Alan Bowkett Interview

[A Load of Squit 6,205]

Not a subscriber to the Athletic.

Has anyone read it? Does it say anything interesting about his resignation?

 

 

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,701]

Might tell us if we were close /quite close / not at all close / miles away from  Administration in 2008? 

I reckon  we could do with another thread on that . 

[Midlands Yellow 4,672]

3 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

Might tell us if we were close /quite close / not at all close / miles away from  Administration in 2008? 

I reckon  we could do with another thread on that . 

Sorted. 

[Bovril 262]

(Bovril Note: this isn't the full article. Unfortunately just as it gets interesting re: his resignation, the article ends). 

 

On Paul Lambert...

On their Premier League return, Norwich finished 12th — it remains the last time Norwich survived in the top flight.

“Paul’s two great attributes were that he was a huge motivator and he could manage his budget,” says Bowkett. “If you said to him, ‘That’s all we’ve got’, he’d do it. There’s a phrase in football: managers use the club’s chequebook to manage their career. Paul wasn’t like that.

“I felt Paul was an outstanding manager. There were two in the Championship, Paul and Brendan Rodgers at Swansea. I felt Paul was better. You just wonder why their careers diverted in different directions. Paul would’ve benefited from one more year with us but perhaps I was selfish.”

Bowkett’s praise for Lambert may surprise some given the manager’s switch to Aston Villa, and the chairman said he was not surprised because “he has walked out on every club he has managed”.

In the same breath, Bowkett said Lambert was asking for £2 million compensation for breach of contract. Lambert’s response? That Norwich had instigated the legal action and he had not seen his chairman in two years (Bowkett still laughs at that suggestion).

The tribunal was settled out of court. Bowkett has spoken to Lambert since he left Norwich in June 2012.

“Look, I’m in private equity. I deal with tough people,” Bowkett tells The Athletic. “To this day, on the budget he had, it’s probably the best performance you could ever see in a manager for Norwich. I don’t exactly know the financial situation Daniel inherited but Paul’s was very difficult. It was outstanding to get us into the Premier League, then Paul did a great job of keeping us there when he didn’t have much money because we were paying back the banks.

“I’ll be forever grateful to him for managing the team within budget because it was essential he did. Not only did he do that, he achieved a miracle and gave me some of the most enjoyable moments in my life.

On Ricky van Wolfswinkel...

“It was always ironic that we used to encourage people to come and join us because we had outstanding training facilities, but we didn’t really. The pitches were awful bar one,” says Bowkett.

“It’s a fair criticism of us in isolation but we were facing holistic problems and made some bad decisions. People might shoot me down but I feel with promotion in 2018-19 we got lucky. It was then painful in the Premier League and people were critical, but the club had a sensible football strategy, stuck to it and didn’t make mistakes like we did with Ricky van Wolfswinkel.”

The Dutch striker was Norwich’s £8.5 million record signing in the summer of 2013 from Sporting Lisbon. He went on to score two goals in three seasons and 28 appearances.

“When we got a penalty against Aston Villa and Robert Snodgrass took the ball off him,” says Bowkett, “on little moments, you just wonder. Ricky scored in his first game against Everton and we were all thinking, aren’t we clever!

“I was working in Portugal and told a colleague, big Sporting fan, that we were going to go for Ricky. He said ‘I wouldn’t if I were you’. He knew more about football than I did.”

On his resignation...

“Those final months, I wasn’t happy,” says Bowkett. “Things were moving in a style and direction I felt uncomfortable with. David (McNally) and I in the first three years worked very closely together. He was outstanding in his commercial acumen. And I’m a money man. We probably had different views on where we went next.

“The chairman is there to manage the board. The chief exec is there to manage the business. The board’s duty is to devise the strategy to take the business — or club — forward and ensure we have the financial and human resources to execute the strategy. It needs the setting of milestones, scrutiny and monitoring. And I’m only ever prepared to work in organisations that do that.”

McNally, who resigned following relegation in May 2016, and Bowkett have not spoken since. Former shadow chancellor, Labour MP and lifelong Norwich fan, Ed Balls, replaced Bowkett as chairman and left by December 2018. Norwich have been without a chair of the boardroom since.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Bovril

[Nuff Said 5,868]

That post will probably get the thread taken down Bovril!
 

One of the best and most illuminating articles I’ve read on The Athletic. Worth finding one of the cut price offers just to read it IMHO.

Some smaller snippets I thought were interesting:

- On the administration question: “It takes a lot of incompetence for a club to go into administration. My experience is if you’re dealing with professional finance houses, they want a solution.” So no, we weren’t *that* close.

-  ““Paul’s two great attributes were that he was a huge motivator and he could manage his budget,” says Bowkett. “If you said to him, ‘That’s all we’ve got’, he’d do it. There’s a phrase in football: managers use the club’s chequebook to manage their career. Paul wasn’t like that.

“I felt Paul was an outstanding manager. There were two in the Championship, Paul and Brendan Rodgers at Swansea. I felt Paul was better. “ That doesn’t reflect the view of the relationship between Lambert and Bowkett we’ve heard elsewhere, and is an interesting perspective given all the negatives he’s been attracting recently. Bowkett’s view on Lambert’s behaviour seems to be a fairly magnanimous “that’s business”. ““I’ll be forever grateful to him for managing the team within budget because it was essential he did. Not only did he do that, he achieved a miracle and gave me some of the most enjoyable moments in my life.””

- In retrospect, he sees the failure to develop the training facilities as a mistake. He also includes buying van Wolfswinkel in that category, so I think we can now consider that topic definitively closed 😉.

- But my favourite quote was his reaction to Hooper disallowing Cam Jam’s overhead kick at Palace “I went ape ****,”

Edited August 2, 2021 by Nuff Said

[Alex Moss 2,167]

52 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

Not a subscriber to the Athletic.

Has anyone read it? Does it say anything interesting about his resignation?

 

 

It’s a good article, but doesn’t really say anything about this as already mentioned. He did say though that himself and David McNally haven’t spoken since. And whilst we’re at it, I think a David McNally interview would be a fascinating read.

[Nuff Said 5,868]

4 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

It’s a good article, but doesn’t really say anything about this as already mentioned. He did say though that himself and David McNally haven’t spoken since. And whilst we’re at it, I think a David McNally interview would be a fascinating read.

I thought it was fairly clear Alex, he said he wasn’t enjoying the role and it was becoming increasingly stressful. I can completely understand that, and it’s a laudable thing imho to recognise and act on that.

[Nuff Said 5,868]

I also meant to add, in parts it did remind me a little of the famous Marcus Evans puff piece in the EADT, and the priceless p1sstake, which I can’t find now. If anyone has a link, please post it!

[Alex Moss 2,167]

8 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

I thought it was fairly clear Alex, he said he wasn’t enjoying the role and it was becoming increasingly stressful. I can completely understand that, and it’s a laudable thing imho to recognise and act on that.

Sorry, I meant it didn’t really go into much detail on that part : )

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,529]

9 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

I also meant to add, in parts it did remind me a little of the famous Marcus Evans puff piece in the EADT, and the priceless p1sstake, which I can’t find now. If anyone has a link, please post it!

I don't know, I think that's a little harsh. Whilst the Bowkett interview didn't contain any earth-shattering bombshells, it was still worth a read. The infamous Evans article didn't contain any direct quotes and was just a journalist telling the story of how he sat in Evans' office one day.

[Nuff Said 5,868]

8 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

I don't know, I think that's a little harsh. Whilst the Bowkett interview didn't contain any earth-shattering bombshells, it was still worth a read. The infamous Evans article didn't contain any direct quotes and was just a journalist telling the story of how he sat in Evans' office one day.

Yeah, possibly, I just could have done without the references to his beautiful home and Bowkett’s home-made bangers.

[BroadstairsR 2,272]

Lambert really was the 'Messiah' and not a naughty boy after all. We owe him more than a bit, and even the most begrudged of us need to admit this.

The fact that he failed everywhere else since sitting his fat a-rse on that great big manager's chair at Villa Park seems to demonstrate that his time at Carrow Road reflected a good fit, a bit of a fluke or the fact his talents were ephemeral.

[Nuff Said 5,868]

5 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

Lambert really was the 'Messiah' and not a naughty boy after all. We owe him more than a bit, and even the most begrudged of us need to admit this.

The fact that he failed everywhere else since sitting his fat a-rse on that great big manager's chair at Villa Park seems to demonstrate that his time at Carrow Road reflected a good fit, a bit of a fluke or the fact his talents were ephemeral.

I think of the two (Bowkett and Lambert), one has the good grace and/or nous not to say anything snide or insulting about previous colleagues. The other is a little more emotional and possibly caught up in their self-regard.

[AJ 1,345]

Nothing was wrong with Lambert in his time here, he did an outstanding job whatever way you look at it. It's just a huge shame it ended the way it did, and I'm sure we'd have done better with him still at the helm than we did under Houghton. At the end of the day it's Lambo's fault his career took and distinct opposite trajectory to Rodgers! 

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,701]

43 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

It’s a good article, but doesn’t really say anything about this as already mentioned. He did say though that himself and David McNally haven’t spoken since. And whilst we’re at it, I think a David McNally interview would be a fascinating read.

An NDA might have put paid to that....

[Alex Moss 2,167]

5 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

An NDA might have put paid to that....

Good point, and hadn’t considered that GPB - thought he’d been very quiet ha ha. Shame though as I think it would be a fascinating interview on so many fronts 

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,701]

18 minutes ago, AJ said:

Nothing was wrong with Lambert in his time here, he did an outstanding job whatever way you look at it. It's just a huge shame it ended the way it did, and I'm sure we'd have done better with him still at the helm than we did under Houghton. 

I don't think many would argue with this AJ. 

The part that Lambert got completely wrong was the "anti-norwich" narrative that he employed during his time at the Binners. It was completely unnecessary, even if he was (as has been proven) drinking in last chance saloon. Take a look at Joe Royle and how he managed to maintain dignity with both clubs, as indeed did Hamilton. 

Lambert went route one with the Binners, made himself look a  kn0b , particularly at the 3 nil home game  , and unnecessarily burned his bridges. 

The comments made by Bowkett about the legal case with Lambert (which was a legal vehicle to absolve Villa from poaching as much as anything else) speaks volumes. 

Lamberts skill has always been reported as his motivational qualities (Holty says the same thing) and whilst he could leave the coaching to Culverhouse he was fine. After he threw Culverhouse under the bus at Villa , and ended up with the world renowned coach that is Roy Keane , his days at Villa Park were numbered. To be fair, I always thought Lambert kept Villa up 1 or 2 years longer than they should have . But Lamberts time at Wolves, Blackburn and Stoke suggested that he had lost whatever skills he had. 

His time at the Binners was a disaster by whatever measure you use, except of course his bank balance!! 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Graham Paddons Beard

[Bill 1,788]

@ GPB

Lambert didn't help himself when he returned with Villa either

Without trying to make any particular political point, watch how the Queen conducted herself when meeting Martin McGuiness

it is about dignity, and self-control

not shouting at the directors box "see you Jimmy"

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,701]

4 minutes ago, Bill said:

 

it is about dignity, and self-control

 

You mean HMQ didn't demand that Prince Phillip replicate Lambert's Lap Dog Cap'n Fistpump's squeeze of Godfreys knackers, by grabbing Gerry Adams in the unmentionables? 

[PurpleCanary 6,276]

1 hour ago, Nuff Said said:

That post will probably get the thread taken down Bovril!
 

One of the best and most illuminating articles I’ve read on The Athletic. Worth finding one of the cut price offers just to read it IMHO.

Some smaller snippets I thought were interesting:

- On the administration question: “It takes a lot of incompetence for a club to go into administration. My experience is if you’re dealing with professional finance houses, they want a solution.” So no, we weren’t *that* close.

-  ““Paul’s two great attributes were that he was a huge motivator and he could manage his budget,” says Bowkett. “If you said to him, ‘That’s all we’ve got’, he’d do it. There’s a phrase in football: managers use the club’s chequebook to manage their career. Paul wasn’t like that.

“I felt Paul was an outstanding manager. There were two in the Championship, Paul and Brendan Rodgers at Swansea. I felt Paul was better. “ That doesn’t reflect the view of the relationship between Lambert and Bowkett we’ve heard elsewhere, and is an interesting perspective given all the negatives he’s been attracting recently. Bowkett’s view on Lambert’s behaviour seems to be a fairly magnanimous “that’s business”. ““I’ll be forever grateful to him for managing the team within budget because it was essential he did. Not only did he do that, he achieved a miracle and gave me some of the most enjoyable moments in my life.””

- In retrospect, he sees the failure to develop the training facilities as a mistake. He also includes buying van Wolfswinkel in that category, so I think we can now consider that topic definitively closed 😉.

- But my favourite quote was his reaction to Hooper disallowing Cam Jam’s overhead kick at Palace “I went ape ****,”

No, we were not. It was not as dangerous a position as that in 1956 or in 1996.

[canarydan23 4,699]

2 hours ago, Bovril said:

On their Premier League return, Norwich finished 12th — it remains the last time Norwich survived in the top flight.

Erm, what? How about the season after, when we finished 11th?

[Surfer 1,547]

Exactly what I was thinking …. But it’s The Athletic so I must be wrong. Maybe they meant it was the last time we played football in the PL

[Mello Yello 2,538]

NDA....Keep schtum.....

[Big Vince 413]

No one on here has deduced anything from Bowkett's comments about why HE left the club. He states he is a "money man" and implies that the board needs to put up the money to take the club forward and that McNasty's job is then to make the best use of the money he's given. The fact that no money was forthcoming from the board and any outside investment opportunities were blocked by the Socialists (because of their hereditary succession plan) seems to be the reason for his resignation (ie. he had reached a dead end and could do nothing further for the club, as was the case with the Turners). His breakdown in relations with McNasty seems to lend credence to the view previously expressed on this board that McNasty sided with Delia in taking the club forward with no money, as opposed to Bowkett who wanted new money to come in to take the club to the next level. Again, ditto the Turners. Discuss.

[PurpleCanary 6,276]

4 minutes ago, Big Vince said:

No one on here has deduced anything from Bowkett's comments about why HE left the club. He states he is a "money man" and implies that the board needs to put up the money to take the club forward and that McNasty's job is then to make the best use of the money he's given. The fact that no money was forthcoming from the board and any outside investment opportunities were blocked by the Socialists (because of their hereditary succession plan) seems to be the reason for his resignation (ie. he had reached a dead end and could do nothing further for the club, as was the case with the Turners). His breakdown in relations with McNasty seems to lend credence to the view previously expressed on this board that McNasty sided with Delia in taking the club forward with no money, as opposed to Bowkett who wanted new money to come in to take the club to the next level. Again, ditto the Turners. Discuss.

It does no such thing. What is true is that Bowkett did believe it was going to be increasingly hard, given how other clubs were financed, for Norwich City to carry on doing well without new investment, but then that is a statement of the obvious.

[Big Vince 413]

12 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

It does no such thing. What is true is that Bowkett did believe it was going to be increasingly hard, given how other clubs were financed, for Norwich City to carry on doing well without new investment, but then that is a statement of the obvious.

 

[A Load of Squit 6,205]

10 minutes ago, Big Vince said:

 

Vince.

You're on mute.

 

[Big Vince 413]

27 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

It does no such thing. What is true is that Bowkett did believe it was going to be increasingly hard, given how other clubs were financed, for Norwich City to carry on doing well without new investment, but then that is a statement of the obvious.

How do you know that? My recollection was that McNasty was granted a seat on the board and when it came to a vote on certain strategic matters he may have voted along with the Socialists and against Bowkett. I don't suppose that the minutes of board meetings are a matter of public knowledge and that we therefore have to get hold of that fly that was on the wall at the time McNasty sided with Delia.

[PurpleCanary 6,276]

20 minutes ago, Big Vince said:

How do you know that? My recollection was that McNasty was granted a seat on the board and when it came to a vote on certain strategic matters he may have voted along with the Socialists and against Bowkett. I don't suppose that the minutes of board meetings are a matter of public knowledge and that we therefore have to get hold of that fly that was on the wall at the time McNasty sided with Delia.

That reply makes less sense than usual. How can you recollect/believe/state-as-fact something to be true - in this case that McNally voted against Bowkett's supposed aim of  spending money - when by your own admission you have no idea how individual directors voted?

It is the case that after he left Bowkett did, as I explained, wonder privately about whether the club's financial model could go on being viable IN THE FUTURE, but that is nowhere near the same thing as your notion that while he was chairman he argued for spending above and beyond what was affordable as the finances stood then.

[Big Vince 413]

4 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

That reply makes less sense than usual. How can you recollect/believe/state-as-fact something to be true - in this case that McNally voted against Bowkett's supposed aim of  spending money - when by your own admission you have no idea how individual directors voted?

It is the case that after he left Bowkett did, as I explained, wonder privately about whether the club's financial model could go on being viable IN THE FUTURE, but that is nowhere near the same thing as your notion that while he was chairman he argued for spending above and beyond what was affordable as the finances stood then.

Well, it was true that McNasty had a seat on the board and I am not saying that the agenda item was spending money the club did not have. Without having access to that fly on the wall, I am speculating that the agenda item might have been getting new money into the club and on that particular issue Bowkett may well have been outvoted and this led to his resignation ultimately. Bowkett has never stated the actual reason for his resignation, perhaps due to corporate confidentiality, and so we have to speculate as to the nearest most likely reason given what we do know. By the way, I remember Wynnie being specifically asked by a shareholder at a AGM as to the reason for Bowkett's resignation and it was telling that he failed to provide any answer at all to the shareholder.

You may recall that Bowkett went on a world tour trying to get investment into the club, but without attracting a single penny. You must therefore wonder as to what the Socialists' terms were given that they were wedded to the hereditary succession plan and Bowkett was therefore sent on a mission that was doomed before it started. It was surprising that a man of his business stature got duped into such a flawed proposition.