Blue

I''m really pleased about this as we - i.e. all of us in East Anglia - always get forgotten about. At least the area is being recognised here! I recall having the derby referred to as the "sleepy" derby a few years back which really annoyed me!!!!!  I never have been able to work out how these big city clubs with another 5 or 6 local clubs around them can have the same intensity to a derby compared to the likes us our teams that are the only ''big'' teams in the area....  I am surprised about the WBA / Wolves result given the above comment - there''s Birmingham, Aston Villa and even Coventry.... 

An alternative view is that JM has had all season to pick him but waits until the boy is selected by England U16s to an Easter tournement to pull him out of that (who wouldn''t want to away with England?) to probably at best warm the bench.  I''m sure the palyer is absolutely delighted to miss out on England.  Still we don''t have any other young players that we could try out now that JM has f***d up the season by being clueless - he has sent them all out on loan!

I do recall JM complaining about the multiball system last season (funnily enough after a game at Bramell lane).  He wanted the system scrapped as it is open to abuse.  Apparantly it went to a FL vote last summer for this season and the proposal to officially outlaw its use was defeated as it did not get the majority required to implement a change (there was a majority but it did not reach the threshold).

Or..... it''s because you score lots of goals that you also conceed.  Look at the ''for'' and ''agianst'' of Wolves! It''s the balance you have to get right.  I don''t think any team in the Championship, with the possible exception maybe of Reading, knows collectively when to attack and when to defend.....  

I doubt you are on the verge of administration, although with the current credit ''crunch'' it is quite difficult to foresee what pressure the financial institutions are putting on the credit currently with NCFC.  I suspect there is alot more pressure for the debt to be reduced or terms to be renegotiated, than there was a year ago, which has nothing to do with the situation of the club, but all to do with the banking industry right now.  Another point to make is that administration is as much, if not more, to do with cash flow than losses - you have to have enough cash - i.e. in the overdraft facility - to meet any debts due.  If you cannot service the debt and have enough cash to operate then you are trading insolvently which is illegal and you have to call in administrators. By the way, this is what happened with ITFC - nothing to do with pressure from local traders as mentioned previously.  And should NCFC go into administration - which I''m sure Delia will try to prevent if at all possible (so I suspect it won''t happen), then for sure you will take local companies for money as all businesses operate on credit which for cash flow reasons is stretched to maximumise interest free credit at the best of times, and as everything gets frozen at the point of administration, then these suppliers will not get paid their monies due even in a normal credit period of something like 60-70 days from invoice. The only reason I can see that Delia would take you into administration is if she cannot (or does not want to) inject more cash to allow trading to continue - if that is even necessary - or that there is a real possibility in the near future that there is no alternative (by which I mean hugely reduced funds through relgation which in turn could could result in the cash crisis or even an activation of break clauses in the financial agreements), in which case the last possible day before March deadline is better than after as otherwise you limit the chances of success in the next couple of seasons and the medium / long term potential. No doubt all the scenarios are being played out right now - as I''m sure they are at many other clubs! I hope you find this post a constructive view.  Even being a ''scummer'' I don''t want to see you religated, in fact I''d like to see both clubs in the premiership - providing we are doing better than you of course!! - as the region needs it.  

To confirm another post above, contrary to what is getting posted by some (not just on this site), a deal was struck by ITFC - before ME agreed to his part - that if a part of the total debt could be paid all at once, then the banks would settle for (a lot) less than the total owing - based I guess on the the fact that if ITFC went under, they would get nothing, so say 25% now was a better bet than 100% maybe never.  (very much like a freind of mine convinced his credit card company to accept 30% of the £5k outstanding if paid immediatley, and the remainder was wiped off  - interestingly had they done their homework they would have realsied he could have paid it all but being cute in a credit crunch and having the balls to propose this sort of thing obviously works! ). This agreement then made the aquisition of ITFC much more attractive financially and ME took it on paying the agreed figures to the bank.  ITFC now owes ME to monies paid to the banks and are paying 7%ish interest on this figure pa, until 5 years in the premiership. This is all laid out in the rather large and complex proposal document sent to us shareholders about the ME aquisition (a copy of which is sitting in front of me).   Of course the question is, what happens when this guy gets bored or fed up that success is not there and decide to call in the debt?  Mind you if if does that he will write off all his investment to date.... Those who like scaremongering for whatever reason (or sensationalising to sell papers!!) like ignoring the hard facts, which I can assure you are as above. It''s a bit like all these figures branded about in bold type on the back pages re headline debt at most clubs - we could all declare personal huge debts if we through in mortgages, credit cards owed at a perticular date in the month, bills due for payment ''this year'' etc etc.  That''s me finished.  Sorry if this post is a bit long.  I won''t bother you again.

ITFC do not owe ME £32m.  The deal with the banks was a write down on immediate payment - something that needed outside investment to do.  They accepted something like £7.5m to settle the debt once and for all.  It is the £7.5m that we are paying ME 7% pa to finance - hence around £500,000 pa interest payment (7% interest on £32m is £2.25m pa).  The £7.5m is repayable to ME in full once ITFC has been in the premiership for 5 consecutive seasons. Still not convinced it was a brilliant deal but then better than nothing and takes the pressure off certainly for the short term, and at least it was done prior to the credit crunch.  At we need now is a decent manager!  Maybe John Gormans appointment will give the necessary support.  We shall see.   I still maintain my comment to you all at the start of the season that your manager will get you a higher finish than your squad should allow (e.g. the loans he is able to do), whereas ours will see a lower than expected finish.  

He is a prat and gets all he deserves.  I suppose it''s too much to ask to find a footballer with more than one brain cell.  They are all so childish.  well, ok there are a few expections, but the majority..... I still think that the boys parents should choose were the fine goes, and that we should have suspended him from 1 game.  Also, extra non-football duties like community work should have been given (which would have been interesting given the reaction he could get - but then he would deserve being put in the firing line!).

Sorry about the spellings in that - I should have proof read it before posting!

For me, it was a few weeks back when we took our sons friend (9) to that mecca that is PR(!!). As usual during a match afer yet another nonsensical referring decision (I have long since come to the conclusion, unlike when I was younger when I thought they were biased, that referees are just crap and don''t seem to watch the same game as the rest of the crowd), there was a chorus of "the referees a w**ker".  James was there singing away (I was a little concerned about what his parents would say), the crowd stopped and he continued at the top of his voice "the referee likes wine gums" a good 3 or 4 more times. Oh the innocence!  After picking myself up off the floor from laughing along with most others near us, I was actually quite relieved!  I made sure my son (same age but a veteren of many many games) didn''t enlighten him to the real words!  

I think they changed the rules a few years ago - you used to be able to pay the fee over the length of the players contract, but now I think it''s 12 months - with the exception of any contractural ''add-ons''. so I would think all the monies due are in your accounts.

He may do you some good short term - first 10 games max - but after that forget it, he will just turn up for the money and stroll round totally uninterested.  One of the laziest players I''ve ever seen at PR.  appera from the other 10 clubs he''s been through that this was not an isolated incident.  The best case for a short term loan I''ve ever seen.......!!

May I respectfully suggest that you all concentrate on your own club and support them through this period rather than spend your time comparing yourselves to other clubs - whoever that may be!  You seem to be obsessed with eveything going on down here!  I know the grass is always greeener, but some of your postings seem to make us out as the exact opposite to your current situation.  I can assure you everything is not rosey in our garden - mainly due to our managers lack of ability at the current time (the championship is not the place to cut your managerial teeth!), but we don''t appear to be as obsessed with you as you are with us!  As I said in a previous post a while back, your manager will get you a higher position than your squad probably deserves (esp as he can attract good loan signings), whereas ours will limit the potential of our ''better'' (or more expensive for sure) squad.... Finally, I agree that the Marcus Evans deal could come back to haunt us, but currently it''s a better situation than you have.  Time will tell what you end up with and what we end up with down the line. If anyone could predict that I''m sure they would have enough money to solve everyones problems!  

£8.5m seems high - £10m as first budgeted was very high!  In 2006-7 our wages were around £5.5m from memory (I recall about £0.3m more than budgeted due to loans) and last season they were something like £5.8m due to the increase in Jan 08.  Mind you I''d hate to see what they are going to be this season with the likes of Volz, Thatcher and Campo on the books now!  Where is the £8.5m being spent - who are your high earners?  £8.5m for a total professional playing staff of 30 (est) is £5.5k a week average. If you take away the youngsters on their first contracts at something like £2-3k a week you get.....?

He relied on players like Kieron Dyer and Titus Bramble, who (apart from being ex-Ipswich) are scumbags of the highest order I don''t do this often as I think most (but definiately not all) professional footballers set extremly bad examples, but I do think that Kieron Dyer gets unwarranted bad press. Looking at the other side of him (and yes he has made some high profile mistakes in the past), he: sponsors most of the ITFC acadamy non-league matches including the recent one against Man utd, is paying for a suffolk gymnasts'' expenses all the way through to the 2012 olympics and also sponsors a local sunday league team, so he is actually one of the footballers that is putting something back, and I think that for this he should at least deserve a little bit of recognition. Re Titus Bramble, it may also be a little known fact that when we were in administration, the U18s were to have their participation in a tournement in Holland(?) cancelled sue to lack of funding, but Kieron, Titus and Darren Ambrose (all at Newcastle at the time) stepped in and paid the full cost so they could still go, as they felt from thier experience of the same when they were youths, it was important in a players development. Just thought I ought to address the balance a little as these things often don''t get publicised.... 

Surely not that surprising to you all?   There will be a combination of reasons, some of which are likely to be: 1. Couldn''t announce it before it was known the Turners had gone 2. It would take a while to put the cash plan together (whatever anyone is ''worth'' they don''t have cash laying round it''s tied up in various investments - and I doubt the money is in the bank yet anyway, just promised with the necessary release docs signed to free it up). 3. Whether or not there was a an immediate cash flow issue, the businesses involved - i.e. the Banks who signed up to the budgeted overdraft facility - which no doubt would have included the injection of monies from the Turners in this FY - would be extremely worried and seeking meetings to restructure the financials. All in all, even if its a short term injection until Delia can find a way of getting some or all of it back from another invester, it can''t be a huge surprise to you...

[quote user="Leftfootdad"] Just passing on details of a conversation I had with a work colleague this lunchtime whose wife works for the Turner''s company (and I''m therefore assuming the following points have come from that source) We were discussing the recent events/comings and goings at NCFC and he mentioned the following points: Firstly, he confirmed the Turner''s had sent their staff an e-mail the other day informing them of their decision to resign from the NCFC Board. When my colleague''s wife later wrote to Mr Turner to ask why, she was told that this would remain private and did not wish to discuss it further That since joing the Board Mrs Turner had focussed all her energy on conducting a root and branch assessment of the goings on at Carrow Road where there were inefficiencies and cost savings could be made  That Glenn Roeder is hated by the majority of playing staff due to the methods he uses One of the reasons NCFC has struggled to attract transfer targets to the club is that GR does not have a good name within the playing community in the U.K. And therefore when players have been approached as transfer targets they have turned the offer down because they do not want to play for him. That GR is actively searching for a route out of NCFC due to the recent false promises of transfer cash from the Board How true some or all of this is, I''ll leave it up to you to decide. Sounds like a club on the brink of turmoil to me. Just passing on details of our conversation   [/quote]   Sorry, you got the subject matter mixed up.  That us - your Suffolk friends re Marcus Evans and Jim Magilton!!

Don''t forget though the high cost of share issues.  I can''t remember the exact figures from ours but it was something like £0.5m including some high fixed costs to getting them registered etc.  That''s why when round 2 was organised it was only to existing shareholders, as that is much cheaper to do and you don''t have to get so many in the door to make a gain!

I''m not too convinced that your statement that Delia giving a positive image for Norwich is true.  Certainly she has proved a good laugh to people outside Norwich.  I''m not being a typical ipswich fan here - but I have had a good laugh with many of my friends over Delia over the years and, as I am sure is the case with most of you, my circule of friends is made up of  supporters of many different clubs.  As a matter of interest I was just talking to my office in Manchester and asked the guy there (Man City fan as most are in Manchester!) whether he thought Delia was a positive thing for Norwich and he burst out laughing - and then quoted the "lets be ''avin'' you!".  Unfortunately whether you like it or not, her stock in the football world has gone down a few notches in the last couple of years.  What  am not saying is that she has not been good for you over the years, but as for keeping her just as a positive brand image - no!

[quote user="Strawberry"] If it''s true, I wonder what happens about their £2m loan . . .?   [/quote] That''s probably the most important thing right now for the immediate future of your club.  I don''t (for obvious reasons) know alot about the structure, but weren''t these guys given seats on the board for the loan of £2m+?  So if they have resigned there''s no real difference to the structure than before they came as extra board members (assuming they were extra), but it''s the money issue that at the end of the day is important.  If they have just had enough of in-fighting and day to day hassle - or whatever - then you have nothing to worry about that I can see (in fact it probably makes it easier for others to invest), but if they have taken their toys too (i.e. the money), then depending on the state of the immediate finances (or delia''s willingness / cash availability to cover it), it could be difficult.  Mayber that''s why Shackel went and no money purchases were made?   Who knows.....  NB.  did they have shares issued as part of the loan?  

[quote user="Dictator Smith"]I would have rather of had Stead , younger more of a targetman and not injured . [/quote]   Isn''t it funny how everyone has a different opinion?  I''d rather have had Sibierski than Stead!  I think he will be a good signing for you.  Stead IMO is too light weight for this division and the only reason we got him is because JM had sailed Lee so far down the river there was not way back!

Honest opinion looking on.  Bad move.  It''s unlikely to add up to anything significant given fees and wages, and is in danger of making you all (the club not the supporters) look small / insignificant / stupid... etc etc. Of course if it gets a reaction  (financial) from the owners then perhaps it serves a purpose another way...

Yes the market is generally overpriced, but the other point is availability of players and therefore it''s the demand/supply issue.  Lee and Magilton don''t get on (then again most players don''t appear to get on with him!), so it''s time one of them went.  Palarse need a target man, theres not too many about = good price (esp considering he cost £100k).  However it''s only a good bit of business if you have someone else lined up to fill the gap, and I think the problem here is that there isn''t anyone lined up this transfer window, so is the fee good or not, given that the sale leaves a hole in the squad? Given that you need a target man and there aren''t too many knocking around, then £600k++  would probably be a good deal for you.  I''d be quite happy to see him stay but given the relationship it''s unlikely to happen. As I said above, it''s all about the need within a squad dictating the price - especially as the end of the window is getting close, which forces hands. As always you can look at these things several ways....

If we get a LM and another target man, then with the squad we have anything other than playoffs will be failure (in fact anything outside top 2 will be unacceptable), but the managers lack of man management skills and tactical nouse will bring it down to 8th or 9th.  I expect that if we are outside top 10 at Xmas (or even November) JM will go. As for you, IMHO it is the opposite - the squad is lacking but the manager will make up for some of that and get you higher than expected, so top 10 but I doubt the playoffs - unless something happens in January to kick you onwards.

It''s not exactly that he is not good enough (not consistant might be a better way of putting it), but much like your threads slagging off GR for publicly slating plyers, certain ITFC players have had enough of being treated like 5 year olds by JM, hence Alan Lee for one has engaged an agent to find him a new club!  In summary, you could do better, but then again you could do worse.  to think had he gone to Hull last summer as they wanted, he could be in the PL now! (not that he would be a success IMO).