Back the Board.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Why have Norwich enjoyed recent successes and why are supporters so hacked off with the current situation,simple.

The article on Worthy''s transfer and loan dealings says it all.

The Club, that means the Board and particularly the majority shareholders and through share issues the supporters, have financially backed Worthy like no other NCFC manager before him.

The only players in and out to show or likely to show significant profit are Francis and Ashton. Many others have come in for serious money and been failures. Consider too the rubbish Hamilton brought to the Club who ended up being paid up and shipped out.

This is surely unheard of in our history where we have tended to nurture talent through the ranks or by astute purchases (Townsend, Reeves, Crook, Bowen ,Mendham et al) and been primarily a selling club.

Worthington is currently bucking a trend of Norwich City buying well. He has had successes of course but the current cost to benefit ratio is well out of kilter.

In the premier league success is generally linked to income so there is a glass ceiling for all but a couple of clubs such as Charlton and Bolton.

This Board have raised the levels of non-football revenue and through clever management created the current situation where we have a 98% attendence rate with it''s season ticket policy. They have been rewarded by a Play Off Final, Championship and Premier league Season but now find themselves in a malaise.

Time to re-examine some of the former values and ensuring value for money. Time to look at the home grown players set up, look at the scouting network and look at the ethos amongst the players.

In my opinion it is time to stabilise the club, sell as necessary and consolidate in order to move on. Worthy seems to lack the ''silk purse out of sows ears'' knack and is more like a shopper let loose with someone else''s credit card.

I hope we win on Saturday because the sooner we get points on the board the sooner we can take steps at significant change as the threat of relegation will be abated.

Back the Board as they have backed the Club but demand they get more for their (and our) money.

[lucky green trainers 0]

we probably don''t need to be a selling club just yet financially, and

this is down to the board and their sound business management.

if we do sell in the transfer window, then it''ll because of our league

position - some of our quality players may want to go to further their

careers. 

I still hope, if we can get to mid table by end of year, we might not

have to sell - but realistically, we still have to win more games

against better teams to achieve that than we''ve done of late.

For all we know, the deals may already have been done.

so back the board?  there''s no other choice for now, but they''ve

gambled by keeping faith in worthy, when its clear most/many fans are

against him. we''ll know in 12/18 months if they or the fans were right.

[Tumbleweed 106]

A good post Rudolph and some interesting points. I think the Board have done a (generally) terrific job so far and you have highlighted some of the positives.

However I have three issues with them:

(1) They still posses a small club mentality. The attitude when we got promoted was embarrassing and laid the foundations for a mindset of failure. Plucky little Norwich. Norwich''s brave adventures in premier land. It was self patronising garbage. We needed to be tough- it wasn''t an adventure we wanted to stay there and survive. Those couple of points between us and survival could have been saved with a more aggressive and positive approach to the whole thing.

(2) Complacency. I feel their approach to supporters through this difficult half season has been poor. Blaming injuries, luck etc and not appearing to put any blame on Worthy was foolish. We all know about what happening on the pitch. Maybe sometimes they need to put a little pressure on. Saying that they haven''t even discussed replacing Worthy is like approving his underperformance.

(3) Your point about the youth system is also spot on. We used to rely ona production line of good young players and they were often the most exciting and best we had. Added to that a smattering of experienced quality  (like Martin Peters in the 70s) and well judged solid pros (the Culverhouses and Bowens from the late 80s) and we generally got the mix right.

Now we have a team assembled together in a rush- too many loan signings which is exactly what happened under Hamilton, and the money being squandered. That is point number 3- allowing the manager to waste the money on loans and short term thinking. Why on earth allow him to buy a Swedish international forward and stick him on the right wind where he is totally ineffective.

[Old Boy 0]

If you''re going to look at it in purely financial terms, NW and Doncaster have done pretty well. Alongside Francis and Ashton there''s Safri, and together the profits from their sales would probably wipe out the losses incurred on the others. But it''s not a straightforward financial equation - there''s the underlying strength of the club to be considered. Being a selling club cost us our Premiership status in the 90''s, and led to a long downward spiral which has only been halted in the past few years. We can''t sell our best players if we want to really build the Club into something durably successful. So then we have to buy cheap and add value, or grow our own. Either way, coaching and man management are crucial, and those areas the club needs to improve.

I do back the board - in fact I think they''re a credit to NCFC. IMO thay have the best intentions for the Club and they''ve worked very hard to stabilize it financially. But, as I said, it''s not all about finance...

[still holding out for new heroes 0]

I think weve been forced into a selling situation by worthys poor dealings in the summer leaving us with some gaps that still need filling...