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whistleblower

Delia Smith may become most hated owner in club history

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[quote user="Indy"][quote user="tom cavendish"]Can you be specific as to what you think Delia has actually done wrong?[/quote]

You are Tom Smith really aren''t you? Well auntie Delia is now got the club back under her control and with the hard work of Bowkett & McNally debt free at their departures.

With all BOD under her total control again, she can come out in the press as she did and totally write off the fans now.

Bless her she''s just a little old lady now and with the base of older family fans we have, it''s an easy life, unlike fat bob got back in his day!

Still she owns the club, its hers to do as she pleases, good luck to her.[/quote]Hysterical or what? Delia didn''t write off the fans. She said fans would probably be upset by one decision, on future ownership, or more precisely the kind of potential owner she wouldn''t sell to. And as it happens she was almost certainly overstating the opposition to that stance, because many fans would agree with it.

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[quote user="tom cavendish"]I can''t see the full interview but the EDP says that Delia and MWJ said they don''t want to sell the club, they would like a long-term manager, and they spoke up for fans being messed about by fixture changes and the cost of tickets.What is wrong with that?[/quote]Here it is :http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/supporters-are-treated-so-badly-the-government-need-to-step-in-fn9xvl7c0( Sorry, can''t do the clicky thing )

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On

the occasion of their 20th anniversary of joining Norwich City’s board, Delia

Smith and Michael Wynn Jones have voiced their fears for the future of the game

they love and want the government to intervene in the running of English

football. They believe that supporters are being betrayed, that the Premier

League has warped priorities and that the FA badly let down their friend Roy

Hodgson during his time as England manager.

Their

focus is mainly on events at Carrow Road. They revel in going to matches,

chatting to fans and guests, and backing their manager, Alex Neil, “absolutely,

100 per cent”, according to Michael. The husband-and-wife team will “never”

sell their majority shareholding, which will pass to their nephew, Tom Smith, a

director. “Tom will be the recipient of our shares,” Delia says.

They

care passionately about Norwich, and also the game in general, which is why

they want to speak out. Sitting in the conservatory of their home, they note

that since the founding of the Premier League in 1992, a culture of greed has

increasingly enveloped the national game.

Delia

and Michael rue the sight of so many clubs falling into uncaring hands. They

admire owners such as Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough and Peter Coates at Stoke

City. “Both wonderful guys,” Delia says. “But it’s devastating what’s happening

to some clubs. The big example would be Portsmouth [who went into

administration in 2010 and were subsequently relegated three times]. That was

toxic what happened.”

Michael

nods. “Football ownership has gone to Wall Street, Dubai or Hong Kong,” he

says. “It’s appalling. Where will it end? Now it’s filtering down into the

Championship with Wolves [who were taken over by a Chinese investment company

in the summer].”

Delia

continues: “Football in England is not looked after. You could put all the

problems back to the creation of the Premier League. There’s all that Premier

League money washing into people’s pockets and going back out to Europe, not

into here because we’re buying foreign players.” Michael agrees. “Sky and the

Bosman ruling, the two combined, and it’s an inevitable disaster looming. Are

Sky guaranteed to keep this [investment] up forever?”

The

game is losing its soul. “I fear that,” Delia says. “I really do feel for

supporters. They’re treated so badly. They book their hotel rooms and get cheap

prices for their travel tickets in advance. Bang. Oh, that game’s not on that

day any more. The average age of a supporter goes up and up. Families have to

share a season ticket: one child can go one week, and another the next because

they can’t afford it. I’d love to see supporters worshipped and respected

because otherwise it’s going to end up on television.”

She

once riled the chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, by

suggesting that grounds weren’t full because of ticket costs. “I had a two-page

letter from Scudamore: ‘Sorry Delia but seats are up.’ Michael helped me write

a letter back. At the time Bolton were in the Premier League and they were

[almost] half-empty. Scudamore was there and I went up to him, and said

‘half-empty’.

“I

feel the only way now is for the government to step in and say, ‘Unless you get

your house in order we will govern it instead of you.’ Just threaten it.

Football is so precious. It’s hard to find community in the world but you

always find it in football.

“We

arrived one day at Barnsley and there was a coachload of [Norwich]

15-year-olds. I went up and said hello. They were full of life, and when they

got inside, two of them were carried out because they were swearing or

something.

“They

were singing, and I could see this is how they’re letting their energy out.

They are not on the street doing drugs, getting their thrills. The government

don’t understand that football’s the safe drug. If I was in government, which I

never will be, I’d say, ‘Right, we’re going to share that money to support all

football.’ The government won’t do it because the Premier League is the one

thing that’s giving the government brownie points in the world.”

Delia

cares. Such ardour underpinned her swaying, “Let’s be ’aving you” rallying cry

to Norwich fans at half-time against Manchester City in 2005. One critic

demanded she be charged by the FA. “They wanted me to go before a panel,” Delia

says with a laugh. “I had letters and letters from supporters all over the

country, saying, ‘Wow, if only we had a director like you.’ ” Would she do it

again? “Yes.” “Next time don’t wear high heels,” Michael suggests.

Apparently,

the going was soft to heavy, so Delia’s heels sank. “Yes. I couldn’t walk very

well so everyone thinks I’m an alcoholic. They do.

“I

was phone-tapped [hacked] by the News of the World because of

that!? They thought, ‘She’s got a drink problem.’ They had a man following me.

I hope he enjoyed going to Mass.”

She

reacts like a fan. “That’s really, really what I am. A fan.” Michael is too,

his affiliation with Norwich stretching back 60 years. “We are stewards of the

club, not owners,” he says. “The club belongs to the supporters.”

They

consult fans. “We got the designer, Bruce Oldfield, to design the kit one year

[1997]. It was all yellow. The supporters objected to this. ‘Where’s the

green?’ 

So

they had a vote, handing out green and yellow cards at Carrow Road. “Delia sat

surrounded by supporters in the Barclay End, the only person holding up yellow.

So we changed it.” Delia adds: “I wished we could do more of that. I’d like to

go out on the pitch and say, ‘Shall we sack the manager or not? Hands up!’ You

would, wouldn’t you?” “Theoretically, yes,” says Michael.

She’s

very conscientious. “I’m a very, very passionate believer in God,” Delia says.

“I’m writing a book about belief. I can’t blame atheist scientists dismissing

it [religion] because a lot of it needs to be dismissed. I just want people to

understand what’s real about it [belief]. I struggle with the writing but I am

a communicator.” “You’ve just recently become computer-literate,” Michael says.

“All Delia’s cookery books were written in longhand, and I was the only person

who could read the writing so I’d type them.”

They

make a good team, having complementary strengths: the editor and publisher with

his patience and the famous, passionate cookery writer and broadcaster. “Yes,”

Delia says with a smile. “He never gets a word in. The balance sheet is your

problem because I don’t know which way to hold it up. I sit in board meetings

and I’ve plenty to say but not when it comes to money. I just switch off. If

you do cookery on television and write cookery books which sell, that doesn’t

make you a business person.”

Maybe.

For all her protestations about “luck” shaping her career, Delia has always

seemed incredibly shrewd, tapping into public aspiration. “I was working in

this French restaurant and I saw people struggling with menus.

“I

felt after the industrial revolution and two world wars when the handing down

of cooking from mother to daughter was interrupted, it was hard for Britain to

get to terms with cooking again. In the wars, people didn’t have any food to

cook with. There were these awful magazines doing these terrible recipes about

baked beans or there was Elizabeth David and Robert Carrier which was beyond

most people. Why can’t we just all learn to cook?

“People

used to go to cookery school in the evening. So, go out on a cold evening or

you actually learn it in your own home by the fire in front of the television?

I deserved the success because I put the work into it. The TV sold the books.”

Viewers trusted her. “You’re a perfectionist,” Michael says. “Every recipe that

ever went out was tested to destruction. You could see so many basic errors,

laziness or sloppiness in existing recipes.”

The

recipes, books and television made the pair comfortably well off. “We went down

the bottom of the garden one day [20 years ago], to where I work in that little

treehouse,” says Delia, pointing to her book-lined haven overlooking a duck

pond. “We sat on the balcony and said, ‘What do we want to do with our lives?’

” Michael says: “We went through all the options, like a yacht in the south of

France.” Delia: “And then we both said: ‘Well, we’d like our football club to

be successful.’ We didn’t want anything else. We watched the whole collapse

under [Robert] Chase, all our players going one by one. It was terrible.”

Michael

takes up the tale: “Martin Armstrong, the chief executive of the Norwich and

Peterborough Building Society [who had joined the emergency board], said to us:

‘If you could put £500,000 up we could offer you a seat on the board.’ At which

point Delia said: ‘If we put £1 million up can we have two seats?’ We were

firefighting all the way. We would have gone bankrupt.” They bought shares and,

in what Michael calls “a somewhat cavalier moment, we agreed to underwrite the

share issue, bit naive really” and ended up with a 66 per cent stake.

“We’ve

never had any money back from what we put in as shareholders,’’ adds Delia.

“What we’ve had to do is to rush to Carrow Road with a cheque at [critical]

moments.” Some subsequent loans have been reclaimed, such as one given in 2008

when “the club needed £2 million urgently,’’ says Michael. “We were amazed to

get our loan back,” adds Delia. “We didn’t expect to see that again. The

majority of Norwich fans appreciate what we’ve done. People come up and say,

‘Thank you.’ But there’s always whingers. They want us out this week! 5-0 [the

loss away to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend] Out!”

They

went to the dressing room last Saturday to show Neil their support. “Alex was

devastated,” says Michael. “We really believe in him. He can be [intense] but

he’s an absolute charmer. He’s really intelligent.” Neil has their backing. “My

dream is to have a manager for ten years,” adds Delia. “If we could do that it

would be wonderful. If I had my way now I’d give him all the time he needs. I

would. But you see in football, now . . . we’re fourth, and they [fans] want us

out. And him out. We’re fourth. It’s amazing”

They

will never sell. “No,” says Michael. “We can’t on one hand [protest] that

football’s being run from Dubai and Wall Street and then give into it.” Delia

grins. “The supporters will be very disappointed to hear that. But no way will

we sell. We don’t even listen to any enquiries. Our nephew, Tom, is now a board

director. He’s 35. He’s a very good board director. He’s a very passionate

Norwich City supporter and he will be the recipient of our shares.” “They will

go into a trust first,” says Michael. So Tom cannot sell. “He could if the

trustees think it’s right and proper. He can’t do it on a whim. He’s been a fan

since he was eight.”

They

will help to guide Tom, just as Hodgson helped them while he was Blackburn

Rovers manager 19 years ago, as Delia recalls. “I met Roy at a game and he

said, ‘What’s it like being a board director?’ I said: ‘My problem is I don’t

know anything about football.’ He said: ‘That’s the most refreshing thing I’ve

heard a board director say. Come down to Blackburn and we’ll teach you about

football.’ They gave me lots of tips like how you need a comfortable area where

injured people can relax. I went straight back and organised that. Roy was very

kind to us.”

They

travelled around France during the European Championship in June and July with

Hodgson’s wife, Sheila. “We were very privileged,” says Delia. “We went to see

training at Chantilly. God. Those players were absolutely amazing. We saw Gary

Neville doing a short pass session, which was absolutely brilliant. The

atmosphere was just so lovely in the hotel. Players had their families there.

We saw Roy. He said he knew it was going to be tough. [Hodgson said:] ‘I’ll

probably get the sack but I really believe in this team. Whoever takes it over

now will have the makings of a really, really good team.’ ’’

Delia

has no doubt who derailed England’s campaign. “I really think it was Greg

Dyke’s fault,” she said of the then FA chairman. Delia, Michael and Sheila were

en route to Saint- Étienne for the Slovakia group game when news came through

about Dyke’s comments about Hodgson’s future. Hodgson was soon in contact,

voicing his disbelief that the FA was effectively judging him game by game.

“Roy’s

a really good guy,” says Delia. “I don’t think he was treated very well. It’s

all very well saying, ‘You’ve got to be tough’ but people got completely thrown

— the coaches and the players. I found it extraordinary. I blame Greg Dyke. All

sports people are sensitive when they’re ready to go to a match — and then that

hits the airwaves. We believe in Roy.”

She

understands the difficulties of the role. “If foreign players were restricted

in some way, more English players would get games and then we’d have a better

national team. Danny Welbeck was a really good player but he didn’t get in the

Manchester United side. So Roy was waiting for Danny but he wasn’t getting any

games. How can you be ready for the World Cup then?”

Michael

laments: “When you’re fielding a [club] side without a single Englishman,

that’s a nonsense.” But what if Norwich were promoted with an all-foreign side?

“I genuinely don’t think the supporters would like that at all,” replies

Michael, who takes hope from the academy, which is not cheap to run. “£2-3

million [a year, minimum]. The Murphys [identical twins Josh and Jacob] will

hopefully now be signing new contracts. The supporters love ‘One of our own’

[the chant]. ” Which is why Carrow Road will today salute Delia and Michael,

two of their own.

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There was a time not so long ago when the club was financially on its knees. Delia and her husband were desperate for investment, There were articles in the edp about how the ground may even have to be sold. Tony Fernandez was shown around as a desperate attempt to get him to invest in the club instead of qpr. And all the time all we are told is that there is no investment out there. Back then they would have happily sold out to any foreigner that came along waving a few quid in their faces.

Then a miracle happened, Paul Lambert dragged the club into the PL with the type of exiting attacking football that hasn''t been seen here since the days of walker. He, single handily got them out of that financial black hole by getting the club that PL money that they apparently so despise. And now we are back on a downward spiral, and we are told that they are handing the club down to their nephew and won''t even listen to enquiries anymore. There lies the issue that many fans have with that interview, if they won''t even listen to enquiries then how could they know if it would be for the good of the club or not? Believe it or not there are people out there far more capable than them

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[quote user="tom cavendish"]Thanks, it''s a good read. I am still not sure what MWJ and Delia have done wrong.

[/quote]

Well if you can''t see anything wrong in that interview, coupled with our current farcical state then I''m truly stunned.

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“We are stewards of the club, not owners,” he says. “The club belongs to the supporters.”

They consult fans. “We got the designer, Bruce Oldfield, to design the kit one year [1997]. It was all yellow. The supporters objected to this. ‘Where’s the green?’

So they had a vote, handing out green and yellow cards at Carrow Road. “Delia sat surrounded by supporters in the Barclay End, the only person holding up yellow. So we changed it.” Delia adds: “I wished we could do more of that. I’d like to go out on the pitch and say, ‘Shall we sack the manager or not? Hands up!’ You would, wouldn’t you?” “Theoretically, yes,” says Michael.

---> No need to go onto the pitch and ask the fans, Shall we sack the manager? As the fans have spoken via the Pinkun poll.

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I remember this from the true driver of our club back in 2009, it was his drive to change our downward spiral which helped change our fortunes, who knows had it not been for this Doncaster might have stayed and McNally never have appointed!

We miss Bowkett, in my opinion.

"Open letter to Roger Munby, chairman of Norwich City Football Club, from Nigel Bertram and Alan Bowkett, chairman and deputy chairman of the NCFC Associate Directors Group

Dear Roger,

As you know we are respectively the chairman and deputy chairman of NCFC''s Associate Directors Group which is a team of local businessmen and supporters who collectively own approximately 5pc of the equity in NCFC plus substantial sums in the preference shares. Please note the views in this letter are our own.

Over the past five years we have met with you and Neil Doncaster on a number of occasions to see how the skills of our group can be utilised for the greater good of the NCFC family.

Sadly, our advice has been dismissed the majority of the time.

Perhaps our only success has been the introduction and financing of the Employee of the Year Awards for non-footballing colleagues at the club, an event you have now decided to abandon.

You are aware that we have been dissatisfied with the executive management of the club for a number of years, culminating in our preparation of a financial analysis of the situation and strategic options open to us in December 2007.

To the board''s continuing shame you categorically refused to meet your own shareholders to discuss the proposals; proposals that were developed with the sole aim of improving the situation.

We now know that you believed we were in concert with Peter Cullum as you were then in negotiations with him in complete secrecy.

Ironically, no member of our group knows this man and it was only through logic and financial analysis that we concluded that some £25m needed to be invested, a similar sum to that calculated by Mr Cullum''s advisors.

We are acutely conscious that all the directors love the club and have taken decisions that they felt were the correct ones at the time.

However, good intent is not the only skill required to manage an enterprise: skill, leadership, vision and empathy with all stakeholders are essential.

The board does not have these attributes.

The mistakes during your stewardship are legion and well documented in correspondence and internet postings throughout the county and beyond.

Suffice to say we are now in the third tier of English football, our financial situation is dire, we

do not have a team, the loyal supporters are distressed but we do have the best ground in the third division.

Under your chairmanship and Neil Doncaster''s executive leadership the quality of our product has deteriorated every year since 2004, losses have continued to mount and debt piled up.

The only honourable course open to you both is to resign forthwith without compensation, the board to search for a new chief executive, appoint a new chairman from the local business community and work with the current majority shareholders to get us out of this mess.

For the avoidance of doubt, neither of us seeks to join the board.

Unfortunately, we do not expect you to listen to our arguments alone and therefore we will be consulting with various stakeholder groups to ensure that we create a sufficient groundswell of public opinion that will be resolute, indefatigable and irresistible.

We must end this uncertainty now"

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Everything, its little coincidence that our downward spiral has been since the debacle of Bowkett last year and Balls coming in!

We''re back to 2009 in my view, rising debt, piss poor manager being backed to the end until it was too late and fans calling for investment to move forward!

It''s got everything to do with the thread.....read the title?

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Bowkett didn''t criticise Delia so where did you get the hatred to her from? Is it the same as your previous accusation of her being a binner?

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I''ve not said anything of hatred the thread title did and you''re doing you political shite again, pre Bowkett we were on a very big downward spiral as we are now! Do you just see what you want Nutty, to suite you''re games on here?

Bowkett being reelected then do step down two weeks later was questionable, to see best mate Ed come in was poor, and since the lack of drive we''ve gone into a very poor relationship between the club and its fans, to the point of Roederesque no show on the pitch and full board backing till it was too late.

See where I''m going with this Nutty?

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I think it''s fair to say that since Bowkett departed the club we have reverted back to that downward spiral. Now that may just be coincidence but it''s certainly the case

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[quote user="Indy"]I''ve not said anything of hatred the thread title did and you''re doing you political shite again, pre Bowkett we were on a very big downward spiral as we are now! Do you just see what you want Nutty, to suite you''re games on here?

Bowkett being reelected then do step down two weeks later was questionable, to see best mate Ed come in was poor, and since the lack of drive we''ve gone into a very poor relationship between the club and its fans, to the point of Roederesque no show on the pitch and full board backing till it was too late.

See where I''m going with this Nutty?[/quote]
I can see Indy. But you said I was to look at the title of the thread. See where I was coming from Indy?
And please try to remain civil. If you said it had nothing to do with the title of the thread then I''d have known you had your own agenda.

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Well guys I would much rather have someone like delia than a certain thai billionaire who has split off the training ground and carpark and is now trying to sell whats left to another Russian billionaire whilst applying for planning permission for thousands of houses on the old training ground and carpark. I am talking about Reading FC here, they are on their 2nd billionaire and the third one is in the pipeline.

My family all support Reading and their biggest worry is that Reading are the new Portsmouth....be carefull what you wish for.

Delia and co do have a plan, her only error in my book is thinking that a club the size of Norwich can have a manager for ten years, that can only happen if we''re mediocre because if we''re terrible he will be sacked and if he''s brilliant he will get a better offer.

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Delia and co do have a plan, her only error in my book is thinking that a club the size of Norwich can have a manager for ten years, that can only happen if we''re mediocre because if we''re terrible he will be sacked and if he''s brilliant he will get a better offer.

Please feel free to share that plan as it''s incredibly hard to see from where I''m sitting? As for if the manager is terrible he will be sacked, well 8 defeats in 10 games is unprecedented and as far as I can tell he has their full backing

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Well we will never know if we would get a billionaire with an agenda or one with great plans, for there''s always a 50/50 chance, that gamble, it''s just not going to happen, it''s all irrelevant.

What is relevant is leadership, quality in staff from top to bottom and the drive to maintain progression, moving ahead as a club in the community. That''s not happening right now, the fans are angered the club silent!

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JF in my opinion the plan as i see it is to build from the academy and by puchasing young talent from the lower leagues, this is by its nature a long term plan so won''t be initially too visible from your seat but that does not mean it''s not a plan.

Like I said I think she is making a mistake by thinking she can have a long term manager and she is showing AN too much loyalty but whilst he is still here she could still prove us all wrong.

What plan would you prefer....an unknown billionaire arriving spending all his money on making us great.. Most billionaires are complete tossers that''s why they''re billionaires.

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I couldn''t care less weather they are tossers on not as long as they progressed the club. None of us know the current owners personally enough to be able to fairly judge their character either.

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Now JF there''s a few on here who think they do! In their minds they have been invited to a pie and pint to watch a game of footy round Delias at every home game.

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Your right I don''t know Delia, never met her,but in all the years she has had control I have to say I haven''t noticed her asset strip the club. She isn''t perfect far from it but what you''re suggesting is taking a bigger leap of faith than Delia is currently doing and I am not religious so b.llox to that.

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