hell of a force". Sadly those in charge have not remotely matched up to the loyalty of supporters who turn up week after week. Had they have shown anything like ambition then we would be in the Premier League, with a second tier on the Jarrold stand, playing in front of 35000 fans and having spent a similar amount in the transfer market as Birmingham City, approx 20 million pounds I believe. Makes our 450k for Holt seem a little "modest" doesn''t it. (And even that sum had to be funded by the fans, as did Huckerby''s wages) Yet we played Birmingham in then Play Off final a few seasons ago. Do you think if we were in their place we would be showing the same level of ambition? And that''s always been the trouble with NCFC, lack of ambition in the Boardroom, not complaining fans. Fans complain the world over, it''s part of being a football supporter!

[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] [quote user="Lambo"]You know that little list of people you mention making great posts? Add your name to that list [Y][/quote] It''s interesting that you would seem to wish ''to slime'' your way into Beauseant''s good books, as by your action you have highlighted the one quite necessarily sour moment in an otherwise thoughtful and well-constucted article. Canary Charge was simply having a little harmless fun - like many of the rest of us. But you sir/madam, I suspect are rather too serious. But still. One love. OTBC      [/quote] Well I found it all highly amusing. Especially the bit where you all ended up falling out with eachother. I love the way you are all pretending it was all a joke in order to save face now. Nora had the lot of ya[Y] Power to the trolls[;)]   [/quote] NN I think you''ll find we all knew it was a joke, honest to God and cross my heart. But if it made you laugh then great, as that was Cluck''s intention I believe.

[quote user="Scooby"]I took no risk, thats why I claimed my money back. What i am saying is that I have still not received my rebate which i would like to spend, I think the club has had long enough to sort out the rebates. By the way I think that Holt is a great signing.[/quote] Scooby - I spoke to the club the other day as I hadn''t received my rebate, due to be £76 I think. They said that it should be sent by the time the season starts. The exact quote was "you should get a cheque, but if you haven''t received it by August 8th then contact the club"

seriously though, you''re right Phat, I am going to try hard not to get involved in any more slanging matches, but will continue to be critical of Delia.

[quote user="King Chops"]BINNER! [:@] [/quote] reply of the century!

[quote user="Beauseant"] As usual an excellent post Butler. While I am impressed by the level of activity in the transfer market and by some of the new arrivals, I still find it hard to come to terms with League One football. Unfortunately we continue to treat the symptoms but not the cause. More radical surgery is needed. [/quote] agreed great post Butler, and Beauseant your final line is spot on

19/ Americans will invade it [:D] 20/ No matter what she does, some idiot will always stick up for St Delia, and claim she "saved the club" [:@] 21/Someone will always claim that we have a transfer kitty, when all past evidence shows that to be very likely to be untrue [:$] 22//Nutty will continue to post 50 times a day, and will always be right [8-|] 23/ Buckethead, Andy Larkin, The Big Feller, Inch High and a few others, including, of course The Purists Group, will continue to talk sense [H] 24/ Someone will start a really interesting post, ie what was the first thing you bought from the club shop? [|-)] 25/ Post match will either be the best or most depressing time to visit the messageboard [:''(]  [B]  

goddam it, despite all that''s been done to our beloved club, the last few posts have actually made me smile, very well done folks

6,988.....should have passed 7,000 about 5 minutes ago then..

can''t really understand the hostility to Russell. Yes he had a bad season last year, but there weren''t many who didn''t! The fact that Burnley are prepared to part with money for him should indicate that he could do a job for us in the 3rd division at least. Burnely do not appear interested in signing McVeigh however.....

I would take investment from the Middle East,Libya, North Korea and Mars in preference to non-investment from Stowmarket

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"] I would not be happy with arabs owning my football club. [/quote] Damn! All those Arabs thinking of buying Delia out will have been put off by your post....

Fantastic news. At last those loyal supporters who didn''t claim their rebate have been rewarded with that big name star signing......[:D]

absolutely hilarious, how terrified some of you sound. A little bit of a wind up from Cluck and you are furiously searching for pictures and put downs. You can smell the fear The Delia clip is more cringeworthy every time I see it. Anyone still proud? Notts County - The latest club that apparently someone is "absolutely nuts" to put money into. Another club that''s a more attractive proposition than NCFC apparently? Wind forward 12 months to when Notts County are in the same division and cue the headlines that we tried to sign "player X" but couldn''t compete with the mighty Notts County in the transfer market.  

St Cluck - I am deeply honoured to find myself added to the Purist''s Group. I would like to apply for the post of Treasurer (if vacant) I will pledge my rebate money to the kitty, which will be comfortably more than the sum the club have spent on new players so far. Shyster - I like your posts more as every day passes, but, trust me, you are wasting your time with Nutty. He''s terribly excited about going to stand on the terraces at Yeovil you see. And that says more about his vision for NCFC than anything else could.

yes Mr Bingo Caller, we''re still on course to return the season ticket, unless some serious ambition is shown in the next 2 weeks. Good to see you are still so obviously happy with the current state of affairs. how well the transfer kitty has been spent etc. You couldn''t care less really, could you?