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Bury Green

Smith & Jones, I'm worried

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The consensus view seems to be that we have been lied to with the sale of Ashton to Wet Sham, what surprises me is how shocked some of you are.

 

For those of you had the deeply unpleasant experience of attending the clubs AGM will know the  entire meeting was utterly rammed full of spin and bull on a scale Rudolph Hess would have been proud of.  The handling of the Ashton transfer is simply more of the same.

 

Asides from taking questions from friendly faces and boring us to death with the clubs activities in the community (worthwhile enough but not what I went to listen to)  it worried me how out of touch they had become.

 

Ten years ago their mandate was to listen and to never be in a position where the club was owned or controlled by one person.  The central tenants of their regime are broken and will take a long time to heal.

 

Smith & Jones own the controlling interest in the club, furthermore in the year of our promotion the clubs balance sheet increased by £7.5 million.  It pays to think long and hard about that fact, that’s a pretty damn good result and if anybody with the wherewithal did want to buy their share holding it’s certainly going to cost them for the privilege. 

 

What’s more,  at the previous AGM around a year ago we were told that the club were able to buy Dean Ashton as a result of share holders electing not to redeem them and of course due to the generous legacy  of Geoffrey Watling’s estate, namely the cancellation of his loan to the club.

 

So in summary, after having been promoted to the Premiership we spent twice the square route of  FA trying to stay there and only when we were looking like certainties for the drop did we buy a decent striker.  Even then it was only after the fans elected not to redeem their shares and Geoffrey Watling even after he had passed on came to the clubs rescue once again.

 

 Stirring stuff indeed, oh how I will enjoy reading  Neil Doncaster in the EDP this week, more verses from the Ladybird book of ‘How to run a football club for beginners’ 

 

To conclude, I really don’t buy into the Smith & Jones benevolent society and as for the farce of them loaning the club money to buy Robinson!  Don’t insult my intelligence; you own 51% of a club that has a balance sheet worth of millions with even more to come once the next round of land sales is completed.

 

I suggest that if you haven’t its well worth getting hold of the last set of accounts and look at the facts, I’m not lying and genuinely feel we are heading rapidly towards the end of the Chase era all over again when people wake up to what’s been going on.

 

Still we can rest easy that Roy Waller will be asking the testing sorts of questions we need answered.

 

“You gota say that if Fulham hadn’t have scored six goals we’d still be in the premiership”

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What an excellent summing up of where we are now Bury.

While I agree with a lot you have said, and especially the likening to Chase, just seeing that word again in print makes me shiver.  I have a lot of respect for Delia and her board and really believe their hearts are in the club for its football, not just to make money.  However, I do agree there are lots of things I would like answered - not least why they persist with a manager who is not delivering.

They need to wake up and realise this season is over for us.  Time to think about how to rebuild.  Keep the Ashton money to buy off the managerial contracts, and look for a hungry young manager who has ambition.  Also, someone who will restore us to playing some decent football.  Saturday, like many other matches this season, was a complete joke.  I thought I was watching one of my son''s old schoolboy games.

We need to get enough points to survive, which won''t be as easy as some think.  We need to get someone in, let him start to sort out the deadwood and rebuild.  Also, please get someone in who will give our young players a chance.  If we are in this division for three or four seasons rebuilding and bringing on our youngsters I am happy with that as long as we can get back to playing decent passing football.

Oh, and no more scans please!  Or should that read scam.

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My big issue is with the sacred cow Smith rather than Jones, and her mythical single handed ''saving'' of Norwich City FC, there were I believe, others waiting in the wings to ride to our alleged rescue!.

Also she and Jones have, despite the best advice given, gained a controlling shareholding. Couple that with her embarrasing speeches, sucking up to her celebrity pals, self promotion and her ''little Norwich'' mentality, proves to me we must ditch her to go foward.

In the past posters would scoff at my postings, sadly a lot of what I said back then is coming true!.

Don''t say you wasn''t warned.

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Thought provoking stuff Bury.

I do not agree that we have insincere people owning and running our club but I do believe the Club has taken to believing in it''s own spin and publicity and needs to re-address it''s relationship with it''s supporters.

Part of the problem has been the growing pains caused by the enlargement of the support and their increased aspirations. We are not at present a cosy family club with 12 000 attendences, we have doubled but the club has not adapted to the change, this is revealed in some posts which have spoken about the support shrinking back to a number which i think some fans actually feel comfortable with.

The club needs to look at methods for addressing it''s relationship, it is not too far off I suspect but some adjustment is necessary.

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to be honest Wiz i agree.. i have said on here before Look at Birmingham then look at us...

on one side u have Karen Brady, a Business woman who comes out in the media and is quite clear with the direction she wants Birmingham to go in, and how she is going to try and get them there... she also publicly said that Steve Bruce needs to turn it around at St Andrews and Quickly!

on the other hand you have Delia smith.. who "wanted to give Nigel a great big cuddle" after the 6-0 defeat at fulham, who looked at "litle Norwich on their big premiership adventure!" and who "thinks the supporters are the best fans in the world!"

pass me a sick bucket please!

I know who id rather have at the club.. a business woman who can make cut throat decisions and not think shes in some kind of "happy place" where the grass is always green and everything smells of roses...

Delia is a chef.. she isnt cut throat enough....

jas :)

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The only thing you can truly lay at her feet is why she is still persisting with Nigel. Now many of us would have taken action by now- do we condemn her for not buckling to pressure and making sure that the "stability" benefit has long since been exhausted? We all know how disruptive the managerial merry go round can be and none of us want a knee jerk reaction. It has taken most of us a long time to get to the point where we want a change in manager. I genuinely believe that Delia is concerned, and while I praise her for not being a Doug Ellis or Rupert Lowe, she must surely realise that the time to act is upon her and that we, her customers, need some reassurances on this front.

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[quote user="1st Wizard"]

My big issue is with the sacred cow Smith rather than Jones, and her mythical single handed ''saving'' of Norwich City FC, there were I believe, others waiting in the wings to ride to our alleged rescue!.

Also she and Jones have, despite the best advice given, gained a controlling shareholding. Couple that with her embarrasing speeches, sucking up to her celebrity pals, self promotion and her ''little Norwich'' mentality, proves to me we must ditch her to go foward.

In the past posters would scoff at my postings, sadly a lot of what I said back then is coming true!.

Don''t say you wasn''t warned.

[/quote]

 

Wizard, just a quick lunchtime post and I’ll be back for more later on.

 

When the Chase era was nearing an ugly end there were in fact a few options on the table to take over the share holding.

 

He met with an Aldo Spinelli who at the time was owner of Torino in Italy who fancied having an English arm to his operation, for what its worth he now owns Livorno who are doing pretty damn well in Serie A I believe.

 

There was of course the first attempt by Colin Davey to own the club and I know for a fact that Colin met chase at Halvergate Hall to discuss a possible deal. 

 

As an amusing aside, he once  told me that Chase kept all the hate mail pinned to the wall of his study to cheer him up!  For what it’s worth Colin Davey is indeed a Norwich City fan and pulled his stunt of courting Ipswich only after he had been shown the door by Smith & Jones as an act of spite.

 

Whether you would ant a character like Colin at the club is another matter but if we wanted our very own Simon Jordan he’d be your man.

 

There was also an attempt by a consortium headed up by a local business man called I think Harry Surius sp. I think but it’s 10 years ago and my memory is not so good on that one.

 

The main point here is back then there were potential takers for the club and of huge importance is to recognise that it was not Smith & Jones who bought the Chase share holding it was the late and very great Geoffrey Watling, a man who without doubt is the greatest Canary legend of all time for all that he did. 

 

Once he had secured the ownership of the Chase shares he then passed them on to Smith & Jones.  Once again it pays to consider this fact as it is hugely different from the common media perception of what happened.

 

And what now?  The club is a hugely attractive proposition for somebody who wanted to get into Premiership football, we have a an enormously healthy balance sheet with yet more to follow upon the realisation of the nest phase of property assets together with a fantastic level of support that needs a stadium of no less than 30,000.  We are not the ever so humble club from the backwaters some might have you all believe.

 

And in the world of Roy Waller

 

“The balls with Sutch and under no pressure at all he puts the ball into touch, throw in  Port Vale”

 

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A few abusive words & phrases Rudolph?, you should catch me on carrow road net my friend!.

Seriously, where are those abusive words mate?, if the dear moderators would give me one un-editored post, you mght have some weight to add to your arguements.

But with them on here I''m just a pussycat mate!.

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Quite right Wizard. No abusive words just a set of ordinary words put together to make some abusive sentences.

I have criticised Delia for her on the pitch outburst but believe she is one of the most genuine people I have ever met, can you say the same thing about yourself?

Presently she might be criticised for showing loyalty to Worthington through friendship when a more dispassionate approach would IMO be better. However, I would prefer Delia to any money laundering Russian, dodgy businessman or Asia despot.

We might have sold Ashton but we haven''t sold our soul.

Things do need rectifying but nothing is perfect. The Ashton deal was well done IMO and will prove to be right in the future although I anticipate Ashton might do well in the West Ham system.

Foul and abusive language impresses me not. Good reasoned arguement and posters who stick to their convictions do.

I have no intention of seeing you demean yourself further on an unmoderated site.

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Just  by saying so, you''ve implied I''ve used foul and abusive language on here, I don''t need to do that to easily rebuff your  looney claims that the Ashton saga resulted in a good deal for City.

We stand to make only a derisory 2, yes £2 million on him, why even the spammers say he''s a steal!.  Ten million would have been fairer in todays market, and may I point out Palace told AJ that he was staying, and after throwing his toys about a bit, he''s stayed.

Mind you Jordan has guts, our board doesn''t!.

I trust you have proof about any potenial Russian entrauperner''s miss-dealings, otherwise you''re in dead lumber matey.

See, never swore once, did I?.

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So, as soon as a transfer takes place that is a record for both Norwich and West Ham, out come the Laurel & Hardy duo that just loves to put down anyone on a Norwich City board of directors. Of course, I''m speaking about Bury Green and 1st Wizard. Both individuals are happy to eat off the same plate and drink from the same bottle as long as the venom they spew is directed toward Delia and Company, or anyone else who is holding the office at a moment in time. My guess is that whatever club in the country you two aligned yourself to, you would be taking a similar stance against the board of directors. Your problem is not with this board, it is any board.

I have received darts from you before Bury Green during your infrequent appearances on this message board in attempting to brush aside my opinion because I am over here. Don''t waste your keystrokes on that same old chestnust...it''s like water off a duck''s back to me. Exactly what is it you are worried about? You say the club took a healthier balance sheet into the Premiership. What would you prefer....that we were heading in the other direction? Besides, if you and your cauldron-sniffing partner in crime were investing in a risky proposition as majority shareholders, wouldn''t you hope to reap the significant rewards if things improved, or are you communists? Are the Norwich stands looking like an ancient relic or are you seeing improvements? Is the pitch a cow pasture or is it looking better than ever? Are we financially lagging compared to our neighbours to the south? Yes, we''ve got a manager who''s gone past his sell date but bigger clubs than us have that problem and I believe it will be dealt with soon and a breath of fresh air will emerge on that front. 

Innuendo is what you use to say that we are heading back to the Chase era. Well, if you have the facts as far as the accounts are concerned to substantiate the "Chase direction", let''s have them....no need to be shy. Better that than spreading venom into the minds of posters on this message board at a time when they are hurting. Oh, of course I forget, that''s exactly the time you like to pounce, right?

Gazza, I''m confused by your message. On the one hand you seem to be condoning the thrust of this thread but, on the other, say that you have alot of respect for Delia and the board who you believe are in the club because their hearts are here and not for the money. That''s not the position of these Suffolk sinners ( I''m beginning to think they are double agents ). I know how you feel Gazza, the same as many of us. Worthington needs to go, and quickly, and the club needs to start fresh and get back to playing football. I think Worthy was given too much tenure in his last contract renewal...we should have called his bluff at that time. But the board will learn from that. All of those concerns and frustrations are adequately represented on other threads however. To add them here just adds fuel to the wrong fire that Bury Green is attempting to get started. Despite our current frustration, the manager front would not likely have been dealt with in any club sooner than just a few months ago, so we''re running a little late. A change in control of the club is a much more perilous proposition and, IMO I would wager, if one of those silly polls was undertaken on that front, Delia and company would probably command 95% support level, MINIMUM.  

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Whilst I agree that there is a lot of unacceptable spin Bury, I still find it somewhat surprising that so many of you get uptight when the club ''lie'' about a sale yet are more than happy when they ''lie'' or remain ''silent'' about a purchase such as Ashton & Huckerby. It is the way NCFC do things - yes it can be frustrating but can also produce some exciting purchases.

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It''s the way EVERY club does things breaker, they have no choice if

they are to secure the best deals for themselves. Calling it ''lying'' is

just nonsense and it has really wound me up! I''ve posted repeatedly on

the subjuect and while there are plenty of people who understand, there

are just as many who are either too hysterical, emotional, upset or,

i''m afraid, just plain stupid to get it in their heads that the club

has lied to no-one. No doubt the "contact made after cup game" story

will prompt another round of ''lie'' accusations. But the fact is, as

i''ve already mentioned, if the people on here were journalists writing

in the press, they''d have been sued for slander by now because there''s

not a single peice of evidence that points to lying that would stand up

in a court.

Misled, maybe, but as you, me and others have repeatedly pointed out,

the club has to behave this way in the modern transfer market to secure

the best deal.

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