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Mr.Carrow

What happened?

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    Well before the start of the season Worthy stated that the squad would require 5 additions and anyone leaving would have to be replaced, citing the greater number of games to be played and greater likelyhood of injurys. At the time i was very encouraged by this statement, but why on earth did we end up going into the season with a much smaller squad (one of the smallest in the Championship) including 4 keepers and several kids the manager is loathe to play? We actually started the season with a left-back in central midfield.

   I dont believe for a second that Worthy had an abundance of money but refused to spend it, IMO the board at some point after this statement must have taken him aside and told him that he would have to make do with a skeleton squad. The biggest mistake Worthy made at this point was to go back totally on his earlier statement and declare himself "happy with the squad i have got" "wealth of midfielders"etc. when it was utterly obvious that such a paper thin squad could NEVER mount a serious promotion challenge.

   The fact is that despite 26million in tv money and parachute payments,the share money,hotel money and write-off of G.Watlings loan the board have only managed to free up 3million in transfer fees (if you take into account incoming fees-Jonsson,Francis etc.) since promotion. Our transfer `balance` this season is almost exactly the same as ipswich`s and we all know what an appalling financial position they are in. Is this prudence? I think a better phrase would be "gross negligence" in allowing the major "product" of your business to become so weak in the most financially rewarding period of the clubs history.

   And before people reply bleating on about debts, we have no money etc. perhaps they should ask themselves why the board saw fit to spend another 1 million on even more land not so long ago? Hardly the actions of a club desperately hoarding every last penny.

   It is interesting that Doncasters statement in the accounts asserts that "any investment in any promising player represents a huge financial outlay and,therefore,a huge risk.", yet i have never heard any board member mention the inherent risk in NOT investing in promising players. How much of a risk would it have been to have signed Crouch for 2 million at the start of last season? We knew he was a good player, he liked it here, and when he moved to Southampton he nearly kept them up and was subsequently sold for a 5 million profit. The balance of risk/reward was very obviously favourable in that instance yet as usual the powers that be took the ultra cautous/negative stance that it might not work out. This stance has now been carried on into this season and the prevailing mentality that "spending money on the team to try to be promoted is a huge risk" is now "risking" relegation and the club capitulating.

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Spot on Mr Carrow (are you still in the building?).

Also cast your mind back to the City teams of the early to mid nineties when we were a selling club but because of this were willing to speculate on players that might make a profit. Fleck, Townshend, Phelan, Bruce etc. We also did very well from selling home grown talent; Sutton, Fox, Eadie, O''Neill, Johnson, Bellamy, Akinbiyi, Cureton etc. I am not advocating selling our best players but to me it is not a bad policy to purchase some players with a view for making a profit without major detriment to the team. NW just seems to release players for nothing - why couldn''t we have signed Crow for 3 years, loaned him out to Peterborough for a season and either kept him if he was good enough or sold him on at a profit? We got Edworthy for nothing and sold him for....................oh yes we gave him away because he wanted more money and now he is playing for...............another Champioship team who are doing better than us.

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[quote]Spot on Mr Carrow (are you still in the building?). Also cast your mind back to the City teams of the early to mid nineties when we were a selling club but because of this were willing to speculate o...[/quote]

   He he, i`m not sure why the club keep telling everyone which stand i`m in, very disconcerting....!

    Back to the serious stuff. Totally agree about Crow but you have to wonder whether Worthy really knew how weak a squad he would be going into the season with when he released all those players. To be honest I watched pre-season unfold with increasing horror-remember the club haggling for for weeks over a few 100k for Andy Hughes? I kept telling myself it was a smokescreen and just a warm-up before the real signings came in (Koumas? Sidwell?). Then Francis went and i thought "well the club cant make out they cant afford a decent replacement". Oh dear. Utter shambles.

   On the thread titled "Prudence with ambition?" there are some excellent points made about the board and the chilling spectre of Chase is raised. I sincerely hope they will never get that bad but some of the comments made recently (since promotion in fact) have been quite alarming. Add to Doncasters one above, Delia`s "we`re just a little club, we`re little Norwich" last season and Munby`s, again in the accounts, "If our destiny were tied to current finance, we would settle somewhere in the middle of the Championship". Thats right Mr.Munby, the Championship is just awash with teams who`ve just recieved a 20million bonus with 12million more to come over the next 2 seasons,who can sell 20,000 season tickets and sell out a 26,000 stadium every game,isn`t it??! He also states that we have been "punching above our weight" in recent seasons. We currently have the 16th highest gates in the country and would be higher still if we could fit more in, so based on level of support we should be a Premiership club. Anyone think the board are a teensy bit scared of this idea?

   The club has grown enormously since the last regime was ousted, which should come as no suprise as the potential has always been there, but IMO the mentality of the people in charge has not grown with it.

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Great posts Mr.Carrow.To back you up I have found the relevant press release from June;

Meanwhile City boss Nigel Worthington revealed his summer shopping plan yesterday - to add five extra bodies to his squad before the start of City''s Championship season.

“That''s what we''re looking to do - to add at least another five to the current squad,” said the Norwich boss, currently sifting through potential transfer targets with his No 2 Doug Livermore and the club''s chief scout, Alan Wood.

With Marc Edworthy, Danny Crow, Graham Stuart and Phil Mulryne all released at the end of the season and David Bentley now back in the Arsenal fold, Worthington currently has 22 professional players on his books, including teenage keeper Joe Lewis.

Bolting on five new faces would, therefore, take the professional playing staff back up to this season''s level numbers-wise.

Svensson''s impending departure would merely find Worthington gunning for the round half-dozen as he looks to keep the numbers up.

“If Matt or anyone else did decide to leave then we would be looking to replace those people as well,” said Worthington, ever anxious to match quantity with quality as the Canaries look to confirm their status as English football''s latest yo-yo club by bouncing back into the Premiership at the first available opportunity.

“That''s what we''ve got to be looking to do - to bring quality in,” said Worthington. “Good characters, good athletes and after that it''s just a case of getting ready to go again.”

As you correctly ask,What Happened ?

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Very good points everybody.How often have we heard, this season, that ''We''ve been trying to get someone in but it''s not happening''? Why not? Are agents looking for too much for their clients wages, because they know we have the parachute? Are other clubs unwilling to help us become a bit bigger? Are players unwilling to use the A11?Surely there must be 6 players out there who are good enough, prepared to come to Norwich and don''t want a king''s ransom to play here? Perhaps we should take out adverts in the national press, inviting interested players to contact us, then Worthy could see if any of them were on his wish list. Let''s face it, we could hardly look more comical than we already do!Anybody got time to spare to hang around Colney for a fortnight - this might just be when we''re trying to impress a couple of people with an international break to fill?

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