Official Statement released!

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="keelansgrandad"]I think you are right Purple and that surprises me (not that you''re right).

I would have guessed they would let the DoF or SD would take the process of running the football side together with the MD.

But if the MD isn''t on the board I wonder how much autonomy he will have.[/quote]Stone may end up on the board, but I am not sure that even if he did that would mean he was autonomous. Not that I am suggesting he would follow suit, but the directors may feel that McNally and Moxey  had too much autonomy and didn''t always use it wisely.To deal with a couple of points I have seen here and elsewhere, there seems to be shock and horror that Smith and Jones have a majority of - roughly speaking - friendly directors. Dear me, I doubt there are owners of any business in the country that don''t have such. You don''t own a business and choose directors who will always outvote you.  But you do have directors who will not always agree with you, and Smith and Jones have had such, and I believe still do.The other (hilarious) complaint (elsewhere) is that without a CEO on the board Balls may become or be even more of an executive chairman. Hold on there - I thought the complaint was he was too busy dancing to spend time on Norwich City business?! Can the moaners at  least agree on what they are moaning about...

[komakino 272]

The statement is basically throwing the fans a bone. Stone''s M.D role was probably settled back in January and they intended to make a complete statement. For whatever reason that has not happened and I would agree that this gives the board even more control as there will be no CEO to upset Delia.

[Alfie54 76]

Still wouldn''t be surprised to hear after extensive searches etc etc, that Ricky Martin and Alan Irvine are the new team!

[JF 694]

It''s looking highly likely that no managerial appointment will happen until the summer now, with Irvine in control until then

[Andrew Spanton 1]

My concern following this restructure is the removal of the only remaining football industry expert (i.e. the CEO) from the board. As Purple has previously stated, the majority shareholders are perfectly within their rights to appoint board members of their choice. I do not agree that the board has anyone that would disagree with them. The remaining board consists of friends and relatives who share the same vision. That may help the decision making process but it is equally healthy for any board to contain alternative opinions. Board decisions will now be made by individuals with very little football knowledge but these are the very people that will be tasked with recruiting key executive management positions. It appears that we may have to rely heavily on external experts (Roy Hodgson?) to help in that respect.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="Andrew Spanton"]My concern following this restructure is the removal of the only remaining football industry expert (i.e. the CEO) from the board. As Purple has previously stated, the majority shareholders are perfectly within their rights to appoint board members of their choice. I do not agree that the board has anyone that would disagree with them. The remaining board consists of friends and relatives who share the same vision. That may help the decision making process but it is equally healthy for any board to contain alternative opinions. Board decisions will now be made by individuals with very little football knowledge but these are the very people that will be tasked with recruiting key executive management positions. It appears that we may have to rely heavily on external experts (Roy Hodgson?) to help in that respect.[/quote]An expert in the football industry, but not a football expert per se. We have never had a CEO who was that. What we will now have - in the shape of the sporting director - is a football expert, who can be consulted by the board on all relevant issues, even if he won''t be on it.

[Time to go Delia 0]

[quote user="Alfie54"]Still wouldn''t be surprised to hear after extensive searches etc etc, that Ricky Martin and Alan Irvine are the new team![/quote]I thought Goreham and Butler were going out of their way to tell us just what a good footballing man and nice guy Irvine is today , wouldnt be a bit surprised to see him get it .

[SwindonCanary 455]

Is this really what our captain was on about when he said what he did ?

[GPs Beard 0]

A managing director who isn''t on the board , isn''t really a managing director is he?

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

[quote user="SwindonCanary"]Is this really what our captain was on about when he said what he did ?[/quote]Quite. I couldn''t give a flying f who the backroom staff are, it''s the buggers who cross the white line and the conductor who matter. Pull your fingers out and get this sorted!

[Diane 500]

[quote user="The Nightfly"]Was as expected. Glad for Steve Stone, he is well liked by the staff at Carra Rd.[/quote]

Very well liked by the staff and Im also very pleased for Steve, top guy and passionate about doing his best for our club

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="SwindonCanary"]Is this really what our captain was on about when he said what he did ?[/quote]Yes, but he clearly overestimated he ability of some Norwich fans to appreciate the huge benefits to the club moving forwards.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Diane"][quote user="The Nightfly"]Was as expected. Glad for Steve Stone, he is well liked by the staff at Carra Rd.[/quote]

Very well liked by the staff and Im also very pleased for Steve, top guy and passionate about doing his best for our club

[/quote]

Don''t know much about him, but seems to be able to talk the talk.  Seems like a good''un.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-sfHJENcmU

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="Capt. Pants"][quote user="SwindonCanary"]Is this really what our captain was on about when he said what he did ?[/quote]Quite. I couldn''t give a flying f who the backroom staff are, it''s the buggers who cross the white line and the conductor who matter. Pull your fingers out and get this sorted![/quote]dear meit must come as rather a shock to see the depths of stupidity that shows itself on here at times

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Diane"][quote user="The Nightfly"]Was as expected. Glad for Steve Stone, he is well liked by the staff at Carra Rd.[/quote]

Very well liked by the staff and Im also very pleased for Steve, top guy and passionate about doing his best for our club

[/quote]

Don''t know much about him, but seems to be able to talk the talk.  Seems like a good''un.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-sfHJENcmU

[/quote]Ah, there you are old chape - thought you might have popped off, or somethingnot the automatics but still the play offs ... keep believingand yes Mr Stone is just the man

[Yellowbeagle 0]

On paper this looks great. In reality we haven''t been able to recruit for the one position of manager successfully, now we are looking to recruit for two positions and also those two position will have to work together under extremely complicated circumstances. For this to work I imagine we are going to have to look abroad for the first team coach, as I don''t see many British managers wanting or being able to operate under this system. This sounds an awful lot like the Hamilton/Rioch experiment to me.

[City 2nd 191]

JF wrote the following post at 2017-03-18 5:46 PM:

It''s looking highly likely that no managerial appointment will happen until the summer now, with Irvine in control until then

Perhaps they should tell him then!!

[GPs Beard 0]

Really this is something and nothing. A cynic might say that promising an announcement at a low ebb - then announcing the "appointment" of a managing director who isnt really an MD - but fulfilling the role he has been doing for many months - is a decent bit of PR and nothing else .

Steve is a good bloke and a good professional man. He was equally "passionate" about Bingo back in the day. All things Operational , and Finance as well as most of the Legals have been reporting into him since McNally went . He is more than capable and will crunch the numbers properly

Of course what it doesn''t sort is the difficult bit . And that''s the Football. We are no closer to the Football Director or the Manager but the announcement has taken the heat off nicely . Anyone would think we had a politician in our ranks 😀

[Jack Barak 46]

This looks positive, I am a little surprised by the negativity around it.

We are trying to create a structure that will address some of the complaints many of us fans have had for years about the seemingly random and whimsical player recruitment. The football / transfer board was a half step - that failed - but this will hopefully see some longer term thinking on recruitment and style.

Also, as we seem determined to call for the manager / head coach''s head every year or two this structure should make the transition from one to another easier and less costly.

These are certainly positive aims.

[Van wink 2,994]

"We are trying to create a structure that will address some of the complaints many of us fans have had for years about the seemingly random and whimsical player recruitment. The football / transfer board was a half step - that failed - but this will hopefully see some longer term thinking on recruitment and style."

Yes very much agree with that point.

Thing is though structures are very easy to draw up on paper and it can all look neat and tidy. The tough bit is getting the right people on board, as is the case no matter what structure you have.

For me the absence of a professional executive at board level could enhance not solve some of our problems, but we will have to wait and see.

[komakino 272]

I''m probably in minority here, but I was amazed at the positive response from fans regarding yesterdays ''announcement''. An announcement that only a club like Norwich City could do.

I tend to deal in actions rather than words and all that is happened is Steve Stone has got the M.D role, which was agreed internally some time ago. That''s it. Nothing else has happened - so far - and that is a worry.

We have also had ''Values'' mentioned in the last few days by the likes of Mick Dennis and Ed Balls. Call it a kind of diversion. ''Values?'' This is the club that made ''redundancies'' just before Christmas, but claims it looks after its staff. Hypocrites.

The club has stated that there are other roles to fill, which haven''t been filled. If you went to a PR agency, they would not of advised the way the club have handled this as being the right way. Typical Norwich City.

Stone''s appointment is a sensible one and from what I gather is generally well respected, but the board itself needs a refresh and Delia and Michael should in the short term sell some of their shares so they own no more than 49%. The board is too cosy and this new structure will not change that. A Sporting Director can and will make recommendations for example, but will they be acted upon?

This new structure - when it happens - isn''t fooling me. It is a distraction against the real problem - The board.