Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
ricardo

Ricardo's report AGM 2019

Recommended Posts

There was a fair old turnout tonight and I was very grateful that my old workmate Roger Smith had saved me a seat close to the front and everyone appeared to be in good spirits. Fortunately for the Board we got the points on Saturday else the mood of the shareholders might not have been so friendly. The early business was concluded quite quickly with both Stephan Phillips and MWJ been re-elected to the Board unopposed.

Ben Dack then gave us a rundown on the finances most of which you will know from reading the accounts. A few of the points I picked up on were as follows. Last years income was £36.5 million while this years income will be £126 million but costs will go up from £42 to £81 million. Ben stressed the point about the increases in players contracts and their promotion bonus. The losses of £33 million this season should turn into a profit of £16 million next season.

Zoe Ward next gave us an overview of what they had been doing regarding the training ground upgrade and the first phase of The Nest. We also had the now customary promotional video showing the players enjoying the new facilities and the community work now going on at The Nest. Good to see our club at the forefront of this sort of thing. Zoe stated that the object was to make the club one of the top 26 in the country and thus recognising the difficulty of permanent Premier membership.

Questions were fairly routine stuff for us regular attendees. Money for transfers, Ground expansion,  Sponsorship deals and are we selling anyone in January just about covers it.

There will be money available should we need someone in the window but Stuart Webber was obviously cagey about how much and of course the usual mantra about not needing to sell with the observation that of course everyone has a price. So nothing we didn't know or suspect already.

Somebody had a moan about the shirt sponsorship and various other commercial failings but was quickly silenced by Ben Kensall's claim that commercial income had increased by 83%. Mr Kensall also said that there would be an announcement on away membership some time before Xmas.

Daniel was asked about VAR and largely said what most of us think. There are some good and bad points that need to be ironed out but we must try to keep stoppages to the minimum.

The main point of interest for me was that there now seems to be some serious thought going into ground expansion. The recent purchase of two strips of ground, (one alongside the main stand and the other behind the Barclay) make it possible to begin to plan for developments on that larger footprint. Ben Kensell stressed that this was still very much long term with all the usual caveats about Premiership money etc etc. Call me a pessimist but I doubt very much if we are talking about anything starting within 3-5 year timescale. However for those expansionists among us it is a straw to cling to.

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 8

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I hope at some point to be taking my soon-to-be-born daughter to a 40,000 seater Carrow Road sometime in the years to come. A long way from those days gone by in the old South stand family enclosure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

I hope at some point to be taking my soon-to-be-born daughter to a 40,000 seater Carrow Road sometime in the years to come. A long way from those days gone by in the old South stand family enclosure.

I expect I shall be watching from the old South stand in the sky when that happens😉

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Pretty negative remark that we want to be a top 26 club which was picked up by one of the floor

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, daly said:

Pretty negative remark that we want to be a top 26 club which was picked up by one of the floor

Well you're one of our resident experts in negative remarks daly so I guess you should know.......................

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 minutes ago, daly said:

Pretty negative remark that we want to be a top 26 club which was picked up by one of the floor

Not really. It was a recognition of reality in that if we can't be a permanent member of the Premiership we need to be at least challenging in the top 6 of the Championship.

I realise that doesn't please everybody but it fairly reflects our historical status.

Edited by ricardo
  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, Thirsty Lizard said:

Well you're one of our resident experts in negative remarks daly so I guess you should know.......................

Idiot

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, ricardo said:

I expect I shall be watching from the old South stand in the sky when that happens😉

It’s acceptable to take a child to a game at what, 6 months I reckon?! Just stick around until July Ricky! 👍

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Funny reply from MWJ when somebody suggested that The City Stand should be named after Duncan Forbes in that he did not think Geoffrey Watling would be too impressed.

I wonder where the person asking whether the membership scheme would be reviewed had been these last few months whilst all the consultation meetings had been taken place.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, daly said:

Pretty negative remark that we want to be a top 26 club which was picked up by one of the floor

I would have thought the ambition was to be a long term premiership club so yes you are right in that it's more negative than a lot of what our fans would be wanting. Guess it covers getting relegated again...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

I would have thought the ambition was to be a long term premiership club so yes you are right in that it's more negative than a lot of what our fans would be wanting. Guess it covers getting relegated again...

I am a great believer in setting achievable targets (Something the Labour Party knows nothing about). If we set being in the Prem every year as our target then we might fail by May next year. We've shown that we can get promoted by recruiting the right people, as opposed to just spending money. The aim now is to make that mantra of "The Right People" permanent.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Brilliant PR use of the land purchase scheme . Great story , uses up audience time , deflects from more pressing questions about real chances of survival given our income streams , and the membership schemes take a back seat.

 Fact is this isn’t going to happen for many years - these guys (BK , SW ) will be long gone by then. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
34 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

Brilliant PR use of the land purchase scheme . Great story , uses up audience time , deflects from more pressing questions about real chances of survival given our income streams , and the membership schemes take a back seat.

 Fact is this isn’t going to happen for many years - these guys (BK , SW ) will be long gone by then. 

All I can say to that GP, is there was adequate time to ask those questions but they weren't asked. In fact we finished earlier than usual when the questions dried up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Jobsworth Canary said:

If ever you wanted proof of a board without ambition last night sealed the deal top 26 club 

what a joke! 

To be fair, no team out side the top 6-8 could state with certainty that they can survive long term in the Prem. The board know it and so do we.

Therefore to be realistic an aim to always be in either the Prem or pushing for promotion is reasonable. Looking at a number of teams there we have had just as long a stay in this league as others, albeit we are a yo-yo club at present.

So, not a joke but a reachable and probable prediction/aim.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

10 years ago we were a league 1 team. There were 44 teams above us by default.

The board want us in a position that as and when we do fall out of the premier league we are one of the front runners to get back into it with a real shot at a top 6 championship finish most seasons. 

That's not lacking ambition that's a goal that the club and foundations can be built towards.

I remember when QPR survived with us in 2012 their fans genuinely thought they'd go on to become a champions League club with the board they had at the time and a new stadium/training ground on the way. All that money spent and where are they now?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Surely there is a difference between what might be "par" (i.e. top 26 club) and what your "target" or "aim" should be (i.e. top 17 club - staying in the premier league for as long as possible).

It might be an understandable failure given our resources but I would still regard any season where we get relegated from the premier league as a failure and I think the club should too. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Jobsworth Canary said:

Let’s put it another way , we have been a top 26 team for the past 10 plus team most years

so they want to maintain the status quo rather than have any ambition at all!

I would rather have had our last 10 years than say Evertons. We have had some incredible highs and lows and somehow we have kept in the race for the PL. Despite our finances.

 I do have a fear that we could eventually drift towards mid championship level without increased finance and a larger stadium plus the associated add ons. However, there currently is a switched on team running NCFC and long may it continue.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Surely there is a difference between what might be "par" (i.e. top 26 club) and what your "target" or "aim" should be (i.e. top 17 club - staying in the premier league for as long as possible).

It might be an understandable failure given our resources but I would still regard any season where we get relegated from the premier league as a failure and I think the club should too. 

Jimbo, your expectations for our club is much lower than the boards. Your ambition is for someone else's money.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 minutes ago, Jobsworth Canary said:

If ever you wanted proof of a board without ambition last night sealed the deal top 26 club 

what a joke! 

Really

If I could be garunteed that it would be amazing at best in EPL at worst in the Championship Play Offs. This would match lots of other clubs that many would consider much bigger than us. Leeds for instance claim they are an EPL club but realistically are this a top 26 club, WBA the same and even Wolves as good as they are now know they are only a seasons mishaps away from Championship football. Had Webber have said there is no chance of going down and we did I am sure you would be saying that his comments were a joke. It’s a case of getting better each year but at the same time realising the better we become the more attractive our successful players are, but also the more likely that successful players want to strengthen us.

At least we can now plan for likely outcomes ie Webber has already said every player has a value and we can say with the likes of Byram and Cantwell taking their chances these sales, such as Maddison, will see us move to the next level rather than weaken us. Selling the likes of Aaron’s and Beundia for ridiculous money would not hurt us in the same way as these sort of sales did in the past. Look at Leicester, even with all their money they sell top, top players ( Kante, McGuire And Mahrez ) for ridiculous money, yet sign virtual Unknown’s and untested ( yes Maddison was untested at the next level ) and finish up with better players and a better team at a fraction of the cost.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, ricardo said:

Not really. It was a recognition of reality in that if we can't be a permanent member of the Premiership we need to be at least challenging in the top 6 of the Championship.

I realise that doesn't please everybody but it fairly reflects our historical status.

I agree , we'll just have to accept that I guess... viewing the financial figures and comparing them... 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks by the way Ricardo for the great report.

The comments re the expansion do seem to tie in with what I reported he said from the consultations. I have a sneaky feeling though that this is moving a bit quicker than you think. I base that on Webber only being here now for a limited time, would he not want this as a legacy if possible, the repaying of the 1 bond ( lots of people making a profit ) so lots of people ready to risk their hard earned cash in another project and Webber and Kensell don’t throw money away so even if it was cheap why specifically buy the land now if it was not going to be used as other than our stadium this as he said at the consultation is waste land.

My fear with a 35000 - 40000 seater stadium is that the people of Norfolk do not in the future lend their support and we finish up with a half full stadium lacking atmosphere, but that’s just a personal thought I know many are in favour.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, Well b back said:

 

My fear with a 35000 - 40000 seater stadium is that the people of Norfolk do not in the future lend their support and we finish up with a half full stadium lacking atmosphere, but that’s just a personal thought I know many are in favour.

Indeed, I think most people have seen my stats on this point. Increasing population may fill the gap long term but I am dubious that we need anything bigger than 35k long term.

And I also rate it happening anytime soon as very long odds.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, ricardo said:

Indeed, I think most people have seen my stats on this point. Increasing population may fill the gap long term but I am dubious that we need anything bigger than 35k long term.

And I also rate it happening anytime soon as very long odds.

OK, but don't we agree that CR is too small? I mean the fact that I haven't been able to obtain home tickets regularly for league games in the last 2 years since moving away from Norwich says enough. And my uncle is a ST holder! 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...