“City braced for more premier league interest”

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

Headline story on Pink un.

I think we all know there will be intrest. Stop with the patronising ‘softening up’ rubbish.

Is this also the clubs outlet nowadays? Getting the auction started by listing clubs that could do with Pritchard to solve their goal scoring problems?

Webber will be rubbbing his grubby little mits at the prospect of a bidding war.

[king canary 8,736]

Your attitude to Webber baffles me- why do you think he wants to sell our better players?

[Gordon Bennett 907]

Would a local newspaper article really get an auction started?

Roll on February 1st FFS.

[hogesar 10,717]

How embarrassing.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

We have some talent at our club and alas look to be going no where. There will be lots of lower PL clubs and top championship ones that will be happy to take a punt to stay up or go up. The sad reality of where we are and probably always have been, Didnt people like Sutton, Fox, Ashton, Ward, Bellemy , etc go in similar circumstances

[king canary 8,736]

Yeah, I don''t think Swansea have a google alert going and will now be ''wow, Alex Pritchard, never thought of that!''

[paul moy 235]

If we sell, there''s a good chance those players will be back in the Championship next season, having played very few games.  They are regulars here with a reasonable chance of a play-off spot if they are as talented as they think they are , so it makes more sense for their careers to at least wait until the summer.  

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]How embarrassing.[/quote]

Oh, hello Hoggy. Not seen you since you were shot down a couple of days ago.

[king canary 8,736]

A reasonable chance of a play-off spot? Whut?

[Fuzzar 1,842]

Don''t forget that Mr Moy largely lives in a fantasy land...

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="Gordon Bennett"]Would a local newspaper article really get an auction started?

Roll on February 1st FFS.[/quote]

I take it you believe Webber doesn''t have any influence with regard to the info Archant publish?

The media stuff from Archant is certainly more revealing than what we used to get when Mcnally was around. I believe Webber is actively involved.

[Badger 2,745]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]We have some talent at our club and alas look to be going no where. There will be lots of lower PL clubs and top championship ones that will be happy to take a punt to stay up or go up. The sad reality of where we are and probably always have been, Didnt people like Sutton, Fox, Ashton, Ward, Bellemy , etc go in similar circumstances[/quote]And - in my time - Curran, Paddon (first time), Boyer, Reeves, Fashanu, Woods, Watson, Bruce, Fleck (first time), Townsend and others I can''t remember atm [:(]

[Yellowbeagle 0]

People need to get a grip, it''s in Webbers interests to keep the best players because some fans are bright enough to realise in the current set up the buck doesn''t just stop with the coach. Webber needs the team to be showing signs of progress to keep his own job.

However if a player is going is attracting interest i want the club also to get the maximum amount for them, consequently if premier league clubs are going to bid on our players it''s better for us that it''s common knowledge to make sure all clubs who are thinking of bidding dont play a waiting game. Some fans need to stop having a melt down every time a piece of news is leaked.

[king canary 8,736]

I ask again Lincoln- why do you think Webber wants to sell our best players?

If we''re making sales it is due to the financial limitations we have as a club.

[hogesar 10,717]

Shot down? Do you mean disagreed with me fella? Stick with Reading, they might like these mind numbingly dull posts of yours.

[Jim Smith 2,578]

I don;t know about this particular article but there is certainly a bit of a pattern under Webber of stories appearing in the media from "sources" which imply that we are open to offers for certain players. Indeed on several occasions articles with headlines along the lines of "City won''t listen to offers"have contained quotes which actually said the opposite.

Certainly seems to know how to use friendly media contacts to either soften up the fans or get the message out there that we will listen to offers.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I don''t think it reflects an entirely different media approach from McNally and Webber, just reflects the different situation those two people find themselves in.

Under most of McNally''s tenure Norwich were in a position to play much harder in terms of transfers, Norwich didn''t particularly need the money and the clubs coming in for players weren''t in a significantly better position.

For Webber it is much tougher, Norwich need to balance the books and the lure of Premier League clubs, or those with parachute payments, will be a greater pull on players.

If Huddersfield are genuinely interested in Pritchard, then it is best to try and drum up a bidding war. It is also better that the club are honest and don''t say ridiculous things like ''we will sell under no circumstances'' as that just isn''t true. Webber and Stone talked a lot about being honest with the fans and hoping they would understand the position Norwich are in - unfortunately is seems many fans still want to pretend they are in a fantasy world.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]Shot down? Do you mean disagreed with me fella? Stick with Reading, they might like these mind numbingly dull posts of yours.[/quote]

You can''t find them that dull piggy, you keep on reading and replying to them!

Keep up the good work.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]I don;t know about this particular article but there is certainly a bit of a pattern under Webber of stories appearing in the media from "sources" which imply that we are open to offers for certain players. Indeed on several occasions articles with headlines along the lines of "City won''t listen to offers"have contained quotes which actually said the opposite.

Certainly seems to know how to use friendly media contacts to either soften up the fans or get the message out there that we will listen to offers.[/quote]

Thanks Jim. This is basically my point.

[PurpleCanary 6,367]

[quote user="lincoln canary"][quote user="Gordon Bennett"]Would a local newspaper article really get an auction started?

Roll on February 1st FFS.[/quote]

I take it you believe Webber doesn''t have any influence with regard to the info Archant publish?

The media stuff from Archant is certainly more revealing than what we used to get when Mcnally was around. I believe Webber is actively involved.[/quote]That is a false comparison and a misunderstanding, but otherwise absolutely spot on....Webber is a combination of CEO and manager but when he is talking about the football side he is much more speaking as him as manager (who has a head coach below him). So the comparision should mainly be between him and how much previous managers talked to the media, with a little bit of how CEOs talked thrown in. I don''t see a great difference, although Webber seems more willing to call a spade a bl**dy shovel than previous incumbents.As to influence, you seem to think he is telling Archant what to publish. No. His influence exists only in his control over what he chooses to say to journalists, but that is true of everybody in football.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]I don''t think it reflects an entirely different media approach from McNally and Webber, just reflects the different situation those two people find themselves in.

Under most of McNally''s tenure Norwich were in a position to play much harder in terms of transfers, Norwich didn''t particularly need the money and the clubs coming in for players weren''t in a significantly better position.

For Webber it is much tougher, Norwich need to balance the books and the lure of Premier League clubs, or those with parachute payments, will be a greater pull on players.

If Huddersfield are genuinely interested in Pritchard, then it is best to try and drum up a bidding war. It is also better that the club are honest and don''t say ridiculous things like ''we will sell under no circumstances'' as that just isn''t true. Webber and Stone talked a lot about being honest with the fans and hoping they would understand the position Norwich are in - unfortunately is seems many fans still want to pretend they are in a fantasy world.[/quote]

I wouldn''t class cryptic messages via the local media, as being honest.

Of course fans with any sense of realism expects there to be player exits, and clearly everyone has a price.

My gripe with Webber and these media stories (clearly with info from Webber), is that generally they are negative in content and involve destructing the club with player sales. A positive story about how we are looking to finance the longer stay of key players, and build a team around them would be a welcome relief.

[Guest]

And - in my time - Curran, Paddon (first time), Boyer, Reeves, Fashanu, Woods, Watson, Bruce, Fleck (first time), Townsend and others I can''t remember atm Sad

With many of those Badger, we were getting decent money to whistle up a replacement from the lower divisions.

For instance Curran basically replaced Ron Davies.

That might be a bit more difficult now.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I think that negative aspect you see speaks more of your character than the story itself.

When I read the story I didn''t take it as a negative story, or a positive one. It was a story that just confirmed that Huddersfield are interested in Pritchard (in a loose sense) but refuted the claim in the Mirror that two bids had been made and rejected.

If Webber has fed information to the media (which is in no way clear from this story, in my opinion as someone who worked in sports media for 7 years) then that is just the bit about there being no bids from Huddersfield - all the other stuff about WBA, Swansea etc is padding to make a short story into a main back page story.

Webber''s success is intrinsically linked to the success of Norwich City, in many ways he will want Norwich to do well more than most fans, as his entire professional career is linked to it. Stop looking for ''bad news'' or negativity where there is none.

[JF 694]

Sutton and Fox didn’t go in similar circumstances. They were far worse circumstances, they were sold when the club was at the top of its game with a real chance of glory

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Everyone is in the shop window and has a price. Liverpool and spurs sell to the big Spanish clubs we will sell to the likes of Burnley Huddersfield and Brighton now

[lake district canary 4,813]

[quote user="JF"]Sutton and Fox didn’t go in similar circumstances. They were far worse circumstances, they were sold when the club was at the top of its game with a real chance of glory[/quote]There was no chance of "further glory". That was a fantasy. The club could not sustain it''s position it had reached because of a lack of resources - we were just a victim of our own success.  That is why the current model is sensible - we will find a level that is sustainable and we will - with good management - punch above our weight. Any future success will have to be built from that standpoint.  In 1995, we had shot our bolt and there was no way to go but down.  

[Woodman 92]

Bethnal - what do you think Webber''s measure of success for Norwich is? For us fans, the only measure is winning games and doing well on the pitch, with the potential of going up to the Premiership (well, that''s my measure of success anyway).

Webber''s probably also includes the evolution of the club under his Directorship, including Colney development, the ability to bring young players through to the first team, whilst also working with Steve Stone to ensure the financial future of the club. Sadly (for most fans), that means that we have to sell players like Maddison, Pritchard, Murphy etc.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Its all about recruitment. Selling players isn''t the problem its the ability to replace them with cheaper potential that dictates success or otherwise to take punts on players like holt at Shrewsbury its not all about youngsters

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

Webber will almost certainly have a healthy bonus in his contract should Norwich be promoted. McNally got £1m for this feat (I seem to remember, but might be mistaken), while I doubt Webber will be on such a hefty wad, it will certainly be a considerable sum of money.

For Webber personally, success is something that shows that Huddersfield wasn''t a one off and that he can repeat that mammoth feat. If he leads Norwich into the Prem and keeps them there, then other, larger, clubs will start to think he might be someone who can help them out and his salary would also increase to match the larger status.

I see no conflicts in what a Norwich fan would consider success and what Webber would see success (only that a very successful Webber would ultimately leave Norwich).

The difference is, for fans if Norwich aren''t promoted or don''t progress, it is upsetting as a fan but not life changing.

For Webber, if he ''fails'' at Norwich he will earn less money in the future, potentially find it hard to get a job, have to move house etc etc. He has a lot more riding on it than any of us do, so the idea he would go around spreading negative stories to the media is backwards.

[Badger 2,745]

Keelan - "With many of those Badger, we were getting decent money to whistle up a replacement from the lower divisions.

For instance Curran basically replaced Ron Davies.

That might be a bit more difficult now."It might be more difficult but I am sure that this is the aim - it might be why we have already been linked with so many attacking midfielders in recent weeks - Jorge Grant being the latest.