Chunky!

I''m not defending some of the tripe that''s been purchased recently nor the quality of football being played, because we all know that it has been sadly lacking.  My point was that you can''t just have a "pure" football club, you need diversification into non-football activities to support the football, given time this income will allow us to make the investment that''s sorely needed.OTBC!Chris

It seems like this point is continually coming up on this board, though questions such as:Why aren''t Delia and co trying to attract a rich investorWhy doesn''t anyone want to investSo I''m going to look at this logically in this post, first with a few truths...Running a football club is generally not a profitable business - With a few exceptions, most clubs rely on cash donations (Loans with very nice terms) mainly because the cost of running the club is greater than what you get from TV money and gates combinedInvestors generally earn their money through wise investments and good business sense.Clubs who earn profits from off-field activities (Hotels, etc) use the money to invest in the teamNow, if you look at where investors are buying stakes in clubs, they can be broken down into a couple of classes, you have people like the Glaziers, Gillette, etc, who are investing in an attempt to turn a profit for themselves (so they are buying clubs like Liverpool, Man Utd) and even they are finding that the profits aren''t what they expected.  Other premiership clubs (Newcastle, Man City) are being bought in an attempt to turn a profit and I think those are chosen because they have strong fan-bases, and a not so glorious recent history, hence they are cheaper.Against that backdrop, we can say that Norwich City Football Club, in itself, is not a profitable business, if the team operated with just the "football-related" activites, the club would probably turn a pretty dire financial year.  Hence diversification into (profitable) areas such as Canary Catering and the hotel, which are seperate from the football club although they may remove £500k - £1 million from the club in one year, probably pay themselves back within 2/3 years and contribute to the long term running of the club as a business entity.BUT WAIT!  People say, the football club, should be a football club!  This is a very naive attitude, if you look at the most succesful clubs, both in terms of football and financial success, they have a balanced portfolio of business interests, the only real example of a club which functioned as a standalone business was Man Utd, which before it was purchased by the Glaziers was a public listed company which turned a profit every year, and those profits went to the shareholders, not the club itself (now the profit pays off the debt the Glaziers secured against the club and then lines their pockets).  Chelsea are an abberation to the rule, due to Abramovich''s billions, but even there the purse string is tightening.So now I believe I''ve established the need for off-field activites to help fund the club, the next logical step is to say, why can''t we get someone to fund the club from their own pockets, a Russian/American/Arab millionaire who wants to give us the millions we need to mount a challenge at the premiership?  Well, Championship clubs, particularly one which is regarded, by the national press with a small town mentality, struggle to turn a profit and an investor isn''t interested in which league we play in, he''s interested in a profit (unless he''s a Norwich fan, obviously).  The consortia which took over the reins at Sunderland, led the team to the premiership, but what would have been the consequences if the club hadn''t made it this season or next?  Leeds had investment on pitch last season, didn''t make it and now the investors are running, after already selling the ground and training facilities to make the balance sheet actually balance.So I put it forward here, that the board is actually very much more ambitious than is commonly believed on this board, it''s ambitious enough to try and make NCFC stand on its own two feet, with the expansion of the business side of the club to the point that funds are coming into the club and with the vision to see that they cannot fund the club from their own pockets forever, whilst still encouraging investors who share their vision and passion for the club to bring funds forward which can be used on the pitch rather than used to patch holes in the balance book.An investor who is not a Norwich fan would be looking at simply one thing - profit, which would be skimmed off the top of our premiership income to recoup the investment that took us there.  The club''s assets would be borrowed against to minimise the investment required which would devastate the hard work of our current board to place the club on a stable financial footing.  The club would be left on a perilous financial base to ensure that the maximum amount of money ended up in the investor''s pocket while doing the bare minimum to keep the club in the premiership, rather than the money being first use to ensure that the club''s finances are as secure as possible and then being invested on the pitch.

The problem would not be transfer fees, it would be the wage bill.  It would leave us with more money to spend on the players we have to pay money for, but probably not increases the total number of players we can bring into the club. That said, there are some interesting names knocking about, Calamity Bramble for one....... OTBC! Chunky

I think keeping Doherty is not a bad idea really, admitantly he''s nothing particularly special but finding one decent centre half is hard enough - let alone two.  He''s good enough for this level and thats what matters!The five who have had their contracts terminated haven''t impressed - Fisk wasn''t playing for Kings Lynn and if you can''t impress at that level you don''t deserve to be considered for a championship club!OTBC!Chris

My personal feeling is that the defence although not stunning is adequate for this division and that fault for many of our problems, both in scoring and conceeding goals lies with our midfield.  Particularly Worthy''s failiure to establish a midfield pairing early in the season.  It may be that the players are good enough (I believe Etuhu and Safri would be good enough if they weren''t so inconsistant) but simply need time to establish a pairing.OTBC!Chunky

Boys,I have access to a TV card on my Mac, so I''ll start recording the championship highlights on Sunday and then I can cut it down to form a highlight reel of our game.  It should be at excellent quality, I have a digital reciever and it records at broadcast quality.OTBC!Chunky

To be honest, I still don''t understand exactly what Delia has done wrong.  If someone would like to elaborate exactly what she personally has been doing wrong, I''d love to hear it. OTBC! Chunky P.S.   I''ll admit already that we should have sacked Worthy earlier, so there''s your starter for three.

When we went to United first game of premiership season and the away fans burst out in "My Garden Shed is bigger than this"

[quote user="the1englishman"]  Being a buisnessman myself, i will choose the best hotel for the money, i wouldnt stay in 20 quid a night rooms. Trust me, people setting there rooms off against tax choose the best quality they can get, not the cheapest. [/quote]Hell, if the company''s paying, £122 isn''t bad.  Walking distance from the city, riverside and the station, ample parking?  I''ve paid £160 quid in London and Aberdeen for Holiday-Inn rooms.OTBC!Chunky

From what was said on the BBC match report we did OK and the last two goals didn''t do us justice.  "They were in it until the last goal" - Guess thats something!OTBC!Chunky

I''d realistically go with that score, however I have just managed to find odds of 32/1 on us to win!  So with my two quid I want us to win!OTBC!   Chunky

I think Hunter should remain at the club, he is a well respected coach who can only help us!  Most clubs have a First Team Coach, Assistant Manager and Manager, so I think that Hunter remaining at the club will cause us no expense or clash of roles.OTBC!Chris

Is Croft better than Chadwick?  I''d probably have Brown starting up front and then use Huckerby as an impact player when everyone is knackered. OTBC! Chunky

I think perhaps our problems in defence and up-front aren''t quite as great as the fact that none of our midfielders ever turn up.  The (few, I admit) times I''ve seen Norwich this season, most of our problems have started or ended in the middle.  Players not wanting the ball, so we have to lob it up front, players not challenging for the second ball, so it comes straight back.  I think that a strengthened midfield might well improve us more than just saying, "three new midfielders" carrys across. OTBC! Chunky

I don''t agree with the sentiment that just because we talk about players and don''t get them its somehow a loss.  Man Utd talk about Owen Hargreaves and got Larsson on a Loan, was that a failure?  They didn''t get him in the summer and got Carrick, admittantly Carrick is massively overpriced at £18 million, but he''s still a good player.We got Brown, who impressed me at Blackpool, his touch is very good, Lappin (I know nothing about), Fotheringham, and Marshall, as well as signing up Chadwick.  Thats three midfielders and a very good goalkeeper.  A new centre half would have been great, but the right player isn''t at the right price, then what can Grant do?!  I believe these are players that Grant wanted to sign and hence he is responsible for.  Lets give them and Grant a chance before we pass them off as the "cheap options".OTBC!Chunky

I was hearing alot of rumours on Sat that it was Hayter and Riordan that we are closest to signing, but I find Riordan hard to believe.  I guess Fotherington makes more sense.OTBC!Chunky

Our replay is on Tuesday, as is the Middlesborough one.  The arsenal replay is on Wednesday.  IF BBC and Sky show a replay, we should be on one or the other (I''m guessing Sky!) OTBC!   Chunky

I watched us a couple of times at the start of the season and we played pretty well.  Admittantly there were a few areas where I would have we could have improved, but we were nowhere near as bad as we are now.  In particular, Etuhu was much better than he is now, and Jurgen Colin was linking up excellently with Croft (I have no idea how Colin is playing now, but I''m pretty sure Etuhu is pants).  Hughes and Robinson were on the bench and things were looking ok!On the opposite side of the coin, it could have been the opposition we were playing!  Hopefully given time we can recapture this form, or get rid of the deadwood, intermittant performers like Etuhu and replace them with players we can rely on to perform.OTBC!Chunky

[quote user="Brian Burrell"] What is the single biggest mistake this board has made? In my opinion budgeting for relegation when we got to the prem, this was shown so clearly by not replacing Iwan until the January when Ashton arrived. That one single act cost our place in top flight football and the millions that went with it. FOOTBALL must come first at Carrow Rd. [/quote] Certainly, I mean, if we''d have budgeted only to stay up and spent beyond our means in an attempt to stay up, and still gone down, then we''d right royally up a creek full of poo with no paddle.  Again, get back in your corner and clean up the dribble, you can use my hankerchief.   OTBC! Chunky

[quote user="Smudger"]Well they ain''t looking very hard when Souness has £20 million plus to spend are they? We should be beating down his door with a $. hitty stick begging for him to put a bid in for a majority shareholding here!!! Sorry but I don''t believe that the board are welcoming offers from potential investors for one moment!!! [/quote]You''re a bloody idiot.  Go dribble in a corner.Have you got ANY idea how buying a business works?  When someone makes a £20million offer for the club that includes the costs of the shares they''re buying, that does mean he gets the club for free and the £20 million just appears in the bank accounts.I''m absolutely disgusted by the treatement of Delia and MWJ on this board, there have been accusations of theft, of self-promotion and other things that I vaguely remember but can''t be bothered finding quotes for when I get bitched at.  I just cannot believe that "fans" of this club seriously believe that the board are doing anything other than whatthey think is best for the club.The truth will now be shown, that nobody else seriously wants Norwich, nobody wants to put a serious bid in.I just can''t believe this has happened here, I know things are bad, I agree many mistakes have been made, even by the board, but this is just completely insane.

In the enlightened opinions of Norwich fans, sensible financial planning just isn''t good enough!  I demanded at the start of the transfer window that the board fund a £10 million spending spree, to purchase Calum Davenport (£3m), Jason Koumas and Rowan Vine, and it hasn''t happen.  What a disgrace!!  We should be planning a late raid on the play-offs and then funding another spending spree to stay in the premiership! HOW STUPID ARE YOU PEOPLE!!!!! HONEST TO BLOODY GOD!!!!! What kind of management would we have at the club if they didn''t plan for these kind of situations!?  I hardly ever post on this site now, simply because the football talk has gone completely, and all we have left are people ranting about the poor management at the club?  Are you guys all absolutely mental?!  About the only problem with the management setup is none of our board have huge pockets!

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"]2) He has publically critisized a fair few of our players now - If this keeps going on he will lose the dressing room [/quote]Wasn''t a critism laid at Worthy''s door that he didn''t critise players?

The fact than when Chelsea are 2 -2 in the final minutes of a game they can afford a teamful of players who can pull them out of the quagmire? We only have two, Huckerby and Earnshaw?OTBC!Chris

I''m missing it!  Playing the first american football game of the season at sheffield! :(OTBC!Chunky

[quote user="oldfootyfart"] Yes he obviously will get on with the job as he sees fit, my point is that  he is publicly denigrating his players, which  cannot be good for morale and will not engender loyalty. Any good business manager knows about this, PG has a lot to learn about man management it seems. [/quote] Wasn''t this one of the major critisms about Worthy, that he never said anything publically about players?  We can''t have it both ways boys (and girls)! OTBC! Chris