Empty Mirror

A couple of non starters keep coming up. Lambert wouldn''t come back whilst McNally is our CEO. And Eddie Howe won''t leave Bournemouth. Bournemouth are owned by a billionaire and have more money than we do, they just don''t shout about it. If it''s Phelan, which seems likely, that''s a second untried manager. High stakes for McNally, one wonders if he''d survive a second inexperienced manager proving to be, well, inexperienced.

The "scouring Europe" remark was made by McNally, not Delia. For all we know he may have told her the same.

There is no chance whatsoever of Lambert returning whilst McNally is CEO.

As last season shows, difficult to judge a squad on paper. Last season we lacked (in order of importance): 1. A leader on the pitch. 2. A midfielder who who could create chances. 3. A goalscorer. We had all of those in 2010: Holty to lead, Wes (in his prime) to create chances, and Holty to put the chances away. This Summer we have (possibly) addressed point 3 (the goalscorer). Possibly not. We''re still short of a leader on the pitch and a creative midfielder. So, no, sadly 2010 was much stronger.

As the OP says, the CEO did superbly with Lambert. Since then, my concern is that the CEO has too often become a part of the story, if not the story. The truth about Lambert''s departure has of course yet to emerge. Norwich is a small place and I have heard the Lambert camp''s side of that story story. I can''t know if their account is true, and I make no judgement about it. I''m old enough to know that there will be another side to the story. It''s clear, however, that the CEO and Lambert fell out in a big way, and that this was a factor (I put it neutrally) in Lambert''s departure. Having fallen out with Lambert, the CEO then fell out with the team captain and three times player of the season - Holty implied as much in a subsequent interview widely discussed on this site. Again, I can''t know the truth of what happened, nor would I presume to say who was in the right. But, again, it may be that the CEO and our team captain fell out, and that this was a factor in Holty''s departure. If the CEO at, say, Manchester United, had fallen out with Sir Alex Ferguson, and then with Wayne Rooney, who would leave the club? It wouldn''t have been the manager, or the top player, that''s for sure. But at little Norwich, the CEO has been able to dig in, and the manager and team captain left. I''m not saying they wouldn''t have gone anyway, I can''t know that: the point is that in each case a falling out with the CEO appears to have been a factor in their going. After Lambert''s departure, as the OP says, the CEO appointed Hughton. There have been reports on these forums about conversations with Board Members after Christmas suggesting that many wanted Hughton out earlier, and that the CEO was a strong voice in favour of keeping his man. More recently, if Charlie Wyatt is to be believed (and he appears to have good contacts at the club) we made an offer to Malky, but couldn''t see that offer through. Delia''s warm friendship with Malky is well known, and the CEO"s Radio Norfolk remarks about Malky ("I don''t know the man" were luke warm at best) so it''s likely that either the CEO failed to tie up a deal that the majority shareholder and the Board wanted (bad) or that Adams is now the CEO''s man, that he didn''t want Malky, and he saw to it that his man got the job (worse). I''m City ''till I die, and I''m hoping for good football under Adams, to see the young players brought through, and if we win promotion that would be the icing on the cake. If we do, the CEO will be hailed as a genius again, and that''s fine by me. I will join in the applause. But I suspect the mark of a good CEO is that he or she is calm, determined, a strong character, but above all that they are not noticed and that they never become a major part of the story. The ship should continue serenely on its path, and if the fans are unaware of how hard the CEO is working to achieve that, then that''s the best sign that he''s doing his job. I''m backing Adams, I''m backing the club, and I''m backing the CEO. But, Mr McNally, Sir, please let''s have the focus on our young manager and our (hopefully) young squad, and not on you. Not on your supposed genius, nor on allegations about your competence. If we''re still discussing you this time next year, then you would have failed. OTBC.

I cannot think that McNally would have made the comment about appointing within a week unless he thought he had someone (maybe more than one someone) lined up to take the job. Anything else would be stupid, and whatever one''s views of him, he doesn''t come across as that. It follows that we have been turned down (Lennon? Zola? Hoddle?). Maybe more than once. I suspect we may all need to get used to the idea that we are no longer as attractive a proposition as we may once have been and those hoping for the likes of Lennon may need to prepare for disappointment.

''What, like Lambert, you mean?" My point exactly, Yellowbeagle. Our CEO may have picked Lambert, who was strong minded and independent, but then fell out with him. Grant Holt was strong minded and independent. Judging by his subsequent interview, our CEO fell out with him. Hughton was a frightfully nice man. Our CEO picked him, and stuck by him, well past his sell by date. I shall judge the next appointments by whether our CEO has permitted the recruitment of a manager and Director of Football who are strong minded and independent (Lennon? Malky?) or whether we have a less "robust" choice.

Sherwood was too vocal and independent for Daniel Levy''s liking at Tottenham. Do you seriously think our Chief Executive would appoint someone vocal and independent as manager? Or as Director of Football?

Well, the key is that any DoF is a person of substance from outside the club. Someone who can if necessary stand up to the Board and the CEO (who admit they made mistakes and therefore may need to be stood up to). Curbishley would fit the bill. The nightmare would be we get Neil Adams, plus an internal promotion of some member of the existing staff who currently reports to the CEO, and becomes "Director of Football". Because that, in effect, would be to put the CEO in charge of football matters. And you don''t have to be part of the "McNally out" brigade to recognise that the CEO hasn''t covered himself in glory this season (he says so himself) and if his response to that were to be to (effectively) give himself more power by putting someone from within the club, who is used to answering to him, and who has no experience of the DoF role, in charge of football then you''d have to question whether his judgement has gone.

Priceyrice, we have two seats in the Jarrold, Block L, pretty much three rows behind you. It''s fairly central and a good view. Whether the three rows nearer the pitch that you are would make a difference I don''t know, but I''d guess they''re pretty good seats, as they ought to be for the money. We''re looking to move, but only because my wife is not tall and the people who sit in front are huge.

No.

In many ways Bassong''s interview was the most chilling thing I''ve heard in terms of our prospects of survival. This was Hughton''s chosen "team captain" and he sounded crushed. No hope, no fight, and he''s bought fully into the Hughton mantra that we can''t match the opposition''s "quality" (despite the opposition being a team that started the day below us). He either couldn''t be bothered to, or wasn''t capable of, issuing even the stock captain''s rallying cry about moving on to the next game. Hughton inner or Hughton outer, no one who heard that interview could have been left in any doubt that there''s something rotten at the core of our great club at the moment.

He might be a good player, in the right team. Maybe a French or Dutch side. Maybe Swansea, or Liverpool. Maybe even in a Norwich team with a midfield playmaker. To be honest, what he might be in a different team is irrelevant. As is the debate about whether he gets service, because the manager isn''t going to change the way we play any time soon. The fact is that in Hughton''s Norwich team, with no midfield playmaker, and which has its only creativity on the wings, there is simply no point playing RvW, however much we spent on him. Today, we we might as well have played with ten men, for all he contributed.

25 shots, but only 4 on target confirms that for all our possession against an increasingly unambitious Hull side, we still haven''t begun to create clear cut chances or indeed find any real penetration. The system with two wingers and no central playmaker simply isn''t the way to get the best of either of our strikers and as CH appears to have only the one system and no tactical flexibility he has taken us as far as he can, and he needs to go, with our thanks. Whether he needs to go now, or in the Summer, is another question altogether.

I can''t understand McNally''s suggestion that CH stays as long as we''re out of the bottom 3. With our run in, we need to be well clear of the bottom 3 by the time we go into the last five games. If we''re two points above the relegation zone with five to play then, realistically, we''re going down. The whole point is that we need to be putting on the points and getting well clear of the bottom 3 now, and we''re not doing that.