getting harder to stand still let alone gain ground

[JF 694]

I’d have thought the medical would have flagged up

A player having no knees. I definitely now want the medical team out

[Badger 2,405]

[quote user="JF"]I’d have thought the medical would have flagged up

A player having no knees. I definitely now want the medical team out[/quote]A host on Talksport was asked about why Rodwell was such a disaster at Sunderland - was he injured? The pundit replied that "his head was in the wrong place." The host replied that that would certainly put him at a big disadvantage! [:D]

[Midlands Yellow 3,944]

Give us a point 16 Vince .

[Big Vince 318]

16. Appoints Ballsup as Chairman and tells him to pursue TV career to make both himself and Norwich City the biggest laughing stocks in the land.

[Morisons Prozac 0]

lol how dare they fly a pride flag, the club''s an embarrassment!!!

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

Others might have seen this on our rivals site.

We probably have, as suspected, the poorest owners in the league (@ March 2018.)

It''s not really about wanting a "stinking rich Chinese owner" is it?

It''s about not wanting the distinction of being the paupers of the Championship. It''s about not getting at least some funding if times get hard. It''s about achieving a certain status that has clearly become the norm, whilst financially we dwell in the past.

If this season is another flop, the 4th. in a row, more and more of the support will come to resent Smith and Co''s grip on the club.

"SMIFF OUT" will surely resound from the stands. TINA.

Wolves – Fosun International - £7bn

Barnsley: New City Capital led by Chien Lee - £6.5bn

Fulham: Shahid Khan - £5.2bn

Bristol City: Steve Lansdown - £1.5bn

Sunderland – Ellis Short - £1bn

Aston Villa: Tony Xia - £990m

Cardiff City: Vincent Tan - £940m

Preston North End – Trevor Hemmings - £850m

Ipswich Town: Marcus Evans - £765m

Sheffield Wednesday – Deiphon Chansiri - £520m

Derby County: Mel Morris - £500m

Nottingham Forest – Evangelos Marinakis - £470m

Birmingham City: Paul Suen (Trillion Trophy Asia) - £450m

Queens Park Rangers – Tony Fernandes - £345m

Sheffield United – Kevin McCabe and Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - £260m

Hull City: Assem Allam - £250m

Middlesbrough: Steve Gibson - £195m

Millwall: John Berylson - £175m

Norwich City: Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones - £23m

Bolton Wanderers: Ken Anderson – unknown

Brentford: Matthew Benham – unknown

Burton Albion: Ben Robinson – unknown

Leeds United: Andrea Radrizzani – unknown

Reading – Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li – unknown

[king canary 7,580]

The longer term concern for me is what happens when we have some exceptional costs. We can''t do bonds every time we need to upgrade the infrastructure and we can''t bank on selling £10-20m worth of players every summer to give us a transfer budget.

As Boradstairs says it isn''t that we need a billionaire to give us £50m to spend on players but being able to to spend what we bring it would be nice.

[lake district canary 4,531]

The interesting thing about that list, of course, is that some of those clubs are not benefiting from the money their owners have and are still struggling to even compete.  QPR, Reading and Hull for instance.  Make no mistake, some more money available to strengthen the team would be useful, but money does not equal success. 

Here''s a list of things that are just as - if not more important - than money -

Teamwork

Togetherness

Desire

Belief

Good management

Good coaching set up

Vision of what the club is trying to create

Fight

Club ethos

These are what win you football matches - and rich clubs only succeed if they have those things too - money - on it''s own cannot do it.

[Midlands Yellow 3,944]

You’ve sold it to me Lakey . No to rich invester, yes to Delia and the self funding model . Premiere league here we come .

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

"The interesting thing about that list, of course, is that some of those clubs are not benefiting from the money their owners have and are still struggling to even compete. QPR, Reading and Hull for instance. Make no mistake, some more money available to strengthen the team would be useful, but money does not equal success."

We know all that, at least we should do as it is reeled out so often.

That''s bot the point though is it. DS has such limited funding in relative terms that the club, by having to be totally self -sustaining, is very vulnerable if success on the field or from the Academy falters.

There is no back up.

As it is, the thought of having to sell our best to survive indicates Championship mediocrity at it''s best unless a Lambert-style miracle occurs. Without aspiration support will dwindle. The business model will inevitably deteriorate.

"Belief, desire, togetherness etc.etc.etc." and all the other airy -fairy stuff ... my arse.

All clubs strive for this, even my Tuesday night quiz team recites that mantra on a regular basis, but at least we are amateurs making such meaningless clap-trap just harmless fun.

There will be life at Carrow Road without Delia, believe me. She is not, as she seems to think, the sole lifeblood of NCFC. She is not omnipotent.

This season represents your last throw of the dice Delia Smith. Fail and those Norfolk peasants will re-incarnate the Robert Kett spirit and you will be on your bike.

[lake district canary 4,531]

"Without aspiration support will dwindle"

It''s only a perecption that we have no aspiration. The reality is that we are just as aspirational as we always have been, but somewhere along the way, some people have jumped on a bandwagon that says otherwise.  We''ve had very little money for years and yet still had fantastic success in that time - and will do again - and with good crowds.

"The business model will inevitably deteriorate".

Nothing inevitable about. Many in the football world know we are a good club and we will always be able to attract good players, sourced either from young players in this country, from abroad, loan players from PL clubs.  The model works and will continue to work if pursued with consistency.

"Belief, desire, togetherness etc.etc.etc." and all the other airy -fairy stuff ... my arse.

All clubs strive for this"

A lot of clubs strive for it but dont actually get it.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

@ LDC.

With that reply you give the impression of somebody floating a foot or two in the air.

I''ll stick to the points I made.

The stance seems to be that once the naughty practicalities hit home the route to follow then should be one of theoretical hopefulness and that crying ''God for Delia, Norwich City and Saint Waffle'' will see us through.

It''s all very well having every sinew in the body coloured yellow and green but that doesn''t refute the fact that change can be made.

[lake district canary 4,531]

I think it''s called having a plan Broadstairs. We have a mid to long term plan, one that is based on footballing ideals and a self-sustaining basis. 

Other clubs have money - their plans inevitably focus on getting the best for their money they can and if the plan doesn''t work straight away, they spend more money....and more money.....and......

I know which I prefer.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

"A plan" being the operative statement. Just the one then?

That it might be a flawed plan cannot be denied

There are alternative plans.

Bad planning comes about when with the drip drip of gradual failure there is nothing to fall back upon.

Have we a safety net if our plan goes array ie. that dreadful thing called money that is rotten to the core of the game that we have loved so much for so long but which seems to have won the day?

[lake district canary 4,531]

The plan doesn''t go wrong if it is stuck to. It will have ups and downs, but is not a one way ticket downwards like some would have us believe.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

@ LCD.

I see your views as being as narrow as those who think that a stinking rich Chines owner, or similar, is the only way to go.

That list showed us to be the paupers of the Championship and I do not like it. Furthermore it makes us vulnerable to serious decline should this current ''plan'' fail, and fail it might.

Not only that, it reduces any chance of a return to the top table to virtually nil, barring a miracle.

It is the ordinary personified in the typical Delia Smith way. She made her name and her money based upon a rather dull and uninspiring series of cookery shows that would not get a look in these days of television super chefs, whereby even a little Asian girl plucked from a reality show exhibits more personality in one twist of the tablespoon than our Delia managed in a series of series.

It now seems likely that this is to be replicated at NCFC, the alternative, of existing in a more challenging atmosphere being uncomfortable and rather difficult to handle in the long run.

Because of this we, unlike Smith, should not block out the chance of change.

How this pans out , nobody knows, but we need extra funding one way or the other, if only to give us a bit more muscle in the transfer market when needed and hang onto a bit of talent for a bit longer. If Delia and Co. refute this then I refute them, if/when they continue to prove to be associated with failure.

Our club deserves more than to be subject to the will of one old lady and her cohorts.

[king canary 7,580]

Ooof.

It''s one thing to question her ownership, it is quite another to disparage her TV work!

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

It was successful at the time, as was Fanny Craddock, so I suppose that''s all that matters.

It was a slight breakthrough and appealed to the audience of the day so no discredit is valid.

My comparison is based upon the fact that Delia Smith''s idea of running a football club in this day and age could be seen as being as out-dated as her original television series.

She is getting on after all and in view of the common belief that resistance to change increases with age it does not forebode well for her football club.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

Edit.

I suppose last season''s revolution at the club undermines this stance, but that''s a bit away from this topic and could be seen as an attempt to retain the financial status-quo and preserve the Queendom for generations to come.

[writeronthestorm 4]

There was a study done recently (I think I saw it covered on the news) that showed revenue made from attendances is a tiny proportion of that which clubs rely on. In fact, it goes on to say that it is so insignificant ticket prices could be dropped with little to no effect on the clubs. So, if attendances did suffer, it would financially impact the club at all.

[Mello Yello 2,281]

If your financial outgoings exceed your financial incomings......Then what?......

[king canary 7,580]

That was about Premier League clubs who are flush with TV money. Lowering attendances would affect us at this level financially.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

That concerned it''s self with Premier League clubs receiving vast tv revenues..

Attendance money is crucial to a club like NCFC at this moment in time.

[Mello Yello 2,281]

@ writer.....A drop of season ticket sales Would or wouldn''t.....impact on our club?.....

I think it might......

[writeronthestorm 4]

I hadn''t realised it was a Premiership only study, I thought it was more general - my mistake

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]My comparison is based upon the fact that Delia Smith''s idea of running a football club in this day and age could be seen as being as out-dated as her original television series.[/quote]Except that even now her work is not out-dated, a huge amount of home cooks and some commercial cooks were brought up using recipes shown by Delia (and that many people just starting to experiment with cooking and baking will use), recipes that both worked AND tasted good, so what''s to criticise there?

Yes, we could laugh somewhat at outdated clothing and cheap sets from the late 70''s and early 80''s, but the core of what she was putting forward was always of a good standard, and what''s more - the industry recognised this as well.

We can''t get away from them being pretty much the least wealthy owners in the league, but taking a dig at her highly successful TV work is just a cheap shot.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="writeronthestorm"]There was a study done recently (I think I saw it covered on the news) that showed revenue made from attendances is a tiny proportion of that which clubs rely on. In fact, it goes on to say that it is so insignificant ticket prices could be dropped with little to no effect on the clubs. So, if attendances did suffer, it would financially impact the club at all.[/quote]

That is not altogether true even in the Premier League. In our last season there ticket sales were our second largest generator of income, amounting to 11 per cent of the total, which is certainly not tiny. It is probably true enough for the really big clubs that get much more TV money and vastly greater income from sponsorship and commercial activities. Not so for the likes of us.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

"Except that even now her work is not out-dated, a huge amount of home cooks and some commercial cooks were brought up using recipes shown by Delia (and that many people just starting to experiment with cooking and baking will use), recipes that both worked AND tasted good, so what''s to criticise there?

Yes, we could laugh somewhat at outdated clothing and cheap sets from the late 70''s and early 80''s, but the core of what she was putting forward was always of a good standard, and what''s more - the industry recognised this as well.

We can''t get away from them being pretty much the least wealthy owners in the league, but taking a dig at her highly successful TV work is just a cheap shot."

What tripe.

1. I was not referring to her cooking skills and legacy, about which I prefer to remain clueless, but more to the shows themselves and the bland presentation by comparison with the equivalent today.

2. Hence, it was not a "dig" at her television shows. They are, though, outdated and I compared them with the way she seems to want to run NCFC nowadays.

Read the content more carefully before getting on your high horse .

"Cheap shot?" What an exaggeration. Perhaps you should think more carefully before resorting to such second hand utterances.

Nobody was laughing as if things go wrong for her at Carrow Road it won''t be a laughing matter.

[Indy_Bones 441]

I wasn''t aware that modern cooking shows needed to be directed by Michael Bay or risk being labelled ''bland'' by not having unnecessary flash, OTT cut-scenes, or the likes of Gordon Ramsay telling everyone to "F**k off"...

What any self respecting cook should want from a cooking show is accurate information on recipes and ingredients, whilst presented in a clear to understand manner and which give good results each and every time you attempt the recipe - which is exactly what Delia offered in her shows, and to try to then draw an unnecessary parallel between that and running our club is just silly.

The way she wants to run the club is by not being reliant on multi-billionaire owners, keeping many of the great community aspects which make our club far more unique than a large percentage of our direct competitors, not getting us into crazy amounts of debt or falling foul of FPP regulations, and maintaining a direct relationship with the fans and the club instead of just turning up now and again to see how the money is being used - why do you have an issue with this approach, or are you one of those fans who would rather us be taken over by Russian Oligarchs or obscenely rich Sheikhs who know jack about our club or history and simply want to throw money at a team until they win something?

What I find tripe is the need to pick fault with our majority shareholder, on the back of a 2-0 win against a side that finished 13 points above us last season and are managed by the man we got rid of after he failed to both keep us up, and failed to take us back up despite spending a relative fortune on players who simply didn''t perform...

[Nuff Said 5,091]

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]Edit.

I suppose last season''s revolution at the club undermines this stance, but that''s a bit away from this topic and could be seen as an attempt to retain the financial status-quo and preserve the Queendom for generations to come.[/quote]

Or it *could* be seen as an attempt to give the club the best possible chance of success and build a sustainable base to ensure it survives for many years.

I could say your one-sided criticism of Delia''s career *could* be seen as evidence of your pathological hatred of an old woman and evidence of a desire to see her shamed. I don''t think it is, but that''s how you are arguing. Making thinly veiled criticisms without any evidence in the guise of reasoned debate is disingenuous at best.