Delia and current ownership

[nutty nigel 7,506]

18 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

Have you a link to the interview Delia and MWJ did following relegation last season, they must have done one surely ?

This was released today and came up on my YouTube feed. No idea about last season. 

Did you enjoy it?

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

21 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

Have you a link to the interview Delia and MWJ did following relegation last season, they must have done one surely ?

She did one after Portsmouth away ten years ago saying we’d never have money worries again 🤣

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

3 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

This was released today and came up on my YouTube feed. No idea about last season. 

Did you enjoy it?

I don’t think you need to watch it to guess how it goes. 

[king canary 7,562]

3 hours ago, HazzaJet said:

I have learning difficulties and so don’t really know anything about shareholding and or much about us, but am I right in thinking that being a self funded club means that Delia doesn’t provide any funding for our finances and we have to earn the money ourself via TV rights, tickets, transfer fees etc? I’ve also seen a post on a list of arguments related to “Delia Out” someone saying the the last thing you want is a billionaire who just uses the club to fund their business. Am I right in thinking that the Glazers take most of money Manure earn for themselves, and Marcus Evans did similar?

Iwan Roberts also said on our last promotion, that “breaking the bank” is not always the solution to PL survival which is true - Fulham spent £104m when promoted in 2018 but went straight back down, and have also done so this season. Villa spent £140m in 2019 and only just scraped survival.

If we require wealthy owners to survive in the PL - how come we spent 3 seasons in it from 2011-14? If you ask me it was Hughton who let us down.

Please tell me if I’m wrong though 

While you're generally on point, the part in bold is important- the continued financial arms race that is Premier League football means that it is impossible to compare between now and 10 years ago.

[birchfest 397]

I do love reading the fairly deluded fans on here who appear to believe their is a large list of foreign billionaires cueing up to buy us and it’s only Delia standing between us and being the next Man City. It’s quite enjoyable to see us doing well and knowing that ultimately our owners haven’t put a foot wrong in the last three years, whilst we have seen countless other clubs in all sorts of problems as a result of bad ownership.

 

To be honest if your of the opinion we need a stinking rich owner to take over, I naturally assume you stand completely against the model of being run debt free and focusing on bringing up young (an often British) talent. Probably means you don’t really get a stake in celebrating our win seeing as you despise how we do things, seem to not appreciate the work done by Farke and Webber, and would rather have seen us sign some donkeys those years ago than play Max, Ben, Jamal and Todd.

Edited May 16, 2021 by birchfest

[essex canary 490]

An interesting video and clearly given the whole spectrum of the last 25 years they are entitled to give themselves a pat on the back for footballing performance particularly since 2009. The way they express themselves is nonetheless very curious at times. I wonder if the CEO who initially had little enthusiasm for developing the Catering service is the same one who eventually got paid £1,000 per day bonus for the performance of same in a relegation season? Why was it so necessary for Stuart Webber to transform the Club post David McNally? ( I agree that it was but why do they agree?) And in the final analysis the people who paid for the training ground development and heaps of interest besides were the shareholders that is 53% themselves, 16% Michael Foulger and 31% the remaining shareholders who had no democratic vote on the process.

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

2 minutes ago, essex canary said:

An interesting video and clearly given the whole spectrum of the last 25 years they are entitled to give themselves a pat on the back for footballing performance particularly since 2009. The way they express themselves is nonetheless very curious at times. I wonder if the CEO who initially had little enthusiasm for developing the Catering service is the same one who eventually got paid £1,000 per day bonus for the performance of same in a relegation season? Why was it so necessary for Stuart Webber to transform the Club post David McNally? ( I agree that it was but why do they agree?) And in the final analysis the people who paid for the training ground development and heaps of interest besides were the shareholders that is 53% themselves, 16% Michael Foulger and 31% the remaining shareholders who had no democratic vote on the process.

Fair play to you for watching it all, I lasted 12 minutes then switched to  Alex Tettey’s last ever interview which was the wiser choice me thinks. 

[Mitte3 4]

It’s weird how differently we view people. I’ve always noticed the Delia out crowd can get quite vocal but it’s usually reserved for relegation years. 

If anything Delia is currently held in as high regard by me as she ever has been. She’s been honest, consistent with what she’s stated her plans for the club are and is highly praised for her leadership and conduct by many in the game. Considering what the owners of the big 6 tried to do just weeks ago it should really be considered that one of the only things people have on Delia is a half time drunken address to the crowd in 2005…..

so aside from the mention of Leicester above by Til1010 - who’s owners admittedly tick every box. Who else would you guys want as owners? Any of the big 6? Tony Fernandez was popular at one point, as was Mel Morris at Derby. 
 

I saw a suggestion by the Leeds fan Lowfields that Delia takes money out of the club! I didn’t see that corrected by anyone in the thread but I’ve been under the assumption that any money we’ve earned has gone back into the club one way or the other. Perhaps I'm mistaken. But if it is the case some of you really should make that your focal point as that would surely get more people onside….

[hogesar 9,610]

8 hours ago, birchfest said:

I do love reading the fairly deluded fans on here who appear to believe their is a large list of foreign billionaires cueing up to buy us and it’s only Delia standing between us and being the next Man City. It’s quite enjoyable to see us doing well and knowing that ultimately our owners haven’t put a foot wrong in the last three years, whilst we have seen countless other clubs in all sorts of problems as a result of bad ownership.

 

To be honest if your of the opinion we need a stinking rich owner to take over, I naturally assume you stand completely against the model of being run debt free and focusing on bringing up young (an often British) talent. Probably means you don’t really get a stake in celebrating our win seeing as you despise how we do things, seem to not appreciate the work done by Farke and Webber, and would rather have seen us sign some donkeys those years ago than play Max, Ben, Jamal and Todd.

It is quite comical. But it's not a problem. Those that want rid of Delia are in such small numbers that they're completely irrelevant - the best they've managed over the past 10 years is £70 towards flying a banner over Carrow Road. It shows just how little they actually care about the club.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 hour ago, Mitte3 said:

It’s weird how differently we view people. I’ve always noticed the Delia out crowd can get quite vocal but it’s usually reserved for relegation years. 

If anything Delia is currently held in as high regard by me as she ever has been. She’s been honest, consistent with what she’s stated her plans for the club are and is highly praised for her leadership and conduct by many in the game. Considering what the owners of the big 6 tried to do just weeks ago it should really be considered that one of the only things people have on Delia is a half time drunken address to the crowd in 2005…..

so aside from the mention of Leicester above by Til1010 - who’s owners admittedly tick every box. Who else would you guys want as owners? Any of the big 6? Tony Fernandez was popular at one point, as was Mel Morris at Derby. 
 

I saw a suggestion by the Leeds fan Lowfields that Delia takes money out of the club! I didn’t see that corrected by anyone in the thread but I’ve been under the assumption that any money we’ve earned has gone back into the club one way or the other. Perhaps I'm mistaken. But if it is the case some of you really should make that your focal point as that would surely get more people onside….

Great first post. Welcome to the board.

Binner.

[ged in the onion bag 854]

19 hours ago, Uncle Fred said:

It’s a choice between Nepotism Tom or a stinking rich Chinese owner, my view are well known on the subject

Come on Uncle, articulate your 'view'!    That should be interesting.   You bleat on and on but never give it any substance.

As for you calling our owners 'The Stowmarket 2', thats just disrespectful and not what our club is about, not what they deserve either.        

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

18 minutes ago, ged in the onion bag said:

Come on Uncle, articulate your 'view'!    That should be interesting.   You bleat on and on but never give it any substance.

As for you calling our owners 'The Stowmarket 2', thats just disrespectful and not what our club is about, not what they deserve either.        

Freddo is a pr@t , he's made that so clear over the years and the name changes. He just trots out the same old carp every season. Also he's not as tough as he makes out as he blocks anyone who takes him on. Try it.....he has no comeback at all, no depth to his argument, nada, zilch, zip, sweet FA. Laughable Troll.

[Yobocop 1,094]

Delia and Michael have continually reinvented the club and in its current incarnation we could go our highest yet under their stewardship 

There was always a bigger picture to last seasons £1m (war chest) and the club have been able to change beyond recognition since 

The playing style last season coupled with the recruitment this season and the future investment in the playing squad will stand us in good stead for staying up next season 

The work Stuart Webber has done will last infinitely longer than his time at the club and it all comes back to the decision our majority shareholders made to appoint him 

They will be first to admit they have made mistakes but equally they have done a lot of good things all of which leave the club in a much better place than they found it and I for one will thank them and their legacy will live on for years to come 

[Uncle Fred 526]

6 minutes ago, Yobocop said:

Delia and Michael have continually reinvented the club and in its current incarnation we could go our highest yet under their stewardship 

There was always a bigger picture to last seasons £1m (war chest) and the club have been able to change beyond recognition since 

The playing style last season coupled with the recruitment this season and the future investment in the playing squad will stand us in good stead for staying up next season 

The work Stuart Webber has done will last infinitely longer than his time at the club and it all comes back to the decision our majority shareholders made to appoint him 

They will be first to admit they have made mistakes but equally they have done a lot of good things all of which leave the club in a much better place than they found it and I for one will thank them and their legacy will live on for years to come 

Thank you Tom 

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

3 hours ago, Yobocop said:

Delia and Michael have continually reinvented the club and in its current incarnation we could go our highest yet under their stewardship 

There was always a bigger picture to last seasons £1m (war chest) and the club have been able to change beyond recognition since 

The playing style last season coupled with the recruitment this season and the future investment in the playing squad will stand us in good stead for staying up next season 

The work Stuart Webber has done will last infinitely longer than his time at the club and it all comes back to the decision our majority shareholders made to appoint him 

They will be first to admit they have made mistakes but equally they have done a lot of good things all of which leave the club in a much better place than they found it and I for one will thank them and their legacy will live on for years to come 

Now that is brilliant news, Champions league and cup finals on the horizon then. 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

as we enter the top division, it also strikes me that the obvious thing holding us back isn’t being addressed.

1. director of football: 9/10

2. manager 9/10

3. Owner (passion and decency) 9/10

4. Investment 1/10

Because of 3 people don’t like addressing 4. But the bottom line is that establishing ourselves at the next level is almost impossible because of it. 

In theory I love Delia’s claim that we can teach football a thing or two by not making it all about money. I also really, really wish this were true because the self funding model is noble. But in practice, within a league of billionaire backed clubs, is it feasible or realistic? How can we compete when Stuart Webber admits all other clubs will probably spend as much on one player as we do the entire squad?

last time in this division it wasn’t Webber who screwed up the transfer window. It was the risible budget he was given to spend. It was the fact we couldn’t risk signing anyone on proper wages at this level for fear of relegation. It left us with a few dodgy loans who never broke into our championship team! 
 

Does there come a time when the club, for its own good, needs to say a huge thank you to the Smiths for getting us this far and then look to the next level? This doesn’t necessarily mean losing them - they have a valued place in our hearts and should stay in retirement. It means making space for new ownership to plug the gap in investment. 

Because having owners from the 90s era, when Premiership football was a national entity backed by millionaires, causes us to struggle at that top level now it has morphed into a global entity with billionaire owners. 

If our club is to progress we have to fix the glaring hole somehow. And who could deny it is our level of investment? Because everything else is amazingly good at present. Delia has often said she welcomes it - but who will offer the loot without being given the reigns?

And yes there are some very bad owners and things could be much, much worse than they are. But I feel there could also be the right person to help us establish ourselves as a top tier club. Cf. Crystal Palace, Leicester- two clubs of similar historic size whose new ownership has established them. 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

2 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

 

as we enter the top division, it also strikes me that the obvious thing holding us back isn’t being addressed.

1. director of football: 9/10

2. manager 9/10

3. Owner (passion and decency) 9/10

4. Investment 1/10

Because of 3 people don’t like addressing 4. But the bottom line is that establishing ourselves at the next level is almost impossible because of it. 

In theory I love Delia’s claim that we can teach football a thing or two by not making it all about money. I also really, really wish this were true because the self funding model is noble. But in practice, within a league of billionaire backed clubs, is it feasible or realistic? How can we compete when Stuart Webber admits all other clubs will probably spend as much on one player as we do the entire squad?

last time in this division it wasn’t Webber who screwed up the transfer window. It was the risible budget he was given to spend. It was the fact we couldn’t risk signing anyone on proper wages at this level for fear of relegation. It left us with a few dodgy loans who never broke into our championship team! 
 

Does there come a time when the club, for its own good, needs to say a huge thank you to the Smiths for getting us this far and then look to the next level? This doesn’t necessarily mean losing them - they have a valued place in our hearts and should stay in retirement. It means making space for new ownership to plug the gap in investment. 

Because having owners from the 90s era, when Premiership football was a national entity backed by millionaires, causes us to struggle at that top level now it has morphed into a global entity with billionaire owners. 

If our club is to progress we have to fix the glaring hole somehow. And who could deny it is our level of investment? Because everything else is amazingly good at present. Delia has often said she welcomes it - but who will offer the loot without being given the reigns?

And yes there are some very bad owners and things could be much, much worse than they are. But I feel there could also be the right person to help us establish ourselves as a top tier club. Cf. Crystal Palace, Leicester- two clubs of similar historic size whose new ownership has established them. 

So, Delia out then, its an interesting and original thought.

[FenwayFrank 2,450]

21 hours ago, wcorkcanary said:

Freddo is a pr@t , he's made that so clear over the years and the name changes. He just trots out the same old carp every season. Also he's not as tough as he makes out as he blocks anyone who takes him on. Try it.....he has no comeback at all, no depth to his argument, nada, zilch, zip, sweet FA. Laughable Troll.

He’s a funny bloke really, so I’ve been told ...

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

If Delia and MWJ invest zero in the club, it puts them ahead of 7 other of the currently Premier League club owners who have taken money out of their clubs, and equal to 2 more clubs where their owners have also invested nothing. Just because a club might owned by a billionaire doesn’t mean they are pumping in money all the time. 
 

This thread from Swiss Ramble sets out how different clubs are funded by their owners and is an interesting read. I’ve seen some people say that Norwich will be the ‘only self funded club in the Premier League’ which isn’t true. 
 

 

[hogesar 9,610]

56 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

 

as we enter the top division, it also strikes me that the obvious thing holding us back isn’t being addressed.

1. director of football: 9/10

2. manager 9/10

3. Owner (passion and decency) 9/10

4. Investment 1/10

Because of 3 people don’t like addressing 4. But the bottom line is that establishing ourselves at the next level is almost impossible because of it. 

In theory I love Delia’s claim that we can teach football a thing or two by not making it all about money. I also really, really wish this were true because the self funding model is noble. But in practice, within a league of billionaire backed clubs, is it feasible or realistic? How can we compete when Stuart Webber admits all other clubs will probably spend as much on one player as we do the entire squad?

last time in this division it wasn’t Webber who screwed up the transfer window. It was the risible budget he was given to spend. It was the fact we couldn’t risk signing anyone on proper wages at this level for fear of relegation. It left us with a few dodgy loans who never broke into our championship team! 
 

Does there come a time when the club, for its own good, needs to say a huge thank you to the Smiths for getting us this far and then look to the next level? This doesn’t necessarily mean losing them - they have a valued place in our hearts and should stay in retirement. It means making space for new ownership to plug the gap in investment. 

Because having owners from the 90s era, when Premiership football was a national entity backed by millionaires, causes us to struggle at that top level now it has morphed into a global entity with billionaire owners. 

If our club is to progress we have to fix the glaring hole somehow. And who could deny it is our level of investment? Because everything else is amazingly good at present. Delia has often said she welcomes it - but who will offer the loot without being given the reigns?

And yes there are some very bad owners and things could be much, much worse than they are. But I feel there could also be the right person to help us establish ourselves as a top tier club. Cf. Crystal Palace, Leicester- two clubs of similar historic size whose new ownership has established them. 

You've given 2 examples of good owners, I can give you 10x that of bad owners. With where we are as a club, why risk everything for at best a 1 in 10 chance of maybe getting a better owner? I personally care more about the club than to do that...

[king canary 7,562]

1 hour ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

If Delia and MWJ invest zero in the club, it puts them ahead of 7 other of the currently Premier League club owners who have taken money out of their clubs, and equal to 2 more clubs where their owners have also invested nothing. Just because a club might owned by a billionaire doesn’t mean they are pumping in money all the time. 
 

This thread from Swiss Ramble sets out how different clubs are funded by their owners and is an interesting read. I’ve seen some people say that Norwich will be the ‘only self funded club in the Premier League’ which isn’t true. 
 

 

So what you're saying is our owners are the same as Mike Ashley 😉

[corbs 147]

Long suffering fans- being a Norwich fan these last few decades is probably as good as it gets in world of fandom me old grump. 
 

 

[sgncfc 1,221]

4 hours ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

If Delia and MWJ invest zero in the club, it puts them ahead of 7 other of the currently Premier League club owners who have taken money out of their clubs, and equal to 2 more clubs where their owners have also invested nothing. Just because a club might owned by a billionaire doesn’t mean they are pumping in money all the time. 
 

This thread from Swiss Ramble sets out how different clubs are funded by their owners and is an interesting read. I’ve seen some people say that Norwich will be the ‘only self funded club in the Premier League’ which isn’t true. 
 

 

Absolutely, but this seems to refer to cashflow funding rather than ongoing stability in terms of a business model. We are not the only self funded club and we are not the first to use the model. We are also not the only club relying on it's academy to assist funding.  At the moment, we are probably one of the most successful at doing all of those things together and joining up the dots, but we are not the best. 

This misunderstanding about owners pumping in money is just that - a misunderstanding. The vast majority just lend money and take interest, or roll up that interest into debt. They might end up writing a lot of that off to get out of the game, but while they're in it, it's just a different type of asset. It only becomes a loss if the club fails to perform (ME and Ipswich; Ellis Short and Sunderland; Randy Lerner and Aston Villa etc).

The difference between clubs though is often the accessibility to cash, rather than the actual investment. Spurs is a prime example - who would lend a club £600m to build a stadium for 60,000 people when the club haven't generated a high enough turnover to justify that borrowing, or won anything which is likely to bring in more money? Which is where the owners guarantee comes in.

We can't borrow the £200m or so we would need to increase our capacity or massively improve our squad - in an ordinary business situation, that is the obvious thing to do because in an ordinary business situation investment is what protects the business. When you don't do that you get Debenhams, Woolworths etc. But we know that football isn't an ordinary business so even if we did that there is no guarantee it would equal on the pitch success. 

Our current ownership means we don't have that option. Having "no external debt" is though not necessarily (in pure business terms) the positive mantra it appears to be. At the moment debt is cheap and it is comparatively easy to make much more than the interest payments - so sticking to that mantra is perhaps not sensible if you are trying to establish a business in a different market.

I'm not arguing for new owners - just accepting the limitations of our current ones. The "model" we are following is very fragile if we have no wiggle room.

 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

5 hours ago, FenwayFrank said:

He’s a funny bloke really, so I’ve been told ...

Funny as in haha, or Funny as in peculiar? .... don't answer that Franko, I know the answer.

[ged in the onion bag 854]

7 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

 

as we enter the top division, it also strikes me that the obvious thing holding us back isn’t being addressed.

1. director of football: 9/10

2. manager 9/10

3. Owner (passion and decency) 9/10

4. Investment 1/10

Because of 3 people don’t like addressing 4. But the bottom line is that establishing ourselves at the next level is almost impossible because of it. 

In theory I love Delia’s claim that we can teach football a thing or two by not making it all about money. I also really, really wish this were true because the self funding model is noble. But in practice, within a league of billionaire backed clubs, is it feasible or realistic? How can we compete when Stuart Webber admits all other clubs will probably spend as much on one player as we do the entire squad?

last time in this division it wasn’t Webber who screwed up the transfer window. It was the risible budget he was given to spend. It was the fact we couldn’t risk signing anyone on proper wages at this level for fear of relegation. It left us with a few dodgy loans who never broke into our championship team! 
 

Does there come a time when the club, for its own good, needs to say a huge thank you to the Smiths for getting us this far and then look to the next level? This doesn’t necessarily mean losing them - they have a valued place in our hearts and should stay in retirement. It means making space for new ownership to plug the gap in investment. 

Because having owners from the 90s era, when Premiership football was a national entity backed by millionaires, causes us to struggle at that top level now it has morphed into a global entity with billionaire owners. 

If our club is to progress we have to fix the glaring hole somehow. And who could deny it is our level of investment? Because everything else is amazingly good at present. Delia has often said she welcomes it - but who will offer the loot without being given the reigns?

And yes there are some very bad owners and things could be much, much worse than they are. But I feel there could also be the right person to help us establish ourselves as a top tier club. Cf. Crystal Palace, Leicester- two clubs of similar historic size whose new ownership has established them. 

We can compete by being clever, having quality people finding quality players and being better at it than other clubs... compete by remaining humble, providing a respectable quality environment and a club players want to play for, we can compete by raising the bar slowly and creating money through the opportunities and development we offer players, we can compete with good supporters who back the clubs efforts and the players... and keep backing them.   We can compete by having a deeper squad and occasionally a little less misfortune.... last time around, we weren't ready, had too many players that couldn't find that next level and too many injuries... We could be a top half side next season if we catch a good momentum like Sheffield United did.    We can compete by building and raising the bar.    We could compete throwing money at it or doing it the Ipswich way or the Fulham way, sure we could.   

We can compete doing it our way.     This club has a soul, many haven't, there is no better way to compete than how we are doing it.   Wishing for your final bit extra is just that - your wish.    I couldn't wish for anything better than we have right now.    So proud of this brilliant football club.   It's not impossible for us to compete in the Premier League unless you are thinking we could actually win it regularly!

.... and if we can't compete at the higher level (we can) we will find ourselves back in a cracking Championship league with that same hope and expectation..... don't see what the problem is.   

So I wonder what you think the trade off will be between someone else's money / philosophy and the transparency the club currently has with the fans?   If we get this investment you crave, what's to say Farke and Webber would buy in to that.     Rather keep 1, 2 and 3 and forego 4.   Careful what you wish for and all that!

Edited May 18, 2021 by ged in the onion bag