Yelverton Yella

Just got back home having had a chance to reflect on the McNally appointment.The more I think about it, the more pleased I am. Not only has this guy got a first rate football pedigree, but he has an excellent business grounding too. It really would be difficult to think of anyone (realistically available) who would better fit our needs.I''m not too bothered about the fact that he''s not on the Board- I imagine that will come when he''s proved himself- but, with his background, he clearly would not have accepted the position if he didn''t believe he would have real decision making authority. I also suspect that he would have wanted the complete run-down on finances before committing himself, which suggests that all is not complete doom and gloom.The only thing that remains now (apart from a couple of Directors with a pile of cash!) is to decide on what his nickname is going to be....

Further details here.http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3644809,00.html

Hooray! Looks like we have appointed someone who ticks all the boxes.

This could be a record! Everyone so far is in agreement and I am more than happy to join in!! Committed, contracted players who have some affinity with the club, the area and the supporters...might even bring a smile to some of the sour cynics'' faces.....(or there again, maybe not,- any guesses as to who will be the first to sneer at the positive thoughts in this thread?)

Ahh! My nearest pub is the Wheel Of Fortune in Alpington...Truth is I''m in a sort of no man''s land between Yelverton, Hellington and Holverston although my actual parish is Holverston for what its worth!

Two points here...I wouldn''t necessarily expect a professional CEO to be a big investor. I would hope that a new Chairman or other Director would be.Although not ideal, most new CEOs would expect to inherit staff in key positions; I would imagine he (or she!) would set the Management team some stretching targets and review progress very closely with clear consequences for non performance but, equally, performance bonuses for success!

The trouble is, you can''t run a football club like a cottage industry these days. What seems to be forgotten sometimes is that the football is the product you are selling and any peripheral activities can only be judged in the context of the contribution they make to football success. If they don''t contribute, don''t do them!Of course you have to be financially prudent or you end up in administration or out of existence but the whole focus should be about generating income to improve your ''product''- i.e. the football.In order to invest your income wisely, though, you have to have someone at the decision making level who understands your ''market'' (i.e. football- a pattern emerging here?) as well as having the experience and ability to run a complex business and create or attract further investment (in football!).All of which is why it''s so important to bring in the right CEO and, as GMF said, probably why the Turners (who are/were hard headed business people) didn''t last.The ironic part of this is that, if the club do bring in someone of the right calibre, they will probably be hated by fans because they will be seen as heartless ''cold fish'' who won''t spend their time answering fans'' e-mails or wandering around outside the ground but will be devoting their energies to creating and conserving cash!

I wish!!! I would have started by spending a long time analysing/ questioning the current management , interviewing the remaining Directors and previous incumbents and then producing a revised organisation, job description and person spec. for agreement.Having identified prospective candidates, they would be rigorously interviewed against the agreed specs. and a shortlist produced for final interview. Full reference and background checks before making an offer with a probationary period and defined, measurable, short-term objectives. Remuneration package to be heavily performance based with significant reward for success but no long contract period.Let''s hope that somebody is doing something similar at Carrow Road which is why there is a delay!

I don''t do abuse but this post very nearly made me break the habit of a lifetime.How insulting is it to call a player who has made his way into the professional ranks, who by all accounts has been a much liked and valued clubman, has won awards from his fellow professionals and fans and who is now excitedly looking forward to playing for his home town club a ''NOBODY''?If you want to abuse the Board that''s one thing (although personally I prefer to condemn specific failures or mistakes and try to make constructive suggestions for improvement) but to condemn a player as a ''nobody'' before he''s even kicked a ball for the club, smacks of supreme arrogance.

A good post Smudger.No, the last thing I, or I suspect most people on here, want is a prolonged spell in the Third Division.Having said that, without replaying all the old arguments about why we are here, we are where we are and have to put together a plan to get back (firstly) to the Championship.Realistically, we have severe budget constraints and must make the most of what we have. if you read my earlier post on this thread you will see what I believe to be the best we can afford this year- a combination of seasoned ''old heads'', skilful youngsters and one or two players with the ''wow'' factor. Gill, I see as one of the ''old heads'', experienced in the ways of the lower leagues and with the added bonus of coming from the area and having a natural desire to make good in his home City. Whether he can or will make it at higher level, nobody knows but I would like to think he sees playing for his ''home club'' as the best way of him having a shot at it.If you are honest, if Gunn had recruited him last year, you would have vilified him and said he should have been much more ambitious in his targets! We are in a different place now and need different solutions.Whatever happens, I would rather have two Gills than an Archibald whatever or Omo whatsisname from a Premiership youth team.Again, if you look at my earlier post, I agree that we need a couple of (relatively!) big name players to demonstrate our ambition- I don''t know enough about Rickie Lambert to judge whether he qualifies but I''ll take your word for it! The fact is, though, not every player will be in that category and, assuming we all want the same thing- a successful team- what is really critical is that, at least on the field and in the stands, we build a really strong team ethic and reserve our criticism for those in the Boardroom who are accountable.

I absolutely agree that this is the real issue. In many ways, this could be the most important signing of the close season.If we fail to appoint someone who has the nous and expertise to analyse the situation, identify the problems and produce and execute a winning strategy regardless of sentiment and possible boardroom opposition, we may never recover from our current woeful situation.I just hope that, whoever is conducting the recruitment, (and I''ve recruited a fair few MD''s and other Directors in my time) has properly nailed down the job, the person spec. and the competencies that are required and selects objectively against them.The lack of a CEO is evident in the rudderless wallowing of the club at the moment- it MUST be sorted quickly.

My apologies to rk and Smudger but my pc is obviously not showing me all the posts on this board so I would be grateful if they could do the following:Please show me where other posters have been ''over the top'' in their support for our recent signing?Please also show me where he is being put forward as ''some kind of world beater?''Please also show me where anybody has suggested that there have not been things that were ''got badly wrong'' by the Board and the management?Also, as I am so lacking in football and financial expertise, I would really appreciate their considered opinion on which players we should be seeking to sign within the realistic budget constraints of a League One (Third Division ) club?Many thanks for your help.

You''re in a very positive mood this morning Wiz! Is the sun shining down the road in Lowestoft?

Seems to me that, as many people have pointed out, we will have virtually a complete new team by the start of the season so we will need as many games as possible to sort out positions, tactics etc.

Whichever combination of Directors ''formally'' appointed Gunn, I think we know who actually made the decision!As I suggested, I think there was a hasty decision to make the managerial appointment and show a change in the Board before the SAH meeting. It may well also be true, although only speculation, that there was some disagreement amongst the Board about Gunn''s appointment and this may have hastened the departures.

This is where Gunn and his management team have to prove that they have what it takes.Given our rumoured financial position, they should be moving heaven and earth to acquire players who are out of contract or available for small fees but who can be moulded into a tough and skilful TEAM, hungry to show that they have what it takes to achieve at a higher level.The trick is going to be in putting together a balanced unit where some tough, hard bitten pros sit alongside some enthusiastic developing youngsters and one or two players of real quality.In order to attract the best of the ''freebies'' however, we have to show we have ambition to go with the facilities we have here which means that, if we do sell our few remaining quality players, we have to use the proceeds to bring in (permanent) replacements who are clearly a cut above the norm in our league.The follow on from this is that, with one or two exceptions, most of us will not have seen much if anything of our new signings. Whatever we think of the managerial team, it is not going to be changed now so we have to trust (hope) that they get the team building process right. To condemn new players before we have even seen them play is crazy and counterproductive in terms of attracting people here...(wouldn''t you look at a potential new club''s message boards before you signed?).Can we not agree to keep the pressure on the Board to sort out the funding /investment/ ownership and put right some of the disasters of the past but at least display some positivity towards the footballers who will carry our hopes and dreams into next season...

Just caught up with this thread.it really does seem as though some people are determined to see malice in every action emanating from Carrow Road at the moment- small wonder that there is a siege mentality.As far as I can see, a summary of the Board position at the moment is:1) Munby and Doncaster have ''stepped down from their roles''. i.e. They are carrying out no day to day duties as Chairman and Chief Executive respectively.2) Munby resigned his directorship at the end of May and the forms have been submitted.3)Doncaster remains as a Director in order to satisfy legal requirements until a new appointment is made at which point he also will resign his directorship.Surely, the point of the original announcement (which may well have been made to satisfy the bloodlust before the SAH meeting) was that Munby and Doncaster have relinquished their duties and are taking no further part in the running and decision making of the Club. The fact that they remain or remained nominally as Directors for a short time in order to satisfy a legal or administrative requirement seems to me largely irrelevant to the main point.I''m all for criticising the way in which the club is run and suggesting constructive ways to take us forward but, for goodness sake, let us choose a battle that''s worth fighting!

Why is it that threads which seem to be developing into reasoned if impassioned debate always get hijacked by people who appear to have no reasonable contribution to make?I must admit that I lurk on here for months and fume about some of the idiocies on display, get drawn into posting when it looks as though a sensible debate is taking place and then give up again in despair.Just to be quite clear, I am not criticising the vast majority of posters who, whether or not I agree with them, have a strong point of view and put it over in their own terms- just those who seem to revel in their post count at the expense of content.Cluck, please don''t bother flaming me, I''ll leave of my own accord when I am ready thank you.

Probably job hunting if he''s read the runes.....

I''m sure he is a decent guy but the last person we need at the moment is someone who is a club ''insider''.This recruitment exercise is absolutely critical and should be conducted properly and professionally with a clear job description, required competencies identified and all candidates considered against the criteria- not whose mate they are or because they won''t rock the boat!

Just shows how opinions can differ!Just to clarify- yes, it is a good sign that the EDP are finally showing some signs of taking a position and I applaud that. I do however think that the list of questions is weak and poorly constructed.For instance and off the top of my head, instead of asking a closed question- ''Was money wasted on supposedly quality loan players last season?'' they could have asked '' Could you explain last season''s policy on loan players? Who proposed and approved it? How much was spent? What is the current policy? which, to my mind would give far more useful information than the ''yes or ''no'' answer that the original question invited.I''m really not suggesting ''sitting on our hands'', I''m actually asking our local paper to get some teeth!

For those of you who have read today''s EDP- what do you think of the articles?To me, most of it is a re-hash of history with a rather pathetic attempt to be seen to be putting pressure on the Board. To write an ''open letter'' to Delia with closed questions like ''Were managers allowed to get away with too much?'' and ''Was money wasted on supposedly quality loan players last season?'' is just intellectually lazy journalism .Most of the questions are asking about history- eg The Cullum Affair and The Turners which, although interesting to satisfy our curiosity, do not really take us forward in our current predicament.Would it be too much to expect a piece of crusading journalism with the editorial staff putting forward a list of constructive demands on behalf of the fans- I am sure if they consult some of the threads on these these boards and people who were at the meeting the other night they could construct something relevant and meaningful.

The trouble is I haven''t yet seen (and I may well have missed it) a positive agenda for change with some concrete actions which could be tabled in a positive and constructive spirit. At least if there are some definite proposals for action the ball is in their court to explain why they will not adopt them.I really would not suggest asking for a declaration that the Smiths don''t know what they are doing!! Not many of us would be happy admitting to that...(however true it may be!)

At the risk of becoming a mutual admiration society, I think we are agreed on what we would like to happen!I did start to put together some thoughts on a short-term action plan   http://www.pinkun.com/cs/forums/1688428/ShowPost.aspx  but gave up when I realised I was almost certainly wasting my time for no real purpose!

I''m not sure the Cullum saga is necessarily a good example of Board intransigence. There was something very odd about how that was played out in the press.Times have changed- we have dropped a division and the world is in the grip of recession. I don''t think anybody including the Smiths would expect the club/ shares to be worth what they were a few years ago. I am really not sure that alternative (large) football investors are around at the moment however hard anybody looks. The Foulger approach of going after a number of smaller investors may well be the best option at the moment.What worries me is that the whole focus is on getting rid of the Smiths or completely alienating them rather than recognising that the best hope of salvation in the short term is to persuade them to start running the club in a professional manner.Combined strong but friendly pressure/ advice from all interested groups (NCISA, Associate Directors, Chamber of Commerce, MP''s et al) might just bring some movement...