MancCanary

Fair points Reggie, but I fear wages could have a bearing on the club''s decision with Ricky. I don''t think they''ll look to offload him, but if they receive an offer of £6m plus, I think they''d probably take it as its not guaranteed he''ll score goals in the championship, and if we''ve kept becchio and hooper, both with good championship pedigree, it would be less of a gamble to keep them as their wages are probably more affordable. I''m only guessing though - maybe hooper is on more than Ricky?

Yes he will, but as others have pointed out, probably not with us. You simply do not get into the Holland squad without being pretty good. I think his spell at Norwich will be a setback for him, but I think he''ll come good again back on the continent. Doubt he''ll come back to England again though. Thats what my head says. My heart wants him to stay here and come good here under a new manager.

Ahh well I''m *from* Norwich, but I''ve lived here for about 7 years now, currently living in Whalley Range. You don''t know a guy called Aaron, from Preston do you? I''m in a band with him here, and by sheer coincidence he has several "Northern Canaries" friends who go to games up here. Are you actually from Manchester then?

[quote user="Long drives home"]Good riddance, one of the tools that took us down.Whatever would his signing on fee and wages be if his other foot was not just for standing on. [/quote] Idiot. Why do you think he''s going to be one of only a handful of players other clubs will actually want? If we go down, I''d place money on him being the 2nd highest transfer fee after Ruddy. There''s a reason for that.

Sad how it really brings the worst out in supporters when your team is doing badly. For what it''s worth, I''m not a fan of BJ as a footballer, but I''d never abuse him and I salute his attitude and efforts on the pitch. He''s just one of many players I didn''t think were good enough for this campaign. However, should we be relegated he would be one of the players I would try and keep, as he''s a very good championship player.

All very, very good points Purple. This is a good thread! No pathetic bickering between the usual suspects at all.

Can''t really argue with that Northern Canary. I wonder why he''s not a popular suggestion? Unfashionable for some reason, despite that CV.

Spot on Aggy, too. I''d like to hear what the OP, pete''s thoughts are now, after reading all the replies to the thread. Do you still think McNally should go?

As long as it isn''t the same blo*dy line up again but with Hooper and RVW swapped, I''ll be relatively happy.

sgncfc: "I''m not advocating that McNally should leave, but I can''t let that comment "...we''ve got an outstanding board of directors" pass without challenge. We''ve got a reasonably high profile CEO, a down to earth Chairman (whose claim to have a robust plan B has been shown to be nonsense) and some silent investors, a newspaper man (why?) and a comedian (also why?) As we are about to get relegated with a group of players most would agree should not be in this position, in what way has the Board shown themselves to be in any way "outstanding" this season? What we have is the best leadership we have had for a while in the Boardroom. But this season they have collectively missed their number one objective which is anything but outstanding. What I am waiting to hear in the close season is what they plan to do about it. Then I''ll make my mind up as a shareholder about whether they are the right people to still be in charge." sgncfc - I''m afraid you''ve misunderstood - the "outstanding" comment was referring to the board''s time in charge as a whole, not just this season. The whole post was about how it is stupid to judge the board on one failed season when there are 4 successful seasons before that which need to be taken in to account.

Whilst possible, the trouble is that Sunderland have momentum and a bit of form, and we have hit our worst patch of form in the whole season, just when we needed it. If the form was the other way round, I''d give us a decent chance despite the fixtures. Sadly, a combination of our form, our horrific fixtures, Sunderland''s form, and their "on-the-beach" fixtures, means the odds are enormously stacked against us.

[quote user="kirku"]It''s not insulting to Nash. The point is that he hasn''t played 1 minute for City - not some objective view on the worst player at the club.[/quote] Yeah I think it''s more to do with Nash not having played at all, rather than being the shittest player. The club should just admit they''ve made a mistake with allowing an open vote on FB, and give it to whoever is second. I think Olsson or Ruddy have both had good seasons, and each of them fully deserves the trophy. It is insulting to them, and they would be well within their rights to be f*cked off with the fans - what sort of message does it send? Do your very best in a poor team and you won''t get the recognition. It''ll be very tinpot of us if the club just give it to Nash. It will make the papers, it''s that funny a story. The last thing this club is more bad press.

Well said that man, again. I wish we had a "sticky" option on this board so we could stick a few of the best, well-rounded posts to the top for people to read before posting rubbish. I''d vote Brighton''s first in this thread, label it "Before you criticise McNally, read this", and stick it to the top of the whole bloody forum so people can get it through their heads and process it before calling for McNally to resign.

pete, I think you should refer to your other thread "McNally should go" for answers to this.

[quote user="Brighton Yellow"]The Board met after every game this season and discussed possible solutions to the underperforming manager. It is clear that they would have liked to have replaced him sooner but kept facing the same question which they were unable to answer, who? Who could they realistically replace him with? To quote a conversation I had with a Board member on Saturday ‘it was a gamble to stick with Hughton and it was a gamble to replace him’. The reality was that as bad as you may have perceived Hughton to have been performing, he was not the worst performer in the league by some distance and replacing him would not have guaranteed improvements. In which case you have to ask yourself whether you would still be demanding McNally stepped down had the Board gambled earlier and replaced Hughton only for the situation to have worsened, lets say in the bottom three by March? In which case would you expect further action in the style of Fulham? The reality is you are unhappy, as are all of us that things haven’t worked out and you are looking for someone to blame. With Hughton gone you now look to McNally. If he goes then someone else, and so on. To gamble. That is what it is to be a Chief Executive at Norwich, sometimes you strike it lucky and find a Lambert, others it is more a dud in the form of Hughton. To compare McNally with a Chief Executive with someone of the same title at a traditional, normal company is somewhat daft as such gambles largely do not exist. To sack Hughton and appoint Adams was also a gamble, one which we are yet to see the outcome of. Perhaps in that case it is best advised that you leave your childish calls for heads to roll for the time being and allow to see what the future holds. After all, a season in the Championship is still a vast improvement on the position we were in when McNally arrived. [/quote] Excellent post Brighton. I''m glad the majority of us echo my own sentiments about McNally and the board. For the first time in my living memory, I think we''ve got an outstanding board of directors, and our CE has a record of excellence at every position he has held prior to Norwich. I think even if he left now (god forbid) his time here would be seen as his greatest achievement. Obviously there has been the odd mistake, but you have to expect errors with humans. Even Man Utd''s directors have made mistakes - even arguably the most successful man in football, Alex Ferguson, made lots of high profile errors. But you have to look at the overall time in charge to see the big picture and judge fairly.

Yeah when you look at it, we have a proven Championship strikeforce in Becchio and Hooper. Throw in a big, experienced pro like Holt and a creative player like Hoolahan, and perhaps even Ricky will find his feet if he''s not sold, and we have the potential, if well managed, to do the business next season. It will really irritate me though if whoever the manager is allows Becchio to leave. If ever there was a time to get our money''s worth from him, it''s if we are in the Championship.

Well said Patches. And yes, I expect everyone at the club will be paid less if we are relegated.

Phil Boyer''s Admiral top - I don''t doubt you are older than me, which makes it all the more cringeworthy that you have such an attitude towards McNally and the board. As others have pointed out, you cannot draw a fair comparison between being CEO of a football club and any other business. He, and everyone at the club is accountable. What do you want to do, sack everyone? He is also accountable for 5 years of success, including 2 promotions and 3 seasons of Premiership football, which if you ask me, more than outweighs the recent decline even if we are relegated.

It would be sensible and advisable for us to put our trust in those 2 again for a championship push, but as you say, perhaps they''re not going to want to stay. Surman is much more likely than Fox though. Fox probably won''t want to play for us again. On another point, whilst those 2 were clearly good in that season, our success was much more to do with our fluid attacking force.. which has been completely broken up and destroyed.

I''m tired of this stupid, spoilt-brat routine from our fans. "For 4 years McNally ran City to our complete satisfaction but has failed singularly this season and therefore ought to seriously consider his position. " - So even though you acknowledge you have had 4 years of complete satisfaction, you think after 1 bad season and 1 bad decision that McNally has to go? Where''s the fairness in that? And as for McNally being lucky with Lambert - why, exactly is hiring Lambert lucky (when he was obviously targetted for very specific reasons) and hiring Hughton a mistake? Only the top 3 or 4 clubs in the premiership expect success EVERY season. The rest of the 88 football league clubs realise many of the decisions they make are gambles, some of which will not turn out, and will result in a period of decline. If you''re going to throw your toys out of the pram when it''s not going well so soon after such an unprecedented period of success for our club, then you shouldn''t support a club like Norwich. Your mindset is more suitable to supporting a club such as Manchester United.

Careful Broadstairs.. Last week I dared to suggest a complex idea such as simultaneously feeling sympathy for the board''s decision over Hughton, as well as anger for them not doing it sooner.. and was called (all in capitals too) a "F*cking Happy Clapping C*nt" by some sort of human-based creature who''d found a keyboard. It''s safest to offer only one, sternly black and white opinion with no room for complex thought or consideration of how multiple factors can make a tough decision almost impossible to get right.

[quote user="morty"][quote user="The Great Mass Debater"][quote user="morty"]Ahhhhh right, so this is actually about Hughton, not Holt...[/quote] No its about Holt and whoever decided to undervalue him - thats not necessarily Hughton. But as you brought Hughton up, do you not feel he is responsible for the team sitting where it does Morty? [/quote]You have seen Holts record since he left, haven''t you? I think that pretty much answers any questions you have.[/quote] It''s a fair point Morty, but GMD did suggest that Holty''s output was more like 110% for us when he was happy here, due to him being captain and all round hero. Which I think is a valid point. I wish Holty had never left. But he left because he was being played on his own upfront, isolated from play, with a massive reduction in chances. You could see his happiness and desire to play diminish as the season went on. Holty would''ve been a great foil and/or mentor for both RVW and Hooper, who both clearly would''ve benefited from learning the premiership guile from the master. But Holty would''ve also wanted to be the main man still, and first on the teamsheet. Hughton would never have dared play him and RVW or Hoopers together. So basically, in a nutshell we can blame Hughton for Holty leaving, and for our subsequent probable demotion to the championship.

"Patches O''Hoolahan: Really Herman? Compare this squad to last seasons, or the season before and in terms of quality throughout the team, the current team are miles ahead. What has unfortunately happened, is that the team has been gutted of the heart and spirit that inspired us during the Lambert era." This is correct. Go and look at the teamsheets for Lambert''s prem season.. it really does not match up on paper. But in spirit and desire, (and unfortunately confidence) it was streets ahead.

[quote user="NCFCgardener"]McNally has made 1 big mistake since coming to our club, on the whole he has been excellent and anyone who thinks otherwise really needs to take a step back and look at where we came from. He tried to do the right thing by sticking with Hughton, sadly, that was the wrong decision made for the right reasons. You could argue that Hughton wasn''t the right man for the job but that''s debatable. We will be in an eviable position next season, financially secure and no need to sell, we will have managers banging on the door. Personally, I think its too early for Adams to take the reigns, I wouldn''t want him to be the next Bryan Gunn.[/quote] Totally agree with this.

LDC.. I totally agree with all of this. We have to give the board the benefit of the doubt due to what they have achieved. If the worst happens and we get relegated this season, and again next, then clearly there will have to be serious questions asked about the senior management. But for me, they''re 2 promotions & 3 seasons of premiership football up.. compared to what we could quite easily have been putting up with for the past 5 seasons - ie championship football. That would not be unexpected following promotion from league 1. But we got much more than that, so we have to be thankful. Let''s see what the next season or 2 brings.